If you follow me on Instagram, you already got a hilarious (at my expense) sneak peek of this workout via blooper reel. Trying to time an overhead toss sit-up so that it could be caught on camera resulted in me getting hit in the face, the chest, the stomach, my lady parts…it wasn’t pretty. But oh man was it FUNNY. I think I got a better ab workout laughing at the outtakes than I did actually doing this workout.

But before we get to pictures that did make the cut from this workout, I want to draw attention to the pullover that’s keeping me warm in them. 

I got the chance to sample the new athletic wear line EIGHTYONE 20, and with the weather in Boston being…typical freezing Boston weather…the timing was perfect. The Bulky Neck that I’m wearing is incredibly warm and soft. The outer material has that performance sheen of quality athletic apparel, but the inside of the pullover is a soft, heavenly fleece. You know that feeling of pulling on a pair of new sweats that haven’t gone through the wash yet? Is it not the best?? I think it’s even better than putting on a fresh new pair of socks—and that’s saying a lot because that feeling is magical.

The drawstring on the neck is also great for cold days without a scarf, and the sleeves have thumbholes for easy layering. As a long-limbed chick, I don’t always use thumbholes unless a top has extra long arms, but I figure it’s a feature worth mentioning since everyone loves those little sleeve slits.

The EIGHTYONE 20 collection is small right now, but their other piece of outwear, the Raglan Zipper Hoodie, is worth checking out at well—I love the two-tone color detail, and could totally see myself wearing it to and from the studio.

Medicine Ball Wall Workout

Equipment I Used:

• 6-lb medicine ball (similar one here)
• Gymboss Interval Timer
• Exercise mat

Important: Make sure you’re doing this workout against a concrete wall or other sturdy surface—don’t go hurling a medicine ball at your grandmother’s living room walls.

For this 30-minute interval workout, set a timer for 30 rounds of 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest. You’ll go through the following five exercises six times. 

Med Ball Burpees with Chest Pass to Wall

Start standing about four-five feet away from a wall, holding the medicine ball at your chest, with feet about hip’s width apart. Squat down, bringing the ball to the ground in front of your feet. Keeping your hands firmly on top of the ball, arms straight, jump your feet back into a plank position. From there, jump your feet back up towards the ball, power up to your feet, bringing the ball to your chest, and pushing forward with both hands, throw the ball at the wall. When it bounces off, catch it with both hands and go right into your next rep.

Overhead Toss Sit Ups

There are a few ways to do these, all with varying degrees of difficulty. I want to take the time to go over them, because when I did this workout, I had to switch between them as I fatigued.

Lay on your back with your feet about one-two feet from a wall. Hold a medicine ball in your hands, outstretched overhead. From here, think of your upper body as a catapult. You’re going to do a sit up with arms still outstretched and launch the med ball overhead at the wall. Think of a soccer goalie launching a ball overhead back into play (except you’re seated). As it bounces off, you’ll catch it and return back down to starting position. You have to generate quite a bit of force to do this, so if it’s not happening, switch it up a little by doing the following:

Modification: Instead of launching the ball overhead in a smooth catapulting motion, do the sit up and then bring the ball down to your chest and throw it forward at the wall from there. A chest pass is a lot easier in the scenario than an overhead pass. Here’s what it looks like: 

Up for a challenge? You can also make this exercise harder by doing with your legs hovering off the ground, forcing your core to work overtime. I can’t to an overhead toss with my feet hovering (yet), but I did a couple intervals of the sit-up-to-chest-pass this way and really felt the burn in my abs! 

Wall Ball Squats

Start standing about four-five feet away from a wall, holding the medicine ball at your chest, with feet about hip’s width apart. Squat down, sending your hips and butt back and down, weight in your heels, med ball still held at your chest. When you reach the bottom of your squat, power up from your legs to standing position, thrusting your hips forward. As you do so, throw the medicine ball forcefully up and forward so that it hits the wall at least several feet above your head. Catch it as it bounces off and falls back down, and go right into your next squat.

Rotational Scoop Toss (Right)

This is a great one for the obliques. Start standing about six feet from the wall, with the wall to your left, ball held at your hip in your right hand. Plant your left foot and pivot on the back right foot as you launch the ball towards the wall with your right hand. It may take a couple tries to get it down, but you want the ball to hit the wall and then bounce once off the ground before you scoop down to grab it. You want to do this move rapid fire, so as soon as you catch the ball, wind up for the toss and twist right back into it.

This one is easier to show than explain, so I’d check out THIS VIDEO of it in action. You’ll notice in the video, the guy uses an underhand toss—I don’t get enough power when I do that, so I scoop down for the ball then bring it up and push it from my hip. Do whichever works for you!

