Can I publicly admit to moments of wanting to be lazy ? As in… think of a reason I might not wanna workout ?
I know… you’re left speechless right now haha….
Keeping my mantra in mind of “no excuses” to not workout loomed in my mind yesterday morning. ( you can read what “no excuses” really means to me in another post titled the same)
To me, it’s the semi-crappy thing of not having a “structured” training schedule. I do what I want and how I want. I get stuff done and usually try and mix my days up with cardio and strength training as well as rest days ( which are vitally important to the building of a better body =)
but some mornings waking up and knowing there’s nothing written in concrete makes it easier to talk yourself into something else…
like my mile long to-do list that loomed before me….. “Hey !” that negative little voice whispered in my head.. “it won’t matter if you skip today, you can do it tomorrow… what’s one day?”
“Shut up.” I growl at it….” go away….”
I’ve learned from past experience, workout or no, my junk still gets done.
I do know though that I can pack a lot into a 30 minute workout when I’m scrunched for some time. As much as I enjoy a good long sweat sesh, it’s not always necessary and a shorter one can be just as effective.
I certainly had 30 minutes in my morning. And hey…. so do you… and if you think you DON’T have time in your day for yourself … you might wanna restructure things.
So with no further arguments from lil Ms. Negativity inside, I threw on “the gear” and prepared to get after it. I was kinda down for this challenge and wanted to really time myself to see what I could hammer out in my 30 minute block.
The goal…. end sweat drenched.
What did I do ? Ok, I won’t ever be one of those bloggers who tell you all my per mile splits, reps done etc etc but I will shape out what my quick workout entailed to show that any average person can get it done and move on. The beauty? You make it what you want… which works splendidly for Ms Free Spirit me who doesn’t always want the same thing.
Ready ?
I allowed a few minutes to basically do some light stretches and shake things out…after all it was 7:30 in the morning and my body was still a bit tight from sleep mode.
I moved from stretching into using my lighter weights (15 lbs) for some easy upper body(modify to your needs) Curls, over head press, front lateral lifts and did 2 sets of 10 of each.
Hit the floor for some push ups (20) flipped over grabbed my small exercise ball ( goes under small of my back for crunches) this is not a full blown sit up but small tiny, tight and controlled movements (40) ( please don’t be doing old school sit ups!)
From that into bicycles, which l love ’cause it’s like running on my back haha… I just do those an entire song on my ipod… or till I’m squealing 😛 this is really good for those deep lower abs which are often the hardest and most stubborn to hit.
From those to oblique crunches (40) then bridges, 3 sets of 15 reps center, then left and right leg
Finish off with about 30 butterfly situps.
Then the work starts,
Grab my 35 lb kettlebell.
3 sets of 8 reps single leg deadlift (my fav new move)
followed by 4 sets of 10 reps with kettlebell
deep squats, into deadlift, to kettlebell swing ( I just moved through that with maybe a minute rest between sets)
I’m not joking when I say I was breathing hard and sweating like crazy.
My final move? A plank… a 3 minute one was my goal if I hadn’t trashed my body out yet.
I allowed a couple minutes for my breathing and heart rate to settle before I hit the floor for that.
I had four minutes left of my 30 minute time block. If all went well, I’d finish with a minute to spare… assuming I could hold out that plank.
I started a new song on my ipod and hit floor.
If you do planks you know there comes a moment where you have to just mentally key in on only your body and your breathing and think of nothing else. I find this to be the exact strategy I use in the midst of a super long run when I start getting tired.. that laser mental focus is soooo important.
Keeping perfect form is key in a plank… everything in you should be straight, strong and tight while you hold it. The song was over half way through I was feeling ok…. a little further in…. I start telling myself to just sustain where I’m at.
Then it was like “OMG the song is almost over…I can be done when song ends! Don’t quit…”
I collapse looking at clock which had rolled past my 3 minute mark…yay…. leaving me with 1 minute left of my 30….. AND I was a drenched sweaty mess. Holding a plank will bring out sweat in you in no time flat haha
Mission Accomplished.
You’ve got 30 minutes in your day to do something productive…. you do.
What’s your fav go to quick workout ?
sassyfitnesschick 