Playtime: Make Yourself

A few months ago, I committed to personal training sessions in an effort to mix up my exercise routine while cutting back on running.  I deserted Planet Fitness in favor of a fancy gym with TRX, kettlebells, heavy ropes, stability balls, steppers, chin-up bars, a jungle gym and other equipment I had never before encountered. The extent of this cardio queen's strength training routine involved some dumb bell rows and a few minutes on the machines pictured in the commercial below...once in a blue moon when I wasn't gutting it out mile after mile on the treadmill.



But I've been building muscle with a trainer in pre-dawn sweat sessions two or three times a week for awhile now. Although I've mentioned it here on the blog briefly, I haven't really gone into detail about my progress or the exercises.


Friday morning marked the end of the training sessions... for awhile at least. I need a little break. There are things I will miss like varied routines, encouragement, feeling strong and actually working out at a high-end, clean gym with well-maintained equipment.

And there are things I will not miss like the Sailor's relentless teasing. For those of you that know the Sailor, think along the lines of him asking "Which way to the beach?" and demanding I flex on cue...And worse yet, any time I mention the gym, he pulls up the iphone app that mimics the Planet Fitness lunk alarm (flashing lights and a loud siren that go off at Planet Fitness when someone drops weights). He's clearly not afraid of my giant new muscles!

The upside: I can do two really perfect chin ups now. Just two though.
The downside: I've also gained (at least) a couple of pounds, and it's doubtful that it's all muscle!

Back to the positives though, I loved the variety in the workouts. It almost made the training time go by too quickly some days. My workouts seemed to be over in a flash! Even though I'm taking a break from official training sessions, I wrote down some of the new body weight resistance exercises so I can try to maintain the strength I've gained. Ideally, I'm hoping that I can mix and match 3-4 of the exercises below and do 3-4 rounds at least twice a week.

Today, my goal is to blow up the core stability ball that is packed somewhere in the basement. Then my workout will look something like this:

Mountain Climber (30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest)
Bird Dog (8 on each side)
Split Jacks (30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest)
Plank Hold (40 second hold)
*Four Rounds

Cross Body Chop (8 on each side- with a dumb bell in stead of a kettle bell)
Jump Rope
Core Roll Out (10)
High Knees (30 seconds)
*Four Rounds