Intervals & 2 Sets Weights

Thursday was my intervals and weights training session with Cristina at Pura Vida Club.  I went in really tired but was still able to push in the workout.  I started with sprints at 7.0 mph and increased .5 mph with each sprint.  These were 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off the treadmill.  Because I was tired I only went to 10.0 mph.  During sprints we laughed because with my crazy schedule, workouts are my therapy!

Then it was in to weights.  Cristina had me do exercises in sets.  Some counts were 12 and some were 6 depending on the move.

One set of 12 was lunges with row.  That was followed with ViPR push ups.  These were 6 on each side of putting one hand on the ViPR and other on the floor for push ups.

Another set was triceps pull downs with side lunge for 12 followed by Bosa Ball leg lifts of 6 on each side.

Here are the great gym 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.

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.

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!

Take It From The Ten

I went for an intense one hour workout today and took the Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes at Pure Vida Club.  In Mad Abs, the instructor Jamie used a step, mat, and gliders for the 30 minute class.  After a quick warm up we hit it hard working abs.  My favorite move started in the plank position with hands on the step.  From there we went down on our right forearm and then left and back up to regular plank position.  Then in plank position picked up right leg, took it out to the side four times and then did the same on the left.  Then combined the moves going down on forearms, then up, the legs one at a time out to side.

Next was Dirty 30 with Tim.  He had us do a tough sequence today.  We had a step, mat, weight, and rubber band.  We started the sequence doing 10 reps and worked down to doing 1 rep.  So you do each exercise 10 times, then 9 times, then 8, on down to one rep of each.  Here's the sequence:

Push ups - military style preferred form.

Cross Over Lunges - step one foot in front of the other but at an angle as if you are in a curtsy position, lunge then stand with feet parallel.  Do number of reps on each side.

Burpees - Plank, jump feet to hands, then jump up reaching hands to ceiling, returning back to plank


TGU (Turkish Get Ups) - I did these with 5 pound weights.  Start on your back with one arm up to ceiling with weight in hand.  Use the other hand to help you sit up, then stand up, all while keeping the weight high reaching up to the ceiling, then go back to start position in the reverse of how you got up.  Split the number of reps between both arms.

Band Row - stand on band, lean forward, the push arms back.

Inch Worm - start in a plank position and walk feet up to hands then back out. This was the hardest one for me.

Jumps on and off step

Push Up The Weight

Yesterday was Pilates and kinesis with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  I arrived a little frazzled because I was late from finishing up a last minute project at work.  Guess it was good fuel to get me warmed up and working hard in kinesis.  Erin had me down a reverse workout in Kinesis, using the cable machines in a reverse order from what I normally do.

In Pilates, we worked a lot on core and legs.  She had me try a couple of more advanced moves on the reformer, including on that you with one foot on the foot bar and standing with the other against the shoulder/foot rest on the carriage.  Mentally it was a challenge for me to get into the position from standing on the carriage.  So I went to knees, put foot on bar, and then put other foot against shoulder/foot rest on carriage.  Getting into position that way worked for me!  I love that there's always something challenging and new for me in my Pilates sessions.

One of the exercises Erin had me do is a variation on a military style push up.  I did it with an 8-pound weight.  The push up with a rotation using weights is an advanced more.  Try it first with no or light weights.  Enjoy this great move!

 

Mad Abs & Dirty 30

Today was one of those days that half the battle is getting to gym.  Well I made it and pushed it hard for an hour with Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes at Pura Vida Club.  Sarah started her 30 minute Mad Abs class with a plank series.  In the class we used the Bosu ball, body bar, and gliders for full body movements that focus on the core.

After than I went straight into Tim's Dirty 30.  It's 30 minutes of doing cycles of a exercise series.  This class is tough!  Today Tim had us do a series of five moves starting with 10 reps each then repeating the cycle with 9 reps, 8 reps all the way down to 1 rep of each move.

Here are the moves in a cycle:
Bent Over Plate Row - bend over at waist with 25 or 45 weight plate (or use two), arms extended, then pull elbows back in a row movement.

Push Ups - on toes, military style.

Forward Lunges each leg - Tim gave me a great tip.  If you do these in place then lean forward slightly.  You'll feel it in your abs more and save your back.

Burpees - Plank, jump feet to hands, then jump up reaching hands to ceiling, returning back to plank

Turkish Get Ups (TGUs) - I did these with 3 pound weights.  Start on your back with one arm up to ceiling with weight in hand.  Use the other hand to help you sit up, then stand up, all while keeping the weight high reaching up to the ceiling, then go back to start position in the reverse of how you got up.

You can do the moves in any order but do them in same order for each cycle.  If you are short on time and need to blast it out this will do it!

Reverse Lunge With A Reach & Pyramid Push Ups

In my Monday Pilates and Kinesis workout at Pura Vida Club, Erin had me do two moves that are great to help get in shape or stay in shape for skiing, boarding, and winter sports.  The first one is a reverse lunge with a reach.  The key to this one is staying up on your toes the entire time.  It's a great leg and balance workout.

The second is pyramid push ups that are a great variation from regular one.  The closer in the hands the harder it is so start with your arms out wide.

Have fun with these two new exercises!

Lunges & Push Ups....Not Your Ordinary Ones!

Not feeling 100% but tired of not working out because of this cough.  So I went on to my Kinesis and Pilates session with Erin at Pura Vida.  It was nice to sweat a little.  She had a couple of new moves for me today.

So it's a two exercise day - 3 way lunge with straight leg lift and push ups with a fly.  These are AWESOME and easy to do at home.  And yes the day after you will feel them!

Push Those Push Ups

Friday I got to workout with my longtime trainer in San Antonio, Gregg Bell.  It was a jam packed session of strength moves focusing especially on abs and chest.  That means push ups at some point in one of those sessions!  Instead of just doing military style push ups, Gregg through in some new variations.  When you hit the floor tighten your abs to help you back up.  These are tough.

Hoping I can make it back to San Antonio for his obstacle challenge on November 12th that will include plyometrics, running, spinning, and an obstacle course.   Looking forward to my workout with Gregg Friday when I'm back in SA to emcee another gala!