10 Rounds Workout

Happy Monday! I don't know about you, but it's C O L D down here in Houston. We're talking nearly freezing temps here, and for us Houstonians, that's mighty chilly. I'm not complaining, though, as the colder it is on marathon day, the better. Which, by the way, we are currently sitting at the SIX DAY mark for. Not that I'm freaking out or anything.

But, I digress. I'm just checking in briefly to share a workout with you - one that I can't take all the credit for. Julie - yes, my favorite blogger over at Peanut Butter Fingers - posted a very similar workout to Instagram over the Christmas holidays. The other day I found myself with just enough time to sneak in a half hour workout before meeting Sarah for dinner. Well, that's not entirely true. I had more time than that, but the rain coming down in thick sheets shut down my original idea of running the hill at Hermann Park. So, to the gym it was!

At first, I thought this workout wasn't going to be tough enough for me. But five rounds in, I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted to power through the next five. Well, of course I finished the workout, and by the end of it, I was a sweaty mess. All of the exercises are fairly well-known, except for the first and the last. Bosu ball burpees look like this - 

(Source)

except for when lifting the bosu ball over my head, I did it more from a squat position. Criss cross with half tuck jump is simply where you criss cross your feet - right behind left and left behind right, and then do a half tuck jump. Which means you only bring your knees up to about your hips, as opposed to all the way to your chest. Be sure and land softly - you don't want unnecessary pressure on your knees!

If you're in the market for a great workout but you're pressed for time, give this one a try. I promise it will work you harder than you think it will. Enjoy the rest of your Monday!

1000 Rep (+ a few) Workout

Hello, hello! Happy Thursday! Whew! This week has gone by quickly. Yet, the days have been long. Good, but long. And though my time was short, I still managed to feel as though I crossed (almost) everything off of my list. Grades were due on Tuesday, so I should have a bit of a break, right? Wrong. I'm still drowning in a pile of grades, but I remember feeling that way last year, too. I want to start off taking everything for a grade, so that my students take everything seriously. As the year goes on, I will lighten my own load, but they're still getting used to my feedback and my expectations. So, I'm not complaining too much. Besides, they're still making me laugh. And they're making me proud.

"People think about Houston when they say America." I like it.

After reading "How the Lottery Can Ruin Your Life"

Anyway, I wanted to pop in and share a quick workout with you guys, as I flip between the Texans game and the Astros game. Crush City, baby! The Astros are back in the postseason for the first time in 10 years. In fact, the last time we were in the postseason (and the World Series!), I was in the 8th grade. And now I'm teaching 9th graders. Crazy! I digress. The other night, a delayed volleyball game and a closed pool left me at a loss for what to do to get my sweat on. I was far too sore from Saturday's volleyball tournament and Sunday's long run (honestly, mostly the volleyball tournament) to go for a run. The pool was closed, so I turned to Pinterest to provide me with a quality strength and cardio combination workout. The 1000 rep workout is tough, but the fact that you do 50 reps and then you're done with that exercise prevents me from getting bored. And motivates me to push through. Because once I hit 50, or the timer hits 50 seconds, I never have to see that exercise again. Until next time, anyway. This workout left me nice and sweaty, and also a lot little bit sore. I finally ran out the soreness this evening, but, without further ado, here is my 1000 rep (+ a few to round out the night) workout.

And that's all I've got. Tomorrow is FRIDAY and I'm pretty pumped about it. I've got a relaxing, yet fun, weekend ahead of me, and you better believe I'll be cheering on my Longhorns!

Jump Rope Heavy Workout

I am absolutely loving this four-day week. I know I sound like a total diva saying that I was more than ready for a little break when I just came off of an entire summer vacation, but, teaching is hard. And I know every job is hard. But you forget how much energy being around teenagers all day requires. But I absolutely love it. And, knock on wood, my classes have been awesome. I'm waiting for the flood gates to open, but for now, I'm enjoying it.

And  I don't have much time to spend on this post, but I have yet another killer workout to share with you guys. This one is heavy on the jump rope. I'm talking 18 total minutes spent jump roping. Yes, my calves were screaming.

This workout is, once again, pretty self-explanatory. I don't even think any of these exercises need explaining. I went all the way through set one, and then I did it all over again. Then I went twice through set two, for a total of four sets. The entire workout took me between 40 and 45 minutes, and it left me sweaty, sweaty, sweaty. The 20 burpees just about did me in, so I feel a little bit sorry for all the burpees I make my girls do at practice. But only a little bit.

