Tag Archives: Circuit

Workout Wednesday: Perceived Threshold

People ask me every Tuesday night whether I’m going to take it easy on them or kill them with this workout. My reply is always that I’ll make you feel like you’re dying but you’ll feel amazing afterward. And it’s true!

With these types of workouts, you should be going at such an effort that your muscles stop working, your lungs are burning, and you feel an achy pain in muscles you didn’t even know you had. As long as you are not feeling sharp pain anywhere, and are focusing on correct form, you are doing it right. (If you start to experience sharp pain of any kind, especially in joints, stop that exercise immediately and consult a doc about it.)

So keep going, hard. Work through the pain. The thing that separates you and a higher level of fitness is the ability to push past your perceived threshold. You can always go faster, jump higher, and lunge lower. No excuses!

And now … the workout!

Beginner through intermediate (12 minutes)

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

– each exercise 3 times in a row

Advanced (16 minutes)

– 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off

– each exercise 4 times in a row

Exercises:

1. high knees (hold your hands at a certain height and bring your knees to touch them)

2. tri dips (legs bent in or held straight out)

3. calf jumps (too easy? jump higher, jump faster, hold weights in your hands)

4. crunches (focus on lifting your shoulders, DO NOT pull on your neck; beginner-feet on ground, intermediate-feet at right angle, advanced-feet in air)

5. plank tick tock (beginner-knees or elbows on ground, intermediate-full plank, advanced-lift one leg and, keeping it straight, swing it out to the side, then bring it back to center and do the same with the other leg, in a pendulum-like motion)

6. speed lunges (keep feet planted and bounce upper body up and down, switch legs at half-way point)

+ Fit Minute. Choose one of the following exercises. Do it for a full minute at 100% effort. Count how many you do and record it. We’ll be doing these after every workout from now on:

Level 1 – side to side steps or jumping jacks
Level 2 – push ups
Level 3 – burpees

I hope you get all charged up after these workouts like I do. Love and a big smile 🙂 – Ash

Workout Wednesday: Remeasure Time!

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This workout capped off an 8-week weight loss challenge for a lot of my patients. At 4 weeks they were doing really well. The goal is to lose 10 pounds and most of them had done it. Then, as the weeks rolled along, they forgot about the changes they had made and a lot of them returned to their previous weight.

There were two people who kept weight off, but I know they slacked towards the end too. The interesting thing is that they all come to me with tips to get back on the healthy track but they already know how! If you’ve done it once before, you can do it again. Humans don’t really learn permanent lessons from doing something for a month. So if and when you fall off the wagon, jump back on! You know how to get back to health. And maybe this time you can make it stick. It’s all up to you.

Anyway, I love my health and the body it has given me. I’m right where I want to be, which I why I love helping people get to that state of mind as well. But I figured I’d participate just to see if there was any change. I measured the largest width from my arm, leg, and belly. My measurements 8 weeks ago and today are:

Right arm 8 weeks ago- 12″, today- 11.5″
Right leg 8 weeks ago- 24.5″, today- 24.5″
Stomach 8 weeks ago- 32.5″, today- 33″

HA! So pretty much exactly the same. I’m happy with that 🙂 And finally the workout you’ve been looking for.

Beginner through intermediate (12 minutes)

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

– each exercise 3 times in a row

Advanced (16 minutes)

– 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off

– each exercise 4 times in a row

Exercises:

LowJacks1

1) low jacks (keep your upper body level)

2) push ups (beginner- on your knees OR on your feet standing and pushing against a wall)

3) speed squats (lower ab brace is very important here)

4) sit ups (lift your shoulders first, DO NOT wrench your neck)

5) lunges (shoulders over hips, knee over ankle)

6) 1/2 burpee (without the push up, step 4)

I hope you’re all having awesome days! Love and a big fat smile. – Ash

Workout Wednesday: Timing is Everything.

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I have three questions for you. Yes, YOU. A lot of people have been falling off the health bandwagon. It’s about that time of year when resolutions crumble and the same people who were enthusiastic 2 months ago are reverting back to the I-don’t-have-time excuse.

So my questions are:

Have you developed a regular workout routine?
What time of day can you absolutely NOT workout?
What time of day does a workout give you the most benefits? (i.e. energy, happy hormones, strength, agility, etc)

Please answer them below. Seriously. Because if you don’t know the answers to these questions, it’s time to figure them out.

