Push The Circuit

Today I made it the the Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes at Pura Vida Club that I love to take on Wednesdays but hadn't been able to make in a couple of weeks.  There was no ease back in to class with Mad Abs class set up in circuit style.  So I jumped in and pushed hard for an hour.

Here's the set up for the Mad Abs class that Cyndie taught:

Burpees with weights (I did mine with 10 lbs)
Back Raises on the ball
Plank
Side twist with bands
Crunches with body bar
Side crunches on Bosu ball

Each exercise was for a minute (if side then switched at 30 seconds).  We did 3 rounds of all exercises.

That was just the beginning....Dirty 30 included burpees, of course!  But the burpees had a twist.

Here's the breakdown:

Front Lunges - 20 each leg
Squats - 20
Tuck Jumps - 20
Reverse Lunges - 20 each leg

Medicine Ball Chops - 15 each side  Using weighted medicine ball, start with ball to one side raised up over a shoulder, then slide or chop the ball across your body to the outside of the opposite hip as you squat slightly.

ViPR Push - across room and back  The ViPR is a weighted tube.  You basically bear crawl on your hands and feet as you alternate hands to push the weighted tube across the floor.  I started with the heaviest one for the first round but dropped to a lighter one for the other two.

Nasty Thing - 15 reps  Okay I laughed when Tim wrote it on mirrors.  It should be caused burpees that make you cuss.  Start in push up position, row one arm, push up, row other arm, push up, jump feet to hands, stand up,  extend arms overhead, then return to start position.  Here's the kicker....do these with weights.  First round I did 8 pound weights, but for other two rounds dropped to 5 pound weights.

I got through almost three rounds before the 30 minute class ended.  I was in to my third round of my last set of Nasty Thing and finished five.  I was bound and determined to finish three rounds so I kept going and finished the last 8 of the set.

Pushed it and got it done!

Get 'Er Done Intervals

Yesterday I had a one hour intervals and weights session with Cristina at Pura Vida Club.  I text Cristina right before session asking if we were going outside.  YES! I got back.  Ok here we go I thought - one hour of sprints, hops, lunges, shuffles, and other moves that made me tweet out afterward that the new name of my sessions with Cristina are officially called "kick Jen's booty hour."

We did start indoors for sprints.  I'm better at sprints on treadmill so I can watch speed and time.  So after a quick warm up, I was off and running sprints at 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, and 11mph.  I did 30 seconds at each miles per hour then 30 seconds off before going on to the faster speed.

After sprints, we headed outside for some top of the parking garage fun.  First up was set of lunges with ViPR row and shuffles with Cristina adding resistance to the band that was around my waist.  I did 10 lunges with 20 swings and 10 shuffles each side for three sets.

Another series was leg hops over small hurtles and bicep curls.  I did 10 hops then straight in to 12 bicep curls for three sets.

The toughest one for me was the lift of a 24 pound ViPR.  That was followed by jumps over a small hurtle.    Cristina had me do 4 lifts of the ViPR (using 4 small lifts up and down) then 10 jumps.

Here's a look at some of the intervals.

Slow Count Pilates

Monday was my usual Kinesis and Pilates session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  Erin had a treat for me with some new moves she learned at a training session in New York.  She put me through the ringer doing what I call slow count Pilates.  They were 3-4 minute series of moves done on the reformer.  Each move is done for a minute with  a four count out and four count in steady count for the minute.

They are tough!  The plank series was 3 minutes of just hold on and hope you make it.  But I loved the change and something new to shock the system.

Here's the plank series with Erin cueing the moves.

Push Ups & Assisted Hops In Parking Garage Gym

On Monday I had my usual Kinesis and Pilates session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  It was such a beautiful day that we took my Kinesis session outside and hit the parking garage.  That means running stairs (single steps, double steps, sideways), lunges, push ups, triceps dips, up and overs, jumps, and all sorts of old school fun.  Two of the exercises I did were push ups into side plank and assisted hops.

The the push ups, we found a curb.  I did a push up straight into a side plank then returned to a push up starting position, push up, side plank opposite side, then back to start position.