Rotational Scoop Toss (Left)

______

Enjoy the workout! It’s a little different from other workouts I’ve posted in that it’s focused completely on power and dynamic movements. It’s a fun one–especially if you’ve got some anger to work off.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by EIGHTYONE 20. While I was compensated, all opinions—as always!—are my own.

Hey guys! Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’m in the process of transferring my website over to private servers because my current shared ones can’t handle the amount of traffic P&I has been getting—most certainly not a bad problem to have! However, what is a bad problem to have is my lack of technical website knowledge. It’s taking longer than it should because I’m learning as I go (story of my blogging career), but I think it should be smooth sailing from here. I’m back to a regular posting schedule and just crossing my fingers nothing explodes over the next couple days.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve probably noticed that my go-to workout getup is a pair of leggings (the funkier the better) with a lose tank top. I do wear other workout tops with built-in bras from time to time, but I just love the comfort and laidback style of tossing on a muscle-cut tank or racerback over a sports bra. So when Michelle from Reverence Apparel reached out to me about rocking one from her line on the blog, I thought it’d be a perfect fit. With all the HIIT and tabata workouts I post, I had to go with this tank:

Med Ball Tabata Workout

Equipment I Used:

• 6-lb med ball (would have liked to use a 10-lb but this is all I own right now)
• Exercise mat
• Gymboss Interval Timer

You’ll set your timer for 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. As you’ll see, for each exercise, you flip-flop each of the 8 intervals you’re working. For the most part, that just means right side then left side. For the pushups, you’ll alternate between hands and feet (see below). Once you complete your 8 rounds of one exercise, do the same thing for the next (so in total, you’re spending 4 minutes on each exercise).

This is a great workout for beginners and takes only 20 minutes to complete. If you’re more advanced, I would recommend going through the workout twice (so that you spend an entire tabata block on each side, rather than alternating).

• Med Ball Crossbody Chops: Start in a split-stance lunge position right foot forward, ball of left foot planted behind you, both knees bent to 90 degrees, holding the medicine ball by your right foot with straight arms. Your left foot is going to pivot as you stand up, bringing the medicine ball across your body (keep arms straight) and reaching it up to the left. Chop it back down diagonally across your body to starting position, pivoting left foot and bending your knees.
• Med Ball Push Ups: These are your basic push up, only you’ll alternate between having your hands on the ball (similar to doing a diamond push up on the ground with your hands in close and elbows going out wide as you lower) and balancing your feet on the ball (hands on the ground).
• Med Ball Hip Bridge Leg Lift Thrusters: Start in a bridge position: right foot on the med ball, shoulders on the ground with arms by your side for support, and left leg held straight up, toes pointing towards the ceiling. Squeeze your glutes to lift your hips off the ground—your bum should not come to rest on the floor throughout the duration of the exercise. This is your starting position. From here, it’s one hip thruster with one leg lift at the top: lift your hips off the ground as high as you can, squeezing your glutes. Hold at the top and lower your left leg parallel to the floor (keeping it straight) and then lift back up so toes are pointing up. Lower your hips back down so that they’re just hovering above the floor, and then repeat: thrusting upward and then lowing the left leg.
• Med Ball Plank Roll Out: Start in a plank position, right hand on a medicine ball, left hand on the ground. Slowly roll your right palm–>wrist–>forearm over the top of the ball. As you reach forward like this, you’ll need to bend your left elbow, lowering the body (but still keeping strong plank form!). Reverse the motion, rolling right forearm–>wrist–>palm and straightening your left elbow back to starting position as you do. Alternate each 20-sec work interval: right, left. If you need to modify, do this from your knees.
• One-Leg Med Ball Burpees: This is your basic burpee except you keep one leg lifted the whole time and are holding a medicine ball in your hands. This is the whole sequence: Keeping your left foot hovering off the ground, bend the right knee to bring the medicine ball to the ground in front of you. Hop the right foot back into a plank position, and then hop it back up forward towards the ball. Stand up straight, bringing the ball with you and then hop upward on the right foot, pressing the medicine ball overhead as you do.

WEARING | tank: c/o Reverence Apparel // leggings: c/o lucy // sneakers: Nike

I wanted to leave you with a few other tops from Reverence Apparel I like and to spread the word about their #CycleForSurvivalHealthie challenge that’s taking place through the end of the month. Not only do a portion of proceeds from the Spincess tank below benefit cancer research, but you also get involved via Instagram. If you post a selfie doing some sort of exercise to instagram with the hashtag #CycleForSurvivalHealthie and tag @reverenceapparel and three friends, you can enter to win a prize package from Equinox, Athleta & Reverence Apparel. Details here.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Target® C9 through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Target® C9, all opinions are my own.

You may recall that earlier this summer I got the chance to team up with Target® to wear a couple pieces from the new Target® C9 collection in this “No Rest” Tabata Workout. Well today we’re teaming up again, this time to share some of my favorite ways to enjoy the end of summer/early fall with friends while staying active.

