Pumps & Iron

10 or 20-Minute Med Ball Full-Body Circuit Workout

August 30, 2016 by Nicole 2 Comments

I’ve got a full-body workout for you today that will take 10 or 20 minutes to complete, depending on how much time you have. I originally planned this as a 20-minute circuit and then got a request for a 10-minute workout and figured I’d let you guys decide! If you’re following along with the video, just go through it twice for the 20 minutes.

I’m using a medicine ball but all the exercises could be done with just your bodyweight or a dumbbell/sandbag so don’t let the equipment throw you off–improvise as needed!

Med Ball Full-Body Circuit Workout

Equipment I Used:

Medicine ball (I’m using a 6-lb ball because it’s all I have at home but it’s a bit too light for me — hope that helps you guage what weight is best for you!)
Interval timer

Set an interval timer for 10 or 20 rounds of 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest. There are five exercises in the circuit and you’ll go through them two or four times. So here’s what it looks like:

45 sec exercise 1
15 sec rest
45 sec exercise 2
15 sec rest

And so on and so on for the 10 or 20 minutes.

Soccer Drill | This is kinda like high knees. Run in place, lifting the feet in front of you one at a time and tapping the medicine ball. These should get your heart rate up so keep it quick! Try to make contact with the ball every time without kicking it–little love taps. It’s harder to actually touch the ball than it is to just hover the foot over it.

Jump Lunge to Torso Twist | Start in a lunge position holding the med ball in both hands at chest height, arms held straight in front of you. Both knees should be bent to opposing 90-degree angles. Holding this low lunge, twist your torso to the right or left (if right foot is in front, twist to the right), keeping arms straight as you do. You want your whole upper half moving as one unit on this—imagine your waist is a wet towel that you’re wringing out as you twist. Reverse the sequence, twisting back to center and bringing the med ball in tight to your chest. Do a jump lunge, landing with the opposite foot in front. Repeat.

Chest-to-Floor Burpees with Lateral Hop over Ball | This is a traditional chest-to-floor burpee but instead of jumping straight up with arms overhead at the top, you jump laterally (to the side) over the medicine ball. So one burpee to the right of the ball, one burpee to the left of the ball, hopping side to side.

V-Up Crunch Spreads | Start on your back with arms stretched overhead holding the med ball at a hover and legs hovering just slightly above the ground. Pull your abs in tight and press your low back to the ground. You’ll then crunch up, lifting your legs straight up and separating them out wide as you bring the med ball overhead and through the legs. Lower back down to starting position. If possible, your feet and the med ball should never touch the ground between reps.

Squat Slam Stops | Start standing holding the medicine ball overhead. From here, you’re going to explosively drop down into a low squat as you swing the med ball down in front of your body as if you were going to slam it on the floor. You want to build momentum as you do this so really put some oomph into it. Just as the med ball is nearing the floor, stop the movement, catching it hovering over the floor, arms extended out in front of you. Pause in this low position and then just as explosively power back up to the starting position, pressing through your heels to stand as you swoop the med ball back overhead.

The more power you use to swing the ball down, the harder your muscles will have to work to stop the momentum. If you’re a beginner, start with a slow motion and work your way to a more explosive downward swing.

WEARING | Free People Movement Dharma Tank c/o Shopbop // Calvin Klein Intense Power Racerback Bralette c/o Shopbop // Fabletics leggings (<–currently doing a Labor Day sale and giving you your first outfit for only $15!) // adidas NEO sneakers

Links to outfit details are affiliate–I appreciate your support!

Filed Under: Full Body, Interval Training, Medicine Ball, Video, Workouts

The Mind-Body Connection Is for Real: When Stretching Releases More Than Tight Muscles

August 29, 2016 by Nicole 16 Comments

Oh it was just your average Friday. Crying in yoga class for absolutely no apparent reason. NBD …

Towards the beginning of a yoga class I took last week, the instructor had us in rag doll. She spoke of letting the head hang heavy to release the neck and mentioned that if we tend to hold tension there, fully releasing can feel a bit unsafe.

