Obsession: yoga video (part II)

My newest obsession: Meghan Currie's yoga video "Mad love".

Just watch it and you'll understand.



// I'm off for a mini-vacation to South Karelia (Eastern Finland). I'll be able to go to the gym once, which means that I'll most definitely bring my yoga mat. I'm not even closely as flexible as Meghan (especially after my killer workouts this week), but you know what? I don't care. I'll finish my yoga as flow-y as possible. This one is all about breathing and moving to my own rhytm.

Have a great day,
/Ulrika

Workout schedule for January and February

Hi peeps,

I want to share my workout schedule with you guys. This is a schedule I'll keep up for two months, starting this week.

If you missed yesterday's post about my new year's resolutions, read it here. I've modified my usual workout schedule quite a lot, trying to keep it as simple as possible without putting too much stress on my body.

I reached my goal before Christmas, by the way. I deadlifted a 5 reps set with 100 kgs and benchpressed a set of 6 reps with 50 kgs. Soooo happy.

Monday
Leg workout - supertough crosstraining strength & plyo workout. This is a set I would love to do with a friend, since lifting heavy and jumping high is really tough, and a little competition never hurts.. If I'm the winner, of course ;) No, just kidding. Four rounds of 15 burpees superset with 6-8 heavy deadlifts is so much more fun to do with someone else cheering me on.

If you don't puke, faint or die KEEP GOING!

Tuesday
Upper body crosstraining workout.

I still love my handstand push-ups and chin-ups, and I won't stop doing them. I've added a few basic dumbbell exercises to this workout - you'll see it with pictures as soon as I recruit a friend with me to the gym.

Wednesday
Low-impact leg & core workout at the gym, focusing on my glutes and deep abs (i.e. M. Transversus Abdominis). I've modified a few Tracy Anderson's leg series to match my goals, so I do them with a pulley or elastic bands. This workout includes a lot of bodyweight training, too. Workout coming up...

Thursday
Pole dancing at my local gym. Love. Pole dancing really works my upper body, I'm sore in places I didn't know existed. Gripping the pole, climbing it, spinning on it makes me work my muscles in a way I haven't done before. I love it.

Friday
Yoga.
I love the feeling after a great yoga workout. Energized, but not drained. Remember my motivational yoga video? Check it out here.

Saturday
Endurance training of my choice - dancing, jogging, skiing.. Anything that I find fun at the moment. This is the part of my workouts that I do for me and me alone.

Sunday
Rest day.

This workout schedule is missing my daily walks with my dear little puglet (it's a dog, in case you don't know) and my evening stretches. One of my goals for January is to increase the range of motion in my hips.

Hope you're feeling inspired!

Love,
Ulrika

Picture source: Fitness girls on facebook

How should I start running?

Hey,

Hope you've had a great Halloween! I don't know about you guys, but we had a really quiet Halloween with just two trick-or-treaters. We didn't stock up on sweets, because we didn't want to eat all the leftovers ourselves. My plan worked perfectly, no excess candy to munch on the weekend.

I promised myself last week that I'd go jogging on Saturdays. I promised myself to keep my promises too, ha ha. Since I woke up an hour earlier than I should and I had a tremendous amount of energy, I decided to go for a 45-minute run before work. I felt awesome!

If you haven't been exercising regularly for years, start off with brisk walks. When your walks feel light in intensity, you can add a few jogs into your regular routine (read a bit further, running for beginners-routine coming up!).


How should I get started?
 
Make sure you're exercising properly. Don't be greedy, your fitness level won't improve massively on the first jog.

Here are a few pitfalls you should avoid when beginning your new hobby:

• You're running too fast. Make sure your pace is mild and you feel good during your workout (and afterwards!). Running at a high velocity requires a few week's training, so be patient.
• You're runs are too long in duration. Keep in mind that your career as a runner should start with walking and progress into jogging. Running won't become a habit if you start with high-intensity workouts and feel like sh*t afterwards.
• You're running because you "should be running". If you have no interest in running, why do it? There are a million different cardio exercises that are just as good. If you don't like what you're doing, it's hard to stay motivated.

Set goals.
Set your own goals based on your own fitness level. Read here about setting goals, if you're insecure. An example could be to run for 45 minutes without feeling like dying.


Exercise routines -interval training

Beginner
If you've never run before, start off with 2-3 brisk walks per week. Each workout should last for 20-30 minutes and you should feel energized afterwards.
When your walks feel really easy and light in intensity, add a few minutes jogs into the routine. Your walks could look like this:

Warm-up for 10 minutes (brisk walking)

Light jogging 1 minute

Walking 4 minutes

Repeat the jogging/walking-interval twice for a 20-minute workout.

