Double Workout Post! How to Pass 35 Minutes on the Elliptical & Spicing It Up with Stations

Good morning folks,

First Order of Business

My giveaway winner!  This was a really exciting giveaway as it generated a lot of exposure for both Fitness & Feta and for DanceFIT – we each got a lot of new followers and Facebook likes in our respective communities!  Thank you to each and every one of you that participated.

Using the random number generator, the winner is…

…commenter #15, Lindsey!

(I didn’t include #1 since that comment was Gina’s herself).

The winning comment was actually her DanceFIT Facebook like, but Lindsey’s original comment was “I loved this post, I did ballet my whole life and love learning about new exercise classes that involve dance.  I heard BalletFIT was awesome and would love to try it!”

Congratulations Lindsey, please email me at Akaralekas@gmail.com for details on how to redeem your free class!  🙂

Next Order of Business

My Tuesday night workout.  Since I’ve been opting out of Kix (grrrr) because of my shoulder, my Two-A-Day Tuesdays have recently been dedicated to elliptical work followed by my Circuit Training class.

If you have any questions before trying any of my workouts, let me know!
(And of course make sure to clear any new exercise routines with a physician first).

For my elliptical workout, I did the following.  It really helped to pass the 35 minutes I had dedicated to a machine tonight!  As you know, I am not a big fan of getting on a machine for extended periods of time, so switching things up really helped me keep going as opposed to keeping a steady pace, incline and resistance for the whole 35!

• Minutes 1-5:  5 minute warmup – incline 4, resistance 6
• Minutes 5-8:  Fast front jog – incline 6, resistance 6
• Minutes 8-10:  Fast back jog – incline 6, resistance 6
• Minutes 10-13:  Repeat fast front jog – incline 6, resistance 7
• Minutes 13-15:  Repeat fast back jog – incline 6, resistance 7
• Minute 15-16:  Forward hill – incline 8, resistance 8
• Minute 16-17:  Continue up the hill – incline 9, resistance 8
• Minute 17-17:30:  30 seconds down the other side – incline back to 6, resistance 8
• Minute 17:30-18:30:  Repeat forward hill – incline 8, resistance 8
• Minute 18:30-19:30:  Repeat the continuance up the hill – incline 9, resistance 8
• Minute 19:30-20:  30 seconds down the other side – incline back to 6, resistance 8
• Minute 20-21:  Backward hill – incline 8, resistance 8
• Minute 21-22:  Continue up the hill – incline 9, resistance 8
• Minute 22-22:30:  30 seconds down the other side – incline back to 6, resistance 8
• Minute 22:30-23:30:  Repeat backward hill – incline 8, resistance 8
• Minute 23:30-24:30:  Repeat the continuance up the hill – incline 9, resistance 8
• Minute 24:30-25:  30 seconds down the other side – incline back to 6, resistance 8
• Minute 25-26:  Forward jog recovery – incline 6, resistance 8
• Minutes 26-30:  Tabata intervals.  20 second sprints, followed by 10 second jogs.  Repeat 8 times – incline 6, resistance 8
• Minutes 30-35:  Cooldown – lowering the incline and resistance down to 1 by the end

Note:  These incline and resistance settings can be adapted to your own individual needs!

For Circuit Training class, I set up 5 different stations and the divided the class into 5 separate groups of 3.  We worked out for one full minute at each station, followed by 45 seconds of cardio intervals in between each one.  The first circuit targeted upper body, the second targeted lower body, and the last set was geared toward all abs.  It was very bootcamp-ish!

Setup:  Steps for station 1, Body Bars for station 2, Bands for station 3, Steps at station 4, and more Body Bars at station 5.

Warmup

Upper Body Stations

1. Pushups with hands on step
2. Rows with bar
3. Bicep curls with band
4. Tricep dips on step
5. Overhead presses with bar

In between each of these, we did the following cardio:

•     Jumping Jacks
•     Jump Rope
•     High Knees
•     Football Runs
•     Side to side ski

Lower Body Stations

1. Alternating front lunges on step
2. Calf Raises with bar over shoulders
3. Outer thigh presses lying flat with bands –> Warning:  Make sure your bands are thick enough that they don’t snap!!!
4. Squat pulses up and over step
5. Bridge raises with bar

In between each of these, we repeated the cardio intervals:

•     Jumping Jacks
•     Jump Rope
•     High Knees –> This time knees up to the side.  Definitely my “awkward fitness move” of the night!  There’s always one, right!?
•     Football Runs
•     Side to side ski –> This time we added the option of extending one leg even further behind the other and pitching slightly forward.

Abdominal Stations

1. Sit on step genie twists
2. Bar over shoulder drops
3. Hold plank
4. Heels on step – regular crunches
5. Bar over shoulder twists

And of course, in between we finished with the same cardio intervals

•     Jumping Jacks
•     Jump Rope
•     High Knees –> I originally planned high knees here but got bored with them so improvised with some alternating back and front kicks.
  
•     Football Runs –> This time 4 counts of football runs to one side then a big jump to the other side, alternating sides.
•     Side to side ski

We finished class with glute presses, supermans to work the back, and a long stretch!

[Picture Source]

Lots of hard work tonight, everyone did a fantastic job.

Last Order of Business

Today’s Be Thankful Challenge:  I am thankful for my physical therapist, Erin, and her certification in Graston technique.  Works WONDERS!

Question of the Day:  Tell me what you’d like to see more of in Fitness & Feta!  I’m open to suggestions for different types of posts.  I love all my readers and followers and really want to target what YOU are interested in seeing more of!

Have a fabulous Wednesday!