Wednesday Workout: 16 Minute Bodyweight & Resistance Band AMRAP Workout

July 19, 2017Leave a comment

Good morning! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve a. blogged or b. shared a workout with you. But today, I’m here to do both- I’m such an over-achiever!

Before I get to that, though, as one of Boston Children’s #CorporateCupCoaches, I wanted to quickly share a little bit about an event in the city on Thursday. Boston Children’s Hospital is inviting 74 Boston corporations to participate in a field day. The nature of the day is all about helping kids! Each team is fundraising to support the amazing work of Boston Children’s Hospital. With over $550,000 raised to date, you can support the cause by clicking this link. #BCHWintheCup

As the summer days/weeks/months tend to be busier than other times in the year, I find myself doing many more quickie workouts, many of which do not require going to the gym. I don’t know if it’s because I work in an office all day, but unless I’m teaching at gym, I just can’t bring myself to actually GO to the gym for a workout when it’s a beautiful day outside. I’d much rather be doing something outside: biking, running, walking, or simply taking my workout outside.

Case in point: on Monday, I didn’t have time to get to the gym during lunch, but I knew I would have time to squeeze in a quickie workout before teaching my 6pm Seaport Sweat class so I packed my resistance band, found space and got to work.

I did a 4 minute warm up, 16 minute circuit and then when I realized I had some more time, I threw in a 4 minute upper body AMRAP. Done and Done in less than 25 minutes, also while working on my tan and getting fresh air 😉

Here are links to some of the exercises:

And your bonus upper body 4 minute AMRAP is here:

Biceps curls x10
Shoulder press x10
Bent over row x10
Triceps OH extension x10

Repeat the above exercises as many times in 4 minutes!

The beauty of workouts like this is that they don’t take long to complete, so it isn’t a big commitment, which can be a make or break in terms of whether or not you get a workout in. I also love that it’s so portable- who doesn’t have room in their gym bag for a simple resistance band?!

I hope you try this! If you do, let me know by tagging me on Social Media!

Questions for you: How have your workouts changed (if at all) since the summer months have been here?

Wednesday Workout: Jump Rope & Bodyweight Workout

June 7, 2017Leave a comment

Hey there! I know everyone is saying this, but I am really ready for some sunshine in my life. The past handful of days have been so yucky – cold & rainy & dark. GIVE ME SPRING!!!

This workout was a result of my refusal to go to the gym when it was finally nice last Thursday. I had all intentions of going and doing an upper body workout with weights, but I knew my body needed a healthy dose of Vitamin D more than it needed the weights 😉 Luckily, I always carry a jump rope in my gym bag so I was able to incorporate it into this bodyweight workout. And yes, I’m still calling it a bodyweight workout because I’m not lifting or moving anything than my bodyweight. If you don’t have a jump rope, just make pretend- regardless, it still It doesn’t require weights of any sort so it’s still something you can easily do anywhere.

The way this workout works is you’ll start every pyramid set with 100 jump ropes (can be done without a jump rope if you don’t have one). From there, you’ll do 10 reps of a lower body exercise, 8 reps of an upper body exercises & 5 reps of a cardio exercise. Then you’ll start with that cardio exercise again (with a short break in between), go up to the 8 reps of upper body and 10 of lower body and then finish with 100 jumps. Sounds confusing, but hopefully my diagram below will help!

This workout is great because it’s simple in terms of what the exercises are – no brain work, just physical work. SLDL= single leg deadlift, which you’ll do on the right and left.

If you’re traveling this summer, consider taking this workout with you – it’s perfect when you want a quickie, no gym required workout.

Happy Wednesday!

Questions for you: Do you carry any pieces of workout equipment with you in your gym bag?

Wednesday Workout: Vegas Workout #2

May 24, 2017Leave a comment

If you’ve been following B2B for a while, you know that I love working out on vacation. I don’t workout because I feel like I have to, but more because it’s something I enjoy and it’s something that makes me feel good. Plus, it gives me energy for the day, especially if we may have had one too many cocktails the night before 😉 Going on vacation generally means you’re out of your routine a bit, whether that’s because of the food you’re eating, how you’re sleeping, what you have planned, etc., so for me, I like keeping a bit of consistency by trying to workout when I can since that’s something that’s so ingrained in my daily life when I’m not traveling.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- just because I workout on vacation doesn’t mean the intensity or duration is anything like it is when I’m back home, because vacation is a time to relax and get off schedule a bit. What it means is that I try to move how I can, when I can. It may mean a quickie 10 minute burst of something in the hotel room (if I don’t bring sneakers), it may mean a 2-3 mile jog, it may mean going to the hotel gym if it’s nice. In the case of the Wynn, the gym was SO nice that both RM and I went. But, we went under one condition: the workout couldn’t be more than 25 minutes. DONE! No problem there!

Since we had already walked over 10K steps by the time we made it to the gym, I decided that was enough steady-state cardio for me and therefore opted for a quickie 20 minute HIIT workout. I generally try and keep it to 5 or 6 exercises so I can really focus on power, speed & form (and “feel the burn”), which is not really as attainable when you include any more exercises than that in a short 20 minute timeframe (in my opinion). That said, I figured out what I wanted to do, got the necessary equipment and got to work. The gym was crowded so I found a small spot and made due with that!

