Bodyweight — Page 17

5-Minute Full-Body HIIT Workout (Perfect for Travel!)

April 4, 2018 by Nicole 6 Comments

This post was made in partnership with Hyatt Place Hotels. All opinions—as always!—are my own.

I’m so excited to share this Workout Wednesday series with you all! For many months now, I’ve been hard at work with Hyatt Place Hotels creating 10 five-minute workouts that you can do pretty much anywhere. Minimal (or no) equipment is needed, and their quick-but-effective structure means you can fit them in to even the busiest of days. If you’re looking for a longer workout, all you have to do is repeat the sequence upon completion.

It can be challenging to keep up with a workout regime while traveling—I’m sure we’ve all experienced this!—but instead of settling for a sedentary day, try squeezing in this Full-Body HIIT Workout. Hyatt Place’s roomy rooms give you plenty of space to spread out (get big during those star burpees!), so you have no excuse not to get in a quick sweat.

In addition to today’s HIIT workout, I’ll share a couple more from the Workout Wednesday series here on the blog. To get all 10 workouts, be sure to follow Hyatt Place on Facebook and Instagram. A new one will be posted each week!

5-Minute Full-Body HIIT Workout

Set an interval timer for 10 rounds of 25 seconds of work and 5 seconds of rest (or just follow along with the video if you don’t have a timer!). You’ll go through the following circuit of five exercises twice. The 5 seconds of “rest” is really just enough time to transition from one exercise to the next.

As with all workouts, make sure you’re properly warmed up beforehand. Always listen to your body, modifying or stopping as needed.

Plank Jack Push Ups | Start in a high plank position (hands under shoulders, feet together). From here, jack your feet out wide and then back to center. Do a push up. If you need to modify, drop to your knees for the push up and then lift them to plank for the jack.

Squat Jump & Lateral Lift | Feet shoulders width apart, do a squat jump (bend the knees, sliding your hips back and then power up into the air). Land softly back in your squat. From there, do a lateral lift, kicking your right leg up and out to the side. Repeat the squat jump and then do your lateral lift with the left leg. Continue like that, alternating sides.

Side Plank Kicks – Right | Start in a side plank position with your right hand stacked under your right shoulder. Stretch your left arm overhead and hover your left leg about a foot off the floor. From here, kick your left hand and left leg in front of your body, touching your toes with your hand if possible. Extend them back out to starting position and repeat. Try to keep the leg hovering the whole time and make sure to keep your hips lifted.

Side Plank Kicks – Left | Repeat on the other side.

Star Burpees | From a standing position, squat down, bringing your hands to the floor. Jump your feet back into a plank position. Jump feet back up towards hands and then jump into the air, stretching your arms and legs out wide. Land with feet together and squat right back down, starting your next rep.

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Give this workout a try and let me know how it goes in the comments!

As I mentioned above, I’ll post a few of the routines from my Workout Wednesday series with Hyatt Place here on the blog, but be sure to follow @hyattplace on Instagram and Hyatt Place on Facebook to get all 10!

xo Nicole

Photography and videography by Nick Cosky.

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

20-Minute Core Workout: Slow Sliding + Fast Tabatas

July 3, 2017 by Nicole 4 Comments

Today’s workout is a follow-up to the workout I posted a couple weeks ago. Same format, just different target muscle groups. While the title says “core,” your upper body will definitely feel the burn as well (brace yourself for some serious planking, people!). This 20-minute core workout will alternate between 2-minute slider sequences for the right then left obliques and 4-minute tabata intervals.

Before we get to it, I just want to thank you guys for all the feedback on YouTube, Instagram and here on the blog regarding last week’s workout! Hearing what you guys like and don’t like is so helpful in guiding my planning and formatting of future workouts. I like to switch things up so formats don’t get redundant, but hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So many of you loved last week’s workout that we’re keeping it the same, just switching up the target muscle groups today.

20-Minute Core Workout: Slow Sliding + Fast Tabatas

Equipment You’ll Need:

Sliders (you can use a dish towel if on a hardwood floor or a paper plate on carpet)
Medium weight (I’m using a 10-lb kettlebell) — this is totally optional

This workout will take you 20 minutes to complete. If you’re looking for a longer workout, do it twice (once was plenty for me lol). You’ll do 2 minutes of slider work on each side (inspired by the megaformer work I teach at Btone!) followed by a bodyweight tabata (with the option to use a dumbbell). Here’s the general breakdown (rest for 30 seconds in between each section):

Slider obliques series on RIGHT
Slider obliques series on LEFT
Tabata 1
Slider obliques series on RIGHT
Slider obliques series on LEFT
Tabata 2

As with all workouts, make sure to warm up beforehand. I have a 5-minute warm up on my YouTube channel you can follow along with or just do your own. Modify as needed with all the exercises—I’ll explain how to in the video. ?

