circuit Archives - Just J.Faye

Run + Strength 30-Minute Workout

February 16, 2015 by Jenna

A full body 30-minute workout that alternates between treadmill running and strength training circuits.

On Saturday it was -3 degrees outside with a -20 degree wind chill. That’s not ok. I was volunteering at the photo stop for the Valentine’s Day TC 5K and it was so, so, so very cold. I bundled up in lots of layers, but my poor feet were frozen. Despite putting hand warmer packets between my layers of socks I still lost all feeling. It felt like I was walking on nubs.

BUT despite the cold, it was such a great event! There were hundreds of volunteers and runners out there making the most of the day. Evidence here. The running community in Minnesota never ceases to amaze me.

After my body fully thawed I hit the treadmill for 10 miles. That is the most I have ever run on a treadmill and the longest I’ve run since the Philadelphia Marathon. I’m not going to lie, it was hard. I went slow and took a few short breaks (for mental not physical purposes), but I’m glad I did it. Even though my hips are still a little mad at me right now.

Anyways, I put together a workout involving the treadmill; however, instead of running 10 miles we are only going to be doing three 5-minute sets. Between those sets we are going to do a strength circuit. It’ll be fun.

With this routine you will get a full body workout, plus some cardio, in under 30 minutes.

Pretty cool, huh?

I think so. Not as cool at -20 degrees though, which is a good thing.

PS – Did you watch last night’s 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live?! Oh.My.Goodness. I was dying.

Full Body Circuit Workout

June 1, 2014 by Jenna

Let’s all start our week out right, like with a good workout. Mondays are good days for workouts, because Sundays are good days for brunch and Tuesdays are good nights for happy hour. Especially now that it’s summer and every second feels perfect for brunch-ing or happy hour-ing on a patio somewhere.

However, we mustn’t forget about spending some good quality time in the gym. Oh no, we mustn’t. Because summer is also a good time for bikinis.

*shudder*

I mean, swimsuits are the best…….

But whatever, bikinis or no bikinis, exercising your body is still a good thing. So, let’s do it.

This exercise program contains four different circuits. Perform each exercise in the circuit back-to-back for the stated amount of reps or time, rest for a minute before moving on to the next circuit.

Circuits 1 & 3 are all core exercises. Run through each of these circuits once. Circuits 2 & 4 have an upper body, lower body, and plyometric exercise. Run through these twice in a row, resting for a minute in between.

So it will be 1 – 2 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 4 – 15 burpees.

15 burpees. Because.

Use weights that are challenging, but still allow you to complete the set. Adjust the weights accordingly from exercise to exercise. Just because you picked up 8 lbs initially, doesn’t mean you are stuck with them the entire time.

Try it out and let me know what you think! If you like it, do it 2 or 3 times this week. Feel free to shoot me an email or comment if you have any questions.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to make a stronger habit of running with my run club, which is great. However, sometimes the more I run, the less I spend strength training, which is not so great. I think over the last three weeks I maybe did a quick 30 minutes of strength training. Granted, I was sick for one of those weeks and didn’t workout at all… but still, strength training is oh so very important, for health in general and to help make me a stronger runner.

Going forward my goal is to do 60-90 minutes of strength training per week, which should equate to about 2 or 3 gym sessions. This is completely doable. So I have my goal. I wrote it down. And now I’m going to start logging my workouts.

Writing goals down helps keep me accountable and motivated. I like tracking progress. I like when progress turns into success. Then I like celebrating success.

Don’t you? Write down a goal and work towards it!

Happy Sunday!

a workout for you

April 15, 2014 by Jenna

Sometimes it’s hard to work out on Mondays, especially when the weather drops from 70 degrees to 30 degrees in a matters of days… or hours. Apparently I already wiped the terribly cold outside winter runs from my memory. Three weeks ago running in 30 degrees weather would have been a delight. A beautiful treat from the multiple runs in below zero temps. However, now that I’ve tasted running in 60-70 degrees I cannot go back. The thought of running in 30 degrees sends chills straight to my bones… and anger straight to my brain. Because seriously, why is it cold again?!

Enough hating on Mother Nature. I’m sure she means well. But even if she doesn’t, Karma is a be-yatch. So I’ll be nice and we’ll all live happily ever after.

Now back to my initial thought: sometimes exercise is hard on Mondays and I skipped out on run club because it was “cold”.

When I have these thoughts I have to remind myself of how good working out makes me feel and that even a quick 20 minutes of exercise is better than 0 minutes of exercise.

One day a few years ago I was talking to a friend at work about how I wasn’t in the mood for going to the gym. She said, “Jenna, just go. You’re going to feel better afterwards.” So I went and I did feel great afterwards. She was right.

Now on days like today I have flashbacks of her saying, “just go”. Then I do go. And then my endorphins kick in. And then all of a sudden 60 minutes have flown by and I am just getting to my cool down. And then I feel wonderful. (Thanks, Sarah for being the voice in my head.)

As a side note in my defense, that specific situation was when I was working third shift. I was leaving work at 8:00am after walking around the land of Toaster Strudels since 10:00pm the previous evening. Soooo… there’s that. But again, she was right.

Rest days are important, but you don’t need 7 rest days a week. Constant excuses just turn into bad habits.

I just went off into another tangent/side story, but I feel that it was important for you to hear read, so I’m not going to erase it.

To sum it up (again): I didn’t feel like working out. It was cold. I heard my friend’s voice in my head. I went to workout. I got really sweaty. It was great. I felt fantastic.

Here is what I did in case you would like to replicate it at some point:

A pictorial reference:

Some notes about the work out:

Warm-up – Please do not ever skip your warm up! Even if you are short on time, warming up your muscles helps your body work more efficiently so that you can burn more fat than sugar. For my warm up I typically start walking on the treadmill at 3.5 mph and then increase it .5 mph every minute until I reach 8 minutes.
Treadmill workout – I find treadmill running to be more of a mental than physical challenge, so I tend to use it as an opportunity to work on my speed. This is workout is meant to be challenging, but it goes fast (literally). Choose the paces that work best for you. I used the following settings at a 1.0 incline:
- Jog: 6.0 mph
- Run: 7.0 mph
- Sprint: 9.0 mph
- Walk: 3.5 mph
Strength training circuit – Perform each exercise back-to-back with minimal rest (30 seconds) in between. Use the weights that work best for you, even if that means just body weight.
Cool down – Please also do no ever skip your cool down. Take an extra few minutes to jog/walk on the treadmill. Follow with static stretching and foam rolling.

Welp. That’s it. I hope you workout and get sweaty and feel great. When you are in need of motivation just remember my friend saying, “Just go. You’re going to feel better afterwards.” Of course, you probably have never heard her say it, so maybe I’ll see if I can get a sound bite.

jenna.faye.ivey