Burn Baby Burn! Another Circuit Workout…

Photo from April Taylor via Pinterest

There was a lot of baking going on last week (ooh let’s see…sour cream bundt cake anyone? Chocolate chip cookies? Apple walnut cake? Or how about some pumpkin cream cheese muffins? Yeah. A lot of baking.)

If, like me, you overindulged a bit last week (or a lot)…or, like me, you live in Canada and are currently indulging seeing as today is Canadian Thanksgiving!!!, then you need this workout.

As I said in my last circuit workout post, circuit training helps keep me interested in the gym. Particularly as rainy days start closing in, I’m less interested in outdoor workouts, and while I love my yoga, I like to vary things up a bit with some strength training and cardio in the gym.

These circuits are designed by moi, so I have to issue a disclaimer: I am not qualified to issue exercise advice so please do not hold me responsible for anything that may or may not happen during your workout!

These workouts are really easy to customize to your level – just do lighter weights and work your way up, or shorter distances/resistance/times on the cardio segments.

If you are still struggling with weights then do fewer reps. In general, though, the advice I’ve always been given is that lighter weights with more reps leads to muscle toning; heavier weights with fewer reps leads more to muscle bulk. So depending on your goals, maybe bear that in mind.

Who knows if it’s been scientifically proven, but I’ve found it to be true and experience is all I can speak from!

Photo from Rebecca Stolper via Pinterest

Anna’s Circuit Workout #2

As usual, there are links to exercises that might be unclear. Click on the link for a YouTube video demo of the exercise.

Begin the circuit with 10 minute warm-up on the treadmill or elliptical:
– 2 minutes at an easy pace, slowly warming up
– 1 minute fast, 2 minutes slow
– 1 minute fast, 2 minutes slow
– 2 minutes at a steady pace but faster than the first 2-minute stretch

Hop off the machine and get moving with this circuit:

– 10 push-up burpees
– 20 jumping jacks
– 10 stability ball crunches

– 10 squat jumps
– 60 seconds air boxing holding 3-5lb dumbbells in each hand
– 15 stability ball passes

– 10 lunges with resistance band press (each side). If you don’t have a resistance band use dumbbells.
– 12 bench tricep dips
– Plank held for 60 seconds (see photo above)

5 minutes of interval cardio on machine of your choice – 1 minute slow, 1 minute fast, 1 minute slow, 1 minute fast, 1 minute slow.

Repeat circuit 3 times!

Photo from Curly Kat on Pinterest

Before I go, I wanted to sign off with a thought.

This photo and story has been circulated quite widely on Facebook and I posted it to The Guiltless Life’s Facebook page last week, so you may have already seen it. But I think it holds a valuable lesson for us all when we work out. We should try to focus as much as possible on working out for health rather than simply for looks. I’ve found that if I work out because I feel better, it keeps me motivated much more than working out because it makes me look better. And this story really helps to drive that point home:

In the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption read: “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”

It has been said that a woman (of unknown clothing size) answered the following way:

“Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness. They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia. They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

“Mermaids do not exist.

“But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish? They would have no sex life and could not bear children. Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad. And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

“Without a doubt, I’d rather be a whale.

“In a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends. We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn’t enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies. We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated. Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: “How amazing am I?!”