Category: Burpees

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout

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Happy hump day, friends! As I mentioned on Monday, I did a quickie bodyweight tabata workout on Sunday morning that I wanted to share with you. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time- and didn’t want to wake up extra early to give me extra time- so I opted for a tabata workout since those tend to give me the biggest bang for my buck. No matter what I choose for exercises, I tend to be sore following a tabata workout, which was definitely the case when I woke up on Monday morning!

If you’re not familiar, tabata workouts are 8 rounds of 20 seconds on (working super hard!) followed by 10 seconds of rest, totaling 4 minutes all together. Traditional tabata workouts are generally just ONE exercise to be repeated for all 8 rounds, but I opted to do 2 exercises per tabata, so that each was done 4 times.  So, rather than a traditional tabata workout, it was more of a tabata theme workout.

You’ll notice that each tabata set has 1 bodyweight exercise followed by a complementary cardio exercise- gotta love that extra burn 😉

20 Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout

I think everything here is fairly straight forward- sometimes going back to the basics can be the best workouts. While I love spicing things up with “fancy” moves, it can also be nice to stick with tried and true exercises that don’t require as much brain work, haha. If you’re feeling good and want to use weights when you perform the exercises- feel free! Likewise, if you’re not feeling up to the cardio, you can modify or continue with the bodyweight exercise for all 8 rounds. Per usual, the workout can be adapted to fit whatever your need is on the day you decide to do it.

Questions for you: What workout format always leaves you sore? Do you like basic, tied and true exercises or do you like to get fancy and make up new combos?

Wednesday Workout: 3 Set Lower Body Burnout

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Good morning! I hope you’re having a good week. Today I am sharing a workout I threw together on Monday that left me VERY sore yesterday. I started with a 10 minute treadmill run at a moderately fast pace and then headed downstairs to the weight room to complete this 3 set lower body focused workout.

When doing this, please think about choosing weights that are challenging (last couple of reps should be hard!), but don’t compromise your form.

3 Set Lower Body Burnout

Explanations:

  • Deadlifts– these can be trap bar deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, or whatever else you would like to do. They’re a single exercise set so that you can lift heavy and have enough recovery between rounds/sets.
  • Step ups- choose a step height that’s challenging, yet doesn’t make you feel like you need to use momentum to get up. Also, I held 15lb Kettlebells in each hand, which wasn’t quite heavy enough, but it still did the trick.
  • Pushups- If you’re struggling with doing proper chest to ground pushups on your toes, try doing incline ones, maybe on the step you used for the step ups or even against a wall.
  • Lunge -> SLDL (single leg deadlift)- Hold a KB like you would for a goblet squat and then step your right leg back into a lunge. As you come back through center, engage your core and hinge forward at the hips coming into a single leg deadlift and changing your grip on the KB and hold it from the top of the handle and letting it hang towards the ground. As you lift back up to center, do a KB clean and step back into the lunge with a KB goblet grip. While doing this, focus on moving slow rather than rushing through the movements. Repeat on the opposite side.

The last move is definitely what killed me- I used a 25lb KB and wowzers were my hammies screaming at me yesterday!

This workout should take you about 40 minutes to complete if you do the 10 minute treadmill run- just letting you know in case you’re like me and generally on a time limit at the gym. As always, let me know if you try it!

Questions for you: When’s the last time you felt really sore after a workout?

Wednesday Workout: The 1000 Rep Workout

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Good morning! I mentioned on Instagram last week that I had a day where I could’ve easily skipped a workout. It was pouring rain, I was in a training all day at work so I couldn’t go to the gym during my lunch break, I had an eye exam in Boston after work and the traffic getting home was ridiculous. All of which could be very valid excuses for me to have skipped the workout. But the thing was, I didn’t WANT to skip the workout. While I was driving home, I had an internal conversation with myself trying to figure out what I should do. I was looking for ways to talk myself out of the workout since I rarely ever do that, but all the signs pointed to me doing the workout:

  • I wasn’t tired
  • I wasn’t sore
  • It wasn’t too late
  • I could do it at-home
  • I had eaten lots of carbs that day so I felt like I had loads of energy to burn
  • I genuinely WANTED to workout

So, what did I do? I worked out! But to save time, I decided to just workout at home rather than go to the gym and fighting the 6:30pm crowds where I knew I would get annoyed and frusterated and end up wasting more time just walking around trying to find a spot to workout and equipment to use that wouldn’t be in the midst of all the chaos.

The upside of being stuck in traffic was that not only did I have time to go through the mental checklist for deciding whether or not to workout, but I also had time to plan the workout in my head! I don’t know what made me think of doing a workout like this, but it ended up being a really good one- and, with 10 exercises in the mix, it helped keep things interesting and helped keep me from totally dreading all the reps!
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Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bodyweight AMRAP {Cardio/Full Body}

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Good morning! It’s been ages since I’ve posted a workout for you, right?! I’m changing that today, though! I love the holidays for an excuse to get off of my regular schedule (eating, drinking, working out, working, etc.), but I have to say that getting back ON schedule is a pretty awesome feeling, too. So, if you’re feeling anything like me and craving a bit of normalcy, then I hope you give this workout a shot- it’s so very normal and classic Monique-like 😉

I did this when I was at home at my parents house a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure I wanted to workout, so I came up with something that included some of my favorite exercises and told myself that if I didn’t get into it after the first round, I could call it quits. Well, 20 minutes later, I was sweaty and so happy I got in a quickie workout. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way!

