Fitness Friday: Full Body Endurance Circuit

Happy New Year!

I hope you all enjoyed your celebrations, whether you were in bed by 9 or you stayed up and had a few extra drinks [<– guilty!] We spent our night at a friends’ house in the Berkeley hills; it was so fun to see multiple displays of fireworks throughout San Francisco, Oakland, and other surrounding areas.

We celebrated with some fancy beer, a little red wine, and of course, some sparkles to round off the night.. along with a build-your-own taco dinner and dessert. Anyone else wake up feeling like a good workout was in order? Luckily for you, I have one to try out! This endurance workout will have your muscles really burning after 20 reps.

Exercise Demos

• Kettlebell Squat
• Inverted Row
• Barbell Bicep Curl
• Barbell Deadlift
• Kettlebell Halo
• Dumbbell Bench Press
• Tricep Dips

If you don’t have kettlebells or a barbell available, just swap out for dumbbells. Aim to complete these exercises back-to-back without rest; after each round, rest 1-3 minutes before starting again. When you finish the workout, check in with me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and let me know!

A quick note to leave you with—I’m accepting new personal training clients and am offering a January special of $50 for your first session. If you or someone you know in the bay area is looking for a trainer, hit me up! Hope you have a great weekend!

Food for Thought

Any fun plans over the weekend?

Fitness Friday: Full Body Strength AMRAP Workout

November and December are definitely the busy seasons; with all of the holidays, parties, and then some, it can be hard to find time for yourself. Your minutes to workout can be few and far between so it’s important to make ’em count. Anytime I see AMRAP, I know it’s going to be a workout that will really make me push myself. The workout that I have for you today hits the full body and only takes 30 minutes! That said, if you have less time, complete as many rounds as possible in the amount of time you have. It’ll still make you sweat!

Workout Demos

• Squat to Shoulder Press
• Rotating Elbow Plank
• Alternating Triple Lunge – Forward lunge + side lunge + reverse lunge
• L Shoulder Raise
• W Biceps Curls
• Overhead Triceps Extensions

Alrighty, you’ve got your moves. Now go get your sweat on! Happy Friday 🙂

Food for Thought

Any fun plans this weekend?

Fitness Friday: Sweat It Out Full Body Workout

My WIN Detergent giveaway winner was announced! Is it you?

Good morning and happy Friday! That’s a nice word, isn’t it? Friday. Just feels good. Especially when home is right around the corner. It’s been a long week so I’m gonna keep this one short and sweet. I’ve got a nice and sweaty workout for ya.. it’s a good one!

Exercise Demos

• Jump Squats
• Curtsy Lunge
• Plank Taps – with a weight or kettlebell in front of you, start in full plank position and alternate tapping one hand at a time on the weight
• Kettlebell Swings
• Wall Sit with Med Ball – while in a wall sit position, hold a medicine ball or dumbbell straight out in front of you
• Starfish Crunches
• Hip Raise Marches
• Hop-Overs – can use a bench, battle ropes, jump rope, etc.
• Battle Ropes – can sub dumbbell cross-body punches with squat

I’d love to know if you try this workout! Tag me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook and let me know whatcha think. Hope you have a great weekend!

Food for Thought

Any fun plans this weekend?

Fit & Fashion Friday: HIIT Workout + Lorna Jane Gear

My Athleta gift card winner was chosen! Is it you?!

Happy Halloween and hooray for Friday! And Friday means I’m off to another workout at Sweat. I’ve really been loving these workouts because it not only gives me a chance to mix it up from my usual gym scene, but I also find that I push myself harder being in the group setting. I mean, I can’t let people think I don’t know what I’m doing, right? 😉

I was this close to hitting up Sweat the other day but the plans were cancelled. However, once I have my mind set on something, it’s really hard to change it so I decided to do a modified version of my first Sweat HIIT workout in my own gym. AND I decided to share it with all of you because it can’t hurt to have an extra workout at your disposal with all of the candy around, am I right?! I love the mix of cardio, abs, and strength work. By the time you catch your breath, you’re moving fast again!

Exercise Demos

• Frog Hops
• Med Ball V-Up
• Russian Twists
• Front Raises
• Mountain Climbers
• Lying Back Fly
• Bosu Starfish Crunches – place your mid to lower back on the bosu
• Bosu Dead Bug
• Single Leg Squat
• Tummy Tucks
• Double Mountain Climbers – jump feet all the way up to hands

Looking for a little extra workout motivation? I love finding some fun new workout gear and Lorna Jane just came out with some fantastic new looks. Some of my faves?