After running stairs and 10 burpees, I did 20 assisted jumps.  The trick with these is to think about jumping up and over something while holding on to the railing.  Trying to capture a picture while I was at the top of the jump gave Erin and I a great laugh.

Here's a video of both moves:

In Pilates, we did a lot of ab work and some serious work on my hamstring. My tweaked hamstring is giving me fits!  And of course I don't want to totally rest like I probably should.

Fell Off A Box

If you were at Pura Vida Club yesterday about 12:15pm then you likely saw me fall off a 2 foot box/stand when I did a squat jump. It was one of those slow-mo falls. I landed on top of the box but shifted weight back just enough that I looked like I was one of those Nestea plunge commercials from the 80s...except there was no pool or water to fall backward into.

I was really tired yesterday and completely brain-fried that I forgot my camera for workout.  If I would have remember it, Cristina would have totally caught that fall on video.  Good thing for me I guess.  Bad for you since you miss out on a seriously good laugh at me.

Once making sure I was okay, trainer Cristina said, "Well, at least you know what it feels like to fall."  Yes I do and then what it feels like to laugh at yourself then get right back up and try again.  I had no problem jumping high enough to easily clear the box but for some reason my brain didn't want to trust I could do it. Determined, I jumped again and again. That first fall was the only one in high intensity intervals session.

I warmed up with a few minutes of walking but instead of doing sprints, since my right hamstring is super tight and bothering me, Cristina had me go to the rowing machine for row sprints of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. I did these for 8 minutes staying under 2:12 for 500 meters pace.  The last one I went under 2:00 pace for part of it.

I stretched out my hamstring on the foam roller for a few minutes.

Then it was over to the 2 foot box/stand.  First exercise was stand on top of box, lunge, step hop on top of box, then lunge with other leg and repeating as fast as you can for 30 seconds. Then repeating two more times.

Next the the box squats. After the fall I did one set of 10 then a set of 6.

The weighted ViPR was next.  Cristina pulled out one of the biggest (i.e. heaviest) ones. She had do a side lunge leaning the ViPR over to the side, then up and quick switch to lunge other side.  I did three rounds of 30 seconds going as fast as I could with 30 second rest in between.

She dropped the ViPR weight for me to do lunge presses. As soon as I tried, my hamstring said no.  So she switched me to fast squat presses - squatting with ViPR at chest level then pressing it overhead as I stood up.  Being bull-headed I tried lunges with press for the second round and powered through but for third round of 30 second interval I went back to the squats.

I wrapped up the 30 minutes high intensity intervals with more rolling of the hamstring on the foam roller. Guess I need to use mine at home more!

Calves Roll Out

I did my usual Monday Kinesis and Pilates training session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  My calves were still sore from being shredded in the step class I hadn't plan to take last Thursday.  My calves were so bad Saturday it hurt to walk!

Some how that still didn't get me out of running the stairs in Kinesis.  Erin had me do cable work with so quick intervals to get the heart rate up like 20 seconds of mountain climbers used Bosa ball will ball side down and flat side up then straight into push ups keeping Bosa ball in same position, then  repeat.

In Pilates she put the through the ringer as usual but left some time in session to roll out my calves.  Erin used a bar to roll on them then had me use the foam roller.  I'd used the roller before for my calves but only rolling calves on it, not rotating leg on the roller.

Here's Erin talking me through the calves roll out.

Did Not Mean To Take Step

Thursday I had one hour for a workout - that was it, no more, no less.  So I bolted over to take the new 11:30am Fit Body class at Pura Vida Club.  The class description was:

Give your metabolism a kick start with this cardiovascular and muscular challenge. Keeping your heart rate elevated with bouts of cardio intervals while sculpting the entire body with balls, bands, weights and more. cardio * strength * flexibility

So when I went in and the instructor said grab a step and mat (and nothing else), I should have clued in that it wasn't going to be what I thought it was.

I quickly figured that out as we started in to warm-up.  It was a step class.  A few folks left shortly after the class started.  I'm sure they were like me and expecting a different class.  But I was an aerobics instructor for awhile and always hated it when someone walked out.  So I decided I was already there and to go all in for it since I only had that hour.

