Park Bench Circuit Workout

Oh hey. Miss me?

I’ve taken a step back from the blog a bit to work on things like planning my wedding (venue research takes so much TIME), starting to ask my bridesmaids to be a part of my wedding party (obviously need to put together theme gifts for that), putting together a memory book for my dad’s 60th birthday, and getting some preparations together for my friend Erica’s bridal shower this weekend. I also took some time to myself to just breathe and enjoy some downtime during the couple of weekends I had free.

Today I wanted to pop in and share a fun workout that I taught in my class yesterday morning. The theme was “all you need is a park bench.” If you don’t feel like exercising indoors, don’t have a lot of equipment at your disposal, or simply want to change things up a bit, this one is for you!

In this workout, you will do each exercise for a total of 60 seconds before moving on immediately to the next move. Sometimes I find that 60 seconds can seem like a long time to do something for, so if that’s you, here are some ways you can break up some of the moves to make the time pass a little faster:

• Step ups: Do 30 seconds of a true step up, but change the last 30 seconds to be a step up with knee lift. You can do this for both the front and side facing versions.
• Pushups: Do 30 seconds of regular pushups. Then do 15 seconds of pushups with the right leg raised and 15 seconds of pushups with the left leg raised.
• Climbers: Do 30 seconds of slow climbers and 30 seconds of faster ones. Warning: these burn your shoulders after a minute of pushups!
• Toe taps: Alternate between 15 seconds slow taps, 15 seconds fast, etc.

In class, we broke up the workout by doing a running lap around the Y in between each round of the circuit., and we did three rounds total. Short on time? Try just one or two rounds for a ten or twenty minute sweat sesh. Want more? Go for a fourth. Want to throw in some abs at the end? Try doing in and outs, bicycles, decline side planks, and elevated foot v-ups all with the bench as well.

There are a lot of options with this, just make it your own and pick something that works for you!

At the end of class, we played on the monkey bars! Everyone took turns doing isometric holds in a chin up position. It was fun to play on the playground toys, but I wish there were more swings. One just isn’t enough for my class members to all do TRX inspired moves at the same time. I also wish we could go outside year round for bootcamp, baseball diamond, and playground workouts, but it’s already starting to get darker in the morning. What the heck!?

–Let’s chat–
Have you ever done a park bench workout? What other park bench exercises could I use in a different workout? What about playground moves in general?

Hope you guys have a great day!

My Two A Day Tuesday Farewell

I already know that I’m going to be all sorts of confused about what day it is today. I started the day by teaching my first Tuesday morning class, and it will be my first week without Two A Day Tuesday classes to look forward to tonight because last week was my final Tuesday night class!

I created a special good-bye playlist, and it was a huge hit:

I also told my regulars they could request whatever they wanted for the last class. I received requests for circuits, typical “Athena-esque” cardio blasts, partner moves, my favorite exercises, and as many awkward exercises as I could think of. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to squeeze all of this into only an hour, but somehow I did. After our warmup, I taught two mini circuits that consisted of some of my favorite moves to teach in a group exercise setting:

Circuit 1

• Chest press with leg lifts (12)
• Squats with halos (12 total)
• Straight leg dumbbell crunch to toes (15)

Circuit 2

• Wide grip bent over rows (3 pulses + 1 row = 1 rep, 12 times)
• Lying stability ball hamstring curls (15)
• Weighted standing windmills (10 each side)

We did three sets of these, and I put two minutes of fast feet, jumping jacks, and jump rope in between. If you are looking for a 30 minute workout, this took us right to our halfway point and may be a good one to try.

I then moved on to some partner work:

One of my favorite ways to incorporate partner work in classes is to have one partner squat while holding an exercise band around their partner’s waist. The partner with the band around them then does moves like jabs, hook punches, upper cuts, high knees, and burpees for a designated amount of time, working against the resistance of the band. I also had the members do high five pushups together. You didn’t think I’d teach my last class without any burpees or pushups, did you?!

After the partner work, we had about 15 minutes left, so we busted through my ten favorite awkward exercises that I’ve dubbed “awk move of the night” in past classes. Everyone was laughing a LOT during this part of class, so we got an extra ab workout! I plan to dedicate a whole separate post to these awk moves, so you’ll have to stay tuned until my next Awk Spot post. Any guesses on what the awkward exercises were?!

I ended class with a plank hold, obviously.