The weather this time of year (at least in New England) is THE BEST for taking your workouts outdoors. Some of my favorite ways to actively enjoy the changing seasons include:

Running along the Charles River

Since his hand surgery, running is one of the few exercises my boyfriend can do, so we’ve started to go for runs together around the city. With the warm—but not oppressive—weather this time of year, it’s the perfect workout (and company!).

Hiking at my parents’ place in Maine

My parents’ second home in Maine is on a ski mountain and a lake, so the hiking is GORGEOUS as summer turns to fall. Last time I was visiting, my brother and I went for a morning hike up one of the mountains and it was the perfect way to start the day.

Taking my favorite P&I workouts outside

I try to shoot the majority of my workout tutorials outside because of the optimal lighting, but I actually do a fair amount of them outdoors as well! Most recently, I took this Med Ball Core Workout outside. I should add, however, that while I shot it in the middle of Comm Ave with the sprinklers going off, I did it in the privacy of my old back patio area. C’mon now, I’m not that awkward…

Med Ball Core Workout

Equipment I Used:

• 6-lb medicine ball
• Gymboss Interval Timer
• Exercise mat

You’ll do each of the 8 exercises for 30 seconds. Move right from one exercise to the next. Once you’ve completed them all, rest for 30 seconds, and then start right from the top. Complete 4 rounds in total. This workout will take you just under 20 minutes to complete. If you’re new to working out, you can start by completing just two or three rounds, and work your way up to four.

I set my interval timer for 35 rounds of 30 seconds of work and 0 seconds of rest. This accounts for the rest intervals and will make the timer beep at you every 30 seconds, signaling you to move onto the next exercise. You could also just watch the clock.

• Table Top Sit-Ups: Start laying on your back holding the medicine ball overhead in both hands (it should be hovering off the ground). Feet should be lifted, knees bent at about 90 degrees. From here, sit up, bringing medicine ball up overhead and in front of you, and place it carefully on your shins. Let go of it, returning to the starting position without the ball in your hands (it’s balancing on your legs still). Sit up, this time grabbing the medicine ball from your shins and bringing it back down to starting position with you. Continue to alternate: one sit-up with med ball, one sit-up sans med ball while it balances on your shins.
• Russian Twist: Start seated, holding the med ball in both hands at your chest, feet lifted off the ground with your knees bent. Lean back slightly, core engaged, balancing on your tailbone. Twist to one side, bringing the med ball to the outer side of that hip; then repeat in the other direction. Really twist at the waist—you want your chest to be totally facing whatever side you’re bringing the ball.
• Leg Lift Toe Touch: Lay on your back with arms stretched overhead, holding on to your medicine ball (it should be hovering a couple inches off the ground—don’t let it rest on the floor). Feet should also be hovering a couple inches off the ground; pull your belly button in towards your spine and press the low back against the ground in this position. From this starting position, lift both legs up so that toes are pointing towards the ceiling, keeping legs straight. Then bring the med ball up to meet them, crunching up as you lift the ball overhead, reaching towards your toes (it’s ok if you can’t physically touch them, just focus on lifting your shoulder blades off the ground as high as possible). Return upper body to starting position and then lower legs to starting position.
• Plank Roll Out (RIGHT): Start in a plank position, right hand on a medicine ball, left hand on the ground. Slowly roll your right palmàwristàforearm over the top of the ball. As you reach forward like this, you’ll need to bend your left elbow, lowering the body (but still keeping strong plank form!). Reverse the motion, rolling right forearmàwristàpalm and straightening your left elbow back to starting position as you do.
• Plank Roll Out (LEFT)
• Sit ‘n Toss: Lay on your back with arms stretched overhead, holding on to your medicine ball (it should be hovering a couple inches off the ground—don’t let it rest on the floor). Lift the medicine ball forward as you sit up, keeping arms straight, and lift it straight above your head as your body comes into upright sitting position. Bring ball into chest and toss up into the air. Catch and slowly lower to the ground, bringing ball back overhead behind you.
• Plank Jump Jacks: Start in a plank position with hands on the medicine ball. Jump both feet up towards the outside of the ball and then quickly back to a plank. Then jump feet out to the sides (like a horizontal jumping jack) and quickly back together. That’s one rep. When doing the “jack” part of this move, try to hold a strong plank alignment with your upper body—don’t let your butt pike up into the air or hips sag downward.
• Boat Pose Leg Scissors: Start in boat pose holding the medicine ball at your chest. For boat pose, you balance on your tailbone, leaning back slightly, legs and upper body lifted in a “v” shape. To do this, engage your core (I think of trying to squeeze my belly button and spine together). If you’re a beginner, instead of keeping your legs straight, bend the knees (but still keep those feet lifted!). From here, you’re going to scissor your legs, one foot on top of the other, alternating back and forth. For an added challenge, scissor them up and then down (one foot on top of the other for a few scissor kicks, and then reverse the direction, one foot below the other for a few scissor kicks).

