Fitness Friday 8

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Hi Friends!

It’s friday again. I can’t believe I’ve already done two months of Fitness Friday posts.

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I look forward to them each week. I even got fancy this week and made some pretty colored workouts for you 🙂

But first, let’s talk about my new favorite toy:

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Have you heard of the Gymboss Interval Timer. Guys, it’s AMAZING!!! Especially if you’re into doing Tabata workouts, intervals or circuit workouts like me! I used mine for 3 workouts this week. I don’t use it when i’m on the treadmill, but it’d be perfect if you were running intervals outside!!

Here’s how it works: You can set the Gymboss to keep track of intervals for you. You can choose one or two intervals at the same or varying lengths of time. So when I do my tabatas I set one interval for 20 seconds and one for 10 seconds. Then you can choose how many rounds you want, so if you want to do 5 tabatas, with 8 rounds each you can set it for 40 rounds and it counts down how many you have left. You can also choose how you want it to signal the end of each interval- a loud set of beeps, a softer set of beeps, vibrating or both beeps and vibrating!

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This has made my workouts so much easier because I don’t have to drag my computer downstairs to use the tabata time or constantly check the timer on my phone. You just start the gymboss and then totally focus on your workout.

Some other perks:
-You can use it as a stopwatch, a countdown timer or a repeating interval timer.
-It’s super light and clips easily to your shorts or pants
-It comes in all sorts of fun colors
-It’s water & shock resistant
-It’s small and doesn’t get in the way

Best of all? It’s only $20!! The lovely Gymboss folks provided this timer to me for free (All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own), but if they hadn’t, I would have bought one myself! You guys should definitely check them out.
So now that I’ve raved about the Gymboss, let’s look at how I used it for my workouts this week:

Jan 27th-Put together a tabata workout to try out my new gymboss timer! Inspired by this flamingo workout:

jan27th

This workout was a fun way to change it up. I enjoyed the challenge of doing things like shoulder presses on one leg. I used 15# dbs for most of the exercises, 25# db for the deadlifts.

Jan 28th– Hit the treadmill for some intervals. I chose 8.5 as my fast running speed and 4.5 as my recovery speed. I wanted to cover 3 miles. Here’s what I did:

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This workout was great! It pushed me but was still doable. I was definitely tired by mile 3 which is why I slowed down my fast run speed but I still finished the 3 miles in 27:00 minutes.

Jan 29th– I had a test to study for but wanted to squeeze in a quick workout after I got off work. I put together a list of 10 bodyweight exercises and headed to the basement with my gymboss. I set the repeating interval timer for 50 sec/10 sec, 20 rounds. This will get your heartrate up but you’ll still be all done in 20 minutes. No equipment needed!

jan29th

Finished off the workout with a 2 min plank and two 1 min planks. Here’s a description of Bulgarian Split Squats. I just do it holding dumbbells, not a bar like in the picture.

Jan 30th– I didn’t sleep well the night before and literally had to drag myself off the  couch but it ended up being my best workout of the week. I hit the treadmill for some more intervals but decided I was going to jog during my recovery instead of walk.

Here’s what I did:

jan30th

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So here’s the deal. This workout was a bit of trial and error. For the first mile, I ran the very first minute at 8.0 and decided it wasn’t fast enough so I bumped it up to 8.5. That mile took 8:12. For the next mile I did all 8.5/6.5 and it was 8:06 which I realize isn’t exactly an 8 min mile per the title but it’s pretty darn close! For mile 3, I was tired. So for the first 4 minutes I did 8.6/6.6. Then for the next 4 I did 8.6/4.5. Once I hit 8 minutes I was at 2.92 miles so I bumped it back up to 8.6 and finished mile 3 in 8:35. It was amazing!!! At first I felt bad that I had to walk during my recovery intervals for the second half of that last mile…but then I realized that all three of my miles were still faster than the fastest one I did on Saturday!

Definitely one of my new fav workouts. Next time I’m going to try to do all of them at 8.6/6.6.

