Workout Archives - Page 6 of 8

Superset Tabata Workout

November 16, 2014 by Jenna

As the days are getting shorter and the holiday festivities begin to pick up it is nice to have arsenal of quick workouts for those days you just don’t have time to spend hours in the gym.

This superset Tabata will take you 20 minutes to complete, plus some time for warm up and cool down. It is a no-equipment-needed-do-anywhere-workout that hits your triceps, abs, chest, and legs. Also, your heart, because there are quite a few cardio bursts involved.

You’re at your in-laws for Thanksgiving? You can do this in the guest room.
You’re travelling for work and staying at a hotel? This can be done in the hotel room.
You just don’t feel like going to the gym because it’s 4 degrees and snowing? No problem-o. This can be done in your living room.

Convenient, amiright?

Let’s be clear, just because this workout is convenient, it does not mean that it is easy. No sir, it is intense. Push yourself, get your heart pumping, and work to earn that sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie!

Now let’s talk about what a superset Tabata actually is.

SUPERSET. A superset is when exercises are performed back-to-back with little to no rest in between, rather than performing all the reps and sets of a single exercise before moving to the next.
TABATA. Tabata is a type of high intensity interval training (HIIT) where an exercise is performed at high intensity for 20 seconds and followed by 10 seconds of rest. This pattern is completed for 8 rounds, a total of 4 minutes.
SUPERSET TABATA. A superset Tabata is when two exercises are performed within one Tabata in an alternating fashion. Each exercise is performed 4 times within the 8 rounds.

Here is the superset Tabata I have for you today.

Within each Tabata there is a mix of strength and cardio. During these exercises I want you to work. Get your knees high, squat low, hold in your core, kick your butt. You’ll get an intense full-body workout in a quick 20 minutes, but please don’t forget to give yourself a couple of extra minutes to warm up and cool down too.

There you have it. Add this to your collection of quick and convenient workouts. Don’t have one yet? Go ahead and start one! Remember, you will never regret a workout (especially during the calorific holiday season). Even though it is quick, it is still totally worth it.

Fun fact: Tabata is named after Izumi Tabata, which is why it is always capitalized. If you like Tabatas check out this 4th of July one too!

Leave a comment if you have any questions!

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30-Minute Elliptical Workout

November 2, 2014 by Jenna

Let’s play a little game of Would You Rather?

Would you rather… run 7 miles outside or do the elliptical for 20 minutes?

For me, 7 miles. Hands down. Every Day. No more questions. What would you choose?

I know, a short-lived game. It was fun though, right?!

My point here is that strongly dislike the elliptical. The treadmill too. Oh, and the stationary bike. Basically, any form of cardio that is done indoors on a machine for longer than 8 minutes.

8 minutes on one of these things = eternity. I don’t have the mental strength for eternal workouts.

But you know, sometimes you just do whatcha gotta do. Maybe it’s -20 degrees outside (Please, God. Not again.). Maybe there is a lightning storm. Maybe you have a bum hip/knee and need to take a break from running (like me right now. Sad face). Whatever the reason, sometimes you just need to roll with the punches and jump on a machine.

I have found that doing interval workouts on the elliptical/treadmill/bike fly by much quicker than doing a steady pace the entire time. Plus higher intensity = shorter workouts. Shorter workouts = happy Jenna.

So when life hands you lemons… go work on your speed. Here’s what we’ll do:

Start off with a nice 5-minute warm up. Get your blood pumping and try to get a little bit faster every minute. Minutes 5-10 will alternate between 30 seconds of sprinting at a high resistance level and 30 second of jogging at lower resistance. Then jump off gently step down, because Minute 10 will be a plyometric exercise and Minute 11 will be a strength exercise. The pattern in Minutes 5-12 will repeat two more times with varying resistances, plyometrics, and strength exercises. Afterwards treat yourself to a full 4-minute cool down while thinking about how surprisingly enjoyable the workout was.

When you get off of the elliptical to do the jumps and push ups use a clock or watch to time the minute. If you don’t have easy access to a time keeping device you can do the quantities listed below instead.

Chances are that the machine will have reset due to inactivity. This is ok. Get the machine going and proceed with the 5 minutes of intervals.