Enjoy this workout—and time of year!

There’s nothing like a move to make you hate every piece of at-home workout equipment you’ve ever purchased! I’m in the process of moving into my boyfriend’s apartment, and this will be the SEVENTH time I’ve moved since graduating college in 2010. Woof. Luckily, I don’t have to be out of my house in Southie until the end of August, so it’s a gradual move and I can do a little bit at a time—slowly decontaminating his place (kidding…but not really), and bringing over small carloads of my stuff here and there. Still, the kettlebell collection, med ball, hand weights and rest of my at-home workout gear has been getting its fair share of dirty looks from me lately. To remind myself that it’s worth moving, I put together this quick HIIT workout last week using as much of it as I could.

GIVEAWAY! One workout aid that is not a burden to move is my Gymboss Interval Timer, and lucky for you wonderful readers, my friends over at Gymboss are letting me give away one! Enter using the widget below today’s workout tutorial (scroll down). I’ll pick a winner on Friday evening.

15-Minute HIIT Workout

Equipment I Used:

• 25-lb kettlebell
• 6-lb medicine ball
• Jump rope
• Stability ball
• Power wheel
• Gymboss Interval Timer
• Exercise mat

Set an interval timer for 15 rounds of 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest. You’ll go through the following exercises 3 times. This workout will get you sweaty and out of breath, focusing especially on the core.

• Power Wheel Ab Roll Outs: Get on your knees and hold the power wheel centered on the ground. Your arms are going to stay straight throughout this. Slowly extend your arms, rolling the wheel out as far as you can go, lowering your torso. When you’ve extended as far as you can, slowly roll back to starting point. You’ll want to keep your butt down during these—think of your back, butt and hamstrings as one straight line. Try not to stick your butt up (I know it’s tempting on that tough roll-in).
• Kettlebell Swings: Start with kettlebell on the floor between your legs and lift it up to starting position with both hands, flat back, using your legs to lift. With kettlebell hanging between your legs, use your arms as a pendulum, and swing the bell to chest-to-eye level by thrusting with your hips while keeping your core tight as you stand up straight. Swing back down and repeat. Your knees should remain slightly bent, but the main source of movement is hinging at the hips—not so much squatting. I use a 25-lb bell.
• Med Ball Sit ‘n Toss: Lay on your back with arms stretched overhead, holding on to your medicine ball (it should be hovering a couple inches off the ground—don’t let it rest on the floor). Lift the medicine ball forward as you sit up, keeping arms straight, and lift it straight above your head as your body comes into upright sitting position. Bring ball into chest and toss up into the air. Catch and slowly lower to the ground, bringing ball back overhead behind you.
• Jump Rope
• Stability Ball Prone Oblique Twists:Get into a plank with your shins on a stability ball and your hands on the floor, directly under your shoulders. Draw your knees into your right shoulder, keeping feet on the stability ball, and then return to center. Repeat to the left.

WEARING | leggings: Lululemon / tank: thanks to my friends at Game Plan! / sneakers: Nike

Since I usually get a lot of comments about whatever leggings I’m wearing in these workouts (that’s why I love you guys! haha), just a heads up that although these leggings look cool, the mesh across the knees makes them uncomfortable to workout in if you’re doing anything that involves kneeling.

Gymboss Interval Timer Giveaway

On Friday evening I’ll randomly select a winner. Use the widget below to enter—just leave a comment letting me know what piece of workout equipment you’d love in your home. I use mine all the time for HIIT workouts and during the Tone ‘n Torch class I teach at Btone!

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of PUMA. All opinions are my own (duh).

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I taught three classes on Saturday and four on Sunday, so it was a megaformer-filled couple of days for me. I’ve found that I absolutely love instructing group fitness and am actually contemplating getting spinning certified this coming weekend so I can expand into different types of exercise and studios. I’ll keep you posted if that happens!

As for today’s routine, I got the chance to try out some new PUMA gear thanks to FitFluential, and put it to the test in this cardio core workout. The first thing I noticed about the Formlite XT Ultra sneakers was how lightweight they are—which I love. The outsole has a funky design of pods and flex grooves to help with dynamic motions and grip, so it’s a good sneaker for a lot of the workouts I post here where you’re jumping around all over the place.