20 minute bodyweight AMRAP workout

A few explanations/videos in case you need a little clarification on anything…

  • Narrow & wide squat jumps– you’re taking a standard squat jump, but adding a little intensity. Check out this video for a demo.
  • Inch worm push-up w/knee tuck– I posted this on Instagram a few weeks ago- check it out here
  • Cursty lunges- alternate right to left, making sure you keep your hips facing the front direction and that your knees don’t go over your toes.
  • T-raise side planks- I posted this on Instagram a few weeks ago, too! I used a band, but you could easily do it without.  Check it out here
  • Burpee Jacks- Perform a standard burpee (with or without the push-up) and then when you come back up instead of jumping, do a full jumping jack.
  • Supine Extension- Lying on your back with your core engaged, lift your legs and shoulder blades off the ground and then crunch up and then extend back out.

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I hope you give this a shot- it’s perfect for those days/weeks where you don’t have a lot of time to workout.

Questions for you: Did your schedule change at all throughout the holidays? How do you deal with schedule changes?

 

Wednesday Workout: 2 Part (or partner) Stations Workout

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Good morning! These days I don’t tend to share workouts that I’ve taught, mostly because I teach a Burn class with a standard format that isn’t supposed to change week to week so that would get pretty boring 😉 A few months ago, I subbed for Athena’s 6am Total Body class and I was reminded of how fun it is to create different workouts and formats every week. There are so many options between how you want to set up the class, what equipment you want to use, etc. Totally loved it!

I wanted to share this workout with you because there are two ways you can complete it: solo or with a partner. I had the class partner up so that each partner did both moves at each station, but you could certainly do it on your own if you didn’t have a partner or workout buddy handy. You’ll be at each station for two minutes- 1 minute per move. Halfway through the circuit and at the end of the circuit you’ll complete a lovely little cardio blast- doesn’t get much better than that!

2 part or partner stations workout

Here are some explanations and/or demos of the exercises:

  1. TRX Row/Burpees– For the rows, you can make them easier by putting your feet closer to your body so that you’re at less of an angle. To make it harder, walk your feet out further away from you. Engage your core and pull your elbows back and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Remember to keep your shoulders pulled down away from your ears. Check out this video for a TRX row demo. For the burpees- you can either jump your feet back, walk them back, drop your chest to the ground, do a pushup… whatever version of the burpee you want to do- rock it!
  2. KB Goblet Squat/Jump squats- Here’s a video for Goblet Squats. For the jump squats, you can either go for depth and make sure to touch your hands to the ground each time or you can go for speed and do rapid fire baby jumps.
  3. Squat hold/Battle ropes- If you have a partner, one partner will get into a squat hold while holding the rope, acting as the anchor. Make sure to brace your core and position because it gets challenging to hold this as your partner does the ropes. Check out this video where I demo the battle ropes. If you don’t have a partner hopefully you have access to the standard rope setup!
  4. Dynamax ball Russian twists/cross body mountain climbers-With a Dynamax ball you’ll perform the standard Russian twist exercise (in a seated position, with your feet either in the air and bent at 90* or on the ground and moving a weight/ball from one side of your body to the next). For the mountain climbers, instead of bringing your knees straight forward to your chest, you’ll bring your right knee to your left elbow and your left knee to your right elbow. Go as fast or slow as you want/need.
  5. Forward lunge & twist/jumping lunges– As you step forward into a lunge on your right leg, lift your arms and extend a weight out in front of you. In your low position of the lunge, twist through your core and move the weight over to the right over your right knee. Repeat on the left & alternate right & left for the 60 seconds. Jumping lunges should be pretty standard 😉
  6. Push-up w/frogger stamp/in & out plank jumps- Perform a  push-up (either on your knees or toes) and then jump your feet up to the outsides of your hands and then back to your high plank/push-up position. If you’re doing the push-ups on your knees, just drop down to your knees after you jump back. For the in & out plank jumps you’ll start in a high plank position (shoulders, elbows & wrists in line, neutral spine, shoulders pulled on your back, core engaged) and jump your feet straight up to your hands (not to the outsides like the first exercise) and then jump back into a high plank and jump your feet out like you would for a plank jack. repeat.
  7. Stability ball pass/Skier jumps– For the first move, check out this video– make sure you’re keeping your core tight and your back flat against the ground. If this is too hard, ditch the ball and either keep your legs bent, lower them not so far or do one leg at a time. This video demos the ski jumps well.
  8. Side lunge w/center press/TRX Push-ups- For the side lunge/center press, you’re going to hold a weight in both hands at chest height. You’ll step out to the right and do a side lunge (sitting your butt way back, keeping your knee in line with your toes on the lunging leg and keeping the other leg straight) and then when you come through center, press the weight overhead. Repeat to the other side. TRX push-ups are almost the opposite of the rows discussed earlier, except instead of pulling your weight up towards the straps, you’ll be pushing your weight away from the straps as you extend. Again, the closer your feet are to you, the easier it is; stepping your feet back away from you & making your body more parallel to the ground will make it harder

I think that should do it! I hope you give this a shot- everyone seemed to like it and my sister said she was a little sore the next day!

Questions for you: Do you  like partner workouts? Do you like using TRX straps or battle ropes?