Tag: dumbbell workout

Wednesday Workout: 4 Exercises, 4 Rounds

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Happy Wednesday!! I hope you guys are having a good week so far. Last weekend we went to a soccer game at Gillette Stadium and I was quickly reminded at how physically intense soccer is. The field is so big and they sprint up and down it like no other, even in the hot, sunny weather! It’s pretty incredible how athletic they are!

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That said, while this workout doesn’t include running (although I’ve been trying to run more!) and has nothing to do with soccer, it’s still worth sharing 😉

It’s quick AND it’s simple, and you only need a set of dumbbells so it’s another perfect summer or travel workout. If you don’t have dumbbells, you can do this with just bodyweight by subbing out the deadlifts with single leg deadlifts,  push-ups for the chest press and regular jumping jacks for the weighted jumping jacks – easy enough!

4 exercises, 4 rounds

I liked this workout because I loveeee deadlifts, although I don’t do them nearly as much as I do squats and lunges. I think it’s because unless I’m doing single leg deadlifts, I really like to do it with weights. With squats and lunges, even without weights I feel like I’m getting a lot out of the exercise.

I think these exercises are pretty common and likely don’t need much of an explanation, but if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

I hope you have a great day!

Questions for you: What’s getting you moving these days? Have you tried any new workouts?

Wednesday Workout: The “4X10 Lower/Upper/Core” Workout

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Good morning! Thank you all so much for your kind words/responses to my blog post yesterday. I never know how people will react to these posts or if people will be able to relate to them, so it’s nice to not only get feedback, but get positive feedback 🙂

I have a great workout for you today, now that we are on the topic of working out 😉 I did it the other day when I didn’t want to do traditional cardio and instead wanted to focus more on strength training. These days, I’m nowhere near where I was a while ago in terms of strength, but that’s okay. I’ve been teaching a lot and haven’t had consistent days for training which makes it hard for me to stay consistent with strength training enough to see gains. Instead, I’ve been lifting a little lighter, but incorporating more exercises into my workouts and moving through them with less rest which keeps the heart rate up.

For this workout, you can use dumbbells or kettlebells- I used kettlebells if you’re wondering. You’ll complete 10 reps of each exercise and move to the next with little to no rest, trying to save your rests for the break between rounds. You’ll do 4 rounds total. To finish, I threw in a quickie metabolic finisher for ya 😉

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The finisher consisted of 3 rounds of 20 seconds of rope slams and waiter carries there & back. Rope slams get me every.single.time!

I hope you have a great rest of your day- and maybe you’ll give this a try!

Questions for you: Do you go through phases with what types of workouts you do? Do you prefer heavier lifting or workouts like this that are done with lighter weights?

 

 

Wednesday Workout: Hotel Gym DB Circuit

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Hello! Halfway through the week- woohoo! Last week I shared a quickie bodyweight hotel room workout that I did while I was in Milwaukee. Today, I’m sharing a dumbbell circuit that I completed in the small hotel gym. The beauty with this workout is you just need a few sets of dumbbells (can do it with just one set if that’s all you have) and a small space in order to complete.

I did my cardio beforehand so this doesn’t really have much traditional cardio, but if you work through the exercises quickly with little to no rest between rounds (always keeping good form- that’s more important than speed!), you should definitely break a sweat not long after you get going.

Hotel gym DB circuit

  • Goblet Squats– try and go heavier than normal with this exercise since you’re only holding one dumbbell. Hold the butt of the dumbbell in your hands (like you’d hold a goblet of wine ;)… or a bowl!), place your feet in position so they are about shoulder width apart, toes and knees in line and at about a 45* angle to help open your hips so you can get lower. Squat down and then press back up.
  • Push Press– You can grab heavier weights than you’d use for a strict shoulder press since you’re using momentum from the legs to help push the weights up. Start with the weights at your shoulders and sink into the legs and then explode up and press your weights up to the ceiling. As your arms come down, allow yourself to sink back into your slight squat/knee bend to catch the momentum of bringing the weights back to starting position.
  • Burpee->row->push-up->press- How about that for a combo move?! For this one, you’re going through the moves of a traditional burpee, but adding in weights and some extra pieces to it. With your weights in your hands, squat down keeping your back straight. When the weights hit the ground, brace your core and jump back into a high plank. Do a row on the right, then the left, then a push-up before you jump your feet back into your hands and come up in that same flat back squat position. At the top, instead of jumping, just add a shoulder press.
  • Deadlift w/row- Standing with your feet about hips width apart with dumbbells in each hand, hinge forward from the hips into a standard deadlift position. You want your knees to be soft (ie: not locked out), but you don’t want to be bending from the knees (that would be squatting). Make sure to keep your core engaged, shoulders pulled back and chest open so that when you hinge forward, there’s no curve in your back. When you’re in the hinge position, squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull your elbows up & back. Release, come to standing & go again.
  • Up, Up, down, down plank- Starting in a high plank position (core engaged, shoulders pulled on your back, shoulders, elbows and wrists in line, neutral gaze & straight line from your head to your toes), drop to a low plank one arm at a time. Press back up into a high plank and repeat. Try to make sure you switch leads (the arm going down into the forearm plank first) each time and try to make sure your core stays braced and you aren’t lifting your hips as you move from high plank to low plank and back up to high plank. Check out this video if you want a visual.

There ya go! I tried to hit on all the major muscle groups to get the biggest bang for my buck. Remember to do a proper warm up and cool down, as you should before and after every workout. I’d love to know if you try this!

Questions for you: Do you use hotel gyms or try to do something outside, in your hotel room or at a local studio?