Oldies But Goodies

This morning I decided to clean out my fitness binder and reorganize it a bit.  In doing so, I came across some old workouts that I had forgotten about that I used when I first got into lifting weights.  At the time, I really liked to do full-body workouts and would perform them two times a week.  Now, I like to play around with things a bit more but I still love a good head-to-toe workout from time to time and am going to incorporate these into my training in the coming month.  I thought you might like to try them out too.  Let me know if you have any questions. 

Body Part	Exercise	Sets	Reps
Legs	Dumbbell squat Bench Step-Up	2 2	8-10 12-15
Chest	Dumbbell bench press Dumbbell flye	2 2	8-10 12-15
Biceps	Biceps curl Hammer curl	2 2	8-10 12-15
Shoulders	Arnold press Lateral dumbbell raise	2 2	8-10 12-15
Abs	Dumbbell crunch Bicycle crunch	2 2	8-10 12-15
Back	Dumbbell bent-over row Dumbbell straight arm pullback	2 2	8-10 12-15
Triceps	Bench dip Seated dumbbell overhead extension	2 2	8-10 12-15

Total Body Circuit:  Do 15 reps of each exercise.  Repeat circuit 2-3 times.

1.       Dumbbell squat

2.       Low Incline Dumbbell press

3.       Seated Lateral Raise

4.       Seated alternating dumbbell curl

5.       Seated dumbbell wrist curl

6.       Dumbbell lunges

7.       Flat Bench Reverse crunch

8.       Toes to ceiling

9.       Upright dumbbell row

10.   Bench crunch

11.   Stiff legged dumbbell deadlift

12.   Single arm concentration curl

13.   Low incline dumbbell flye

14.   Reverse wrist curl

15.   V sit

16.   Sumo Squat

17.   Standing calf raise

18.   Bent over lateral raise

19.   Bent over single arm dumbbell row

20.   Supine bent arm dumbbell pullobrt

21.   Lying hip thrust

22.   Frog crunch

Leg Day

I always dread leg days as I much prefer working out my arms, but as I'm constantly reminded by all the fitness material I read, the big muscle groups (chest, back, legs, glutes) are the major fat burning muscles and as a result, the ones that give you the most bang for your buck calorie and metabolism-wise, even if they're  not the ones you get to show off in a tank-top.  For some reason I just love working shoulders, biceps, and triceps.  I am working hard at learning to love working the other groups as well and this morning's leg workout was a step in the right direction.  It challenged me but wasn't over-the-top in its difficulty.  It targeted all the muscle groups of the lower body and left me with a good burn and a sense of accomplishment.  I borrowed the workout from another blog where I get lots of good workout ideas and made a couple of adaptations which I'll describe below.  This one is definitely going in the workout binder so I'll remember to do it again. 

 

I couldn't believe how long the 3 minutes of squats felt but the sense of accomplishment I felt afterwards was WELL worth it.  I super-setted the deadlifts and lunges alternating back and forth between the two exercises without resting until I had done 3 sets of each.  When I got to the leg press, I decided to make it a drop-set.  I did 15 reps at 150 lbs, 14 reps at 145 lbs, 13 reps at 140 lbs, 12 reps at 135 lbs, 11 reps at 130 lbs and 10 reps at 120 lbs.  My legs were screaming by the end.  Love when that happens.  I added some core work to the last 2 exercises and did another superset of hamstring ball curls and planks.  I also did a superset of wall sits and leg drops.  I finished out my workout with 3 sets of 20 stability ball roll-outs and 30 minutes on the elliptical.  It was a great start to the day.  What are some of your favorite leg workouts?  I'd love to expand my lower body workout repertoire. 

Upper Body Workout

After a great easy day yesterday, I was ready to jump back into a good muscle-building session today.  I did an upper body workout that included 3 different circuits.  It looked like this:

Stability Ball Circuit--I did 10 repetitions of each exercise and went through  the circuit 3 times. 

• Push-ups with feet on stability ball
• Chest dumbbell flyes on stability ball
• Dumbbell pullover on stability ball
• Prone reverse flyes on stability ball
• Tricep overhead extensions while seated on stability ball
• Concentration curls while seated on stability ball
• Overhead press while seated on stability ball

Chest and Back Circuit--I did 10 repetitions of each exercise and repeated the circuit 4 times. 

