Category: Burpees

Wednesday Workout: Outdoor Stations Bootcamp Workout

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Hi there! I’ve got a fun workout for you today. If you’ve been reading for a while, you know I starting teaching my own outdoor bootcamp in Wakefield on Tuesday nights. Per usual, I try to mix things up so that we aren’t doing the same thing from week to week. Last week I taught my first stations workout, which is generally a crowd pleaser in my normal group exercise classes. Holding true to that standard, the girls seemed to enjoy the workout and we all agree that the class flew by! It was a fun workout because besides a band and a stability ball, we used everything you’d find in a standard park as our “equipment”.

Here’s what you need: wall or step for jump squats and squats and a bench for step ups and tricep dips. If you don’t have a stability ball, you can do a regular plank and if you don’t have a band, you can do partner lat pulls or superman pulls. Easy enough, right?! I also added in an equipment free cardio blast between rounds.

Outdoor bootcamp workout

Most of the moves are fairly common, but here are a few explanations:

  • Wall squats: perform a regular squat, but go low enough so that your butt touches the wall
  • Reverse lunge & knee twist: lunge back on the right leg and then bring that knee up in front of you and cross your left elbow to your right knee. Repeat on the left after 30 seconds.
  • Sit with your legs extended out straight. Put the band around your flexed feet and pull your arms back, squeezing your elbows towards each other.

If you have any other questions on the moves, please ask! This is a great workout to do with a friend, but can also be done by yourself at your home if you don’t have access to a park.

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Have fun 🙂

Questions for you: Have you ever done a “park” workout? What’s your favorite way to workout outside?

Wednesday Workout: 30 minute burpee spectacular workout

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Happy Wednesday, friends! The workout I have for you today is awesome… especially if you like burpees! As I mentioned on Monday, I was able to go to a bootcamp last week with my favorite instructor. I ended up having to cancel my bootcamp because of the rain, so it worked perfectly. I got probably more excited than I should have when she started the class by saying “the workout today is going to be tough, you guys, but we are going to push through it since the hard part will be over in 30 minutes.” And then, after the warm up, she said “ok, to get you focused and get your drive going, you have 3 minutes to complete 50 jump squats.” Again, I was definitely too excited about this.

I just love the environment of a class where you’re encouraged to dig deep, get in the zone  and give it your all. While I didn’t have the guts to make my class do 130 strict, chest to ground, burpees, I DID have the guts to make them do half of those 😉 And YOU have the option to do 120 burpees OR 60 burpees- have fun!

30 minute burpee spectacular

As the workout says, you do each exercise for 60 seconds. Whenever you decide to put in the burpees, you have 60 seconds to complete 10 of them. Whatever is left of the 60 seconds after your 10 burpees is your rest, so keep that in mind.

Here are some explanations for a few exercises that might be new to you:

  • Hand release push-ups with opposite knee crunch: start in a high plank, then lower yourself all the way to the ground and lift your hands (hand release, get it?). Tighten your core and press your hands into the ground to lift yourself back up into a high plank. When you’re in a high plank, bring your right knee to left elbow. Do another hand release push-up and bring your left knee to right elbow. These are killer after burpees!
  • Side Squats- grab a set of medium size weights and hold one in each hand. Bend elbows to 90* and squat right and then squat left. Your biceps will be burning by the end of this!
  • Spider man plank- the instructor called these long-legged mountain climbers, but I think they are really just spider man planks. Start in a high plank and bring your right foot all the way up to your right hand. Repeat on the left. Want more? pick up your pace so you’re hopping your feet up and back.
  • Plank with under body cross over- I couldn’t figure out what to call this exercise, hence the confusing name. All you’re doing here is holding yourself in a high plank to start. From there, bring your right leg (keep it straight) underneath your body and up towards your left hand. Keep your core tight and hips flat so that you feel a nice twist. Keep alternating legs for the 60 seconds.
  • Side crunches- get comfy on your right glute in a side lying position. Glue your legs together and crunch your knees up to your right elbow. Want more? Try it straight-legged. Repeat on the left.
  • Full body sit-ups- start in a spine position. When you crunch your upper body, crunch your lower body, too. So basically you’re crunching your knees towards your elbows.

