Back-Up Plan

Happy Thursday, everyone! I hope it has been a great one. I actually got to sleep in a couple of extra hours today before heading up to Bellaire, so I found myself with a little extra pep in my step all day today. But anything had to be better than yesterday, because I was absolutely dragging all day. If the girls are even half as tired as I am, they have to be exhausted. I couldn’t even be too hard on them yesterday when they weren’t giving me full effort, because I was feeling the exact same way. Add in a parent meeting and a pool party, and I was absolutely spent. But that could have had something to do with the fact that my wake-up call was 5:10am, as I headed up the road to get in a hill workout. Well, I thought I was going to get in a hill workout. As it turns out, someone at Stratford High School had already thought that through, and the gates were as locked up as they could be. That was no matter, because the MAC is just up the street, and I knew my hill plans could be modified and taken to the stairs.

Instead of running up and down the hill in the dark, I ran up and down the stairs from the first floor to the second floor of the MAC. And just because I completed my workout at the gym, doesn’t mean I was gifted with air conditioning. There is a set of stairs on the outside of the building, so I was still sweating up a storm as I completed four sets of ten stair climbs, alternating one foot on every step with one foot on every other step. And I can tell you that I am absolutely feeling it today. But I didn’t want to just run up and down stairs, or up and down the hill, and call it a workout. But I also wasn’t going to give myself enough time to get in a full circuit-style workout. My solution? A short circuit-style workout that incorporates both strength and cardio. That probably took me less than ten minutes. And it was inspired by this workout from, you guessed it, Peanut Butter Fingers. 

While I don't particularly love any of these exercises, six reps goes by pretty darn quick. When I came up with this workout, I assumed that I was going to be in the middle of a high school football field, with no access to any equipment. So even though I could have added in equipment when I moved myself over to the gym, I chose to follow this as is. So this is a workout that could very easily be done at home. And of course, you can choose to add more repetitions of each exercise. I simply wanted to feel the burn, and I wanted to be finished with that round before I knew what I was doing. The way I completed this workout is by doing six repetitions of each of the six exercises listed for one round. I completed six rounds before calling it a day, but I thought about taking the three mini-circuits I have listed above and completing the six rounds of that mini-circuit before moving onto the next one. Whatever you choose is guaranteed to get you nice and sweaty.

And here are links to the two exercises that you may not recognize by name.

• Plank Jacks

(Source)

• Jack Knife

(Source)

And I'm off to bed. Two-a-days may be in the books, but tomorrow and Saturday means volleyball scrimmages from the early morning until early afternoon. And they're always a little bit chaotic, but they're always a lot bit fun. Catch y'all after!