Tabata Tuesday Review

Hello! Okay, so it's not Tuesday but with my crazy schedule I haven't been able to post about my Tabata Tuesday workout until today. Let me say, however, it was worth the wait! My butt was sore for 2 days after this workout and it only took 25 minutes!!! With great friends to complete the workout and an awesome playlist I had SO. MUCH. FUN.
As usual with Tabata all you need is a repeated interval timer! For each circuit set it to 8 rounds of 20s on and 10s break.

Tabata Tuesday Workout 1

1. Burpees & Mountain Climbers

2. Forward Lunges* & Jump Squats

3. Jump Rope & High Knees

4. Push up-to-a-T* & Supermans

5. Jumping Jacks & Skaters

6. Reverse Crunches & Standing Pikes

*Can add intensity by holding a pair of dumbbells 

Here is the playlist I used!

Upbeat Playlist!

1. Danza Kuduro by Don Omar

2. E.T. Katy Perry + Kanye West

3. Mean by Taylor Swift

4. What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction

5. Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO

6. Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus

7. Wavin Flag'

8. Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti & Spearhead

9. Let me Love you by New Yo

10. Stronger by kanye West

11. On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons

(This is a great cool down/stretch song)

Thanks!

Sara

First Tabata Workout!

Happy Friday!

Guess what's making me sore today? TABATA. Yesterday, one of my best friends Katie and I tried our FIRST Tabata workout! We both wanted a short workout we could finish before out 8 a.m. classes and this was a great choice!
Don't know what Tabata is? Tabata is a new method of interval training that improves your aerobic abilities immensely. Each each circuit is 4 minutes long and has 8 rounds of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest. Tabata is very versatile and you can basically do any exercises you choose. Read more about Tabata here! The mentality behind Tabata, for me, is that I can do anything for 20 seconds! So before I knew it 20 seconds were up and it was on to the next one!

I created this "Do-Anywhere Tabata" workout from a modified version I found on pinterest. There is zero equipment needed, except for a repeated interval timer, which you need for any Tabata. Normal stopwatches will make this workout inefficient. I recommend the Gymboss timer. If you have a smart phone there are plenty of repeat interval/tabata timers. Also if you are able to have your laptop near, you can also Google for plenty of free online tabata timers.
If you've never tried Tabata you NEED to try this one! With 5 circuits it was under 30 minutes of exercise and I am definitely sore today! Love it!

Click on the image to enlarge.

For each circuit set your timer to 8 rounds of 20s work and 10s rest. Rest for about 1 minute in between each circuit, then reset and keep going!
With good music and great company this workout flew by and I had so much fun with it!

Let me know what you think!

Sara

Pesto Chicken Pizza

Chicken? and Pizza? Not exactly things a vegetarian and lactose intolerant person usually talks about, but after my best friend, Bailey, made this last weekend I knew it would be something I had to make for my meat-and-cheese eating family!

This pizza is loaded with yummy, healthy sauteed vegetables, pesto (healthy fats!) for sauce, and chicken and feta cheese on top of a whole wheat crust.

Pesto Chicken Pizza
Ingredients:
Whole Wheat pre-made pizza crust
3 chicken tenderloins
1 bunch spinach
1 bell pepper, chopped
2/3 cup mushrooms, sliced
one onion, sliced
1/2 cup pesto sauce (Newman's Own makes a great pesto!)
1/2 - 2/3 cup feta cheese

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Saute onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms together over medium heat. While the vegetables are cooking, spread the pesto over the whole wheat crust.

3. Saute the spinach and set aside.

4. Cook the chicken tenderloins over medium heat until fully cooked. With a fork and knife shred the tenderloins into small bits.
5. Time to put the pizza together! Spread the sauteed spinach over the pizza, then spread the chicken, and layer the vegetables on top of the chicken. Finally, sprinkle the cheese on top.
6. Bake for 15 min at 350.

This recipe is very versatile, you can use any vegetables you have on hand. Plus, with pre-made crust and sauce it's one fast pizza! It got the Amanda approval, too! : )

Getting back into the swing of things!

Recruitment sure kept me busy this week! That and classes starting was a big change to my leisurely summer schedule. Now, it's time to get back into the swing of things, including working out each day.
Here's a full body workout I completed today, it incorporates cardio and strength! For cardio I included 15 minutes before and after for a warm up and cool down as well as 30 second intervals of cardio through out the circuit, which is a great calorie burner!

