What?! A Friday post. Yep, this is real life.
I know it’s been a couple of weeks since the last Fitness Friday, and I apologize for that. These August weekends are slipping away far faster than I’d like, and BOOM – now it’s September! This has been one very rough week for the blog in terms of technical difficulties, which some of you may have noticed.
If you’ve been trying to access any recipes, workouts or guides in my shop recently, know that I’m super grateful for your patience while these things get sorted out. Sometimes technology can be wonderful, it can also be incredibly frustrating! And yes, I acknowledge that the blog being temporarily down is totally a first world problem. Let’s focus on fun Friday vibes and fitness instead!
Work It Out
With Seawheeze now finished and in the books as another beautiful summer memory, I’ve really been enjoying taking my focus back to lifting. I talked here about how my perspective on fitness goals has shifted from the very common reductionist mindset (ie working out to reduce a time, maintain or lose weight, achieve a thinner physique etc) to gaining things like strength, power, agility and mobility. In my case, building strength and power are my 2 main fitness goals right now, and what I’m planning to work on this fall.
With all that in mind, today’s workout is a peek into one of my gym sessions these days – as in, what I do from start to finish. This generally takes me about 1 hour (hence the name) depending on how much rest I feel I need between lifts in order to maintain quality and form. Note that if you’re newer to strength training, you’ll probably want to approach this one with lighter weights until you feel confident with your technique for each movement. This should always be prioritized, and don’t feel discouraged if at first you can’t lift very much. It’s all about gradual progression, and when you start to notice that strength building, that’s when you know you’re doing it right. (And it feels pretty friggin awesome!)
The Hour of Power Total Body Workout
This session starts with an easy warm-up, then moves into a strength set where the objective is to challenge yourself with weight while maintaining good technique throughout. You’ll finish with a metabolic conditioning circuit which won’t take long, but will definitely spike your heart rate as the goal is to complete all 3 rounds as fast as possible. Finish up with some mobility work and you’re good to go!
Click here to print/download the PDF.
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Turn It Up
This week’s workout jam is Lightning in a Bottle by The Summer Set, a recent Spotify find that I added to my HIIT playlist to help me push through the treadmill sprints at the end of my workouts. (I do those on days when I don’t feel like doing a metcon finisher like the one in the session above.) Enjoy!
Can’t see the video? Click here.
Have A Read
- Tips from 9 pro athletes for eating well on the road – via Outside Online. I like where Dean Karnazes’ head is at with the smoked salmon!
- 4 health investments that won’t break the bank – via Mind Body Green
- Why running does not (always) burn fat – via Born Fitness
Right, that’s enough for this week! I hope you have a fantastic, relaxing long weekend, and before you go, pop into the comments below and let me know one thing you’re most grateful for this week. I’ve got lots, but some include my developer for coming to my rescue, a heatwave in Vancouver that makes it still feel very summery, and a fun get together with my team from work. Such. Great. People. ?
I’ll see ya back here on Monday!