I think that covers it. This workout was actually really fun… and the best part is this workout will leave you totally spent, in only a half hour! Instructor friends, after this, I did about 10 minutes of constant upper body supersets. It was perfect!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite burpee variation?

This Week: Workouts, Flywheel’s Anniversary & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Good morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend. For the first time in far too long, I had a weekend with no scheduled plans. It was fantastic! I also took my 2 rest days of the week on Saturday and Sunday, and although it was nice to know I didn’t have to schedule in a workout, it caused me to go a little stir crazy. I much prefer taking rest days dispersed throughout the week rather than in a row, but since I knew I’d be spending the weekend with RM, I figured I’d just get my workouts out of the way during the week so I could go with the flow over the weekend.

Before I get to my workouts for the week, I wanted to share some really exciting things going on at Flywheel this week. They are celebrating their one year anniversary of the Boston location, which is reason enough to celebrate, right? They’ve got all sorts of really awesome rides this week, including themed rides, live DJ rides and dueling instructor rides. I was invited to take a class and will be going to a class at 5:30 tonight with Christina Lodde, who lead the Barry’s Bootcamp Roof Deck Workout. I’ve heard great things about her spin classes so I’m so excited! If you’ve never been to Flywheel, I definitely suggest checking it out this week. Head to this site to see details on the classes and to sign up.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I taught this workout in my 6am class and then did 15 minutes on the elliptical.
  • Tuesday- I had to cancel my bootcamp since it was pouring, so I headed to one of my favorite instructors classes. The verdict? I loved it! It was a crazy class, consisting of 50 jump squats to start, followed by 13 exercises done for 60 seconds each and then in between each exercise we had 60 seconds to complete 10 strict (chest to ground) burpees. So, yes, we did 130 burpees. Yikes! We finished class with some awesome upper body burners and I left there barely able to hold my gym bag. #holyshakyarms

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  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before teaching UXF Burn. I changed up the format a little to somewhat mimic the bootcamp I went to on Tuesday. We only did about 70 strict burpees, but it was still killer. I’ll post it for you this week!
  • Thursday- I was able to reschedule my bootcamp and teach it on Thursday instead. We used the benches and did some suicides and walking lunges and all sorts of good stuff. The best part is that the weather has cooled down so we are able to work super hard without dripping with sweat!
  • Friday- I went to the Lynnfield BSC during lunch and busted out a quick, but good workout. I ran 2 miles then walked the rest to get to 20 minutes before doing some 1 armed KB swings, double armed KB swings, figure 8 KB squats, band walks, torso twists and TRX planks. In and out in 35 minutes and burned over 300 calories. I’ll take it!

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  • Saturday & Sunday- Rest days. RM and I walked a bunch while shopping on Saturday and then we went for a walk on Sunday morning and walked around the city. Active rest days are great 🙂

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I’m going to Flywheel after work tonight- can’t wait!
  • Tuesday- Teaching my bootcamp at 5:30.
  • Wednesday- I have a sub for my UXF Burn class so that I can go to the New Balance Girls Night Out event. This is an extra special one because we are celebrating 25 years of Susan G. Komen and the run will be lead by Sherri D’Allessandro. If you’re interested in joining, sign up here.
  • Thursday- I may hold an “extra” bootcamp class on Thursday.
  • Friday- I think it will be a rest day.
  • Saturday- Finally back at the Oak Square YMCA for my kickboxing class… I haven’t see my members there in so long!!
  • Sunday- Probably my second rest day of the week.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

This is going to be a fitness-filled week, which is always fun. I can’t wait to get back to Flywheel as it’s been a super long time. I’m also really excited to get to go to my first New Balance Girls Night Out event. Athena always raves about these events, so I’m glad I decided to get a sub so I could attend. I think I get to see my friend Jess’s new baby girl on Friday night which would be so awesome!! And, lastly, Saturday I’m cashing in my Groupon for Dry Bar before going to a wedding with RM and his family. I figured it was a great time to use it!

