Weekend Warrior Workout – Slow to Fast

Life is all about balance. We encourage you to think about this as we head into the busy season full of sweats, treats, and all-night parties. That’s why today we are sharing this Weekend Warrior Workout to get your body ready to ENJOY those things rather than regret them.

Planning.

To plan your workouts think about doing something focused 3-6 times a week and taking 1-3 days of what’s called active rest (clean house, walk the golf course, go for a hike, take the dog for a long walk, do squats throughout the day – link it to every time you go to the bathroom for example).

Movement is good for whole-body health.

This movement is important for recovery and allows your body to do something active for fun, wellness, blood flow to the sore spots from your focused workout, etc. This keeps the body oriented toward energy flow and movement.
Making sure to get a weekend workout in is a great way to make sure your active rest days are not consecutive. Below I will outline some ways to become the ultimate weekend warrior. Consecutive days off can make it harder to return to your focused workouts on Monday.

Make sure to warm up.

Spend 5-10minutes doing easy movement, stretching, and allow the muscles you are going to work to “wake up”. Work to include all the big joints and major muscle groups. It’s a great time to get your music right, your shoes tightened or loosened, or make sure you hair is out of your way. By fixing these things now, you are more likely to stay focused on the work.

Celebrate your wins.

When you complete each rounds, give yourself a pat on the back, a fist pump, something that celebrates your accomplishment. This is a big deal for helping habits stick, and helps you be realistic about all the hard work you are doing.

Stay safe.

If you are unclear about a movement, look it up. There are lots of resources online that allow you to make sure you have good form. Always work up to adding weight or making a movement less stable. Good form comes first.

The following three movements are done super slow, to the count of 10 up, 10 down.

Focus on your balance and stability. Pull the belly button in and up and keep the spine supported with the contraction. Practice using good form – form always comes before speed.

• 10 Kick through right leg lunge without weight
  Challenge your ability to balance, but hold on as needed. Front knee should remain behind the ankle throughout the movement. Shoulders should center over the hips. Step back into the lunge and up into the front kick
• 30 Crunches
• 10 Pushups
  Do on your knees or standing against the wall if you do not have the core strength to maintain form through your lower back. Your back should not “sway” toward the floor.
• 10 Kick through left leg lunge without weight,
  Challenge your ability to balance, but hold on as needed. Front knee should remain behind the ankle throughout the movement. Shoulders should center over the hips. Step back into the lunge and up into the front kick

Do each movement below for 30 seconds: hold on as needed, but challenge your balance.

Use good form. Go only as fast as you can maintain your form.

• Kick through right leg lunge without weight
• 180 Jumps
• Push Ups
• Butt Drops
• Kick through left leg lunge without weight.

The following three movements are done super slow, to the count of 10 up, 10 down.

Focus on your balance and stability. Pull the belly button in and up and keep the spine supported with the contraction. Practice using good form – form always comes before speed.

• 10 Squat to balance toe raise
  Begin with feet shoulder width apart, squat back (think music festival porta potty and you aren’t going to touch anything while you go, and will not soil your clothes), knees behind toes and over ankles. Lower as far as you can and maintain a flat lower back, if it rounds you’ve gone too low. As you come up continue to rise until you are balancing on your toes.
• 10 Frontal Arm Raise
  You can use weight or not, maintain good form and do not rise above shoulder height. Can do arms together or single, maintain symmetrical balance for body on single
• 10 Medicine Ball / Weight Russian Twists – each side
• 10 Alternating Diagonal Shaking Hand Planks – each side

Do each movement below for 30 seconds: hold on as needed, but challenge your balance. Use good form. Go only as fast as you can maintain your form.

• Squat to toe raise
• Power Burpee
• Medicine ball / weight Russian Twists
• Rocket Girls – Plyometeric Split Lunges

YOU DID IT!!

Now that you have finished the “work” portion, it is time for flexibility training. Spend some time stretching all the muscles you worked – in this workout, it’s full body so give all your major muscles a good stretch. Then grab a good post workout snack.

Together these get your muscles ready for tomorrow’s movement and make sure you are ready to meet your goals.

1. Please make sure to follow your body.
2. Do not push through pain. Discomfort/Challenge are different than pain. We want to challenge ourselves we do not want to hurt ourselves.
3. Find the level that is right for you and move at that level. Make sure to choose weight and stances that support your body style – if you have to use the wall to do your push ups do that, if you need a chair or a bench use those.
4. Make sure you are doing what you need to do for your body type and current personal level of fitness.

As always have a fun living in your body today!

Looking for more exercise tips?

Try Double Up – Weekend Warrior Workout or Saturday’s Weekend Warrior Workout

And as always, if you are struggling to engage fully in your life and would like to see how psychology might be able to help you contact me today!