Cardio Super Sets

January 15, 2014January 13, 20146 Comments

Happy hump day! I’ve got a fun workout for you today. I played around with some different compound moves, as well as the format, to create this workout. In my UXF Burn classes, we are regimented to a 60 second time interval for most formats. While I like teaching in 60 second intervals (it gives time for me to demo, coach, give tips and walk around to correct form), I hate actually doing 60 second interval workouts. I find myself sick of the exercise by the time 45 seconds rolls around and usually cop out on the last 15 seconds (yes, fitness instructors do that too). So, I would rather count reps or do shorter time intervals (and give it my all throughout the whole interval) than do 60 seconds half-assed. Anyone else like this?

That’s why I like this workout. I set it up to be 30 second timed intervals of a compound strength move (most bang for your buck), followed by 30 seconds of a cardio move. From there, we moved right to the core move for 30 seconds and that same cardio move, again for 30 seconds. We repeated that once before moving on to the next set. I didn’t realize it when I was making up the workout, but that’s a lot of cardio in each set! I love cardio, so I didn’t mind 😉

Some the moves were hard to describe, so here are some links/pictures to help:

Squat, Twist & Curl– it’s 50 seconds in!
Calf raise, front DB raise & row
Forward lung & press
Side plank with T raise
Chest Press & Leg Lifts

1 Legged Tricep Kickback

1 armed/1 legged v-sit

If you have other questions on any of the moves, don’t hesitate to ask!

Let me know if you try it- you definitely won’t be bored during it 🙂

Questions for you: What’s your feeling on timed intervals? What makes workouts go by fast for you?

Wednesday Workout: 3-2-1 UXF Burn (Cardio, Strength, Core) Workout

November 20, 2013November 18, 201312 Comments

Hi there! How are you doing today?! I’m finally starting to feel back to my normal self (physically); last week/weekend really took it out of me with all the working out I did! I owe you recaps for MANIA and the Fenway Spartan Sprint, but I’m still digesting everything I learned at MANIA and want to wait for the professional photos from the Spartan race to be posted.

I usually teach a 60 second strength and core format in my UXF Burn class on Wednesdays, but last week I decided to change it up and bring back the newest UXF format in my class: 3-2-1. We are supposed to teach it with 3 minutes of the SAME cardio move (ie: burpees), but my class hated that so I decided to switch it up and do 3 different moves for 60 seconds each in each set. I asked them what they thought and they said they liked it this way much better. Another thing they like about this workout is once you finish the strength and core exercises in each set, you’re done with those exercises for the rest of the class. If you don’t like circuits or repeating things, this is your type of workout!

Doing the same strength exercise for 2 minutes straight can be tough… and boring… so I changed it up and had them do a few different exercises per strength set. Think: OH tricep extensions, one and two armed tricep kickbacks, pulsing, changing up the speed, etc. For squats, we did narrow, wide, normal width, plié, pulsing, different pacing. It helped to keep people engaged and pass the time more quickly than just standing there for 2 minutes of bicep curls.

I added in some new moves, so here some descriptions and links in case they are new to you, too!

Around the clock bicep curls: start out curling the weights in front of you at 12 o’clock, then move so you’re curling at 1 and 11 or 2 and 10 (or in between those two… basically at a 45 degree angle), then move so you’re curling at 9 and 3 for a wide curl. Make your way back to 12 and keep going like that.
Pendulum lunges: step forward into a lunge with your right foot then step back into a reverse lunge with that right foot. Do the same on the left side.
Plank Push-Up- I can’t find a video (and I’m in my jammies so I’m not about to video myself!), but you start out in a forearm plank and then slide your shoulders back and push your butt up and back so that you’re in a dolphin plank/downward dog pose. Bring yourself back down to a plank and repeat. If you work slowly, this is great for your lower abs!
Side plank with hip drops

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask! This workout can be cut back if you don’t have a lot of time… all you have to do is pick a few sets and rock it!

Questions for you: What is the most boring exercise for you to do? Have you done a 3-2-1 workout like this?

Wednesday Workout: Supersets, Tabata Cardio & Core

August 28, 2013August 26, 20132 Comments

Happy hump day!!

GEICO Hump Day Camel Commercial – Happier than a Camel on Wednesday from Steffen Bieser on Vimeo.

That GEICO video makes me laugh SO hard.