After completing this routine for 2-3 weeks (and still feeling good), add a little bit of length to your runs. Keep in mind that the workout should still feel easy and you add a maximum of five minutes to each workout per week.

Intermediate
Your fitness level is "intermediate", you work out 2-3 times a week and have done the beginner phase already, or you've been walking/running 20-45-minute runs for 3-4 weeks.

When your fitness level is improving, you can easily crank up the volume:

Warm-up: walk 10 minutes

Jog 2 minutes

Walk 3 minutes

You can slowly move onto a more jogging, less walking type of routine: jog 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes or jog 4 minutes, walk 1 minute. As soon as this routine feels easy, start doing your workouts jogging.

Advanced
In case you've been running straight for 45 minutes and it still feels easy, add a little more intensity to your workouts.

Warm-up: light jogging 10 minutes

Run 1 minute

Jog 4 minutes

Repeat the run/jog-routine 2-6 times.

Run a maximum of three times per week, keeping at least one rest day in between workouts. Remember to stretch your quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes and hip adductors after every workout!

Have a nice run ;)
/Ulrika

Picture source

Workout routines: Lower body plyo circuit

This is what really got me and my friend Maija going last month  - a lower body plyometric circuit! I presented my September workout schedule earlier (here), and now is the time to show you exactly what the plyo circuit is.

Get shredded with this awesome routine! Incorporate it into your workout schedule by replacing a lower body resistance training or a high intensity interval training (HIIT) routine with this. I recommend that you do this 1-2 times per week, keeping a minimum of 48 hours between workouts.

This is one of my favourite workout routines so far. It's short (it takes me about 35 minutes to complete five rounds), effective and I can totally feel my buns and thighs burning afterwards!

Before starting the circuit, make sure you're decently warmed up. By that, I mean a 10-15 minute light cardio on a stationary bike, treadmill or any cardio machine of your choice. You should have broken a bit of sweat before moving on to the circuit.

You'll need: a bench or a step, 2 x 3-5 kg dumbbells, a water bottle and a towel to wipe your sweat (trust me, you'll need it!). Bring a stopwatch to time your progress.

Remember to drink lots of water after the workout. Have a healthy carb-filled recovery drink or meal waiting for you ~30 minutes after working out.

Five rounds of:
Weighted reverse lunge from bench or step (15 reps per leg)
Mountainclimbers (30 seconds)
Bench jumps (10 reps)
Weighted lunge jumps (10 reps per leg)
Jumping jacks (30 seconds)

Try to keep minimal pauses between rounds, no pauses between exercises. Start off with three rounds and work your way up as your body adapts to the workout. This set shouldn't feel easy; in fact, this is one of the toughest sets I do during my workout week.

Breaking down the routine

Reverse lunge from bench or step

Get ready: Stand on an elevated platform, feet hip-width apart with two 3-5 kg dumbbells in each hand. 

Go: Step back with your right leg and lower your body until your left knee is bent at at least 90 degrees. Pause, then push through the left heel and step your right foot on the board. That's one rep. Do all reps on the right leg before stepping back with your left leg.

Mountainclimbers

Get ready: Start in a full plank position, with your palms straight under your shoulders and feet hip-width apart. Make sure you don't round your shoulders or let your hips sag!

Go: Alternate running your knees into your chest as fast as possible, sprinting for 30 seconds until you're completely out of breath.

Bench jumps

Get ready: Stand in front of your bench (or box) with your arms by your sides, feet hip-width apart.

Go: Jump onto your bench, landing as softly as possible, and jump back down. Repeat 10 times.

Lunge jumps

Get ready: Feet in a hip-width position, hands by your sides (holding dumbbells, if possible). Step back with your right leg and lower until your left knee is in a 90 degree angle.

Go: Jump up as fast as you can, extending your knees. Land softly in the same position, lower and repeat 10 times before stepping back with your left leg.

Jumping jacks

Get ready: Stand with your feet together, arms straight by your sides.

 Go: Jump and spread your feet, extending your arms up. Jump and bring them back together. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Tip: Keep your arms as straight as possible, stay on the balls of your feet.

Have a great workout!

/Ulrika

Picture source 1 2 3 4 5

October and November workouts

Hi guys,

I'm so pumped up on this workout schedule!

I decided to go with this for two months, since I really need to focus on my ring work. I've heard that it takes several years to get good at ring gymnastics, which sucks for me :) Well, anyway. I'm really hoping that I get good at something before I ditch it.

