Morning bi/back workout (when you actually wake up early)!

Do you have trouble waking up in the morning to workout? Yeah, me too. That’s why when I woke up at 6am this morning I took it as a sign that I was supposed to walk over to the complex’s gym for a quick pre-work workout!

Let me back you up with a history of my morning workouts. 

January-March: Went to 5:40/6:15am bootcamp and headed straight to work

March-Now: Hah – people workout that early?

Ever since I started kickboxing, I decided that I didn’t need to double my workouts. Now, I’m deciding that I need to push myself even harder and add more weight training to my daily routine. The morning is a great way to hit the weights in addition to my evening kickboxing/group exercise routine. 

I found the Jamie Eason LiveFit trainer and heard great reviews so I decided to give it a try. For those of you who want to incorporate more weight training in your workouts, here’s what the program has for back/bis on day 2. For each move you will do 3 sets of 12 reps with 1 minute of rest in between. If you don’t have time to complete it in the morning (like I did) – try for 2 sets of 12 – your effort is what counts! :

• Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
• One arm dumbell row
• seated cable row 
• Underhand cable pulldowns
• Dumbell alternative bicep curls (used 10/15 weights)
• One arm dumbell preacher curl
• Standing bicep cable curls 

Now I’m refreshed and ready to start my Friday. It’s amazing how a short workout can lift your mood and energize you. I hope you enjoy this workout as much as I did!

 

Happy friday 🙂

Jordana

Progress?

Full Body Workout – Take it to the plate!

If you get off work at 5 – chances are by the time you hit the gym -it’s jam packed with those gym members: the text-on-the-machiners, the heavy grunters and the dumbell hoggers. 

According to my online resources (and experience) the gym is most packed when people get off of work around 5:30-7pm. That’s not so convenient considering I myself get off of work at that time! 

Whenever I find the gym to be very busy, I try to find workouts that require as little equipment as possible. I found this weight plate workout from Men’s Health to be very effective when modeled for females. All you need is a 10-20 lb weight plate and an open space and you’ll tone your whole body in under 20 minutes!

Move 1: Overhead Squat – Press plate overhead and stand in traditional squat position. Stand tall while squatting. That’s one rep. 

Move 2: Plate Swing – Hold the plate in front of your chest with hands on both sides of the plate. Using your waist, thrust weight overhead and back down in front of chest. 

Move 3: Upright Row: Hold plate with both hands in center in front of chest. Your chest is upright. Move plate upward as much as possible (elbows go out) – then lower plate back down. (View video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8agsN3RfG8) 

Move 4: Plate press and crunch – get down into a crunch position, knees bent with feet on the ground. Then, crunch while pushing plate up at an angle. (View video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWa3Fri_xiY)

Move 5: Around the world shoulders: Hold plate in front of chest, then circle plate in rotations around your head. (View video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qHUUo3VJ3s)

Have a wonderful day and be well 🙂

-Jordana