New Music Tue…Wednesday

I know I’m late again.

Some more new fun music. So this is a more mainstream focusing song than maybe their others, but gotta admit it’s fun. And you know I’m obsessed with The Very Best and it’s my duty to inform you of all their goings on. It’s certainly a good workout/dance song!

New Dragonette, usually a good time too:

And a new band from Australia. This one is a bit softer


Mashup Workout

Today’s (fun I might add) home workout is a two-parter and a mashup of workout styles. I’ve been feeling kind of bored and unexcited recently with doing the workouts sometimes, or found it harder to make a workout I could really excited about. Well, this one was definitely fun and not the same ole same ole. So below you’ll find some lengthy explanations for the workouts, but never fear, these really are less complicated than you think. And, if you need extra help and aren’t a yoga expert, there are plenty of things online to help with poses if I wasn’t clear enough. Just be sure to do only what you can do. I’m going to show some different options that you shouldn’t do if you don’t feel comfortable with the base level pose.
So here we go. The first part is an un-timed, yoga part. Timing yourself here isn’t really the point. I love how the warrior poses and the triangle pose really open up your hips. You can feel the stretch and it’s great.

Part I:

You will do six sun salutations, at the end of each of these you will do a warrior pose or a variation, should you feel comfortable. So it will be

Sun salutation – warrior pose right foot front for ten breaths

Sun salutation – warrior pose left foot front for ten breaths

Sun salutation – warrior pose or variation right foot front for ten breaths

Sun salutation – warrior pose or variation left foot front for ten breaths

Sun salutation – warrior pose or variation right foot front for ten breaths

Sun salutation – warrior pose or variation left foot front for ten breaths

To do a sun salutation, begin standing with legs hip width apart. Lift your arms over your head, then swoop them down to the floor and bend over. Jump or walk your legs out into a plank. Lower your self down and move into upward dog, put your feet upside down on the mat. Then from here, move your feet back onto the floor and lift your butt into the air, and lower you head, keeping your back straight. You can settle into this pose as long as you like. Next, put your right front in between your hands, pointed straight to the front, turning your back left foot perpendicular. Lean into a lunge on your front right foot as deep as you can for ten breaths – in an out. This is warrior pose. Move your feet back to your hands and stand up straight again. This starts the next sun salutation, the second one, which will have the left foot forward. The next two poses could be the triangle pose shown below. The last could be the warrior pose with prayer hands, also shown below. My body should be turned more towards the camera probably. This isn’t super easy to do, so don’t do it if the warrior pose is challenging, or the triangle pose. Listen to your body.

downward and upward dog:

Warrior:

Triangle:

Warrior with prayer hands:

Once you have down the six sun salutation plus warrior poses, the first part is done.

The second part is a 12-minute workout.

4 exercises, 3 times through.

Set your interval timers to 12 rounds, 10 seconds off, 50 seconds on

Squat kick up 18 / 15 / 15

Pushup with sandbag, clean and press 6 / 5 / 5

Jumping Jacks 45 / 49 / 50

Side leg lowers 8 / ? / 13 – I ended up doing just regular leg raises, down an up, because these were too hard and I couldn’t really do them, haha

Squat kick up

Go into a squat, keeping your back straight and your knees from going over your toes. As you stand, kick up as high as you can on one leg. That is one rep. After the next squat, kick with your other leg.

Pushup with sandbag, clean and press

If you have a sandbag or equivalent, do a pushup with your hands on it, then pick it up and lift it and flip it, using your power from your legs. Then straighten up and stand with the weight. If you don’t have a weight or something that could sub out, then simply do a pushup, then a squat. Each combo would be a rep.

Jumping Jacks

You know what these are. Each time your legs and arms go out, one rep.

Side leg lowers/leg raises

So this little experiment didn’t work out so well, haha. Maybe you will be able to do it. I lifted my leg up to the ceiling, laying down. I tried to lower both legs to the side, using only my ab muscles, keeping them off the floor and straight. I couldn’t do all these things. I could do it if they were bent. Anyway, I just got irritated and started lifting them up and down normally.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, ask your doctor, do these exercises at your own risk!


New Music Tuesday!

