Nerd workout! Inspired by River Song from Doctor Who
Posted: October 15, 2012 Filed under: Home workout, Nerdiness | Tags: doctor who, geek workout, heels, high knees, leg lift, nerd workout, river song, side plank, squat kicks, superman, superwoman Leave a comment »I promised this workout ages ago. It’s not like I could have forgotten to do this one, though. For your nerd and workout needs – I present to you, the River Song Inspired Workout. Yes, hello sweetie. I don’t want to say toooo much about River Song in case any of you are (woefully) behind on your Who or are just really late to this game. She hates spoilers, and man her plot is so good, you don’t want to spoil it for anyone. Here is a quick video to give you the gist, with enough vagueness to not give away too much..
River is very feminine while remaining very able to kick some serious butt. She shoots at the Silence, the Daleks, tricks prison guards, you name it. Here is a workout I think reflects her actions and personality.
Interval workout
15 rounds 10 seconds rest 50 seconds on
Squat kicks – hone her ability to kick attackers of all sorts and alien origin (and make her legs look even better in heels) 14 / 17 / 18
High knees – run away from attackers, explosions, run towards the TARDIS to escape 134 / 132 / 136
Side plank right leg lifts- to be able to crouch down and shoot, also strengthen the legs and core more for those high heels 18 / 18 / 17
Side plank left leg lifts 15 / 15 / 16
Superwomans – give you some core strength when you are sailing through space to land in the TARDIS, which happens weirdly often 15 / 18 / 18
Squat Kicks
Get down in squat, keeping back straight and not letting your knees go over your toes, then lift up and kick one leg up. One rep. Kick the other leg next time.
High Knees
Drive your knees up as fast and far as you can. Each knee up is one rep.
Side plank right leg lift
So I goofed up on the photo taking of this and did another exercise accidentally. Sorry!! Anyway, you get in a side plank, with your right leg on top towards the ceiling. Lift your leg up towards to ceiling, keeping your core tight in side plank. Each leg up is one rep.
Side plank left leg lift
The same thing, with the left leg going towards the ceiling
Super woman
Lie flat on the ground, then reach up all your limbs as far as you can, using your core muscles. Each lift is one rep.
Disclaimer: Careful sweetie! Do this at your own risk, ask your doctor, etc etc
Nerd Workout! Inspired by Dana from Cabin in the Woods
Posted: October 3, 2012 Filed under: Home workout, Nerdiness | Tags: cabin in the woods, high knees, Home workouts, Joss Whedon, jump front squat, leg flutter, one leg lunge, pushups Leave a comment »I got this new shirt from ViewSPORT:
The shirt, as you can see says I am Beast Mode on the front, hence my insanely sour expression in my attempt to look beast-y. The cool thing about the shirt is that the back shows a design when you sweat through it. I didn’t sweat enough today, but don’t worry, when I do, you guys will be the first to see it.
Ok nerd workout:
I’m going to try very hard not to spoil anything because this is one of those movies that should NOT be spoiled under any circumstances. I am not a big horror movie fan, but my love for all things Joss Whedon and my knowledge of the reviews tempted me too much, so I had to watch it. I was not disappointed. This movie gets better the more you think about it after you watch it. I wouldn’t say it’s Prometheus or anything, but it’s similar in that the more you think about it, the more you appreciate it. This one had a bit more levels than Prometheus, which isn’t to say it’s deeper… You just have to watch it to understand.
So this character, Dana, is the main character. By the end you realize her characterization… and let’s just say I would have been her role in the group most likely. If that seems cryptic, well sorry, better go watch the movie!
I’m just embedding the trailer, because I don’t want to do any spoilers, Dana is the redhead girl:
Anywho, there are some serious enemies in this movie, the beginning, not too spoilery stuff is some zombie action, nicely following my Walking Dead nerd workout. So creepy, woods, running… you get where this is going.
