Holiday Body Weight Workout
Hey everyone,
Happy INDEPENDENCE Day my American friends!!! 😀
Thank you all for your lovely messages and birthday wishes over the last few days. I am having a great time away. Even if the weather has been very poor, I have still enjoyed the change of scene and pace. The day after I arrived here, I did this workout and since, I have only managed to train once. I miss my Kettlebells!
My Aunt took me to her work gym yesterday and I was amazed at how good it was. It had a squat rack, proper plates, loads of free weights, a back extension “machine”, a pull up bar :), a dip station 😀 and plenty of benches. I was like a kid in a sweety shop! AND we had it all to ourselves 😀 😀 😀
I took my mum around and showed her some exercises, I taught my Aunt the Bulgarian Squat and a Sumo DL using a Dumbell. I was in my element.
I actually realised how much I now take my strength for granted. For example I was doing my pull ups and my Aunt was wanting to try them. She pulled herself up half way and then burst out laughing when she realised how hard it was. My mum even tried but her grip was not even strong enough to hang from the bar! That was once me. I don’t mean to use them as an example to make myself feel better but I want to highlight that it gets easier and we all start somewhere.
Any exercise that may seem to hold power over you now, can be tamed!
Right, now I need to get on with this post, because the weather today is amazing and I want to get an “Irish Sun Tan” LOL ie burnt 😉 Just joking LOL
Obviously being without my KBs did provide me with a challenge to get a good enough workout with my Body Weight and I overcame this challenge by choosing single-leg exercises, increasing reps, time intervals and rounds to make workout more intense. The major issue was finding a way of performing some sort of pulling exercise as I had no weights or pull up bar. You will see in the video what I did.
The Workout
There are 3 sections containing a combo of 3 exercises. Complete 3 rounds of each combo before moving on to the Bridging Exercise in between. If you have the weight available to you, then add resistance to the Bulgarian Squats. I would have done Pistols here but I fear they do not agree with my SI Joint, so I am avoiding them. Set your Gymboss Interval Timer for a set interval of 45 – 60 seconds.
- Bulgarian Squat (right) x 20 reps
- Bulgarian Squat (left) x 20 reps
- Burpees x 1 min ( 17, 15, 14 )
- Pull Ups x 2 – 3 reps (because of the vertical bars, these were super challenging for my grip, plus I kept sticking to them LOL)
- Shoulder Elevated Single-Leg Hip Thrust (right) x 20 reps
- Shoulder Elevated Single-Leg Hip Thrust (left) x 20 reps
- Squat Jumps x 1 min ( lost count )
- Pull Ups x 2 – 3 reps
- Dive Bombers x 12 reps
- Diagonal Knee Tucks x 1 min
- Lunge Jumps x 1 min (didn’t count)
- Pull Ups x 2 – 3 reps
Given what I had available, I had a good workout. It goes to show – there simply are no excuses!
Hope you all have a great day and will let me know what you think, as always. I hope to be back soon with a new post but, right now…
I’m off to BAKE in the sun 😀
Cheers
Marianne
July 4th, 2011 at 9:30 am
Marianne – given your usual weights you do glute bridges with, you could use your aunt as a weight. Get her to sit across your tum as you do glute bridges, or lie flat on your back for press-ups – like Tony Jaa in “The Warrior Prince”.
July 4th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
LOL, Good idea Matt 😀
July 4th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Marianne! You make me SMILE!!! I will be traveling throughout the summer and will add this to my repetiore of routines I can do without weights! I do have resistance bands and a jump rope, so I may include them! The one exercise I hate and feel like I will never accomplish is the pull-ups! I can jump and then pull up, and I can almost eek out a real chin up (only one), but the pull up kills me! However, I used to hate push ups, and now I can eek out at least 20 if I really set my mind to it! I know FitMiss Melissa gave a post to 100 push ups – a scheduled routine for gaining strength to accomplish 100 push ups in a -6 week period. They also had a 50 pull ups routine that was not yet set, but to be added soon…I may try that! I would like to do 3 beautiful pull ups – just 3 would make me happy!!! I love your site and appreciate your encouragement, your realness and how you continue to challenge yourself, in addition to us! I look forward to your new routines daily and appreciate all you put into this while holding down a full-time, exhausting (I am also in healthcare, so I know what all you do as an RN) job!! Thanks soooo much! Have a WONDERFUL holiday!
July 4th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Thanks Michele – You will get your 3 pull ups and a 4th as a bonus 🙂 The fact that you are so motivated and focused calls for celebration 😀
Cheers for leaving me such a lovely comment!
July 6th, 2011 at 3:05 am
That’s funny. Get an Irish Sun Tan. Lol
July 6th, 2011 at 8:23 am
LOL – Think I got one too ie. burnt 😉
July 6th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
How do you getburned. It’s only in the low 60′ s and cloudy most of the time
Or is that just in Belfast area
July 6th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
LOL Mike, sometimes we get a hot day of 25 C here, but the sunburn was from my holiday in Germany – which was hotter 🙂
July 6th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Hi Marianne,
Great workout!! Was wondering if you’re using the new gymboss max timer? If so, do you like it? I had the old gymboss timer but I dropped and now the screen is tilted and hard to setup the time and I’m debating on whether I should buy the original gymboss or the new gymboss max…
-Salma
July 6th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Salma, Thanks! My old Gymboss broke too, but I got the Gymboss Max this time and I love it! It’s so easy to navigate. It’s a bit more pricey, but I think it’s worth it. There are many other features too, like you can save intervals and you are not limited to just 2 interval times in a workout.
Hope this helps.
July 7th, 2011 at 3:18 am
i just found out website a couple days ago. i love it. you are so strong. i too am sick of all the myths with fitness and nutrition especially with women. you are beautiful and strong. you have a new fan.
July 7th, 2011 at 3:21 am
them glute bridges and hip thrusts are really working for you, your butt is great!
July 7th, 2011 at 8:40 am
Thanks Matt – Anyone who asked about my butt (which seems to be a lot these days), I am spreading the word about this great exercise! Who’d have thought that by adding one exercise could increase strength and make your butt better 😉
September 12th, 2011 at 8:15 am
Hey Marianne !!
Iv been following your site for a few weeks now, and finally thought of doing this workout today. It was BRUTAL to the core. Thanks for this amazing workout!!
I love being fit and being healthy. Im a sophomore in college, and its hard to keep up with workouts and eating well, but Im pretty determined to stay on track. I find it very challenging to eat well, considering the fact that my classes start at 7:30 a.m. and goes on till 3:30 p.m., and there are days when I eat very little or sometimes go overboard. But my passion for fitness always remains and motivates me to eat better to perform better.
Thanks again !!.. 🙂
September 12th, 2011 at 9:54 am
Athira, good on you for being so committed to your training! As you maybe read in “My Diet Update” post last week, I have come to realise that it’s ok to take your time over what changes you can make to your diet and eating habits. If you are progressing in your training, you will still see good results. I am a bit like you too in that there are days when I hardly eat anything, then I stuff my face the next. I guess it’s just what your body needs on that day. It may even have benefits to keep the body guessing. As long as you are not chronically under or over eating to the point were it starts to affect your health and impact negatively on your training and studies, then do what feels natural for YOU 🙂 I hate rules!!
Keep that determination while you have it and you’ll see great improvements to your strength and performance!
January 3rd, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Awesome! What a deceptively tough workout.
I was doing 2 x 5 palm forwards pull ups which went fine until the final round which went 5 then 3,1.5(!),1! Luckily my office is in a converted stable so I did the pullups on one of the timber ceiling beams.
Cheers,
Nik