• Bent over renegade rows
• Chest renegade presses on the floor
• Wide bent-over row
• Chest press on the floor

Triceps/Biceps/Shoulder Circuit--I did each exercise for 1 minute and repeated the circuit 3 times.

• Bicep curls (one time wide, one time narrow, one time hammer)
• Tricep kickbacks
• Arnold press

I rounded out today's fitness with my MuTu exercises and a five mile run.  What a difference the weather makes.  The heat was killing me this afternoon.  Gotta make a point of getting my runs in during the morning or late afternoon hours. 

Try out parts or all of this workout and let me know what you think.  I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Hard Work Earns a Recovery Day

Saturday's long run left me in need of a recovery run on Sunday.  30 minutes of easy FLAT jogging with the stroller fit the bill and the glorious weather made it feel like a breeze.  I ended my run at the green market where I picked up some tomatoes, cucumbers, and garlic.  YUM!  The walk home with the boys was a delight as we checked out the trees and squirrels. 

Also on the docket yesterday was full-body weight-training.  I decided to stick with my Jackie Warner kick and did her Xtreme Timesaver Training DVD.  If you're looking for a kick-butt workout, this is it!  She combines upper body and lower body moves, doing each exercise for a minute with no real breaks.  It becomes a cardio workout too as your whole body pumps out reps for 30 minutes.  She is intense and it lives up to its name as an Xtreme training session. 

I decided to go with 8 lb dumbbells for the entire session and I'm not gonna lie, there were times where I was going much slower than her and also a couple of "pauses" when muscle fatigue set in and I had to take a quick breather before jumping back in.  One day, hopefully, I'll get through the whole thing without having to take any breaks.

After a pretty intense weekend fitness-wise, today needed to be easy.  I went to the gym early this morning for 40 minutes on the elliptical.  The time passed quickly as I read my book for this month's book club on my kindle and played around with the intensity and incline, trying to keep things in the moderate range. It was a success and I'm ready to tackle the rest of the day.  Make it a good one!

Mind Your Mojo and Run

There must have been something about this beautiful sunny day in JANUARY and my two favorite boys dressed in their superhero t-shirts that put a pep in my step and helped me turn my planned 7 mile walk into a 7 mile run, which included going over two bridges on the way out and climbing over them again on the return trip.  It was definitely challenging but also quite exhilarating.  Although it's not necessarily my longest run with the stroller, and 10 minute miles certainly are NOT my fastest, it was by far the most difficult run I've done in a LONG time in regards to the bridges and the wind which made the stroller feel like a sail being pushed against the wind.  I felt like a rockstar and have been living on that high ever since. 

Lesson I was reminded of today: Seize the moment when it comes to your fitness!  Listen to your body and follow it's lead.  If you're feeling up to a long run, even if it's not "long run day" and you've got the time to do it, go for it!  Maybe on your scheduled long run day you can work of some speedwork or hill repeats.  Let your workout plan be flexible.  Give your body what it needs.  If it needs a good long run, as my body apparently did, run your little heart out.  If your body can't take another step and you've been working it to the bone, give it some TLC with a day off.  Let your conscience be your guide and carry on.  Make every workout the best it can be.

Fitness Friday

Today's workout was taken in part from a  blog I frequent.  She has some really good, easy circuit workouts on her site and I figure, why reinvent the wheel?  I loved the 2 I tried today.  Instead of doing several cycles of each, I just did one time through each of the following workouts.
 

  

I really enjoyed both of them but decided to avoid boredom and repetition, why not mix a couple together.  It was a plyometric success. 

I followed up the circuits with my MuTu core exercises and a 5 mile EASY run.  My legs are pretty beat so EASY was just what the doctor ordered.  The weather was beautiful for a run and I wish I could say the run flew by, but it was a little trying with the wind at times.  I sure am glad I stuck it out and completed my plan for the day.

Now off to tackle the rest of the day.  Did you hear Wild Caught Salmon is $7.99 at Whole Foods today only?  I'm planning to score some of that deliciousness later this afternoon.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.


Make it a great day!