Work From Home Part Two: The Workout

Now that I’ve shared some of my favorite productivity tools to work(out) from home, I’ll share some of my favorite moves with them that can be done as a complete workout. These moves hit the major muscle groups and train movements that keep your body balanced and ready for action. Enjoy!

First Things First

Foam Roller

Before even starting your workout, spend some time with the foam roller. Hit areas that feel tight—such as quads, glutes, calves, lower back and hamstrings—making sure to spend at least 30 seconds working on each area. Using only your bodyweight, roll gently back and forth along the muscle. Once you are done, go ahead a do a dynamic warmup (walkouts, squats, leg swings, etc.) to get those muscles ready to move.

Now, the Workout

Do the exercises in order, one after the other until you have completed the set. Rest for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then repeat the circuit 2 more times for a total of 3 sets.

1. Walkout to Push Up - Bodyweight

Stand up straight with feet shoulder width apart. Bending at the hips and keeping legs straight, plant each hand on the ground and begin to walk forward into a plank position. Upon arrival in a plank, execute a push up and walk back up to standing.

*If a push up cannot be done in proper form, come down to the knees for the push up or do a half push up.

Reps: 10

2. Pistol Squat - Suspension Strap

I am slowly making my way to unassisted pistol squat territory. The only way I have made it this far is with lots of practice and the help of my suspension strap. With the strap attached securely to the door, walk back holding the straps until arms are fully extended but not locked. Balancing on one foot while activating every inch of your footbed, lower into a squat as if you were sitting back in a chair, going only as far as you feel comfortable while using the straps for minimal balance and assistance as the non-weight bearing leg extends straight out in front of the body. Return to standing.

Reps: 5 each leg

3. Pull Ups - Pull Up Bar

Oh, the elusive pull up. Good thing the pull up bar was made to practice in the comfort of home. I am not going to go over form here really, what matters is going slow and remembering to engage the core. Whether that is a traditional pull up, a neutral grip pull up, a chin up or assisted band pull up—go to the max that can be done in proper form.

*If doing a pull up in not in the toolbox yet, go to the suspension strap and start building that upper body strength with suspension strap pull ups instead. I've attached my suspension stap to my pull up bar so I can sit directly under it (please make sure the pull up bar is secure!). Sit directly under the straps with legs straightened or bent at the knee in front of the body. With shoulders and arms aligned, pull the body up until the handles meet the armpits and pause. Return to start and repeat.

Reps: Max in proper form (or 10 with suspension strap)

4. Swings - Dumbbell or Kettlebell

Grab the dumbbells or kettlebell with both hands and stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder length apart. Hinging from the hips, bring the DB/KB back towards the tailbone, then thrust hips forward to swing the DB/KB as high as the hips drive them. Remember, the arms aren’t doing the work, the hips are. Ever see swing dancers where the guy pulls the girl through his legs until she is in the air and back on her feet? All from the hips.

Reps: 15

5. Knee Ups - Pull Up Bar

This move is pretty straight forward. It lovingly works on grip strength and exhaust the core in the same manner. Hanging from the bar, but not letting shoulders droop from bodyweight, bring knees up to the chest and pause. Lower back down and repeat.

Reps: 8 to 10

6. One-Leg Deadlift to Row - Dumbbells or Kettlebell

I like to build workouts that integrate a lot of balance training, and this exercise is one of my favorites. Doing the deadlift with one leg not only works on balance, but engages the core to hold the weight in hand and keeps one from tipping over. Glutes and hamstrings do the same by bringing the upper body back to standing. With one foot slightly off the ground and the other firmly planted, hinge at the hips, lowering the dumbbells down towards the shin. As the upper body lowers, the free leg raises behind to body until the spine and back leg make a straight line parallel to the ground. From here, pull the dumbbells up to the armpits for the row, lower back to the shins and reverse the movement. Repeat the same movement on the other leg and that is one rep.

Reps: 10

7. Chest Press to Fallout - Suspension Strap

This one is a favorite for shoulder stability and working all the stabilizing muscles in several directions. I wish I had done more of these in my dodgeball days. The ol’ arm is still as creaky as a rusty door hinge. Stand facing away from the door with straps on the outside of the arms. Feet will be closer to the door so the body will be in a suspended prone position. Lower the body as arms expand into a chest press. Then, as the hands come back in front transition in the fallout position, raising the arms above the head and making the body a straight line. Return to start and that is one rep.

