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February 7, 2014 · 6:45 am

Mountain Climbers: Your Arms, Legs And Core Will Thank You! Also, A Great 500 Ab Workout

It’s very hard not to love high impact exercises that don’t require any equipment at all and can be done pretty much anywhere. Some of those exercises are: the burpee and the plank. It’s one of those love-hate relationships for me. However, today I’d like to talk about MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS. Not only it’s a plyometric exercise that tones your arms, legs and core, but it also strengthens the cardiovascular system. And no, you don’t have to climb a mountain to do them!

Seems simple enough, right?! But don’t be fooled! There are so many health benefits to this exercise:

Core Strength
Power Training: lower body
Strengthen heart and lungs
Burn calories *=FAT*

Not enough a challenge? Try placing hands on top of a medicine ball!

Source

According to the Spartan Race blog, “When the race course turns vertical, you’ll also appreciate the power you’ve generated with your time spent mountain climbing. While you’re down on the ground, you can also do a few 25′ bear crawls to better ready yourself for barbed wire obstacles.”

One of the ways to incorporate mountain climbers in your workout is to drop and perform 1 to 3 sets of 10-30 mountain climbers at the half way point during your routine run. Whatever gets your heart pumping, right?!

Source

I’m sorry! I couldn’t resist the temptation to post this picture. I mean, how ridiculously funny it is?!?! Haha!

Anyhow, moving on to today’s workout. This is what is going to happen (as per the Spartan race training guide).

Interval running

10 reps: 10-second hill (sprint), 10-second rest
5 reps: 20-second hill (very high intensity), 20-second rest
3 reps: 30-second hill (high intensity), 10-second rest

Do not stop until all 18 intervals are complete. Walk for 5 minutes to recover, and repeat for half the reps. Jog easy for 20 minutes.

AB 500

25 crunches
50 bicycles
50 back-scratchers
50 rotating crunches
25 leg-lowers
50 scissor-kicks
50 side-crunches
50 bicycles
50 back-scratchers

** You can find how to do all of these exercises properly here.

Source

What are your favorite high impact exercises? How do you add them to your workouts?

xoxo
Olena

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Filed under Fitness, Health

Tagged as ab workout, body image, Core strength, dieting, fitness, Fitspiration, health, mountain climbers, Spartan Race, weight loss

January 7, 2014 · 6:45 am

A Great Ab Workout & Why It Is So Important For Runners

The importance of changing up workouts and targeting different groups of muscles is not a secret. Doing this helps you to gain muscle faster without unnecessary injuries. So it was not a surprise when yesterday I decided to work on my abs after a long Sunday run.

OKAY, I will admit, it wasn’t the only reason. I slacked and hadn’t run for the past 3 weeks, so my legs were super sore after a 10 km run. Yes! You heard it right! I’m not perfect and there is nothing wrong with taking breaks! *Oh, excuses, excuses!*

All jokes aside though, ab workouts are super important for any fitness enthusiast, especially for runners. According to this source: ‘At any given point during a typical run, your body weight rests entirely on one leg or the other. That means the muscles in the core (abdominal) area of your body must remain contracted in order to help you keep your balance. A weak core means other muscles, like those in your back and neck, must pick up the slack, which can lead to aches, pains and even serious injury. At the very least, weak abs compromise your running performance, making you slower and causing you to tire faster.’

This means, not only that you have to suffer because your stomach is not as appealing as you’d like it to be, but also that you are slower than other runners AND in pain! How crazy is that?!?! This alone is enough to motivate anyone like me! Therefore, now when someone is talking to me about an ab workout, all I hear is this:

I’m gonna show off my sexy stomach at the beach this summer! Woop woop!
I’m gonna run at the front of the pack and think *SUCKERS!!!*
Next time I go for a massage, it’ll be for my own pleasure and not to work on my ‘problematic’ a.k.a. painful areas.

Also:

The following workout is really great. It is very effective, even though it’s only 8 minutes long. Personally, I really enjoyed it. My puppy also participated in the exercise by pulling on my ponytail from time to time. She is a true team player as you can see!

Please, don’t be afraid if you don’t speak any French, there is not much talking involved, and the counting is done in English. Simply follow the robot! REALLY! You’ll see what I mean! HAHA!