Sorry for being absent lately, had lots going on with the holidays, family, and traveling.  It’s now the new year and time to be better than last year!  I can’t wait to see what this next year brings; I have high hopes but can’t imagine how it can top 2014.  My AMAZING husband gave me the coolest Christmas gift I’ve ever received…a season pass to Spartan Race and a trip to the SoCal Spartan Super and Sprint in January (he’s the best).  I’m going solo which kind of scares me but definitely gives me the motivation to go there and work for a spot on the podium, since there won’t be any distractions.  I’m hoping to make the podium at least one of the races.                                                                               No rest for the wicked…I started 2015 with some great workouts and I’m going to continue to work hard to make this year one to remember.  Happy New Year to you all and keep being awesome!

Workout
200 meter sprints x6 (30 second rest)
800 meter run x4 (1 minute rest)
Hill Sprints x6 (walk down hill for rest)

WOD
4 rounds
25 burpees
20 walking lunges
15 sit-ups
10 Clean & Jerk (65#)

*If you don’t know what a clean and jerk is you can google it or you don’t have weights, you can substitute it for Jump Squats.

My sister-in-law is here visiting from Switzerland and we decided to try a workout that a friend had posted on Facebook.  It was a ton of upper body exercises (pull-ups, push-ups, dips, burpees, curls, press, kettle bell swings, ext.) and a ridiculous amount of reps (100 to be exact).  So yesterday and today have been quite miserable; I enjoying be a little sore so I know that I worked hard but not like this…ugh (thanks Todd).  I don’t know when the last time my arms were this sore but its is making life difficult!  Since my arms are unable to straighten completely or I can’t lift anything heavier than my one year old, I decided I should do a workout that targets my legs and booty.   Hope everyone has an amazing holiday, Merry Christmas!!

So here’s a chipper workout, it’s called a chipper because you chip away at each exercise, it’s a goodie!!  These for sure are one of my favorite types of workouts; they usually are a little longer of a WOD but I feel like I get a whole body workout and they are always a super sweat session!  Wow I use a lot of exclamation points, I must be excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Happy hump day!

I hope everyone is getting ready for the holidays, I know I’m extremely busy getting prepared.  This is my favorite time of year though, there’s so much to do especially when you have 5 kids.  It makes Christmas time so magical with kids; Santa, elf on the shelf, decorating the tree, cookies, Christmas lights.  I seriously dread the day my kids stop believing in Santa 😥  I know with all the busyness of the holidays its easy to make excuses or get off track but try to make it a priority to exercise for at least 30 minutes 4 days a week.  Sticking with it will make all those weight loss New Year’s resolutions that much easier!  Try this workout, if you don’t have a bar bell you can always substitute the hang cleans for a bodyweight movement, such as burpees or push ups.  It definitely gets harder as the time ticks down.

Warm-up
1 mile run

Strength
2 reps every 30 seconds x15
Power Snatch 75#’s

WOD
Set timer for 16 minutes
3, 6, 9, 12, 15….
sit ups
hang cleans 75#
Walking lunges with 25# overhead

*I found this workout from LC Valley Crossfit Facebook page

So I mentioned before that I’m doing a 21 day challenge; we get workouts throughout the  21 days that we are to perform and submit the time/reps.  This workout was the first workout we had to do on the first day and then the challengers will retest at the end of the challenge to see if we improved at all.  The hardest part for me was trying to hold the plank for long as possible, especially on the 3rd round.  My abs were definitely sore the next day, made laughing, coughing or sneezing quite pleasant.   I checked to see what the World record for the longest plank hold  was and it is 4 hours 26 minutes…how is that possible and who is this magical person?!  I struggled with less than 2 minutes, apparently I have a lot of work to do.

15 minute circuit warm-up

3 rounds                       1      2    3
Max plank                  1:42/1:35/1:16
Max push-ups               33/25/26
1 minute max sit-ups      33/34/31
1 minute max squats      51/50/48

*All you need is a timer, paper, and pen.  Move to the next movement after 15 seconds of rest.

Great sweat session today!!  I’m doing a 21 day challenge and we are given workouts to do, so I did the given workout at the gym along with a 5 mile run.  I was completely drenched in sweat…I’m sure everyone thought I was disgusting but I’m there to workout not look pretty so they can all kiss it 😉 Try it!

20 minute AMRAP
10 Step-Ups w/DB (5 each leg)
10 Burpees
1 Man/Woman-maker

*1 Man/Woman-maker=With dumbbells go into a plank position, do a push-up, dumbbell row/each arm, jump up, curl to overhead press.

This is what I look like at the gym…a hot mess but I know that I worked my butt off!