Reps: 10

8. Snowboarder Jump - Bodyweight

I am pretty sure this is just called a 180º squat jump, but I guess this is what the kids are calling it these days. It is like when my junior roller derby girls starting saying “swag” all the time. (Shrug.) Start facing to your left in an squatted position. Loading your legs, jump while turning the body with the hips (hips, hips, hips), landing softly facing to the right, back in a squatted position. Jump back in the same direction to start, then repeat on the other side. That is one rep. My old speed coach used to drive this tip into our brains when we wanted to turn smoothly on skates. The hips are like the gas pedal and steering wheel of a car, the body can’t produce power and direction without them.

Reps: 1 minute

Extra Credit

Cardio Blast: Jump Rope

Tacking on a metabolic finisher at the end of a strength set is a great way to burn calories and build endurance long after the workout is done. Take a quick trip outside to finish the workout with this 15 minute jump rope routine adapted from Real Simple and reward yourself with a nice cool down and stretch afterwards.

1. Basic Jump: 1 minute on; 1 minute rest

2. Alternating Leg Jump: 1 minute on; 1 minute rest

3. Basic Jump/Alternating Leg Jump Combo (8 Basic / 8 Alternating): 1 minute on; 1 minute rest

4. High Knees Jump: 1 minute on; 1 minute rest

5. Zig Zag Jump: 1 minute on; 1 minute rest

(Keeping feet close together, jump up and turn the hips to one side at the same time. On the next jump up, turn hips in the opposite direction and repeat.)

5. Endurance Jump (can switch between Basic and Alternating jumping): 5 minutes non-stop

Great job! How productive are we feeling now? No one can call you a slacker in pajamas after this one.

Work From Home: Favorite Productivity Tools

As a freelancer, working from home is part of my day to day routine. The same goes for training. My tiny apartment is home, but also the office and the gym. Now imagine the level of difficulty trying to stay productive when my office faces the bed (I love naps) and my gym faces the television (Another season of Supernatural? Bring it…).

They say the key to productivity is having the right mindset. With freelancers, they say to not spend all day in your pajamas and get dressed like you were actually heading to an office. As for a home gym, I say to not only get dressed, but have the right tools. I once was training a client online and asked her to bring out any equipment she had at home. After disappearing from the monitor for a few minutes, she returned triumphantly with a Shake Weight. I couldn’t help but laugh, but mostly because it was all too familiar—as I was using a kitchen stool for box jumps at the time. Having the proper tools at home can be highly motivational and for most, can even replace a gym membership altogether. Here are my favorite tools to be the most productive from home.

Jump Rope
Good for: Cardio, performance art with Shia LeBeouf

There was one afternoon where I was doing burpees in my living room and heard my downstairs neighbor tapping on the ceiling. I couldn’t tell if they were annoyed by all the jumping or the crazy drum n’ bass I happened to be blasting at the time. We’ll never know. But when I take my jumping outside or down in the garage, a jump rope is an excellent tool to get cardio in without having to travel the distance. I prefer the jump rope over going for a run, because I have much better technique jumping over running, which saves me from the high impact that running causes to my knees and shins. In the end, I burn more calories.

Pull Up Bar
Good for: Upper body; core

Since I no longer belong to a gym, it became increasingly hard for me to find somewhere to do pull ups. I have to travel a bit to find outdoor pull up bars and sometimes have to wait in line behind grunting shirtless dudes to even just get a few in. It took a great deal of research to find one that would fit in a door in my rental apartment, but once I found one that would work it has helped balance out my upper body strength dramatically and brings focus back to my core.

Foam Roller
Good for: Flexibility training; recovery

No home should be without one. Just like a fire detector can save a life, so can a foam roller. Really, it is that important. The intensity of training needs to be constantly undone, and having a foam roller to work out all the major kinks just before bed or while watching a hefty amount of Veep on HBOGO helps reduce soreness and increases flexibility before the next session, much like how Tony Hale always knows what to bring Julia Louis-Dreyfus after a day of burning political bridges.

Suspension Strap
Good for: Stabilization training, muscle activation

Athletes need to train with instability to learn how to activate multiple muscles simultaneously in order to gain control over stabilization. A suspension strap is a simple way to create an unstable and controlled environment and also take traditional moves like a push up or hamstring curl to the next level. Don’t want to drop a ton of money on a TRX system? Try the more basic version that still gets the job done from the people over at MostFit, which is just as easy to use over a door or tree branch.