The best part of the night was after class though. I said my last good-bye, thanked everyone, and put my weights away, only to turn back and find a setup of presents just sitting in my spot. I was very surprised to see a giant pinata in the shape of a two (for Two A Day), a thank you balloon, and two bottles of wine waiting for me. My gym friends sure are quick and sneaky!

How amazing is it that the two was accidentally backwards? Makes it even more fantastic. My friends also had as many class members as they could pull aside sign a goodbye/thank you card for me before class started. I couldn’t read this in person without getting sappy, but I felt so happy and appreciated after reading these notes at home.

These class members are so AWESOME AND NICE. Things like this are why I teach and do what I do.

When I got home, I posted the following Facebook status:

And I really meant every word of it! Two A Day is where  I met all my gym friends, and I couldn’t be more thankful for them.

Liz, who has taught Kickboxing before my Interval class for years, brought me a separate goodbye gift that consisted of TWO to do lists (because we are both neurotic and Type A), TWO pieces of fruit, an iTunes gift card for new class music, and the playlist that she created especially for me that night in Kickboxing. So sweet!

Thank you to everyone who made my last class so special! I feel so loved. You’re all awesome.

–Let’s chat–
When’s the last time someone or a group of people did something really nice for you?

I’m off to work! Today is an exciting day because it’s our first farm share delivery. I can’t wait to see what produce gets delivered right to my desk. Have a good one!

Valentine’s Day at the Gym 2014

In honor of Valentine’s Day tomorrow, I declared it Valentine’s week for both of my classes at the Y. As usual, I put together a Valentine’s Day playlist (a mix of pro and anti love songs).

Tuesday Night

On Tuesday, I tried telling my class that La Bouche was my very first CD ever, and not one person laughed. Am I getting old that none of my class goers have heard of La Bouche? Did NOBODY else own and love Ultimate Dance Party 1997? Ugh.

ANYWAYS, here is the first half of the workout that I put together for my Tuesday night class. I had everyone form a big circle around the room, facing in. Since we had a big group, I had every other person step forward so we actually had two circles (two groups). Here’s where I got REALLY dorky:

Translations:

• Cupid shuffles — just shuffling the feet in the direction stated
• Heart squat jacks — regular squat jacks, but arms form a heart as you squat (squeezing fists)
• Lunge and hugs — alternating reverse lunges, but you pretend to hug yourself as you step back (squeezing fists)
• Heart crossed knee planks — pretty much the same thing as cross knee planks
• Love handlers — side planks with hip dips
• Kiss the ground pushups — downward dog pushups
• Love bugs — triceps dips with alternating toe taps
• Be mine burpees — the same as regular burpees, with yelling “Burpees, be mine!” optional (ha)
• Heart crossed sit-ups — regular sit-ups with arms crossed over heart and hands on shoulders

That took about thirty minutes to go through, including the warm-up. If doing part one on your own, it would probably take less time, and doing it twice is definitely an option. For the second half of class, I divided people into groups of four. Two people jump roped for 60 seconds while the other two did medicine ball partner work, then they switched. Instructors, this is a nice way to divide people up if you don’t have enough equipment for everyone.

Here’s the run down of medicine ball partner work:

Finally, we finished with a few group exercises — hot potato in the groups of four, plank to high fives in the group of four, then hooked arm sit-ups in longer lines, and oblique hot potato in longer lines.

Here are some pics I snapped throughout class:

Look at how many people wore pink and red, even the guys!

I was excited to wear my “Love Fitness” shirt. Appropriate, right?

Liz and I brought in strawberries for everyone to take away as a little healthy Valentine’s Day treat. I snapped a pic during her Kickboxing class too:

I love my gym friends. They are just as dorky as me so much fun!

Thursday Morning

My 6am class totally got into the Valentine’s spirit this morning too! Tons of pink all around. I used the same playlist and taught a stations workout using different equipment and a lot of new moves:

Here are some pics from today:

I love this group. Best way to start the day!

You might think I go a little overboard, but you know what? Look how many SMILES you see in these pictures. Exercise is fun, people! Even at six in the morning.

–Let’s chat–
Has anyone done any Valentine’s themed workouts this week? What type of fitness do you LOVE the most? Tuesday and Thursday folks, what did you think of classes this week?

Don’t forget to participate in my #heartmyhealth challenge if you aren’t already. There aren’t too many people joining in yet (sadface), but that means if you do take part you have a better chance at winning personal training from me. For those of you who have posted, thank you! I love seeing your healthy pics from the week. 🙂