Fitness Friday
Happy Friday, and welcome to another installment of Fitness Friday!
First, I’d like to take a moment and mention the epic post from Monday all about pre and post-workout nutrition. If you missed it, you can check it out here!
Okay – on with Fitness Friday!
Workout of the Week:
This week’s workout is all about shoulder strength. All you will need is a set of dumbbells to complete it!
The details:
Perform each movement individually for 3 sets of 10 repetitions. To transition between the five movements, perform a 30 second cardio blast with the cardio move of your choice. You can do the same move the entire time or switch it up each round. To make it more challenging, perform the 30 second cardio blast after every set of 10.
The exercises:
Shoulder Press: Holding the weights up by your shoulders, brace your core and lift your arms above your head, pressing your arms upward (think of following a goal post outline with your arms). Then, bring your arms back to shoulder level. Repeat.
Upright Row: Hold the weights down in the front of your body (near your hip bones). Drive your elbows up and out to the sides while bringing the weights up to your collarbone, trying to keep the weights close to your body throughout the entire movement. Lower and repeat.
Front Raises: Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Hold the weights down in the front of your body (near your hip bones). Slowly lift your arms in front of you until your arms are straight and at shoulder level. Lower and repeat.
Reverse Flies: Push your hips back and bend over at your hip bone crease, keeping your back flat (don’t round your upper back!) With your weights hanging down in front of you, bring them up and out to the sides, “flying” your arms up and down to the side. Lower and repeat.
Lateral Raises: Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Hold the weights down by your sides. Slowly lift your arms horizontally to the side until your arms are straight and at shoulder level. Lower and repeat.
Fun right? Give it a try the next time you have access to dumbbells. Your shoulders will feel the burn!
Fitness Tidbit of the Week
So last week, I provided you with five tips to get started with fitness. This week, I want to piggyback off of my pre and post-nutrition post from Monday and talk all about hydration before, during, and after exercise.
First off, before starting to exercise (whether it be cardio, strength, or both), you want to ensure that you have drank enough water, but not too much. You don’t want to become water-logged during your workout! Drink about a cup or so of water about 30 minutes before your workout, and you should be good to go!
During your workout, keep a water bottle next to you. You don’t have to go crazy, but you want to make sure that you are adequately hydrated, especially during cardio or interval sessions.
After working out, it is important to get water into your system within the hour, but it is also important to keep drinking water throughout the rest of your day. Fill up that water bottle and keep it with you at all times! A large percentage of our bodies are water, so we need to replenish that water, especially after exercise!
Finally, did you notice that I only mentioned water in my recommendations? Simply put, water is the best thing for your body during workouts. If you need to replenish your body after exercise with energy (aka calories), always try to use real food first and products second. That being said, if you have specific goals, are working with a trainer, or are an elite level athlete, than yes, you can consume drinks other than water. But for us regular folks, water should usually do the trick!
My Workouts
Like I mentioned last week, we had TRX training on Saturday. As of Tuesday, I was still sore from it! But, it was so much fun and super informative. We even got to complete a sample workout during the class. I can’t wait to incorporate the TRX into my classes next semester!
Sunday, I headed to my friend’s Total Body Tone class. Since I had bridal shows the past two weeks, I haven’t been able to make it to her class, which was sad…I was glad to be back at it! Total Body Tone is a strength-only class we offer at the rec center and usually uses dumbbells, along with other equipment if the instructor desires. On Sunday, we also incorporated our new circular, flat resistance bands which were killer!
Monday, I attended a High-Intensity Interval Training class also taught by my friend. We used free weights and Bosu balls, which are basically half of an exercise ball with a plastic, sturdy bottom so you can use both sides of the ball to complete movements. I also lifted legs that afternoon, but kept my exercise list to only five movements because I knew that I would be attending the class later that night.
Tuesday, I taught my two classes, which I didn’t teach last week because of the snow day. I had good numbers for both classes, and the energy in my HIIT Kettlebell class was amazing! I absolutely love that class – I look forward to teaching it every week.
Wednesday was a rest day and Ash Wednesday. So instead of lifting, I took a short walk on the track and attended Mass that afternoon.
Thursday was leg day of course – my favorite! I incorporated a few of the TRX movements from Saturday’s training into my workout. I can definitely feel it today!
And today, Friday, I’ll be hitting the weight room again and lifting, probably hitting my shoulders (since I have the perfect workout for them!).
Otherwise, my week wasn’t too eventful. Next week at the rec, we have Love EveryBODY Week, which is a celebration of every body type and shape. We have inspirational quotes to hand out to participants, special free classes during the week (my HIIT Kettlebell class is one of them!), and a dance party at the end of the week complete with giveaways and temporary tattoos. It should be a fun week! My boss and I have worked hard to make sure that everything runs smoothly.
Have a wonderful weekend and get your fitness on!
xoxo Olivia