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Weekly Workout Round-Up and Plan

We’ve come to a beginning of another week now and let’s see where we are at! Here is the post with our workout plan from last week…let’s see how we match up. This is what actually happened:

Hungry

Chowing down on a Reuben from the Sink!

Chowing down on a Reuben from the Sink!

 

  • Monday: back workout at lunch
  • Tuesday: leg workout and short IM swim
  • Wednesday: arms workout focusing on isolation
  • Thursday: shoulder workout
  • Friday: chest workout and very easy pick-up basketball
  • Saturday: very slow back workout
  • Sunday: rest day?

Fit

My life living with Chris

My life living with Chris

 

  • Monday: slightly less than 2 mile run outside and a BEASTLY leg workout (found and modified from here, you will see this in a post form soon)
  • Tuesday: just about 2 mile run outside and a home arms and shoulders workout
  • Wednesday: morning 30 minute swim and afternoon core and back workout
  • Thursday: Ashley Conrad circuit training
  • Friday: long evening walk
  • Saturday: frisbee golf and then late chest and swim workout
  • Sunday: Rest dayyyy aka plate full of cookies!

So there’s our match-up…I think we did pretty well sticking with the plan. Much better than it could’ve been! It’s so easy to divert from the plan due to life and such. Here is our plan for this week:

Hungry:

Scared

Scared

 

  • Monday: 15 minute leg cardio, 45 minute leg workout
  • Tuesday: 10 minute arm cycle, 50 minute arm workout
  • Wednesday: 60 minute shoulder workout, 15 minute swim and sauna
  • Thursday: 60 minute chest workout, 15 minute swim and sauna
  • Friday: 60 minute back workout, 60 minute easy pickup basketball
  • Saturday: 40 minute core workout, 40 minute machine cardio
  • Sunday: 30 minute leg cardio, 60 minute leg workout

Fit

I swear I don't know any gang signs, no clue why my hand did that

I swear I don’t know any gang signs, no clue why my hand did that

 

  • Monday: Legs and Elliptical
  • Tuesday: Arms/Shoulders and Swim
  • Wednesday: Core/Back and Run
  • Thursday: Chest and Swim
  • Friday: Ping Pong and Circuit training OR Run AND/OR Yoga
  • Saturday: Frisbee golf and Rest or Total body
  • Sunday: Legs and Elliptical

It’s extremely helpful to plan your workouts each week because it leaves much less room for excuses and gives you a schedule. We try to stick to ours as best we can. Plan your workouts to stay hungry and fit!

  • Question of the Day: What is your workout plan for the week? Post it here!

 BONUS KITTY PIC

Someone was a bad boy...

Someone was a bad boy…

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Best Way to Burn Calories: Cycling Interval Training

A few months ago, we discussed HIIT (high-intensity interval training) for treadmillsNow let’s move onto the bike. If you want thighs of steel, this is the workout for you. You will come off the bike feeling like your legs way a hundred tons after this workout because you’ve worked so hard. HIIT is a great way to stay in shape, turn the fat-burners on high, and improve oxygen capacity. Think you had to run 6 miles a day to do that? Think again! HIIT is a great time-saving way to stay in shape while constantly challenging your body, thus burning more calories. Plus, you build more muscle because you’re doing more powerful exercises that require force (sprints, etc.).

Interval training burns more calories and challenges your body more than most cardio programs due to the nature of intervals. You are constantly changing your speed and pace, thus forcing your body to try to adapt. In sprint mode? Your body has to fight to give your muscles and lungs enough oxygen. In recovery mode? Your body has to slow down all its systems to try to provide you with the right recovery tools. But do you let it recover? Of course not! Thus, your body is constantly attempting to adapt to the conditions you force upon it, but the nature of intervals cause it to never be able to properly catch up, which makes us stronger in the end.

Do this for a minimum of 15 minutes. The best would be 25-30 minutes, or even more if you’re feeling crazy.

  • Begin with a 3-5 minute warm-up of 75-80 RPMs. Let your legs get warmed up so you can TOAST them.
  • Start your 1-minute sprint. I want you to pump those pedals as FAST as you can, get your RPMS above 100, maybe above 120! If you need to up the resistance, do it! Go hard! Train with purpose! Listen to awesome music!
  • Once you hit a minute, go into 1-minute recovery mode–think of it like a fast enough pace without killing you. Cycle easy, but not too easy.
  • Repeat–go back into your sprint for a minute. Then return to recovery.

If this seems too advanced for you, try doing 30s sprint/1min recovery. If this seems too easy for you, try doing 1min sprint/30s recovery. There are so many ways to change this up to fit your needs. HIIT is one of my most favorite ways to train and this is just ONE example. Doing HIIT on the bike will accelerate muscle development in your legs, shaping you to be more powerful in that part of your body. Keep your eyes out for more on this series of how to burn calories and the best HIIT tricks. Use this workout to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Double cuteness!!

Double cuteness!!

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