Anyway, if you're bored at the gym, this is definitely a workout to try. When you're tired of doing one exercise, it's time to move onto the next one. And you'll certainly leave the gym feeling like you put in some work. Which I definitely needed last night. But for now, it's time to make some puppy chow. I'm going to surprise my girls with a sweet treat that will hopefully inspire them to #BeatLamar tomorrow afternoon in what will probably be our biggest game of the season. 

And before I sign off, check out my very first guest blog post over at Creating a Better Tomorrow. Sarah reached out to me with this opportunity weeks ago, and I finally sent something over to her. I had so much fun tweaking this post for her, and I am so grateful for this awesome opportunity. Check out my post here, and while you're over there, check out her awesome blog. I've been loving it!

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!

30-Minute Circuit Workout

Hello, hello! Have I got a workout to share with you guys today! But we'll get to that in a minute. I can't let this post go by without addressing yesterday's National Running Day. I celebrated accordingly, of course, by going on a nice 5.6-mile run around my neighborhood. Temperatures have been climbing high here in Texas, but you won't hear one word of complaint out of me. Temperatures in the 90s beat endless rain any day of the week. And I did it to myself by choosing to go out there in the heat of the day. New tanlines, right? For a accurate and concise explanation of Why I Run (and why many others run), please read this article.

After my run, I grabbed my Menchie's coupon (thanks, Bellaire, for all of the coupons and gift cards) and headed over to Bellaire. It had been a while since I'd been over there, so I had to make sure I still knew my way. Anyway, what is fitness without fro-yo, right? It had been a while since I had treated myself to some frozen yogurt, and yesterday seemed as good a day as any to hit up the Bellaire Menchie's for a combination of chocolate sorbet and original tart topped with strawberries, blackberries, coconut flakes, and a sprinkling of chocolate sprinkles. The best post-run treat.

And continuing on with the fitness trend, let's talk circuit workouts. I ran on both Tuesday and Wednesday, so I wanted to switch things up a bit today. I contemplated attending one of Felipe's Muscle Blast classes, but I didn't wake up in time to attend the 7am class, and I didn't feel like waiting all day for the 5pm class. So, I made my own. Though Felipe's class will always be harder. Anyway, I created a workout that consisted of six rounds, five exercises apiece. I planned on completing each exercise for one minute before moving onto the next one. As you can see, the rounds on the top row very closely resemble the second row, but there's enough of a change to give it a little bit of variety and to prevent the rounds from being repetitive. The minutes passed quickly, and I was nice and sweaty by the end of the half hour.

I will comment on a couple of things before I sign off - I did not last the full minute on the jumping lunges. Jumping lunges have always been difficult for me, so I completed 26 total jumping lunges (13 on each leg) and did reverse lunges to close out the minute. And on the stairs, the (one) means I took the stairs one at a time, and the (two) means taking them two at a time - I'm always up for some added hip stability work.

And on an unrelated-to-fitness note, I used Canva to create the above image, and I am officially obsessed. Get ready to see a lot more of them on the blog!

Twenty Minute Express Workout

Happy Monday! And happy first day of June! Today I am feeling extra grateful because, one, HISD seems to be the only school district that is out for summer, and two, today feels like the first real day of summer, as Saturday and Sunday were spent over at Rice University playing student. Though juggling two weeks of preseason volleyball with two weeks of inservice was one of the more stressful couple of weeks, it's worth it to get out of school before it hits June. Besides, I'm already at school for practice anyway, so I might as well just make it an all-day affair, right? And though it was a struggle for me to sit still for as many hours as I did, I truly enjoyed my time at the Art of Coaching Volleyball Houston clinic.

And segwaying off of that, I've got a workout to share with you guys. I didn't leave Rice until about 5:00pm on Saturday evening. And I won't even talk about the ten minutes I spent sprinting through another one of Houston's torrential downpours. But after sitting in the same spot nearly all day, I knew I wanted to get some sort of physical activity in. But I was pretty worn out after an all-day session. Which is beyond me, because the only thing that moved was my hand when I was taking notes, but I digress. After heading home to change into dry clothes, I headed up the road to the MAC to get in a quick circuit workout. Twenty minutes is all I needed to get in a little bit of everything - cardio, core work, upper body, and lower body. I simply completed each exercise for one minute, and I did four rounds of the circuit. You could increase the number of rounds for a longer workout, you could change up the exercises to focus more or less on one area, and really, you can make this workout your own. I certainly felt it the next day, and this could be a workout that you do when you're pressed for time, but want to squeeze in some form of physical activity. It also makes for a nice travel workout, and you could easily change up the exercises so that no equipment is needed. Burpees for the jump rope, tricep dips for the bicep curls - the possibilities are endless.

