Good morning friends!

Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a wonderful short week. Mine flew by, but work was super busy so once again, I’m ready for a break! Nothing like a pumpkin spice-infused green monster to start the morning off right!

I’m not sure what’s in your weekend plans, but why not kick it off right with a super sweatfest of a workout? Without further delay, here is your Fit Bit Friday!!

Work It Out

Lately I’ve been loving circuit-based cardio sessions. Before I started doing these, I would have thought that the only way to work up a great sweat and to crank my heart rate up was with traditional cardio. Not the case, my friends! If your only cardio sessions are done on the treadmill, bike, or elliptical, you’ve got to try this out!

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The Countdown Workout

***Disclaimer: As with all workouts posted on Eat Spin Run Repeat, please check with a medical professional before beginning any exercise program. I am not a certified personal trainer and all workouts found on my blog are based only on my own experience.***

Just like The Multitasker Workout, this routine uses compound moves (as opposed to isolated muscle movements) to work as many muscles and burn as many calories as possible. All you need is a couple of sets of dumbells. Here’s how it works:

You’ll do the following set of exercises, with 12 reps of each exercise, moving quickly from one move to the next:

• Squat-curl-press
• Jumping lunges
• Mountain climbers
• Burpees

After you’ve finished 12 reps of each exercise, take only as much rest as you need before repeating the circuit again. (Keep moving for whatever rest period you take, and be sure to drink water throughout). On the second time through the circuit, do 10 reps of each exercise. Again, rest only as long as you need to, then repeat for 8 reps, 6, reps, 4 reps, and finally 2 reps of each exercise.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the moves:

Squat-Curl-Press: Hold a dumbell in each hand, standing with feet outside of shoulder width apart and hands at your sides. Lower into a squat (A), then push through your heels to rise as you curl the weights and contract your biceps. When the weights reach shoulder height, rotate your wrists to face forward, extend your arms and press the dumbells overhead (B). Reverse the movement to return to the starting position, and continue with your next rep.

Want to make it harder? Add a small jump as you come out of the squat position, just before curling the dumbells.

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Jumping Lunges: Take a long stance with your right foot in front of left, bending knees at 90 degrees. Avoid letting your right knee move in front of your right toes. Lower into a lunge, then reverse the movement at the bottom, jump, and land in a lunge with your left foot forward and right leg back. That’s 1 rep (1 lunge on each side.)

Want to make it harder? Hold your dumbells overhead with arms extended directly upward as you lunge.

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Mountain Climbers: Get into high plank position, supporting your weight in your hands and toes. Begin by driving your right knee up to your chest, and immediately return it to the starting position. Repeat with the left knee to complete your first rep (right + left = 1 rep), concentrating on contracting your abdominal muscles when driving your knees to your chest.

Want to make it harder? Place your hands on a stability ball, medicine ball, or BOSU trainer instead of the floor.

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Burpees: Stand with feet about shoulder width apart. Bend your knees as you plant your hands on the ground, and kick your legs back, landing in high plank pose. Immediately push off your toes and draw knees to chest, planting feet near hands and jumping up, throwing arms overhead for momentum. That’s 1 rep.

Want to make it harder? Add a pushup after you land in the high plank position.

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When you’re finished all rounds (12, 10, 8. 6, 4, and 2 reps), be sure to stretch and rehydrate.

Turn It Up

This week’s Turn It Up tune comes courtesy of Alex Gaudino featuring Kelly Rowland. It’s a song that I recently heard and searched for on Youtube to see if I could find any good remixes for my spin classes. As it turned out, there were heaps of variations posted, but the one below was by far the best of all. Better yet, it’s a multipurpose tune, good for running, cycling, or just jamming away to in the car. Enjoy!

Have A Read

Here’s your light reading for this weekend!

• This article talks about outdoor fitness parks, more specifically, one that has recently popped up in Calgary that is made up of 11 strength training stations for adults. The equipment is free of charge for members of the public to use. They’ve been built from materials that can withstand harsh Canadian winters, and are apparently vandal-proof (although I’m not sure quite how). According to a few other sources I’ve read, we can expect to see more of these in parks across the country. What do you think? Good idea or not? Would you use one?
• Some great core exercises from Oxygen Magazine
• Need to update your iPod? Here’s Shape Magazine’s Top 10 Tunes for September.

Questions for today:

• What do you prefer, traditional cardio (as in, running on a treadmill or outside, cycling, elliptical, or any other ‘cardio machine’) or circuits with strength moves mixed in?
• Fill in the blank:  This weekend, I’m most excited about ____________________________.

Have an absolutely wonderful weekend!