Morning, friends!
I have a HUGE LIST of things to tackle today. On days where I have an extra long to do list, this happens:
I actually legitimately do that. There is something so satisfying about being able to put a line through something and say “Check!”
Please tell me I’m not the only crazy that does this?!
Let’s rewind…
Tuesday Workout
On the agenda for Tuesday’s Best Body Bootcamp was 20 minutes of steady state cardio + workout 2 which focused on lower body supersets. Since I usually take an hour Kickboxing class prior to teaching my Circuit Training class at the Y, I decided that this could definitely count as my steady state cardio work.
I got super excited for the lower body supersets after Jen chatted me saying “ok TODAY was rough” and that by round three she was waddling to the water fountain. I think examples like these are why my clients/class members tell me I’m evil. But then you all love me, so I don’t get it! 😉
In Circuit, I got creative with our three superset combinations and turned these into stations. I also added another abs station not included in Workout 2 so I wouldn’t have too many people at each station. We did the same type of fatigue before main strength moves that I wrote about yesterday. This is a tough format to plan for a class of varying fitness levels, so I had each station fatigue to their own point, then once fatigued they did a cardio move of choice (jumping jacks, jump rope, jog in place, etc) until we were all ready to move on to the main strength portion for 12 reps all together. I know I strayed a bit from the original workout, but I think it worked out well and was still effective in the ways Tina intended. We had some extra time at the end of class, so I threw in an upper body pyramid and some more ab work at the end.
Playlist of the night: 90’s!
I’ve used this playlist a few times, but you know what? It gets funnier every single time. Hysterical class moment of the night: During “I’m Too Sexy,” we were all in a horse stance squat doing forward and back shoulder rolls during the upper body pyramid. Unassuming guy walked into the Annex, took one look at the 25 of us arm circling away to Right Said Fred, and beelined it out of there to get as far away from us as possible. Hahaha! We all burned some extra calories laughing at that one! Plus, the “I’m Too Sexy for my Cat” line never gets old. 😉
Oh by the way, my legs feel like J-E-L-L-O! (Sung in the commercial voice). Anyone else?!
Tuesday Dinner
Crock pot chicken! I got the amazingly simple idea from a post that Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers linked to last week. I actually hate cooking chicken, but this method is so easy that I can see myself using it all the time. Literally all you do is put chicken breasts in a crock pot, pour chicken broth over the chicken until they are covered completely, and then cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Last night Tim and I decided we were craving pesto, so we threw together some couscous, some of the chicken shredded up (I used a fork to pull it all apart), and some grilled veggies (shroomies, peppers, onion, and corn).
Then topped it all with homemade pesto!
Mixed up all together = good impromptu post workout meal.
This Morning’s Workout
Was back at the gym early this morning for bootcamp workout #3! Loved that the gym was nice and empty for my workout, and love that today’s workout is done already!
On today’s agenda? Cardio intervals (mode of choice) + an ab circuit.
Here’s what my interval work ended up looking like:
Also knocked out three rounds of the ab circuit. Did you guys know that you can work your abs extra hard by attempting to take a picture of yourself doing an isometric V-Sit hold?
Look at me glancing nervously at someone walking in! Urging him with my eyes to please not judge me taking a picture of myself. 😉
I also am proud of myself for doing my hip stretches (weekly goal #2) every single day this week!
That is huge for me. And whaddya know, my hips aren’t as tight as usual.
Fellow bootcamp participants, how have the workouts been going for you? What kind of cardio did you choose to do for your interval workouts? For the rest of you — what’s your favorite crock pot recipe?!
Something Extra: One of the fabulous fitness instructors I work with is doing a marathon walk in September to celebrate her husband’s ten-year remission from a stage four head and neck cancer. He was diagnosed one month after their wedding, but thanks to generous donations into cancer research Lauren is able to say she is walking this year to raise $100 for each year of her husband’s remission. Please consider making a donation to this wonderful cause! You can do so via this link.
Alright, time to go make a smoothie and get crack-a-lackin’ on my to do list! Check, check, check!
Fitness & Feta 