And before I knew it, we were changed, sitting poolside, sipping the most delicious (albeit highly expensive) margaritas & soaking up the sun. Getting in movement doesn’t have to be hard. The act of working out doesn’t have to be hard (the workouts can be, though!!). Making the decision to do something good for yourself doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. Could we have gone on vacation, not worked out or walked a lot, not chosen some healthier, veggie-filled meals & lighter drinks and gorged ourselves on all the indulgences that Vegas has to offer? Sure. But at the end of the day, living like that doesn’t make me feel good so I don’t see the point in doing it.

In case you missed the first workout in Vegas, you can find that here.

Question for you: What are your “go to” exercises when you’re short on time?

Wednesday Workout: Vegas Workout #1: 22 Minute AMRAP Full Body Blast

May 17, 2017May 23, 20171 Comment

Happy Wednesday, friends! How about this weather, right?! Or as RM would say…

I took advantage of it by going for a run yesterday and today I hope to go for a bike ride when I get home from work since we took our bikes out and tuned them up yesterday.

Unfortunately, today’s workout isn’t really an “outdoor” workout, although with a set of dumbbells and a mat you certainly COULD do this outside- in fact, I encourage it! I will often do this- it’s a way to be outside and get some Vitamin D while also getting your workout in. Win- win!

This is a “simple” workout in that it’s very straight forward and doesn’t involve any complicated or fancy moves. Personally, these are the types of workouts I love to do when I’m short on time or when I’m traveling since I know they are effective. “Tried & true” exercises are called that for a reason- they work- over and over again. Plus, they don’t include any unnecessary “fluff” aspects of the exercise (which, in my opinion, is only added so you can look fancy on Instagram… ). I also love them because they allow for you to use your mental and physical strength busting out the exercises, rather than trying to figure out how the heck to execute it. That said, grab a heavy-ish weight and get to work focusing on form (always), but also on speed. Try and minimize the amount of rests throughout each round and instead try to save the rest for between rounds if you need it. This will help make it more of a cardio workout, too!

You’ll set the timer for 22 minutes and complete as many rounds as possible of the exercises below in that amount of time.

I think all of the moves should be fairly common and shouldn’t require a full-blow explanation, but if you have any questions, of course don’t hesitate to ask me! Happy sweating!

Questions for you: Have you been able to get outside to enjoy the nice weather? What’s your outdoor exercise of choice?

Wednesday Workout: Spin & Total Body AMRAP Workout {Featuring TIEM spin shoes}

May 10, 20172 Comments

Good morning! Before I get to the workout, I wanted to remind you that tonight, I am hosting a workout at the New Balance Flagship Store in Brighton at 6:30pm. You can find more details & sign up here.

For now, though, let’s talk about spinning. Confession: Up until about 4 years ago, I hated spinning! I didn’t understand why people would want to use their time at the gym to sit on a bike- however, now that indoor cycling has become a “thing”, I am totally on board with spinning. Why? I like that the classes are to the beat of the music, use weights and do exercises to work body parts besides just the legs. I realize that they do not mimic an outdoor ride, but no one ever said they’re supposed to 😉 They’re just a great cardio workout.

Now that I have a spin bike at home, I love spinning even more. It was so great to have a source of low-impact cardio that could be done in the comforts of my own home throughout the cold winter months, but there was something I was missing: spin shoes. I didn’t really “need” them when it came to going to classes since most studios rent them to you (or they’re included in the price of the ride), but at home I really wanted a pair as they do make the whole riding experience better.

TIEM Athletic couldn’t have contacted me at a better time because I had just been researching various shoe brands to check out. What I love about the TIEM slipstream shoes is that they look and feel like a normal sneaker. They aren’t the big, clunky, non-bendable spin shoes that we all think of when we think of spin shoes. These could be worn as a shoe to and from the gym and no one would know they were spin shoes!

True story: Monday at the gym, one of the trainers was wearing a pair of TIEM slipstream shoes and I told her I had the same ones. Her client was shocked to hear that the shoes on her feet were spin shoes and not just regular sneakers. The trainer said she was tired of lugging around multiple pairs of shoes and that the TIEM ones were great because she could wear them to train AND teach her spin class. We agreed we wouldn’t wear them to go running or do any sort of high impact workout- because they are really not made for that- but that they work great for what she was doing with them.

Want to know what else they work great for? This workout I’m sharing with you today! Why, you ask? Because this workout has you going from the bike to off the bike every other song, which is a much more enjoyable experience with the sneaker-esque TIEM Athletic spin shoes.

The way the workout works is you’ll do one song on the bike, then you’ll do an AMRAP of the exercises listed above for “off bike” songs for the duration of that song. You’ll need a pair of dumbbells (or two pairs if you want to go heavier/lighter on some exercises). For the spin songs, I’ve also included suggestions in terms of position & resistance if you decide to go with the play list I’m showing you below.

I’ve only had these shoes for a few weeks, but I’m already totally loving them- they really just enhance the spinning experience so much! I’m considering getting SPD pedals for my road bike, too, although clipping in and out at stop lights & intersections kind of scares me, lol.

If you’re in the market for a multi-purpose spin shoe, definitely check out TIEM Athletic- they’ve got various colors to choose from & the staff is so nice! They often do pop up sales at the various spin studios in and around Boston, so if you follow them on Instagram you can stay in the loop.