I did this workout on Friday and burned just over 300 calories according to my heart rate monitor. Not bad for a 30 minute workout! Make sure to do some stretching afterwards.

And hey, maybe in this little game of Would You Rather you chose the elliptical over running. If that’s the case then you are awesome and I hope you enjoy this workout.

It’s Sunday. Get on it and go burn off all that Halloween candy!

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5-4-3-2-1 Variety Speed Run

October 6, 2014 by Jenna

I love a nice and easy five-mile run; however, every once in a while it’s good to switch things up and add in some variety speed.

You know, break up the monotony of routine. Spice up coffee with some cinnamon. Listen to country instead of pop. Wear lipstick. Do some speed work in the middle of a run.

We’re not doing anything crazy here. But still, let’s try out something different. Bust through plateaus. Be re-energized. Become better. And when it comes to running, get faster.

Adding in intervals and speed work into a regular run can do just that.

Running at your “easy run” pace is great, but eventually your body will get too used to it. You won’t be improving, because you won’t be adding new stresses (good stress in this case) for it to adapt too. Incorporating speed work into your runs can help break up the muscle memory of your usual pace, helping you to become faster with the same amount of effort. Speed work can also lead to a VO2 Max improvement, allowing you to be able to work harder for a longer period of time.

These are all good things, so this is what we need to do: 5-4-3-2-1.

This workout is definitely a workout. It’s not easy, but it goes surprisingly fast.

Once the second speed interval is completed you’re basically almost done! This is also about the time I need to start my mantras: “Three minutes! You can push it for three minutes!”, “Two minutes. Two minutes. Two minutes. That’s it. Just two short minutes”, “I just need to pick it up for one more minute – that’s basically nothing!” Some days it’s easier to convince myself of these things than others.

The key is to make the last one-minute interval of speed work as fast as (if not faster than) the first five-minute interval. This will help you train your body/legs/mind how to kick it into gear and push through the fatigue, which will come in handy during the last few moments/miles of your next race.

You can check out some other speed workouts here and here. Maybe add in some burpees just for fun?

Kidding.

(I’m not kidding)

This workout is perfect for a 6-7 mile run with a full two-mile warm up and cool down (depending on your pace). If you want something shorter you can decrease the warm up and cool down, just be sure to get at least eight minutes in for each. You can also start the speed intervals at four minutes rather than five.

If you are a go-getter or are further along in marathon training, feel free to add on a six-minute speed interval with a three-minute recovery at the beginning. This would probably get you closer to 7-9 miles. I will be doing tomorrow this after work. Cannot wait.

Speaking of marathon training and marathons… the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon was yesterday!

This marathon. It’s amazing. I love it. The runners. The spectators. The course. All wonderful.

I am on the Marketing Committee for Twin Cities in Motion and organized the cheer zone contest. Part of my duties for this was to bike along the course and judge the cheer zones to determine the winners. My friend Katie and I biked, stopped at the cheer zones, chatted with people, ate, drank, cheered on runners… it was rough, but we got the job done. It was my second year working on the cheer zones and being on the association – I loved every minute of it!

Now that I have run a couple of marathons I understand the blood, sweat, and tears (literally) that go into training for and running one. The 26.2 mile journey begins long before the start line. It’s a true feat of endurance and is (in my opinion) just as much of a physical challenge as it is a mental one.

8,848 people crossed the finish line yesterday. All at different times for different reasons with a different story. I hope they are all celebrating right now. And foam rolling.

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The Magic Of Foam Rolling

September 22, 2014 by Jenna

Foam rolling. It’s a magical, magical thing.

Are you familiar with the magic of foam rolling? If not, let me tell you about it. If so, let me remind you.

Foam rolling is a form of self-myofascial release. I know, “self-myo-whaaaa?” Fascia. It’s the connective tissue that surrounds all of your muscles and nerves, kind of like tendons or ligaments.

Self-myofascial release (SMR) is a stretching technique just like static stretching and dynamic stretching. I can get really sciency here and talk all about Golgi tendon organs (GTO), muscle spindles, and autogenic inhibition, but I won’t. Basically SMR helps muscles and tissues to relax. Due to things like overuse, repetitive movements, and poor posture, muscles can become tight and develop adhesions. Over time this can lead to muscle inflammation, spasms, impaired movements, and muscle imbalances.