I checked in with myself. The back of my neck felt really tight, as if it were under a heavy pressure. The thought of relaxing the muscles did feel a little (physically) unsafe. I took a deep breath in anyway and on the exhale fully released the muscle tension in my neck as best I could. That’s when it hit me.

Emotion swelled up in my chest and I felt intensely upset. Agitated, sad, angry–I was extremely emotionally and physically uncomfortable. Tears started to rim my eyelids, everything felt “off” and I wanted out of the pose, out of class, out of my own skin.

Then, just as suddenly as I was overcome with these negative emotions, they seemed to wash away. I felt fine. Great, actually. I could have stayed in that forward fold for the entire duration of class.

Whoa what the hell was that?!

WEARING | Fabletics bra (<–currently doing a Labor Day sale and giving you your first outfit for only $15!) + Alo Yoga Goddess Leggings c/o Amazon (also obsessed with the high-waisted moto legging from Alo)

A seemingly rudimentary yoga pose triggered a complete catharsis. Weird, unexpected, but the more I thought about the experience, the more it started to make sense to me. I don’t have great posture by any means. My shoulders roll forward and my neck looks permanently craned. Anatomically, it makes sense that I’d feel muscular tightness in the back of my neck due to this poor postural alignment. And on a deeper level–this is where the post gets a little “new age” and a few of you might roll your eyes haha–I see an interesting emotional connection as well.

Why do I have poor posture? Sitting at a computer all day doesn’t help, but it started all the way back in middle school when I started to become painfully self-conscious about my above-average height. Today I LOVE being tall, but being a solid six inches higher than every boy in the 6th grade is a true struggle for a pubescent girl (it was for me anyway). I would stand with a wide stance, stick one hip out, slouch downward, hunch my shoulders–anything to seem shorter next to my classmates. And that pretty much continued all throughout high school as well.

So in a way, that area of physical tightness also represents a lot of insecurities and less-than-pleasant emotions for me. Could it be that these past couple years of regular yoga practice have not only helped release the tight muscles, but the emotions onto which they were tightly clenching?

I’ve had this physical trigger of an emotional release happen once before when I was a kid. My mom brought me to an acupuncturist (not for any specific reason, just to get me on her patient roster) and when I left the appointment, I started sobbing in the car. I was agitated, uncomfortable, intensely upset for no apparent reason and just remember saying over and over again to my mom, “I hated that, I’m never doing acupuncture again, I hate it, I hate it, why’d you make me do that?!” But even then I didn’t really think the unexpected wave of negative emotions was really directed at the acupuncture. Rather the acupuncture had somehow released pent-up, unresolved sadness and anger that my body had been holding.

This was a bit of a random post, but I keep thinking about how cool it was to experience such an intense moment of connection between mind and body. As I physically let go of the tension in my neck, I emotionally let go of some junk as well.

Or, maybe I’m making something out of nothing and I just had a surge of PMS. I’m open to that, too. 😉

Have you had an experience like this before? Was it in yoga class? At a chiropractor? Where? So interested to hear from you guys on the topic–would love for you to share in the comments section!

P.S. Just realized that the title of this post makes it totally sound like I’m talking about farting. L. O. L.

Links to outfit details are affiliate. I appreciate your support!

Filed Under: General Musings, Health & Wellness, Mental Health, Yoga

How I Save Big on Cute Activewear (+An At-Home Workout)

August 26, 2016 by Nicole 7 Comments

I’ve talked about thredUP a couple times on the blog already, sharing some of the pieces I scored and how I used the service to help clean out my closet earlier this month. I’ve been a big fan for months and was so excited when I got the opportunity to team up with them on this post–no-brainer!

If you’re unfamiliar with thredUP, it’s essentially a curated online consignment store for women’s and kids’ fashion. They have a wide range of brands (everything from Zara to Chanel) and items are up to 90% off the original retail price. Guys. I got a Vince cashmere sweater for $12. TWELVE. Originally it was $380.

thredUP has a ton of merchandise, but it’s pretty easy to sort through. My favorite feature is that you can save your sizes. Every time I visit the site while logged into my account, it only shows me items in my sizes as I browse different categories and brands. This helps avoid that heartbreak of falling in love with an item only to see it’s unavailable in your size (you know what I’m talking about–it’s the worst!). When you place an order, everything arrives in a cute polka dot box, neatly folded and packaged.