Friday Workout:
15 min light cardio
2x All-Over Circuit
15 min light cardio

All-Over Circuit:

Directions:

Complete each move for 30 minutes and rest for 10 seconds, then move on. A repeated interval timer is great for this circuit; I used my Gymboss timer and set it to 26 rounds of 30s work 10s rest.

Alternating lunges with bicep curl (use at least 5 lb dumbbells)

Jump Squats

Jump Rope

Backward lunge + forward kick

Squat + shoulder press (use at least 5lb dumbbells)

Jumping Jacks

Penguin Taps (holding at least 5lb dumbbells in each hand)

Pikes

Burpees

Push ups

Plank + tricep row (at least 5 lb dumbbells)

High Knees

Plank

Try it out and let me know what you think! Hope ya'll are figuring out your workout schedule for the year!

Sara

Morning Circuit

I love working out in the morning! It's a great way to start the day and makes me feel ten times more productive in everything else I do. This morning I started with a circuit I created the night before.
My heart was racing and I was sweating through this workout!
If you are able to, do 10-20 minutes of cardio then follow with the "Morning Circuit." The 10 second breaks between each move are great for a half-awake state, but that doesn't mean the circuit is easy!
I used a repeating interval timer (Gymboss) and set it to 30 rounds of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest. You can also use a stopwatch/phone ap/internet.

Enjoy!

Baking, birthdays, and bodypumpin'

The weekend started off how most of my weekends do, with a run!

I haven't run much around the area I recently moved to, but I've discovered some routes that are interesting and have sidewalk the entire way! This run got to about 5.28 miles.

Reviewing that past couple of days...
Thursday my sister, a couple friends, and I visited our high school history teacher, Gayley, to celebrate her birthday!

Pinterest inspired birthday card I made Gayley 

It was great to spend some time hanging out with Gayley on her beautiful screened-in-porch. We talked into the night over a layered fruit and pound cake I made (I will be sure to post about!).

As a small gift we gave her Bath and Body Works Country Apple body lotion and a bag of peanut butter granola I made. This recipe is from Julie @ pbfingers.com and it is AWESOME and so easy. Granola is super expensive at the store so I am glad to have this recipe on hand. The only addition I made was to add about a 1/2 cup of raisins for 3 cups of oats.

Friday.

A surprise day off for me from work! I started the day off with a run, followed by some baking! My dad loved the pb granola I made for Gayley, so I made another batch of the addictive oats. 

I simultaneously baked some Bangin' Banana Bread. This time, however, I made the bread into muffins. The nice thing about making Banana Bread into muffins is that they cook way faster, try 35 minutes (the original loaf takes 60 minutes)! Amanda loved the muffins and we both agreed they make a good on-the-go breakfast and snack.

The only change I will make next time when making Banana Bread muffins is to add 1.5 tsp of baking powder to help the muffins rise a bit more. I did the nutrition breakdown for the muffins on fatsecret.com.

Amanda and I headed to our nearest Starbucks to get some work done. Amanda studied for the LSAT while I sent emails, worked on my Fall schedule, and transfer credits.

Sometimes the Pike roast is too strong for me, but lately since I've been asking for soymilk I think it tastes really great! I think it might be that the soymilk is vanilla flavored! YUM.

It ended up being a sister-filled day as Amanda FINALLY agreed to go to a Bodypump class with me. I can't tell you how excited I was : ). We started off with 20 minutes on the elliptical to warm up and then were ready for some pumpin'.

Pre Pump!

I had never been to this specific instructor, but she was great! She even walked around the room adjusting form, which I really appreciated! But, boy, this gal does not take breaks! My arms were jello after class and so were Amanda's!

My goal for the rest of the weekend is to relax since soon it will be back to the hustle-and-bustle of fall semester. I can't believe I am already a college Junior!

Here's some light weekend reading:
Making the Case for Eating Fruit
Abs Workout: The Fastest Way to Lose Belly Fat

Have a great weekend!

Sara

Exercise & Conversation, a great duo!

I had a fantastic workout today! 

A big part of how wonderful the workout was because I completed it with two great friends, Paige and Anna. We caught up on each other's lives and fun gossip over the elliptical and then headed into the pool for about half an hour of swimming. 

Anna, Paige, and I post swim! Looking good!

All the fun I had hanging out and exercising with these gals reminded me of how positive an influence others can be to your workout routine! So if you're meeting up with a friend, do some multitasking and exercise as well! You'll be full of the post-workout endorphin's and the joy from spending time with a friend!