20-Minute Core Workout: Exercise Breakdown

Slider Series 1

Snake (60) | In a plank position, feet on sliders, hands stacked under shoulders on an exercise mat, cross your right foot in front of the left and drop your heels so that you are heel-to-toe with toes pointing towards the left. You’ll twist through the waist, slightly lowering your right hip to do so. This is your starting position. From here, start bending your knees in towards your left elbow, sliding your feet forward. When you’re in as far as you can go, slide the feet back out, straightening your knees back into your starting position. As you do these, try to keep your hips level with your shoulders (don’t sit your bum onto your heels as you slide the feet in; engage your right sidebody to keep them lifted).
Low Teaser (30) | In a plank position, feet on sliders, hands stacked under shoulders on an exercise mat, cross your right foot in front of the left and drop your heels so that you’re heel-to-toe with toes pointing towards the left. You’ll twist through the waist, slightly lowering your right hip to do so. This is your starting position. Maintaining this leg position and keeping your knees straight, pike your hips slowly up into the air. When you’ve reached your peak, slowly lower back down to that twisted plank starting position. You are targeting your right oblique with these.
Arm Sliders (30) | Start in a plank position, hands stacked under shoulders, left foot on a slider. Crunch your right knee in towards your right arm and hold it as close to touching that arm the whole time. From here, you’re going to slide the right knee up towards your armpit and then down to hover by the wrist. Continue sliding the knee up and down, slightly rounding through the spine as you zip it up your arm to activate the core in a crunching motion. There will be minimal sliding on this one (your left foot might slide forward and back slightly but it won’t be huge).

Tabata 1

Side V-Ups | Start laying on your side, balancing on that bottom hip/side butt area with your bottom hand on the floor in front of you for support. Top arm is bent with hand behind your head and elbow out wide; legs should be extended and hovering off the ground. This is your starting position. From here, you’re going to crunch up and in, keeping your legs straight as you lift your torso up and in to meet them so that your sidebody forms a “v” shape. Use that bottom hand for support, but try to push off it minimally. Slowly lower back down and extend back out to a hover. Alternate side each interval.
Full-Body Crunch (option to use a dumbbell) | Start laying on your back with legs outstretched and hovering a couple inches off the ground. Holding a weight in your hands, arms should be outstretched overhead and hovering as well. From this starting position, crunch up, bringing your knees in towards your chest as you lift your shoulder blades off the ground and bring the weight up and over towards your shins. Extend back out, lowering to starting position. The goal is to never bring the legs and/or weight to rest on the ground when you extend back out.

Slider Series 2

Side Bear with Thread the Needle (60) | Start in a side forearm plank with your right forearm on the ground. I recommend staggering your feet on the sliders so that your top left foot is in front of the right. Keeping your hips at shoulder height, you’re going to bend your knees in towards your chest and slide the feet forward. As you do this, wrap your top arm around you, twisting your chest to the floor and threading the needle. As you straighten your legs back out to plank, untwist the chest and reach your left arm back up to the ceiling.
Twisted Pike (30) | Start in a forearm plank (or high plank) with feet on the sliders and drop your heels over to the right so that the lower body is angled to the left. Keeping the twist of the lower half, pike your hips up to the ceiling and back down, keeping the legs straight.
Single-Leg Crossbody Mountain Climbers (30) | Start in a high plank with your right foot on a slider and left leg hovering. Do a crossbody mountain climber, bringing the left knee to crunch into the right elbow and then the right knee to crunch into the left elbow.

Tabata 2

Bicycle Crunch Sit-Ups | Start laying on your back with your hands lightly behind your head, elbows bent out to the sides and chest open. Engage your abs, pulling your bellybutton down to the floor as you lift your legs off the ground about six inches to a hover. This is your starting position. From here, bend your right knee in towards your chest as you crunch your left elbow across to meet it, lifting your back off the floor like a twisting sit-up. Your left leg should remain outstretched in a hover as you do this. Slowly return back to the starting position and continue, crunching in the same direction the entire time. The goal is to keep the legs off the ground the whole time, but if you need to modify, your left heel can quickly rest on the floor in between reps. Alternate side each interval.
Walk-up-the-Wall Hollow Hold | Start laying on your back with your legs outstretched and hovering off the ground about 4 inches. For more support, place your hands under your bum; for a bigger challenge, have them outstretched overhead or elbows bent and fingertips by your ears. Crunch your shoulders off the ground and hold them there. From here, walk up an invisible wall, stacking one foot on top of the other until legs are pointing to the ceiling. From there, walk down in the same way.

