Quick and Effective

4 Min. of Work; 1 Min. of Rest; 4 times through...

(all done with 45 lb. barbell)

*Sumo Dead Lift High Pull (= Dead Lift + Upright Row) x 5
*Hang Clean x 5
*Front Squat x 5 (bar racked on front of shoulders)
*Squat Thruster (bar racked behind head on top of shoulders) (press bar overhead as coming up out of squat) x 5
*Bent Over Row x 5
*40 (80 total) Cross-Body Punches (5 lb. dumbbells)

Try This One Today

Try this workout today (a CrossFit-type format: quick, high intensity, high power output).  It was a toughie for me this morning...my first bit of activity in four days...returned home yesterday afternoon from a FABULOUS weekend trip to NYC with my best girlfriend from home, Natalie.

CONDITIONING:
AMRAP (As Many Reps as Possible) in 4 minutes; 1 minute rest b/w sets; 4 total sets (20 min. of work):
*3 Power Cleans (45 lb. barbell)
*2 Push Presses (45 lb. barbell)
*5 Burpees

ABS/ARMS: 3 times through
*10 Pull-ups (kipping)
*Ab Set on Stability Ball:
   *10 ea. Tuck-ins and Pike-ups (alternating tuck and pike) (in a plank position w/ feet on ball, rolling ball in toward hands using a tuck-in method and a pike-up method)
   *15 ea. side of Side-ups (feet pressed vs. a wall, on side, hands behind head, lift torso up using obliques)
   *10 Roll-outs (in plank position w/ elbows on ball, butt up in a slightly piked position w/ a slight arch in lower back, roll elbows out to nearly straight arms and back in)

STRETCH

My Monday Evening Group Workout

This is what we did in my driveway and garage yesterday evening...four out of four clients survived it!

DYNAMIC WARM-UP: down length of driveway
*High Knee March, *Walking Butt Kickers, *High Knee Run, *Running Butt Kickers, *Backwards Running Butt Kickers, *Opposite Hand to Opposite Toe Leg Kicks, *Side Squat (down and back facing same direction), *Lunge to Knee-Ups, *Jog back

CONDITIONING:

1) Sprint + Plyos + Strength Set: 3 times through; 30 sec. rest b/w sets

*Sprint Fwd. down driveway; Run Backwards back
*10 Tuck Jumps
*20 Air Squats

2) Metabolic Run (this one's a toughie!)

*Sprint 1/2 way down driveway; sprint back - 15 sec. rest
*Sprint full length and back - 15 sec. rest
*Karaoka full length and back - 15 sec. rest
*Power Skip (exaggerated, high hop skipping) full length and back - 15 sec. rest
*Sprint 1/2 way and back - 15 sec. rest
*Frog Hop 1/2 way; sprint back - 15 sec. rest
*5 Burpees to Power Skip full length and back - 15 sec. rest
*Sprint full length and back - 15 sec. rest
*Sprint full length, run backwards back - 15 sec. rest
*10 Plank Jacks to Duck Walk 1/2 way; jog back

STRENGTH: 2-3 x through

*Wall Squats (facing a wall with body/toes as close to wall as possible, arms overhead, squat as low as possible...very tough on the erector muscles along both sides of your spine) x 15

*Med Ball Squat-Shrugs (squat down, touch M.B. to floor, explosively rise up and shrug shoulders to ears w/ straight arms holding ball at arms' length) x 20

*30 sec. ea. side Single-Leg Bridge Holds

*Rolling Med Ball Push-ups (place one hand on med ball, push-up, roll ball to other hand, push-up, repeat) x 7 ea. arm

ABS:

*20 Butterfly Leg Lifts
*20 Butterfly Shoulder Lifts
*20 Butterfly Leg Lifts
*20 Butterfly Shoulder Lifts
*20 Pelvic Curl-ups
*20 Pelvic Curl-ups + Elbows to Knees
*20 Pelvic Curl-ups
*20 Pelvic Curl-ups + Elbows to Knees
*10 Full Leg Lifts

CrossFit Weekend

It's official...I am now a CrossFit Level 1 Certified Trainer.  I spent this entire past weekend holed up in our local CrossFit gym, which they refer to as a "box."  I am not kidding you, it was truly a box...no heat...brrr.  I heard lecture upon lecture, learned progression after progression for each exercise and lift, and was forced to try my hand at some insanely difficult uber-high intensity workouts.  I left feeling inspired...and actually a bit under-qualified to help anybody do CrossFit!=)  I still have a lot of "learning by doing" left to do, I think.

I trained my Monday evening crew at my home gym last night, and I applied all sorts of new techniques and exercises into our workout that I'd learned from the CrossFit trainers over the weekend.  Looks like it's already paying off.  Example: When performing a squat, turn your toes just slightly out (somewhat duck-footed), so as to ensure that your knees naturally track right over your toes (it also allows you to get deeper into your squat).

Below is the CrossFit workout, called "Fran," that they had us do at the very end of day of our training.  Yikes!

FRAN: Done for time (no rest)

*21 Thrusters (65 lb. barbell racked under chin; full squat to an immediate overhead press)
*21 Pull-ups (yes, 21 full chin-ups!!)