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? Have you attended a New Balance Girls Night out event? What are you looking forward to this week?

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bootcamp HIIT Workout

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Good morning! Did you guys enjoy my second round of Cardio Kickboxing Combinations that I shared with you last week? It was fun to do! If you have any other suggestions for posts, don’t hesitate to let me know because I like knowing I’m writing about something people want to read.

Today I’m sharing a piece of the bootcamp workout I taught last week which successfully kicked all of our butts! HIIT workouts will do that to you, though. In case you’re new to the term, HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training and HIIT workouts are generally a bout of cardio or “work” period (lasting anywhere from 15-60 seconds, usually) followed by a short bout of rest (10-30 seconds). The point is that you work hard for a set amount of time, knowing you will have a set of time to rest after your work period. You get to catch your breath, bring your heart rate down then bring it right back up- a sure way for max calorie burn!

In this workout, you’ll work for 45 seconds and rest for 15 seconds. I have 20 exercises, ranging from cardio to core to legs to upper body, so you’ll feel like you’re getting a full body workout. If you’re feeling up to it, repeat the circuit once more!

Bootcamp HIIT Workout

Here’s an explanation for some of the exercises:

-Trunk Swing (from Shape April 2014)- Sit with feet extended in front of you, hands by your hips with your finger tips pointing towards your toes. Lift your hips up, bringing yourself into a reverse table top position (press those hips up!), then lower your hips and bring yourself back to the starting position, but don’t let your butt touch the ground! You’ll be holding yourself a few inches from the ground by pressing your palms into the ground. Holy tricep burn!

-Line Jump (from Shape April 2014)- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, bend knees and jump forward (pretending to jump over a line), landing on just 1 foot. Bend forward from the hips and touch a hand to the ground. Hop back to starting position and repeat landing on the other foot.

-Plank Jumps- In a high plank position, jump both feet up to your right hand, jump them back to a high plank, jump them up to your left hand. Repeat for entire 45 seconds. Too difficult? Step them up to your hands instead of jumping them.

-Plank with Knee Drops- In a low plank, alternate dropping your knees to the ground. More advanced? Do both at the same time.

-Walking Planks Right and Left- In a high plank position, move 3 steps to the right and 3 to the left.

-Squat Jump with Heel Clicks- Instead of doing just a regular squat jump, click your heels together when you jump up.

If you have any other questions about the exercises listed above, please don’t hesitate to contact me! This workout left me huffing and puffing- I hope it does the same for you!

Questions for you: Do you like HIIT workouts? If so, what’s your favorite one? Do you like 30 second, 45 second or 60 second intervals?

 

This Week: Workouts, B/Spoke Review & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Good morning! Did you guys have a good weekend? Mine seemed extra long because it was kicked off by going to the Red Sox game on Thursday night, but I’m not complaining!

Last week was a pretty solid week of workouts- a good mix between at-home stuff, teaching and GOING to classes- one of my favorite things to do!

B/Spoke

A while ago, I was invited to take a class at a new indoor cycling studio in the financial district: B/Spoke. It’s been a LONGGG time since I’ve taken an indoor cycling class, so I was really excited to get back “in the saddle”, as they say. I reached out to my friends Athena and Caroline to see if they wanted to join. Sadly, Athena had wedding planning plans, but Caroline was still able to come so that was fun! I also invited my friend Megan to come since they offer a free first class.

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As soon as I walked in, I was greeted with smiling faces and asked my shoe size. I love that all these studios provide shoes- I hate wearing non-spin shoes on those bikes now that I’ve seen what it’s like to wear them. It really makes a huge difference in your ride! I was also given a free water- never a bad thing! They have elastics, ear plugs and gum- free of charge- as well.

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The studio is a little cramped in places, but they definitely made the best use of the space that they could by offering lots of locker space and a nice bathroom area. The showers were stocked with fancy shampoo, conditioner and body wash, they had towels to use and soap, q-tips, and other necessities to make getting showered and ready after class a breeze. The only thing I wish they had was more bathrooms, but it seems to be a common thing to only have a few of them at these types of studios. I guess I’m just used to big gym locker rooms.

