Good morning everyone, and Happy Thursday!
Today feels like Tuesday for me and it’s quite thrilling that we are almost at the weekend.

First, I’d like to announce the winner of my Kickboxing Class giveaway.

The winner is commenter #7!
Katrina said:  “Hiiiiii! I LOVE your bootcamp and can’t wait for the next session! I also love Zumba and spinning classes! If I go to the gym and just work out on the elliptical or treadmill, I get bored and am not as likely to stay on the machine for a long period of time. Classes keep my attention and my workouts end up being longer!!”

Congratulations, please email me to get the details on how to redeem your free class at Corpbasics!

Morning Workout

Today was a tough morning to wake up for 6am class.  Not enough sleep + completely dark in the morning + rain = woof.  But nonetheless, we had a kick butt class this morning!  I love my Thursday morning class.  Usually it has lower attendance than my Tuesday night, but sometimes I like that better because we have more available equipment to play with and it has a more personal feel to it.  Each class has a completely different vibe, which is nice.  I keep the lights dimmed a little since everyone is just waking up, and I think everyone shares my love for being done with your day’s workout by 7am!

Here’s what we did this morning:

Warmup / Stretch

Circuit #1

• Cardio
  – Jog it out in place
  – Single hops
  – Jumping jacks
  – Jabs to the right side
  – Alternating jabs between right side and left front
  – Repeat entire combo to left
  – Finish with jump rope
• Lower/Upper Combo:  Squat Twists & Press
  – Using a medicine ball, squat and twist the ball down to the right side, then lift up and twist the ball overhead to the upper left
  – Repeat for 12 reps
  – Hold single squats for 8 in the center, doing a bicep curl with the medicine ball
  – Finish by pulsing for 8
• Biceps:  Bicep Curls
  – Slow 16 bicep curls to the front
  – Alternating singles right and left for 8
  – Singles together both arms for 8
  – Pulse for 8
  – Finish by bringing arms in and out for 8
• Repeat Lower/Upper Combo on the other side
• Repeat biceps this time with palms facing side instead of front

Circuit #2

• Cardio:  Tabata Intervals!  I am ALL about these lately (see the Tabata Intervals I did in last week’s bootcamp workout and yesterday’s elliptical workout).
  – Run ups on the step as fast as possible for 20 seconds
  – Follow the high intensity 20 second period with a 10 second march in place
  – Repeat this interval 8 times for a total of 4 minutes.  We alternated between running up right foot first (right, left, right, left) versus left foot up first (left, right, left, right).  So each side lead 4 times out of the 8
• Lower/Upper Combo:  Plie Squats & Tricep Extensions
  – With one foot up on the step, perform 8 plie squats at the same time as an overhead tricep extension with the medicine ball
  – Do 16 singles
  – Do 8 pulses (holding the arms up)
  – Do 8 pulses with the arms only (holding the squat with the legs)
  – Finish by popping the heel that’s on the floor and doing 8 more pulses
• Triceps:  Dips on the step
  – 8 singles
  – 8 pulses
  – Hold it up for 8
• Repeat Lower/Upper Combo on the other side
• Repeat Tricep Dips on the step.

Circuit #3

• Cardio:  Another Tabata Interval
  – High knees as fast as possible for 20 seconds
  – 10 second low impact version of just knee lifts with no hop
  – Repeat this interval 8 times for a total of 4 minutes.  I also gave the option of doing the low impact version for 20 seconds and then just marching for 10.
• Chest:  Chest Presses
  – Lying flat on back on the step, press heavy weights up for 16 slow reps
  – Then alternate arms for 8 more faster reps
  – Finish this set with 8 faster reps with both arms at the same time
• Chest/Abs Combo:  Chest Flies with Leg Lowers
  – Still lying flat on the step, open arms out to sides at the same time legs are straight up over hips
  – As arms squeeze in over chest (palms facing in), legs lower down for ab work
  – Do 8 reps of the combo
  – Then hold legs up and do 8 of just the fly
  – Then hold fly out and do 8 of just legs
  
• Glutes:  Glute Presses
  – Incline the step.  Kneel on the low end and raise right foot straight behind body and up to the ceiling, pressing for 10
  – Hold knee up, then extend the leg out and in for hamstring work 10 times
  – Keep leg extended long, lower and lift the leg (straight) for 10
  – Bring knee in and then do 10 reps of knee raises to the side
  – 10 kicks out to the side, holding the knee up
  – 10 pulses straight up to ceiling
  – Repeat on other side
  

Circuit #4

• Abs:  Medicine Ball Sitbacks
  – Holding the medicine ball in front of the chest, sit up straight with heels on the floor, knees bent
  – Lower body down almost to floor but not all the way for 10 reps
  – Hold body back and pulse for 10
  – Rotate side to side for obliques for 10 more (right, left = 1 rep)
• Abs:  V Up Twists
  – Extend legs up straight in front of body, still sitting.  Modification:  Keep heels on floor
  – Twist to the left and reach back up into the V sit 10 times, holding the last one for 5 seconds
  – Repeat to the right
• Obliques:  Knee Rotations
  – Lying on back, bring knees over hips
  – Bring both knees up and over to the right, then switch and bring them back (slowly) up and over to the left
  – Perform at own pace for 1 minute total
• Abs:  Pilates 100
  – Lying on back with legs straight up over hips, hands at sides palms down, upper back lifted off the floor
  – Pulse hands down for 100 reps (making sure to breathe!)
• Lower Back:  Reverse Crunch
  – Lying on stomach, hands behind the head, elbows out
  – Raise upper body slightly off the ground for 10
  – Rotate side to side for 10
• Abs:  Plank + Variations
  – Hold regular plank on forearms for 1 minute
  – Variation 1:  Raise right and left feet an inch off the ground, alternating a few times between both
  – Variation 2:  Rock forward and back over the toes

Cooldown/Stretch

Great class, guys!!!

Question of the Day:  Have you ever done Tabata intervals?  What’s your favorite exercise to do with this type of training?

Keep your eyes out for some more giveaways coming up over the next couple of weeks.  There are some more good ones on the way!!