Girl With the Hipster Glasses

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20-Minute No Equipment/ Body-Weight / Travel Workout

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Hi everyone!

I’m actually sharing a no-equipment workout today. It’s been a while since I’ve posted any workouts on the blog so I’m excited about this post. Getting workouts in while traveling (or while not traveling for that matter) can sometime be challenging. This no-equipment workout is perfect to do at home or while traveling. I designed this workout to require minimal time, space, and equipment making it ideal for anyone who might be limited on any of these resources. 

I actually designed this workout back in January when I was visiting some friends in New York. I left Chicago on a Thursday afternoon and made a pit stop on the East Coast before flying back to LA on Sunday. In a city like NYC, there are no shortage of workouts to be had but it can be tricky when you’re only in the city for a couple of days and you’re not keen on spending $25+ on a studio class. The circumstances became all the more complicated when Mother Nature decided to bless the city with a snow storm on Sunday morning. I had taken a community class at Laughing Lotus the day before and I had planned to hit up Yoga to the People for my second and final day in the city. Alas, I was deterred by the weather and decided I would instead get in a short workout at my friend’s apartment where I was staying. I planned this workout, put on the Insecure soundtrack, and twenty minutes later, I was sweaty, content, and energized to head out in the snow to see friends.

I got to test this workout again on my more recent trip to Lisbon. The kitchen of my AirBnB proved to be a perfect makeshift personal gym

Lisbon Kitchen / Gym

This no equipment workout is structured in one-minute intervals and includes four basic moves with some variations between rounds to keep you from getting bored. You’ll do five rounds of the circuit for a total of 20 minutes of work. It’s entirely body weight based so all you need is some floor space and/or a yoga mat for a little padding. Super home or travel-friendly! 

Rounds 1 and 2

1 minute Crossbody V-ups (lie down on your back and then crunch up, bringing your left arm across your body and your right left off the group. Tap your right toes with your left fingertips, repeat on the other side and continue alternating)

1 minute burpees

1 minute bodyweight/air squats

1 minute slow-fast mountain climbers (do 10 slow mountain climbers, crunching you abs to bringing your knee towards the nose and then do 20 fast before going back to the slow ones)

 

Rounds 3 and 4

1 minute sit ups

1 minute burpees

1 minute bodyweight squat with forward kick

1 minute slow-fast oblique mountain climbs bring knee to opposite elbow  

 

Round 5

One more round of the circuit with whichever exercise variations you prefer!

I’d highly recommend this workout if you want a quick workout that’s both challenging and efficient. Try it and let me know how it goes in the comments!

 

GWHG

Crush The Gym: Common Templates to Design Your Gym Workouts

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Gym1

I recently received a message from a college friend asking for advice about getting into the gym. She said that she was completely new to working out and was unsure of where to start. While it’s really easy for me to create my own gym workouts at this point, it’s also easy for me to remember moments of confusion in my early workout days. After responding to my friend’s question, I realized that there might be other gym newbies (or aspiring gym newbies) out there who might benefit from this information. This post might also be useful for some of you who are pros at the gym and looking to change things up. Here are different workout “templates” or formats that you can use to challenge yourself at the gym. Just choose some of your favorite (or least favorite) exercise moves, plug them into one of these templates and you’re all set.

Many of these styles are commonly used in Crossfit but even if Crossfit isn’t your thing (I’ve never actually been to a Crossfit gym) these formats are really useful for structuring your workouts.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): I’m a HUGE fan of interval training. Not only is it proven to be super effective for getting in shape, it’s also extremely time efficient. I usually aim for anywhere between 24-30 minutes of work in any gym session and I never leave feeling like I should have done more. To design a HIIT workout, simply choose your exercises and choose how you’d like to time your intervals – how many seconds of work will you perform per seconds of rest. I usually do 30/10 for strength workouts. I alternate between two moves and do each move twice for a total of 8 rounds. 

            Tabata: Tabata is a specific style of HIIT training that’s structured around 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest over 8 rounds.

As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP): When I’m on a time crunch and I want to get the most out of my workout, I usually do an AMRAP. All you have to do is choose your exercises – I usually pick 4-5 different moves – and then how long you’d like work. If I’m doing one big round, I usually do somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes, adjusting according to the number of exercises you’re performing.  