Well Summer starts tomorrow, and if this isn’t a summer song, then I don’t know what it is.
Poolside – Slow Down

This is produced/DJed by Mark Ronson, who has amazing taste (and I have on good authority – UNA! – that he is a nice person in real life). It’s also the Olympic theme so, I mean. How can this not be on a workout mix? He uses samples of boxers hits, the heartbeat of a runner, and a few other sounds from athletes. How effing cool is that.

Fun blockbuster of a song ripped from Radio 1. That is one reason I wish I had satellite radio. Know how my sci-fi tastes lean towards British? Basically everything I’m into leans towards British. Also, another summer song. This post has a theme!

This song starts off retro and pretty and cute and irresistible. Not sure about this band in total, but this song is totally a fun summer song. The guitars and general sound remind me of bands I was into in early to mid-college. Little nostalgia.

Happy Music!


Cardio Burpee Blast

Today’s home workout is super simple. Just high knees and burpees. You can sub out the high knees for jumping jacks, scissors, or mountain climbers if you want some variety. I did my burpees today with pushups (though the pictures don’t show it). Do your burpees with or without.

This is a short workout, but man is it intense. I was sweating and TIRED. My time was 11:08!

100 high knees

20 burpees

100 high knees

20 burpees

100 high knees

20 burpees

 

I’m sure most of you know what these exercises look like, but here they are:

100 High knees

Drive your knees up as fast and high as you can. Each knee up counts as one rep.

20 burpees

Jump out into a plank. If you feel able, do a pushup, modified or not. After you pushup, jump your feet back to your hands and jump up from there. That is one rep!

Disclaimer: Do these at your own risk, be careful, ask your doctor, I am not an expert


Nerd workout! Inspired by the book Divergent

New workout! This one is inspired by the currently popular book, Divergent. I don’t want to give too much away with describing the workout because it definitely has to do with what happens later on in the book. Basically, though, the main character, Tris, has to use a lot of physical (though mostly mental) prowess later on and this workout reflects that.

This one was 20 minutes long – 5 exercises done 4 times.

Get your interval timer out!

20 rounds. 10 seconds off, 50 seconds active

Pike Jumps – cardio kicks to fight off attacks 33 / 31 / 34 / 31

Roll over commando pushups – good training for strength, agility, getting away 5 / 5 / 5/ 4.5

One leg burpees – strength and cardio! 5 / 5 / 6 / 5

Leg raises – workout the core for kicks and power 12 / 12 / 11 / 12

Punches with small weight – get your fighting skills on 56 / 64 / 63 / 60

Pike jumps

We just did these recently, and there are so fun. From one side to another, jump your feet up and in, butt in the air as high as you can as you cross over to the other side (of say, a yoga mat). Each jump over the mat is one rep.

Roll over commando pushups

Roll over the length of your yoga mat, or thereabouts. At the end, from your stomach, lift up and bring your leg in towards your chest, twice with each leg. That is one rep. Then roll over to the other end for the next rep.

commando:

One leg burpees

Jump out with one leg and do a pushup. Jump your leg in towards your hands and then jump up. One rep. Next time, jump out with the other leg.

Leg raises

I did these on a dip station, but you can just do these with your back on the floor. Lift your legs up straight either towards the ceiling or straight out in front of you.

Punches with small weights

With both weights (you can do without) at your chest, twist punch out with one hand. That’s one rep. As you bring that hand in, punch the other one out for the next rep.

Disclaimer: Be careful, I am not an expert, do this at your own risk, ask your doctor!


Interview with yoga instructor Lisa Jordan

Find it on Fitness Locally here!


Nerd Workout! Inspired by SGU

New home workout!

Today the workout is inspired by SGU – which probably comes as no surprise if any of you read my blog carefully, as I’ve been watching it in the background of the photos. Haha. Anyway. SGU – Stargate Universe. Stargates are ways of traveling from planet to planet and spaceships can have them too. They were created by an ancient people. There are many Stargate series and a movie. SGU is pretty dark. There are a bunch of people stuck on this ship and aren’t sure they can get back to Earth. Anywho, long story short, this workout is inspired by the whole workout, not a specific person. I thought it worked better in this case. There isn’t even a standout character – it’s very much an ensemble cast, though led by Robert Carlysle. The entire crew does similar things – running away from things, picking up heavy things for supplies from planets, and many of them are military people, so they would have a certain style of working out.