After about 20 minutes I remembered why I gave up teaching step.  My knees do not care for it and it does require a lot of concentration to follow routine, something I hadn't really mentally prepared for since I thought the class was something different.

I made it through but it was a long hour workout.  I did enjoy the few one minute drills like push ups, tricep dips, lunges, and jump overs we did.  I just wasn't in to doing a step routine.

Oh well I got some cardio. But my knees and calves have paid for that class for three days now.

After the class I headed over for my final Airrosti appointment on my shoulder.  Dr. Wilson said I lean my head when rotating my right shoulder.  That's probably why I still had some tightness.  So last treatment and it feels good.  Love being able to rotate shoulder without pain!

Going The Rounds With High Intensity Intervals

I was absolutely thrilled I was able to squeeze in a high intensity intervals session with Cristina at Pura Vida Club today. With the snow it was looking like I was going to have to cancel which would have meant a no workout day for me. Instead I got a good old-fashioned butt kickin' today.

Cristina had me start with a quick warm up on treadmill then right in to sprints of 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. I did sprints at 6 mph, 6.5 mph, 7 mph, 7.5 mph, 8 mph, 8.5 mph, 9 mph, 9.5 mph, 10 mph, and 10.5 mph. Thinking I was done there...boy I was wrong. After a 40 second rest, I hit 11 mph for 20 second then a 30 second rest and 30 seconds back at 8 mph.

At some point in 10 mph spring, Christina said, "You're getting in the best shape of your life." Yes I'm going for it and pushed through. In the 11.5 mph sprint, she said, "You've got this." Yes I did....but barely!

We moved on to the ViPR, or weighted tube.  Cristina had me do three 30 second rounds of curtsy lunges with a jump up should press.  After the second round, I looked at her and said you're going to make me do three rounds aren't you. She just looked at me and smiled.

Next the ViPR drag. That's starting in plank position. Drag the tube with one arms. Move backward three hand placements then drag tube with other arm and repeat sequence for 30 seconds.  I did three rounds.

Finished off with a warm up 30 seconds on rowing machine then three rounds of 30 seconds rowing as hard as I could with 30 second rest in between.

Here what the ViPR and rowing exercises look like:

Reverse Lunge With Lateral Raise

Yesterday was my Monday workout of Kinesis and Pilates with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  We stayed inside and hit the Kinesis machines today.  The weather was warm enough for an outdoor workout but the winds were too high.  She had me do some moves today that are multi-muscle moves.  One of the new ones was the reverse lunge with lateral raise.  You actually can do the move at home with weights too.

Here's how to do the move with weights and on Kinesis machine.

In Pilates, she had me do a jump board series.  I haven't done jump board in Pilates in awhile.  It's also a great cardio series too.  Jump board is tough but I love it!

Blast It In 30

Yesterday I did my Wednesday regular of Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes at Pura Vida Club.  Cyndie taught Mad Abs.  We used the body bar and did sets of exercises for 30 seconds to a minute.  For example, in plank for a minute then superman pose for a minute.

One of my favorite moves was a tricep curl to crunch or sit up.  Stay laying down on your back, knees bent with feet of floor, and hold body bar up in air even with shoulders.  Then curl bar back over head, return to start position, and rolling up into a seated position, then roll down slowly really focusing on abs as you return to start position.

After the 30 minute Mad Abs it was time for Dirty 30.  Tim had us do the series twice.  It's tough but a routine you can easily do in the gym by yourself.  Here's the workout:

150 Jumping Jacks

25 each leg Lunges (front, back, walking, jumps - whatever you want to to)

10 Burpees (with push ups in plank position)

Run 1/4 mile

15 Plate Squats (squat with weight low then as you stand up, push weight up to chest then overhead)

6 each arm Turkish Get Ups (start laying down w/ weight in hand & arm extended to ceiling, roll up to seated position, use other hand to help you stand up, then return to starting position)

50 Frog Thrust (start in plank, jump feet to outside of hands, then return to start position

Have fun getting through two rounds in under 30 minutes!  I got through in under 25 minutes.

High Intensity Intervals

High intensity intervals....just sounds daunting, doesn't it?  But if you are like me and want to kick the workout up a notch then this is for you.  I did a 30 minute high intensity intervals session with Cristina Lubini at Pura Vida Club today.

