On the Run: fitness made simple
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~Strength Training Ideas
~Yoga Workouts
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A better world starts with a better YOU.
Update your Nike Training App! There’s new bonus workouts and rewards!
FINALLY, it’s about time they released some new workouts. This one features USA’s women’s soccer celebrity, Alex Morgan (fyeahalexmorgan tumblr). It’s only 15 minutes, but it’s fast and intense! You’ll need a kettlebell (or dumbell), step, and medicine ball (optional). It’s a circuit of 3 sets. Each set is 5 minutes with 5 moves. No resting breaks, but pause the workout if you need a breather (we did!). My roommate, Jo, and I did this workout + 15 minutes on the elliptical after class.
The moves:
- Kettlebell single leg clean and press: works you arms, legs, and balance
- Quick feet on step: gets your heart rate up like your are sprinting
- 2 shuffles into 10 split jumps: awesome combination that works your inner thighs and butt
- Burpee with 2 feet lateral hops over step: If you go at a pace that’s challenging, you’ll feel the burn in your quads when you jump onto the step. At this point, my muscles are fatigued.
- Crunch with alternating kickdowns: always need an abdominal exercise to round out the workout! You’re fully extending your arms and legs so your core really needs to work.
- Repeat 2 more times!
Take at look at what’s new on NTC and let me know what you think! I’d love to hear from you…miss my tumblr readers!
~Geraldine
Hellooo everyone! I just started school again and one of the first things I did was upgrade from student to student premier gym membership (and a locker for my workout clothes and accessories)! It’s totally worth the extra 20 bucks since I’ve already taken 3 new classes my first week! I plan on taking 2-3 classes a week. I’m most interested in strengthening and yoga classes, but I’m also intrigued by spinning! Okay so, my roommates, who also got the upgrade, are motivated to stay in shape and workout throughout our medical school studies. They plan to workout about 4 times a week to get stronger, relieve stress, and tone up. The classes I took were:
BodyPump (55 min): This was super fun!!! It’s all high repetition with lower weights lifting, so it’s challenging, but you don’t sweat a lot. We did a variety of squats, lunges, arm curls, tricep exercises, shoulders, and abs. We use a mini bar bell to which you add as much weight as you can handle. It’s a popular class because its intense and it works! The music used is upbeat and gets you into the groove. We loved our energetic instructor too =) My roommate and I were a little embarrassed at first to start out with lower weights, but we focused on form and we’re ready to pump it up next time! If you don’t want to do weights in the gym by yourself or don’t know of a good routine, I suggest signing up for a class like BodyPump.
Integrated Yoga (1 hour): Okay so this was kind of boring…It was very basic so we didn’t even get to do many poses. And there was no music. This class is supposed to incorporate a lot of techniques from different branches of yoga, but all we really did was back stretches and triangle…The teacher was cool though. She went around to help and correct our alignment. She’s also like 65, skinny, fit, and bohemian-styled. It’s kind of weird to see senior citizens demonstrate how to tuck your tailbone…but whatever, I know I’m going to be one of those ladies one day! However, I love doing yoga after a confusing day at school or work. It helps me focus on something singular, straight forward, and just about my physical well-being.
Athletic Conditioning (1 hour): This was the most intense class I’ve ever taken. It was way harder than the NTC workouts I’ve done. We exhausted all our muscle groups, did nonstop cardio blasts, and had super short shake-out breaks. For legs, we did squats like there was no tomorrow. What killed me were squats-on-toe-raises..UGH. My legs were shaking uncontrollable it was crazy!!! We did this simple quad lift and extension which started to burn after about reps. Me and another student from across the room made eye contact and started laughing because we were both in so much pain. The props used were: a light-weight ball, full bosu ball, step, and sets of light and heavy weights. It was crazy I thought I was going to die multiple times. The teacher was awesome and I’m sad that she’s just about to leave…I will probably try the class again although I’m pretty scared. You can work your triceps pretty well by just kicking back several times, and then pulsing!