And that's all I've got! I'm off to make these first couple weeks of summer productive ones. Here's to not getting lazy and spending much of my days on the couch. Have a great one!

Five Rounds

Happy Monday! I really tried hard to come to school today with a positive attitude, committed to not letting one word of complaint come out of my mouth. There are only eight days of school left, and I get an entire summer to do whatever it is that I please, so it’s a little ridiculous that I would spend my time complaining. Especially when many of my friends are experiencing their first year without a real summer. However, upon walking into the building, I was hit with a wave of hot air. And it only got worse as I climbed the stairs. In fact, it was so hot that the walls and the desks were moist, my papers were corrugating, and I had a lot of unhappy students, though I was proud of them for continuing to work despite the lack of air conditioning.

 

Were they torture for the two of you?

I was especially frustrated because it had already taken me so long to cool down after this morning’s sweaty workout. Which I will of course share with you in a minute. I realized why – aside from the fact that it’s hard to get myself out of bed in the four o’clock hour – I no longer workout before school. I have mentioned this before, but when I work out, I sweat. For the life of me I can’t comprehend those people who can leave the gym looking like super models. Because I am a sweaty mess. And while I would love to cross a workout off my list before I left for school, I just can’t seem to cool down in a timely manner. This morning, even after taking a cold shower, my face was beet red and I was a sticky, sweaty mess. I had the air conditioning in my car on full blast, which is why I was so bummed when I got to school and the air conditioning was out. Add in the rain and the hallways were a mess. I’ve been told that every year around this time the AC goes out, so here’s to hoping we’ve got it all under control for the remainder of this year.

Moving onto the workout. The reason I woke up before the sun this morning to get in a workout is because after school I headed straight over to Memorial High School for the West Houston Open Gym volleyball scrimmages. This is actually where I met our head coach last year, and I loved having the opportunity to watch our potential varsity girls play, and I also loved getting to see quite a few of my former coaches - high school and club. But because I just arrived home, I wanted to make a workout my first completed task of the day. And have I got a good one for you guys. 

The stairs were by far the toughest part of this workout, but in all honesty, this entire workout consisted of exercises I don't exactly love, but for that reason are so, so good.

And that's all I've got. I'm about to go pass out, because it's certainly been a day!

Bootcamp Circuit Workout

Happy Monday! I'm just popping in to share a workout with you guys. Yesterday afternoon I headed up the road to the gym and completed two rounds of the following workout. I based it off of this workout created by Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers (Random note: When I was typing 'Julie,' I totally typed Juliet first. I think you guys know what I've been reading lately), but I changed up quite a few of the exercises, which you might recognize from this workout that I posted just last week.

This workout could certainly be completed just one time through if you're looking to get in and out of the gym quickly, but still get in a good workout, but two times through will leave your arms and legs feeling like jello the next day. In case you're wondering what I'm feeling like today. As I've mentioned before, I tend to be lean more toward long cardio and endurance sessions, but I know these are beneficial, in more ways than one. I'm putting myself through my own personal bootcamp class. It's not one that I would do if the gym was very crowded, because I took up quite a bit of space with all of the equipment I used, but I'm sure you could contain it if need be. I just chose to make use of the space I had available to me.

And here are links to a few of the exercises:

• Kettlebell Swings
• Skaters
• Pulsing Squats
• Side-to-side burpees
• Donkey Kicks
• Alternating Box Jump

Those pulsing squats had my number. My walk to the third-floor this morning was a struggle. But hey, it can only go up from there. Have a great one!

30-Minute Circuit Workout

Happy Hump Day! I apologize for my extended absence, and my lack of a Survey Sunday, but things are getting busy, busy, busy at school. I say that, but today I was pretty much just another body taking up space within an already t00-crowded school. Sure, I was a reader for the STAAR Biology test today, and I continued to monitor until 9:15am, but after that, I can't say that I offered many contributions to the day. 

While yesterday we were on a post-STAAR odd schedule, and I had class back-t0-back-to-back-t0-back, today was an even schedule, and the only "class" I had was volleyball. I unsurprisingly got a lot of random work done today, and I took a break to collect and return the tests, but I arrived home feeling good about all that I accomplished. I've planned out my final weeks, I've created most of the worksheets and activities I want my students to complete, and I've almost got my final exams printed off and sent to the copy room. S U C C E S S. And because I don't have a sixth period, I jetted out of school a little bit early today, and I got home, and got in a good workout, before I would have even gotten home had left at my normal time. So, let's talk workouts, shall we?