Jan 31st– rest day

Feb 1st– Needed a heavy lifting day so I picked 4 moves and really focused on heavy weights.

feb1st

I chose a heavy weight and then a slightly lighter one for round two. I’m getting to the point where it’s almost as hard to hold the 30# dbs as it is to squat with them! I miss having a bar to do squats. But anyways, my legs were screaming by the end of the lunges…and then I went and did wall sits!
I turned my Gymboss into a countdown timer and it was perfect for the wall sits and planks! All I had to do was reset it for the new time during my 30 sec rest periods 🙂

Feb 2nd– Holy soreness from yesterday! That coupled with the fact that I was tired from work and super stressed almost led to me skipping my workout tonight. But I knew I wasn’t really too tired…I was just crabby. So I forced myself downstairs with the promise that I didn’t have to run if I didn’t want to, or lift. So what did I do? Literally crouched on the treadmill in a ball for about 5 minutes staring at the wall…then I got up and started walking.

We all know I like intervals. They help pass the time quickly…but this time I focused on increasing the incline for varying interval lengths (30 sec, then 60 sec, then 90 sec) and left the speed constant.

feb2nd

 This workout was exactly what I needed tonight. I was dripping sweat when I was done and it reminded me of something i often forget. You DON’T have to run to get in a good workout on the treadmill. Walking workouts can be brutal. Especially if your legs and butt are already sore 🙂

 

Today’s Workout:

Rev & Recover Tabata Workout
I kept the tabatas simple with only 2 exercises for each one. Tabatas 1 & 2 and 4 & 5  will rev up your heart rate and get you breathing hard. Tabatas 3 & 6 let you actively recover with tabatas geared towards ab exercise.

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I liked this tabata because it was quick, but still got me sweating. I did 20 sec of work/10 sec rest eight times total per tabata so each exercise was done 4 times. It took 24 minutes with no rest between tabatas.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I’m definitely a fan of the lunges, even though they make your legs scream! it’s one of those “it hurts so good” kind of moves lol

    Reply

  5. Awesome workouts this week, girl! The one-legged tabata workout sounds killer. Burpees are definitely my favorite move to incorporate into my tabata routines. They get my heart pumping like crazy- I love it!

    The Gymboss interval timer looks amazing!

    Reply

  8. I would LOVE a gym boss…when I am shedding this baby weight and stepping up my workouts in a few months I plan to spend a lot of time uping my tabata routine. I love me some dead lifts. It makes me feel strong.

    Reply

  18. I have totally been wanting one of these!!!! So excited for your awesome giveaway!

    Squats and Lunges are my faves bc I have a history of knee problems and my PT recommended them to balance out my leg muscles.

    Reply

  29. Okay, not following the Tabata workout BUT I am training for my first ever SPARTAN RACE in May! I am a recovering 1/2 marathon runner who has finally accepted that I will probably never do the distance again (hip issues) but I am a run leader for a “learn to run 5km” and the Gymboss would not only help with my running group but also the circuit training I do 3x a week!

    Favourite is weighted squats (with 15-20lb) immediately followed by hamstring/leg curls! Love any exercise for my legs!

    Reply

  32. My trainer loves incorporating squats and lunges (in all different forms) into those workouts. But I think pushups and burpees are always the hardest!

    I also tweeted!

    Reply

  36. I LOVE that your best workout of the week was the one where you thought you’d never get yourself out of bed. I love it when that happens. Just goes to show that it’s true – you’ll never regret a workout 🙂

    Awesome workout week lady!

    re: circuits: I love throwing bodyweight work in, like pushups or planks.

    Reply

  52. Currently I do not cross train or do circuit training at all – however, I’d love to start doing so and a Gymboss would really encourage me! (and help me too!)

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  55. My favorite is Lunges……. 🙂 They just make those thighs burn!!!! Gotta love the burn! I have been doing interval tabatas for a while and I LOVE it! I so need one of those gymbosses….I was looking at them online just yesteday!

    Reply

  70. I am behind on my blog reading, clearly! I love the Fitness Friday idea! Great work this week!! I need a Gymboss- i use the internet tbabta timer at home, I need a travel version fo sho!

    Reply

  74. I got my Gymboss, in pink as well, a few weeks ago and I love it. It has been the best fitness gadget I’ve ever purchased! I kept reading about it and am so glad I got it.

    Reply

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