Other ways I stayed active this week include: walking to and from school (my roomies and I do this together!), long walks with hills and stairs on rest days, and lots of stretching. ALSO, a great way to strengthen your back AND stay awake in lecture is to sit up incredibly straight!
Oh and yesterday was my White Coat Ceremony =)! I told a lot of my classmates and even some of my instructors about you guys and my blog! Everyone’s really supportive and I’m looking forward to bringing fresh ideas to your dashboard!
Let’s do the #allysonfelix workout on #nike app today in honor of @af85! She’s amazing and so sweet! #fitness #workout (Taken with Instagram)
When I come home from school:
So what to do when you’re too tired after classes to exercise?
- First things first…If you want to exercise, you have to get some legit rest! Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep and get to bed by midnight, especially if school starts early.
- Exercise in the morning!!! Great idea, let’s do it.
- Plan to exercise before dinner so that when you’re done, it’ll be a good time to eat.
- Do workouts that you can complete at home like Nike Training App routines. Scour magazines and the internet for “workout without equipment.”
- Set really easy goals: I’ll go for a run, but I can take walking breaks…or I’ll bring music on my run to pass the time.
And for those of you playing a spring sport, it’s so brutal to have practice until 5:30 after school and then go home with a ton of homework to do. It’s only going to get worse when AP exams get closer >.< I watch my cousins and brother just collapse after practice, wake up around 8:00pm, eat, and then stay up half the night doing their homework.
- Again, get your rest. Bypass the after-practice nap and just have dinner, study, and then sleep.
- Make sure you have a healthy lunch so you have sustained energy for practice.
- Use your weekends to get some homework done (a little bit goes a long way).
Have a great start of the week people! Please don’t come home like this today…
I’m rooting for you!
~Ger
PS: thanks Aileen for the George Michael GIF <333 I hope you have a great paper! Sorry about the girls and their smelly sandwiches in the library.
Today’s workout comes from a multi-lingual, well-traveled, and ridiculously in shape trainer (http://progressiveresistance.tumblr.com/)! You’ll need access to a gym for weights, pull-up bars, and bar-bells.
One of my core routines I call the Back to Basics routine. It looks like this (all exercises are 30 reps @ 80%RM with 60sec rest between sets. I take as many sets as it takes to get to 30 reps. If I get to where I can bust out 7-10 reps in a set, I know it’s time to increase the weight 5-10lbs):
Monday:
Front squat
Weighted ring dips
Barbell bent over row
Handstand pushup
Wednesday:
Snatch grip deadlift
Ring push up
Inverted row on rings
Friday:
Weighted pull ups
Deadlift (Goblet squat if Wed.’s snatch grip deads are still taking their toll)
Dumbbell Bench Press
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday: V-bar pull up/diamond push up with feet elevated on Swiss ball supersets, ring rows, power cleans, bodyweight pull ups, overhead presses, biceps curls/triceps extension supersets and/or back squats…depending on what I’m feeling most that day.
Diamond Push-ups WITH ELEVATED FEET ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I think I might break my neck trying to do a headstand pushup…but sounds tempting. This is a pretty intense workout, but I think if you take it slow at first to learn the moves, you’ll gain such strength and muscles like you’ve never had before. I hope the links help!
From: Rob, a nutrition major at http://redicrob.tumblr.com/
Hey saw your post,
I try to get CrossFit workouts because its a lot of defining and muscle building. My favorite to do every now and again: 21-15-9 reps of wall-balls(something heavy), then box jumps (30’), then pushups! full body and if you time yourself you will burn more calories! then anything tabata i love!
-Rob
Thanks Rob! CrossFit is definitely something I’m interested in. If you like NTC, you’ll like CrossFit. Once I’m done with my upcoming races, I’m going to look into joining a CrossFit Gym which are all around the US now! It’s quite the phenomenon. Also, the police academy by my house trains with CrossFit.
I’m on an airplane, but this is what I wish I was doing! Oh well…I guess I’ll do some kegels and knee-raises…
Hi Everyone!
This is all you need to workout at home:
- Weights
- Mat
- Swiss ball
- Jump rope
There are lots of workout routines using just these or nothing at all!
