Move of the Week: Reverse Plank with Leg Lifts

New exercise time!

This is one of my favorites I’ve picked up from Best Body Bootcamp so far.

Move of the Week:  Reverse Plank

Step 1
Sit with legs positioned so that they are directly out in front of you.  Place your arms behind you, with hands palm down on the floor.  Straighten your arms and turn your hands in so that your fingertips point towards your back.

Step 2
Inhale and press up using your arms.  Lift your hips up towards the ceiling but do not allow your body to sag down.  You should try to maintain a straight line with your body from your shoulders to the heels of your feet.  Once you have hit this position, exhale and hold for the prescribed amount of time.  Start out by trying to hold for 30 seconds.

Step 3
If you are looking for a way to add an increased challenge for this move, add leg lifts while you are holding the reverse plank.  You should again start by sitting with legs outstretched, hands behind your butt, fingers forward.  This time as you press onto your hands, left your right leg and keep your hips raised.  That’s the tough part!  Hold for 3 seconds, then switch legs, alternating for a prescribed amount of reps.  Try 10 on each side, and don’t forget to breathe!

This move burns for sure!  But is a great way to change things up from my regular planks.  The reverse planks still work your core but also target your hamstrings, glutes, and triceps.  If you try this out, let me know!

You can also check out these past Move of the Week posts if you are looking for more “how to” exercise moves:

What’s your favorite way to vary an exercise you already do all the time?

Monday Morning Blues

Morning!

This weekend flew by, as expected.  Definitely feeling those Monday morning blues today!

Friday night Tim and I had a low-key night in.  We made feta turkey burgers, drank some beers, and packed up all my kitchen things.  Saturday my body rebelled against any form of productivity during the day.  I slept until NOON.  I guess I needed it, but I’m not going to lie I felt a bit like a college student?  Saturday afternoon I ran a couple of errands, got ready, and then had a really fun night out for Jen’s bachelorette festivities.  Bigger and better recap on that soon.  Sunday I spent the afternoon doing a lot of blogging, laundry, and packing since this is going to be a busy week before I move… and I wrapped up the weekend with a new spin class and some food with my gym friends.  More on that later too.

Weekly Workouts

Last Week’s Workouts

Last week marked the halfway point of Best Body Bootcamp; however I didn’t follow the plan as strictly as I had been in the previous weeks based on some of the classes I chose to do instead.

  • Sunday:  Does dancing at Joan’s wedding count?
  • Monday:  Return to CBC!  Perfect Lines + Kix
  • Tuesday:  Two A Day Tuesday, with Jen in attendance!  Liz’s Kickboxing, then I taught Circuit – incorporating Bootcamp Workout A
  • Wednesday:  Taught Spin, incorporating Bootcamp’s 30 minute cardio progression intervals
  • Thursday:  Taught Circuit  with Bootcamp’s Workout C.  These full body mini circuits have been one of my favorites so far!!
  • Friday:  Taught the same Spin class as Wednesday
  • Saturday:  Does getting low at Jen’s celebrations count?

This Week’s Workouts

  • Sunday:  Spin class at Recycle with Christina
  • Monday:  Heading to CBC again for Perfect Lines + Kix
  • Tuesday:  Two A Day!  Planning on using one of the Bootcamp drop set workouts
  • Wednesday:  Hoping for an AM gym sesh of my own with one of the bootcamp cardio workouts this week
  • Thursday:  Teaching Bootcamp’s full body functional circuit in Circuit class
  • Friday:  TBD
  • Saturday:  Moving — this definitely counts as a workout.  Check out this post from Tori Teaches Fitness for more on that!
  • Sunday:  Normally I don’t include Sunday again in these weekly workout posts, but I am teaching Spin on 8/26 at the Y — in case I don’t get a chance to post that next weekend in time and you’d like to join me!

How was everyone’s weekend?  What was the best workout you had last week?  What’s up for this week’s fitness agenda?  Ready to tackle this week?