And it’s just as convenient if you’re looking to sell. You go to the site and order a Clean Out Bag, fill it with the items you no longer want and then send it back to thredUP. I’ve sent in four or five massive bags and love that thredUP responsibly recycles the items they don’t accept (there’s also an option to have rejected items returned to you). Clothing waste presents growing ecological problems, and every Clean Out Bag keeps 206lbs of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Shopping secondhand is undeniably better for this planet of ours.

thredUP Activewear Scores

I’ve shopped for dressier clothes on thredUP, but want to focus on the activewear I’ve scored because that’s become my go-to category when browsing the site. In these first few pictures, I’m wearing a Lululemon tank and hoodie, both 50% off the original price and in mint condition, and yoga pants from Victoria’s Secret (59% off the original price). If you’re like me and can’t bring yourself to pay full price for Lulu gear, I highly recommend browsing the options on thredUP–I’ve found a ton of cute gear in excellent condition for a fraction of the cost.

also wearing Converse High Tops

Next up, these J. Crew sweatpants that I wear literally every single day I work from home–love them! From thredUP they were $26.96, 71% off the original price of $105. Can’t beat that! The top is another Lululemon score, 39% off the original price.

And finally, I’m rocking these super soft yellow Beyond Yoga leggings (71% off the original price) and the striped Lulu tank from above. And by “rocking” I mean trying way too hard to pose like a model. 😉

If I’m going to try on activewear, I might as well workout, right?? I’ve got a quick at-home AMRAP workout for you to try below. But first …

thredUp Reader Discount

I’m so excited to be able to offer you guys 40% off your entire thredUP order! Head over to thredup.com, shop ‘till you drop, and use the code PUMP40 at checkout. This is valid for first-time shoppers only through 11/24 and will give you a discount up to $50.

Quick AMRAP Workout with Compound Bodyweight Exercises

There are three compound exercises in this workout. You’ll do each for 90 seconds, completing as many reps as possible in that time frame. Rest for 15-30 seconds in between each exercise AMRAP. Repeat once more, trying to beat your rep numbers from the first time through. Here’s a breakdown:

90 sec Surrender Squat Jumps (as many reps as possible)
15-30 sec rest (write down reps completed)
90 sec
15-30 sec rest (write down reps completed)
90 sec
15-30 sec rest (write down reps completed)
Repeat ENTIRE THING, try to match or beat rep numbers

SURRENDER SQUAT JUMPS | Start in a low squat position with feet hip’s width apart, weight in your heels, low abs engaged and hips back. From here, come to a kneeling position, stepping your right foot back behind you, planting the ball of the foot and knee on the floor and then doing the same with the left. Continuing to lead with the right, return to a low squat position, stepping the right foot forward onto the floor and then the left. From this low squat position, straighten the legs as you drive through the heels to jump up into the air. Land softly, sinking right back into a squat position. That’s one rep. Next rep, lead with the left foot.

FOREARM PLANK STARFISH MARCH | Start in a forearm plank position. From here, step your right foot and right forearm out wide to the side at the same time. Step them back to starting position. Repeat on the left and back to starting plank. From here do one marching plank, pressing up to a high plank position one hand at a time and then back down to forearm plank, trying not to let the hips rock side to side as you do so. This is one rep. Try to alternate your lead hand when you do the marching plank each time.

BURPEES | Start standing, feet about shoulder-width apart. Squat down, bringing your hands to the ground by your feet and jump both feet back into a plank position. Do a push up. Quickly jump your feet back up by your hands and shift the weight into your feet, bring torso upright into a low squat position. From here, jump up, arms overhead. Land softly on your feet, sinking right back down into a squat and starting from the top.

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Have you guys used thredUP? I’ve heard from some of my friends that it’s awesome for kids’ clothes (I mean why pay retail for something they’re going to outgrow in a couple months anyway??).

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by thredUP. All opinions–as always!–are my own. I appreciate your support of the brands that make this blog possible. 🙂

Filed Under: Activewear & Workout Style, AMRAP, Bodyweight, Fashion, Full Body, Workouts