I know, you're probably saying only 30 minutes? Well, good luck even making it through that.  It's a workout that will push you beyond what you think you can do, get your heart rate racing, and get you totally out of breath.

After a couple minutes of walking at a 4mph pace on the treadmill to warm up, it was straight in to sprints.  I did 30 second sprint, 30 second rest starting 6.5mph then 7mph, 7.5mph, all the way to 11mph.  Normally that's where Cristina stops and has client go back to 8.5mph or 8mph then 6.0mph to bring heart rate back down a little.  Well in order to get a little video I attempted 11.5mph sprint after a 30 second rest and made it to 25 seconds.  Guess who got to do it again.  Before the last sprint, I rested 1 minute then hit the sprint at 11.5mph for 30 seconds.  I brought my heart rate down with 30 seconds at 6mph, which at that point felt like just a walk.

I'll admit, I am not a treadmill fan.  But I am a fan of sprints.  So instead of a 40-45 minute even paced run on treadmill think I'm going to switch up to a 15-20 minute warm up and sprints session.  I'll save the long runs for outside.

If you are a beginner or just starting some higher intensity workouts, you can modify times.  Go for a 10, 20 or 30 second sprint then rest 30 seconds, 45 seconds or a minute if you need to.  Cristina said there are no rules.  The point is to push hard gradually going to that point of all out, or maxing your heart rate, with breaks in between sprints.  If you need a little more recovery time, take it.  You can also easily do sprints at the park or on a track.

Next up was speed skate with an 8kg (17.6 lbs) ViPR tube.  ViPR stands for vitality, performance, and re-conditioning.  The goal is high intensity doing the move as fast as you can, not lifting heavy weight.  As you speed skate the tube goes perpendicular to the floor then as you skate to other side rotate the tube so the other end is perpendicular to the floor.  Elbows need to stay close to the side as you rotate the tube.  I did 3 rounds of 30 second speed skates with 30 second rest in between.

Next, still using the ViPR, hold it in the center and do a squat.  As you jump up, turn 180 degrees. Squat, jump and turn back .  You do not need to alternation sides.  I did one round of 30 seconds.

To finish out, it was running down and up four flights of stairs, including weaving in and out of folks.

We finished out with some stretching and called it a session.  As we were stretching, I told Cristina it felt like my lungs had expanded.  It was a totally different feel from other workouts.  My lungs felt huge and I felt invigorated as far as the respiratory and cardiovascular aspect.  Legs...well they felt pretty beat.  Cristina said I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow.  Let's just say my glutes are already feeling those sprints, skates, and squats.  Can't wait to do a session with Cristina again to push it to the limit!

Here's video of the workout. Give it a shot, and let me know how you feel afterward.

  

Doing The Reps

It's Wednesday and for me that means Mad Abs and Dirty 30 at Pura Vida Club.  I love the classes.  They are tough and so worth me making a lunch date with my myself to workout.

Cyndie taught Mad Abs using a ball and weights.  She did one minute intervals.  We did two sets of each series and ended the class with two minutes of plank.  We did a plank with ball against the wall, forearms on ball and legs extended.  We were in regular plank for 30 seconds.  Lifted one leg for 15 seconds, then lifted other leg for 15 seconds.  Then we repeated for another minute.

In Dirty 30 I knew it was going to be tough today when the first thing written on the mirror was 10 hand stand push ups.  Tim's class is always tough but today was extra tough.  Here's series:

10 Hand Stand Push Ups - yep that means in hand stand position with feet against the wall

20 Pull Ups - I did mine TRX style using a bar

30 Turkish Get Ups - lay on floor with one arm extended holding weight. Sit up keeping weight pushing toward ceiling

40 Push Ups

50 Burpees - yes 50!

60 Kettlebell Swings - I used a 12 kg one (that's 26.4 pounds)

70 Lunges each leg - I alternated front and back lunges to get to 70

80 Speed Squats

90 Mountain Climbers

100 Jump Rope - it's 100 contact

Because there were so many in class we all started on different exercises.  I started with mountain climbers, skipped jump rope to save that for last and went through rest of series of 10 to 80 reps.