I couldn’t embed the trailer for the series, but here is the link:

SGU Trailer

Mixing it up a bit this was 20 minutes, 30 rounds, 10 seconds rest, 30 seconds active (5 times through 6 exercises)

Get your Seconds Free app!
High Knees – running away from giant aliens 70 / 70 / 63 / 70 / 70

Sandbag to shoulder stand and squat – carrying supplies and food from planets 5 / 6 / 6/ 5 / 5

Tire run and plank – military style exercise helpful for getting away and crouching from people 5 / 6 / 5 / 5 / 5.5

Straight abs – military style ab workout that can be easily done on a ship 11 / 12 / 12 / 12 / 12

Side lunge jump – gain quickness, agility, to get away from danger 30 / 28 / 33 / 30 / 28

Burpees – another great cardio and strength exercise to do on a ship with limited space 5 / 5 / 5 / 4 / 4

Breakdwon:

High knees

Drive them up as quickly as possible. Each knee up counts as one rep.

Sandbag to shoulder stand and squat

If you don’t have a sandbag or a weight you want to use, just do squats or jump squats if you’d like. Bend down and pick up the sandbag or weight and throw it over your shoulder, and stand. Then squat down and stand back up. Drop the sand bag to the floor. One rep. Next time, put the sandbag on the other shoulder.

Tire run and plank

With a wide stance, count knees up to ten, running as if you are going through the tire obstacle. After the ten knees up, drop down into a plank. One rep.

Straight abs

Start out laying on the floor, then lift your upper body up so you are sitting straight up. One rep.

Side lunge jump

Put one leg out to the side in a side lunge. Jump up to switch legs. Each switch is one rep.

Burpees

Jump out and drop down into a pushup. Jump your legs back to your hands into a squat. Jump up from there. That’s one rep.

 

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, ask your doctor, do these at your own risk.


DragonCon 2012 – and so it begins

A teaser (just the pieces that will come together in the end :) ):

And so much more to come!


New Music Tuesday

Good stuff.

Frank Ocean. Long song, good variety.

Fun and dancey Little Boots:

And a Flo remix


Coronado workout

I am back in Atlanta, but I did this workout in San Diego (that’s me about to do the workout outside my hotel – this time with sun).

So, this workout. I will go ahead and say that the dive bombers killed me, and if you are feeling like it’s getting to be too much, you should stop, or do it on your knees. I couldn’t get my carry on bag in the overhead bins on the plane the next day. It was so embarrassing. I do this stuff to be strong, to not need help getting my bag into the overhead bins, but apparently I went overboard. So forewarned is not completely jelly armed!

This was a time challenge – my time was 19:09.

4 times through:

Sprint (about 200 m)

10 divebombers

warrior pose on each side, 5 breaths each

30 box step hops

60 leg flutters

Here’s the breakdown:

Sprint – just go as fast as you can for about 200 m or so

10 divebombers – On hands and feet, with butt in the air, head down, swoop your head up and lower your butt in a smooth motion, not letting your leg touch the ground if possible. Remember to modify as necessary so you don’t over do it to the arms. So, oops these images are switched – the right one should be first and the left one is your ending position. Sorry! I was in a hurry.

Warrior pose on each side, 5 breaths each

After the divebomber, put one leg in front, with foot pointing straight ahead, and your back foot perpendicular. Breathe in and out five times, going in deeper in the pose. Then switch legs front and back.

30 jazz square hops

So this isn’t hard, but complicated to explain. If any of you have taken jazz dance before, you’ve done these. Put one leg in front. Take the other leg and put it around and in front of the first leg. Put the first leg back behind that foot, creating a rectangular shape, then move the front leg to the side so both legs are underneath you. Now hop. Next time, do the box and start off with the other leg so that you alternate sides each time. One rep is doing the whole square and the hop on one side.

Step forward/cross over/step back:

Step leg side by side/hop

60 leg flutters

Laying down on your back, switch your legs from barely off the floor to 45 degree angle back and forth, switching 60 times.

Do it three more times!

Disclaimer: I am not an expert. Do these at your own risk, ask your doctor.

Tomorrow: a nerd workout! And I just did it and just stopped sweating!