Travel Workout for a Beginner Exerciser

This workout was made for a client who will be traveling for the next few months.  She needed something to do in her hotel room or in a park.  The only piece of equipment you will need is a jump rope.

Do the following circuit 2-3 times through.  Take as little breaks as possible between exercises.  Take a 2 minute break between rounds.

1. High knees in place X 50 reps total
2. Squats X 20 reps
3. Jump rope X 50 reps
4. Push ups X 20 reps
5. Jumping jacks X 50 reps
6. Wall sit X 30 secs
7. Mountain climbers X 50 reps total
8. Bridges X 20 reps - http://www.acefitness.org/acefit/exercise-library-details/0/49/
9. Bird dogs X 20 reps (10 reps per side) - http://www.acefitness.org/acefit/exercise-library-details/1/14/
10. Elbow plank X 30 secs

Nice, Short, and Sweet 14-minute Workout

Well, maybe it's not too nice or sweet BUT it is short!  :)  Do 4 rounds of each set before moving on to the next.  No breaks between sets!  Goal is to keep working the entire 14 minutes.  Good luck!


Set A X 4:
Prisoner squats X 20 seconds
Iso squat X 10 seconds

Set B X 4:
T-push ups X 20 seconds
Hand plank X 10 seconds

Set C X 4:
Squat jumps X 20 seconds
Iso squat X 10 seconds

Set D X 4:
Military (tricep) push ups X 20 seconds
Hand plank X 10 seconds

Set E X 4:
Front lunge to squat, alt legs on the lunge X 20 seconds
Iso squat X 10 seconds

Set F X 4:
Cross body mountain climbers X 20 seconds
Hand plank X 10 seconds

Set G X 4:
Full extension squats (squat to toe raise) X 20 seconds
Iso squat X 10 seconds

Becky's Maintenance Workout

Since I’ve been having some knee issues lately I’ve come up with a way to still run, but take it a little easier on my joints.

• Walk : 1 minute
• Jog: 1 minute
• Fast pace walk: 1 minute
• Jog: 1 minute

I vary between these for around 30 minutes. It’s a little bit easier to do outside than on a treadmill when you have to deal with pushing buttons.

After that I grab a miniband and do these exercises three times through to strengthen my glutes and abductors. Focusing on the weak parts of your body will only make you stronger!

• Miniband side walks x 1 minute
• Miniband clams x 15 reps
• Miniband firehydrants x 15 reps on each side

Finally finish up with some core! Repeat two times:

• Right oblique v-up x 10
• V-ups x 10
• Left oblique v-up x 10
• Hollow body hold x 10s

Q&A with Becky Nichols

Becky Nichols RD LD

What do you do to stay in shape?

I try my hardest each week to workout at least five times per week, but that doesn’t always happen. I like to run to stay in shape because it’s easy and I get to be outside in the sun getting some Vitamin D. I also enjoy biking with my parents on the weekend when I go home. When I’m not running or biking I take full advantage of having two of the best trainers in Austin and workout with Manda and Abe, because what’s better than getting your butt kicked by one of those two?! I save planned working out for the week and if I work out on the weekend it’s usually something fun like hiking, paddle boarding, swimming, or just running around with my dog and fiancé at Zilker.

What’s your secret to achieving your fitness goals?

Staying motivated and realizing setbacks happen, but to not let those get me down. Sometimes staying motivated is hard, but I think it’s key to achieving any sort of goal. Achieving your goals takes time and dedication. You have to set your priorities according to what you really want. If your priorities aren’t in the right spot it’s likely your goal will fall by the wayside. I stay motivated by having other people around me to help me. I have Abe and Manda to help me as well as other professionals in the health field that keep me focused on what I want. Surround yourself with like minded people and people who can help you and you can’t go wrong.

What’s your best advice you can give a client who is trying to lose weight and get in shape?

 Make sure your priorities are in the right places and your actions match up with what your goal is. It’s not easy and it’s going to take time and dedication, but it’s possible. Set small, obtainable goals so that you are successful throughout the whole process. Nutritionally, clean up your diet by taking processed food and fast food out as options. Fitness wise, have a good mix of cardio and resistance training.

What’s your diet like?

I try to keep my diet the same throughout the week. I have the same breakfast, snacks, and lunch every day of the week and I vary my dinners. This helps with time, money and staying healthy. When the healthy food is there and ready it makes it easier to be healthy. The weekends are a little more relaxed and I eat out more. My goal is to have a 90/10 split. 90% of the time I stick to my healthy eating and 10% of the time, if wanted, I can be a little more relaxed with my choices. I try my very hardest to listen to my body and eat when I’m hungry and don’t eat when I’m not. I feel, for my body, the key is eating breakfast and having 3 meals with 2 snacks per day. It keeps me from getting too hungry at any one point during the day and it keeps my energy up.