I think the Graphic All Eyes on Me tank and Graphic ¾ Tight are both super cute. They’re comfortable and fit well, and held up great during a sweaty workout. The tank has a really cute cut-out back detailing and I love the ombre color paneling of the leggings. My girls are on the smaller side, so I didn’t find this to be a problem at all, but I should add that the tank’s cut and built-in bra make it super boobielicious (that’s now a word; go with it). I’ve recently noticed this is actually becoming more common in the cut of workout tanks—a lot of the tops I’ve gotten in the past couple months are like whabam! when I put them on (if you catch my drift haha). Again, not an issue with my little chest, but something to be aware of when buying.

Now on to the workout!

Cardio Core Workout

Equipment I Used:

• Jump rope
• 6-lb medicine ball
• Exercise mat

You’ll go through 5 rounds of the following circuit as quickly as you can. Try not to rest; but if you do, take no more than a minute in between rounds.

• 20 Reverse Toe Touch to Crunch: Start on your back with feet staight up, perpendicular to the ground, holding a medicine ball in outstretched arms over your head. Bring the ball up towards your toes, crunching your upper back and shoulders off the ground. Lower back down, reaching arms overhead (but not letting the ball come to rest on the ground) and do a reverse crunch, lifting your butt and hips off the ground, pushing feet towards ceiling. Lower back down. That’s one rep.
• 20 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. That’s one rep.
• 50 Bicycle Crunches:Lay on back, hands behind head. When you crunch up towards your bent left knee, your right leg should be extended out and not touching the ground. Switch sides, crunching over towards the right with your left leg extended. That’s one rep.
• 20 Side-to-Side Elbow Plank Hops: Start in a plank position. Jump feet to the left, back to the center, to the right, back to the center. That’s one rep.
• 60 seconds Jump Rope (two-footed)
• 60 seconds Jump Rope (high knees)

WEARING | sneakers, tank, leggings: c/o Puma

Cheers to a productive Monday! Only five more days until the weekend…

I haven’t worked out with my good ol’ pink med ball in a while, so the other day, after a 3-mile run outside, I decided to do a quick pyramid workout with it. I think it’s probably time to invest in a heavier ball (8 or 10lbs) because my 6lb-er isn’t feeling like enough for certain exercises, but this was still the perfect strength training routine to compliment my cardio.

Before we get to the workout breakdown, I have to give Jackie from PrettyFit Athletics a big thanks for the fun SUCK IT UP tank I’m wearing in today’s post! Not only does it match my medicine ball, but I love the kiss print detail on the back. Check out her Etsy shop for other cute workout tanks—she even has a Boston Still Strong one that benefits the One Fund!

Medicine Ball Pyramid Workout

Equipment I Used:

• 6-lb medicine ball
• Exercise mat

You’ll start by doing 10 reps of each exercise in the circuit. Next, you’ll do 9 reps of each. Next round, 8—and so on and so on down to 1 rep of each exercise. In between each round you’ll hold a med ball plank for 30 seconds.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

• V-Up Split Crunches with the Med Ball: Start laying on your back with arms overhead holding the medicine ball.  Engage your core to lift your legs and arms hovering off the floor a couple inches. This is your starting position. Squeezing your abs, lift your legs straight up and out to the sides as you crunch your upper body up, reaching the medicine ball between your legs. Return to starting position, lowering upper and lower body and bringing med ball back behind your head. The goal is to keep constant tension on the abs and never let the med ball or your feet come to rest on the floor between reps.
• Forward Lunge with Torso Twist (right): Start standing with feet hip-width apart holding med ball at chest. Step forward, lunging onto your right foot, bending both knees to 90 degrees. As you step forward, press the ball out in front of you, straightening your arms. From here, keeping arms straight and med ball extended, twist your torso to the right. Reverse the motion back to standing. That’s one rep.
• Forward Lunge with Torso Twist (left)
• Shoulder Press Toss, Catch & Dip: Standing with feet hip-width apart holding med ball at chest, toss ball straight up overhead, pushing through with both hands. Catch the ball, softening the catch by bringing it back to chest height. Press ball overhead and then do a triceps dip with the ball, dipping it behind your head, keeping elbows in tight to the side of your head as you do so. Extend med ball back up overhead, bring it down to chest height. This is one rep. Start from the top with the toss. (This is the one exercises I wished I had a heavier med ball for.)
• Med Ball Squat Jacks: These are essentially jumping jacks in a squatting position. Start with legs a little more than shoulder-width apart in a squat position, holding medicine ball mid-torso. Jump legs together (remaining in a squat position) and reach medicine ball down and to the left of your feet. Jump back into starting position, then alternate, jumping legs together and reaching medicine ball down and to the right of your feet. One to the right + one to the left = 1 rep.
• 30-second Incline Med Ball Plank: Balancing your feet on the medicine ball, hold a plank position, hands aligned underneath shoulders. If this bothers your wrists, come onto your forearms.

WEARING | tank: c/o PrettyFit Athletics // leggings: c/o Champion // sneakers: Nike Free +3

Taking pictures for this workout tutorial has made me realize how desperately I’m in need of a tan. I’m over the Edward Cullen look–hurry up, summer!!

