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

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!

The Dirty 30

I had two classes I wanted to try at Pura Vida Club today:  Mad Abs and Dirty 30.  We'll I got to the noon Mad Abs class about 5 minutes late and it was packed.  So off I went to do my own abs workout of crunches, planks, roll ups, and other ab exercises including the elevated side plank.  

So after abs it was in to Tim's Dirty 30 class.  It's 30 minutes of give it all you got.  


It's a boot camp style  class that's designed to kick your booty!

Here's the series:

Burpes 15 (Push up, jump feet to hands, then jump up reaching hands to ceiling, and back to push up position.)

Lunges 25 each leg (These are three-quarters of the way down with goal of quick, not deep full lunge.)

Weighted squat lift 12 (Using weight plate or weighted ball, squat then bring weight forward to shoulder level.)

Run .25 mile (I used this to push my run at a faster pace but not all out sprint.)

Turkish Get Up 7 each arm (I'd never heard of these before but you start laying down on your back with a 3-10 pound weight, straight arms and weight in line with shoulder. You use other hand to help you sit up, then stand up, all while maintaining the weight high reaching up to ceiling then go back to starting position in the reverse fashion of how you got up.)

Mountain Climbers 50 each leg (Start with straight arm plank position and alternation bringing knees to elbows.  Feet on gliders.)

I got through two rounds. Some of the guys got through three. That's my goal to get to in the Dirty 30.

I have a good feeling I'm going to feel this workout tomorrow.  

I finished out the day with a great 45 minute dog walk.  With temperatures around 60 in Denver in January, I couldn't pass up a nice long walk with my dog.  He was certainly happy too.