Good morning!
With all of the running I’ve been doing throughout these summer months, I really want to focus on strength training now that the races are over! A bad habit of mine is to keep running and running without any strength training regimen. Frank continues to kick himself every time he hears/reads this fact. Strength training, especially interval training, is a great way to burn even more calories while getting leaner and stronger. It all makes sense, it’s just a matter of making the time to do it!
On Tuesday night I headed out to the backyard for my own strength training circuit which consisted of body weight exercises and hill sprints. This was a fast workout which lasted a total of 45 minutes and by the end, I was sweaty and feeling the burn, yet feeling accomplished, too!
What you’ll need:
- A hill
- An open space (patch of grass works well)
- Water
- Timex watch/Stop watch to time the intervals (You could use your phone, too!)
- Optional: iPhone for music and a yoga mat!
The Workout
5 minute jog (I ran around the block)
8 minute dynamic warm-up (walking lunge, walking quad stretch, inchworms, lateral walking lunge, skips, high knees, butt kicks)
Circuit 1
Complete this circuit two times through
1 minute jumping jacks
30 seconds T push-ups
30 seconds Squat with lateral leg extension
30 seconds Up/Down planks
30 seconds Back lunge to high knee (15 seconds each side)
3 Hill sprints
Circuit 2
Complete this circuit two times through
1 minute jumping jacks
30 seconds Squat sit-ups (Hands out in front of your body for the entire exercise – Start by standing up straight, squat all the way down until you’re sitting on the ground, roll onto your back and then roll forward, plant feet on the ground and stand back up using your core strength to stabilize and repeat)
30 seconds Lateral lunge
30 seconds Side plank hip drops
30 seconds Glute bridges
3 Hill sprints
3-Minute Ab Burnout
Complete the following without resting in between:
30 seconds Sit-ups
30 seconds Bicycle crunch
30 seconds Frog extensions
30 seconds Straight leg sit-ups
1 minute Plank
STRETCH!