(I'm really impatient, just in case you haven't noticed)

I've been doing this set for three weeks now. I'm really seeing a difference in my ring work, and especially on my handstand push-ups. This week I was able to complete four sets of two push-ups, yeah! I just couldn't stop smiling afterwards. You know the feeling, right?

So, here is my weekly workout routine:

Monday
Leg plyo workout. Alternating (supersetting) heavy lifts with plyometric exercises. (workout routine coming up!)

Tuesday
Upper body crosstraining-inspired workout. As I said before, I'm working on ring workouts, plus trying to master handstand push-ups. It's hard, I tell you. (workout routine coming up!)

Wednesday
Leg plyo workout, same as Monday.


Thursday
Upper body crosstraining-inspired workout, same as Tuesday.


Friday
Core training and HIIT (running, cycling, stairclimbing)

Saturday
Yoga


Sunday
Rest


Each workout is 45-65 minutes long, except for the Friday ab workout, which consists of 7 exercises plus a 30-minute cardio and a four-minute Tabata. Oh, how I love and hate Dr. Tabata.

So, how's your weekly workout schedule? Something new and exciting for fall?

/Ulrika

September workouts

Picture source: Fitness World fb page

"Some call it obsession - I call it dedication"

It's been a really long time since I showed you my workout schedule. Here's what I've been up to all September. You know, I really enjoy this one. I'll give you a more detailed description of each workout (since each workout is different) in the next few weeks.
I did the plyo circuit with my friend Maija yesterday - ooooh it was awesome to have someone to work out with! I really miss having a trainer of my own, luckily friends are just as good. :)

Monday
Lower body resistance training + treadmill workout

Tuesday
Upper body resistance training + interval cardio on the elliptical trainer

Wednesday
Lower body plyo circuit + low intensity cardio on the elliptical trainer

Thursday
Upper body resistance training + deep stretching

Friday
Core circuit + HIIT (run, run, run!)

Saturday
A light jog + yin yoga

Sunday
Rest

So, I'm doing two-a-days and loving it! September has definitely been my favourite workout month so far. I still instruct a lot of group fitness classes, but they're mostly functional training, crosstraining and kettlebell classes, so I don't really work out while coaching (compared to Zumbas and other aerobic classes).
I've been rocking this routine for three weeks now, and I'm loving it. The first week was absolutely horrifying, I was constantly sore - my quads hurt so bad I felt like renting a wheelchair. Last week was a lot better - and this week is really not that bad at all. My body is really good at adapting, it seems. As I've said before, I want to keep my body guessing, so I'll do this workot routine for just a few more weeks and mix it up again - I don't want to get bored.

Now, before making a "I don't have time to work out"-speech, each gym (i.e. resistance training) workout takes about 30-40 minutes to finish, as does the cardio. Monday's workout is the only routine that needs a gym - you'll do just fine with 5 kg (11#) dumbbells in all the other exercises.
Oh, and remember that I do a minimum of 40 hours of work per week - I have just as much time to work out as you do. If you don't have time, you make time. I guess you could spare one hour of your day, even for a few days a week? In stead of lounging in front of the telly all night, go for a brisk walk or do a circuit workout at home. Or maybe hit the gym before work? Remember, a 20 minute workout is better than a 0 minute workout.

Stay dedicated,
/Ulrika
 

My leg workout

Hi.

Just wanted to share my newest leg workout with you guys. This workout suits me perfectly at the moment, because it challenges me, every time! Some of the guys at the gym look a little worried when they see me jumping around like a maniac, but you know what? It's totally worth it. I'll be doing another InBody-measuring on myself on Friday morning, so I need to be focused.

I keep myself motivated by doing a body composition analysis every two to three weeks. It keeps me focused on my goals (which I'm still far from) and working really hard. I need to see some change every time!

One major thing in my process is changing my workouts regularly. I grow easily tired of the same workout routines, and I need a challengein every workout. I do legs twice a week (sometimes three times a week), always keeping 48 hours between leg workouts to let the muscles recover. My leg workout consists of supersets/circuit training. I use heavy enough weights to allow me the desired amount of reps with good form. Never compromise good form for heavier weights!

Ok, so this is a long workout - it takes about an hour to complete this, with short water breaks. I can't stress this enough, this is not a beginner workout! I've been going to the gym regularly for quite a few years now, and this is the most challenging workout I've done so far. I wanted to share this to give you ideas for your own workouts. In case you've been gymmin' away for a few years, try this out. Start off with 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps, resting 30 secs between sets. Work your way towards heavier weights as you get used to the movements, minimizing rests between sets.