My answers:

Yes.
Definitely not anytime after work.
The morning. Waking up and doing something for myself starts my day on the right track.

Now that you’ve thought those through, here’s the workout for this week!

Beginner through intermediate (12 minutes)

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

– each exercise 3 times in a row

Advanced (16 minutes)

– 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off

– each exercise 4 times in a row

Exercises:

1. side hops- Use a shoe as an obstacle to jump over. Jump high and very fast.

2. pushups (beginner- on your knees, intermediate- on your toes with only a slight elbow bend)

3. russian twist- bend at the waist, lift your chest to the ceiling. (beginner- feet on ground, intermediate- legs at right angle, advanced- legs straight in air)

4. jump switch lunges (jump high, lunge low)

5. bird dog (beginner- from hands and knees, intermediate- from plank position)

6. wall sits (beginner- feet flat on ground, advanced- lift one knees at a time, hold for 3 seconds)

Hope you all have Happy Wednesdays. Love and a big ‘ole smile. – Ash

Workout Wednesday: Don’t Eat Too Soon Beforehand

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Happy Wednesday Ya’ll! I had a smoothie way too close to the beginning of this workout and it threatened to come up for 20 minutes after I was done. Whoops! So just make sure you have a relatively clear belly and are ready to work those muscles until they fatigue!

Beginner through intermediate (12 minutes)

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

– each exercise 3 times in a row

Advanced (16 minutes)

– 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off

– each exercise 4 times in a row

Exercises:

1. low jacks

2. tri dips (beginner-bent legs, advanced-straight legs)

3. plie squat

4. crunches (feet on the ground, legs 90°, or legs straight in the air)

5. mountain climbers

6. pushups

+ Fit Minute. Choose one of the following exercises. Do it for a full minute at 100% effort. Count how many you do and record it. We’ll be doing these after every workout from now on:

Level 1 – side to side steps or jumping jacks
Level 2 – push ups
Level 3 – burpees

I hope you all have wonderful Wednesdays! 🙂

Workout Wednesday: Post New Year Blues

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Are you getting them? The feeling at multiple points in the day of “Ugh, I just don’t want to get out of bed, or make the drive to work, and now I have to workout?!”

Yes, yes. I’m right there with you. After so many wonderful holidays for the last 2 months, reality is hitting hard. My day-to-day life is actually pretty awesome. I’m fortunate enough to have a comfortable and interesting existence, but sometimes I just don’t want to get out of bed!

Then I workout. My energy comes back, my mood is lifted. And I get to dance around in my pajamas for my warm up. And all that mood-boosting only take 16 minutes. So I will now post this workout and go do it! The blues only get you down if you let it happen.

Beginner through intermediate (12 minutes)

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

– each exercise 3 times in a row

Advanced (16 minutes)

– 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off

– each exercise 4 times in a row

Exercises:

1. high knees (advanced: higher knees, quicker steps)

2. squat kicks (advanced: with weight held over your head)

3. russian twist (beginner: with feet on ground)

4. fire hydrant (switch sides half-way through each interval)

5. speed lunges (small, quick bends w/ feet locked in place. switch sides halfway through interval)

6. plank (with kicks if you can)

Let me know how it goes. I hope you’re having a wonderful day 🙂

Workout Wednesday: Feelin’ the Burn Yet?

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The workout we did last night, in our class, was very unassuming but JEEZ it was difficult. Getting out of bed this morning was a struggle. I could barely make my legs work! While this feeling really shouldn’t be happening every time you workout, it’s good to get it every once in a while. It means that you’ve found new muscles to work. Start to recognize where you feel the most fatigue after a workout and make sure you start working those areas harder in the future. Muscle fatigue shows you where your weaknesses are.

If these workouts aren’t hard enough for you…First, have you tried them? They may be harder than you think. Second, if they’re truly not hard enough, up the ante. I’m officially in training for bike racing next season so I’ve increased my workouts a bit. I am now doing each exercise 4 times with 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off. WOWZA. It ends up being 16 minutes long and I am dying by the end of it. Actually threw up in my mouth the last two times I did it. (< gross. But it is weird that I get an odd sense of satisfaction out of this? I am sort of proud that I pushed myself that hard).

Without further ado, here’s the workout!

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off (see above for the advanced version)

– 6 exercises, 3 times each

– PUSH YOURSELF. The effectiveness of this workout depends on your effort.