Tag: Circuit workout

Wednesday Workout: 3 Circuit Full Body Workout

2 Comments

Oh, hello there! Remember me? While I haven’t blogged in what feels like forever, I have to say it’s not because I haven’t wanted to, but it’s more due to the fact that I’ve been limited on free time these days and have opted to spend that small amount of free time on other things- generally snuggling with RM and Francesca on the couch watching a little bit of TV before calling it a night. During busy times in particular, it’s all about choosing what is more important for YOU to do and I know that choosing relaxing on the couch or getting dinner out or making dinner is going to make me feel better than sitting down to blog. #sorrynotsorry 😉

With that said, I do have plenty of workouts in the backlog and figured I’d get one up for you today! This one does require the gym as I used some machines, but if you don’t have access to a gym you could easily swap those exercises out for something else that has a similar effect but can be done with dumbbells instead.

 

3-circuit-total-body-workout

If you’re looking for more, you can finish with this 5 minute finisher: AMRAP 5 Minutes- 10 lateral ball slams (total), 10 toe touches, 10s. plank hold

The way the workout works (that always sounds weird), is you’ll start with the 3 exercises in circuit 1 and do 10 of each and do 3 rounds. Then you’ll move on to circuit 2 and then circuit 3. Depending on how much time you have, feel free to try out the 5 minute finisher at the end! For the exercises requiring 2 sides (right and left), complete the 10 reps on each side (ie: 10 lunges on the right and left, each knee comes in 10 times for the mountain climbers, etc.). The moves are not anything too complicated so I challenge you to choose a heavier weight.

Please let me know if you try this 🙂 Happy Wednesday!!

Questions for you: How do you prioritize your free time when you have a busy schedule? 

Wednesday Workout: Stair Cardio Blast & Total Body Circuits

4 Comments

Hi there! I wanted to share a workout with you that I did last week. It left me incredibly sweaty, and even though it was likely due in part to the weather, I still think a lot of it was a result of the workout, which is a good enough reason to share, amiright?!

Even though I have some outdoor workouts on the blog, sometimes I really have to mentally force myself to do something other than just run. I don’t know what it is, but mentally I feel like that’s a better workout, although I really know steady-state cardio isn’t the best bang for your buck when it comes to high calorie burn both during and after your workout. But, that’s a whole post for another day! Today, let’s focus on the fact that I got outside and did a workout other than just running- a victory in and of itself!

I’ve always wanted to utilize the stairs and turf fields at the soccer fields near my house, so it was a perfect time to do that. These fields are awesome- they’ve got a baseball field and soccer field and a kiddie soccer area and playground area and everything is brand new! They’re usually packed at night with soccer leagues, but during the day it was just me and a few other random people, which was great because I was able to do my workout in privacy (for the most part).

What you’ll do for this workout (after your warm up) is do 4 sets of stair runs, all with 10 jumping jacks when you reach the top. If stairs don’t do it for you or aren’t available to you, feel free to do 4 cardio exercises for 30-45 seconds each (think: high knees, burpees, jumping jacks, jump squats, butt kicks, skaters, etc.). When the first stair set is complete, you’ll do the first bodyweight circuit 4 times through. Repeat the stairs and then do the next bodyweight circuit 4 times through. If you’re feeling good- go ahead and do the stairs for a 3rd time!
Continue reading →

Wednesday Workout: Outdoor Stations Bootcamp Workout

4 Comments

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.

IMG_9030

Have fun 🙂

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

Weekly Workouts: Taking some time to rest

5 Comments

Hi there! How was your weekend? Mine was really great, but I’ll catch you all up on that tomorrow. I like to use Monday’s as my “weekly workout” post day with the hope that it helps to get you motivated to stay on track and get workouts planned throughout the week. It’s harder to skip a workout when you’ve written it down and held yourself accountable, right?

