What kind of workouts have you been getting into lately?
I’ve noticed that when I get crazy busy, I tend to stop getting as creative with my workouts. And since April was a hectic month for me, my workouts were not all that exciting. I had been going to some fun classes that were challenging me, but the first thing that goes when my schedule is packed is fitness studio visits. After all, not having to drive to studios saves time in my day! I was also traveling for half of the month, during which I snuck in quick morning workouts before full days. Oh, but I did go on an awesome hike during my quickie getaway to Idyllwild!
Wheel posing on the top of Idyllwild’s Suicide Rock
No matter how busy I am, I make it a priority to workout. I tell myself, no excuses! Truth be told, I have exercise ADHD, so my “boring” workout stretch is probably still more exciting than most. I have about a dozen workout DVDs I like, I use YouTube to find new workouts (Speaking of which, check out my post on 3 at-home kickboxing workouts to try!), take my dog for long walks around our neighborhood, favorite parks, and by the beach, and use my at-home workout equipment. I have a variety of dumbbells, resistance bands, recovery tools, and my favorite thing of all, my indoor bike trainer.
I’ve mentioned it before, but I got this bike trainer a year or so ago that allows me to make my mountain bike a stationary one. The funny thing is, my hubs bought the trainer for himself, but I pretty much exclusively use it. Soon after he got it, he began riding his bike to/from work, so it’s worked out. We both put some miles on our bikes!
On a mountain biking excursion with my hubs last year
To switch things up, I created today’s workout: the cycling + strength circuit workouts of threes. It combines cardio – I cycle, but you could do any kind of cardio you like – with strength moves – push ups, sit ups, squats, shoulder flies and lunges – done three different ways. There are 3 rounds to the workout, and in each round, you do 10 minutes of cycling, followed by variations of those core 5 strength moves. I like breaking up my cardio in this kind of way because, as I said, I have exercise ADHD!
This workout is a goodie, and I hope that you try it! Here are some explanations of moves included:
–Shoulder flies
– Tricep Push Ups
– Cursty Lunges
– Butterfly Crunches
– Triangle Push Ups (she calls them tricep push ups, which they are too!)
– Squats to Shoulder Press
– Full Body Crunches
– Jump Squats
I’m planning on being more adventurous with my workouts in the coming weeks. I plan on taking a couple of challenging classes (boxing, here I come!), heading outdoors for a few hikes, and maybe a few outdoor bike excursions + summery workouts like kayaking.
Looking for other cycling workout ideas? Try my Total Body Cycling Circuit Workout!
Tell me… What’s your favorite form of cardio?
We are workout sole sisters, I swear. Lol. My workouts have been boring and redundant too, so I joined a new fitness studio this week. I plan on doing 3-4 of their classes, all different strength/HIIT workouts. So far I love it and have learned new moves.
That looks like the same trainer I have. Really want a smart trainer though…do you ride with zwift??
Ha! Good for you for joining a new studio to switch things up! I’m glad that you commented – I tried to visit your old blog awhile back & wasn’t aware of the new one! I’ve never heard of Zswift until just now.. Looks like it’ll be available on Apple TV soon, in which case I’d totally want to try it!
This workout looks fun. I’m going to try it this weekend, but with rowing as cardio!
I hope that you do try it! Thanks for reading & commenting.
Oh man that workout sounds intense! But I love a good interval HIIT workout form time to time.
HIIT interval workouts are the best! I find that they go by so fast and burn mega calories.
Thanks for your inspiration! I was just wondering how your foot injury is doing? Do you find you are able to do the lunges with no problems to your sesamoids? Did you have trouble back when the injury was at its worst? I am so frustrated by my inability to do lunges, planks, burpees etc right now due to 6 months of sesamoid pain and I am still trying to get to the bottom of exactly what is wrong ….
Hi Jen! Absolutely, I’ve taken off 2 long stretches of any serious activity & worn a foot cast because of that injury. Last year when I found out both of my sesamoid bones were broken, I took it easy to let it heal for probably 6 weeks. No doubt that it’s an annoying chronic injury, but I’ve gotten to the point with my sesamoiditis where it gets sore but I’ve figured out how to make it manageable: If I go for a long hike one day & it’s feeling achy, I don’t do any kind of jump training or high intensity workouts for a few days. I get regular massages because I think my torn calf injury from years back is related to the foot injury, & think that helps to loosen up the tightness in those areas. I avoid too much plyometric training & will change moves to something lower impact when I’m at fitness classes or doing a workout DVD…. So, it sounds like maybe you should go see a podiatrist that specializes in sports medicine to see what’s up with your foot. In some chronic cases they recommend surgery to remove a sesamoid bone, but it wasn’t even an option for me – even though I was avoiding that to begin with – because both of my bones had been broken & removing both can result in a foot deformity… Fun stuff right! It’s a frustrating thing, but I’m sure that a few weeks of rest would do you good too. Thanks for the question, and hang in there! I’ve learned that there’s no shame in modifying my workouts & that it’s best to try to listen to my body.