Tag: workout

Wednesday Workout – Dumbbell Countdown Full Body Workout

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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

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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

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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?

Workouts I’m Loving {and all less than 45 minutes!}

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Happy Monday! Did you guys have a good weekend? RM and I did- we had a datenight, did lots of biking and ended Sunday night with some meal prep & relaxing- can’t go wrong with any of that!

Today, I wanted to share a little glimpse into the workouts I’ve been doing lately. I, like most (I assume), tend to go through phases with my workouts; sometimes I’m all about running, sometimes I’m all about lifting heavy, sometimes I just want to do a quickie workout, etc. While I like to keep some sort of consistency when it comes to my workouts (it helps me track progress and see fitness gains), I try to listen to my body and do the types of workouts that I’m craving as I crave them. Otherwise, I will end up dreading and not enjoying my workout which is a recipe for disaster!

That said, here’s what I’ve been finding myself doing lately:

  • Boxing- As an EBF instructor, I try to get to at least one boxing class a week. Partly to learn from other instructors in terms of combinations, format, music, etc. (I think it’s so important for instructors to go to other people’s classes to help them grow & learn more), but partly because it’s a great – and fun- workout! It also helps me get to know the members and other instructors better, which is especially important at a place like EBF since it’s hugely community oriented.

  • Spinning- Lately, running has been bothering my hip 😦 so I’ve been doing more spinning. Without fail, even a quickie spin sesh will get me sweating and feeling pumped up. It’s especially more fun with my new TIEM Athletic shoes!

  • Biking– Spinning is fun, but riding a real bike outside is more fun! I’ve been enjoying the nicer weather as it’s allowed me to ride my bike to the gym to teach (gets me there faster than driving!). RM and I have also been doing a lot of biking which is a great way to spend time with each other and be outside!

  • Quickie HIIT workouts- Unless I’m teaching an hour long class (which I rarely do these days), I don’t want to be a the gym for a long time which means I fully embrace quickie 20-30 minute workouts. Some are more intense than others, but none last longer than 30 minutes. I’ve been going to the gym at lunch as much as possible which is another reason why I can’t spend a long time working out. The best part? My body has been responding so much better to these shorter workouts! I feel quick & strong and I’m looking more buff!

  • Upper body workouts- I want big, beautifully strong shoulders so I’ve been putting more focus on upper body/shoulder focused workouts. Only a few weeks/month into this slight shift and I feel like I’m already seeing changes, which just goes to show that you don’t have to spend hours in the gym a day in order to see or feel changes. You just have to make sure what you’re doing is the best use of your time and going to effectively challenge you.

(also- loved Lauren’s Fit in 15 mini workout series- so great to get quickie, but effective, workouts in!)

  • Outdoor workouts- With the warmer weather *mostly* here, it makes me want to get outside as much as possible. Last week, I brought a resistance band and jump rope to work and went outside during my lunch to get a quickie workout in.

There you have it! Per usual, I try to keep a good balance of cardio, strength, HIIT, etc. in my workout schedule so that I’m not overworking any one thing. I’d like to add more yoga into my schedule, but I’ve been teaching so much lately that I haven’t wanted to take an hour-hour and a half to get to a class when I’m not teaching. In the next few weeks, my schedule should lighten up a bit so I will absolutely get to yoga!

I’d love to hear from you- what workouts are you loving right now? Have you been working out outside? Do you find yourself more or less motivated to workout when the weather gets nice?

Five on Friday {5.12.17}

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Good morning- TGIF! I don’t know about anyone else, but it’s been quite a week! First , one day I dialed into the wrong conference call, next, I emailed Lauren asking why I didn’t get my first workout in the Fit in 15 quickie series, only to have her tell me it starts NEXT week, haha I think between still battling a head cold, exhaustion from the weekend and teaching so many classes, I can’t keep things straight!

So, let’s keep it simple today- here are some things of possible interest!

  • Mother’s Day Pink Ribbon Low Cut Cleat– New Balance is offering a Mother’s Day edition of the baseball cleats some of the pros (Dustin Pedroia, Robby Scott, Hanley Ramirez) are wearing these days. The pink accents represent the fact that they are part of New Balance’s Lace Up for the Cure® Collection, meaning that a portion of the proceeds go to breast cancer research, as well as the Susan G. Komen organization/foundation. As a bonus offer, if you purchase these cool looking cleats, you’ll also win a pair of pink CFX Pro batting gloves! I absolutely love all that New Balance does to support cancer (especially breast cancer) research- they are truly a company all about giving back.