A pair of Dumbbells or Kettlebell
Good for: Strength training

I really do love bodyweight exercises like nobody’s business. They are the most effective exercises for building strength and muscle endurance, but if you are in the hypertrophy and maximum strength phases of training, adding resistance will help muscle growth and add the load needed to achieve the right results. Medium weight dumbbells are generally great additions to your basic bodyweight exercises (like a pushup + a row) and a kettlebell workout can burn up to 1000 calories in just one session (I can think of a dozen iron puns right now, but I will save you the eye roll.)

Runners up and honorable mentions:

- Resistance bands: The cheapest and most portable tool to bring with on vacation and still get a great resistance workout in. Also my go-to workout tool on recovery days when working on prehab/PT.

- Stability ball: Another tool that can morph simple exercises into complex ones, however, hard to store in small spaces.

- Kitchen step stool: Ok, NOT recommended as a tool, but gets a mention since I really did use it for jumping on. Then I got smart and took my jumps outside on park benches. I should know better, since one of my biggest fears is ending up in a #fitnessfail montage on Ellen.

Wondering how to use all of these together for a complete workout? Stay tuned next week for a home workout post!

Get To Class: With Strikerfit Kettlebell Club

It is always an amazing feeling after getting your butt handed to you, especially in the most friendly and polite manner. It is almost like getting spun around over the head of Randy Savage and rather than passing out of sheer fright, you find yourself crying “Eagleeeeeee!” instead and getting treated to dinner afterwards. In the past 2 weeks, I attended 2 of the free classes offered by Strikerfit Kettlebell Club. Their philosophy is to get people out of the gym with both indoor and outdoor classes to achieve an effective and fun workout with others in *iron* solidarity. As a personal trainer, I have always needed another trainer to both push me to my max and actually keep me interested. It was like kismet stumbling upon this fine group of people.

For both of the free classes, there was ample time for warm-up and overview of basic technique for all levels to get familiar with kettlebell terms and moves, lead by the owner himself. Then after feeling like a pro with the basic moves, I quickly found myself back in a rookie state of mind as one of their trainers started the actual workout. After about a half hour of a few exercise sets—which became more brutal as the session went on—we were rewarded with a cool down and stretching session led by a yoga instructor. The same format was followed for the 2nd class I attended, with the exception of an additional trainer who warranted a few groans from the regulars. The woman next to me leaned over and said, “Get ready to get your ass kicked.” She wasn’t kidding. But his portion was so short that I almost wanted more. Almost.

The classes had a good mix of new faces and regulars, which offered an insight to the club itself. When the regulars are comfortable enough to prod the instructors while they themselves tell the cheesiest of kettlebell puns, I become more drawn to wanting to be part of the club. A sense of community is what makes clubs like these the most desirable, and it didn’t hurt feeling like a badass on the beach as a dude on his bike kept riding by and yelling strangely positive and supportive compliments. Overall the free classes gave a gleeful taste of what the club was about. The owner’s wife was on hand to answer questions and hand out free training session coupons and class calendars. Chatting with them afterwards, they were genuinely interested in hearing feedback and getting suggestions for more locations to make their club accessible to different neighborhoods. They currently offer membership plans to class locations that are not especially close to me, so I am hoping they expand to my neighborhood so I can commit.

Check out Strikerfit Kettlebell Club on Facebook for upcoming free sessions as well as their official website for more information and membership details.

Lose the Guilt About Missing the Gym (and How to Make Up For It)

I have been spending a lot of time lately trying to leave negativity out of my life. When I get caught up in negative thoughts, it often snowballs into guilt, self-deprecation and a large amount of stress. None of these things belong in my life. And it shouldn’t belong in yours either. I have noticed how hard we tend to be on ourselves when we miss a day at the gym. We overlook what we could have been doing with that time instead of turning to social media and publicly shaming ourselves. Instead of doing mental harm about missing the gym, make up for it with these more positive actions instead.

1.     Core Work

Core work is something that can do every day and not need the gym or equipment to do so. Catching up on plank variations and isometric holds is an easy way to cancel out the guilt of missing a full strength workout at the gym. When you can’t laugh at this the next day without being feeling sore, it’s a good thing.

