No Pain, No Gain Circuit Workout

Two days until Christmas...and I am stressing.  Anyone else?  I have too many presents to wrap and assemble, menus to plan, grocery shopping to do, cleaning, house guests, and on and on.  I love the quote from Christmas Vacation "I don't know what to say, except it's Christmas and we're all in misery."  Sometimes it feels as though I pile on so much and set my expectations so high that I sort of forget to step back and enjoy everything that I have worked so hard on.

Working out is a huge stress reliever for me.  It is a fundamental part of my life.  I almost always find a way to fit in some form of exercise.  And at this time of year, I find that my workouts are even more important and more beneficial to my (mental) health.

This morning, I did a tough workout.  I really needed to push myself a little.  1000 rep workouts are amazing and so very effective.  I put together a circuit workout that combines cardio and strength.  I did 5 rounds which is a little over 1000 reps.  I was sweating, for sure.  There is only one exercise that requires weights, the plank rows.  I used a 10 pound dumbbell.  However, if you don't have weights, you could switch out the exercise for bird dogs done in full plank or simply hold a plank position for 1 minute.

I felt ten times better after I completed this workout today.  Even though I may be in the same room with the little bean, I am focusing on myself and my workout which is much like alone time.  And I am blessed. because she generally does not bother me during a workout.  She even works out with me some times.  She has actually become quite good at mountain climbers.  It's cute.

Enjoy your holidays.  Relax.  Decompress.  Enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

Tabata Workout

Today I was awoken to the annoying squeak of our puppy's favorite toy...at 5:45.  Ick.  I was afraid that he would wake Little Bean, so I hustled out of bed and decided to take him for a run/walk.  I prefer to run, but Dexter prefers to sniff everything and freak out at every noise, so we move a little slow. 

I didn't feel that our outing was sufficient for exercise, so I decided to do some Tabatas.  If you aren't familiar with Tabatas, you should give it a try.  It is fast becoming one of my favorite ways to exercise. Basically, you exercise at an intense level for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds for a total of 4 minutes.  That would be one Tabata.  It is a great way to do HIIT (high intensity interval training), which is supposed to be way more efficient than any other form of exercise.

So, here is the workout that I did today.  It is a total of 30 minutes and boy was I sweaty!





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If there are exercises that you aren't familiar with, check out www.youtube.com and do a search.  There are all sorts of videos out there that have been really helpful to me.

I use a Tabata timer app on my iphone which makes it super easy to keep track of where you are.  It has a series of beeps, so you don't have to look up at all.

Also, if you don't have a full 30 minutes, or you don't want to get super sweaty, then you can do just a couple of Tabatas.

Enjoy!