This particular circuit is one that I would consider to be of the total-body variety. I was sweaty and tired and worked out in a way that I haven't been in a while. It's no secret that I'm a big-time fan of endurance cardio-type exercise, but it's good to mix things up every once in a while. I tried to alternate one minute of cardio with one minute of strength training, because you know I still have to get my daily cardio fix!

Here's how it worked. I completed each exercise for one minute before (almost) immediately moving onto the next one. Surprisingly, many of the minutes passed quickly, except for the shuffling and the skaters minutes. But the skaters became less horrible once I started actually doing them correctly, in that I started going for distance rather than speed. That's when I started feeling it in the backs of my legs and glutes! On the pushups minute, I did 30 seconds of regular pushups, and then finished out the minute with 30 seconds of tricep pushups. I completed significantly fewer tricep pushups, but hey, you gotta start somewhere! And let me save you a little bit of time by explaining what equipment you will need.

• Jump rope
• Barbell (for jumping over with the burpees, and for the chest press)
• Medicine ball (for Russian Twists)
• Mat
• Dumbbells (your preferred bicep curls weight, and maybe one lighter set, as a minute is a long time)
• Box

Once I completed each exercise one time through, I set myself back up and went through it once more. I took time to get water and catch my breath, but then I was back at it! And as I mentioned earlier, I was a sweaty mess by the end of it. But even one of the trainers at the gym told me I had quite the circuit going, so I'll take that compliment and run with it! We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but I'm already anticipating a nice, easy swim to be in the books.

Have a great one, and check back tomorrow for another post. I promise this time!

45-Minute Circuit Workout(s)

I'll be short and sweet with this post tonight, but I have a couple of workouts to share with you guys. The other day I had to stay after school because I was hounded (and I don't even feel bad about using that strong of a word) by Bellaire's retirement man to get with him and set up a retirement fund. While I was in over my head throughout the length of that meeting, I do at least feel better about having something set up. I think he probably thought I was dumb when I answered, "I don't really know how much money I have. I don't really have bills." Which made me realize that I should probably keep a closer eye on my savings account, but I think I guesstimated everything pretty well. Anyway, I was subbing for a friend's club practice, so I didn't want to sit in 4:30pm Houston traffic before having to turn right back around and head up to Memorial High School, so I headed over to 24 Hour Fitness after leaving Bellaire and completed a combination of the following circuit workouts for a total workout time of around 45 minutes.

Now, before I completely confuse you, let me explain what I did here. I did ten total rounds - six rounds consisted of alternating between circuits one and two, as shown above. The last four rounds were all circuit number three. I just wanted to keep things from getting monotonous, so I changed things up just a little bit with each circuit. As per usual, the burpees killed me, and the squats and lunges aren't something I have spent much time on lately, but I felt very challenged by this workout. I got in some cardio, some strength training, and some core work. Not too shabby for someone who much prefers long running or swim sessions.

And I'm off to do some lesson planning. Word on the street is that the English teachers are being observed this week, so I want to make sure that I've got everything all lined up. It's getting harder and harder to hold the students' attention, so I'm trying to mix things up and keep them on their toes. We all know they keep me on mine!

30-Minute Circuit Workout

Just popping in to share a quick workout with you guys, but before I get going on that, happy MONDAY! I'm trying to stay positive here, as the Monday after spring break isn't always my favorite day. Especially when the sun is expected to be out nearly all week this week. Go figure. But it's a happy Monday indeed, as this is our last week before the STAAR. And while it will be fast-paced and maybe a little bit high-stress, it's not as though I'm teaching my kids any new material, rather just reviewing some of the most important concepts. We're almost there!

And though I did not complete this workout today, I gave it a shot over the weekend, and I was at the gym hoping I wouldn't run into anyone that I know. Which, of course, I did, but I was one sweaty mess. Because not only did I complete each round for six minutes, I also completed three minutes on the treadmill in between each round. Shuffling right for one minute, walking on an incline for one minute, and shuffling left for the final minute. Note to self: don't wear a colored shirt to the gym when completing this workout.

The burpees, as usual, were killer, but so were the tuck jumps and speed skaters. I was really losing steam by round five, but I'd say that's the sign of a good workout. And I think most of these exercises are pretty self-explanatory, but I will take a minute to talk about the sit down jumping bench squats and the three-way lunge.

They may have a more proper name, but I stole this exercise from a bootcamp class that I attended at 24 Hour Fitness a couple of weeks ago. I built a step bench, like so,

(Source)

and got myself set up with a 12-lb dumbbell. Holding the dumbbell at my chest with both hands, I squatted down until I was sitting on the bench, picked my feet up off the ground and brought my knees toward my chest, placed them gently back on the floor and jumped upward while holding the weight. It adds a little bit of variety to a regular old squat. Because while I tend to shy away from doing squats, I actually enjoy doing these. Go figure.

