Pancakes and Snow Day Workout

Today is the day! The day the kids have been waiting for......SNOW DAY!!!! Now it IS a little less dramatic since they were just off yesterday for President's Day. But nonetheless, I cancelled my small group classes this morning to stay home with them. Our morning started with the most outrageous chocolate chip pancakes ever. My oldest son "helped" me add the chocolate chips so they were abundant at best. While I typically shy away from eating this type of breakfast.....it's a snow day. Rules don't apply on a snow day in case you weren't aware of that. So, like a good girl I took 2 Carb Ease and enjoyed 2 of these amazing little cakes of goodness. I figure it will be the best fuel for the shoveling I need to do, followed up by my bodyweight workout, right?

If you are looking for a good old fashioned pancake recipe, this is my go to, adapted from a recipe I found on food.com.


Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
4 TBSP butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 TBSP sugar (or 1 tsp honey)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:
Beat egg until fluffy
Add milk, melted butter and vanilla
Add dry ingredients and mix well
Heat a heavy griddle which is greased with a little butter on a paper towel
Pour a small amount of batter (approx 1/4 cup) into pan and spread out with a spoon (add chocolate chips on top at this point, or even blueberries are delicious)
When bubbles appear on the surface and begin to break, turn over and cook the other side

Now onto the workout of the day! Go through each exercise in a circuit format, resting as needed. If you don't have stairs available to you, then try jumping jacks or high knees or walking in place for that 3 minute time period. Try and go through the circuit at least 3 times, but keep in mind to always do what is appropriate for YOUR fitness level.

Here is a breakdown of the exercises above for your clarification:

Burpees (in this video I also show modications of the burpee)

Air Squats

Push ups

Tricep Dips

Alternating Lunges

Wall Sit

Speed Skaters

Bicycle Crunches

Forearm Plank

Enjoy the pancakes and enjoy your workout Fit and Healthy Crew!!!!

~Debbie

Bench and Dumb bell workout

Full body circuit when you're short on time. All you need is a bench and some dumb bells. Go through the circuit 3-5 times, but shoot for at least 30 minutes to get the full effect of the workout.

10 Burpees with overhead press
10 step ups with  knee drive (each leg)
12 leg raises with tailbone lift on bench
20 Spiderman hops
10 plank rows (each arm)
10 squat overhead presses
10 decline push ups

January 2014 Fitness Challenge

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! (Throw confetti here, kiss somebody, etc. etc.) OK, now that the formalities are done, some of you may be sitting there thinking about the New Year's Resolution you set for yourself to get more fit and healthy in the New Year! If that is you then congratulations for taking the first step! I've decided to help give you someplace to start.  However, this challenge is GREAT for any fitness level.  For those of you just starting out in your fitness journey feel free to cut the reps in half or thirds and work up to the reps that I have listed over time. For the seasoned fit fittie, this is a great add-on to your current workout regimen.  This is a circuit you can do at the end of any workout to put on that nice finishing touch.

It's been awhile since I brought you a monthly challenge and I hope to be able to do more for you in 2014. As long as you keep doing them, pinning them on Pinterest and sharing with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, I'll continue to take the time to create new challenges for you!! Sound like a deal?

So without further ado, let's bring it in 2014!!!

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Legs Glutes and Abs

Today I decided to add some ab work in between my Legs and Glutes supersets to mix things up a bit. I'm already starting to feel the after affects of this workout which means tomorrow should be fun (that whole walking thing......) Thought I would share it with you all in the event you wanted to give it a whirl. Let me know if you try it and please feel free to PIN it on Pinterest and Share with your friends on Facebook.

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Interval Circuit Workout

Here is the latest interval circuit I put together for one of my group fitness classes, however, it would be perfect to do as an At-Home HIIT workout! HIIT stands for High Interval Intensity Training.  It basically means you just bust this baby out full throttle, no looking back. Clearly that is the Debbiefied definition. This is a great full body, strength and cardio workout and I hope that you give it a try and enjoy it. Going through the circuit twice will only take you 20 minutes.  Shoot for 3 times through for the ultimate burn and sweatfest. Feel free to comment in the post below your thoughts on the workout! Would love to hear from you!!

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25 Minute AMRAP workout

Here is my latest AMRAP workout.  I did it, loved it, and will be testing it out on my small groups this week.  Set your timer for 25 minutes, and go through each exercise with the amount of reps listed.  Continue through As Many Rounds As Possible in 25 minutes, taking short rests if needed as you go along.  Do this workout with a friend for a little "friendly competition" to mix things up a bit.  Enjoy!

In Good Health,
~Debbie

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AMRAP Anyone????

When I am short on time, I love a good AMRAP workout.  AMRAP stands for As Many Rounds As Possible.  So basically you just start with the first exercise and continue on to the next and the next with as little break as possible (for 20 straight minutes in this case).  Take a break as you need to, but the whole point is to bust it out rather quickly and document how many rounds that you completed in the 20 minutes.  

