Beginner — Page 2

20-Minute Beginner Interval Workout

November 16, 2017 by Nicole 1 Comment

This 20-minute beginner interval workout is perfect if you’re new to exercising or have taken a long time off and want to get back into a routine. Minimal equipment is required (just a set of weights), so it’s perfect to do at home.

I don’t post a ton of workouts geared specifically towards beginners (check out my last one here), because in ALL my videos I do give modifications so that every workout can be scaled down as needed. That being said, my beginner tabata workout has over 17,000 views on YouTube, so I think that’s a sign today’s routine is way overdue! If you guys like these beginner-friendly workouts, be sure to let me know in the comments on the blog or YouTube and I’ll keep ’em coming more frequently.

20-Minute Beginner Interval Workout

Video is sponsored by MegaFood and one of my favorite products of theirs: Blood Builder. All opinions—as always!—are my own. I appreciate your support of the brands that make this blog possible. 🙂

EQUIPMENT I USED:

Set of 10-lb dumbbells (use a weight that works for you; 5 lbs is a great place to start!)
Exercise mat
Chair or bench for modifying (optional but recommended if mobility issues prevent you from getting down to the floor and back up again repeatedly)

For this workout, we’ll be doing 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest. You have six exercises that you’ll go through three times (18 minutes total). We’ll then rest for 60 seconds and finish up the workout with a minute of modified burpees.

As with all workouts, make sure to properly warm up beforehand. I have a 5-minute warm up on my YouTube channel you can do, or just do one on your own. Always listen to your body, modifying or stopping as needed. In the video, I explain how to modify every exercise as we go through the workout.

EXERCISE BREAKDOWN

Side-to-Side Lunges | From a standing position, step your right foot out wide to the side, bending your right knee and sliding the hips back as you lunge down and reach your opposite left hand across your body to the floor by your right foot. Push off your right side to return to standing. repeat over to the left.

TO MODIFY: Instead of reaching your hand all the way to the floor, stretch it across your body at chest height.

Jumping Jacks | As you jump your feet out wide, swing your arms overhead. Continue jumping your feet in and out and your hands swish up and down.

TO MODIFY: Step instead of jump. From a standing position, step your right leg out to the side as you bring your right arm overhead. Return to center and repeat on the left. Continue alternating.

Reverse Lunge, Curl to Press | Hold a weight in each hand down at your sides. Step your left foot back behind you, bending the right knee into a lunge. At the bottom of your lunge, do a bicep curl and then a shoulder press. Reverse the movement and stand.

TO MODIFY: Use a chair for balance. Your right hand will hold on to the chair as you lunge back, and do the curl and press with just the left arm.

Reverse Lunge, Curl to Press on other side

Russian Twists | Holding a weight with both hands, sit on your bum, leaning back and hovering your feet of the floor. Twist side to side, bringing the weight to the outside of each hip.

TO MODIFY: If on the floor, place your heels lightly on the ground. If mobility issues prevent you from getting to the ground, sit in a chair and twist from there.

Bird Dog | Who named this exercise? Why is it called Bird Dog? Is it even called Bird Dog or did I make that up years ago and now just foolishly believe it to be true?! Anyway … start in a tabletop position on the floor. From here, reach your opposite leg and arm out long. Pause and then return to starting tabletop. Repeat on the other side.

TO MODIFY: If mobility issues prevent you from getting to the ground, place hands on a bench or chair so that you’re in an incline plank position. From here, lift up one leg at a time.

WEARING | DYI leggings / Puma tank (old) / adidas sneakers

Before I end this post, a little PSA: You should totally subscribe to my YouTube channel. 😉 While I get that it’s not completely necessary because I do always embed the videos on the blog as well, there are some definite perks to being a subscriber. My videos usually go live there hours (or even days) before they’re up on the blog and you’ll get an email notification when they do.

