Hi everyone,
This was a workout I did on Friday morning after night-shift and after me promising myself I would go to the gym after work and get back into my heavy strength training! It sooo didn’t happen that way. Instead I felt so guilty, and had to do SOMETHING at least before I went to bed.
This workout has mostly bodyweight cardio exercises, with the addition of 2 of my favorite cardio-based Kettlebell exercises, to try and work the posterior chain a little too 😉
The Workout
The hardest thing about this workout was the interval set up. Set your Gymboss Interval Timer for 18 cycles of 20 seconds recovery and 1 minute of effort. There are 3 rounds of 6 exercises and the goal is to push as hard as you can to allow you to reach your physical limit by the end of the minute. If you are stopping and starting during the minute, you may be pushing too hard, so reign it in a little. The exercises for to day are all for cardio (c), but my “key” will show you their other properties, which can be strength (s), resistance (r) for toning and endurance, plyometric (p) for power, and core activating exercise (cae). The exercises and my reps are :
- Burpees (c,s,r,p,cae) (26,22,18)
- Mountain Climbers (c,cae) (89,82,75)
- Two- handed KB Swing (c,r,cae) (51,47,47)
- Bench Jump-Overs (c,p,cae) (56,49,45)
- Evil Jumps (one rep is one dynamic squat and one lunge jump on each leg) (c,p,cae,r) (23,20,19)
- KB Vertical Swing Burpee (c,r,cae) (16,14,14)
I struggled with both the mountain climbers (as I really hate them lol) and the bench jump-overs – these exercises send my front deltoids on fire from just holding in that position. Love the vertical swing burpee, it’s an all rounder 🙂
This workout gave me a mental and physical boost and I went to bed happy that I had at least done something.
I hope you too will try it and let me know which elements you find the most difficult. Love to hear feedback from people. I hope you all had a great weekend 😀
Talk to you all soon.
Marianne.
PS I am working on compiling a few instructional tutorials for some of the most used KB and body weight exercises I use, so that nobody gets left behind 🙂
Hi Marianne,
I have a question about heart rate. When I do my kettle bell workouts I work very hard. My heart rate is elevated and stays that way. But it’s pretty high–slightly above my so-called maximum. The owner of my gym says that maximum fat burning for my age (44) is 115-145! My cardio range is supposedly no more than 175. I am fit and healthy and feel I can handle the pace. Do you take heart rate into consideration?
Best-
Sarah
Sarah, to be honest I don’t measure my heart rate. I know that some people do as a way to gaige HIIT training, but as far as fat loss goes, I believe that evidence now suggests there is no “fat loss zone” for the heart rate. You will only burn fat, if you burn more calories than you eat. Heart rate has very little (direct) effect on that. However, maximum heart rate is a great tool to measure workout intensity. As everyone is different (age, gender, fitness level etc), what is not intense for my body may be for someone else and may push their heart rate above what is safe, and will actually hinder your workout.
I hope I can explain this ok, but to use an example, I alway harp on about allowing adequate recovery intervals during a workout. With you, you should aim for your heart rate to fall from 175 (during effort) to about 130 (during recovery). If the rate doesn’t recover within the suggested 15-20s, then the next affort interval will push your already elevated HR up even quicker to max and probably above. Therefore I would suggest you play around with intervals and allow your heart rate longer to recover. This goes for anyone else too. The rest intervals I use are just enough for me to feel recovered. You will still use the same calories during the workout (and maybe more, if you are fit to put more effort in during the effort interval), if you max out the HR halfway through a workout, you may lag behind your potential for the remainder of the exercises.
From an energy point of view, this is where heart rate is of use. This is a bone I have with some of BodyRock’s workouts as they are all max effort for 50 seconds and 10 seconds recovery, even the so-call strength workouts (which you better not get me started on lol). I don’t know how anyone gets any benefit from 10 seconds “revovery”.
ANYWAY, I will maybe cover this question in my mext video, as I am sure this is something that others will find useful too. Another “bone” I have with BR is that training is NOT a one-size-fits-all concept, it needs tailoring and considerations. Age does paly a role so, not that you are not fit, but physically your heart’s max rate is a good guide to your limitations. This will definintly be a good topic to cover. I hope, in the meantime, this helps 🙂
Marianne
Thanks, Marianne. This does clear things up. We get stuck in schools of thought–like the metabolism issue–and it seems heart rate might be the same type of thing. My worry was that I was working that hard and not losing any fat! I practice IF (the 8pm-noon fast) and always work out in a fasted state. I’ve been doing this a month now and am noticing gradual change. Thank you again for great workouts and tips!
–Sarah
Hi again Marianne.
I enjoyed this workout last night. I took almost a week off due to a bad flu and my numbers were not great, but it was a great way to get back to the swing of things.
