Shoulders, Triceps and the Travel Workout: "The 25-Minutes of Pain"

Today was a great day at work as the NOLS Southwest Semester got all geared up for 80 days in the backcountry. They head out for the mountains early tomorrow morning.

I am headed back east to visit with some long time friends for the weekend. I travel as light as possible when I fly but still want to workout. My traveling workout is pretty simple and something I like to call: 

"The 25 Minutes of Pain": (Each exercise for one minute, three sets. 10 second rest between exercises, one minute rest between sets.)
Jumping Jacks
Squats
Lunges
Plank
Abdominal Crunches
Push-ups
Shoulder Circles
It is a good full body workout where I only need to have a pair of shorts and my shoes to workout. It keeps me moving while I am gone and I am still ready to get back to the gym when I return home!

Today's weight training was Shoulders and Triceps:
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Alternating Front Dumbbell Raise
Lateral Dumbbell Raise
Diamond Push-ups
Dumbbell Triceps Kickbacks
Suspension Strap Triceps Face Breakers
Weighted Keg Push Press

Have a Great Day and I will post again on Monday!!

Shoulders and Triceps WOD: "Need a Shoulder to Cry On?"

Today I did heavy shoulder work with a lot of bodyweight triceps exercises. The circuit training, "Need a Shoulder to Cry On" had a strong showing with seven participants! Crushed it all out to the Pandora disco station. My one main complaint: "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson, NOT disco.

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Lateral Dumbbell Raise

Alternating Front Dumbbell Raise

Diamond Push-ups

Dumbbell Triceps Kickbacks

Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Press

Heavy Barbell Push Press

Heavy Barbell Shoulder Shrugs

Barbell Triceps Face Breakers

"Need a Shoulder to Cry On" (Each exercise done for one minute and fifteen seconds. Three sets of exercises. One minute break between sets.)

Barbell Push Press

Triceps Dips

Abdominal Crunches

Diamond Push-ups

Kettlebell Swings

Seated Wall Ball Toss

Heavy Rope Whips

Have a Great Day!!

Merry Christmas, A Workout to Get Started in the New Year and the WOD!

Merry Christmas to all that celebrate it!

Right around the corner is 2014 and with it comes New Year’s resolutions. One that often comes about during this time is a resolution to exercise more. The big box gyms out there are counting on people joining their facilities on January 1^st and then losing their motivation to workout soon thereafter. It is very hard to get started and stay with an exercise routine when you haven’t done it in a long time and you are flying solo. The trick for success is to start out getting a base line of fitness for free, have support from friends and family and then if you are still interested, get that gym membership or personal trainer.

I have a personal example. My oldest brother can stand to lose quite a few pounds to be at what anyone would consider a healthy weight. When I asked if he considered getting a personal trainer he explained that he had neither the time nor the money. Of course, this is the same brother that has the time and money to go to the bar 4-5 times a week. That is a whole other issue to address.

What my brother needed was two things: 1) An easy bodyweight workout he can do at home to get started and 2) A way to be held accountable. I sent him the following workout to do Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week to start off with. I am confident, based on his fitness level that this will be a routine that will tax him for a while:

March in Place, 1 minute.

Jumping Jacks, 1 minute.

Rest, 1 minute

Calf Raises, 1 minute.

Squats, 1 minute.

Lunges in Place, 1 minute.

Rest, 1 minute.

Crunches, 1 minute.

Planks, 1 minute

Rest, 1 minute.

Shoulder circles (arms out to the side), 1 minute.

Shoulder circles (arms straight up), 1 minute.

Shoulder circles (both arms straight out in front of you), 1 minute.

Rest, 1 minute

Push-ups, 1 minute.

Done. Make sure to drink water.

15 minutes every other day. That will get you started.

The second thing that my two brothers and I do is e-mail each other every day to check-in on daily physical activity. Part of me hopes that the good ol’ Catholic guilt will seep in to motivate my oldest brother when he sees what his two younger brothers are doing each day.

Speaking of daily activity, we have made it back to LEGS:

Dumbbell Squats

Walking Dumbbell Lunges

Glute, Hamstring Developer

Calf Raises

Weighted Step-Ups

Standing Broad Jumps for Distance

Abdominal Work

Have a Great Day!!

The Season's Upon Us

“The season’s upon us, its that time of year

Brandy and eggnog, there is plenty of cheer

There’s lights on the trees and there’s wreaths to be hung

There’s mischief and mayhem and songs to be sung

There’s bells and there’s holly, the kids are gung-ho

True love finds a kiss beneath fresh mistletoe

Some families are messed up while others are fine

If you think yours is crazy, well you should see mine!”

-Dropkick Murphys

This is the last day of being in sunny Arizona before driving east to visit for the holidays. As much as I look forward to visiting people that I have not seen in months I have also come to appreciate the fact that it can be a very stressful time of year. On top of running around trying to see everyone I seem to eat more and exercise less. I have come up with a few solutions that seem to help me weather this:

The Drive: We drive from Tucson, Arizona to the east coast every year at this time. We figured out that packing water, healthy fruit snacks like apples, raw vegetables like carrots and snap peas, jerky and nuts really cuts down on the amount of garbage we eat when we stop for gas.

At each pit stop one of us gets out and walks the dog while one of us pumps gas. While the car is filling up I take the time to do some push-ups, air squats, calf raises, anything that will get the blood flowing. 

Finally, in the hotel at night I take a nice hot shower, stretch and do a few more push-ups. This routine for a few days on the road keeps me from feeling like I have been hit by a train by the time I step out of the car at our destination.

The Food: The food that is around during the holidays is amazing. I am not a vegan, I am lucky to be able to process gluten, I am not on a paleo diet. I know a lot of people are and good luck to you with your routine this time of year. My only rule around the holidays is to eat reasonably. I bring home enough of my regular supplements to get me through our visit and I continue to drink lots of water which is my regular routine. Lastly, I find that going for a walk around the block after meals really helps me by physically stepping away from the food. The dog appreciates the walk as well!

The Workout: Rebecca and I own a pair of Bowflex adjustable dumbbells and we take them with us when we go home. I am a bigger person than Rebecca and the speedy transition from one weight to the next makes these worth the weight to bring with us. We get up in the mornings first thing and do a modified dumbbell/bodyweight routine at home. We take other helpful things like our jump rope and running shoes to keep up with our cardio while we are visiting. By getting up and tackling the workout early, it is done for the day and I feel a whole lot better about eating one more piece of pumpkin pie! And remember, exercise is a great way to relieve stress that can build up during the holidays.

Hopefully these ideas help. Today while packing the car to go I am going to just lift weights and will not be doing a typical supplemental workout.

Lifting with Rebecca: (Three sets per exercise).
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Lateral Dumbbell Raise
Alternating Front Dumbbell Raise
Dumbbell Kickbacks
Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Press
Diamond Push-ups

Have a great day!