Filed Under: Beginner, Full Body, Interval Training, Video, Workouts

Beginner Tabata Workout – Full Body, No Equipment Needed

February 22, 2017 by Nicole 5 Comments

I have a few beginner workouts on the blog (you can find all beginner resources here), but haven’t yet made one in video form. This post is long overdue! And let me know in the comments if you want more beginner workouts. The hard ones tend to get a lot of positive feedback so I sorta get stuck on this track of trying to make each workout more challenging than the next, but I want this site to be a fitness resource for everyone. What sense does it make to cater fitness to only those who are already relatively fit?!

This week’s workout uses pretty much the same structure as last week’s, but is toned down a notch.

Beginner Tabata Workout

No equipment is needed for this workout (just have an exercise mat or some padding for the knees handy). If, however, you’re a true beginner or are working with mobility issues that will make it difficult to get down and up again from the floor, I’d recommend using a chair or bench throughout the workout. I’ll show you how to modify the exercises throughout the video.

This workout is made up of three tabatas. A tabata is 8 rounds of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest. I’ll give you two exercises for each tabata and you’ll alternate between the two during the 4 minutes. Rest 30 seconds after each completed tabata before moving onto the next.

Tabata 1

Squat with Pulse | Feet about hips-width apart, squat down, sending your hips and butt back and down (not the knees forward!). Keep your chest open, shoulders back—it’s natural to lean forward slightly as you lower down, but we don’t want to hunch forward. Bring your hands in front of you as you sink down to your lowest point, bodyweight staying in your heels. Pulse up an inch and down an inch. From there, powerfully stand back up, straightening your legs and thrusting your hips forward (squeeze your bum at the top!) and driving your arms behind you. Make sure you’re actively engaging the outer thighs to prevent the knees from caving inward (knock-knees) as you lower down into your squat. To modify, forget about the pulse and practice your squats using a chair (sit down on the seat and then stand back up).
Back Lunge with Pulse | Start standing with feet hip width apart. Step your left foot back behind you as you bend the right knee, sinking into a lunge. Get as low as you can, trying to bring the right knee as close to a 90-degree bend as mobility allows. From this low lunge position, pulse up an inch and down an inch. Stand as you bring the left foot forward in line with the right to your starting position. For balance assistance, you can place a hand on a chair. Alternate legs each round of work.

Tabata 2

Modified Push Ups | You can do these either on the floor from your knees or on your feet with your hands on a chair/bench/elevated surface (even a wall works!). Think “plank” with your core alignment as you bend and straighten your elbows. You want to maintain neutral spine and lower your torso as one unit, rather than just dipping your chest and sticking your butt up into the air.
Forearm Plank | Most of us are familiar with a plank, so just a couple form queues: think of stacking your joints, elbows directly below shoulders. Think of gently knitting the ribs together and pulling the low belly up and in. Squeeze the glutes and quads—notice how engaging these muscles helps straighten out your body even more. Fire up the entire abdomen by pulling the forearms and balls of feet in towards each other (you won’t actually move, you’ll just contract the muscles). If this is too much, modify by dropping to your knees or by brining your hands to a chair/bench/elevated surface.

Tabata 3

Twisting High Knees | Start standing with arms overhead. From here, march your right knee up towards your chest as you twist your torso to the right and bring your elbows to the outside of the knee. Return to starting position and repeat to the left. Make these as quick as you can. For assistance with balance, keep a hand on a chair as you do this. Just make sure to switch hands each 20-second round.
Modified Burpees | From a standing position, squat down and bring your hands to the floor (or a chair to modify). Step one foot back at a time to a plank position. Step one foot at a time back up to the outsides of your hands and stand back upright to standing position.

WEARING | tank c/o New Balance // Booty By Brabants leggings // adidas sneakers

Filed Under: Beginner, Bodyweight, Full Body, Interval Training, Tabata, Video, Workouts

Standing Core Workout

July 13, 2016 by Nicole 5 Comments

I’m using a medicine ball for today’s workout, but you could use a dumbbell or other weighted object if you don’t have one. I’m calling this a core workout, but your arms and legs will be feeling it as well–especially if you use a heavier weight. There are two bodyweight exercises thrown into the circuit purposely to give your arms a little breather in the event upper body fatigue is hindering the core work.

