Tag: at home workout

This Week: Workouts, Gearing Up for Holiday Season & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Good morning! How was your Thanksgiving? I had such an awesome time being home in Maine for an extended period of time. It’s really the only time I feel completely relaxed and could literally not leave the house for days. Doesn’t sound like me, huh? I’m SO excited that day kicks off the first day of my Happy, Healthy, Fit 24 Day Challenge. Thanks to all of you who have signed up to participate! Today, set your timer for 60 seconds and rock out your push-ups!

Today also marks the first day of December, which means the start of holiday season. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I’ve got a number of things on my calendar already. I’ve got events Thursday-Sunday this week, and although they are all FUN things, it’s just a lot. This season, I’m going to work on taking more time for myself and politely turning down some engagements. The hardest part with this is that I want to go to everything, but it ends up being too much and I want to avoid the stress/overwhelm this season of having too many plans. That said, I’m not sure how well this will go over because I have severe #FOMO, BUT, I’m going to try 🙂

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I was supposed to teach a double, one class in the morning and one at night, but no one showed up for my morning class so I ended up doing my own strength session on my own. I knew I’d be teaching cardio kickboxing after work, but I had gotten up and to the gym at 6am so I wasn’t going to leave there without doing something. That little something left me sore for 3 days!
  • Tuesday- I went to the gym during lunch and ran 3.25 miles and did a few planks before calling it a day.
  • Wednesday- Rest day
  • Thursday- I filmed a few videos and then did this 20 minute AMRAP workout. I got through just shy of 8 rounds and boy did it kick my butt! I was surprised at how hard it was by the 5th and 6th round.

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  • Friday- My sister and I got up and went to the gym. I was so excited to be there because we weren’t on a schedule and it was mid-morning. I did 20 minutes on the stair stepper before doing an entirely Kettlebell focused workout. It kinda kicked my butt and I kinda loved it. I ended with some core work using this awesome trampoline- want one of these!

IMG_9481 IMG_9480

  • Saturday- I went to a Core Fusion Barre class at Exhale Spa with my sister and my friend Amanda. The class was killer! I’m not always a fan of barre classes (I am generally frustrated because I can’t tell if I’m doing it right!), but I loved this one. Chrissy is awesome and her class was a good mix of weights/upper body strength and then we worked through all parts of the legs and core. I was so sore on Sunday!
  • Sunday- Rest day

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I may try to get in a lunch break workout while I’m working from home. I’ve decided that I really prefer to have my workout done before I start work or during lunch so I can have an evening where I’m done work and done my workout by 4:30. It’s awesome. I’ll also be doing a minute of push-ups. Wonder how many I can do!
  • Tuesday- I may go to the gym during lunch for some weights, no cardio.
  • Wednesday- Back to teaching my UXF Burn!! I also need to do a no-equipment necessary workout as part of the #happyhealthyfit challenge, so I will probably fit one of those in before teaching.
  • Thursday- I have after work plans so I will likely workout during lunch.
  • Friday- Rest day.
  • Saturday- Today’s challenge is a full body workout, so I will probably do one I posted in this Week 1 details post, or maybe another Kettlebell workout?
  • Sunday- Rest day

Things I’m Looking Forward To

I’m so excited for the start of December! Although it is a crazy time of year, I do love the hustle and bustle of the holidays and the Christmas decorations and general cheer. I’m also excited to get together with various groups of friends throughout the week, as well as celebrate my sister’s birthday on Sunday!

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? Do you like Barre classes? What are you looking forward to this week? How you handle the craziness the holiday season can bring?

Wednesday Workout: 15 Minute Step 360 HIIT Workout

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Hi there! I know you’re probably sick of me talking about the Step 360, but I’m kind of obsessed with it and not ready to stop talking about it 🙂 As I’ve mentioned, I was lucky enough to win it at MANIA this year and I couldn’t be more thankful. I’ve always wanted to add a BOSU ball to my workout equipment collection, but I have to say that I think adding the Step 360 was a better piece to add.

