Pick 5!

Need a little pick-me up workout this week?! Check out this post for a quick full body circuit!

Step 1, pick 5 songs that put you in a good mood. Here are my five:

Step 2: Gather your equipment. All you need is a set of dumbbells, a bench (or something you can step up on), and a mat or towel.

Step 3: Complete each of the following circuits, everything is done in sets of 10 and will be completed as many times as possible in a row for the entire duration of that song.

Circuit 1: Shake It Off — Warm-Up

High Knees March (alternating legs, 10 total)

Straight leg kicks (alternating legs, 10 total)

Butt Kickers (alternating legs, 10 total)

Inchworms

Circuit 2: Call Me Maybe — Cardio

Mountain Climbers (10 each leg)

Jumping Jacks

Burpee

Circuit 3: All About that Base — Lower Body

Lunges (Alternating legs, 10 total) — hold dumbbell in each hand

Squats with Overhead Press

Step Ups — hold dumbbell in each hand

Circuit 4: Party in the USA — Upper Body

Bicep Curls

Push-ups

Modified Tricep Dips

Circuit 5: Kiss Me — Core

Toe Touches — hold one of your dumbbells for an extra challenge

Supermans

Russian Twists — hold one of your dumbbells

Any questions? I hope you have a fantastic workout!

ps — singing is encouraged!

Rainy Day Workout

Rain rain go away I wanted to run today…

Well it doesn’t look like Mother Nature is going to cooperate this evening so its on to plan B for me which is a 30min (ish) workout using only a mat, medicine ball, and a chair. It is a circuit style workout that is only 6 rounds. Give it a try if you too are stuck inside on this rainy day!

I’m off to get sweaty! Let me know if you decide to give it a try!!

Happy Friday Y’all!!

30min at Home Workout

Happy Monday! Lets get sweaty!! Here is a 30min workout that you can complete indoors or out that requires virtually no equipment.

Warm-up: 5min

For 5min, walk/jog to get your blood flowing and heart rate slightly elevated. By the end of this you should be sweating. Be sure to gather your equipment during this time, a towel or mat and a chair or ledge.

Main-set: 25min

Complete the following sequence of exercises continuously, rest 1min after completing all 5 exercises. Complete exercises 5x.

1min bodyweight squats
1min push-ups
1min plank
1min lunges
1min modified triceps dip

Cool Down: 5min

2-3min of walking to allow your heart rate to drop slowly back to normal
Stretching. Hold each stretch for 10-15sec. Some muscles to focus on are: hamstrings, quads, calves, glutes, hips, shoulders, triceps, back, and abs.

Hopefully this helped get your week off to a great start! Have a great rest of your day!

Also, be sure to check out Health On The Go if you are looking to get started with a fitness plan of your own! All plans are catered 100% to you, sent directly to your email, and are at an affordable price!

Walk it Out Wednesday

I hear all the time that “I don’t have a gym” or “I can’t run” …blah blah blah “I don’t workout” !! Here is a workout for all you “I don’t workouters!”

This workout is going to take a lunch time walk to a whole new level… All you need is yourself, some shoes, a watch, and a safe place to walk. This workout will take 30min, including warm up and cool down. I will break it down by the minute for you.

Minutes 1-4:59 — leisurely walk. Just get yourself moving.

Minutes 5-6:59 — pick up the pace a little. Should be a brisk walking pace that you should be able to maintain for a while. Make sure your arms are pumping. I will refer to this as your base pace.

Minutes 7-7:59 — high knee walk. Bring your knees up as high as you can towards your chest. This should be done somewhere between leisurely pace and base pace.

Minutes 8-12:59 — base pace.

Minutes 13-13:59 — walking butt kickers. Stretch out those quads and gain a little range of motion. You will be kicking your heels to your butt as you walk. Should be done at the same pace as the high knees.

Minutes 14-17:59 — base pace.

Minutes 18-18:59 — side step right. Turn to the side and take large steps leading with your right leg. Be sure not to cross your legs as you do not want to get tripped up. This will work on some hip strength.

Minutes 19-22:59 — base pace.

Minutes 23-23:59 — side step left. Turn the other way and lead with your left leg.

Minutes 24-27:59 — base pace.

Minutes 28-28:59 — leisurely pace.

Minutes 29-30 — stretching. Touch your toes for 20 seconds. Be sure not bounce. Deep breathing with arms extending towards the sky for 20 seconds opening up your abdomen. 20 seconds gentle twisting to each side.

FINISHED!!

So how does that sounds? Not too bad? Let me know if you decide to give it a try! Have a great “walk it out” Wednesday! 🙂

Morning Boot Camp

Yay for getting up before the sun again! That 5am alarm is brutal but getting to teach boot camp makes it all worth it. Today we mixed it up and had 5 rounds of different circuits. The point of this workout is to have as high of intensity as possible taking short breaks when needed. This format worked great for a group fitness class because it could be done at any fitness level since the participant could choose how fast/slow they wanted to complete the exercise and breaks can be taken when necessary (when I say breaks I mean stand for 5-10sec, catch you breath and start again). Here is what todays workout looked like….

This workout can easily be completed in about 55-60min when you include a warm up and cool down. The workout itself, taking 1min rest between rounds takes 45min. I have included a few links below on some of the exercises that may be unfamiliar.

Push-up with row

Lateral Shuffle with torso twist

Happy Working Out!! 🙂

Boot Camp

Rise and Shine Its Boot Camp Time!!

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning I teach a strength and conditioning class at the gym on NC States campus. Getting up at 5am is kind of a drag but when I get there, my participants always make it worth it. Today they had great energy as I took them through 4 10min workouts. A 10min workout is 4min cardio, 3min strength, 2min core, 1min rest. Here is what today’s workout looked like:

It was a tough, sweaty class but the participants did great! I hope they can bring the same kind of energy to Thursday’s class 🙂