Household Objects

Core Couch Workout

November 4, 2014 by Nicole 18 Comments

I swear I’m not purposely being gimmicky with this workout. The other week I just really wanted to do a quick core workout while watching Netflix on my couch. Don’t judge me—you try teaching six megaformer classes in a day with the first starting at 6AM and the last ending at 8:15PM. Trust me, you’d want to workout on your couch, too.

It was perfect for doing at the end of a long day: challenging without being sweaty, and pretty mindless if you set an interval timer to beep at you when it’s time to switch it up.

Core Couch Workout

Equipment I Used:

6-lb medicine ball (you can use any weight, dumbbell or just your bodyweight)
Gymboss Interval Timer
My couch (a stepper or bench would work, too)

Set an interval timer for 18 rounds of 30 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. You’ll go through the following circuit of exercises 2 times. In total this workout will take you 12 minutes. Want it to be more challenging? Go through for a third round.

Suitcase Crunch: Start by laying on the floor, butt up against the couch, knees bent and calves resting on the seat of the couch. With a weight in your hands (I used a med ball but you can really use anything—or nothing) overhead, you’re going to crunch your torso up off the ground, bringing the weight forward and tapping your shins with it before slowly lowering down to your starting position.
Suitcase Crunch Hold: In the same position as the previous exercise, crunch up, torso lifted off the ground, and bring the weight in front of you so that it’s just hovering over your shins (don’t rest it on them). Hold this position for the 30 seconds.
Reptile Incline Plank: Start in a plank position with your feet on the couch and hands on the floor, stacked directly underneath your shoulders. From here, crunch your right knee up towards your right shoulder. Bring your foot back to starting position and repeat with the left knee. Continue to alternate sides, crunching those obliques while holding a plank.
Straight-Back Seated Leg Hold: This isometric hold is so much more challenging than it looks (for me anyway). I admittedly can’t hold it for 30 seconds straight and have to tap my feet down to the floor for a quick breather every 10 seconds or so. Sit on the floor with your back flat against the couch. With your fingertips tented on the floor for support, contract your lower abdomen and lift your feet off the floor, knees softly bent. Hold your feet hovering off the ground with back straight against the couch for the 30-second interval, taking as few breaks as possible.
Side Plank Bottom Leg Lifts (RIGHT): Start in a side plank position with your right hand on the floor underneath your shoulder and your left foot on the edge of the couch. Your bottom right leg should be free to move. From here, you’re just going to pulse your right leg down and up, never letting it come fully to rest on the floor (or couch).
Side Plank Top Leg Crunches (RIGHT): Stat in a side plank position with your right hand on the floor underneath your shoulder and feet on the couch. From here, you’re going to crunch your top left knee in towards your left elbow, squeezing that left sidebody while also engaging the right oblique to keep hips lifted and level in that plank position.
Side Plank Bottom Leg Lifts (LEFT)
Side Plank Top Leg Crunches (LEFT)
Reverse Plank: This is a plank, only belly-side up. With feet on the couch and hands underneath your shoulders, engage your glutes and back to lift your body up into a straight plank position. Hold position for the whole 30 seconds, being careful not to let that butt start to drop down towards the floor—hold it up!

WEARING | tank: c/o Cozy Orange // leggings: c/o Champion

The tank I’m wearing in today’s workout is another piece gifted to me by Cozy Orange. The material is so comfortable, and I love the back strappy detailing. Usually if I have a tank with cups in the bra, I immediately rip them out and throw them away (I’m weird and like looking as flat-chested as humanly possible), but I actually kept them in this top—I like the added oomph for once.

Filed Under: Abs, Bodyweight, Household Objects, Interval Training, Workouts

Stair/Stadium Bodyweight Bootcamp Workout

June 17, 2014 by Nicole 15 Comments

Good morning, party people! I’ve got a lot more to share from my Stitch Fix & LUNA vacay in San Francisco, but I figured I’d break it up with a good ol’ workout post. You can take this one outside or stay indoors, all you need is a staircase/stadium/stairmaster and your bodyweight. Enjoy!

Stair/Stadium Bodyweight Workout

This workout is made up of four mini circuits. You’ll complete three rounds of each circuit before moving onto the next. This workout can be done outdoors or inside—wherever there’s a set of stairs—think stadiums, parks, even your gym’s stairmaster.

Circuit 1 (complete 3 rounds)

Run Up & Down Stairs
10 Push-Up Burpees: Regular burpee, but do a push up at the bottom. The sequence will go: squat down, hands on mat, jump back into plank position, push up, jump feet back up to hands, stand up into squat position, jump up with arms overhead.
10 Plank Jump Jacks: Start in a plank position. Jump both feet up towards your hands. Jump them back into plank position. Jump feet apart (like a horizontal jumping jack) and then jump them back together into your starting plank position.