Abe Workout

This is a workout that AXLR8 Personal Trainer Abraham Acosta does to stay in shape.


Warm-up:
-Concept II Row x2 min
-Walking lunges x20
-Push-up T's x10
-TRX Rows x10
x2

Workout:
-Perform 10 reps of each exercise, then 9, then 8,  then 7, etc...
-Taking as little time in between sets and exercises as possible

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

-Barbell Deadlift 

-Weighted Dips

-Weighted Pull-ups

-Kettlebell Front Squats

-Burpee Box Jumps

Q&A w/ Abe

Q:  What do you do to stay in shape?

A: To stay in shape I try to challenge myself with new things.  Whether I’m doing traditional strength training, gymnastics, martial arts, parkour, or functional training.  I try to keep myself as interested in my workouts as possible.  I have what I like to call “exercise ADHD.”  I lose interest in workouts very quick.  So I make sure I stay goal oriented in all my workouts.  Even though I don’t enjoy it sometimes, I try to focus on weaknesses as well.  I train 5-6 days per week, taking at least 1 full rest day.  Workouts are great, but they usually only take up anywhere from 20 minutes to 60 minutes of my day.  I try to stay as active as possible throughout the day as well.  I never find myself sitting for too long; my goal is to keep moving!  If I ever find myself sitting for too long I get up do a couple of exercises and find something to do that is active.  I believe that is the key.  KEEP MOVING!

Q: What’s your diet like?

A:  My diet focuses more on eating natural foods and trying my hardest to stay away from processed foods.  I view what I eat as fuel.  If I view it as a pleasure then I’m sure to overindulge.  I’m human too!  I love pizza, burgers, and junk food, but I know that none of those foods are going to help me reach my goal.  So I stay away from it. What you eat plays a huge role in how you perform physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Put good food in, you get a good product.  Treat your body like a Ferrari.  You wouldn't put regular unleaded fuel in a Ferrari would you?

Q: What’s the secret to achieving your fitness goals?

A: I have 3 secrets.  The 1^st secret is…HARD WORK!  You can’t be afraid of hard work and sweat.  Building strength, losing weight, “toning up”, building muscle, building speed, all these things are adaptations of the body.  Your body is a great machine, it adapts to what you want it to do.  If you don’t force your body to adapt, it won’t!  Progressively working outside your comfort zone is when you’ll see the most results.  The 2^nd well-kept secret is CONSISTENCY!  “Repetition is the mother of skill.”  Reaching your goal is a process.  You can never expect to reach your goals overnight, if you do, then you didn't aim high enough.  3^rd and last secret is…MOVE!  Workouts are usually only 45 minutes to 1 hour of your day.  There are 168 hours in a week.  So even if you workout every day for an hour, it only accounts for 7 hours!  What about the other 161 hours?!  What you do outside of the gym is just as important as what you do in it.  Keeping the same discipline in the gym and outside is what’s going to help you reach your goals and help you live a healthier life.  To clarify, I don’t mean that you need to be working out in and out of the gym, kicking your own butt every chance you get.  What I simply mean is that you need to make sure you’re trying to stay active and be mindful of your diet.  Try to keep the “sitting around watching tv time” to a minimum.  Get up and do stuff!  Walk your dog, do clean your house, play with your kids, etc.  Find excuses to move around!   

Follow these secrets, get a little more educated on what foods to eat or type of training program to follow (Find someone to teach you if need be.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help!) and I promise that you’ll reach whatever goals you set for yourself.

Quick Workout - Plank Ladder Circuit

This is a short, quick workout that gets the heart rate up and works a lot of core.  You can do this pretty much anywhere and all you need is a jump rope.  If you have a little more time in your schedule, add another 100 reps to your jump rope and do the plank ladder circuit another round.  By the end of the workout, your shoulders should burn and your core should feel nice and tight!  (No jump rope?  Substitute high knees.) 



*Warm up with 200 reps of jump rope.

1. Elbow plank X 30 secs
2. T-rotation push ups X 30 secs
3. Elbow plank X 45 secs
4. Burpees X 45 secs
5. Elbow plank X 60 secs
6. Mountain climbers X 60 secs
7. Elbow plank X 45 secs
8. Burpees X 45 secs
9. Elbow plank X 30 secs
10. T-rotation push ups X 30 secs

*Finish with another 200 reps of jump rope and stretching.