Who wants that? No one. That’s where the foam roller magic comes in.

The purpose of a foam roller is to put pressure on these sore spots or “trigger points” in order to release the knots. It’s like giving yourself a deep tissue massage.

The act of foam rolling is really quite simple. Roll the foam roller along the targeted area (calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, upper back, etc.) until you feel a tender spot. Hold the roller on this spot for 30-90 seconds. This is the hard part. It is painful with a capital p (AKA: Painful). Hold it, try to relax your muscles, and breathe through it. You’ll feel better later, I promise. After the hold continue to roll along the targeted area looking for more of these trigger points to release.

The SMR technique can be done as part of your warm-up routine or as a post-workout cool down or just do it everyday while you’re catching up on The Mindy Project. It also pairs well with static stretching.

The magic of foam rolling is that it helps improve range of motion, muscle alignment, flexibility, and neuromuscular efficiency. It is also way more cost-effective than getting regular $70 massages. It is only about $20 for a foam roller than you can use over and over and over and over again. Not a bad deal, huh? I have this one.

For more information and some pictorial instructions, go here.

I can’t begin to express how important foam rolling is. After you add it into your routine on a regular basis you’ll begin to notice and feel all of the benefits. I really hope you try it out.

I’m sitting here typing this after a week of running 42 miles, including a hill workout, a variety speed workout, and a 17-mile long run. Yikes. Let me tell you, I did not do a good job at foam rolling this week. My legs are tight and I could definitely feel my left hip flexor and knee during the last 14 miles of my 17-mile run. That’s not ok.

Lesson learned: foam roll, errday.

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HIIT IT!

September 8, 2014 by Jenna

Who is excited that it is Monday?!?!!

No one? That’s ok. Mondays are hard, but muster up some enthusiasm, people. We’re going to HIIT it!

HIIT as in High Intensity Interval Training. I talked a bit about the concept in this Do Anywhere HIIT Workout post. Basically, it consists of short spurts of high intensity exercise followed by a short rest. The goal is to push it hard (70-80% of max). You can do it, though. I really believe in you.

In less than 35 minutes you will get a warm up, a full body workout, and a cool down. This means you’ll get your workout in and have plenty of time to spare before the start of Monday Night Football (or whatever else you have planned for the evening). Awesome.

Plus, you’ll continue to burn calories long after the workout is over. This is because of a lovely little thing known as EPOC, which is excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, but you can also just think of it as afterburn.

Pretty great, right?

Yes, so let’s do it.

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Pre-Race Strides

August 4, 2014 by Jenna

On Saturday morning I kicked off my Philadelphia Marathon training by running a half marathon. Pretty exciting.

Signing up probably wasn’t the best decision I have ever made, since I am a little untrained and haven’t run over 10 miles since Grandma’s Marathon last June. But it’s ok. I survived (clearly otherwise I wouldn’t be typing this).

This was my 4^th half marathon and unfortunately I didn’t set a new PR (Personal Record). At mile 10 there was a chance that if I just pushed it those last 3.1 miles I could have done it, but I didn’t. My racing mentality just wasn’t there that morning. Oh well. #betterlucknexttime

Overall though, I’m still happy that I did it. It was a nice long run and a good course. It will be a great baseline to see how I improve over the next few weeks with some actual training.

Now that I am officially in marathon training, it’s time for me to really get down to business. The next 16 weeks will be work, but fun work and exciting work. My goal for this marathon is to finish below 3:45, which would be a 4 minute improvement over my last time. I can do it! I hope.

Are any of you signed up for a race? 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon??

If so, it’ll be good to add some strides into your training and pre-race routine.

The thing that I love about doing strides is that they make me feel so good! First of all, they only last 30 seconds. Second, they really do help loosen up my legs. The goal is to stay relaxed during these bursts and just let your legs go. It almost feels like you’re flying and it’s pretty cool. When I do these I try to imagine myself in a race and it’s the last 30 seconds before crossing the finish line.

Try them out a day or two before your next race!

What? You aren’t signed up for a race? That’s ok! You can still incorporate these to the end of a normal easy run. It’s a good introduction to speed work. And then go sign up for a race.

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