What I love is that you are still working and challenging your balance, but your form doesn’t get compromised as a result since there is a flat surface to stand on (versus the non-flat surface of a BOSU). I find that I’m able to work my balance, yet still work on range of motion and strength training with much better and stronger form because of the flat surface. When I’m on a BOSU, I’m typically wobbling all over the place! I also learned in one of my sessions that you should never stand/squat/lunge/etc. on a BOSU because it causes poor alignment due to the fact your feet cannot support you in the way they should (like they do on the ground or a flat surface). I pretended like I had never done that, but inside I was cringing as I thought back to all the times I’ve stood on the BOSU for squats and lunges and just to add an extra balance challenge during bicep curls and things like that. Needless to say, I won’t be doing that anymore 😉

I also like that with the Step 360 you can inflate one or both chambers, depending on your fitness level. Only inflating one makes it a little easier since there’s less instability and since you’re closer to the ground. I’ve been working out with it having both inflated and I’m continuously surprised by how much added intensity and difficulty the Step 360 gives me!

I have a workout for you today that I did on the Step 360 last week, but you can totally use a step if you don’t have a Step 360- I took this workout and amended it to teach in my UXF Burn class.

15 minute Step 360 HIIT workout

I had some fun taking videos and pictures for some of the moves to give you a better idea of what it looks like to be active on the Step.

Goblet Squat:

IMG_9317

Squat Hold w/Leg Touch Downs

http://vimeo.com/112118977

Burpee/Push-Up Step Jump

http://vimeo.com/112110765

I’ve already used the step for 3 workouts, so don’t be surprised if you see more workouts on here that use it!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite piece of at-home workout equipment? If you could have anything to add to your at-home workout collection, what would it be?

This Week: Workouts (lots of teaching!) & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Happy Monday! I’m hoping that we didn’t actually get as much snow as the weather was predicting all weekend… I’m also hoping that by the time this post goes up, I’ve successfully taught my first 6am class at my new gym 🙂

Last week was a really great week of quality workouts (not necessarily the quantity of workouts), mostly because it felt amazing to be back in the gym and teaching, partly because they actually were good workouts. Even though I stayed active last week, it wasn’t at my normal intensity and didn’t involve weights, so being back at the gym last week with normal intensity AND weights left me tired and sore. And, I kind of loved it! Even though I like to have a consistent workout plan and schedule each week, being forced to take a step back, slow down and change things up is a nice break 🙂

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I got up before my work trip to Dallas (like 5am style. yuck) to squeeze in a quick 30 minute workout: 10 minutes cardio, 10 minutes strength, 10 minutes core. I’m going to post it for you this week.
  • Tuesday- Nothing. My trip to Dallas was quick and I knew I wouldn’t be getting up to workout before the sessions, so I didn’t even bring my workout clothes!
  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before teaching UXF Burn. I did most of the workout with the class (except the cardio) so I was beat by the end.
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and Kickboxing. I randomly used body bars in SHRED and loved it!! I ended up making up most of the workout as we went so we could use the bars and it was a nice change up. Kickboxing was super high cardio and super sweaty. I hadn’t taught that class in 2 weeks so it was great to be back!
  • Friday- I walked about a mile… so mostly a rest day
  • Saturday- Taught kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA. There were 62 people… it.was.sweaty.

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  • Sunday- I filmed a standing ab routine (I’ll be posting it this week!) and did some at-home yoga. It was just what I needed!!

yoga

I was seriously SO sore from kickboxing on Saturday, so stretching out my muscles was wonderful. At least I wasn’t the only one sore… these girls were suffering in my pain, too!

sore

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I’m teaching my first 6am Muscle Work class in the morning (pending the snow doesn’t ruin that plan!!) and then teaching cardio kickboxing at the Watertown BSC after work. Nothing like a Monday double to start off the week!
  • Tuesday- I was invited to participate in a new program that’s being brought to Boston (more on that later!), so I’m going to Flywheel for the opening event. SO excited to get back in the saddle there!
  • Wednesday- Probably some cardio before teaching UXF Burn. I’m thinking it will be a lower-impact cardio based on my Monday and Tuesday workouts.
  • Thursday- My second double of the week! SHRED followed by Kickboxing.
  • Friday- REST 🙂
  • Saturday- Amy and I switched Saturday’s at the Y so I’ll be teaching kickboxing there again this weekend!
  • Sunday- I’m subbing a 9AM UXF Burn class at the Allston BSC- looking forward to being back at that gym- BSCers… come hang with me 🙂

