Bodyweight Exercises | Fitness & Feta

Hi friends! My weekend is starting a day early today. Yep, that’s right, this was a three-day work week for me. Tim and I are heading up to New Hampshire for a birthday overnight, my birthday gift to him. I am excited to get away for a bit, even if only for a night.

For today, my second week of Friday Favorites! Hope you enjoy what I’ve enjoyed reading this week.

Food & Fitness

Looking for ways to cut calories when you go out to eat on the weekend? Read on here for some tips you might not have thought of before.
I must make these spanakopita bites as seen on Iowa Girl Eats. I have some Athens phyllo dough just hanging out in my freezer. Now I know what to make with them. Thanks, Kristin!
Have you heard of intermittent fasting? I first read about it here, but this week Gina at The Fitnessista presents two different viewpoints on the topic. I’m not sure I could ever do it because of how active I (usually) am, but then again, I haven’t tried. Thoughts? It’s a controversial topic for sure.
17 powerful bodyweight exercises for speed and strength. I’m always looking for new moves, and Greatist never fails to deliver.

Blog Tributes to Boston
**As I mentioned in my Wednesday post, this week there was an outpouring of love and support for Boston in the blogging community. I read countless tributes to Boston this week, but these are some of the ones that really resonated with me.**

Sending Love to Boston from Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean
Tears at the Finish Line from Elizabeth at On Tap for Today
Thoughts on Boston Marathon 2013 from Whitney at Live Run Love Yoga
26.2 Minutes for Boston Victims and Survivors from Elle at Eat Run Sail

Let’s chat! What around the web has caught your eye this week?

One last thing before I go! The folks over at Ultimate Bootcamp reached out to me last week to let me know about a FREE fitness event in Boston next weekend on Saturday 4/27. The Ultimate Spring Workout is a celebration of spring, fitness, and community that will offer free 45 minute fitness classes from several fitness companies, giveaways, goodie bags, chair massages, and more. It’s being held on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the North End, and I signed up because it sounds awesome and because for each attendee, Ultimate Bootcamp will donate $2 toward The One Fund. If any of you would like to join me, you can sign up here. Let me know if you do!

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Facebook status last night:

Some other noteworthy Facebook activity:

I was psyched that so many people were in my class, and I was extra psyched that 12 of them were there through the Y’s March partnership with the Boston Moves for Health initiatives.

Anyways, because I wasn’t sure how many people to expect in class tonight, I decided to go with a bodyweight focus so that having enough equipment wouldn’t be an issue. I’ve done a few bodyweight themed classes before though (check out my bodyweight bootcamp 1 and bodyweight bootcamp 2 workouts), so I decided to give it a new twist tonight. I went with a 3-2-1 format, where each round in the workout consisted of 3 minutes of cardio, 2 minutes of strength, and 1 minute of core.

I wasn’t lying when I said I ended up with a puddle underneath me! I was dripping sweat. Sometimes I judge my workout by how much sports bra sweat I have, and last night my entire sports bra was completely soaked.

To make the cardio and strength sections go by a little faster, I turned one exercise into a “series” or a mini combination. This helped! Here are some ideas for the cardio/strength sections if you try this workout on your own:

Jumping Jacks

Modification – tap one foot out at a time
Variations – regular jacks, cross feet jacks, jacks facing in all four directions, jacks with circling arms
Advanced – jacks with a little jump out

Touchdown Lunges

Modification – don’t touch ground
Variations – 1 minute on the right, 1 minute on the left.
Advanced – add a hop

Jump Rope

Modification – march in place, alternate feet
Variations – regular jump rope, jump side to side, jump front and back, jump one foot at a time
Advanced – tuck jumps (knees to chest)

Pushups

Modification – against wall, on knees
Variations – regular, lift one leg at a time, switch back and forth between a few versions
Advanced – diamond, spiderman

High Knees/Mountain Climbers

Modification – knee lifts for high knees, slower knees in for climbers
Variations – 30 seconds of each for the three minutes
Advanced – hands up during high knees

Squats

Modification – ball squat against wall, don’t squat as low
Variations – regular squats, one-legged squats, squat hold, squat pulses
Advanced – squat jumps

Burpees

Modification – take out the jump up (just reach), take out the hop back (step back)
Variations – 1 minute single leg burpees right, 1 minute single leg burpees left, 1 minute double leg burpee. Any combinations of jump, reach, hop, step.
Advanced – add the pushup!

Plie Squats

Modification – don’t plie as low
Variations – slow them down, speed them up, plie pulses, plie hold
Advanced – pulses with heel lifted, plie jumps

For the prone pull-downs/Pilates swim combo, we alternated 30 second of each with rest as needed, and for the last cardio combo we alternated between jog in place, punching up and to the side with both arms while jogging, and speed bags while jogging, with rest as needed. All the core moves are as described for the minute, but modifications on knees would be fine!

Was a super fun class, and definitely adaptable for workout routines of all levels. Even very beginners could turn this into 30 seconds > 20 seconds > 10 seconds with the modified versions and work their way up!

Ever done a 3-2-1 style workout before? What’s your favorite bodyweight exercise?

I’m thinking about doing another 3-2-1 style next Tuesday, but with equipment! And maybe swap the 3 minutes of cardio for 3 minutes of strength. We’ll see!