  • Free Spin Class at B/Spoke Wellesley– This Sunday (Mother’s Day),  B/Spoke Wellesley is offering a FREE RIDE to sons & daughters who bring their mom’s to either the 8:15am or 9:30am class. In addition to a free class, you’ll be entered in a raffle for the chance to win gift cards to various other stores in the area such as Gretta Cole, Gretta Luxe, MiniLuxe, Cocobeet & more! If you are interested, email Grace Goodearl at ggoodearl@bspokestudios.com.
  • Gold Medal Bootcamp– On Thursday, May 18th at 6pm there will be a really cool workout opportunity in Boston Common. EF Education First and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, DeeDee Trotter are hosting a FREE, public outdoor workout! Cherry on top? Eliza of Kick It by Eliza (duh!)will also be there an running you through a “Kick It” aspect of the workout. There will be music, refreshments, a New Balance pop-up shop and more that you can check out after the event. If you’re interested in this, make sure you register here. Maybe DeeDee will even let you touch her gold medals?! 😉
  • Sweat, Shop, Snack {Round 1}- On Wednesday, I hosted my second class/event at the New Balance Flagship Store in Brighton. While it was certainly a much smaller crowd (so many people told me they couldn’t go because of other plans- May is a busy month!), the crew who showed up was fierce! Most of them had never done kickboxing before, but you could never tell by looking at them. They caught on SO fast and were so energetic- laughing and smiling throughout the whole workout! Didn’t hurt that DJ Sprino was crushing it on the turn tables (is that still a thing people say?!), per usual. The staff at NB are all SO nice and helpful- they make having events there so easy. Huge thanks to Purity Organics for providing juices again, Hint Water for providing delicious waters and GoMacro for providing macrobars for people to munch on after class! I won’t be doing any more events there until the fall as Seaport Sweat starts up in a few weeks which will add more classes to my schedule and leave less time for other events.

  • GoMacro- GoMacro recently reached out to me regarding their company and product. I had actually tried Go Macro bars when they were on sale at Whole Foods and absolutely LOVED them, so I jumped on board to work with them. For those of you who may not be familiar with GoMacro, it’s a family-owned vegan nutrition bar company based in Viola, WI. They started the company when they decided to switch to a macrobiotic diet, which means they eat in a way that is balanced in terms of what you’re eating and when you’re eating it. They chose to do this as a lifestyle when one of the founders was diagnosed with breast cancer. They had read that a macrobiotic diet could help and figured it was worth a shot. The full story can be found here, but spoiler alert: it did help!

Along with being Vegan, their bars are also Organic and Gluten Free- plus, they taste great! When I’m looking for a pre or post workout bar, I like to make sure I’m choosing something with minimal unnecessary “filler” ingredients, lower sugar count, a decent amount of protein and have to taste good. GoMacro fits all of those criteria and I love that their core principles include keeping everything wholesome, organic and vegan. Plus, with all of the various flavors they have, it’s hard to pick a favorite!

Earlier this week I hosted another event at New Balance and was happy to be able to share some mini bars with my class participants. Everyone who tried them gushed about how “surprisingly good” they bars were. I think people tend to shy away from protein/healthy bars because they think they will taste awful, but that’s not the case with these. I brought some extras into my office and have had so many people stop me and tell me how great the bars are! Bottom line is if you’re using real, wholesome ingredients and you know the right combinations of flavors to put together, you’ll likely (hopefully) have a good tasting final product. People have this notion that “healthy” doesn’t taste good, but I think it’s because they’re misinformed with what “healthy” means- bland, no flavor, no fat, etc. – and haven’t given it a chance. We cook so many “healthy” things that taste great, but again, it’s all about what goes in and how its prepared.

If you’re interested in trying some- I suggest heading to their site as new customers can get 30% off AND free shipping! Thanks, again, GoMacro- loved being able to share goodness with so many people 🙂

Questions for you: How has your week been? have you done any fun workouts? What’s your favorite pre/post workout bar? What are you doing for Mother’s Day?