Tag: AMRAP

Wednesday Workout: 5 Exercise 20 Minute Bodyweight AMRAP

Leave a comment

Hey there! Two times blogging last week and this week – I’m on a roll! 😉 In all seriousness, I do WANT to blog more regularly about things with substance, but, as I’m sure a lot of you can relate to, it’s been a busy one and rather than taking the time to blog about it, I’d rather live it.

Another thing I’d rather do this summer? Workout outside! I’ve only gone to the gym during my lunch break when I’m at the office since I can jog there in 2 minutes and be in and out in 30. However, last week it was a beautiful day (and I was still sore from the race) so I opted to take my workout outside. I always have my resistance band and jump rope with me so I took those and created this 20 minute workout… and a 5 minute finisher!

I liked this workout because it worked a little bit of everything: lower body, upper body, core and cardio. And I was done in 25 minutes – can’t beat that!

The way it works is you’ll do the first 5 exercise circuit as a 20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible), and then you’ll do the 2 exercise circuit as your 5 minute finisher. If you do it outside, you can work on your tan, too 😉

 

5 Exercise 20 Minute AMRAP

Couple of notes:

  • Pendulum lunges: with these, a lunge forward and backwards on the same leg is 1 rep. Make sure that when you step forward, your front knee doesn’t go past your toes and when you step back, that your back knee is right under your hips.
  • Push-up with shoulder tap- make sure to keep your hips nice and quiet, ie: no rotating or lifting as you lift your hands. you can do the push-ups on your knees if that feels better.
  • If you don’t have a resistance band for the seated rows, you can do a superman pull by lying on your stomach, lifting your chest and legs off the ground and pulling your elbows behind you.
  • If you don’t have a jump rope, you can use an imaginary one!

I think that should do it, but if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me! This is a great, quickie workout to do while on the road, vacation or if you’re short on time – Enjoy!

Questions for you: What have you let slide from your normal routine this summer?

Wednesday Workout: 16 Minute Bodyweight Progression Workout

1 Comment

Hey there! I hope you all had a great weekend! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my stories (if not, please follow along – it’s fun!) where I shared a quickie workout that I did while I was on the Cape. As I mentioned in this post, I try to not to share my entire life through my stories because I feel as though it takes away from living in the moment and truly embracing the experience. That said, I do love sharing my workouts with you because it jives with what I’m trying to represent with B2B AND I like to show you how easy it is to squeeze in fitness or movement while traveling (or maybe even just with a busy schedule).

I wasn’t sure if I would workout on Friday, although I did dress in my workout clothes for the trip to the Cape early that morning just in case I decided to workout. After a half day of work and dropping RM off at the golf course, I found myself at the house alone and with extra time on my hands (a rarity!). After reading in the sun for a bit, I decided that I felt like working out. Sometimes all I need to feel motivated is a new environment to workout in. The back deck at the Cape House was perfect for the workout since it was spacious, in the shade and had a “step” that I could use (that being the built in benches).

IMG_0724

I brought my Bose speaker out and my resistance band (never travel without that or a jump rope!) and set up shop on the deck. 16 minutes later I was a sweaty, but smiling mess – it’s amazing what a little sweat can do for your mood (not that I was in a bad mood, but it made my good mood even better!).

The way it works is you’ll start with 8 reps of each exercise (except for the jumping jacks – start with 16 for those) for the first round. For the second round, you’ll add 2 reps, and then you’ll continue adding 2 reps to each round until your 16  minute time cap is up. I got through 5 rounds (I think?), so I ended at 16 reps for the exercises. Normally we work DOWN in reps, but this was a fun change because we are working UP in reps.

16 Minute Bodyweight Progression Workout

Here are some videos if you missed them on Insta:

As a finisher, I did a 4 minute AMRAP of 10 reps each: Russian twists, High plank w/knee to chest, High plank to down dog.

As always, let me know if you give this a try!

Questions for you: Do you travel with any workout equipment? What’s something that motivates you to workout?

Wednesday Workout: 16 Minute Bodyweight & Resistance Band AMRAP Workout

Leave 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: Vegas Workout #2

Leave 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

1 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?