            Mini AMRAPS: Rather than doing one long time frame, you could also do multiple smaller AMRAP sets with less moves. I often do 3 or 4 8-minute AMRAPs with only 2-3 exercises per set.

Every Minute on the Minute (EMOM): This is the style that I probably do the least but I’m planning to start incorporating it more. You simply choose your move(s) and reps and do them as fast as you can at the start of every minute for some allotted period of time. For examples, you might do 5 thrusters and 2 burpees when the clock starts and then rest until the clock gets to minute 2 and continue this for 10 minutes/rounds. 

Ladder: Unlike the other workout styles mentioned here, ladder workouts are not structured around time, but rather by reps. To design a ladder workout, you choose your moves and the highest number of reps you’d like to perform in any given set. This number represents the top of the ladder. Perform each move for the maximum number of reps and then decrease the number of reps and perform each move again. Keep doing this until you reach the bottom of your “ladder.” Some variations of the ladder include reversing the order – starting at the bottom and working your way up. You could also be intense and work your way up your ladder and then come back down. Also note that your ladder doesn’t necessarily have to go up/down one step at a time. You can increase/decrease by 2,3,4 etc. too. To challenge yourself, note how long it takes you to complete your ladder and then try to beat your time the next time you do the workout.

My last bit of advice for designing your own workouts is to buy or download an interval timer. If you’d prefer to have a separate timer, here is one that I like. If you’d like to keep it simple, download a gym timer app and program it with all your preferred intervals. I doesn’t need to be fancy at all. I’ve used the free version of the Interval Timer app and it works great for me. 

 

 

 

Strength and Burpee Ladder Workout

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Gym1

When naming this post, the first thing that came to mind was “This Hard-Ass Workout that I Did Last Week” but I didn’t think that it really captured the essence of the experience. 

That being said, here is the hard-ass workout that I did last week. It was inspired by a workout that Theresa Coen, one of favorite instructors at Enrgi Fitness in Chicago posted on her instagram a few weeks ago. Her version was way more intense as it included 2 miles of total running in place of the burpees. She also did 50 burpees at the top of the ladder – like a beast. Power to her! I changed this up to make it more practical/gym friendly and also so I didn’t die. I initially planned to do 2 minutes of jump rope in between the strength sections but my jump rope broke during the first interval. Womp womp. “How do I replace this cardio exercise?” I asked myself. Naturally, I ended up doing burpees. 

The great thing about this workout is that it works every part of your body and will probably take no more than 30 minutes. The bad news is – it’s freakin hard. Obviously the weights you choose will shape your experience. I wouldn’t recommend going too heavy though since there are a lot of reps involved. I would suggest start with your version of “medium” weight and then adjusting accordingly. 

  • 10 push-ups
  • 10 burpees 
  • 20 forward lunges (on each side; 40 lunges total) 
  • 10 burpees 
  • 30 dumbbell snatches (each side, 60 total) 
  • 10 burpees 
  • 40 thrusters 

Then back up the ladder! 

  • 10 burpees 
  • 30 dumbbell snatches (each side, 60 total) 
  • 10 burpees 
  • 20 forward lunges (on each side; 40 lunges total) 
  • 10 burpees
  • 10 push-ups

Time yourself and then try to beat your time in the future. I came in at about 24 minutes as I took ample breaks between sets. 

Don’t let your form get sloppy. If you find this happened, downgrade your weights or decrease reps – you’ll still get a great workout, I promise. 

“Death by Dumbbells” Workout

By: comment

Hey guys! 

Excited to share a new workout with you guys as I haven’t shared one in quite some time. I’ve been consistently doing gym workouts on campus twice a week this semester in addition to my yoga practice. I’ve moved away from doing any machine cardio and instead have been doing more challenging strength training in the form of AMRAP (As many rounds as possible) or HIIT (high intensity interval training). I usually aim for somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes of total work using weights that challenge me. On my bus ride over to the gym, I create my workout, skimming through past workouts (which I keep in the “Notes” on my phone) and screencaps from fitness folks that I follow for inspiration. Yesterday, I happened to stumble upon this *gem* of a workout from Emily Schromm and I was really excited to take on the challenge… 

And what a challenge it was. I had NO IDEA how hard this workout would be. I thought- simple moves, 10 reps each, 5 rounds. How hard could it be? After round 1, I knew that I was in for way more than I’d planned but at that point I had to power through….

