Happy Friday!

How has your week been? As usual, I’m more than ready for the weekend and can’t wait to get outside and (fingers crossed) have a pain-free run tomorrow morning. One of my goals for this month is to work myself up to 10 miles without feeling the familiar shooting ache in my right foot that I’ve dealt with for the past 2 months, and based on my workouts earlier this week, I think I just might do it! Are there any workouts on your agenda for this weekend? No? Well, I can sort that out. Time for Fit Bit Friday!

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Work It Out

This week’s routine will be the last workout in my July No-Crunch Core Challenge. How are you doing with it so far? If you’ve missed any of the workouts, you can find the links and print them here. If you’d rather just join in now and pick up on workout 4, you can do that too!

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The No-Crunch Core Challenge Workout (Part 4)

You’ve got 6 new exercises in this  circuit. Just like all the previous routines, do it 2 times through on Monday, 3 times through on Wednesday, and 4 times through on Friday. Alternatively, you can pick other days and fit them in as you want to around your other workouts. Complete a set of each exercise without resting, and at the end of the 6th exercise, rest for up to 60s. Restart and continue until you’ve finished your sets for the day! The table below provides options to make some of the moves easier and more challenging. If you’ve been doing this with me since the beginning of the month, I’m sure your core is getting very strong by now!

  No-Crunch Core Challenge Part 4

Click here to print the PDF.

Here are a few visuals and descriptions to help you out.

Woodchopper: If you don’t have access to a cable machine, you can do this with a dumbell, medicine ball, or other heavy object. (Try a tub of laundry detergent!)

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Side plank squeeze: Get into side plank position with your forearm supporting you on the ground. At the same time, bring your top knee in to meet the elbow of your top arm. Complete all reps on this side, then switch.

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Side plank half-jacknife: Again in side plank pose, this time keeping your top leg straight, extend it out in front of you and reach for your toes with the fingers of your top arm. Complete all reps on this side, then switch.

Spiderman push-ups: These are just like regular push-ups, but every time you hit the bottom of the push-up move, bring a knee up to meet the elbow on the same side. For example, you would lower down with your arms, bring left up to meet your left elbow, then return the left foot to the starting position and push up. Alternate sides.

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Ball plank with leg lift: Get into low plank with your forearms resting on a stability ball, as shown below. (You’ll need some core strength here to stay balanced!) Remain in plank pose, but lift your right leg a few inches off the ground and hold for 15s. Switch legs every 15s until time is up.

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4-point plank hops: Get into high plank pose, as if you were about to do mountain climbers. Instead, hop your feet (together) in and to the left, then straight in towards your hands, then to the right, then straight back out to where you started. (Your hops will form a square.) Keep going until you’ve completed all reps – your heart rate should come up!

Turn It Up

This week’s workout jam is Wide Awake (the Jumpsmokers remix) by Katy Perry. Her songs tend to be hit and miss in my opinion – there are a handful that I like and a bunch more that sound just the same as the others. However, I really like this one as a workout tune and my usual XM Radio station hasn’t been overplaying it (yet) so for now, it’s on my list of hits!

Have A Read

And finally, my questions for you!

  • Do you have any workout requests for after the No-Crunch Core Challenge is over? Send them my way!
  • Are you catching Olympic fever yet? If so, are you watching out for any favourite athletes?  I certainly am, and even though I probably couldn’t jump a hurdle to save my life, I’ll be cheering hard for Lolo Jones!!
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