- Seventeen’s February Trim & Tone workout (The full workout is in this month’s issue)
- Fitness Magazine’s Ultimate Lunch-Hour Workout
- Women’s Health Work-out-at-Home
- Women’s Health Better Butt
Have fun!
- 15 minutes total
- 1 minute per move (30 seconds on each side, and 30 seconds per leg on last 3 moves)
- Do all 3x total
Hi everyone! So some of you have already tried this workout, which my core definitely needs! My first time was confusing, but you get the hang of the moves quickly. Sofia looks awesome doesn’t the moves too since she’s a dancer and incredibly flexible. Some tips I found:
- Stretch quads before. You use them a lot during the “V-Hold with Leg Kicks.”
- Keep inner-thighs together during the V-ups. If this is difficult, cross ankles to help.
- Sit on side of buttocks, not your hip, during “Side V-Ups with Leg Kicks.” it hurts less.
Videos:
- Crunch Circuit: http://youtu.be/kkv3jmzp_Uc
- V-Ups: http://youtu.be/rNfe2b88Zgo
Lunge with Torso Rotation
Time: 1 minute, 30 seconds on each side.
1) Start in a forward lunge position with both legs bent. Hold dumbbell with both hands on the inside of your lunge.
2)Keeping abs tight and hips square, rotate through your torso to bring arms up over the opposite shoulder. Keep arms straight.
3) Bring arms back down to start position. Repeat the rotation and switch sides halfway through.
This is one of my favorite strength training moves! It works your legs, abs, and arms!
Allyson Felix Unstoppable
New bonus workout out on Nike Training App! Do these moves 3x for a 15 minute total body workout.
Favorite Move: Lunge with torso twist
Hardest Move: Single Leg Deadlifts with Single Arm T’s
Reflection: This morning, I finished a 30 minute “Get Strong” workout plus this routine featuring Felix. I need to work on my balance and all this running with little strength training is making me weak! (My inner thighs are getting dimply when I sit Indian-style! AHh!)
Goal: 3 strength training sessions a week, even if it’s just a 15 minute “Get Focused” workout. Also, think of more strength training methods I actually like and will stick with.
Let’s work-out together!
~Geri
PS: The feeling of being sore motivates me to do more strength workouts. After some ab work yesterday, my obliques are sore. That’s right! There are muscles underneath my/your love handles so make them sweat!
Stamina 55-1610 InMotion E1000 Elliptical Trainer
I bought this mini elliptical trainer for my parents on my Dad’s birthday. Of course, they hadn’t taken it out of the box until I came home months later and assembled it for them. But, now they love it! And I enjoy it too! You have to get used to balancing on it. This is good for my Dad who has a bad hip that makes walking long distances painful. I really try and think of ways to help my parents preserve their health, but it’s hard to find methods that my Dad can do easily. For example, he can cycle and do the elliptical. The trainer is A LOT more affordable than the full sized gym machine.
Pros:
- Cheap (on sale from $200 to $89.99 on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Stamina-55-1610-InMotion-Elliptical-Trainer/dp/B000VICRO8)
- Small
- Adjustable resistance
- Works quads and inner thighs
- Through balancing, you exercise your core muscles
- Adaptable: place under the table to do while sitting, my friends does it while watching TV
- Great for the home, especially small apartments and for college
Cons
- Small range of motion
Great plan for half marathon training!
WARNING: This is not optimal for weight loss and running is not a “license to eat.” Runner’s need to watch their diet more than those looking to lose weight.
I’m following the Intermediate Plan and currently at Week 6. I have a 10K this Labor Day weekend and I’m aiming for 8-8:30min/mile. My goal is a 9:00 min/mile half marathon. I do weight training on Mondays instead of “Rest” and do Bikram/Vinyasa yoga once a week.
I love running!!!
15 minute Abs with Jeanette Jenkins/Nike
This is a challenging routine I’ve done several times, but I’m still working on the single-arm-leg-extension plank. I try 15 minutes of abs about 3 times a week after easier runs and on my rest day.