Have a great day, everyone!

The good ol’ pink med ball is back for today’s workout! And as an added bonus, it conveniently happens to match the tank and leggings that the lovely ladies of Delano recently sent me. You can check out the entire line on their website, but I’ve highlighted a few of my other favorite pieces below.

Nicole zip legging // Keely top // Tracy foldover legging // Chelle ruffle legging

10’s Med Ball Workout

You’ll do 10 reps of each of the following exercises and will go through the entire sequence 3 times. I finished in 16 minutes using a 6 lb medicine ball—try to beat my time! Descriptions of each exercise are below.

• 10 Sit n’ Reaches with Alternating Toe Touches: Lay on your back with arms stretched overhead, holding on to your medicine ball. Legs should be spread apart. Lift the medicine ball forward as you sit up, keeping arms straight, and lift it straight above your head as your body comes into upright sitting position. Bend forward, bringing the medicine ball down to touch your right foot. Bring it back overhead as you sit up and then lay back down into starting position. Repeat, this time reaching to touch your left foot.
• 10 Med Ball Burpees: This is a regular burpee, only holding on to a medicine ball the whole time. Squat down, placing medicine ball on the ground in front of you, carefully jump back into a plank position, jump back up to squatting, then stand up and jump with your arms (and medicine ball) in the air.
• 10 Cross-Body Chops (5 on each side): Start by holding a medicine ball by your left foot, in a sort of side lunge position. Your left foot will remain firmly planted, and your right foot will pivot as you stand up and bring the medicine ball across your body (keeping arms straight) and reach it up to the right. Chop it back down diagonally across your body, bending into starting position. Do five on this side, then switch to the other side.
• 10 Spiderman Planks: Start in a plank position, balancing on the medicine ball. Bring your left foot up by your left hand in a deep, planked lunged position. Return to starting position. Repeat on the other side. Try to keep your butt down as you bring each leg up, holding your body in that straight plank position.
• 10 Squat Jacks: These are essentially jumping jacks in a squatting position. Start with legs a little more than shoulder-width apart in a squat position, holding medicine ball mid-torso. Jump legs together (remaining in a squat position) and reach medicine ball down and to the left of your feet. Jump back into starting position, then alternate, jumping legs together and reaching medicine ball down and to the right of your feet.
• 10 Logger Jumps over the Med Ball: Start on all fours in a pike position with both feet to one side of the bed ball. Jump your feet up, shifting all your weight onto your hands, and jump over the med ball, landing on the other side. Continue back and forth. I like to really exaggerate the jump, bringing my feet far above the med ball, but as long you’re clearing the top, it’s totally fine.

WEARING:

Top & Bottom: Delano

I haven’t really had the heart for my usual posts this week, and it still doesn’t feel quite right blogging–tragedies like Monday’s Boston Marathon have a way of making light, fluffy topics feel trivial. But I put together this workout and post last week and wanted it to run as scheduled. 

———-

Ra-ra-ra-reeeeeeeee-mix! I feel like a workout DJ—next thing you know, I’ll be doing Sunday Brunch at GEM.

I took segments from some of my previous workouts and combined them into this mashup routine. It’ll take about 30 minutes to complete, and because things are always changing up, you won’t get bored.

I’m including full descriptions below, but as a reference, these are the original workouts I’m pulling from:

• 15-Minute Ab Workout (the first set of exercises)
• 20-20-20 Kettlebell Workout (two rounds of the routine)
• Full-Body Pyramid Workout (six rounds of the routine, starting with 6-rep rounds and ending with a 1-rep round)
• Quick-Hit Countdown Workout (three rounds of the routine, starting with a 10-rep round and ending with an 8-rep round)

Pumps & Iron Workout Mashup

Equipment I Used:

• 25-lb kettlebell
• 15-lb kettlebell
• 10-lb weight
• 6-lb medicine ball
• Exercise mat
• Gymboss Interval Timer

Part 1

(from  15-Minute Ab Workout)

Complete three rounds of the following exercises. Don’t take a break between rounds. I set my Gymboss Interval Timer for 9 rounds of 30 seconds (0 second break).

• 30 seconds 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.
• 30 seconds Bicycle Crunches: Lay on back, hands behind head. When you crunch up towards your bent left knee, your right leg should be extended out and not touching the ground. Switch sides, crunching over towards the right with your left leg extended. Continue in a fluid, cycling motion.
• 30 seconds Boat Pose: If you practice yoga, you’re probably familiar with boat pose. Sit in a “V” pose with legs held straight up at about a 45-degree angle with the ground and arms out straight. If it’s too difficult to keep your legs straight, bend them at the knee for Half Boat Pose. Hold for the 30 seconds.

