Another great workout!

Tonight I diversified my bikes & bells class slightly...It was a great workout!

Warm-Up: Bike 5-10 mins

Circuit Workout
Complete 3 Rounds of the following:
Cardio (Bike/Treadmill/Elliptical): 10:00
Corresponding Bells Round

Bells Round 1
Mixed KB Swings x 100
KB Snatches x 10/side
Mountain Climbers x 30

Bells Round 2
Mixed KB Swings x 50

TRX Squats x 15
KB Dead Clean & Push Press x 10/side

Bells Round 3
Mixed KB Swings x 50
KB Lunge & Press x 5/side
KB Squats x 10

Round 1 was my favorite bells round, hands down!  I had everybody mix up their work in each bells round. Meaning, instead of doing 100 swings consecutively, do as many as you feel comfortable doing, then do 5 snatches per side, resume swings, then do 15 mountain climbers, etc..  It was pretty great! We didn't use the timer in the bells rounds, and focused on everybody being creative and getting the work done as quickly as possible, but safely.  Loved it!

Coming Fall 2011: P90X2 (aka P90X:MC2)

Get ready, people.  P90X2 is coming this fall.  I am so ready!

Recipe Post: Sunday Morning Primal Pancakes

Oh. My. Goodness.  I made primal pancakes for breakfast this morning. They were so fantastic. I modified a recipe that I found on Mark's Daily Apple. 

Fitgirl's Sunday Morning Primal Pancake Recipe

Ingredients

1 small ripe banana

1/3 cup almond flour

Splash almond milk (unsweetened)

Dash cinnamon

Capful vanilla extract

Sugar-Free Syrup (I like Carey's)

1/4 cup fresh blueberries

4-5 pecans

Directions

1. Preheat griddle to 400 degrees.

2. Mash 1/2 of the ripe banana in a bowl.

3. Add cinnamon & vanilla to the mashed banana, and stir together until well incorporated.

4. Add almond flour and mix together.

5. Put splash of coconut oil or PAM onto hot griddle.

6. Pour pancake batter onto hot griddle.  It is best to keep pancakes small in size so that they cook well.

7. Wait until the pancake edges turn brown in color and then flip the pancakes.

8. Top with butter, sugar-free syrup, remaining 1/2 banana, blueberries, and 4 crushed pecans.

The original recipe called for 1 egg, which I omitted since I already had a side of scrambled eggs ready to go with breakfast. I was in heaven eating this breakfast! My batter yielded 2 small pancakes. I also used the wrong measuring cup for my blueberries, and wound up topping with 1/3 cup instead of 1/4 cup.  Oh well :-).  My batter seemed to need to cook for quite some time in order to cook fully (maybe because of the missing egg) and were kind of dense.  Next time, I will try to add an egg white, beaten to stiff peaks to try to make them more fluffy.  My nephews are visiting for the summer, and I can't wait to give these a try for them.

If you are interested in the original recipe, follow this link to see the original recipe & article from Mark's Daily Apple : http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-many-uses-of-almond-meal/

Enjoy!

Bikes & Bells - Hill Circuits

Tonight's Bikes & Bells class was alot of fun (as they all are).  I was pretty tired going into it, and I wasn't quite sure that I'd have the energy tonight. However, once we got on the bike and started spinning, it was all good!  After a 5-minute warmup, the rounds were designed as 5:00 on the bike and 2:00 on the bells. Tonight's bike portion was focused on hill climbs. We pushed heavy resistance and even hit a few breakaways, which were left us winded and working anaerobically for short periods of time.

Warm-up: 5:00 Bike

Round 1
5:00 Bike - Seated Climb
2:00 KB 1H Swings (0:30 L, 0:30 R, 0:30 L, 0:30 R)

Round 2
5:00 Bike - Standing Climb
2:00 OH Squats (0:30 L, 0:30 R, 0:30 L, 0:30 R)

Round 3
5:00 Bike - Run with resistance; Jumps on Hill
2:00 KB Snatches (0:30 L, 0:30 R, 0:30 L, 0:30 R)

Round 4
5:00 Bike - Breakaways
2:00 Racked KB Squat/Presses (1:00 L, 1:00 R)

Round 5
5:00 Bike - Sprints on Hill
2:00 Dead Cleans (0:30 L, 0:30 R, 0:30 L, 0:30 R)

Round 6
5:00 Bike - Freeform Climb
2:00 High Pulls (0:30 L, 0:30 R, 0:30 L, 0:30 R)

Cool-Down: 5:00 Bike

Enjoy!

Awesomely Difficult...

The title of this post is how I describe tonight's workout. It was incredible!  Our objective was to complete as many rounds as possible in the 45-minute class period.  It was fantastic! We did substitute one Bike segment with Treadmill walking, as my clients felt they were reaching anaerobic segments.