Crosstown Bra

Alliance Mesh Tank

Pria Excel Zip Through

Rouge 7/8 Tight

Clearly I have a thing for bright colors and criss-cross backs and there are tons to choose from on the website. Can’t wait to get my hands on these!

I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween and weekend!

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite new piece from Lorna Jane?
Any fun Halloween plans?

Fitness Friday: Working Out with fitmob + Athleta Giveaway!

There’s an awesome new fitness trend that is making the ability to take a bunch of classes at different gyms more readily accessible. As someone who has lived in an apartment complex with a gym for the past 3 years, I find it hard to want to pay for a gym but at the same time, feel like I’m missing out on some of the fantastic classes that are available for gym-goers. Enter fitmob.

Founded by Snapfish co-founder and entrepreneur/VC Raj Kapoor as CEO, tech guru and martial arts champion Paul Twohey as CTO, and worldwide fitness expert Tony Horton, fitmob is a San Francisco-based company that is described on the their website as:

“An authentic fusion of fitness, community and technology. fitmob combines the power of community with the convenience of a mobile platform to create a fun, affordable and rewarding workout experience in your neighborhood. It’s a new fitness movement with YOU at the center.”

They have a huge array of classes ranging from cardio and strength to barre, yoga, TRX, and more. For just $99/month, you’re able to attend classes with over 75 studios and trainers to choose from as many times as you can get your butt to class! In addition to their Passport program, they’ve also introduced MobTribes, described as on their website as:

“…a shared personal training that’s fun, affordable and all about results. You’ll be matched with a top-rated personal trainer to lead workouts at a convenient location picked by your MobTribe of 4-6 friends.

Your MobTribe will meet twice a week in a 6-week program designed for results! We’ve done plenty of research and studied the science of shared group training.

With MobTribes you’ll get personal attention, nutrition tips, daily activity tracking and off-day workouts, without the price tag of personal training.”

I had the opportunity to attend one of their workouts, Weapons of Ass Reduction [love the name!], last week but unfortunately couldn’t work out the commute with my work schedule. I absolutely plan on giving this a go and checking out a bunch of studios in SF, along with some of their own workouts, in the near future. How could I pass on the opportunity to push my limits? Eeeexxactly!

And now for the giveaway!

Want to enter for your chance to win a $50 Athleta Gift Card? [You do. The new winter line just came in!] Click here to enter and keep cross your fingers!

If you’re free, join fitmob + Sweat Pink #HolidayFitList Twitter Party on Tuesday, November 4th from 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. PST. More details on the event coming soon!

Food for Thought

Do you prefer indoor or outdoor workouts?

I received the opportunity to take part in the fitmob campaign through my ambassadorship with Fit Approach. All opinions are my own.

Fitness Friday: Cardio + Pull Circuits Workout

I’ve been pretty quiet about the whole personal training venture since getting my certification. I’ve been working to figure out where I’m going to start and before making things a bit more public, wanted to see how everything was going to pan out. Well, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve found a wonderful opportunity to launch and grow my own personal training career while learning the ins-and-outs of the business side too. In fact, I have my first client today and I’m pretty darn nervous excited!

In honor of my first client, I want to share a new workout that really got my muscles burning! I often do workouts that have a certain number of sets to complete but in an effort to keep things fresh, I decided to put together a couple of timed circuits with a cardio burst [any cardio of your choice!] in between. I’ve also included links below to show each exercise if there are any questions.

Mini Circuit #1

• Dumbbell Deadlift
• Plank w/ One Arm Row
• Face Pull

Mini Circuit #2

• Reverse Lunge w/ Leg Lift
• Alternating Dumbbell Row
• Alternating Hammer Curl

Hope you feel the burn and enjoy this workout as much as I did! And of course, tag me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram if you do this workout.. I’d love to see 🙂 And if you want a little extra challenge, check out the September Wall Sit Challenge from FitFluential! Wish me luck and have a great weekend!

P.S. my AMRAP bar giveaway winners have been chosen! Check it out!

Food for Thought

Do you prefer upper or lower body workouts?

Fitness Friday: Full Body Circuit Workout

Phew.. Friday! We made it!

I mentioned the other day that Monday’s workout was pretty lack-luster. I left the gym less than impressed and was hoping to have the energy to make up for it on Tuesday. I always plan my workouts on Sunday but when I looked at what I had planned for Tuesday, I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to put something together myself that I thought would really kick my butt. And that’s exactly what happened!