As for the three-way lunge, it's really pretty easy, in terms of executing it. You lunge forward, come back to your starting position, but without putting your foot back on the floor. Then you lunge backward, come back to your starting position, again, without putting your foot back on the floor, and then lunge as if you are curtsying, bringing your leg back and across the other leg. 

(Source)

You could certainly make this more challenging by adding weights, but I found it challenging enough as is.

That's all I've got for you today, and before I sign off, let me just give you all a little piece of advice. If you don't care for a college, don't pick said college to do well throughout March Madness. No hard feelings or anything, UVA, but I should have known that you were going to let me down again. But as long as I've still got my Blue Devils, I'll be as happy as a clam. 

San Francisco Dreaming

It's Monday, but it's also the last Monday before spring break. Beware, on any of my posts this week I will surely feature a countdown to spring break. I'm just excited. It's been a long while since MLK Day. And nine days without even thinking about getting on the Westpark Tollway is just what I need.

Workout

I planned on staying after school and attending another Boot Camp class at Meyerland's 24 Hour Fitness.  However, the weather has been consistently nasty, and I decided to get back to my side of town before I was fighting even more traffic after the gym. But just because the weather has been nasty doesn't mean I didn't hit up the MAC for a total body circuit workout, inspired both by last week's Boot Camp class as well as this workout created by Peanut Butter Fingers.

I spent six minutes on each round, repeating each exercise until the six minutes were up. When the first six minutes were up, I moved onto the next round. The jumping lunges and lateral burpees rounds absolutely killed me, just in case you were wondering. I was glad to get those out of the way early. And the circuit alone would take you half an hour, but I decided to spruce it up a bit. In between each round I headed to the treadmill. Not to run, but to shuffle. Yes, I get some interesting looks when I am shuffling sideways on the treadmill, but I would probably look twice if I saw someone doing that, too. So, I shuffled leading with my right leg for one minute, walked on an incline for one minute, and shuffled leading with my left leg for one minute, and then I headed back to my circuit station. With the shuffling, you're going to have to set the treadmill at a pace a lot slower than what you're probably used to. Especially if you're not used to doing this movement. While shuffling was once second nature for me, it has certainly been a while. So if you feel as though the belt is moving too fast, slow it down! You'll build the speed up over time.

And I think most of these exercises should be ones you are familiar with. The only one I feel the need to explain is the frog kicks. They're pretty easy, once you get the hang of them, and you can either choose to scale it back or up the intensity. Sit on the floor or a flat bench and bring your knees to your chest. You can either put your hands on the floor or bench behind you if you want a modified version, or you can gently clasp them in front of your chest if you're looking for more of a challenge. You will straighten your legs while leaning back at a 45 degree angle before coming back to your original position to make one rep.

(Source)

San Francisco

I mentioned very briefly in this post that I am going to be boarding a 6:00am plane to San Francisco with three of my best friends. Let me expand on that one a little bit. A couple of weeks ago, Mary Ellen, one of our dear friends who moved away from the great state of Texas to the beautiful and sunny state of California, told us to come visit her in San Francisco. If you recall, from this trip to San Francisco with my mom, I loved everything about the Golden Gate City, so it did not take me too long to say that I would be down to make that trip. Especially because we were talking about going in April, and that’s after STAAR, so I had no qualms about taking a couple days off of school to reunite with some of my best friends in one of the best cities. It took a little while to find a weekend that five girls with very busy schedules had in common, but we finally settled on going from April 10^th to April 13^th. Because we booked a flight that leaves at 6:00am from Houston, and we gain two hours traveling to California, we will have all of Friday to adventure.

Prom 2010

Tacky Christmas

We have already booked a Napa wine tour for Saturday, and we have started making a list of some of the things we want to do while we are there. My only request was that we rent bikes and ride them across the Golden Gate Bridge over to Sausalito, because Sausalito is the cutest little town, and bike riding is one of my favorite activities. And because I’ve already done a lot of the touristy things, I’m excited to have a local show me some of the hidden San Francisco gems. One of the English teachers in my department used to live there, and he has been giving me some must-do things. All I know is that we're going to be busy!

Homecoming 2009

Happiest moment - COMPLETING Wilderness 2009

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for good weather that weekend, because the weather gods were most definitely on my side when I went there with my mom two Octobers ago. And hopefully we can get some updated pictures, and maybe even one with all five of us in it.

I hope your Monday has been fabulous. And if it hasn't, hey, it's almost over! Stay dry!