Hope your Wednesday is off to a great start so far!
Just hopping on to share one of the two workouts so far this week that have both left me just wanting to lay at the pool all day afterwards! Hopefully you can use some or all of it planning a workout of your own that will give you the same satisfied feeling of not-wanting-to-move soreness. Just about the only thing that would get me excited to move around are the cuties you'll see in some of pool pictures--my nephew, Carson, and niece, Emma! They are staying with my in-laws this week while their parents chaperone a youth group to camp. I've been extra thankful for Summer recently because otherwise I wouldn't be able to just take them to the pool for an afternoon or make some of these fun memories.
What are some things you've been extra thankful for lately?
LEG & CARDIO WORKOUT
This is a leg-focused resistance workout with lots of plyometric (explosive, jumping movements) thrown in for cardio. I shared it on my instagram and had lots of positive feedback, so I wanted to give you guys the chance to try it also. I made a short video showing a few of the exercises, but honestly there was such a sweat situation that I was a little hesitant about posting it, but hey--workouts are supposed to make you work, right? This workout is designed to be completed in a gym with some machines, but a lot of it could be done with just dumbbells:
Circuit 1 (4x)
- 15 Leg Extensions (50 lb)
- 15 Leg Extensions (25 lb)
- 20 Squat Jumps
- 15 Split Jumps (elevated step in between)
Circuit 2 (3x)
- 30-25-20 Reps Abductor (inner thigh machine)
- 40 (in between each set above) Low lateral Side-to Side lunges with extended 15lb db
Circuit 3 (3x)
- 10 Step-Ups Each Leg (15 lb db's)
- 20 Lying Hip Thrusts (40 lbs on hips)
- 20 Unweighted Hip Thrust 12 Box Jumps
Always remember that modifications are FINE-- if jumping hurts your knees, then just do stationary squats or hop on a spin bike for some cardio bursts. Finding something that is attainable and maintainable while still getting you slightly outside your comfort zone is where you want to be pushing yourself (to be honest: I DIDN'T WANT TO TRY BOX JUMPS because I did them a while back and scraped my shin, so I've been putting them off and finally made myself do them again).
*Aunt Status*
if any of you are Aunts, then we have a common bond already and a mutual understanding of the high calling we have ;) It's a hard role to know you have been given the cutest nieces and nephews in all of creation, but that you shouldn't completely spoil them.....just 97.8%
I had a blast with these two at the pool yesterday--Carson was pushing himself to try new things like swimming further without using the wall, while Emma was back and forth between the baby pool, snuggles, and by far her favorite: SNACKS. If there was ever a doubt in my mind that it's hard to get kids to snack healthily, these two completely proved that it can be done. I broke out an Almond Coconut Good2Go Protein Bar and they couldn't eat it fast enough. As World's Best Aunt, I can't be feeding them PopTarts and Cheetos in good conscience, but I felt great that they were getting good sources of protein, fats and carbs while enjoying it so much.