WEARING | Free People leggings (old but these Chill By Will leggings are similar) // Lululemon tank (no longer available in stripes, but shop solids here)

Hope you all enjoy your 4th of July! I’m taking this week off from teaching and for the most part from blogging as well (I may pop in with a post on Thursday or Friday). I’m hoping to have a lot of fun but also to catch up on studying—I’m so behind on my aromatherapy course!!

Filed Under: Abs, Bodyweight, Interval Training, Sliders, Tabata, Video, Workouts

8-Minute Abs 2.0

June 26, 2017 by Nicole 71 Comments

UPDATED 6/27/17: This workout is still one of my most popular on Pinterest so I thought it was worth filming a video version of it. Revisiting old workouts is a great way to track progress, and I was pleased to find I could complete it with ease this time around (when I originally made it back in 2013 I distinctly remember being sore the next day). Maybe it’s time to make a 3.0 to follow up this 8-minute abs 2.0 workout …

Below is the original blog post with the addition of the new video.

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We’ve all heard of 8-minute abs, but have you guys ever watched the original workout video? It’s…well, it’s special. And by that I mean it was filmed in the late 80s/early 90s, the spandex is on a whole new level of not OK, and the instructor’s commentary is pricelessly cheesy. Lots of “hang in there, gang!”

That being said, it’s not a bad ab workout, and I’ve done it countless times. The problem is, if you don’t switch up your workout routine, any fixed sequence is going to eventually stop being challenging. 8-minute abs quickly became an easy joke of a workout for me, and it was time to give it a serious makeover. Not just regarding the wardrobe (c’mon man, the bright blue spandex shorts with tube socks combo should be illegal), but with the exercises as well. I kept the structure of the workout the same, and switched up most of the ab movements. The result was an 8-minute abs 2.0 workout that actually challenged me again.

And before we get to the workout breakdown, how sick are the Nike running leggings I’m wearing?? I’m obsessed and trying to wear them as much as possible before summer hits—think they’d pass as Casual Friday-appropriate? I may test that boundary…

8-Minute Abs 2.0

Equipment I Used:

Exercise mat
Gymboss Interval Timer

You’ll do each move for 45 seconds and move immediately on to the next without taking a break. The last move (elbow plank) is only held for 30 seconds. I just set my Gymboss Interval Timer for 11 rounds of 45 seconds of work and 0 seconds of rest and then watched the timer on the last round to end it at 30.

Leg Lifts: Laying on your back with hands under your bum for support, lift legs off the ground and up, perpendicular to the ground (keeping them straight the whole time). Lower.
Side V Crunches (Right): Start laying on your side with bottom arm stretched outwards on the ground for support. Do a side crunch, lifting your legs up and crunching them in to meet your elbow and raised torso.
Side V Crunches (Left)
Toe Touch Crunches: Lay on back with legs lifted perpendicular to the ground. Crunch up, reaching your hands towards your toes (you don’t actually have to touch them—I can’t, anyway haha)
Cheek-to-Cheek Plank: Start in an elbow plank position. Keeping shoulders level, twist your torso to lower your right hip to the floor. Return to plank position and then twist the other way, lowering your right hip to the floor.
Side Plank Lifts (Right): Start in a side plank position. Lower your hips towards the ground, and then lift upwards, crunching into an arch passed your original straight plank position. Continue lowering and raising.
Side Plank Lifts (Left)
Seated Leg Scissors: Sit with hands lightly on ground by your sides for support, lean back slightly and lift legs off the ground. Crisscross them back and forth keeping toes pointed, left over right then right over left, and so on.
Butt Lifts: Lay on back with legs lifted perpendicular to the ground. Lift butt straight off the ground, reaching toes towards ceiling, and then lower. Try not to rock back and forth too much (the momentum makes the exercise easier, but you’ll get a better workout from slow, controlled lifting and lowering).
Windshield Wipers: Lay on back, legs perpendicular to the ground and arms outstretched for support. Lower your legs to the right, twisting your hips, until they are just hovering above the ground. Lift back to starting position and over to the left side. Continue back and forth in a windshield-wiper motion.
Elbow Plank (30-sec): You know the drill!

My parents’ dog Ginny was visiting while I shot this workout and between high-fiving me in the face with her paw and running in front of the camera every 5 seconds, I would say she definitely is not a proponent of fitness. Had to give her a little loving scolding: 🙂