Circuit 2 (complete 3 rounds)

Run Up & Down Stairs
10 Walking Lunges: Step forward into a lunge, bringing both knees to 90 degrees. Walk forward, bringing back foot in front, sinking right back into a deep lunge.
5 Two-Footed Long Jumps: Once you’ve traveled forward with your lunges, turn around and do 5 long jumps back. Squat down, leap forward as far as you can, pushing off both feet. Land two-footed, softly into a squat position. Cock your arms back and go right into your next jump. The goal is to travel forward in the air as far as possible with each jump. Don’t hold back!

Circuit 3 (complete 3 rounds)

Run Up & Down Stairs
5 One-Arm Down Dog Push Ups (each side): Start laying on your stomach, feet a little more than shoulder-width apart, left hand behind your back, and right palm flat on the ground. Push yourself into an up-dog position with your right hand. Lift the rest of your body off the ground as you raise your hips and pull them back and up into a down dog position. Reverse the movement back to starting.
10 Triceps Push Ups: This is a normal push up, just keeping your elbows glued in tight to your body. Hands should be stacked directly under shoulders instead of a wide stance, targeting the triceps rather than chest.

Circuit 4 (complete 3 rounds)

Run Up & Down Stairs
10 Side Plank Lifts with Knee Crunch (each side): Start in a side plank position. Lower your hips towards the ground, and then lift upwards into plank position. From there, crunch the top knee into the top elbow. Extend back out, lower hips, repeat.
10 Full-Body Knee Hug Crunches: Start laying on your back, legs extended and hovering, arms outstretched overhead (shoulders lifted off ground, core engaged). Do a full body crunch, lifting your torso and crunching in your knees so that you can hug them. Extend back out, lowering onto back.

WEARING | tank: LF // bra: c/o Forever 21 // leggings: Ellie (use code nicoleperr20 to get 20% off your first order!) // sneakers: Nike

Part two of my #StitchFixLUNAVacay recap coming at you tonight!

Like what I’m wearing in today’s post? SHOP A SIMILAR LOOK:

Filed Under: Bodyweight, Cardio, Full Body, Household Objects, Workouts

Tabata Towel Workout

March 6, 2014 by Nicole 20 Comments

Remember the Towel Workout I posted last year? Despite the tragic photography lighting, it was a huge hit around the interwebs, and I think it’s high time to whip out the old dishrag again. And lucky you, this one is (in my opinion) even harder than the first. I was really feeling the burn.

I pretty much just invented these moves on the fly, but if you’ve seen them before just humor me and pretend I’m the mad scientist of ghetto-rigging household items into workout equipment.

Tabata Towel Workout

Equipment I Used:

Dish towel (if you have carpeted floors, use a DVD case)
Gymboss Interval Timer
Exercise mat

Set an interval timer for 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. You’ll do the same exercise all 8 rounds (4 minutes total) before moving onto the next exercise. The whole workout takes 20 minutes.

Dancing One-Leg Squat (right): Squat down, all the weight on your right leg, towel under your left toes (keep left heel lifted throughout this exercise). Slide your left leg out to the side, keeping weight on the right. Slide it back in to the starting position, then slide it out in back of you as far as you can, and again back to starting position. Essentially, you’re holding a one-leg squat on the right, weight never shifting more than lightly to your left leg.
Dancing One-Leg Squat (left)
Side-to-Side Sliding Planks: Start in a plank with the towel under both feet. Slide both feet up to the right side, back to starting plank position, and then up to the left side. Think about tracing a V shape with your feet.
Triceps Scissor Push Ups (alternate arms each round): I did these from my knees but if you’re a total animal try them from your feet. Start in pushup position with towel under one hand. Slide the towel hand out, keeping arm straight. As you do, lower into a triceps pushup on the other hand (sending the elbow back and close to your body, not out. Push up, sliding other hand back in under your shoulders. Repeat. You’ll switch arms during the next interval (so it comes out to 4 rounds on the right, 4 rounds on the left).
Boat Pose Heel Sliders: Sit on your tailbone, leaning torso back at an angle engaging your abs. Hold arms straight out in front of you. With heels lightly on the towel, slide your legs out straight and then bend knees in towards chest, sliding heels in towards butt. The challenge is to not lift your heels off the ground or rock your torso (you’ll want to lean back and sit forward to counter the motion of your legs—resist it!).