Today was technically a “rest” day on the marathon schedule. But, I figured I took a rest day yesterday when I was supposed to cross train, so today was weight lifting day! I made up a circuit of 9 exercises and decided to do each one for a minute, completing the circuit three times (Spartacus inspired).
By the third round, I was pretty exhausted. I’m pretty sure I ate way too many apple-peanut butter snack bars beforehand. That peanut butter was draggin’ me down.
I warmed up with a 5 minute brisk walk on the treadmill then started the circuit!
3 rounds-1 minute each. Try to complete as quickly as possible.
- Lunge Jumps– I do these pretty often. They get your heart rate up and really work your glutes. I feel like I do them all the time, yet they’re still very challenging. They’re also in the Spartacus circuit.
- Side Lunges– For these, I held 12lb. weights in my hands. Here’s a demonstration. I hate doing these, but they are a great workout for your legs. When I’m lunging to one side, I really try to push off that leg to get back to the center. This is another one that’s guaranteed to make you sore!
- Pushups– I just did standard pushups. I tried to do as many as I could with my knees off the ground. I definitely couldn’t do a whole minute like that…but each round I tried for as long as I could.
- Wall Balls– This exercise is used a lot in CrossFit. Today, I used a 10 pound medicine ball. Here’s a video demonstration. It’s a pretty simple concept, but definitely tires you out after a minute. I just assume anything associated with CrossFit is or will be extremely challenging!
- Mountain Climbers (opposite knee to elbow)- Standard mountain climbers are when you’re in the plank position and you bring, for example, your right knee towards your chest (or towards your right elbow). The version I did today was bringing that right knee towards my left elbow. It’s a little bit of a different feeling in your abs. This gets super difficult after a minute. Your shoulders and abs are pretty tired.
- Jumps onto Bench- I do these quite often too. I like to throw in plyometric exercises within a circuit to keep my heart pumping. Basically, you just squat down then jump up onto a workout bench (or whatever you have that’s sturdy enough to catch you). I just try to keep the whole movement controlled-the jump and the landing.
- Lunge with Shoulder Raise– For these, I used 5 pound weights in each hand. I lunged backwards, at the same time raising my arms out in front of me. Here’s a demonstration.
- Burpees– Another heart pounder-burpees. If you’ve done these before, you know how exhausting they are. They’re great to throw into the middle of a circuit. When the third round comes around….you’ll be dreading these!! But I promise you’ll be glad you did them! Here’s a hot chick to show you how it’s done! She does a pushup in the video, I axed that since I was already doing pushups.
- Deadlifts– I used 12 lb. weights in each hand. I l like the way deadlifts feel. I can always feel my hamstrings and back working, but it’s not too exhausting or painful. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great exercise. They definitely help give those buns a lift. Here’s a demonstration. In that video, he’s using a bar, which you can definitely use, I used free weights, which work too.
That was the end of the circuit. After I completed all three round I did bicycle crunches-3 sets of 15. I had a couple more ab exercises planned but was pooped at that point. Maybe I’ll do them tomorrow before my run.
I had an awesome dinner tonight! I’ll post more on that later….I’ll give you a hint: you might find these at a fiesta!!
Leave a Reply