Tag: Wednesday Workout

Wednesday Workout: 16 Minute Bodyweight & Resistance Band AMRAP Workout

Leave a comment

Good morning! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve a. blogged or b. shared a workout with you. But today, I’m here to do both- I’m such an over-achiever!

Before I get to that, though, as one of Boston Children’s #CorporateCupCoaches, I wanted to quickly share a little bit about an event in the city on Thursday. Boston Children’s Hospital is inviting 74 Boston corporations to participate in a field day. The nature of the day is all about helping kids! Each team is fundraising to support the amazing work of Boston Children’s Hospital. With over $550,000 raised to date, you can support the cause by clicking this link. #BCHWintheCup

As the summer days/weeks/months tend to be busier than other times in the year, I find myself doing many more quickie workouts, many of which do not require going to the gym. I don’t know if it’s because I work in an office all day, but unless I’m teaching at gym, I just can’t bring myself to actually GO to the gym for a workout when it’s a beautiful day outside. I’d much rather be doing something outside: biking, running, walking, or simply taking my workout outside.

Case in point: on Monday, I didn’t have time to get to the gym during lunch, but I knew I would have time to squeeze in a quickie workout before teaching my 6pm Seaport Sweat class so I packed my resistance band, found space and got to work.

I did a 4 minute warm up, 16 minute circuit and then when I realized I had some more time, I threw in a 4 minute upper body AMRAP. Done and Done in less than 25 minutes, also while working on my tan and getting fresh air 😉

Here are links to some of the exercises:

And your bonus upper body 4 minute AMRAP is here:

  • Biceps curls x10
  • Shoulder press x10
  • Bent over row x10
  • Triceps OH extension x10

Repeat the above exercises as many times in 4 minutes!

The beauty of workouts like this is that they don’t take long to complete, so it isn’t a big commitment, which can be a make or break in terms of whether or not you get a workout in. I also love that it’s so portable- who doesn’t have room in their gym bag for a simple resistance band?!

I hope you try this! If you do, let me know by tagging me on Social Media!

Questions for you: How have your workouts changed (if at all) since the summer months have been here?

Wednesday Workout – Dumbbell Countdown Full Body Workout

1 Comment

Good morning! If you follow me on Instagram and watch my stories, then you already have a sneak peek into what today’s workout is 😉 I had a rare weekend where I was actually home in Boston and had the time/desire to do a Sunday workout. I had rested on Thursday and Friday due to a weird cold, so by the weekend I was itching for movement. I went to a BagsXBeats class at EBF on Saturday morning, but knew I’d be short on time on Sunday morning before heading up to Newburyport for a bridal shower so I opted to workout at home. Plus, these days if I’m not teaching or taking a class, I really prefer to workout at home because it saves so much time since I don’t have to factor in commuting time!

Oh yeah, and it was a beautiful day on Sunday so I wanted to be outside as much as possible. I could’ve gone for a run, but I really wanted to lift weights so I grabbed my weights, a resistance band and my speaker and went out to the patio to get my workout on. The way it worked was I started with 10 reps of an exercise and then on the second round I did 8 reps, then 6, then 4 and then 2. I would’ve gone back up the ladder, but I ran out on time (and I was beat!!). In between each exercise I did 15 dumbbell swings and that number stayed consistent throughout each round.

Confused? Looked like this: Single arm clean, squat & press X10 reps right & left then 15 DB swings, then 10 push-ups, then 15 swings, then 15 biceps curls to a shoulder press, then 15 DB swings… get it? All those swings really got my heart rate up and kept it up throughout the workout!

If you’re unclear on anything, check out these YouTube videos:

I REALLY liked this workout – both with regards to the format AND the exercises I chose. I was sweating and huffing and puffing, and on Monday (and part of Tuesday) I was pretty sore in the leggies! While this does require equipment, it’s really quite minimal considering it’s doable with a set of dumbbells and a resistance band!

Questions for you: When you’re working out on your own, do you prefer a gym or doing it in your home?

Wednesday Workout: 15 Minute Bodyweight Cardio Blast

Leave a comment

Short workouts have been my jam lately. With a busy work schedule, training a coworker during lunch, and teaching, finding time to get in a long workout for myself just hasn’t been in the cards. I’ve also been cutting back on running because my hip has been bothering me, although now I’m not sure it’s actually a result from running or something else (going to see a PT soon). That said, last Friday I was working from home and wanted to get in a quick workout at the end of the day before we went out to dinner. I didn’t have a lot of time and it was pouring out so I was forced to do another at-home workout. Luckily I love working out at home and have most of the basics necessary in order to get a decent workout in.