I’m glad that last week ended up being a lighter workout week than normal (3 mostly “rest” days, which I never do in one week) because this week is a bit intense with teaching 7 classes. I’m going to make sure to listen to my body and instruct/coach rather than actually DO the workouts with the class when I feel like I’ve done too much.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

So much!! I’m excited to have a week where I am mostly back to my normal schedule, although, now that I think about it, it’s not really “normal” since I have a lot of things going on after work… hmmm…. I’m also looking forward to the blog event on Tuesday night- it’s always fun to meet fellow Boston bloggers. I’m looking to expand my blog reading list, so I know I’ll get to add a few to my list after Tuesday night 😉 I’m going to another blog event on Saturday afternoon- a wine tasting event. Umm, perfect!! Wine and blogging… after teaching… sounds like the perfect Saturday, right?

Giveaway coming up-

Be on the lookout for an awesome giveaway going up on the blog tomorrow. I think you ladies are going to LOVE it!

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? What are you looking forward to this week? If you had to pick one blog to tell me to read, what would it be?

Wednesday Workout: The Low Impact, No Equipment, No Contact Workout

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Aka, the workout I came up with so that I could get some movement in, but not be in any pain. I did this Wednesday night when my hands and feet were in so much pain that I couldn’t really do much that involved moving them. I knew I wanted to get some movement in, so I thought of a workout I could do that would get my heart rate up, yet still be low impact.

Although I didn’t use weights for this workout, if you wanted to intensify it, feel free to use weights- totally up to you. I did each mini set three times through before moving on to the next, but if you wanted to do each mini set once and work through all four of them before you repeated anything, that’s fine, too. The video I filmed will allow you to go through the workout like that- you’ll do each set once through and then you can repeat the circuit one or two times through.

Low Impact, No Equipment, Little Contact Workout

http://vimeo.com/87404997

As you can see, there aren’t any crazy moves here- just the basics, but you know what? They are effective if you do them deliberately and if you think about the muscles you’re using for each move. Since a bunch of you asked for more workout video’s/demo’s, I decided I’d try it out with this workout. I definitely lost count more than once (happens every time in my classes- it’s hard to count, instruct and cue!), but hopefully it will help guide you through the workout and feel like you’re with me in class when you do it! I have a lot of work to do in my video’s, but it’s super fun to do them so I hope to get more on the blog this year!

Let me know what you think of the workout and video. Remember to warm up and cool down properly!

Questions for you: Do you like following workout videos? What types of videos would you like to see more of?

Wednesday Workout: Tone Your Tush! {without equipment!}

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I’m really enjoying reading through your entries and comments on my giveaway post. I love hearing things you’d like to see more of on my blog, and one of the things that seemed to be a common request was more at home, no equipment necessary workouts. I couldn’t agree more! While I like posting the workouts I teach, I understand that many of you reading the blog are probably looking for shorter, equipment free workouts you can squeeze in before or after work. So, my goal is to start posting more workouts like this for you- starting today! This workout focuses on your legs and glutes, but I did throw in some optional core work in there, because let’s be honest, we can always use a little extra core work, right? The time intervals go as follows:

  • 60 seconds- strength. If you want to use weights, feel free, but the workout is meant to be a body weight workout, so explore your range of motion, speed of the exercises, etc. Try to get deeper with your squats or lunges, try to squeeze harder as you lift, try to stay lower in your pulses. Take it up a notch in this workout!
  • 40 seconds- cardio. The cardio moves I chose compliment the strength moves- gotta love the double burn!
  • 20 seconds- pulsing. If you didn’t feel the burn yet, you’ll feel it in this piece!

You have the option to do each set once through, twice through or three times through. You can do all 2 or 3 rounds of each set before moving on to the next, OR you can do each set once through and then repeat all of the sets again in a circuit format. Lots of options!

Tone Your Tush

All of these moves are pretty basic, but if you have questions, just shoot me a message and I’d be glad to explain!

Questions for you: Do you like working your upper or lower body more? Is this the type of workout you’re looking to see on the blog? Do you like body weight workouts?