Part 2

(from 20-20-20 Kettlebell Workout)

Complete two rounds of the following sequence as fast as you can without sacrificing proper form.

• 20 Kettle Bell Swings: Start with kettle bell down between your legs and, using your arms as a pendulum, swing the bell to slightly above eye level by thrusting with your hips while keeping your core tight as you stand up straight. Swing back down and repeat.
• 20 Goblet Squats: Squat down, legs slightly more than shoulder-width apart, holding the kettle bell to your chest. Make sure your butt is pushing backwards, as if you’re sitting down on an invisible chair. This move, while clearly working the glutes and thighs, is also great for your back—don’t let your torso bend far forward with the weight of the kettle bell.
• 20 Russian Twists: Sit with legs elevated, leaning slightly backwards, and twist from right to left, bringing kettle bell from one side of your body to the other.

Part 3

(from Full-Body Pyramid Workout)

You’ll start by going through the four moves, doing 6 reps of each (that’s 6 reps on each side for the side plank twists, and 6x2=12 reps for the kettlebell swings). The next round, you’ll do 5 reps of each, reducing each round by 1 until you reach the tip of the pyramid where you only have to do 1 rep of each exercise.

• Jump lunge mountain climbers: Start in a lunge position and jump up, landing with opposite leg in front, back in a lunge position. Place hands flat on ground and do a mountain climber set (one on each side) so that the same foot ends up in front. Stand back up into lunge position and repeat. To make sure you aren’t working one leg more than the other, alternate the front foot on your uneven rounds of 5 reps, 3 reps, etc.
• Side plank twists with weight (complete on both sides): Start in a side plank position holding a weight in your outstretched arm parallel to the ground. Twist your body in as if your torso were turning into a regular plank position, and as you do so, bring the weight in across your rib cage, crunching as if hugging yourself. I used a 10lb hand weight.
• Medicine ball burpees: This is a regular burpee, only holding on to a medicine ball the whole time. Squat down, placing medicine ball on the ground in front of you, carefully jump back into a plank position, jump back up to squatting, then stand up and jump with your arms (and medicine ball) in the air. I used a 6lb med ball.
• Kettlebell swings x2: This is hands-down one of my favorite exercises. Start with kettlebell down between your legs and, using your arms as a pendulum, swing the bell to slightly above eye level by thrusting with your hips while keeping your core tight as you stand up straight. Swing back down and repeat. Multiply the round by 2 for your rep count (during the first round, you’ll do 6×2= 12 reps). I used a 25lb kettlebell.

Part 4

(from Quick-Hit Countdown Workout)

For the first round, you’ll do 10 reps of each exercise, doubling up the split squats: 10 burpees, 10 leg lifts, 20 split squats, 10 clean and press with each arm. The next round, you’ll do 9 reps of each, and the last round, 8 reps.

• Burpees: Squat down, placing hands on the ground in front of you, carefully jump back into a plank position, jump back up to squatting, then stand up and jump with your arms in the air.
• 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.
• Split Squats x2: Start in deep squatting position with feet staggered. Back foot should be on the ball; front foot should be flat. Jump up and switch legs, landing back in deep squat with opposite leg in front.
• Clean and Press (each arm): With feet a little wider than shoulder width apart, bend knees and bring kettle bell from a straight-arm hanging position to closely held by the center of your chest with arm bent. From there, straighten legs as you extend your arm skyward. Reverse the moves to bring yourself back to starting position. Try to keep the kettle bell towards the center of your body throughout this move. When done correctly, this isn’t just an upper-body workout, but great for your core.

Blahh. I am so sick that I feel tired just looking at this workout post. The cold I had last week has morphed into a sinus infection, and the pressure is so intense that it’s making my teeth ache to the point where I can barely eat. I somehow dragged myself to a Pilates class on Sunday, but other than that haven’t had the energy to workout much at all.

I was really hoping I could just cure myself because I HATE going to the doctor and HATE medicine, but I’m throwing in the towel and getting some antibiotics later today. So while I breathe heavily through my mouth and blow 40 pounds of snot out of my head every five minutes (so sexual), let’s rewind to a happier, healthier time when I made this med ball workout…

Here are the general rules of a deck-of-cards workout:

• Each suit corresponds to a different exercise.
• Each number tells you how many reps of that exercise you’ll do.
• Face cards = 10
• Aces = 11
• Flip over the cards one at a time until you’ve gone through the entire deck.

Medicine Ball Deck of Cards Workout

Equipment I Used:

• 6-lb medicine ball

For this med ball deck of cards workout:

• Spades = Sit Up & Toss
• Hearts = Jumping Jack Squats x 2 (multiply the number on the card by 2)
• Clubs = Alternating Uneven Push Ups
• Diamonds = Basketball Drill Jump Shots

I’m using a 6-lb med ball for this workout, but adjust the weight according to your strength level.

