“Today’s Workout–15 Minute Challenge” Day 3

Hey Everybody! 🙂

I hope you had a great Tuesday– I know mine was extremely busy!  Yesterday was one of my active days of rest and is was definitely active.  Before I move on to the workout, I want to take a moment to explain the importance of active rest days.  To improve, your body needs time to recover from strenuous strength training so that it can repair your muscles and make them even stronger.  The same goes for your joints.  If you were training for a marathon and ran long distances every day with no variety in your routine, you would eventually wear yourself out.  Your body would feel tired, you wouldn’t be able to push as hard, and before long, your knees, hips, and feet would start to ache.  You’d probably notice a decline in your performance, and after a while might injure yourself, taking yourself out of your sport for an extended period of time to allow the injury to heal.  It is the same with your daily workouts.  The beauty of body weight strength training is that you can do it several consecutive days without having to worry about splitting your days up into upper body and lower body.  Because you are not lifting weight heavier than what your body is naturally designed to lift in proportion to your stature, your muscles undergo less stress and damage, and therefore do not require as much time to repair in between…however, it still important to take 1-2 days a week off from your strength training to allow those muscles a break!  It is beneficial to continue to stay active… even on your rest days, but do something else like taking a jog around the neighborhood, going for a swim, or taking a hike (lol).  Have fun!

With the occasional exception, my schedule will like go like this: Workouts on Sun, Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat and rest days on Tues and Fri.  That way I’m working out 5 days a week and taking two active rest days throughout the week.  You’re welcome to follow along, or to create your own schedule as you see fit, but I definitely recommend establishing some regularity in your routine 🙂  If you plan ahead, you will be a lot less likely to skip your workout!

Day 2

Mood: lazy

Energy: sleepy (I didn’t get my butt in gear quickly enough haha)

Workout: 15 Minute Challenge <—— link to the workout on Bodyrock.tv (there is no video for this workout, but it is a fairly simple one and the descriptions for the exercises should be clear enough!)

Equipment: Timer

The Workout:

This workout is only 15 mins long, but it is TOUGH!  My legs feel like jell-o and I couldn’t be happier because I know I pushed hard!  You have to give these workouts your max effort to get the best possible results!  Feel the heat! 😉

Low Jacks: 10

Core Exercise: 10

10 reps of each of these two exercises is 1 round.  Complete as many rounds as you can in 15 mins!

My Score: 16 Rounds!!!  I am really proud of this number!

Tips:

• For maximum intensity, stay as low as you can in both positions of the low jack (feet together and feet apart).  Make sure your knees stay behind your toes, and sink your butt down as far as you can like you’re sitting in a chair.  Try to keep your chest facing forward (in other words look ahead, not down at the floor).
• I wanted a good burn in my legs, so I did squat jacks: do a deep, wide legged (or plie) squat when your jump your legs apart, and stay low as you jump them back together.  If I had done regular low jumping jacks, I probably could have completed more rounds, but maximum burn was more important to me.
• During the core exercise, keep your chest lifted so that you are using your abs to pull your legs in and out.  Don’t allow your upper body to sink back, and make sure to keep it in one straight line.
• Keep moving!  Take as few breaks as possible.  You should be pushing yourself!
• Don’t forget to warm up and cool down!  You’ll be grateful you did it tomorrow.

Modification Options:

• If you can’t sink down as low into the jack, only go down as far as your strength and flexibility will allow.  Your strength and range of motion will increase with time, and it’s more important that what you are doing feels intense for YOU!  If you start to fatigue, just switch to regular jumping jacks and keep moving!  Don’t give up! 🙂
• If you have issues maintaining proper form during the core exercise keep your hands on the ground behind you to help you keep your balance.  This is what I did 🙂
• If the core exercise is still to intense, do a regular crunch.  You’re still working those muscles and getting stronger!

After the first few days of blogging and recording my scores, I’ve got to say I’m really enjoying it!  It makes working out even more fun.  I hope you are enjoying it too and are getting as much out of the workouts as I am!  I’ll be back with the next one tomorrow.

Thank you Zuzana!

Have fun :),

Lauren ❤