Strength: Lower Body Blast

Finally I have a complete lower body strength workout for you guys!  I have been fiddling around with this for weeks now and after a few discussions back and forth with my certified trainer buddy Tia, we now have a final copy to share!

Personally I struggle with lower back angst so I wanted to make sure we were putting together a workout that is great for me and would hopefully benefit anyone else that has similar issues.  This set of exercises has worked perfectly for me as an intermediate gym goer but can easily be adapted for beginners as well.

Let me know if you tackle our trainer approved Lower Body Blast!

Warm up with 5-10 minutes of moderate cardio. Beginners do 2 sets of 12, Intermediate do 3 sets and add weight as indicated.

• Walking Lunges (intermed: holding dumbbells)
• Reverse Lunges* (intermed: from a step)
• Leg Press Machine*
• Squats (intermed: holding medicine ball)
• Plié Squats* (intermed:  holding medicine ball)
• On the Ball Leg Curls
• Deadlifts (for intermediates with proper form only)
• Donkey Kicks*
• Fire Hydrants
• Calf Raises – 1 set each regular, plié, pigeon-toed (intermed: on a step)
• Bridge* (beginner 10 seconds x 3, intermed 30 seconds x 3)

Finish with 20-30 minutes moderate cardio and proper stretching.  Perform on non-consecutive days…I like to alternate with my Upper Body Burn.

In a time crunch? Only perform exercises with the * asterix, but try to up your weight and do a fast cardio blast to complete the workout.

Want more sweat? Add 1 minute of fast paced cardio after every second exercise (skipping, burpees, mountain climbers, high knees, etc).

Do you have a favourite lower body exercise? I’m pretty much loving the combo of donkey kicks and fire hydrants!

{Y’all know this already, but I’m just a blogger not a fitness professional so please make sure to consult your trainer or your doctor before following any new fitness regime. Safety first!}

Strength: Upper Body Burn

When I finished making my way through Fitnessista’s Winter Shape Up it was time to get organized and create a new set of strength training sessions for myself.  For this time around I’m doing one day of upper body, one day of lower body, and a few days of cardio (all with a little extra core work thrown in) each week.

I thought it would be fun to share my latest routines so I had my friend Tia, who is a personal trainer, have a look at my notes and approve everything as safe and effective.

So here we have a trainer approved Upper Body Burn!

Warm up with 5-10 minutes of moderate cardio.  Beginners do 2 sets of 12, Intermediate do 3 sets.

• Chest Press on the Bench *
• Incline Flies on the Bench
• Hitchhikers *
• Dumbbell Rows on the Bench *
• Lateral Raises *
• Front Raises
• Bicep Curls *
• Hammer Curls
• Tricep Kickbacks *
• One Hand Overhead Tricep Extensions

All exercises are with dumbbells (or bodyweight). Perform on non-consecutive days. Finish with 20-30 minutes moderate cardio and proper stretching.

In a time crunch?  Only perform exercises with the * asterix, but try to up your weight and do a fast cardio blast to complete the workout.

Want more sweat?  Add 1 minute of fast paced cardio after every second exercise (skipping, burpees, mountain climbers, high knees, etc).

Do you have a favourite upper body exercise?  I love bicep curls!

{Y’all know this already, but I’m just a blogger not a fitness professional so please make sure to consult your trainer or your doctor before following any new fitness regime. Safety first!}

Fiddlehead Salad

My to-do list is a zillion miles long, but I decided that Mousearoo isn’t going to care if I don’t finish my laundry so I made time to go to the gym after work tonight. 

I ate crackers first.  :)  Multigrain Wheat Thins.  Two servings…although I would have liked ten servings.  I heart these crackers.

For a couple of months now I’ve been formulating my own quick full body workouts based on what I learned from Intro to Iron, but today I decided to borrow another one of Fitnessita’s routines.

Whole Body Toning Sesh

Everything seemed pretty straight forward enough so off I went.

• Warmed up with a 15 minute jog on the treadmill.
• Did 3 sets x 12 reps of each exercise.  I used 10lb dumbbells instead of my usual 12 or 15lb so I could move quickly and keep my rest breaks to a minimum between sets.
• There wasn’t a free bench so I did a modified version of the Chest Flies while laying on the floor.  And for the Decline Crunches I had to sub in bicycle crunches because apparently my gym doesn’t have the appropriate bench.
• Finished up with a 10 minute cross-country trek on the elliptical.  I would have gone 15 minutes but the StairClimber next to me was squeaking like freaking crazy!!

I was sufficiently pooped after that!  Thanks Gina.  You always have the best strength workouts.  :)

Dinner ended up being a bit of a fancier affair…

Yesterday I followed a link on Twitter to this yummy sounding Fiddlehead Fern Salad.  I didn’t have edamame on hand, but I did have fiddleheads and kale buds!!  :)

Prepared pretty much according to directions…except I boiled the fiddleheads and kale buds together (3-4 mins) and used less dressing.

While the greens drained and chilled I grilled up a few chicken tenders I had marinated with olive oil, lemon juice and Greek seasoning.

Alongside the chicken I grilled a sliced white potato seasoned simply with salt & pepper…

It all came together really fast and ended up being very tasty!  I really liked the fiddleheads chilled.  The taste bright and healthy!

I had fruit on the menu for dessert but never got to it.

Who can eat during a Grey’s Anatomy season finale??  Geeeeeeze.  The show is boring most of the season but they have THE BEST finales!!!  My heart is in my stomach!!!

I hadn’t intended on watching it…but I’m sooooo glad I did.

Of course, now I’m vaccuuming after midnight.  LOL.