Tag: Wednesday Workout

Wednesday Workout {Valentine’s Day Edition}: The Love Your Body Workout

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Good morning and happy hump day! I hope you’ve all gotten yourself shoveled out and prepared for another storm tomorrow 😦 I’m REALLY hoping it passes and doesn’t really amount to anything.

Since Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and since I love themed workouts, I’ve dedicated today’s workout to the theme of this month: Love. My first year of blogging I posted this core workout and last year I posted this full body workout (which, looking back on looks tough… and one I want to try again!). This year, I’m focusing on exercises I’m loving these days. They are exercises that make me love and appreciate my body for all it does for me and these moves make me feel strong, yet challenge me and show me areas open for improvement.

Loving your body for all it does for you is SO important. I’ve spent too many years looking at myself in the mirror and pointing out all my flaws and giving myself everything BUT love. Over the years, and as I’ve started strength training, I’ve realized how my body is so much more than just how I look in the mirror; this has been one of the best mental shifts/changes I could have ever made. I may not have “perfect” legs or arms or a butt without dimples, but you know what? I have a strong body and am so proud of the work I’ve put into making myself healthier and fitter and stronger and that is worth more than an image in the mirror.
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Wednesday Workout: 20-10 Triple Threat Workout

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Hello! Before I get to the workout for today, I wanted to let you know that RM was able to get a discount code for the Tre Olive tree adoption!! So exciting! Use B2B15 to get 15% off your purchase 🙂

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And now for the workout! As I mentioned last week, I’ve been all about short, but effective workouts lately. While I love working out and love days when I can be there for however long I want, these days the time is just not there… and I don’t want to make the time for it to be there. It’s just not worth it! So, this is another short, but good workout that left me pretty breathless. I did it after I did Athena’s chimney workout, so I’m sure that’s part of the reason it left me breathless, but still! It’s a great workout on its own or as a finisher.

The format is straight forward, as it’s just 20 reps of one exercise then 10 of the next exercise in the super set and you do each super set 3 times through before moving on to the next.

20-10 Triple Threat Workout

I believe I used a 12 pound medicine ball and had 4 risers on the step- feel free to go heavier and higher or lighter and lower!

Questions for you: Wall balls- love ’em or hate ’em? What’s your favorite medicine ball weight?

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: 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?

Wednesday Workout: 15 Minute Full Body HIIT Workout

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Happy Wednesdayyyy! I have a workout for you today that I adapted from a workout that I taught in UXF Burn. The way this one works, is you work for 45 seconds and rest for 15 seconds before you move to the next exercise. I set it up so that you do an upper or lower (or combo) strength move followed by a core move and lastly a cardio move. This pattern repeats for the entire workout and I promise you’ll feel this the next day. I did it after I ran a mile or 2 on the treadmill and it was a perfect finisher!

15 minute HIIT workout

I’ll warn you, those back to back lunge then lung hold exercises are killer! I also found that the only time my heart rate really came down at all was during the core exercises. I burned over 300 calories just by 2 rounds of this… not too shabby!

If you’re looking for other HIIT workouts or workouts with a similar format, check out these:

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bootcamp HIIT Workout

Wednesday Workout: 30 minute total body tabata workout

Wednesday Workout: 30 minute burpee spectacular workout
Questions for you: How long do you like to work out for? If you’re doing a HIIT workout, what do you like for work/rest times?