“Death By Dumbbells” (modified) 

Equipment: 1 set of dumbbells of a weight that is challenging for you (I used 25#)

5 rounds

  • 10 rows
  • 10 cleans 
  • 10 overhead press 
  • 10 squats 
  • 10 lunges (5 on each side) 
  • 10 burpees*

Check out this video by Emily Schromm to see how each of the moves is done. 

Time yourself! Try to beat your time the next time you do it! 

The original original workout doesn’t include 10 burpees at the end of each round but instead calls for you to do 5 penalty burpees every time you put the dumbbells down. I actually saved myself some burpees by including them this way since I had to put the dumbbells down more than I would have liked. Pick your poison on this one! 

GWHG 

 

My Workout this Week – 8 Min AMRAPs with Cardio Tabata Intervals

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Hey guys! 

Quick post of gym my workout from this week. It was a toughie but goodie. 40 minutes of work. Cardio and strength. Choose your weights appropriately. 

For 8-MIN AMRAP simply set your timer for 8 minutes and go through the sequence until your buzzer sounds. 

For the Tabata Intervals, set a stop watch or stop watch app for 8 round of 20 seconds on/10 second off. Alternate between exercises for 4 total rounds of each. 

Warm Up

30 Jumping Jacks

10 Air squats (squats without weights) 

5 burpees 

5 push-ups

Repeat until you’re warm (I did three rounds) 

 

8-MIN AMRAP 1

10 Goblet Squats

10 push ups

(10 each side) Side Lunges with Torso Twist 

 

CARDIO TABATA

Mountain Climbers

Squat Jumps

 

8-MIN AMRAP 2

10 Plie Squat with Lateral Arm Raise 

8 Burpees with Dumbbells 

(10 each leg) Curtsey Lunges with dumbbells 

 

CARDIO TABATA 2 

Froggers

Skater Lunges (or more squat jumps if you’re tight on space) 

 

8-MIN AMRAP 3

(10 each side) Box Step-ups with dumbbells or box jumps

Box (elevated) push-ups

Dumbbell Swings or Kettlebell swings

 

Choose weights that work for you or ditch the weights all together! For an extra challenge, make time intervals longer and/or add another cardio round at the beginning or end. 

 

Getting the Most out of a Quick Workout

By: comment

My workout routine has been a bit weird this week. On both Monday and Wednesday, I failed to get in my morning workout and ended up having to squeeze one in during my lunch break at the writing center. Since I only had 45 minutes to walk to the gym, change, workout, shower, and get back to work, I had to be super efficient to make it work my time and energy.

While I prefer to have more time at the gym, the short time frame forced me to eliminate all the procrastination that usually occurs in my workouts. Casually walking to the water fountain, gently dabbing sweat from my face, pondering over what equipment to use – there was time for none of it. I put together an interval workout on the bus ride to campus and I had to go all out once I was at the gym to get the most out of the 25 minutes of actual workout time that I had. The great thing about that was that I pushed a lot harder than I do when I have more time and can thus, do more rounds. I kept telling myself that 20 minutes was all I had to give and it motivated me when things got sticky. This underscored two things for me. Firstly, it reminded me of how often I waste time during my workouts. This is something that I’m aware of but often neglect to change in the moment. When I only had 20 minutes, I felt like I had to push to make it worth my time. Secondly, it reminded me that workouts need not be an hour long to be effective. When finished my 20-min AMRAP (As many rounds as possible) workout on Wednesday, I was absolutely gassed. There was no doubt in my mind that I had gotten a good sweat session in.

This is all to say that if you’re struggling too be time to workout in your day, you shouldn’t worry about carving out a large chunk of time. Not only is a twenty minute workout time-effective, it can also absolutely grooling  when you challenge yourself. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and AMRAP style workouts are your best friends if you’re trying to save time while working towards your fitness goals. Here are some links to some great workouts that require minimal equipment and take less than 20 minutes (Including the one that I designed for my workout on Wednesday). Have fun!