This workout won’t make you laugh, though 😉 I taught this last week in SHRED as I was in the mood to change things up. I’ve been doing a lot of stations workouts, timed workouts, 15 reps workouts, mini circuit workouts and as much as I love those, I was in the mood for something different. The workout is slightly inspired by BodyPump with regards to the rep pacing (2 count down and up, 3 count down 1 count up, etc.). It’s so easy to fly through reps or max out your reps in a timed interval, but when you change it up and move slowly and deliberately through the exercises, you’ll notice a big difference! I felt some serious burn during class!

If you have any questions, as always, feel free to contact me. The moves are fairly straight forward (nothing too fancy or unheard of), but I’m always willing to explain things if it’s confusing!

Let me know if you try this!

Questions for you: Are you a fan of supersets? Would you prefer timed intervals, a set number of reps, or changing up the pace of the reps?

Wednesday Workout: Compound Exercise Supersets, Core, Tabata Cardio

June 26, 2013June 24, 20134 Comments

Hey everyone! I was totally sore after the workout that I taught in SHRED last Thursday, so I figured it would be a good one to share with you this week! What I liked about this workout was the fact that we did more than 10-12 or 15 reps per exercise, AND the fact that they WERE reps and not 60 second intervals. I think people tend to keep better form when we do reps together vs. timed intervals where people go at their own pace (people either rush through the exercises to get a high number of reps OR they don’t push themselves and take breaks).

In class, we lifted to the 32-count beat and I played around with the speed, but for the purposes of making this easier for you guys to take to the gym with you, I have you doing 20 reps.

Most of these compound moves are ones you have seen on here many times, but if you have questions, please let me know! This workout took about 35-40 minutes to complete, so it was perfect for class once I added my warm up and cool down. If you’re running short on time, you can always choose just a couple of sets to do instead of doing all four. Or, you could pick one set and repeat it two or three times- lots of ways to play around with this workout, so give it a shot!

Wednesday Workout: 10 Stations Circuit

June 12, 2013June 11, 20132 Comments

Well hello! Greetings from Atlanta! It’s so much hotter here than it is back home- yeesh! I’m not complaining, I just wish I could sunbathe poolside with a cute cabana boy bringing me cocktails and treats all day. What? Don’t tell me that doesn’t sound lovely!

Anyway, since I won’t be around to teach tonight, I wanted to share a fun workout that I taught last week in SHRED. I was feeling Monday’s BodyPump & Wednesday’s 3 mile run and UXF Burn workouts, so I wanted to teach something where I could instruct and demo, rather than actually DO all of the workout with the class. This ended up being perfect because I could jump in at the stations I liked and needed that day (core ones, in particular) and avoid the ones for which I was sore or the high cardio ones since I was teaching Kickboxing after.

When teaching circuits, I always like to throw in a little HIIT action in between each round to get everyone’s heart rates up and get them pumped for the next round. These are most of my favorite exercises (at the moment- I seem to get new favorites every couple of weeks), so I thought it was a pretty fun workout! If you have any questions, obviously let me know! This can totally be done at home, too. You can do a plank hold on the ground if you don’t have a stability ball and you can do biceps curls balancing on one leg (which still works your core like balancing on a BOSU does) and normal jump squats.

In other workout news, I had a really awesome workout on Monday at the Wellington BSC after work. As I have mentioned, I’ve been really into lifting heavier when I can and since I ran 5 miles on Sunday, I decided to make Monday a light cardio day and focus on heavier lifting. I warmed up with 15 minutes on the elliptical and then did the following, which you’ve seen many times on the blog!

5 stair runs (up and down=1, so repeat 5 times)
25 reps of lower body exercises: squats, lunges (each leg), dead lifts, plié squats. I did 50lbs here, which is about as much as I can do unless I am using a machine and don’t have to lift the weight over my head to get the bar in place!
5 stair runs
25 reps of upper body exercises: isolation curls (25 each arm) while sitting on a BOSU, 1 armed triceps extensions while balancing on 1 leg (25 each side), front & side lat raises (on each side) and reverse flys. (I couldn’t find the weights I needed, so I did 12.5lbs for everything except the lat raises- I used 8lbs as I am still babying my shoulder
5 stair runs
25 core exercises: BOSU plank tilts, weighted side dips balancing on BOSU, Russian Twists, straight armed plank with leg lifts
5 stair runs
25 squat & chest press, 25 curtsy lunges with OH press, 30 second side plank each side, 1 minute plank to finish it off

Fun workout and I was SO sweaty, mostly from lifting!