This morning I had a mini protein pancake before the gym. Typically, I wait to have it after but I knew I wanted to work hard so breaky was necessary. At the gym, I tried out this workout from Women’s Health Magazine I got in my inbox yesterday.
It was titled, “The Fastest Way to Lose 5 Pounds.” I used to be tricked by the titles but now that I am in the industry myself, I know they just try to think of ways to get people to click or buy. This is a plyometric workout. It raises your heart rate. Will you lose 5 lbs if you do this 3 times week? Maybe, but you need to eat right too! You can burn the same amount of calories doing a regular strength training program, as long as you know what you are doing and move from one exercise to the next.
I ran 5 minute to the gym, did a new elliptical like machine for 10 minutes, foam rolled, and completed my dynamic warm up before I began.
For Move #1, I used a 15 lb dumbbell. I hate Move #2, so I did a set of 12 push ups instead. I would work on my back later. I am not a fan because I can do more rows than push ups and the dumbbells hurt my palms. Move #3 was straight forward and raised my heart rate close to 160 BPM, which is high for strength training. Move #3, I don’t think I was doing entirely correct. This is why magazine workouts are sometimes unsafe for beginners. You can’t really tell by a picture and short description if you are doing it right. My last set was the most effective. I didn’t touch my back foot down and basically just did single leg squats hoping back and forth. The last move I used a 7.5 lb dumbbell and it was tough. I rested for 1 minute and repeated the sequence 3 times.
Since that was not enough for me, I decided to do another round of exercises. I moved onto the assisted chin up machine. I’m working on being able to do pull ups on my own for the Urbanathlon. I set the weight at 55 lbs and did 12 pull ups followed by the bear crawl for 12 steps, and finished with squat/low row for 12 reps using 32 lbs for the low row. I repeated this 3 times. I finished with my new favorite ab workout.
At then end, I burned 500 calories according to my watch. I’m glad I had my protein pancake!
When I got back, it was time for a smoothie! Since I am going to the cape this weekend, I wanted to use up fresh veggies and fruit in my fridge. I decided to make a Green Monster Smoothie with Cantaloupe, and call it the Green Melonster… get it? Melon and Monster makes Melonster?
Green Melonster Smoothie (Serving 1) Time: 5 minutes
- 1 scoop Vanilla Whey Protein (or other protein powder of choice)
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1 cup diced cantaloupe
- 1 TBSP flaxseed meal (Optional)
- 5 ice cubes
- 1 cup of water or unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Add all ingredients into a blender and mix until it is the same consistency throughout. Enjoy!
I’m off now to go pack and leave for Cape Cod! Tomorrow morning I have a lovely long run of 8 miles scheduled. It will be a challenge to fit in strength training on Monday with the travel but I remain optimistic. What are you doing for the last weekend of summer?