Sunday-Rest

Monday
Fun treadmill workout (you can do as many rounds as you want)
5 rounds
1 mile run
30 squats
25 push ups
20 alternating lunges
15 dips

Tuesday
10 minute warm-up

WOD
60 back squats 65#
60 push jerk 65#
40 front squat 65#
40 push press 65#
20 overhead squats 65#
20 strict press 65#

Modified Workout
60 air squats
60 push ups
40 air squats
40 push ups
20 air squats
20 push ups

Wednesday 6 mile run

Ab workout
1 minute plank
20 bicycle crunches
20 leg lift
1 minute side plank (30sec/side)
20 sit ups
repeat 3x’s

Thursday-rest day

Friday
500 burpees

This is the aftermath of 500 burpees

If 500 burpees is completely out of the question, try 50, 100 or even 200.  You won’t regret it!

Saturday-Rest Day

AWWW, I was so sore last week!  It was seriously hard to even sit down or stand up or really anything that had to do with my legs or arms…so I was pretty much screwed!  The workout on Tuesday was legit, mentally and physically tough but it is a great type of workout you could do with any circuit.

Sunday
Rest day

Monday
5 mile run

Tuesday
100 pull ups, run 400m every time you drop
100 leg lifts, run 400m every time you stop
100 push ups, run 400m every time you stop
300m walking lunges, run 400m every time you stop

Wednesday
5 mile run

Leg Workout
Squats 115# 10/10/10
Split squats 35# db 10/10/10 each leg
^superset^

Straight leg deadliest 60# 15/15/15
hip bridges 60# 10/10/10
^superset^

Leg curl machine 10/10/10
sumo squat 60# 10/10/10 pulse in squat position 10x’s after last rep of each set
^superset^

Stretch

Thursday
Run 6 miles

Shoulder & Bicep Workout
lateral raises 15# db 10/10/10
front raises 15# db 10/10/10
^superset^

DB press 20# db 10/10/10
barbell high pull 50# 10/10/10
^superset^

Bicep curl 15# db 10/10/10
Hammer curl 15# 10/10/10
^superset^

Barbell curl 40# 10/10/10
push ups
^superset^

Friday: Rest

Rest day…epsom salt bath!

Saturday
10K Run

So I wanted to share my crazy workout I did today.  It was one of those workouts that was not only physically hard but so mentally challenging that you can’t wait for it to be done.  I have always thought that I’m pretty mentally tough; I can get through a workout with minimal rest or finish a tough race or even take all five of my kids to the mall for several hours by myself (crazy stuff right there).    I got this workout from @paleo_life_crossfit_love on Instagram but changed it up a bit, it definitely pushed me mentally for sure.

100 pull-ups (every time you drop or rest, run 400 meters): ran 4 times or 1 mile           100 leg lifts (every time your feet touch the ground or you stop at top position run 400m): no running on this one, this is where my mental toughness kicked in.                                       100 push-ups (every time you stop or rest, run 400m): ran 3 times                                     300 meters walking lunges (you guessed it, every time you stop, run 400m): wowza talk about legs on fire!  I ended up only running once on this one, I counted 245 reps total.

Anywho, you could pretty much do this with any circuit workout, where you run or have to do a penalty for stopping.  This took me around 40 minutes with a 6 minute rope jumping warm up.  I’m definitely going to repeat this one again to see if I improve especially after I get my butterfly pull ups (it’s a struggle for some reason).

Hi there, sorry this is a couple of days late but I’ve been busy with traveling and trying to spend time with my kids.  My week was pretty easy, not any heavy weights just took it easy since I had a race on Saturday…wanted my muscles fresh.  Traveled to Boston this weekend for the Spartan sprint at Fenway Park, had an amazing time with my hubby and friends.  I finished off the racing season with a 2nd place finish in the Elite division!  I couldn’t be happier with my first season of OCR, this last 6 months has been a blast and I have a passion and drive to come back in 2015 better, stronger and faster.

Sunday
Rest day

Monday
5 mile run
20 minute stairmaster intervals

Tuesday
5 mile run

WOD
1000m row
50 push ups
1000m row
75 squats
1000m row
100 sit ups

Modified Workout

Wednesday
6 mile run

Thursday
WOD
4 rounds
400m run
2 rope climb
20 burpees
20 ball slams 20# medball
20 box jump overs

Modified Workout
4 rounds
400m run
20 hand release push-ups
20 burpees
20 ball slams with 14# medicine ball (bring ball above head and slam on ground)
20 box jumps

Friday                                                                                                                        Rest/travel day

Saturday
Race Day!!
I ran the Fenway Spartan sprint, it was so super cold but a great time, as the Spartan races always are!  It reminded me of a Crossfit style workout, I really enjoyed it!