While I wouldn’t say this workout is “easy” (the first two sets especially are tough!), I’d consider it easier than some of the other core workouts I’ve shared. It’s a good one if you’re a beginner (just chose a light med ball or even just bodyweight) or have mobility impairments preventing you from comfortably getting down to the floor for crunches and other supine ab exercises.

20-Minute Standing Core Workout

Equipment I Used:

Medicine ball (I shot the workout with a 6-lb med ball because it’s all I have at home but would have liked to challenge myself with a 10-lb–next time!)

The structure of this workout is a time pyramid. Each time you go through the circuit you’ll stay on the exercises for less time. Here’s the breakdown:

60 seconds each exercise
60 seconds rest
45 seconds each exercise
45 seconds rest
30 seconds each exercise
30 seconds rest
15 seconds each exercise

Try not to rest in between exercises. Only rest as specified above (after a full set). In total, this workout will take you 20 minutes to complete. The goal is to complete as many reps of the exercise as possible in the specified time interval. That being said, never sacrifice proper form for the sake of speed!

As with all workouts, make sure to warm up beforehand. Always listen to your body and modify when needed.

Marching Front Chop | Start standing with arms straight, med ball held overhead. Keeping your arms straight, you’re going to chop the ball down in front of you as you lift one knee up towards it (as if you were going to spike the ball off your knee). Raise the ball back overhead as you lower the foot back to the floor and repeat on the other side.

Crossbody Woodchop RIGHT | You want a wide stance for this one with both feet pointing forward. With the lower body, I want you to think side lunge; with the upper body think of tracing a diagonal line with the medicine ball.. Start with the legs straight, med ball held in straight arms up and overhead to the left (you want your torso twisted so that you’re facing the left side of the room). Keeping the arms straight, chop the med ball down towards your right foot as you bend into the right knee (remember, think side lunge) and twist to face the right side of the floor. Reverse the movement back to the starting position.

Crossbody Woodchop LEFT

Standing Bicycle Crunch | Start standing with feet a little wider than hip’s width apart, chest open, fingertips behind the ears and elbows out wide. From this starting position, you’re going to crunch the right elbow down and across your body to touch the opposite knee, which you’ll bend and lift up towards it, squeezing your low abs. Don’t worry if you can’t make physical contact between the knee and elbow; focus on pulling your core in tight and just get them as close as possible. Return to starting position and repeat to the other side.

Torso Twist to Front Chop in Lunge RIGHT | Start in a lunge position with your right foot forward; ball of the left foot planted behind you. Feet should be hip’s width apart (you’re not walking on a tight rope–you want a stable base!). If joint mobility allows, you want to find a 90-degree bend with the front knee. Hold the med ball at chest height, arms straight in front of you. Keeping the arms straight, twist towards the right side of the room so that the ball twists over the front leg. Twist back to center and then chop the ball down towards your back knee, crunching through the core to lower it. Rise back to starting position and repeat.

Torso Twist to Front Chop in Lunge LEFT

Sumo Squat Obliques Crunches | You’ll be in a wide sumo squat position the entire time with the lower body. You want a wide squat stance with your toes pointing outward; knees track in line with the toes. Chest open, have your fingertips lightly behind your head or hovering by the ears, elbows bent out wide to the side. From here, dip your right elbow towards your right knee, contracting the right side obliques. Lift upright and over to the left. As you crunch down side to side, think of staying in a single plane of motion; don’t lean forward as you dip to the side. So picture your torso is sandwiched between two walls, one against your back and one against your chest. Stay between the walls.

Side note: Every time I do this exercise I can’t help singing “I’m a little teapot short and stout…” in my head. Please tell me someone else’s mind goes to that when doing side bend motions?? 🙂

WEARING | leggings c/o PRISM Sport (30% off with code ACTPERRY) // shoes c/o Puma // bra c/o Forever 21 (old but shop current selection here)

It is such a game changer living in a space that’s well lit enough to shoot videos!! I’m sad I’m only here for the summer but plan on taking full advantage of that conveniently placed concrete wall next to the windows. Let’s see how many workouts I can shoot before August 31st… 😉

Filed Under: Abs, Beginner, Medicine Ball, Pyramid, Workouts