Workout of the Day

Warm Up

1-min Walkout to Up/Down Plank
Week 5, Exhaustion Test: Pushups to Failure
Zuzka Light: 3-min Yoga Challenge 

Bender Fitness: Swimsuit Ready Core Workout
10 interval rounds of 50-secs/10-secs of work/rest, 10-min

Plank Step Out (R)
Plank Step Out (L)
Slow Mo Dogging Cobras
Bicycles
Crunch to Toe Taps
Plank Knee Cross (R)
Plank Knee Cross (L)
Seated Bicycles
Temple Tap
Knee Tap Plank Crunch (R)
Knee Tap Plank Crunch (L)

Tabata: Donkey Kicks / Fire Hydrants (alternating)
8 interval rounds of 20-sec/10-secs of work/rest, 4-min per leg
Sets, 4: Pullovers + 1-min Jump Rope as active recovery
POP Pilates: Stretching for Flexibility (10 min)

WORKOUT BREAKDOWN

Equipment

15-lb dumbbell: Donkey Kicks and Fire Hydrants
12-lb dumbbells: Pullovers

Week 5, Pushup Exhaustion Test: I got to 25 reps, 25 consecutive pushups! Huzzah! Exciting stuff. Now I have to decide whether to continue with the program or not. In 4 weeks, I have improved my ability to do consecutive pushups from 15 to 25 reps. But then I have also kind of grown tired of doing the same ol’ pushups. Meh. What to do, what to do? Convince me, guys, convince me.

Bender Fitness, Core Workout: Targeting the core in interval training format. The timer keeps you moving from one move to the other for extra intensity. You do as many reps as possible during the work interval and rest for 10-secs between moves. My core was definitely feeling it, and so did my arms and shoulders. In total, I did over 260 reps. Crazy! I’m definitely going to try those “Crunch to Toe Taps” in a song workout challenge. Coming soon.

Tabata: One Tabata per leg, alternating Donkey Kicks and Hydrants each round. I held a 15-lb dumbbell behind my knee for extra weight. Reps: Donkey Kicks, 40(R) / 36(L). Hydrants, 32(R) / 33(L).

Pullovers: 4 sets (8 reps each) of Pullovers. I went for 12-lb dumbbells, which is the heaviest I have ever gone on this one, and damn it, it was tough. I did 1-min of Jump Rope between set to get the heart rate going a little bit, but the full break between sets was around 2-mins. 

So, surprise, I worked out today. I haven’t worked out on two consecutive days in a long, long time. Weird. Ha! I’m feeling quite motivated this week. Let’s see if I can keep it up.

Workout of the Day

Warm Up: 1-min Toy Soldier March + 1-min Samson Stretch

ZWOW #67 (12-min AMRAP)

10 Crab Flip Burpees
10/10 Single Leg Deadlifts
3 sets of 10 Start Crunches, Reverse Plank between sets

Bonus
3-min AMRAP of Walking Lunges + 1-min Plank
POP Pilates: TOUGH LOVE Handles Workout (13 min)
3-min AMRAP of Plié Squats + 1-min Plank
POP Pilates: Amazing Upper Back and Leg Stretches (11 min)

WORKOUT BREAKDOWN

Equipment

15-lb dumbbells: Single Leg Deadlift, Walking Lunges and Plié Squats

ZWOW 67: I set my timer for 12-min and apparently failed at properly getting timer to work, which means I ended up doing 3 rounds of this without even knowing how long it took me. Ha! For the last move, I held each reverse Plank for 5-secs (instead of Zuzka’s 3-sec rule). I also just realized that I didn’t do the first move quiiiite like Zuzka did. (Awkwaaaard.) I kind of did a Side Plank Reach rather than a Crab Flip Reach. Um, basically, I did whatever I wanted. I was a total rebel. I guess I’ll have to do again soon and actually do what I was supposed to. Oops.

Bonus: Walking Lunges = 38 reps, holding the dumbbells by my sides as I lunged. Pliés = 40 reps, holding the dumbbells on my shoulders. In between those circuits, I did TOUGH LOVE Handles Workout from Blogilates. Still super challenging, my balance all over the place (though I think I still did better than other people…judging from the YouTube comments). So, that was fun.

