Category Archives: squats

All Around Great Circuit Workout

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This is a great workout that targets all the major muscle groups while not over-stressing any one muscle group. It combines both arm, leg, and core work into a tough circuit routine.

Just like always, do each exercise as many times as you can in 1 minute. Do all 8 exercises with minimal rest in between and then take a min or two break. Do 3 sets of the exercises.

1. Deadlifts (these are a typical Crossfit exercise… basically lifting a weight from the floor)

2. Burpees

3. Dumbell chest press

4. Squat press (you can help push the dumbells up using the momentum as you come up from your squat)

5. Pull ups

6. Plank push ups

7. Single leg wall sits (30 sec each side)

8. Sit ups (with a medicine ball. make sure the ball comes all the way over your head and touches the floor)

Good Luck!

A Butt-Kicking Circuit Workout

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The goal of this workout is to do the circuit three times with as little rest as possible. Good luck!

Do each exercise for one minute unless otherwise noted.

1. Walking pushups (do a regular pushup, place one hand about 6-12 in forward with the feet rotating slightly in the same direction, do a pushup, place the other hand about 6-12 in in front of your other hand with the feet rotating slightly to that side… keep going).

2. Walking planks

3. Body squats (100, 75 during the second and third time through the circuit)

4. Jump rope (100 jumps as quickly as possible)

5. Burpees

6. Crab walks (make sure to keep your butt up and off the ground)

7. Flutter kicks

8. Mountain climbers

It’s Been A While

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The reason I’ve been absent for so long is a simple one. I’ve been busy.

Also, my husband and I joined a local gym and got roped into personal training. It was much easier than I thought it was going to be and the price was right. We have a deal for group training (both of us at the same time) twice a week. So we set some goals and jumped right in.

Because of that I am no longer designing workouts, but have decided that I still want to share what we are doing. That way, those of you that don’t have the benefit of a personal trainer or have trouble designing effective workouts can benefit from our experiences.

I’m just going to jump right in because it seems ridiculous to catch you up on 6 weeks worth of workouts. The only thing I will say pertains to our goals…

My goals were fairly simple. Train to run a marathon in the fall without getting injured.

My husbands goals were to build some power and strength and work on agility and flexibility for his upcoming Team USA ultimate tryouts (which are in 2 weeks).

Anyway we have been doing circuit work for a couple weeks to work on strength, explosive power, endurance, and flexibility. Today’s workout was particularly tough.

7 stations, start wherever you want, 1 min at each station, 4x with 1 min rest in between:
1. step ups with 50-80 lbs (women-men weight)
2. hang cleans (these are a type of olympic lift and I recommend asking a trainer to show you how to do these properly before trying them. check out this video to get an idea.)
3. yoga ball crunches
4. kettlebell squats (touch the kettlebell to the ground each time
5. walking planks (I have called these plank pushups in the past)
6. side lunges with a 10 lb medicine ball
7. quarter mile sprint

Strength Workout # 6

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The workout:

10 lunges each leg
10 squats
20 calf raises each leg
20 supermans
10 bird-dogs each side
20 spiderman pushups
plank for 30 sec (during that time raise each leg 5 times during the 30 sec)
10 inchworms with a twist pushup at the bottom
side plank for 30 sec each side (during that time raise your upper leg about 6 inches, do that 5 times during the 30 sec)
10 yoga pushups
20 bridges (hold the last one for 30 seconds)
20 pikes on a yoga ball
10 circles with a medicine ball each side
wall sit for 45 sec (make sure that your knees are at 90 degrees)
20 side to sides with a medicine ball
10 pushups with a twist

Strength Workout #4: Bosu Challenge

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Again, all these exercises can be done without the use of a Bosu ball so don’t fret!

Active Warmup. Focus on warming up your hip flexors with some leg swings and hip rotations (among other things)!

The Workout – Bosu Challenge:
20 regular pushups
20 regular crunches with your heels raised
20 leg lifts
boat pose (30 sec)
20 shoulder dips
20 shoulder shrugs
20 leg lifts from a shoulder shrug position (i.e., with your butt hanging off a chair and all your weight supported by your arms, raise each leg in sequence. You only need to lift your leg a couple inches to get the benefit. This will target your hip flexors!)
20 chops with a medicine ball
20 chops with a medicine ball while standing on a bosu ball
20 pikes on a yoga ball
20 supermans
20 bird-dogs
20 pushups with a twist (Watch the video… but bring your knee to your opposite elbow while you are lowering into the pushup – instead of while in the plank position. Keep your twisted knee off the ground and raise back up. Switch legs. We’ll make our own video of this at some point.)
side planks (each side, hold for 45 sec and do 10 leg lifts during that time)

20 side crunches on a bosu ball (each side)
10 single leg squats on a bosu ball (each leg; with opposite leg balanced behind, i.e., not a pistol squat)
10 lunges on a bosu ball (each leg)
10 side lunges on a bosu ball (each leg)
**Challenge**:
Balance on one foot on a bosu ball for as long as you can. Record the amount of time for each foot so that you can compare when you get stronger!
Do as many regular pushups as you can. This means to exhaustion (i.e., you fall on the floor because you can’t push up or lower yourself down, you absolutely can’t do anything else, and after you collapse you have to roll over to get yourself up to a sitting position because your arms are too tired to help push you up). Keep a record for later comparisons.
Cool down. Stretch with focus on your hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, and also on your pecs. If you have a foam roller, pay that baby a visit!