Talk about a killer workout!  I finished the series in 25 minutes and did a few extra push ups and called it a day.

Have fun with this one.

Kinesis Garage Workout, Pilates & Airrosti On A Monday

It was a beautiful day so Erin took me outside to the parking garage for my Kinesis session at Pura Vida Club.  Of course there was running stairs, lunges, push ups squats, and step ups involved.  It was a get back to basics workout.

One of the exercises was a lunge, crane, press series going up a parking garage ramp.  Starting position is holding 8 pound weights by shoulders and do a forward lunge.

Then bring back leg up so foot is next to knee, do a shoulder press, and step into a forward lunge with the leg that is in the crane position.

Here's Erin cueing me through the exercise.

After Kinesis outside we headed inside for an hour of Pilates.  She had me do a lot of new moves today with a lot of abs work.  She also did a great stretching series.

Since the weather is getting warmer, Erin knows I'm kicking up my running.  Stretching is critical to staying injury free so I love getting in a good 10 minute stretch to end the hour and half work.

From there I down a Mix 1 Protein drink, because I'm trying to up my protein intake, and headed over to get my shoulder worked on by Dr. Brian Wilson at Airrosti.  In just two treatments, rotating my arm around and back is getting better.  I'll get another treatment on Thursday.  I'll admit, I'm bad at icing an injury and yes Dr. Wilson got after me.

He also analyzed my push up position and told me I had to change it or risk keep re-injuring my shoulder.  I was doing push ups with my hand out to wide and rolling my shoulders forward.  I'll now be doing them with hands directly under shoulders and drawing my shoulder blades down my back.  That throws the work into the chest, where it should be for push ups, and not in the shoulders.  I'll start my new form push ups on Wednesday in Tim's Dirty 30 class at Pura Vida since I'm sure they'll be a part of the exercise series!

Digging Deep To Get Through

Tired, I trudged in to Pura Vida Club for my usual Wednesday Mad Abs and Dirty 30.  Sarah taught Mad Abs.  She had us do 60 second cycles today.  We started with a plank series. Yes started with 60 second in plank!  We did planks, a great pilates series that usually part of her class, and used the ball (mine was a weighed ball) for moves like hip lifts and roll-ups.  Love that she ended the class with mountain climbers and burpees as a warm-up for Dirty 30.

Chalk it up to being tired, gloomy weather, or combination of both but I found myself having to really psyche myself up for workout today.  I knew I was going to have to dig deep just to get through Dirty 30 today.  Well it was definitely one of those workouts that wasn't just going to make me sweat or exhaust me, but one of those that pushes you beyond what you thought you could do that day.

Tim had us do 8 exercises and repeat the cycle as many times as we could in a 30 minute time frame.  Here's the catch - all exercises done while hold weights.

Here's the workout:

Speed Squat - 30 reps
Push Ups - 14 reps
Burpees with press - 10 reps
Speed lunges - 10 reps each side
Bent Over Row - 20 reps
Shoulder Press - 20 reps
Run 4 flights of stairs - 2 times
Turkish Get Ups - 10 reps (both arms this time. Start on back, holding weights perpendicular to floor. Sit up pushing weights to ceiling and return to start position)

Since there were so many of us in class we broke off in small groups and started on different exercises. I started with burpees and ended with push ups as a cycle.  I got through the cycle 3 times plus a fourth round of burpees and lunges.  That was everything I had today.

This afternoon I went to Dr. Brian Wilson at the recently opened Airrosti office in Denver.  I did Airrosti in San Antonio.  It's a rapid recovery treatment for any soft tissue or joint issues.  My right shoulder has been bothering me a lot lately and I was actually going to try to get in to Dr. Jason Garrett back in San Antonio during my next visit.  A lot of pro athletes do Airrosti and I found it does wonders for my shoulder.  I also have issues with my IT band from time to time and get treatments for that too when needed.  It helps me heal quickly so I can push to the next level.  It hurts worse than heck during treatment but results are phenomenal!  Getting pain free is the goal.