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May's Cardio Abs Challenge

April showers bring May.......Cardio Abs???? Whatever Debbie ;-)  I couldn't think of anything clever to say so I just went with that.

May's challenge over at Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert brings us another month with the focus on abs, and I decided to throw in some cardio bursts as well for the ultimate fat blasting experience.  I think you will really like this one and it may be just what you need to get that fire burning in your core and get you on your way for bathing suit season. Make sure and go through the circuit three times through every day, preferably with little rest time between circuits.

Enjoy and feel free to pin and share on Facebook.  The more people we can get on the challenge, the better.  Strength in numbers!

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Gorgeous Gams and Bangin' Booty Challenge

Here it is folks.  Our April challenge over at Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert.  This month we will be focusing on the lower body since we completely wore out the upper body last month. I didn't have the time (or energy) after flying all day to make a continuous video of the exercises for you, BUT I have included a clip of each exercise below so have no fear, you will know EXACTLY what you need to do each and every day!! Good luck and make sure to share with your friends so they can get in on the fun!!!

Remember, each day you go through the circuit for that day THREE times!

Oh burpee....how I love thee......

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March's "Hot in your tank top" challenge

After January's successful burpee challenge and February's even more successful "ABtastic" challenge, this month brings us to some upper body emphasis so that we can be hot in our tank top this summer.  Here are the details and a clip showing the various upper body exercises.  Please note that on Thursdays we will be concentrating on the core only, so to review those exercises you can view this clip on my YouTube channel. Below the calendar I've attached a clip that I did reviewing the upper body exercises we will be doing this month.  You will have ALL you need to do this month's challenge.  Good luck and here's to getting hot in your tank top!!

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February "ABtastic" Challenge

For the month of February, we have a challenge going over at Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert!  It's going to be ABtastic!

Just follow the calendar below and you will certainly be feeling the abdominal burn immediately.  Keep it up all month long, along with clean and healthy eating and you will be one step closer to your bathing suit goal.

Enjoy and let me know how it goes! Please see the video I shot below detailing each exercise listed in the challenge.

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30 Day Burpee Challenge

Are you IN??????????  Are you ready to take the 30 day burpee challenge put together by myself, Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert and Natalie over at My Think Fit??  We have broken this challenge down day by day so that you can slowly work up through the month and by day 30 you WILL be busting out 100 burpees!

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That was a good workout!!

Sometimes, I create a workout that I love so much I just have to blog about it.  This was definitely one of those times.  Why keep it all to myself??  Here's what was up today at the gym.  I'd love for you to give it a try and let me know what you think!!

I felt like running just a bit to warm up and get in some much needed cardio.  I put together a 30 minute HIIT treadmill workout.  I ended up getting in about 2.3 miles from this workout and burned close to 300 calories if I remember correctly, so not bad for a "warm-up" to kick off my upper body strength training.  For my upper body workout, I chose to do to do some Tri sets and Super sets to hit my shoulders, biceps, triceps and chest.  I threw in some burpees, because ummmmmmmmm.....do you know me?  I freakin' love 'em!  Then I ended with some quick core work.  I'm looking forward to coming up with something similar later in the week focusing on my lower body.  I'll share with you then.

Here was the treadmill workout.  Threw in just a couple sprints...nothing too outrageous cuz I don't roll like that with my running........YET! Running is something I'm working on, but have to really listen to my body on this one because I do have a bum knee (I'm icing said knee as I type this because I forgot my brace....dummy!).

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Tabata Full Body Workout - No equipment

Oh Tabata, how I love thee.....True story!  I'm a weirdo.  Don't care ;)  I've done just about every style of workout out there......spinning, step, kick boxing, bootcamp, HIIT, yoga, pilates, barre, TRX, weights, weights and more weights.  But lately, I just can't get enough Tabata.  Maybe it's because I can get bored easily?  Tabata allows me to do an exercise for only 20 seconds before moving to the next.  I dig that!  I really enjoy creating my own by offering a variety of different exercises, usually combining plyometric cardio with strength exercises.  I'm what I like to call an "efficient exerciser."  So the more that I can get in in a small amount of time the better.  However, it's crucial that in that timeframe I bust out as many calories as possible.  Tabata is where it's at!

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Vacation Workout - Day 1

I promised everyone over at my Facebook page, Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert that I would post my workouts everyday while I'm on vacation this week.  So here is my workout for today.  I chose to do another Tabata style workout because they are extremely quick and efficient.  Set your timer for 5 tabatas, 8 cycles, with a 20 second work and 10 second rest period.  Each tabata will be done 4 times through (hence the 8 cycles since there are 2 exercises per tabata).  If you do not have a timer, you can use the free one at http://tabatatimer.com/.  There is also a free app available for your smartphone.

I hope that you enjoy this workout and let me know if you try it!!  It's pretty intense, but muscle through it and you'll be happy you did!  Have a GREAT Monday folks!!

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