20-Minute Plyo Burn from FitFoodFinds

20-Minute Bodyweight AMRAP Workout from Pumps and Iron 

My AMRAP Workout from this Week: 

  • 400m row on row machine (can replace this with some other form of machine or bodyweight cardio if you don’t have access to a row machine – comment to ask for suggestions!)
  • 8 Box Step-ups with 15# weights (can replace with regular lunges if you don’t have a box – can also replace with box jumps if you’re about that life) 
  • 8 burpees (with or without pushups) 
  • 8 thrusters a.k.a squat to overhead shoulder press 
  • 30 mountain climbers
  • 8 deadlifts (choose your weight appropriately) 

Adjust the reps to your liking/fitness level. 

Set your timer for 20 minutes and see how many times you can loop the circuit. I got through 3 full rounds, a 4th round of rowing and 2 steps up. Beat it! 

20 Minute AMRAP Row Machine Workout

By: comment

I’m really trying to get in the habit of updating more. I also create my gym workouts in the “Notes” on my phone and then never blog about them. Here’s one that I did a few weeks ago and it was awesome …. in that physically challenging way. This workout is great if you’re trying to get in and out of the gym. Just set your timer (or make note of the time on the clock) and hop to it. If you focus on the reps, it’ll fly by. 

  • 400 M row 
  • 12 lateral arm raises with plie squat 
  • 12 deadlifts 
  • 12 military presses 
  • 12 KB swings 
  • 12 push-ups 
  • 6 weighted back squats with pulse at the bottom

Repeat Circuit as many times as possible in 20 mins (or however long you see fit). 

Comment with questions about any of this! 

Sabrina 

 

Weekly Workouts + What I’ve Been Up to in the Kitchen

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Hey guys,

I’ve decided to reinstate my weekly workout posts. It’s not a big deal but it’s a nice way to let you guys know what I’ve been doing to stay active. I’m slowly getting into a workout rhythm for the semester. There are a couple of days that I’m playing around with regards to when to schedule my workout / what kind of workout I should do. Rather than trying to come up with a strict plan for everyday of the week, however, I think I’ll hold out until the night before or the day of to see how I’m feeling and just go for it. It’s very easy for me to fall victim to monotony so I think it’ll be nice to have some built-in spontaneity — if that’s not too oxymoronic. 😛 So here’s what I’ve been up to this week.

Monday – 10K Run to Silverlake reservoir + “Align” Yoga at ODD.

This was my first day trying the “Align” yoga class. It’s only offered once a week at One Down Dog and since it worked in my schedule, I thought that I would check it out. Unlike the “Sweat” and “Sculpt” classes that I usually go to, this class slows things down to focus on breath and posture, hence being called “Align.” This hour and 15 minute class is conducted, for the most part, without music, prompting you to pay even more attention to your body. While I absolutely love my faster-paced classes, “Align” was quite refreshing as it gave me the opportunity to think about building up the foundations of my practice. I’m hoping in incorporate more classes like “Align” into my schedule so that I can strengthen my postures and hopefully (!!!) finally get my headstand off the ground. Pun intended.

Tuesday Gym workout + “Flow” yoga at ODD

I started this gym sess with 20 minutes of a the preset “rolling hill” workout on the wide stride and then followed up with a 20 min AMRAP of the following cardio/core set: (I got through 3 full rounds)

  • 10 burpees
  • 20 ballet squat pulses with 10 lb weights at hips
  • 10 full ballet squats with 10 lb weights held between legs
  • 30 half get-ups (15 on each side)
  • 40 Russian twists (with 10 lb weight)
  • 50 high knees
  • 1 minute elbow plank

Wednesday – 6:30am “Sculpt” Yoga with Alexis at ODD!!

Yoga with weights. <3

Thursday – “Express” Gym Workout (I was kind of sore but needed to get my muscles warm)

This workout started with 20 easy minutes on the wide stride followed by about 20 minutes of shoulder/arm/core work.

Friday – “Sculpt” Yoga (again. clearly I’m into it.)

 

So now that I’ve recapped my workouts for the week, on to the fun stuff. The food! Here’s some of the stuff that I’ve been playing around dans la cuisine.

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Got a spiralizer for my birthday (thanks mama!). So much zoodle fun!