I did Week 4/Day 3 of the pushup challenge on Sunday. I did fairly well… untiI fatigued by rep 14 on the last set. I should be doing Week 5’s Exhaustion Test on Wednesday, and then I’ll decide whether to keep up with the program or not. (Should I? I don’t know.)

Workout of the Day

Warm Up*: 1-min Jump Rope

Pushups (Week 4/Day 2)
5 sets of 14-16-12-12-max (at least 15) reps respectively
60-secs of rest between sets

Circuit (4 rounds)

1-min Running V-Sit
10 Elevated Pike Presses
10 Weighted Squats + 10/10 Uneven Squats
10 Incline (Tricep) Pushups

Song Workout: Butterfly Sit Ups to Marina and the Diamonds’ Oh No
TIU: Stretch and Release (8 min)

WORKOUT BREAKDOWN

Equipment

15-lb dumbbells: 2 for Weighted Squats and 1 for the Uneven Squats

Chair: Elevated Pike Press and Incline Tricep Pushups
Step Stool: Uneven Squats

Pushup Circuit, W4D2: Handled it pretty decently from Set 1 through Set  4. Decided to take 30-secs extra of rest (2 min total) between Set 4 and Set 5, but still fatigued on rep 15 on that last set. Still, that was an evident improvement from Week 2. I’ll take it.

Circuit:  Wanted to keep the focus on upper body and core. I did 4 rounds in approx. 24 mins. Running V-Sits were really challenging on my hip flexors. I tried to keep my legs extended throughout the 1-min interval. Only took a second long break when needed. I kind of surprised myself with the Elevated Pike Presses. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do 10 reps on each round, but I did way better than expected. (Yay for upper body progress!) For the Squat combo, I paired 10 reps of regular squats (holding two 15-lb dumbbells) and then did 10 reps per side of Uneven Squats (holding one 15-lb dumbbell). For the Uneven Squats, I put one leg on top of a step stool (9” tall) and then the other leg on the floor. It is a different kind of feeling, but they are great. I finished the round with 10 Incline Pushups, and used a chair to create the incline. I keep my arms close to my body so I could hit the triceps a little bit more.

I finished with Butterfly Sit Ups. Didn’t took ANY breaks for the duration of the song. After I finished the song, I did an additional 10 reps of Elevated Pike Presses + 10 more reps of Incline Tricep Pushups. 

In related news: Humidity has been kicking my ass this week, and it makes me miserable… PARTICULARLY while working out. 

Warm Up

Pushups (Week 4/Day 1)
5 sets of 12-14-11-10-max (at least 16) reps respectively
60-secs of rest between sets

Circuit (3 rounds)

10 Crossover Step Up to Single Leg Squat Reach*
10 (Decline Pushup)* Burpees
10 Squat to Step Up
10/10 Elevated* Kickback

POP Pilates: ABC Abs (10 min)
POP Pilates: Feel Good Stretches (9 min)

WORKOUT BREAKDOWN

Equipment

15-lb dumbbells: Crossover Step Up/Single Leg Squat and Squat/Step Up

Modifications*

Single Leg Squat Reach: cut the “reach” on the upward motion. 15-lbs felt too heavy for that.

Burpees: turned the pushups into Decline Pushups, legs on the chair seat. 

Elevated Kickback: held myself in plank position (feet on the chair seat, extended arms on the mat), mimicked the kickback motion (touched the mat with my toes before lifting my leg up and back).

Pushup Circuit, W4D1: Late start on Week 4, Column 1. I handled it pretty decently until the last set, where I fatigued on rep 12. I took a Downdog breather and then finished the last 4 reps. Still, I still felt a big improvement from Week 2 (when I first did this particular circuit). I decided to honor the “rest time” between sets because I knew the circuit I was about to do would kick my ass, anyway. [Also, I did warm-up before doing this. It was just too much of a random sequence to bother to write it up. Ha!]

Circuit: I wanted to focus on lower body, so I went for the 15-lb dumbbells (both) for the first time. For the Step Ups, I used a chair (18”). The Burpee variation (with the Decline Pushups) as well as the Elevated Kickback modification I did KILLED my core. Particularly the latter. The Kickback move was everything. Felt it in my core, legs and butt. I finished the 3 rounds in 31:15 mins. I took water breaks as I found necessary, but tried to keep it moving.