SPADES: Sit Up & Toss

Lay on back with arms stretched overhead, holding on to your medicine ball. Lift the medicine ball forward as you sit up, keeping arms straight, and lift it straight above your head as your body comes into upright sitting position. Bring ball into chest and toss up into the air. Catch and slowly lower to the ground, bringing ball back overhead behind you.

HEARTS: Jumping Jack Squats x2

These are essentially jumping jacks in a squatting position. Start with legs a little more than shoulder-width apart in a squat position, holding medicine ball mid-torso. Jump legs together (remaining in a squat position) and reach medicine ball down and to the left of your feet. Jump back into starting position, then alternate, jumping legs together and reaching medicine ball down and to the right of your feet. The “x2” means that if you draw a 4 of hearts, you’ll do (4×2)= 8 jack squats.

CLUBS: Alternating Uneven Push Ups

I do these from my knees, but if you’re a badass feel free to do the full-body version (show off!). Do a push up with your right hand on a med ball, then roll the ball to the left and do a push up with your left hand on the med ball.

DIAMONDS: Basketball Drill Jump Shots

Squat down, bounce the ball off the ground, jump up (like you’re taking a jump shot, but not really) with arms overhead and land back in a squatting position.

By the way, there’s this cool iPhone app called RipDeck that will actually act as a deck of cards in these workouts. You plug in what each suit corresponds to and it will do the rest!

I typically refer to any workout using 20:10-second intervals as “tabata,” regardless of the rest of its structure. But in a technically correct tabata interval workout, you’d do one exercise for 4 minutes (8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest). Today’s medicine ball workout is just that.  Four minutes of tabata intervals dedicated to each move, for a total workout time of 24 minutes. And, just in case you’re coming up with excuses as to why you just can’t possibly find time to work out today, keep in mind that 24 minutes is just 1.67% of your day. So shut up.

Medicine Ball Tabata Workout

Equipment I Used:

• 6-lb medicine ball
• Gymboss Interval Timer
• Exercise mat

Here’s the breakdown of each move. You’ll set your Gymboss Interval Timer for 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Once you’ve completed the four minutes, move on to the next exercise and start your timer over. Note: I’m using a 6-lb med ball for this routine, but adjust the weight according to your strength level.

• Wall Sit with Torso Twist: Start in a wall sit position, knees bent at 90 degrees, holding the med ball straight out in front of chest. Twist your torso to the right, bringing med ball to touch the wall. Both feet should stay firmly on the ground and arms should stay outstretched straight. Twist back around and to the left, touching the wall lightly with the med ball once again. This exercise made my forearms buuuuurn.
• Lunge with Cross-Body Chop (Right): Start in a standing position holding the med ball above your head. Lunge forward on your right foot being careful not to bang your left knee into the ground. Bring the med ball down and across your body, chopping it down towards your left foot. Bring it back above your head and stand back up into starting position, keeping left foot firmly planted. Continue to repeat on the same side for the full 4 minutes.
• Lunge with Cross-Body Chop (Left)
• One-Leg Bridge with Leg Lift (Right): Start in a bridge position with your right foot balanced on the med ball and your left leg held out straight, hovering above the ground. Your body should be in a straight, inclined position (squeeze your glutes!) throughout the exercise. Lift your left leg straight up so that it’s perpendicular to the floor, then slowly lower back to starting position. Repeat. You should feel a burn in your hamstrings with this one.
• One-Leg Bridge with Leg Lift (Left)
• Med Ball Burpees: This is a regular burpee, only holding onto a medicine ball the whole time. Squat down, placing medicine ball on the ground in front of you, carefully jump back into a plank position, jump back up to squatting, then stand up and jump with your arms (and medicine ball) in the air.

Try it out and let me know what you think! And for more medicine ball workouts, try my Med Ball Interval Workout and 600-Rep Med Ball Workout.

Before I end this post, did anyone else watch the season premiere of Biggest Loser last night?! It’s my favorite show on television (well, to be fair I say that about seven different shows on television) but last season was AWFUL. The contestants were so unbearable that I was actually rooting for them to gain weight (I know, I’m terrible). But this season Jillian Michaels is back AND they’re touching upon childhood obesity by including three kids on the show. I typically cry at least once per episode when watching Biggest Loser, but last night’s premiere set a new record and had me in tears within 15 minutes. I am just so passionate about our country’s obesity epidemic and so touched by all the contestants’ stories. And don’t you just LOVE all the vomit and passing out on day one in the gym?! Biggest Loser is the best.

I must say though, I find it hilarious that Biggest Loser gives the contestants a free Planet Fitness membership and acts like it’s this amazing prize. That shit is $10 a month. Step up your game, NBC, hook these people up with an Equinox membership!