20-Minute Arms & Abs

Happy Saturday! And Merry Christmas Eve! I'm just popping in to share a quick workout with you guys. It has been a L O N G time since I have shared a workout on the blog, but because that's the reason I started this blog in the first place, I decided to do just that this morning. Friday is typically one of my two days off from running, but I decided to work off some of the Christmas sweets by getting in a quick sweat session and working muscles that I don't often work. This is a great workout to do if you are short on time, but want to feel it in the morning.

I woke up this morning most definitely feeling the work I put in yesterday. But a little bit of that probably has to do with the fact that I haven't done any isolated upper body and ab work in quite some time.

And in case you are unfamiliar with any of these exercises, here are a couple quick links for you -

• Knee crunches
• Tricep kickbacks
• Sumo squats
• Lying chest fly
• Straight-leg crunch

And I'm off to get in an easy five-miler before meeting two of my oldest friends for lunch. I hope your Christmas Eve is a festive one!

Three Rounds Upperbody Superset

Hey, hey, hey! I'm sitting down to post in between tryout sessions today, so this post is sure to be on the shorter side. But I couldn't resist sharing this upperbody workout, that was inspired by this upperbody workout and this upperbody workout from Peanut Butter Fingers. If you guys have been reading my blog with any regularity, you know that workouts of the upperbody variety are typically the first to be put on the backburner. Strength training at all is not something I'm diligent about, though I know very well how beneficial it is. So while I was certainly feeling the burn during this upperbody-focused workout, I also enjoyed the challenge.

And as always, let me explain myself. I completed three rounds of each "group," before moving onto the next one. Meaning, I did 10 pushups, followed by 15 chest press, and 30 seconds of jump rope, three times, before moving onto the bicep and hammer curls. It worked my muscles to fatigue, but after three rounds, I was done. And I was in and out of the gym in under half an hour, so this would be a good workout to have on hand for when you're short on time. The focus is obviously on the strength portion, but you get a little bit of cardio thrown into the mix as well. And if you weren't feeling the jump rope, you could easily substitute mountain climbers, tuck jumps, burpees, stairs, high knees, or any other form of cardio that you please. The perfect workout for when you're not really feeling the gym, because this one is over before you even realize it.

And I'm off to squeeze in a mini nap so I can go into round two of tryouts feeling refreshed and ready. Here we go!

20-Minute Upper Body Circuit

Happy Tuesday! I'm only briefly checking in, as I truly don't have much to report on my end. Today was spent organizing, throwing away (!!!) STAAR-related materials that I will no longer need, and allowing my students to catch up on any missing work. Because the six-weeks ends this Thursday, and we haven't had a lot of extra assignments these past couple of weeks due to STAAR prep, I'm letting them have this one day to make up or correct any missing assignments. The end of the six-weeks kind of snuck up on us, and I want to at least have given my kids an opportunity to raise their grades. Then it's on them for not taking advantage of the time I gave them.

And before I head out for a rollerblading session, here's a quick 20-minute, tops, upper body circuit I have for you guys. I completed each set three times before moving onto the next set. I've got to get more regular with this, and maybe I'll actually start to see some results!

It's a good one! And have a great rest of your Tuesday!

Upper Body Circuit

Happy Saturday! It's rainy, rainy, rainy here in Houston, and while I would love to see the sun because I would love to work on getting a tan, I'm strangely okay with the rain. I'm in the middle of a great book, I'm working on a little project for my students, and of course, I'm engrossed in March Madness. Though I had picked Baylor to win, and one more after that, I think my favorite moment has to be when the Georgia State coach fell out of his chair when his son shot the winning three-pointer to give his team the unexpected victory. If Georgia State went all the way, though it would absolutely bust my bracket, I wouldn't hate to see more celebrations like that!

(Source)

Anyway, I'm just popping in to share a quick upper body circuit with you guys. I learned the hard way that neglecting cross training and strength training can quickly lead to injury. For the first part of the year all I was doing really was running, and we see how that turned out for me. Though I am doing much, much better on the shin front. Anyway, strength training is beneficial in more ways than one, and I'm slowly but surely re-integrating it into my regular workout routine. I completed the following upper body workout, but let me explain it a little bit. I completed three sets of round one, resting one minute in between each set, before doing the same thing with round two.

I was in and out of the gym in about 20 minutes, meaning there's no excuse for not squeezing in some upper body strength training. And I think most of these exercises are either self-explanatory, or they have appeared on the blog before, let's talk about thrusters. Typically a Crossfit exercise, meant to combine both the front squat and the push press, they can certainly be modified a bit for those who aren't comfortable lifting that much weight (or who struggle with front squats - I'll be the first to raise my hand). My thrusters looked like this, and I still felt like I was getting a total-body workout.

(Source)

And with that, I'm off to get done some of the things that I neglected to do all week. Happens every year, doesn't it?

Upper Body Superset

Happy Saturday! I am happy because we finally saw the sun here in Houston. Fun fact for you guys - we've had rain every single day this year. As someone who loves to spend as much time as possible outside, I am not a huge fan of that statistic. In fact, I planned to wake up earlier than I have been waking up this break so that I could go for a run, but the cold and wet weather was begging me to stay curled up in bed. So, I gave into that.

I did a little bit of school work before peeking outside and being met with a sun that was trying so hard to make an appearance. I laced up my running shoes and headed out for a 6.5 mile run. My run started out on a bit of a tough note - I just couldn't seem to get into a rhythm - but I quickly found my stride and felt as though I could have run forever. I will say that I did get a little bit warm in my leggings and dri-fit jacket, but there was no getting me out of my room in shorts. So, I was extra sweaty, but I'm not complaining. Fingers crossed that we'll be lucky enough to have weather like this for the half coming up in just two weeks (and one day)!

I went out to run a couple of errands - mainly getting ahead on making copies because I know the Kopy Kingdom will be a nightmare on Monday - and purchasing a new air freshener for my car. Because I was in the area, and I couldn't decide what sounded good to me, I indulged in a Spinach Berry Smoothie from Central Market.

This refreshing smoothie was filled with bananas, blueberries, strawberries, apple juice, chia seeds, and of course, spinach. I finished it while walking around on this beautiful Houston afternoon, before returning to my side of town and hitting the gym for a quick upper body workout. Remember how I said I was going to get better about strength training? Well, I'm making good on my promise.

This workout couldn't have lasted longer than 15 minutes, but my arms were shaking at the end of it. I completed each superset before moving onto the next one, and I used 12-pound dumbbells for every exercise minus the lateral and frontal raises, for which I used 5-pounders. I did 12 reps of each exercise, with the exception of the shoulder taps, for which I completed 20 (ten on each arm). I completed each superset three times, and gave myself 30 seconds of rest in between each one. None of these exercises are anything out-of-the-ordinary, but when you haven't done something as isolated as this in a while (read: me), you're certainly going to feel it!

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday evening!