Valentine’s Workout

I wanted my time at the gym today to be snappy. I had some big, Valentine’s Day related errands to attend to. So, I made a weight lifting circuit up and went through the whole thing three times. It wasn’t quite as quick as I thought it would be. There were some burpees and jumps involved that always take longer than I anticipate. I may have also been sidetracked by the new issue of People magazine someone left there…(is Jennifer Aniston going to adopt or what?!).

On to the circuit! First, I warmed up with 50 squats. Then the fun began!

• Jumps onto bench-3 sets of 10. These were originally going to just be part of my warmup but I decided to keep them in the whole routine. I haven’t done jumps in a week or 2 and could definitely tell. After about 5 I was out of breath. It’s amazing how different types of cardio effects you. I’m so used to running that I recover quickly after a run. But jumping, swimming, or probably biking is a different story-it’s exhausting!
• Isolated Scaption– 3 sets of 10 on both arms holding 8lb. weights. Holding the weights in both hands, you bring one arm up (straight) to shoulder height. Not quite in front of you, but not out to the side, in between. Hold your arm up (holding the weight), while the other arm lifts up and down. So, both shoulders are activated but in different ways. One is just holding the weight up while one is moving the weight up and down. Gets pretty brutal!
• Incline Bicep Curl- 3 sets of 15 holding 12 lb. weights. This is just a standard bicep curl sitting on a bench except the bench is adjusted at an incline. The incline makes bicep curls much more challenging. It’s a good way to switch things up.
• Triceps Kickbacks– 3 sets of 15 on both arms holding 10lb. weights. I haven’t done kickbacks in a long time. I’ve been really into skull crushers as my triceps move, I thought I’d bring back this oldie but a goodie. Basically, when I’m working the right arm, my left knee and left arm are resting on a bench. I bring the right arm up at 90 degrees (holding the weight), then shoot it straight back (so you’re straightening your arm behind you). Here’s a video demonstration.
• Burpees with Pushup– 3 sets of 10. Burpees are always tough. Starting in the standing position, you move down to the ground ending up in a pushup position, do a pushup, then thrust yourself back up to standing. It’s supposed to “flow” but be a fast movement (as fast as you can). Here’s an example…this guy’s really good at them.
• Pullups– 3 sets of 15 on assisted machine. Pullups are still so hard! I feel like I do assisted pullups quite a bit, but they’re still tough. I’ll keep at them I guess…maybe one of these days I won’t need the machine…
• Inverted Shoulder Press– 3 sets of 8. I did these for the first time the other day. They are basically a pushup while in down dog with your feet up on a bench. It sounds goofy, but it works your shoulders more as opposed to your chest. When you do it right, you can definitely feel the difference.

I also did a couple ab exercises.

• Low Ab Curls– 3 sets of 15. Laying on the bench, I just lifted my bottom off the bench with my legs in the air. You’ll start to feel this in your low abs after a couple reps. It’s definitely a “go to” ab exercise for me.
• Russian Twist with Legs Off Ground– 3 sets of 10 holding ten pound medicine ball. Sitting on the ground, I brought my legs up into a table top position. Holding the medicine ball, I just rotated left and right really twisting in order to feel it in my obliques.
• Mountain Climbers– 3 sets of 10. In the plank position (with hands on the ground not forearms) I just brought one knee at a time towards my chest. This is basically a whole body exercise. Not only do you feel it in your abs, but also your shoulders. They get pretty tiring after a few!

It was a great workout and wonderful Valentine’s Day. I attempted a pretty serious Jamie Oliver meal tonight that I think was a success. I’ll post on that and more Valentine’s goodies tomorrow! Now I’m off to enjoy, what else, but chocolate (possibly some peanut butter banana ice cream too…yum).