Get your interval timer out! 15 rounds, 10 seconds off, 50 seconds on:
Pushups 19 / 18 / 19 – Strengthen your arms to hit and punch
Jump front squat back 9 / 9/ 9 – Cardio and leg strength to jump away towards the front and towards the back
High knees 125 / 131 / 130 – Be able to run away
One Leg chair lunge 12 / 15 / 12 – Leg strength to kick
Leg flutter 67 / 69 / 74 – Strengthens the core to improve swimming away
Pushups:
Mod as needed, putting your knees down if necessary. Keep your back straight.
Jump front sqaut back:
I started at one end of the yoga mat and jump towards the other end of it, sitting into a squat. Then jump backwards to where you started on the mat. When you get back to where you started, that is one rep.
Starting point:
Into Squat:
Jump back:
High knees:
Drive your knees up as high and fast as you can. Each knee up is one rep.
One leg chair lunge
Put one foot up on the chair and lunge forward into the other one. One rep. Switch legs.
Leg flutter
Laying on your back, with one leg at 45 degree angle and the other right above the floor, switch leg positions. Each switch is one rep!
Disclaimer: Ask your doctor, do this at your own risk, be careful.
Nerd Workout! Inspired by Myka from Warehouse 13!
Posted: August 15, 2012 Filed under: Home workout, Nerdiness | Tags: high knees, jump squats, myka, pushups, side burpees, vups, warehouse 13 Leave a comment »For some reason I couldn’t get in to Warehouse 13 for a little while, but for whatever reason kept going back to it. Well, now I am officially hooked.
Warehouse 13 holds “artifacts.” A funny term for someone who works in a place that deals with real artifacts every day. These artifacts are a biiiit different, though. For whatever reason, a powerful emotion, a huge event, objects have magical power. These artifacts nearly always have a negative (to put it mildly) effect, usually turning the user of the artifact into a not-so-great person.
This workout is inspired by the female main character, Myka. Her dad is pretty cool, I’ve met him in real life. Haha, anyway. Myka has photographic memory, remember books, languages, all that good stuff, that helps her and her partner Pete find wily artifacts and how to disarm them. She also has training as a secret service agent (well, she still is one) and a CIA agent, so she can kick, punch, and shoot em up with the best of em.
There aren’t a lot of great Myka videos, but the best one that wasn’t about her and Pete or her and H.G. was this one, spoofing on Buffy. But, it works! And nerdiness colliding is always good.
So workout:
This one is for time! My was 14:15
I think I did these exercises 2 times through
Feel free to tack on another round if you desire a longer workout.
20 pushups – for punching the bad guys using an artifact, or putting away those heavy artifacts in the Warehouse
30 jump squats – maybe help you safely fall from HG Wells’ ceiling?
10 side burpees (5 each side) – for agility, the side to side motion of sword fighting (oh yeah, she knows fencing)
20 Vups – for the core
100 high knees – to run after and away from people
20 pushups
Mod as needed, go on your knees if necessary. Keep your back straight and butt up.
30 jump squats
Keep your back straight as you squat down, then power up into a jump.
10 side burpees
Jump out to one side with your body turned, and do a pushup. Jump your feet into your hands, then jump up. One rep. Next jump your feet out to the other side.
20 vups
Laying down, lift your legs up and your hands to your feet.
100 high knees
Drive your knees up as fast as you can. Each knee up is one rep.
Do everything once more!
Disclaimer: I am not an expert, ask your doctor, do this at your own risk.
Nerd workout! Inspired by Scarlett from GI Joe!
Posted: August 1, 2012 Filed under: Home workout, Nerdiness | Tags: 2012, burpees, dragoncon, gi joe, high knees, pendulum, pike jump, scarlett, sumo squat, switch lunge kick Leave a comment »I have technically seen the GI Joe movie that came out a few years ago, that also features Scarlett, but it was so terrible I remember nothing of it except for the impression that Sienna Miller was especially terrible in it. I have nothing against Sienna Miller, but she can’t act that well. Or at least, action flicks are not her forte. Anywho, that’s two hours of my life I can’t get back.