Start off with a 10 minute warmup on the stairmaster/treadmill/stationary bike/cardio machine of your choice.

A1 3-4 sets, 8 reps Sumo squat with barbell across shoulders*
A2 3-4 sets, 15 reps V-ups on a bench*
A3 3-4 sets, 30-45 seconds Bench jumps

B1 3-4 sets, 8 reps Lunge with the back leg on a bench, barbell across shoulders*
B2 3-4 sets, 1 minute Side plank with pulse*
B3 3-4 sets, 45-60 seconds Jumping jacks

C1 3-4 sets, 8 reps Deadlift*
C2 3-4 sets, 10 reps Cable glute kickback

D1 3-4 sets, 15 reps Incline reverse abdominal crunch*
D2 3-4 sets, 30 seconds Burpee
D3 3-4 sets, 10 reps Seated hip adduction

Sumo squat

Get Ready: Stand with your feet wide, toes and knees pointed slightly out. Set a barbell across your shoulders, resting on the muscles (not pressing on the spine!). Brace your abdominal muscles.

Go: Squat down, keeping your back straight, bending only at the waist and knees. Push through your heels to standing position. Slowly lower yourself back into a squat and repeat.

V-ups on a bench

Get ready: Sit in the middle of a bench with your knees and feet together. Grasp the back of the bench and lean backward, making sure your shoulders are pulled back. 

Go: Lift your knees toward your chest and then extend them back out. Make sure to use your arms to support your body and maintain balance.

Lunge

Get ready: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell across the shoulders. Make sure the barbell is resting on the muscles of your upper back. Always keep your back straight, chest out and shoulders back.

Go: Step forward with one foot. Slowly descend toward floor, allowing your knees to bend. The idea is to make sure that the thigh behind you is perpendicular to the ground while your leading thigh ends in a parallel position. Do not allow your knee to touch the floor. Push back up to starting position through the heels. Repeat with same leg for desired reps. Beginners can begin with no weight and arms crossed at chest.

Side planks

Lie on your side and support your body between your forearm and knees. Hold your spine in a neutral position (normal curves)— avoid letting your back sag during the exercise. Do this exercise on your left and right sides. Try to hold the plank position for as long as possible, starting with 15 seconds. As you increase fitness, support your weight between your forearm and feet and add a pulse, lifting and lowering your hips during the exercise.

Deadlift

Get Ready: Using a weighted bar or dumbbells, stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Keeping your knees slightly bent but locked throughout the exercise. Hold the bar in front of you with your hands about shoulder-width apart. Engage the core the whole time!

Go: Keeping your back straight, head up and chest out, slowly lower the bar, bending only at the hips. You should feel a stretch in your hamstrings and glutes. Squeeze your glutes to help raise your body back into start position. Repeat.

Incline reverse abdominal crunch 

Get ready: Lie on decline bench. Grasp bench behind your head for stability. 

Go: Raise legs to sky and extend fully, pulling your hips off the bench. Slowly lower to starting position and continue for desired reps.

Let me know what you think, I love hearing from you guys!

/Ulrika

Booty workout

Picture source: FitFemmes

 

 What should I do to get a tighter bum and toned thighs?

 I'm going to share my favourite glute workout with you guys. Here goes:

Warm up for 5-10 minutes on the treadmill, stairclimber or any cardio machine of your choice.

1a. Wide squat (smith or barbell)

1b. Bench rise with dumbbells

2a. Vertical press (or leg press)

2b. Deadlift

3a. Cable hip extension

3b. Cross back lunge (barbell or dumbbells)

4a. Lying knee flexion

4b. Box jump (or stair jump)

A few tips for your workout:

1. Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. Make sure you use big weights ! No challenge, no changes.

2. Try to take as few breaks as possible. This workout is designed to do in supersets. It means that you should do your 1as paired with 1b's (etc), no breaks in between sets! Do each set with full control, even though it's tough. Fight through the pain :)

3. Focus on your glutes in every move! Squeeze at the top of every exercise and push through the heels in all lunges, kickbacks, squats, etc.

4. Train your booty 1-2 times a week. If you're going with two workouts a week, make sure to leave a few days between workouts. Spreading out your workouts will give your glutes time to heal and plump up. Don't be afraid to go heavy with the weight; when trying to build muscle heavy is the way to go!

5. Cardio and diet are of course very important in our search of the perfect booty. Don't underestimate the power of the gym. You should definitely do muscle building workouts even though you're dieting. Dieting without weightlifting can cause your booty to shrink and flatten. You want your bum to be round and tight, right?

Have a kickass Monday,

/Ulrika