Warm-Up & Cardio 1: 13:00 Bike

Main Workout: 5:00 Bike followed by Bells Circuit (as outlined below)

Bells Circuit
0:45/exercise (per side side), 0:20 rest
Racked KB Squat & Kick
KB High Pull or Snatch
1H KB Swing
Racked KB Lunge & Press
KB Dead Cleans

Stretch

Our timings weren't exactly precise, so we completed 2.5 Rounds total. We also used the last cardio round as a 5-minute cool-down. This was TOUGH and fantastic all at the same time!! If you give this a shot, make sure to emphasize quality over quantity. If the 0:45 seconds per exercise per side is too aggressive, drop it down to 0:30 seconds per exercise per side. If you need more rest in between exercises, take it!  We put in extra rest before each Lunge & Press.

Enjoy!!

Tonight's Workout

Tonight's workout was somewhat Grok-like.  We got outside to follow our primal instincts and "play" in the sun :-).  I actually did the workout with my clients for a couple of reasons:
1. I wanted to push them a bit, and since a large portion of the workout was outside, I wanted to be with them "in the trenches" pushing them along
2. One of my members had her first night back after about 2 weeks off, so I wanted to keep her encouraged. I expected that she would have a bit of a challenge in front of her tonight.
3. I wanted to get my own workout done while there was still energy in my body. I get very motivated exercising around/with others, and I do push myself harder than I would working out alone. Other than the cardio conditioning classes, I typically don't work out with my clients often, but I think that it is appropriate at times.

Here's the workout:

Circuit:
Complete at many rounds as possible in 40 minutes
Outdoor Jog/Run - 1/4 Mile
Body Weight Squats x 15
TRX Rows x 15
Push Ups x 15
DB Bicep Curl & Shoulder Press x 15

We completed 4 rounds as a group. I personally could have gotten in at least 1 more round, but I had to keep things paced for my clients. They did a great job!!  Nobody in our group is fond of running (including me), so this was a good confidence booster. We jogged/ran the first half of the loop and power walked back for most rounds.  I'm very proud of us for pushing through, even in spite of the hot Texas sun (which I happen to love!!). We were getting cheers from passerbys in their cars saying that we were doing a great job! :-)

Finisher:
50 Heavy KB Swings

I dialed down the rest of the workout for them. We did an abbreviated finisher and skipped the abs/core work. We did take an 8-minute stretch at the end, which was good.  Here's the originally planned finisher & core work.

Originally Planned Finisher (1x):
200 KB Swings with mixed weight & grip
200 Walk-Ups "Step-Test" (each step up is counted as "1" rep. This is similar to the traditional 3-Minute Fitness Step Test. Used a 12" step.)

Originally Planned Core Work (2x):
Complete each exercise for 0:30
SB/Floor Crunches
TRX Plank
TRX Suspended Crunch
Floor/TRX Side Plank

Tomorrow night we have a Bikes & Bells Class....Looking forward to it!

Relaxing Walk - Active Rest

When it cooled off, Max and I took a 2.2 mile walk in the later part of the evening.  We didn't run or jog, but just decided to enjoy the scenery and the outdoors. Max really enjoys his walks. He is so little though, that I am afraid to run or jog with him.  He's a very picky little dog, and is finicky about eating and drinking.  He gets so excited on outdoor walks that he pants for what seems like forever. I always bring water but he drinks very little of it during our walks. I'm trying to be more Grok-like in my activities, and I thought walking outside would be a good way to support that effort.

Anyway, I'm thinking that tomorrow (Sunday) will be a rest day.

Refreshing Summer Drink...Strawberry Mango Crush

Okay, so it isn't officially summer for another 3 weeks, but the weather has been so fantastic that I enjoyed a lovely drink this evening on the porch.  I call this recipe a Strawberry Mango Crush. I made mine without alcohol, but I'm sure this would be equally refreshing with a splash of Vodka or Malibu Rum.  Here's the super simple recipe.  Add a cute little umbrella and enjoy!

FitGirl's Strawberry Mango Crush

Ingredients

Ice Cubes

Fresh Strawberries (3-4 depending on size)

Flesh of 1 Mango

Stevia (my stevia has a measuring spoon, so I used 1 spoonful)

Lemon Juice (approx 1-2 tsp)

Water (about 1-2 oz)

Directions

I simply added all ingredients to my Vitamix in the order listed and let it blend for about a minute. I'd suggest starting with just a tiny bit of water and adding more as needed, depending upon how juicy your fruits are.  It was such a delicious drink!!  Forgive my picture. I was almost finished with my drink when I realized that I hadn't snapped a picture - LOL!

I'm sure it would be great with any fresh fruit combination. I'll try it with raspberries and lime juice next time!