I did pike jumps instead of the bench jump overs.
This workout really got my heart rate up and the last round of those evil jumps really had me screaming. Ouch those are evil, I can’t even count when doing those because it requires a lot of focus to do those properly.
I thought I was going to be able to do my jump rope interval, but nope, I was really sweating and pretty much done by the last round.
Great workout!, I am starting to get the hang of the kettlebell and I am loving it.
I am so impressed that you come home after a night shift and do these workouts and get such high numbers, what do they feed you in Ireland?
Hi Mickela, glad you are feeling better 🙂 Think I must be eating everything in sight these days :/ eek
The evil jumps are a killer – every time lol
Hi Marianne,
i’m afraid i’ll ask a bit of advice too.
Don’t know why, lately i suffer a bit of insomnia.. well more than a bit. I though that some good early in the afternoon workout would help me… well it was disastrous!i fealt so weak i nearly dropped the kb on my foot!tried early in the morning…. that was ugly too. I have tried different natural remedies, but now i’m soo tired and frustrated that i booked an appointment with the doctor.
ok bit portion of sharing my business there:), my question is, what would you suggest on the subject running low?personally i think i ignored the issues until it became a real problem, but would you workout if you feel very tired?i know that sometimes you workout after a night shift, i always wondered on your level of tiredness, does the lack of sleep affect you?do you think that working out later in the day too close to bedtime does intefere with the sleep pattern?
many question i know, just trying to hear all opinion on a situation that is driving me bananas!
Thanking for all the help,
Sara
Sara, I am sorry to hear you are having this trouble, it must be terrible! I suffer with a lot of extra tiredness at the minute as you will see from my last 2 workouts, I have been finding it very hard to motivate myself to workout. Sometimes I go to workout, and it just doesn’t happen. I don’t force myself when that happens – sometimes rest is badly needed more than a workout, so I rest – like today 🙂
I’m not exactly sure on what you are asking, but with regards to working out before bed, this is again an individual thing. I rest just as well after working out before bed, than if I just went straight to bed after work. Some people find they have more energy/motivation at different times of the day. For me, I workout best in the morning or early afternoon. Don’t worry so much about what so-called “dos and don’ts” there are for working out, only you will know from trial and error, what suits your body clock the best.
I hope your insomnia can be helped. Chronic lack of sleep will hinder your efforts, but it can be overcome. Try not to let it get you down, try and take it in your stride, as stress will only make things worse.
Again, I hope this helps, even a little 🙂
Best wishes for a good nights sleep for everyone.
Marianne
Hi Marianne!
Did this workout today but not exactly like you did it.
I changed the Intervalls into 10/50 sec because I was very short in time. It was a tough cardio challenge though.. Seriously I thought I had to puke after second round 🙂
But now (after my shower) I am feeling very good again so thank you for that!
Have a nice week!
Becci
Thanks Becci, glad you enjoyed it – well you know what I mean 😉
Loved LOVED this workout Marianne, and the 1 minute sure did ” kick my ass ” 🙂 I haven’t got my own KB’s at home so wrote your programme down and did it at the gym. I got some very WT ?? looks from other gym members lol. I think I need to share the Marianne ” love ” around. 🙂
Nutrition question if you don’t mind. For a while now I have been eating the 3 small meals and 2 snacks a day formula which is working fine so far, but someday’s ‘mI really not hungry between meals. Should I ” make ” myself eat a snack anyway? On other day’s, I could still eat a horse straight from the paddock after ALL my meals, …..so should I eat more ? Understanding correct nutrition needs can be very confusing sometimes.
Thanks
Sarah
Feel free to spread the word about 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it.
As for the nutrition question. If you are not hungry, don’t eat. Your metabolism won’t slow down if you miss a snack – I fast a whole day sometimes and my metabolism is fine. No point in making yourself eat if you ain’t hungry. On the other days, if it’s only once in a while, I don’t see any issue with letting your body dictate what you eat. Obviously if the hunger days happen more and more, maybe look at your overall calorie intake in general (as maybe you are not getting enough). It is hard to get things right, and unfortunately, you do need a little control over these things, but don’t let it take over – as stress can negatively affect appetite and weight loss too.
If what you are doing is still working, then stick with it. But listen to your body too, gain your body’s trust to choose 🙂
Cheers
Marianne
Hi Marianne,
today I am feeling a bit sad and just watching your video put me in a much better mood. You have a healing effect!
So thanks. I’m off for dinner with friends and as soon as I try your workout I’ll let you know how I did (if I am still alive, lol).
Rainy cheers.
Bianca
Aw thanks Bianca 🙂 Hope you enjoy your dinner, and the workout of course!
Talk soon
M