Vacations, and Injuries, and Overeating, Oh My!

There is nothing like taking a vacation to throw you off your regular fitness routine. Take one vacation, add extended family (Italians, to boot), a birthday party (or two), a foot injury, and a music festival, put it all in a 5 day span and what do you get? NO EXERCISE, TOO MUCH FOOD AND DRINK, NO SLEEP, AND TOTALLY AWESOME MEMORIES. Oh, and about an extra 4-5 lbs of weight gain. I don't think it's muscle either;)

So I'm back to the real world, yet I had no time to get to my regular Tuesday routine and had to do a late night circuit workout. So, here it is:

5 minute warm-up - get warm, don't putz around!

Round 1: 20 seconds of work, 8 seconds of rest (just enough time to set up the next move) Repeat 4 times, consecutively.

• push-ups (add variety)
• dips
• split squat with weights-right leg
• split sqat-left leg
• weighted squat jacks/180 squat jumps
• box jump
• bicep curls

Round 2: Repeat 3 times, 30 seconds between sets.

• burpees x 10
• pull-ups - to failure

Round 3: Repeat 4 times, recover somewhat between sets

• forearm plank (10 seconds)
• forearm plank arm raise (5 each side, alternate)
• forearm plank with hip rotation (5 each side, alt., bring hip to the floor)
• straight arm plank w/ knee to tricep (5 each side, rotate hip externally)
• straight arm plank w/ knee to opposite elbow (5 each side, alt.)
• v-ups with weight (10-holding a dumbbell with both hands)
• side to side abs (5 each side,hold boat pose, rotate from waist to bring dumbbell to the floor)
• hold boat and use dumbbell to "incline press" 10 times.

End with hip stretches, splits work and a handstand, for good measure.

Cross-training: Quick and Dirty HIIT

Is it Wednesday yet? because Ashley Conrad is my new #WomanCrushWednesday ! I came across a quick at-home workout on Bodybuilding.com by Ms. Conrad, and it was great. I don't happen to have a pull-up bar at home so I did it at the big box gym, and modified things for the space and equipment available. Google the workout, she's got a video to explain it.

Here's my modified version (still intense):

5 minute warm-up: make it worth your while, I like to jump rope but there are none at the cheap-o gym (liability?) so I got on one of those eliptical/free runner type thingies and ran like I was being chased by a dinosaur.

Round 1:
-to be executed just like a superset with no breaks.

• push-ups (any kind-mix it up) 3 x 30, 20, 10
• burpees 3 x 30 sec
• chin-ups 3 x 30, 20, 10 (I had to use a band after a while, and did pull-ups for the last set)

Round 2:
-to be performed one after the other, for 20 seconds each, no rest. I used my HIIT timer app and set the work at 20 seconds and rest at 3 seconds just to be able to move from place to another when I needed to.

• air squats
• plank front raise
• 180 jump squats
• box jump toe taps
• star jumps
• mountain climbers

Round 3:
-go lighter than you usually do, no breaks! I used 10's then 15's on the last set. It wasn't easy!

• dumbell shoulder press 3 x 30, 20, 10
• dips 3 x 30, 20, 10
• bicep curls 3 x 30, 20, 10

Round 4:
-repeat round 2.

I ended the workout with some yoga hip release, splits work and a few handstands. I was swimming in sweat!