Lunges & Squats In The Sunshine

It was such a gorgeous day in Denver with highs around 68.  I was so excited when my trainer Erin at Pura Vida Club text me this morning asking if I wanted to take my Kinesis session outside. Absolutely yes!

We used the top level of a parking garage.  Starting with running up and down stairs, this was an old school workout.  Erin put me through a series of lunges, squats, medicine ball tosses, push ups, tricep dips, and other exercises.

The lunges with twist we've done before but add an incline and it's a different ball game.  With a weighted medicine ball, step forward into a lunge, twist across that front leg, then repeat on other side.  Lunge with right leg forward, twist to the right and lunge left leg forward, twist to the left.  Once I got to the top of the ramp, I went back down and started over again but this time twisting in the opposite direction.  Lunge right leg forward, twist left, then lunge left leg forward, twist right.

I really like the weighted medicine ball squat, press, throw.  Erin threw me the medicine ball.  I went into a squat, then as I stood up, threw ball up and over back to her with a goal of getting the ball to go high.  You can do this exercise by yourself but you loose the toss.  It's fun to do this with a workout partner!

Here's Erin explaining the medicine ball squat, press, throw.

After 30 minutes of go-go-go outside we headed inside for an hour of Pilates.  My hamstrings are super tight so she had me do some pretty intense hamstring stretches for the last 10 minutes of the session.

Great way to kick of the work week!

Partner Mad Abs & Weighted Dirty 30

I know when I walk into the room for Mad Abs and Dirty 30 at Pura Vida Club that I'm in for an intense workout hour.  Today's workout was a killer as usual.  For Mad Abs, it was a new instructor for me.  Cyndie had us partner up so I got to partner with my friend Amanda, who's a Pilates instructor at the club.

We started sitting next to each other in a V-sit (feet on floor or off) and taking a medicine ball to the outside, tap it on floor then toss over to your partner to do the same thing for 30 seconds.  Then you spin around on the floor and do the same thing for another 30 seconds to work the other side.  Then we sat on the floor facing each other with toes touching, one person takes ball, lays down on floor then crunches up to seated position and toss ball to partner who does the same thing.  We did this for 30 seconds.  Next is the leg push down.  You lay on the floor, legs extended straight in the air, and grabbing on to partner's ankles.  The partner standing up pushes your feet/legs toward the ground. You do that for 30 seconds.  Then you extend one leg hovering above the ground, the other leg extended and do single leg push downs for 15 seconds then switch to other leg.  Then you switch positions with your partner.  Do that series a second time....and that's just the first series we did in Mad Abs.  Other series included tossing the ball, crunching up to do punches, mountain climbers, and moving planks.

Next on to Dirty 30 with Tim.  He did Tabata style today.  We did each exercise for 20 seconds then moved on to next exercise or rested for 10 seconds.  We also did each exercise with some sort of weight.  Here's the series:

With body bar (I used 12 lbs one):
   Row Lunges - start and stay in a lunge and row body bar with straight arms alternating sides
   Squats - Wide grip on body bar and power squat
   Rest
   Repeat but lunge with other leg for 2nd round
   Repeat a 3rd and 4th time alternating lunge positions
   Rest after 4th round is active rest as you move to next exercise station

With weighted tube:
   Bazooka lunges - gripping tube, lunge forward and bring tube up to shoulder as if you were holding a bazooka. Bring tube down as you step back then lunge other side taking tube up to other shoulder. You want a quick pace on these.
   Speed skate - move side to side in a speed skate motion, extending tube out side to side and not up.  Again you want quick pace.
   Rest
   Repeat 3 more times
   Rest after 4th round is active rest as you move to next exercise station

With weighted handle ball (I used 14 lbs one)
   Kettlebell Swing - squat then swing kettlebell up to shoulder height as you stand up.  You should feel this in glutes not shoulders.
   Lean Over Row - lean over and stand on one leg with other leg extended (you look like a T), with ball or free weight in hand of side of your standing leg, row elbow up then down
   Rest
   Repeat but do lean over row on other side
   Repeat 3rd and 4th time alternating lean over row sides
   Rest after 4th round is active rest as you move to next exercise station

Repeat entire series again.
 