Ok, enough about the building and amenities, how about the class, right?! I actually loved it! The room was the right size- not too big, but big enough to fit a crowd of people.

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They keep the lights down low so you’re forced to just be in the moment and focus on your ride rather than looking around at everyone else. Caroline, Megan and I were front and center, which is where I generally like to be when I take classes, but not always when I’m in a spin class since that’s not my forte. However, I didn’t feel like a fool or like I couldn’t keep up in this class- maybe I didn’t push myself hard enough? I felt like I was working hard, but when we finished I felt like I could’ve done another ride. I was actually a little sad it was over. I must have definitely not pushed myself hard enough 😉

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The instructor was really great, though. She wasn’t annoying or boring- she was the perfect mix of bubbly energy and hard-core “push yourself” type of instructor. I’m fairly critical of instructors these days, and she passed the test for me. We chatted after and she was super sweet. I loved her choreography because we were hardly in the saddle, which is my least favorite place to be! We did lots of booty drops and oblique work and then the arms song left my delts screaming!

All in all, I really liked the class and would love to get back there. You really can’t pass up a free first class, so if you’re looking to check out someplace new, I suggest getting your bums over to B/Spoke. Take a class with Natalie- she was great!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I went to B/Spoke. Before I went, I filmed my 7 Minute Body Weight Upper Body Burner and did this workout from Pumps & Iron. Loved it!
  • Tuesday- I went to a Chisel class at my new gym. The instructor was awesome!!! I loved her energy and southern accent and it was overall just a great class. I used a lot of moves in UXF Burn on Wednesday.
  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before teaching UXF Burn. We worked hard… like really hard. Lots of back to back shoulder exercises and leg stuff and cardio. For the cardio blast, I took Nicole’s format from this post, but did a 5 minute AMRAP of the 4 different stages of a burpee and at the end just had them do 1 round of 10 reps of the 4 stages. They loved to hate it 😉 The crowd is definitely growing now that I don’t teach there on Thursdays anymore. And, now that I don’t teach on Thursdays anymore I have LOADS of energy when teaching my Wednesday class. No holding back anymore!

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  • Thursday- I was given tickets to the Sox game on Thursday night so I got up and did 30 minutes of kickboxing in my kitchen before going to work. I hadn’t done any kickboxing in 3 weeks- I was sore on Friday!
  • Friday- I went to the Lynnfield BSC during lunch and kicked my butt on the UXF turf- no cardio, but my heart rate was up the whole time!

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  • Saturday- I finally taught my kickboxing class at the Oak Square YMCA. I missed that crowd so much!
  • Sunday- Rest day 🙂

This Week’s Workouts

    • Monday- I taught my Muscle Work class at 6am today and did some cardio after.
    • Tuesday- I plan on going to a Core Fusion Cardio Exhale Spa. I have 2 free class coupons to use by the end of the month so I’d like to take advantage of it!
    • Wednesday- I’m either going to do a double or run before teaching UXF Burn.
    • Thursday- Not sure! Maybe the cardio/strength fusion class at PUMPS? Maybe kickboxing at Wellington? Who knows!
    • Friday- I’m going to a Barry’s Bootcamp workout/event at Revere Hotel with my gym friend Jen. I can’t wait!
    • Saturday- Probably rest day since RM and I are getting up early to head to Maine for my dad’s birthday (and a beach day).
    • Sunday- Not sure- maybe a jog or walk in Maine?

Things I’m Looking Forward To

What I’m most looking forward to this week is going home to Maine on Saturday- I haven’t been home since FATHER’S DAY, which is unheard of for me! My dad is turning 65 on Saturday so it worked out perfectly for us to get up there for a beach day and celebration for him. I’m also looking forward to having a quieter week and hopefully not drinking during the week. I know it’s summer and summer brings about reasons for social gatherings more so than during the winter months, but I’ve just realized how often I’m having a casual cocktail multiple nights a week at this point. I know it’s not a big deal, but I just like to have the week as a detox from drinking.

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? Have you been to B/Spoke? What are you looking forward to this week? Do you drink during the week?