 

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Obsessed with these paleo biscuits from The Zenbelly Cookbook.

 

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Moroccan Meatballs from the Well Fed Cookbook.

 

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Veggie bowl topped with chocolate mole. Working on getting this recipe perfected and posted for you guys soon. 🙂

 

Ciao for now brown (and purple) cows.

Cardio Ab Row Machine Workout

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Hello lovlies!!

As I tried to convey in my last post, life is a bit crazy at the moment. The good news is that despite the reality that this semester is going to be absolutely insane, I feel really good about it. I’m on campus pretty much all day from Monday-Thursday and then I have Fridays class free. In theory, I would get a ton of reading done on Fridays but I’m thinking that I might just make them scheduled personal health / blogging days. Judging from these first three weeks, it’s clear that my brain is going to be in no condition to be academically productive on Fridays so I think that it would make sense for me to make them personally so. Of course, for me, that means, exercise (10:15 Sculpt at One Down Dog is definitely a staple of my Friday schedule for this semester), grocery shopping (dropped by McCall’s Meat and Fish this morning for a meat stock up. Can you say meatballs? Love that place!), and cooking (made Ginger Scallion Pork Meatballs with Sesame Zucchini Noodles from the Zenbelly Cookbook for lunch with Jenny!). In about 40 minutes, I’ll be heading out for a hike at Runyon with Sarah, before returning home to make myself a lovely dinner and chill out with Netflix and get to bed. I’m planning to start my Saturday by doing 10K with the DTLA running group plus 2 miles back to my apartment from downtown so I’ll need to rest up. 🙂 This is what Fridays should and will be from here on out.

The jam-packed-ness of my schedule this semester is really pushing me to think about what’s important to me, as I have to be extremely selfish with my time. I was, and still am, a little concerned with my ability to keep up with blogging but the discomfort that I feel when I think of letting it go tells me that I need to figure out how to continue posting. In my last post, I set a goal of updating once a week, which I’ve already failed to accomplish (I didn’t post anything last week!) but I’m not being hard of myself about it. I started this blog because I thought it would be a fun and personally productive project to pursue and if I allow it to stress me out, it defeats the purpose. So instead of trying to impose a stringent post requirement, I’m simply going to update when I feel like it. This is not to be snippy or sassy in any way, but to acknowledge that if blogging is something that I do because I enjoy it, I should trust that feeling that it ignites in me will be enough to motivate me to post when I need to. This might be 3 times per month or 8. Who knows? But because this act of sharing my life through writing has become very near and dear to my heart, I’m confident that it will maintain its role in my life, even if that role looks a bit different than it did last school year.

Now that I’ve put that out there, I can get to what I really set out to do in this post and that’s share a workout. I haven’t done this in a while. When starting GWHG, I imagined it to be much more workout focused, but as it turns out, the recipes and life updates came to define the site more than exercise routines. Because I was working out at Energi over the summer, I really wasn’t putting together any of my own workouts. What I did do, however, was collect new moves and workout structures that I could incorporate into my routine back here in LA. This one that I’m sharing today, I actually did for the first time while I was in Amsterdam. I didn’t really learn how to properly use rowers until this summer at Energi, and I realized how great they were for both cardio and strengthening and sculpting the lower body and shoulders. When I saw that the gym in Amsterdam was equipped with rowers, I had to have a go at them.

This workout is great for strengthening and toning abs while keeping your heart rate up. It’s awesome if you’re short on time at the gym and want to get the most out of your session. I suggest doing it for 4 rounds and clocking yourself in order to challenge yourself the next time. I’ve also done it for as many rounds as possible within 20 or 30 minutes and it still kills. Enjoy!

Equipment:

Row Machine

Medicine ball

Interval Timer set to do 6 rounds of 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off

 

Workout:

Row 300 meters

Start Interval Timer (30 seconds of work / 10 seconds of rest)

  • Plank Jack Tucks
  • Cross Body Ups
  • Burpees
  • Russian Twists (with or without medicine ball depending on your level)
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Double Leg Stretches (with or without weight depending on your level)

Repeat 4x (or as many times as possible within a certain time period)

Comment for explanations of moves! I’m trying to keep this quick but would be happy to explain!

 

Ciao for now!