As I mentioned on Friday, I decided to give myself a little break from any sort of intense physical activity over the weekend. My old injuries started to flare up and I was just feeling continuously exhausted, which told me it was time for a little T.O. from the gym and working out. Surprisingly enough, it was easier than I had imagined! And get this- I even enjoyed it 🙂 Friday is generally my rest day and Saturday and Sunday I kept busy with other things so I didn’t get antsy and feel like I needed to do something! I am going to take this week light, too, which is totally fine.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I was home in Maine and completed a workout in my parents living room. It was 2 short, 4 move circuits that I repeated 3 times before doing cardio and moving to the next circuit. I think I’ll post it for you this week because it left me sore!

IMG_4915

  • Tuesday- I got up and ran 3.5 miles before work. It was a beautiful morning for a run, but the last 3 blocks to my apartment were brutal as they are up a BIG hill.

mapmyrun

  • Wednesday- I ran 2 miles before teaching UXF Burn. It was a great class- lots of people and lots of energy!
  • Thursday- I taught another similar format to what I have been teaching as everyone has been loving it. It was 2 strength moves (15 reps each), 60 seconds of abs, 2 minutes of cardio. I repeated a workout in kickboxing from months ago, but I don’t think anyone noticed 😉
  • Friday- rest! I walked .5 miles to Shaw’s and back, but that’s it.
  • Saturday- nothing!
  • Sunday- I went to bed on Saturday night at 9:30 and didn’t get out of bed on Sunday until 8:15! After Friday night’s festivities, I cannot tell you how much that was needed; I woke up feeling like a million bucks on Sunday! Since the weather was amazing, I laced up my sneaks and went for a nice morning stroll, making random stops to do a little stretching and light core work. Felt great!

IMG_4989

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I think there is a Pilates class on Monday nights at the East Boston YMCA, so I may try to go to that.
  • Tuesday- Pending on how I’m feeling, I may run or just do some light cardio at the gym… or rest.
  • Wednesday- Teaching UXF Burn. If I do anything before class, it will just be a walk or something else low impact.
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and kickboxing. I think I may teach a tabata themed class in SHRED, thanks to a reminder from Athena!
  • Friday- Not sure! If I’m feeling rested, I may workout before or after work, but I’m going to play it by ear.
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA! yay!
  • Sunday- Not sure- I’d love to get to a BodyPump class 🙂

Questions for you: Do you like to take your rest days during the week or weekend? What’s your favorite Tabata combination?

Wednesday Workout Time! Full Body Circuit Workout

3 Comments

Hi! Wednesday’s are wonderful because once they are over, you know you are so much closer to the weekend!

Remember how I said how I taught some pretty tough workouts last week? I thought it would only be fair for me to share one with you, right?!

I taught this in my UXF class on Wednesday and it.was.awesome!

Full Body Circuit Workout

I liked this workout because it never got boring and even though there were some things I really dreaded (weighted burpees and weighted jump squats), there were lots of things I really liked (Lunge w/oblique twist and monkey sit with biceps curls), which made it go by really quickly! We got through 3 rounds, including a warm up and a few extra abs at the end. For the 3rd round, I did drop it down to 45 seconds instead of 60 to save some time.

007

For the weighted burpees, refer to the top two pictures above. Crab walk is bottom left and monkey sit with biceps curls is bottom right.

Couple of notes:

  • Weighted jump squats- you can either hold the weights by your sides and do small jumps, or you can just hold one weight with both hands and squat, touch it to the ground and when you jump up, push the weight up over your head to get that extra big reach.  If jumping is too much, just squat with the weights!
  • Double Knee Strikes- this is a Dynamax move:) This YouTube video shows the first part, but instead of throwing the ball after the 2 single knee strikes, bring both knees into your chest, then start over!
  • Wide leg lifts- instead of holding your legs/feet/heels together when you lift and lower your legs, bring them into a wide V. This works your obliques more!

I think that about covers it! As always, let me know if you have more questions:)

Questions for you: Ever done any of these moves before? Do you prefer to lift heavier weights for a small amount of reps? Or light weights for lots of reps?