A Cardio Strength Fusion Workout – Serious Calorie Burn!

My workout this morning totally made up for everything that I didn’t do right yesterday. Really that perfect combination of sweat, fatigue and breathlessness all mixed together. As I have mentioned several times on my blog before, since having a baby I have really had to fine tune my workouts to get the most out of a short amount of time. Where I used to do cardio followed by a strength workout (or vice versa), I have found the perfect way to combine the two (ultimately saving me a TON of time).

Workout today was at the gym. To complete this workout you will need:

• A box to complete box jumps
• A kettlebell
• A pull up bar (or assisted pull up machine)
• A dip bar (or assisted dip machine)
• A medicine ball or wall ball
• TRX straps (if available)

On to the good stuff. The workout itself. I time all of my workouts for purposes of the blog. Unlike the “AMRAP” workout that I did yesterday (“As Many Reps as Possible”), in this workout it is important to complete ALL reps. Therefore, the length of your workout will vary depending on how long it takes to do ALL reps. It took me approximately thirty five minutes.

Warm up – Run 400 meters around a track or on a treadmill.

Modification – If you don’t run, do a combination of stationary warm up exercises (jump rope, jumping jacks, imperial walkers, body weight squats) for 2-3 minutes.

Workout – There are two stations of exercises. Complete each station sequentially, three times.

Station 1 –

• Wall Balls (10 reps) – Holding a wall ball or medicine ball in both hands from a squatting position, drive through your heels upwards out of a squat. As you are ascending, propel the ball up to gently touch the wall approximately 10 feet above you. Catch the ball as you descend back to your squat.
• Dips (10 reps) – On the dip bar or assisted dip machine. Again, it is important to do all reps. If you have a friend that can hold your feet that works too.

True story- The first time I ever did an unassisted dip was when my strength and conditioning coach in college told me that I needed to do twenty. He literally sat and watched me do 1, step down, do another, step down, and so on until I got to 20. Use the assistance if you need it, just do the reps.

• TRX Plank Ups (10 Reps) – Your feet into the handles of the TRX straps. Hands out in front, holding a pushup position. Using your core, raise your torso, so that your body makes a triangle to the ground (back flat). See picture below.

Modification – If you don’t have TRX straps, place your feet on the box that you are using for box jumps.  Holding a plank position, bring your right knee to your right elbow.  Switch sides. Do 10 each side.

• Pull ups (10 Reps) – Like the dips, do these on a pull up bar or assisted pull up machine (you can also use a band to get assistance-that’s what I did!  See picture below of what these look like.)

• RUN 400 meters after finishing the first station three times. Here is the cardio!  If you need a modification to running, see the warm up section above.

Station 2 –

• Box Jumps (10 Reps)
• Kettlebell Swings (10 Reps )
• Side Plank Hip Lift (10 Each side)
• Kettlebell Upright Row (10 Reps)

• RUN 400 meters after finishing the second station three times. Again, cardio!

• Repeat Station 1 exercises sequentially. This time do the sequence two times, instead of three.

• RUN 400 meters.

• Repeat Station 2 exercises sequentially. This time do the sequence two times, instead of three.

If you follow this workout correctly, you will end up doing 50 of each exercise and run one mile. That’s right 50 pull ups, 50 dips, 50 box jumps, etc. You also got in some mileage. Serious cardio/strength burn!  I love that this workout leaves me feeling strong, but not masculine and is perfectly suited for both men and women.

I want to throw out some of my food or fuel during the day today (especially after a workout like this).  Eating is as important as working out.  Doing strength work results in the body continuing to burn calories throughout the day.  Starving yourself will only suppress your metabolism.  Eating a balanced diet will help you see results.  Today, I needed substance for lunch, and I was short on time.  I stopped by Firehouse and got a medium turkey sub on a wheat roll, lettuce, tomato, onion, spicy mustard.  No cheese or Mayo.  I love a good sandwich.  When I was pregnant, I was limited on the places that I could get a sandwich because they say you shouldn’t eat pre-sliced cold deli meat.  Firehouse solved that problem. Who doesn’t love a hot sub?  I continued to go to Firehouse even after having baby!

Snack time – Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar.  This tastes as good as it sounds.  Perfect afternoon treat!

 

Wednesday “Lunch” Workout

Well, the Childress Klein Y continues to impress me with the introduction of new equipment. In a prior post about my lunch time workout, I told you they were in the process of piecing together a core/strength training room. In just a few days, they have totally transformed the space that I worked out in the last time that I blogged about the facility.

Warm up – Since I completed this workout during the middle of my work day, I wanted to make sure I was properly warmed up and loose. I started my stopwatch when I started my warm up. My warm up was simply a moderate one mile run around the track. I didn’t start out too fast, but I gradually built up into a steady pace.

Workout – I did not venture out of the space with all of the new equipment. I actually had to adjust the workout that I had originally planned because of how much more stuff was there this time that I did not anticipate. I completed the following exercises sequentially in a “circuit” 3 times through. Everything from warm up to finish was a tick under 30 minutes.

1 – Kettle bell Push Press – This gym has a wide variety of weight ranges to use for kettle bells, so there is no reason why you need a dumbbell (unless you are doing this at a location that doesn’t have kettle bells). Start holding Kettle bell in your left hand at shoulder height so that your elbow is close to your body and the weight is hanging such that it touches the top of your hand (not your palm). Feet hip width apart, knees slightly bent. As you straighten your legs, flex your core, and press the weight overhead until your arm is straight. Do 10. Repeat on right side.

2 – Box Step Up with Bicep Curl – Before starting this exercise make sure that you have a box to step up on that is high or low enough that when you step one foot up on the box, your knee is bent at a 90 degree angle. Begin with the box in front of you, feet together, weight in both hands by your side. Step your right foot onto the box. As you straighten you right leg, bring your left leg up on to the box and complete your bicep curl. Step down back to starting. Do 10 each leg.

Modification – To make this harder, instead of just bringing my left leg up to standing on the box, I would bring my left leg through center by driving my knee up (while completing my bicep curl). This will really work the core.

3- Kettle bell Push up Row – Start in a push up position with your left hand grasping the kettle bell’s handle. Row kettle bell to the side of your chest while rotating into a side plank. Reverse to return to start. That is 1. Do 10 each side.

Modification – I needed to make this harder. Instead of doing 10 each side, I did 5 on one side, then 5 more with a pushup added in each time I returned to start on the same side. Repeat on the other side.

4- Box Jumps – For my box jumps, I used a higher box than the one that I used for step ups. To maximize the effects of this exercise, you want to try to set the height such that it requires you to explode off the ground. Using not only your legs, but your abs and your arms. This is a simple exercise. Standing in front of the box, use both legs to explode up and land softly in the middle of the box. Do 15.

5 – Dips/Tricep Kickback – I am not going lie, after a few sets of box jumps, I had to take a breather before dips. I didn’t anticipate having a dip bar prior to planning my workout, so to my surprise, I added the dips in. You can use assistance here, but instead, I did 5 unassisted dips then 10 tricep kickbacks.

6 – TRX Plank Position Abs – Yes, I am so happy that I can utilize this type of equipment at the Y! I took several pictures of modifications for this exercise. Start in a pushup position, feet suspended in foot cradles. Drive knees into chest. Do 10.

After doing 10 knee drives, do 10 pike ups from the same starting position. Feel the burn!

This workout kicked my butt and revved my metabolism.  How did I fuel?  Check out the blog this weekend to see my baked chicken recipe that takes less than 20 minutes to prep and cook.