Tag: no equipment necessary

Wednesday Workout: 24 Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout

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Hello! I’m popping in quickly to share a workout I did in a one-on-one training session with one of my bootcampers last week (Hi, Kerri!). She specifically told me to post it because it sufficiently kicked her butt in less than a half hour- and with our busy schedules these days, who doesn’t want that?! I am all about short, but effective workouts and this one satisfies both of those things. Even better? It can be done anywhere since it requires no equipment- no excuses 😉

The way it works is I picked 2 strength moves in each set and tried to compliment those with the tabata cardio rounds. You’ll do the strength moves for 30 seconds each and 2 rounds then you’ll do the tabata cardio (20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest X8 rounds= total of 4 minutes).

24 minute bodyweight tabata workout
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Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Count Down Body Weight Workout

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Since I know December is a busy month for most people, I’ve decided to keep my Wednesday workouts for you on the shorter side. But, don’t be fooled- just because they’re short doesn’t mean they are not effective and it certainly doesn’t mean they won’t be challenging 😉

I did this one last week as part of my Happy, Healthy, Fit Challenge, since the challenge required a body weight workout. I love body weight workouts for many reasons:

  • they can be done anywhere
  • you don’t need equipment
  • they’re effective
  • you can make standard moves more difficult by changing things up
  • you can choose the format you want to use

…the list goes on and on.

For this particular workout, I changed it up and did a format that I don’t generally do: count down. I often get bored with workouts that repeat the same handful of moves throughout, but lately I’ve actually been enjoying those, so that’s where the idea for this one came. I picked some good moves that worked all the key areas: upper body, lower body, cardio and core. You’ll start with 10 reps of each exercise, then do 9, then 8 and so on. When you get down to 1 rep, do 10 instead of 1… that was the killer round!

20 minute count down workout

A member was early for my class so I asked if he wanted to join… we were both dripping by the end of it! And the best part was that the whole thing took less than 20 minutes. Have fun!

Questions for you: Do you like count down workouts? Do you like body weight workouts?

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bootcamp HIIT Workout

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Good morning! Did you guys enjoy my second round of Cardio Kickboxing Combinations that I shared with you last week? It was fun to do! If you have any other suggestions for posts, don’t hesitate to let me know because I like knowing I’m writing about something people want to read.

Today I’m sharing a piece of the bootcamp workout I taught last week which successfully kicked all of our butts! HIIT workouts will do that to you, though. In case you’re new to the term, HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training and HIIT workouts are generally a bout of cardio or “work” period (lasting anywhere from 15-60 seconds, usually) followed by a short bout of rest (10-30 seconds). The point is that you work hard for a set amount of time, knowing you will have a set of time to rest after your work period. You get to catch your breath, bring your heart rate down then bring it right back up- a sure way for max calorie burn!

In this workout, you’ll work for 45 seconds and rest for 15 seconds. I have 20 exercises, ranging from cardio to core to legs to upper body, so you’ll feel like you’re getting a full body workout. If you’re feeling up to it, repeat the circuit once more!

Bootcamp HIIT Workout

Here’s an explanation for some of the exercises:

-Trunk Swing (from Shape April 2014)- Sit with feet extended in front of you, hands by your hips with your finger tips pointing towards your toes. Lift your hips up, bringing yourself into a reverse table top position (press those hips up!), then lower your hips and bring yourself back to the starting position, but don’t let your butt touch the ground! You’ll be holding yourself a few inches from the ground by pressing your palms into the ground. Holy tricep burn!

-Line Jump (from Shape April 2014)- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, bend knees and jump forward (pretending to jump over a line), landing on just 1 foot. Bend forward from the hips and touch a hand to the ground. Hop back to starting position and repeat landing on the other foot.

-Plank Jumps- In a high plank position, jump both feet up to your right hand, jump them back to a high plank, jump them up to your left hand. Repeat for entire 45 seconds. Too difficult? Step them up to your hands instead of jumping them.

-Plank with Knee Drops- In a low plank, alternate dropping your knees to the ground. More advanced? Do both at the same time.

-Walking Planks Right and Left- In a high plank position, move 3 steps to the right and 3 to the left.

-Squat Jump with Heel Clicks- Instead of doing just a regular squat jump, click your heels together when you jump up.

If you have any other questions about the exercises listed above, please don’t hesitate to contact me! This workout left me huffing and puffing- I hope it does the same for you!

Questions for you: Do you like HIIT workouts? If so, what’s your favorite one? Do you like 30 second, 45 second or 60 second intervals?

 

Wednesday Workout: My Favorite Cardio Blasts {5 of them!}

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Good morning! How’s your week going so far? I’ve got a fun post for you today, but before we get to that, did you catch my post last week on how do get your workout mojo back? I had a blast writing it and have received a lot of positive feedback from it, so I’m happy it helped!

Today, though, I’ve got 5 “Cardio Blast” workouts for you that will surely leave you “sucking wind”, as I appropriately named one of them! As I’ve mentioned before (and included in my UXF-inspired workouts), when I teach UXF Burn I include a cardio blast in between sets. I love it because the cardio blasts allow people to work at their own pace and really push themselves if they want to be pushed. I can also include a lot of different cardio exercises which helps to keep boredom and dread at bay.

My favorite cardio blasts include a pyramid format where you either work from 60 to 50 to 40 and so on until you get to 10 reps OR you work the opposite way where you go 10 reps to 20 reps up to 60 reps (usually a 60 second plank). However, today I’ve tried to give you a good variety using different formats and exercises so you can play around with all of them. They are great on their own if you’re looking for a quick cardio workout that will leave you winded, or they’re a great addition to a strength workout (either between sets or at the end). I hope you enjoy them as much as my members do…. 😉

Shoulder Burner Cardio Blast Core burner cardio blast Tabata Cardio Blast sucking wind cardio blast Burpees and High Knees cardio blast

Let me know if you try any of these! Also, big thanks to Athena for sharing her cardio finishers, which is where I got the idea for the Burpee and High Knees Cardio Blast- it’s such a fun (and challenging!) cardio format- I love it!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite type of cardio? Do you have a favorite format? Suggestions for a new cardio blast that I can include in my classes?

 

 

Wednesday Workout: Five 4th of July Themed Workouts

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Hi, friends! In honor of the 4th of July on Friday, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to some fun, 4th of July themed workouts! I am sure there are others who will be traveling for the holiday, and thus not able to get to your normal classes or workouts at the gym (I won’t have equipment and won’t want to dedicate as much time to my workouts when I’m on the Cape!), so I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of quick, efficient, no or little equipment necessary workouts. I’m always on the hunt for new at-home workouts to do, so hopefully we can all benefit from this 🙂

4th of July themed at-home workouts

Wednesday Workout: 4th of July Workout!– I made this workout up last year and remember doing it on the 4th of July- I liked it. Star jumps are killer 😉

4th of July Stars & Stripes Workout– I also did this workout last year! While it requires equipment, it’s a great workout

Red, White & Burpee– Definitely trying this!!!

Tone It Up Stars & Stripes Workout– There are 2 workouts in this link and I think I’ll be doing the first one since it doesn’t require equipment!

Fourth of July Firework Workout– Super cute names for the moves in this workout, including some all together new-to-me moves, so I’ll definitely be incorporating some, if not all, of this workout into my weekend!

I am really looking forward to trying out some of these workouts. Sometimes, one of the best motivators for me to get a workout in (and be excited about it) is to find NEW ONES to try! Let me know if you try any of these… or, if you found a good one that you’d think I’d like, please link me to it in the comments!

Cheers to a happy and fit fourth!