Luckily, the cartoon is better. I was asked if I wanted to join a GI Joe group for Dragoncon. I hadn’t really seen the cartoon, but I have checked it out since I decided to be Scarlett. My hair will also be redder by the time Dragoncon rolls around, so I’ll look more like her.
(thanks to Aaron for teaching me how to use a crossbow)
Scarlett is active in cartoon, jumping around, kicking, fighting, crossbowing… all good fun. Here is a little video:
So, this is a quick, very heavy on the cardio workout. Just 12 minutes long.
12 rounds, 10 seconds off, 50 seconds on, get your Seconds Free interval timer out!
Sumo Squats – be able to squat down and kick bad guys 19 / 20
Burpees to the floor be able to get down and duck for cover and get up quickly 8 / 8
Switch lunge kick – gain strength and power for kicks 13 / 15
High knees – cardio to run away from bad guys 109 / 129
Pike jumps – cardio and core strength to gain agility to get away 27 / 33
Pendulums – be able to kick and get more core strength 53 / 52
Sumo Squats
Squat, down keeping your back straight, lift up one leg like a sumo wrestler would. One rep. Squat and do it on the other leg next.
Burpees to the floor
My arms are still sore, so instead of doing pushups like normal, plank out and go down to the floor. Then jump back into a squat, then jump. One rep. Add a pushup if you’d like!
Switch lunge kick
Keeping low, in a lunge, switch your leg’s positions. With the leg that’s back, lift up straight into a kick then go back down. After the kick is one rep.
kick:
High Knees
Drive you knees up as high and fast as you can. Each knee up is one rep.
Pike jumps
With your butt in the air, and your hands and feet on the ground, jump your legs up and in and over the other side. That’s one rep.
Pendulums
With your butt in the air, and your hands and feet on the ground, stick one leg out to one side, parallel to the ground. Switch the legs. One rep. Keep switching legs.
Disclaimers: Do this at your own risk, ask your doctor, I am not an expert, be careful!
Nerd Workout! Inspired by Prometheus
Posted: July 2, 2012 Filed under: Home workout, Nerdiness | Tags: belly down, Elizabeth Shaw, high knees, hop hop, Prometheus, pushups, side plank lifts Leave a comment »Sorry for the long break in workouts. I had this one done last week, but just needed the blogging break I guess.
I suppose most of you who are ever going to see Prometheus have probably already seen it. Most people tend to fall pretty strongly into two camps – the like or dislike camp. Regardless of where you fall, you have to admit it was a beautiful film, and I think the characters of David and Elizabeth Shaw were very well acted. There is also something to be said for a movie that provokes such strong reactions from people. I do agree that some of the plot points were unnecessarily and overly confusing, but boy does it provide a lot of fodder for discussion. Anyway, this blog is about working out, not my personal review of the movie I guess.
This movie definitely has some physical action, unsurprisingly, and Charlize Theron’s character immediately starts doing pushups after waking up from a years-long sleep. Even though this workout mainly focuses on Shaw, I had to incorporate some straight pushups. Maybe she and Shaw would have worked out together if, you know, things had turned out differently.
Shaw is a strong character, emotionally and physically, particularly by the end of the movie. Since we see her stumbling around in a bandage bathing suit essentially, we also know girl is fit. And nerdy. Perfect workout inspiration for this blog 
Here is a trailer that shows some part of this
So here is the breakdown!
18 minutes long – 18 rounds, 10 seconds off, 50 seconds on, 3 times through 6 exercises. Get those interval timers out! Seconds Free on your phone.
High knees (too damn hot outside for sprinting, my original idea) 130 / 109 / 130 – run away from aliens, falling ships, etc etc
Pushups 20 / 16 / 19 – ship workout
Side plank lifts on right side 17 / 16 / 16 – Shaw needs a strong core/abs to uh, stand up later on in the movie
Side plank lifts on left side 17 / 16 / 14
Leaping – two hops 16 / 14 / 15 Leap across the ground that is actually a space ship rising from the ground
Belly down and up – 11 / 10 / 10 – Be able to jump up after falling down
High Knees -
Drive them up as fast and high as possible. One knee up equals one rep.
