Wow, hard to believe I have posted 11 weeks of "Weekend Workouts" already. I hope you have enjoyed them and that you have also been consistent with your weekly workouts
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Most of my weekend workout formats have focused on higher intensity and shorter duration rest times. To me this has shown to be the best "bang for the buck" when we talk about a time-efficient workout. Most of us don't have the luxury of taking 1-1.5 hours or longer (nor do you need to) out of our day to devote to exercising. If you do, koodos to you. I believe 30 min. of focused and intense exercise, working all major muscle groups, will provide the best return for the investment (for the average person).
Most of my workouts have consisted of upper and lower body exercises with a few core exercises mixed in. Well today we are going to focus on the core. You will do several exercises to help improve posture, balance, stability, and of course give you that "6-pack abs" you are all after. I will warn you, if you want 6-pack abs, you really need to know your calories "in" vs. your calories "burned". Even the slightest layer of fat around the mid-section will have you wondering why you can't see the 6-pack even though you are doing thousands and thousands of core exercises.
This workout will not be divided between Beginner, Intermediate , and Advanced levels. I want you to determine how hard or long to push yourself. This workout is meant to be challenging. If you keep the rest times to what I have listed, this workout should you just under 25 minutes to complete.
There will be 3 groups of 3 exercises and 1 group of 1 exercise. Each exercise is to be performed for 30 seconds, except the final exercises of the 4th group (1 minute). I will give you the option of repeating the circuit once or twice. For each exercise in each group, move from one to the next with the appropriate rest times, then repeat.
Group 1 - 3 sets of each exercises
1. Y Squats - keeping arms straight up in a "Y" position perform a squat
**rest 10 seconds
2. Mtn. Climbers
**rest 10 seconds
3. Russian Twists - sit with knees bent and heels off ground, rotate torso from side to side, keeping back straight (not hunched)
**rest 20 seconds
**start over and repeat 2 more times
**rest 60 seconds when finished with last exercise of group
Group 2 - 2 sets of each exercise
1. Side Planks on Elbows (30 sec. each side)
**rest 10 seconds
2. Squat Jacks - From a slightly squated position, jump feet out and in for time
**rest 10 seconds
3. Superman Crossover's - lying face down and arms extended in front of you, lift arms and legs and rotate each to the R, then over to the L and continue for time.
**rest 20 seconds
**start over and repeat 1 more time
**rest 60 seconds when finished with last exercise of group
Group 3 - 2 sets of each exercise
1. Windshield Wipers - lying on your back with legs straight and lifted off ground about 2 feet, rotate both legs from R to L
**rest 10 seconds
2. Bicycle Crunches - just like a crunch but bring opposite elbow to opposite knee
**rest 10 seconds
3. Squat Thrusts - start in a squat position with hands close to feet on ground. jump your feet back into a plank position the immediately jump them back towards your hands. this should be done pretty fast.
**rest 20 seconds
**start over and repeat 1 more time
**rest 60 seconds when finished with last exercise of group
Group 4 - 1 set for 1 minute
1. Plank Jacks - from a plank position (hands or elbows), jump feet out wide, then back to narrow and repeat for time
You can do this workout alone, or you can add it to the end of your own workout. I like to do my core exercises after my cycling workouts.
Don't forget to Stretch and Cool Down!!!