I was craving cardio because I was sore from strength workouts during the week, but I didn’t want to do steady state cardio in the form of riding my spin bike so I put together a quickie bodyweight cardio blast using some of my favorite heart-pumping exercises.

These are all fairly common moves that are on B2B, but since I did share them on my Insta story, I thought I’d upload to YouTube so you could watch if you wanted a refresher.

If you find yourself traveling this summer, or just short on time, consider knocking this workout out! It doesn’t take long, but you’ll find yourself sweaty and tired by the end!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite cardio exercise? What gives you the most bang for your buck?

Wednesday Workout: Jump Rope & Bodyweight Workout

Leave a comment

Hey there! I know everyone is saying this, but I am really ready for some sunshine in my life. The past handful of days have been so yucky – cold & rainy & dark. GIVE ME SPRING!!!

This workout was a result of my refusal to go to the gym when it was finally nice last Thursday. I had all intentions of going and doing an upper body workout with weights, but I knew my body needed a healthy dose of Vitamin D more than it needed the weights 😉 Luckily, I always carry a jump rope in my gym bag so I was able to incorporate it into this bodyweight workout. And yes, I’m still calling it a bodyweight workout because I’m not lifting or moving anything than my bodyweight. If you don’t have a jump rope, just make pretend- regardless, it still It doesn’t require weights of any sort so it’s still something you can easily do anywhere.

The way this workout works is you’ll start every pyramid set with 100 jump ropes (can be done without a jump rope if you don’t have one). From there, you’ll do 10 reps of a lower body exercise, 8 reps of an upper body exercises & 5 reps of a cardio exercise. Then you’ll start with that cardio exercise again (with a short break in between), go up to the 8 reps of upper body and 10 of lower body and then finish with 100 jumps. Sounds confusing, but hopefully my diagram below will help!

This workout is great because it’s simple in terms of what the exercises are – no brain work, just physical work. SLDL= single leg deadlift, which you’ll do on the right and left.

If you’re traveling this summer, consider taking this workout with you – it’s perfect when you want a quickie, no gym required workout.

Happy Wednesday!

Questions for you: Do you carry any pieces of workout equipment with you in your gym bag?

Wednesday Workout: Vegas Workout #2

Leave a comment

If you’ve been following B2B for a while, you know that I love working out on vacation. I don’t workout because I feel like I have to, but more because it’s something I enjoy and it’s something that makes me feel good. Plus, it gives me energy for the day, especially if we may have had one too many cocktails the night before 😉 Going on vacation generally means you’re out of your routine a bit, whether that’s because of the food you’re eating, how you’re sleeping, what you have planned, etc., so for me, I like keeping a bit of consistency by trying to workout when I can since that’s something that’s so ingrained in my daily life when I’m not traveling.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- just because I workout on vacation doesn’t mean the intensity or duration is anything like it is when I’m back home, because vacation is a time to relax and get off schedule a bit. What it means is that I try to move how I can, when I can. It may mean a quickie 10 minute burst of something in the hotel room (if I don’t bring sneakers), it may mean a 2-3 mile jog, it may mean going to the hotel gym if it’s nice. In the case of the Wynn, the gym was SO nice that both RM and I went. But, we went under one condition: the workout couldn’t be more than 25 minutes. DONE! No problem there!

Since we had already walked over 10K steps by the time we made it to the gym, I decided that was enough steady-state cardio for me and therefore opted for a quickie 20 minute HIIT workout. I generally try and keep it to 5 or 6 exercises so I can really focus on power, speed & form (and “feel the burn”), which is not really as attainable when you include any more exercises than that in a short 20 minute timeframe (in my opinion). That said, I figured out what I wanted to do, got the necessary equipment and got to work. The gym was crowded so I found a small spot and made due with that!

 

And before I knew it, we were changed, sitting poolside, sipping the most delicious (albeit highly expensive) margaritas & soaking up the sun. Getting in movement doesn’t have to be hard. The act of working out doesn’t have to be hard (the workouts can be, though!!). Making the decision to do something good for yourself doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. Could we have gone on vacation, not worked out or walked a lot, not chosen some healthier, veggie-filled meals & lighter drinks and gorged ourselves on all the indulgences that Vegas has to offer? Sure. But at the end of the day, living like that doesn’t make me feel good so I don’t see the point in doing it.

In case you missed the first workout in Vegas, you can find that here.

Question for you: What are your “go to” exercises when you’re short on time?