ABC Abs, POP Pilates: I expected to feel this workout, but not nearly as much as I’m feeling NOW. Not in a million years. So, yeah, I totally underestimated it. I definitely felt it in my core AND quads. Many the 3 rounds I’d just finished contributed to the overall feel of this workout, but still. It felt awesome.

Workout of the Day

Warm Up: 1-min Jump Rope

Pushups (Week 3/Day 2)
5 sets of 10-12-8-8-max (at least 12) reps respectively
60-secs of rest between sets

ZWOW #38 (3 rounds)

8 sets 5 Split Squat Lunges + 1 Burpee
20/20  One-arm Dumbbell Swings
20/20  Side V-Crunch

Workout of the Day

Warm Up: 1-min Jump Rope

Pushups (Week 3/Day 1)
5 sets of 10-12-7-7-max (at least 9) reps respectively
60-secs of rest between sets
Circuit ( 3 sets) 
1-min Jump Rope + 5/5 Tree Pose Challenge (Dips to Pushups)

Cardio Blast: 1-min Jump Rope

Bonus: Blogilates’ Drive By Inner Thighs + 25 Overhead Squats
TIU: Stretch and Release (8 min)

WORKOUT BREAKDOWN

Equipment

15-lb dumbbell: Narrow Squats (active recovery during Pushup Circuit) and Overhead Squats

Pushup Challenge, W3D1: Since I did 20 consecutive pushups during my last exhaustion test, I’m going to be doing Column 1 for Week 3…which is basically Week 1 & 2’s Column 3. I didn’t exactly dominated on Week 2, so I’m OK with doing it all over again. I’m expecting to be able to do exceed the number of reps I was able to do on Week 1 on that last set, though. As far as Day 1 went, I was able to. I managed to do 20 consecutive pushups on the 5th set, which is pretty amazing! I did 56 pushups total, and 25 reps of weighted Narrow Squats between sets (for 100 reps total).

Circuit: I had absolutely no plan as to what to do after the Pushup Circuit, so I figured I would just keep playing with Jump Rope. The Jump Rope never fails. I use another move from Zuzka’s YT channel: Tree Pose Pushups, and made a circuit out of it. I did 5 Tree Pose Dips + 5 Tree Pose Pushups (then switched sides) + a 1-min fast-paced Jump Rope interval. I repeated that circuit 3x. 

Bonus: Added for a bit of inner thigh/ab work. I finished it all with 25 Overhead Squats (holding a 15-lb dumbbell overhead) because I know those kill me and get my heart rate up very fast. IN fact, this entire routine was pretty simple, but my heart rate was up and going through all of it. It was good.

Workout of the Day

Week 3, Exhaustion Test: Pushups to Failure

ZWOW #65 (3 rounds)

5/5 Pistol Squats
10 Vertical Leaps
10/10 Bulgarian Squats to Single Leg Deadlift
20 Side Lunge Hops
10/10 One Leg Bridge
20/20 Standing Leg Lifts Combo

POP Pilates: Uh Oh! Obliques (13 min)
POP Pilates: Amazing Upper Back and Leg Stretches (11 min)

WORKOUT BREAKDOWN

Modifications

- Vertical Leaps: I cut them ‘cause they seemed silly and I wasn’t in the mood for “leaping”.

- Pistols: Still can’t properly do them. I started doing the reps holding my bookcase for balance, but by round 2/rep 2, I could get down but not get up. Ha! Modified from then forward into Mini Pistols, holding 8-lb dumbbells.

- One Leg Bridge: Turned it into a combination move of Leg Lift to Hip Thrust.

Exhaustion Test, Pushups: I managed to do 20 consecutive pushups, which is 4 more than two weeks ago. THANK GOD. After two weeks of the One Hundred Pushups program thingy, I’m just happy to see some progress. I think I’m going to keep up with the program for AT LEAST the next two weeks, and see what happens at the end of Week 4.

ZWOW 65: I did this, but to be honest, my heart was never really into it. And then my inability to do Pistols was also kind of off-putting. But well, I dealt with and tried. It took me 32:52 min to complete the 3 rounds. A lot of that time went by just trying to pull off the Pistols. My heart rate was up. Not as intense as other ZWOWs, but still up.

Uh-Oh Obliques: Some oblique/core work. I owed it to myself. I haven’t done this one in a while, so I’m expecting the familiar soreness that always comes with it. Always challenging and still one of my favorites POP Pilates videos.