Sarah Joseph M.S., CSCS

Hi everyone, 

I've decided that fridays and saturdays are going to be my lifting days. Friday will be legs and saturday will be arms.

SO here was my first more legs oriented workout. You can modify this based on your availible equipment

i used 15 seconds rest 50 seconds work for each and 28 rounds so I did each exercise four times. you can set specific repetitions for each of these. GO heavier than you normally would for weight because we wanna increase strength even though this is a circuit style workout. 

• hip lifts- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSKHPATj32s
• one leg squats- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqmYSjE6C2Y
• burpee with bender ball between knees
• leg lowers with bender ball between knees- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD8V3WIAKQY
• squats- i held 2 20 lb dumbbells 
• crunches (i used the bender ball again)
• overhead step ups- step should be about knee height (up up down down) keep weight overhead the whole time

So, it has come to my attention that Reebok has a new add slogan that says "Cheat on your girlfriend, not on your workout." And to that I say, "How about just NEVER cheat?" So that is our new motto people. Never cheat. Where does cheating get you? How will cheating benefit you in the long run? The old adage "cheaters never prosper" comes to mind. If you cheat on a test you'll never really have learned the material, if you cheat on your girlfriend.... that kinda makes you a sucky person in my book, if you cheat on your diet, you won't ever truely reach your diet goals.... (though you should know by now that it's more about a lifestyle change in eating habits than a "diet diet"). So the moral of the story is cheating is bad so DEFINITELY DON'T CHEAT ON THIS WORKOUT.

i will make a video of these moves soonnnn.

4 rounds of the following exercises for the Never Cheat Ever workout

1. 2 minutes of jump rope jacks (jumping jack feet with a jump rope)
2. 10: 1-2-3 jump lunges with leg kick out
3. 20: squat kicks (i increased the challenge of this by holding twenty pound DBs
4. Med ball plank switches (one hand on, one hand off, hold plank position and switch hands)

My time could use some improvement i think. TRY TO BEAT ME! but DON'T CHEAT

25 minutes 22 seconds

gosh i hate cheaters.

Ok, I'll be honest, this workout has very little do to with the character Storm from Xmen. However, it has been pretty stormy here where I live and I have personally been kind of in a rut with making healthy food decisions so I wanted to really kick start this week with a rigorous and rewarding workout. 

I hope you give it a try too. It's always a good idea to set goals as I have talked about in previous blog posts. My goal for this workout is to complete it in around half an hour and forty minutes tops. Post your scores in the comments below! 

If you haven't already, this is a great time to start taking steps to reach your fitness goals. I will do anything I can to help you. make sure to keep up with my article posts under photos and post your scores so we can compete against each other. 

Also, if you have the time, check out this article about meat. I found this to be very surprising and appauling. I am not a vegetarian nor a carnivoire but I like to know that my meat is fresh and a good source of protein, not a chemically ridden disguised food.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/19/AR2006021901101.html

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JP9mH81Rbc&feature=feedu

30 reps of the following!!!!

1. sandbag squat and backward lunge- lunge back and step to the side
2. tripple knee tuck/ one leg push up combo- tuck knee across body, push up, tuck knee, to chest, push up, tuck knee to the side, push up, keep the leg up while you do the push up
3. sandbag combo full body exercise- sandbag or weight on one shoulder, backward lunge, throw the weight down to the side that you will be placing it on next backward lunge, jump the feet back into a high plank, jump the feet in, jump up, repeat on the other side
4. forward backward lunge with sandbag
5. seated pull ups
6. sandbag squat
7. plank side jumps- jump feet back then forward toward one hand
8. lift split on dip station- raise and straddle the legs
9. pendulum- from a pike position, alternate jumping each leg out to the side
10. one arm press up
11. mountain climber
12. ninja jump tuck- 5 reps

This week we're going to really be focusing on taking our training to another level. I recently saw the XMen movie "First Class." and it really made me wish that I had super powers. So this week we're going to be doing 5 superhero workouts, each focused on a specific mutant. 

Our first workout is going to be based on Mystique, the blue, acrobatic, fighting mutant. 

Part 1 20 seconds rest- 1 minute work (max intensity) 6 rounds

alternate between the following....

side lunge chop- bring the dumbells on the shoulders or bring the sandbag over the head so that it rests on the shoulders, lunge to the side, bring the weights down, bring the weight back up, lunge to the other side

roll over commando push ups- roll over, push yourself up in one straight line, tuck the right knee in, lay back on your stomach in one straight line, push yourself back up, and tuck the left knee in, lower down, roll over, repeat

Part 2 20 of each X 3 for time

20 each leg: jump lunge kick up- do two jump lunges and on the last one kick the back leg up to the hand in front of the body

20: diving knee tucks- do a dive bomber forward, lift the hips back into a downward dog, tuck the right knee into the chest toward the left, repeat on left

Part 4: Don't rush, focus on form

30 crunches all together: crunch lift off- sit up to the left, sit up to the middle, sit up to the right

bridge pose, alternate between flat feet and balancing on balls of the feet, alternate lifting legs for added challenge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7arNSJ0QCw

headstand- take your time, this is not a time challenge, try a beginners variation http://video.about.com/yoga/How-To-Do-a-Headstand.htm 

stay active, keep tuned for more workouts and advice!

I hope your week is going well and that these workouts are helping you get back on track with your fitness. Keep in mind I've added a food category. I'll be adding more to it as time goes on. 

Don't forget to warm up and cool down as always. I reccomend 10 to 20 reps of each of the following exercises depending on how heavy the weights are that are availible to you. You should be really struggling by your last reps whatever you choose.

Lateral Arm and Leg Lift

backward squat with bicep curl

deadlift row

Reptile tuck with kick back- start in a high plank, tuck one knee into your tricep, then kick the same leg out and concentrate on squeezing the bum, don't forget to do both legs!

deadlifts (choose a heavier weight)

repeat 2-4 times