Hi everyone,
Yesterday I did my first exam for my Fitness Instructor Cert. and as a result I was unable to post this workout as planned. I did this on Thursday morning after work, so I look a little tired 🙂 My energy level was definitely affected too, but I still enjoyed the workout after I got going.
I have named the workout “No Excuses” because, if I can workout after being awake for over 24 hours, and after a 12 hour shift, then there is no room for excuses from anyone else not to workout. It’s only 20-30 minutes of your day and it will set you up for being more motivated, more focused and boost that metabolism for the rest of your day. I was feeling so sluggish when I started this workout, but I was flying by the end 😀 NO EXCUSES!!
Also little Marmalade aka “Squirt” aka “Bug” made an appearance today, being a little nosey 😉
This is interval training again, but this time there are 3 rounds of 6 exercises. There is a mixture of body weight and kettlebell exercises. This time I did not write down my reps, I just concentrated on the workout instead.
The Workout
I set my Gymboss Interval Timer for 18 cycles of the usual 15 seconds rest and 45 effort. All of these exercises are cardio-based, but the kettlebell exercises always have that resistance element added, which helps maximise your effort and heart rate.
The 6 exercises are:
- Alternating KB Thrusters (used 2 x 12kg today)
- Mountain Climbers (sorry Carrie)
- KB Reverse Passing Lunges (right) (16kg)
- KB Reverse Passing Lunges (left) (16kg)
- Double Sumo Squat Jump into Evil Burpee
- Bench Jump-overs (so simple yet so effective)
There you have it, a simple straight forward (for once) workout, that only lasts 18 minutes and will make you feel great after – what else can you ask for 🙂
I hope you all have a great weekend. I’m so glad to be off tonight (saturday) as I am looking forward to the first live X-Factor show. Andrew and I laugh that most people look forward to going out on a Saturday night, but we look forward to our dinner and X-Factor LOL
I hope to be back soon with a new workout.
Cheers
Marianne
MARIANNE!!! I LOVE THIS WORKOUT!!! I just finished it, it took my heart a long time to recover but it that means it worked hard and that is AWESOME! Definitely my favorite of yours I’ve ever done, it reminded me of my Crossfit days, my heart was PUMPING!!! Excellent choice of exercises. 😀
Hugs,
Melissa
Hey Melissa, Great to hear you really enjoyed this! I had to look back at it to remember, but this one was tough. It was one of those “will I won’t I” mornings LOL – I miss my old studio :'(
And no pulling in it, so save your back 😉
Cheers
Marianne
You are a trooper. a workout after 24 hours of no sleep.
yeah no excuses, that is the way to get motivated.
I sailed all weekend in heavy weather and my body still wants to workout, so I will try this one with modifications since I don’t have the kettle bells yet.
that evil burpee plus sumo squat is no joke!
Cheers
Nice, hope you survive the sumo evil burpees, they are a killer 😉
Cheers
Marianne
Hey Marianne
I did this one today to get back into things after our Canadian Thanksgiving! I was sweating like crazy and those bench jumps are killer for 45 sec!!!
Great workout!
Heather
Tell me about it Heather LOL!! Oh happy Thanksgiving btw 😀 I’ve included those bench jumps a lot lately because they are so straight forward, and SO effective too. Glad you enjoyed it though.
Marianne
Hi Marianne,
your workouts are great, I really love your blog 🙂
I want to buy some kettlebells, what starting weight would you recommend? Would you go for one or two heavier ones? I’m not really strong in my upper body but quite good with weighted squats and lunges(barbell with 12-16kgs). But I’ve read that KB-workouts improve strength really fast and I don’t want to waste 100 dollars. I was thinking about buying two 8 kgs KBs and one 10 kgs KB – or the other way around to have really heavy KBs for squats and lunges. What would you suggest?
Thanks and keep up your brilliant work!
Ruth
Hi Ruth, nice to hear from you. I would go with one 8kg, then either double up on the 10kgs or get one to start with. Or, an 8, 10 and 12? For deadlifts and squats etc, you don’t always need two weights the same. Asymmetrical is fine as long as you swap half way. In our KB classes quite often we will do deadlifts or front squats and people have a 10 and 12, or even an 8 and 12, then they still get a great workout. This also has the added benefit of strengtheningt the core. But it’s up to you. I know that even for the upper body lifts, progression beyond an 8kg is very common, so I’d only get one of those.
Hope this helps 🙂
Marianne
How many days do you workout/rest? Do you only workout the days u post?
Kristen it depends on work really. I do other stuff as well as my blog workouts. Like I train with weights maybe 1 or 2 days (heavy) then I attend Andrew’s KB classes when I’m off. Sometimes I go to the gym after work to do cardio. I rest 1 full day every 3 days, but if I’m too tired I rest more. It just depends how I feel. I have no timetable, I just do as a feel 😀
Another great workout Marianne!! Could you be so kind as to suggest a generic monthly rotation alternating kettlebells and cardio?
Hi Tammy, thanks. I’m not sure exactly what you mean? Like a program timetable? Believe it or not, but there are even differences in generic programs. For example, I need to know a) what your goals are (like over the next 8-12 weeks)? b) what your fitness level is like now? and c) what other activities/training do you do?
I don’t really like generic, to I’ll try and tailor it more to your goals as best as i can. 🙂
Cheers
Marianne
Marianne,
I have been following you for about 4 months and I really enjoy your workouts. I was a gym rat for the last 10 years and I got into body weight and kettlebells about 8 months ago. Between kettlebells, body weight and my jump rope,I keep myself fairly fit. So thanks for the workouts to keep us motivated.
Thanks Jim, it’s great to see that my workouts appeal to men and women. I don’t like doing airy Fairy stuff, so they are challenging for everyone. I think I will always do this type of training. Even though I still go to the gym the odd time, I have so much more fun doing this.
Cheers for leaving a comment
Marianne
OK, I got the intervals now. I was curious because we did 20 minute interval blocks all three days this week. 55 seconds work 5 seconds change positions.
Mon: Squats and pull ups max reps.
Wed: 24k swings, 95lb bench presses max reps.
Fri: Overhead double KB presses, sit ups, max reps.
I’m sore.
Sounds insane Phil, I bet you’re sore!! I need more recovery than 5 seconds, I’d be dead and I’d probably reach failure within the next 5 seconds of the interval lol! Nice workouts though.
Thanks for stopping by 😉