2.     Recovery Work

An athletic trainer friend of mine always has to remind her clients that once an injury has occurred, it will always remain with you. The point she couldn’t stress enough is that physical therapy doesn’t end when sessions end. It is something that always must be done. So when the gym isn’t on the agenda for the day, remember there is always work to be done in the tiniest amount. So get back to those ankle alphabets and shoulder Ys and Ts if staying strong without setbacks is important (which it is!).

3.     Flexibility/Stretch/Massage Work

The great thing about flexibility and stretch work is that it is an integral part of being well-rounded athlete. (More importantly keep injury away.) Load up a yoga or stretching routine from a favorite workout app.  Grab that foam roller that is collecting dust in the corner and work out the kinks in those quads and calves. After all the wincing, yelping and swearing so loud that it scares the neighbors, the amount of relief and energy that will be felt after will make anyone forget a missed gym day.

4.     Quality Time

There are times when my clients ask me for advice on their training plans, and after they give me the rundown of their jam-pack training schedule I often have to tell them to cancel a gym or training day to make room for quality time. The running joke with athletes is that their significant other/kids/cats/guinea pigs never see them and that if cats could attend games that would be the most time spent together in one sitting. There is always room for mentally recovering and keeping your life in balance. Once, when I pulled a practice off of a client’s weekly schedule she immediately responded with, “Oh! Now I can have date night!” That guy is now marrying her. (Related? Shrug. But I’d like to take credit for that.)

5.     Treat Yo’Self (to sleep and a good meal)

Now it’s time to treat yo’self. None of that cheat meal nonsense. I am talking about that hour you missed at the gym that leaves you a wide-open opportunity to cook a real meal mid-week and sit down with actual utensils instead of standing over the sink eating out of Tupperware. And the time you cut out of traveling to the gym? Wind down early and hop in bed with a book or that significant other/cat/guinea pig and get some real lovin’ on. Everyone wins.

Form Fix of the Week: Pushup

“Everyone knows how to do push ups.” NOT. Every week I remind my boot campers how to perform a push up in good form. Sometimes it is because they want to push harder or not look like the only person who can’t do a proper one. But I can’t stress this enough, a push up in bad form isn’t doing anyone favors. It also isn’t shameful to not be able to do even one, because this sucker takes a lot of practice and build up.

A push up is one of the most basic exercises that builds upper body and core strength. No equipment is needed, not even this and there are no excuses that can justify leaving it out of your workout (unless you are injured/have joint restrictions, then you are absolutely excused).

Proper Form: 3 Things to Focus On

Spine. I am a big defender of spine health. So when doing any exercise I will always mention this first. When executing an exercise from a prone position, it is best to keep your spine in a neutral position. Note that I am not saying “straight” but “neutral.” The difference is that when the spine is in neutral, it is allowed to perform as it should with the natural curves in motion. Pushing the spine into a straight position is forcing it into an unnatural state. Neutral also means not letting the spine hyperextend. When in a prone position, don’t look like your cat, stretched out over couch and under the coffee table. Only a cat can be comfortable and look cool in that position.  

Elbows. What part of the arms are pushups actually working? Pushups utilize anterior and medial deltoids (shoulders) as well as the triceps and pectorals (chest). They are a ton of variations on pushups and there are a lot of arguments on which is actually the true one, but I’ll stick to the form that I feel works best for the major muscle groups used. When lowering to the ground, keep the elbows close to the side of the body, bending 90 degrees towards the feet.

Neck. Keep the neck neutral as well. A common compensation I see in pushups is when the neck drops down and forward. A little trick to know if the neck is in the right spot is to actually look a few inches in front of you rather than straight down.

How to Build Up

Start with planks. Having stability throughout the core and shoulders is a key component. Don’t worry about lowering just yet. A proper plank is all about keeping the neck and spine neutral and the shoulders directly over your elbows/wrists. Learning to engage the core, quads and glutes will keep pushups in proper alignment rather than looking like someone is about to break out the worm.

On your knees. Don’t knock anyone doing push ups on their knees. I would rather have a client do pushups on their knees in perfect form any day of the week until they build the strength to go to the next level. (See previous.)

Halfsies. I like having my clients learning how to hold a pushup halfway before even attempting to lower all the way. This still gives the core and shoulders more control without losing form.  

Now are we ready to tackle the pushup?