Workout Basics and Warm Up
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.
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. 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 portion.
When you complete the round, 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.
If you are unclear about a movement, look it up (Check out my YouTube Tutorials Here). 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.
Warm Up Moves – 10 of each
- Forward Arm Circles
- Jumping Jacks
- Elbows up and back with core rotation – like the self defense move
- Backward Arms Circles
- Air Squats with diagonal frontal arm raise
- Super Slow Center Wood Chops
Cardio set 1 – 1 minute all out
- Treadmill – 70-80% THR (not sure how to find your target heart rate? Read Here)
Full body Set 1 – 1 min each movement
- Diagonal Lunge Back – Alternate legs
- Side Lunge – Alternate sides
- Diagonal Lunge Front – Alternate legs
- Lat Pull Downs with Rubber Tubing – (need some tubing? Try KBands)
- Butt Drops with push up in between – Think push up, flip to supine, drop butt, flip back prone and push up, lots of rotation with this one, keep your core tight and form good.
Cardio Set 2 – 1 min all out
- Bike (spinner if you have access) – 75-85% THR
Full Body Set 2 – 2 sets / 10 reps each movement. Move all the way through set before repeating.
- Med Ball Squat with Contra lateral over the shoulder lift
- Single Leg Lunge with right leg kick through
- Frog Jumps
- Single Leg Lunge with left leg kick through
Cardio set 3 – 1 min all out
Cross Trainer – 70-80% THR
Core Set – 3 sets / 10 repetitions. Do full set then rest & repeat
- Plank Set:
- Alternating Knee Outside Elbow
- Alternating Knee to Center
- Alternating Table Top Lifts with side plank rotation
- Plank Single Toe Rolls
Finish Strong
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.
Words of Caution …
Please make sure to follow your body. Do not push through pain. Discomfort/Challenge are different than pain. We want to challenge ourselves we do not want to hurt ourselves. 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. Make sure you are doing what you need to do for your body type and current personal level of fitness.
As always have fun living in your body today!
Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
