What workouts are floating your boat right now?
The ones below will always a have a place in my heart.
1. Full body workouts
I love full body workouts because mostly they are quick and dirty. My most common full body workout almost always includes 4 sets of 10 of the following:
walking lunges
squats
pullups
pushups
seated rows
overhead presses
triceps dips
2. HIIT
Bigtime love/hate relationship here. I despite HIIT, but it is over and done with so quickly and leaves me dripping with sweat more than being locked in a room full of green veggies would.
My favorite HIIT combo: 20 seconds of “full out” intervals, 40 seconds of recovery, for 20 minutes.
3. Functional/Plyo Mix
There is also a love/hate relationship here. Ok, more of a hate/hate relationship. Functional workouts are hard and leave me out of breath and feeling helpless. But they also make me feel more in shape that any other workout. I did these kind of workouts 3 days a week when training for a fitness show and was definitely in the best cardiovascular shape of my life.
To me, these kind of workouts include but are not limited to:
burpees
box jumps
squat jumps
mountain climbers
4. A long steady-state cardio session
By long, I mean about 45 minutes. My attention span won’t last any longer. But there is no better stress relief for me other than a good, long cardio workout.
My torture machine of choice: the elliptical.
5. Yoga
It may sound cliche, but I love how yoga makes me feel. It makes me feel at peace and confident, even though I still don’t really feel like I am doing *much.* However, my yoga is probably a joke compared to others.
Are you loving any of the above? Link up below!
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
love this list and I feel the same way about plyos! i LOVE how i feel afterwards, but during the workouts i want to leave like none other!!
I love the 20 second-40 second HIIT I usually do 1 min to 1 min but I want to try that way, then push myself harder knowing its only 20 seconds of ‘work’
omg these silly groiners that savage has us do are KILLER, i have gotten into a love hate with them–those and bear crawls!
I remember groiners! I was so confused on them at first. And oh gosh – I HATE bear crawls but usually include them in my functional workouts too.
I’m a fan of running (moderate distance and high-speed intervals) and pilates. Yes, I’m boring! But whatever works, right?
I definitely need to try plyos though!
I love the HIIT workout!
I LOVED the treadmill at my old gym for this because it would let you pre-program two run speeds so with a simple click of the button, you could go from a jog to an all out sprint.
Now I have to hold the “up” button in order to get up to speed and well….sometimes it maaaay not always get up there as high as it should because I decide one of the speeds on the way to my max speed is more than enough.
This is a bit lame, but Im loving just walking lately! and push ups
I love all of those! I need you to make me a plan. I love your workouts.
All the above besides HIIT. I know its soo good for you, but I hate staring at a watch/timer the whole time. I’d add CrossFit, but that’s pretty much the same things as full body workouts (which are my favorite by the way).
I love all of those. I’m so exercise ADD I have to have a crazy amount of variety. I can’t wait to do all of those after baby.
I love long steady state runs. Especially when I don’t feel like I’m going to die during them.
I looove plyo workouts. OK. I love training clients who can do plyo. It is pretty torturous. I should do it more myself:)
I have a hate/hate with functional/plyo mixes too. Burpees especially. But man oh man my heart rate goes through the roof when I do them.
I should try long cardio workouts on the elliptical. I never think to go on there but now that I’m forbidden to run, I should try it.
Love yoga, but I prefer doing something where you really feel you are doing something! LOL!!
This is a great idea, I’m bookmarking this list for ideas when I next hit the gym. I want to give plyometrics a go but I always chicken out because I’m scared that people will look at me funny. But you’ve inspired me to give it a go at the gym tonight! x
I still feel uncomfortable doing them in a crowd – that is why I do them either at home, or when I go to the gym EARLY (like 5am)!
I feel like you and I have similar workout styles – except for yoga…I just cannot get on board with it at all! I recently tried HIIT and also have a love-hate relationship, but you are right – it’s over with quickly and you do sweat a ton and feel like you worked hard. Thanks for sharing these! I’m going to do some of them soon.
Try it for 20 minutes after an intense cardio workout. That is the only time I can do it!
I don’t know what half the stuff on your list is, but I do agree with you on 4 and 5! Although, the yoga studio I go to has pretty intense workouts. I sweat a lot more doing those than doing the elliptical at the gym. Not sure what that says about me…
UGH, I hate burpees and mountain climbers. But they are so GOOD. Right now I am into working out with my kettle bell and walking with the dogs. We did running for a while, but one of the dogs has a knee issue we just found out about, so we are walking for now.
Actually Jessica, reading your blog has inspired me to change up my routine! I decided to focus more on weights and change my long moderate cardio workouts to shorter and more intense. I’m loving BodyPump, I tried it at my old gym and hated it. But the instructors at my new gym make it sooooo much more interesting! I also switched to cardio intervals on the treadmill. I’m loving the change and already feel tons better.
Aeroboxing that’s one workout that hits it all, including stress. After 3 years, some extra pounds and body parts heading south I rediscovered this workout, I’ve added to my workout schedule twice a week of weights and rebounding (which is another one I love). It works incredibly fast & I actually look forward to it!!!!!!!!! At 47 I feel great and I know my bones are loving me for the impact I’ve added to my workouts.
{ 1 trackback }