Pushups
You know the drill. Mod as needed – knees down if you can’t do a regular pushup.
Side plank lifts right side
Sitting on the right side of your butt with your legs out and right arm down, prepare yourself to lift up into a side plank, using your core and ab muscles to do so. Each side plank is one rep.
Start position:
End position:
Side plank lifts left side
See above, just do it on the left side
Leaping – two hops
Jump/hop twice. I did it down the length of the yoga mat. At the end, turn around. One rep is the two hops.
Do this twice and turn:
Belly down and get up
Crouch down and and jump your feet out to lay belly down on the ground. Lift your self up and get back in the crouch position. That is one rep.
Crouch:
Belly down:
Disclaimer: Please be careful, do this at your own risk, I am not an expert, ask your doctor.
Cardio Burpee Blast
Posted: June 19, 2012 Filed under: Home workout | Tags: burpees, high knees Leave a comment »
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 SGU
Posted: June 13, 2012 Filed under: Home workout, Nerdiness | Tags: abs, burpees, high knees, plank, sandbag shoulder squat, side lunge, tire run Leave a comment »
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:
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.
New Neon Workout
Posted: May 30, 2012 Filed under: Home workout | Tags: dips, high knees, mountain climbers, pushups, reptile, star jump, superman Leave a comment »I got a new sports bra today at Target and it’s super neon. Exciting! I can tell a difference with how my body looks with the not eating so great recently… so here again we are pushing towards the last drive for summer and DragonCon 2012. My co-worker Dea and I were talking about a costume idea today, which I’m really excited about.
Unfortunately, my leg started hurting up again about halfway through this workout. Super bummer. I really hope this whole leg thing is not going to put a wrench into my getting fitter plan. I just had to stop doing the reps because even the reptile pushups were hurting. Groan.
So here is the workout. It’s 21 minutes like the last one. I, of course, did not do the full 21 minutes. Again. Bummer.
3 rounds of 7 exercises
Set your interval timer!
21 rounds, 10 seconds off, 50 seconds active. My scores are not good, even before my leg started hurting.
Star Jump 18 / 12 / 9
Superman 18 / 20 21
High Knees 120 / 124 / -
Pushup reptile 10 / 11 / 4
Mountain Climbers 65 / 85 / -
Dips 11 / 15 / -
Bicycle 60 / 34 (started doing crunches because my leg started hurting) / -
Star jumps
Start with your hands to either side of your feet, squatting down slightly, then jump up as far as you can and spread your legs and arms as you jump. One rep.
Supermans
Lay face down. Lift your arms and legs as far as you can with your abs. One rep.
High knees
Lift your knees as fast and as high as you can. Each knee up is one rep.
Pushup – reptile
Do a pushup, mod as needed, knees on the ground if necessary. After the pushup, return to plank and bring your knee into your side. One rep. Next pushup bring the other knee into your side.
Mountain Climbers
In plank, place one foot underneath you. Switch your legs. Each switch is one rep.
Dips
Hold your self off the chair with your legs at a 90 degree angle. Then lower yourself as far as you can. This is one rep.
Bicycle
Laying down, crunch and bring your elbow to your opposite knee, switching elbow to knees, keeping your legs off the ground. Each knee to elbow is one rep.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert, do at your own risk, ask your doctor.
Nerd Workout! Inspired by Karou from Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Posted: May 23, 2012 Filed under: Home workout, Nerdiness | Tags: climbers, daughter of smoke and bone, high knees, jump lunges, karou, leg raises, mountain, nerd workout, pushups, reverse, side kicks, squats Leave a comment »
(Note Eureka playing in the background… my nerd cred runs true)
I have to thank my friend Dana for picking Daughter of Smoke and Bone for our book club. I gobbled that book up as fast as I could. This is my first home workout inspired solely by a character from a book (one that didn’t have a movie or show version anyway).
Karou was brought up by a father figure with a shadowy past who deals in wishes. These wishes can be language, or at a certain point, a physical benefit. I don’t want to get to spoilery! She also sells the wishes for teeth as an agent for her father. This isn’t exactly the safest position in the world, so she would need to be able to physically fit to escape danger. With this and other plot point in mind, I created the following homework. Just imagine I have bright blue hair too!