Running Stairs With Weights

I do not like running stairs....and I especially do not like running stairs holding weights.  But when you do it carrying an 8 pound weight in each hand, it's really good motivation to not gain any weight!

Yesterday I had my weekly Pilates and Kinesis session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  As part of my 30 minute Kinesis session, she had me run four flights of stairs with 8 pound weight in each hand.  I didn't have to do this just once.  There were three rounds in between other exercises.

But it's not just carrying the weights while going up and down the stairs.  I had to carry the weights in a bicep curl halfway position.  Erin had me focus on elbows by side, weights in fronts, not holding them with arms down or allowing my elbows to drop behind me.

Here's correct form:

Good Form

Here's bad form:

Bad Form

Here's the run in motion:

Give it a try.  You heart is going to be pumping and you'll be out of breath.  This is an advanced move.  If you are comfortable running stairs, start with light weight and work your way up.

Have fun huffing and puffing up the stairs!

Tabata Intervals Are Tough

Today I did Mad Abs and Dirty 30 at Pura Vida Club.  Both classes have awesome instructors - Jamie teaches the Mad Abs and Tim teaches the Dirty 30.

I'm not sure how, but somehow, Jamie makes the 30 minute Mad Abs class go by fast.  I love that she does so much more than crunches.  Today we used a body bar, Bosu, and ball for the class.  I love that she gave us two challenges to end the class.  Here are the two moves used an exercise ball and Bosu.

Plank with hands on Bosu (ball side up) and legs on the exercise ball.  If you can do that then try bringing knees in keeping feet on ball.  If you can do the knee roll in, then try bringing feet in as you extend up in a pike position.

Turn Bosu ball over so the flat part is up.  Hold on to the sides and place legs on ball.  Trust me this plank is challenging enough but if you want to go one more level then alternate bringing knees to elbows.

Those were the two exercises to end Mad Abs then it was on to Dirty 30 with Tim.

Today he did 6 exercises in Tabata style which is doing exercise for 20 seconds then resting 10 seconds and going right in to next one.  Here are the exercises for 1 cycle:

Burpees - I so have a love-hate relationship with these.  I hate doing them but love the results of doing these.

Cross Over Lunges

Push Ups - yes I did all cycles on toes military style

Squat Curl Press - squat with weights in hands, as you start to come up do bicep curls, the press weights overhead.

Deck Squat - with step long ways start laying down with arms extended beyond head.  Sit up then stand up, then squat back down and go back to starting position.  I actually had problems with this one. Tim noticed and said it's because I'm short-waisted.  So he suggested holding one of my 5 pound weights in my hands while doing the move.  That worked!

Mountain Climbers - like burpees I have a love-hate relationship with these.

Now do that cycle 8 times doing each exercise for 20 seconds then rest 10 seconds and right into the next one.  There is no extra rest in between cycles!

Burpees With A Bosu

Today I got in my weekly hour and half session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  She made a deal with me today - give it all I have in 30 minute Kinesis session and then I'll get to do some amazing new stretches and moves in Pilates.  I made that deal without knowing my Kinesis session would include heavier weights, countless lunges, and running up and down four flights of stairs.

One of the moves she had me do was burpees with a bosu.  Traditional burpee is starting crouched down, jump feet out into a plank position, push up, jump back to crouch position, then jump up with arms extended up to ceiling.  With the bosu ball you take that overhead and in the jump back to plank, try to kick up and back.  Here's the move with Erin cueing me through move.

She did hold up her end of the bargain and give me a series of new stretches and moves in Pilates then ended session with hanging upside down, one of my favorite moves.  

Squat, Press, & Triceps

In my Kinesis and Pilates session with Erin at Pura Vida Club today, one of the moves she had me do is a squat, overhead press, then triceps with a medicine ball.  I know I'm one of those in the gym that wonders what are some great full body exercises to do with a medicine ball and this is a great trifecta exercise.  She had me do 20 reps.  If you don't have a medicine ball at home you can do this with hand weights.

I used a 5 kilograms medicine ball (just slightly over 11 pounds).  I started with it close to chest, did a squat, then pushed ball straight up for the overhead press, then did a triceps bend taking the ball behind my head.

Here's Erin explaining the triple threat move.  Have fun!