This workout is not only full-body strength, it also incorporates some cardio too. I started with a 10 minute warm up on the elliptical just to wake up my muscles a bit before getting started so with that, it ended up being about an hour. I completed 15 reps of each exercise; when it mentions things like the single leg deadlift, I did 15 reps per side.

Below are demos of the exercises.

1
Dumbbell Squat
Dumbbell Plank Row – they’re using kettlebells but I just used regular dumbbells

2
Single Leg Deadlift
Cross Body Curls

3
Lunge Kick-Backs – Couldn’t find the lunge version of this, but you do a static lunge with kick back on each side
Front Raises – I did both arms at once

4
Wall Sit
Bent-Over Tricep Kick-Backs

Cardio Blast
Mountain Climbers
Plank Jacks

I took my time through this workout and it totally kicked my butt. My whole body was sore the next day! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Food for Thought

What is your favorite exercise for upper body, lower body, and core?

Fitness Friday: Every Hour on the Hour

I mentioned the other day that I took an extra rest day this week because my legs were dying. That said, since I knew I’d be sitting on my butt all day in front of the computer, I wanted to do some arms and abs throughout the day so I decided that every hour I’d find a quick something to run through. I used to do this with my coworkers at my last job and it really makes the day fly by! Below are some of my favorites that I found. If it’s a circuit workout, I went through only once and kept everything under 5 minutes. And easy on my legs!

Sunkissed Abs – Tone It Up

Upper Body Superset Workout – Peanut Butter Fingers

Plank with Puma – Cait Plus Ate

Short & Sweet Shoulder Routine – Tone It Up

Inch Worms – Cotter Crunch

Biceps, Triceps, & Shoulders [sans cardio] – Peanut Butter Fingers

Itty Bitty Bikini – Tone It Up

Obviously I kept myself busy and it was a nice way to have breaks throughout the day. So get off your butt at work and get moving 🙂

Food for Thought

Do you do any exercises throughout the day to stay moving?
What is your favorite ab or arm workout?

Fitness Friday: 30 Minute Fly-By Cardio

Happy Friday!! I know you’re just as excited for the weekend as I am. We’re planning on heading into San Francisco again tomorrow for the farmers’ market at the Ferry Building. We haven’t been to that market since we were out here in 2012 but I remember it being fabulous. We’re really going because RoliRoti, where we got the rotisserie chicken and potatoes, only serves their porchetta sandwiches at this market and Nathan has been dying to try it. Who am I to say no when there’s so much good stuff there?!

Today I wanted to share a cardio workout that I did this week. Despite the 5Ks that I’ve done in the past [and those coming up too..], I’m not a big fan of running, but sometimes it’s good to switch it up in the gym. Jumping back and forth between the elliptical and treadmill definitely made this workout fly by faster than a regular 30 minute run on the treadmill!

Tweet or Instagram me and hashtag #FlyByCardio

Feel free to set your own resistance, pace, and elevation. On the treadmill, I ran at about 7.5-8 for the first 3 rounds and then 8.5-9 for the last 2 rounds. Really try to push it for the last minute! I finished mine up with a short cool down walk on the treadmill and covered 4.25 miles. Now, maybe I should have thought ahead and saved this workout for another day when I wasn’t doing my Best Body Bootcamp lower body workout right after, but hey, I’m still alive 😉

By the way, this is the last round of bootcamp and I’m really sad. I’ve loved every round I’ve done but I guess now I’ll just have to make sure I get all of my workouts in a binder for future use! Anywho..

Go knock out a few miles and have a great weekend!

Food for Thought

Do you enjoy running?
What are your weekend plans?

Fitness Friday: 10 Minute Ab Burner Circuit

About a week before the move, I got some very exciting news that I’ve been meaning to share with you. Obviously, I got a bit caught up in my packing, moving, holidays, etc., but now that things are settling down, I figured it’s the perfect time to announce—I’m now a Sweat Pink Ambassador!

Ok, so maybe it’s something that you’ve already noticed on the right side of the blog, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less excited to officially announce it! If you’re not familiar with the community, you should get yourself acquainted. This group is all about building a healthy community and part of my job as an ambassador is to share my healthy lifestyle and encourage others to join me. That said, I wanted to share my favorite go-to ab circuit. It’s a really burner and I hope you try it out!

Need examples?
Leg Lifts
Reverse Crunches
Toe Touches
Side Plank with Pulse [About 30 seconds in]
Russian Twist

I love that I can get a quick burn from this circuit and it works every part of your core. It’s the perfect ending to your workout.. so get moving! And don’t forget to get your pink shoelaces 😉

Food for Thought

What is your favorite core exercise?