*15 Thrusters
*15 Pull-ups

*9 Thrusters
*9 Pull-ups

I was a nervous wreck before trying this, as I've NEVER before thrown such high weight overhead.  They'd prepared me all day long, so I knew how to do it safely, but still I was a wreck.  I chose a lighter bar (55 lb., instead of 56 lb.), and I ended up completing Fran in 5 min. and 27 sec. (or something close to that in that 5 min. range).  I'm not really looking forward to ever having to do this one again=)...it's a BEAST!

Like Mother, Like Kiddos

I promise I've never shown my kids, Ellie and Charlie, how to work a cardio machine, lift a weight, or do a push-up...and yet, I fear the exercise bug might just be in their blood=).  This is how I found them entertaining themselves while I cleaned up after bath time the other night.

Wednesday Workout...Plyos Plus Strength

I am a huge believer in plyometric training...the ultimate way to maintain a high heart rate while strength training.  Here's the workout I did early this morning at home in my garage and upstairs gym; it involves a short plyo circuit, followed by two strength supersets. It took me about an hour and ten minutes to complete...leaving me enough time to shower and dress before the kids woke up.

WARM-UP: 3 x through
*300 Jump Rope
*15 Burpees
*10 ea. side of Med Ball Wood Choppers

PLYOS: 3 x through
     NOTE: (reqs. 2 boxes to jump up to - 1) Low Box (~12 " high); 2) Medium Box (~24 " high)
*Squat to Box Jump (up to Med. Box, holding 10 lb. Med Ball at chest)
*Side-to-Side Push-Offs (over Low Box)
*30 ea. leg of Med Ball Repeaters (quick step-ups on one leg up to Low Box, holding 10 lb. Med Ball at chest)

STRENGTH:

SUPERSET #1: 3 x through
*20 Med Ball Cleans (see crossfit.com for video demonstration of this exercise)
*20 Squat Thrusters (squat to overhead press) (w/ 15 lb. dumbbells)
*10 ea. leg of Pillar Lunges (lunge forward and backward on one leg w/o touching foot down in middle)
*20 Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls (15 lb. dumbbells) (see crossfit.com for video demonstration)

SUPERSET #2: 3 x through
*10 ea. side of Single Arm Snatch (20 lb. dumbbell) (crossfit.com)
*20 Side Shuffle-Shuffle Touch (10 lb. Med Ball) (shuffle twice to one side, then squat down and touch med ball to floor, then same thing the other way) (20 total touches; 10 to ea. side)
*10 Pull-Ups

ABS:
*Plank Hops up to Low Step/Box (hop w/ hands up to and down from a low step w/o losing plank position)
*Elbow Plank Leg Lifts (20 ea. side)
*Elbow Plank Knee Touches (20 w/ narrow feet; 20 hip width feet; 20 wide legs)
*Plank-Twist-Toe Touch (10 ea. side)
*Plank Hop-in; Hop-out to Leg-Jack (20)

Today's Workout: The "Nose Smasher"

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

I appeared on live television at 11 AM this morning.  I, for some reason, thought it would be a really good idea (relaxing, maybe?) to workout very early before my kids woke up, so that I'd have it all done for the day before I even had to head to the station.  Apparently, a 4:45 AM wake-up call makes for a REALLY dumb blond.

The "Abs" portion of my morning workout, which is listed below, was cut just a bit short when I smashed a 10 pound weight plate into the tip of my already-twice-broken nose...instant bloody nose and all! When I say I smashed it, I really mean that I SMASHED it.  Luckily, I hit the flexible cartilage portion of it, instead of the bony part, but still, I was looking for black eyes all morning long.  Just what I needed before appearing on TV!!

Anyway, here's the workout: (advice - don't swing a weight plate around while doing the tuck-ups)

WARM-UP:
1) Stair Climber Tabata: 20 sec. ON/ 10 sec. OFF x 8
2) Elliptical Tabata: 20 sec. ON/ 10 sec. OFF x 8
3) Air Squat Tabata: 20 sec. ON/ 10 sec. OFF x 8

STRENGTH/CONDITION:
1) 3 x through:
*40 Overhead Press (15 lb. dumbbells) to 5 Pull-Ups (aka Chin-Ups)
*15 Burpees to 5 Pull-Ups
*Single Leg RDL at weight stack to 5 Pull-Ups
*40 Plank Jacks (leg jumping jacks in plan position) to 5 Pull-Ups

2) 5 x through:
*10 x 30 lb. Dumbbell Squat Swing
*10 Box Jumps
*10 Bent Over Row w/ barbell

ABS: (oops!...smash!...never made it through these, myself)
*25 Pike-Ups w/ 10 lb. weight plate (initiate at chest, move to touch toes)
*20 Tuck-Ups (optional: w/ 10 lb. weight plate at chest)
*Side Bridge Leg-Ups (15 ea. side)
*Floor Runs (15 ea. leg) (begin sitting w/ both legs straight out in front of you; move one leg from straight out front to straight back w/ running stride arms...back and forth with the leg, remain seated)
*20 Mid-Straddle V-Ups, 20 V-ups to R, 20 V-ups to L

As Seen on WCNC's "Charlotte Today" This Morning...

http://www.wcnc.com/charlotte-today/Ditch-the-cardio-machine-85829947.html

Oh, my!...was I ever nervous?!