Confessions of a Fitness Instructor

Hi everyone, I hope your Monday is going swimmingly.  Mine is, well in that I may need to swim if I leave the house.  It’s raining, raining, raining out there with no expectation that it will stop anytime today.  J was supposed to head to Yarmouth today but he didn’t end up going as there was a lot of flooding warnings on the highway and it just didn’t seem safe for him to go.

One night last week when I didn’t have a class to teach, I got together with a few of my friends for a boot camp class.  I of course got out of having to do the whole thing since I had to keep my eyes on two groups of people to make sure nobody was doing anything to injury themselves but even still I had some sore legs the following morning, and the general consensus was so did everybody else.  I had reports of bending down and not being able to get back up, walking down stairs backwards, finding that the toilet seemed lower than usual, and well – you get the picture.  So I thought I’d share with you a combination of the exercises they all did along with a few other moves added in for good measure.

All you really need is an exercise mat and some space to move, for some exercises additional weight can be added but isn’t necessary.  We were outside at a track but if you have a large workout space inside your house or at the gym would work fine too.

For this workout we are using a PRE scale of 1-5:

1. Not moving
2. Your regular walking speed
3. Brisk walking pace  **3.5. The speed you’d walk if you were late for an important meeting/appointment
4. Running out of a dangerous situation (i.e. burning building)
5. Being chased by a serial killer

Warm-up: your cardio of choice for 5 minutes.  Starting slow and increasing intensity up to PRE 3.5 by the end of the 5 minutes.

Circuit 1 (complete each exercise for 1 full minute unless indicated otherwise)

• Alternating lunges
• Football Feet (except stay on the spot instead of moving forward) as fast as you can
• Surrenders 10/leg (see exercise #3 – we did this without weights, but feel free to add them if you like)
• Jumping Jacks (or heel jacks for low impact)
• 1 leg Hip Bridge (switching legs after 30 seconds)

Circuit 2

• Side shuffles (turning after 30 seconds to lead with opposite foot)
• Push-ups (from knees or toes)
• Mountain Climbers/Knee Drives (depending on your ability level)
• Donkey Kick/Fire Hydrant lifts (skip to 0:50 to see this exercise) do right side for 30 seconds, then left side for 30 seconds
• Bird Dog

Circuit 3

• Sumo Squats for 45 seconds, then Squat and hold for last 15 seconds (no extra weight is needed, but you can add weights if you want)
• Lunge knee up 30 seconds/leg
• Jump Rope
• Squat Thrust
• Plank

Repeat all 3 circuits and then finish with a 5-10 minute cool-down and stretch.

 

As always, please speak to your doctor before attempting this or any other new workout program, and if something doesn’t feel right – don’t do it.  Depending on your fitness level, you may need to take some breaks during the workout, or cut back and only do each circuit through once.

I hope you like it and if you give it a try please let me know how you make out!