Part 1:
Twice through:
20 jump lunges – to jump up and away during fights
100 high knees – to get away from dangerous clients
20 squat side kicks – to be able to fight off others
100 mountain climbers – to build stamina for her long journeys
20 reverse pushups – strength to fight and carry weapons
20 leg raises – build up her core
Part 2:
2 sprints – to run away from danger
My time: 15:30
20 jump lunges
Lunge forward. Jump and switch your legs’ positions. This is one rep.
100 high knees
Pump up as high and fast as you can. Each knee up is one rep.
20 squat side kicks
Squat down as low as you can, as you come back up lift one leg up to the side. That is one rep. Next time lift up the other leg.
100 mountain climbers
Get in plank position with one leg beneath you. Switch leg positions. Each switch is one rep.
20 reverse pushups
I did this with a dip station. You can make your own with a sturdy broomstick and two chairs, or just do pushups if you aren’t having it. Won’t be the same thing, but still good. If you do have something, grab on with both hands and have you body straight, with your feet on the ground. Lift your self up as high as you can.
20 leg raises
Again, I did this with a dip station. You can do this on the floor with out one. Just lay down and lift your legs up to the ceiling and lower back down for each rep. On the dip station, grab hold and lift your legs with control, don’t let momentum lift them up.
Do everything once more!
Part 2:
2 sprints
I just ran down my block and back with a brief rest in between.
Disclaimer – I am not an expert, do this at your own risk, be careful, consult your doctor.
Kicking your own butt post! Detox Workout
Posted: May 22, 2012 Filed under: Home workout | Tags: burpees, commandos, detox, dive bombers, high knees, mountain climbers, personal best, plank jacks Leave a comment »Well, I was going to post a new home workout today, but just wanted to get something up. I promise I have a new workout for you, but this was easier to get up and done. Aaron is in town for once this week so it’s a bit hard to take hours each day after work to do this while he is here… Hope everyone understands! So, this is a workout from the archives, but a hard one. A super tough one. I think it’s a good idea to beat your old times. I know I tend to work harder than when I have nothing to push against. I also need to remind myself to work harder during the new workouts. Just good to realize/remind oneself of all these things. This home workout was also first done “after having traveled and not eaten well and just not feeling super healthy” and “I wanted this workout to be a killer. ..My time was 27:44!”
Well folks. I crushed that old time. I felt kind of ill doing it, which I don’t really advise, but well, gotta say the numbers tell me the extra hard work paid off: 23:09. Whoooo!
So here is it!
720 reps!
100 mountain climbers
50 forward lunges (alternating legs)
30 side lunges
20 burpees
100 high knees
10 dive bombers
25 plank jacks
25 commando pushups
100 mountain climbers
In plank, have one foot underneath your chest/abdomen area. Switch the legs and “climb.” Each switch is one rep!
50 lunges
Step one foot forward in a lunge, making sure to not move your knee past your toes. One rep. Alternate legs.
30 Side lunges
In a squat position, you’ll have one leg out to the side. Jump slightly to switch the legs. Each switch is one rep!
20 Burpees
Jump out into a plank, then push up. Jump or walk your feet back up to a squat position, and then jump! One rep.
100 High knees
Pump your legs up towards your chest as high as you can. Each leg moving is one rep.
10 dive bombers
On all fours, with your butt in the air and your head down, with control, move your body leading with your head towards the ground, then lifting your head up to the ceiling, without letting your legs touching the ground. Reverse the movement and that is one rep.
25 plank jacks
In the plank position, rest on your forearms with your elbows down. Jump your legs out and back in. Each time your legs go out, count one rep.
25 commando pushups
Laying on the ground, stomach down, lift up into a plank, bringing one leg up towards your chest. This picture isn’t quite right – I should be lower to the ground, the leg closer in and the back straight as possible. One leg is one rep, alternate legs.
Send me comments about what you do and don’t like!
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