Paper plates aren't for eating anymore!

Hello faithful fitness followers!
In this week's installment, Sonya and I once again find ourselves saying, "What?!?" The "Workout of the Week" features paper plates, and it is super challenging.

I've known personal trainer Angie Gallagher for years - we used to teach fitness classes at the same club "back in the day." I told her to throw a workout our way that would be something really unique, and she did not disappoint. Before going to her studio Sonya asked me, "Do you think this is going to be really hard?" I just smiled and said, "All I know is Angie is a great trainer... so it probably will be!"

When we show up at the Urbandale location, Angie explains that all we're going to need for this workout is paper plates, weights and a mat. Then she tells us about the circuit she's created. "We're going to do one minute of cardio, one minute of upper and lower body, and one minute of abs," she says with a grin, "then we'll repeat from the top so it's eight cycles." Neither one of us is really great at math (it's why we chose careers in journalism) but we were thinking, "Each cycle is three to four minutes long, we're going to do eight cycles, that's roughly 25-35 minutes of work ... no problem!" Yeah, right! Halfway through this workout, we were dying!

Angie has us doing all sorts of cardio - jumping jacks, karate kicks, squat hops, burpees - ugh! But the most grueling part of this workout turned out to be all of the moves we did incorporating paper plates. There were lunges and squats where we placed one foot on a plate and slid it back and forth during the moves, pushups with plates under both feet where we had to pull up into a pike position, and a bridge with the plates under our feet where we first extended our legs and then curled them in (for hamstrings) - followed by pushing our feet apart and bringing them back together (for inner and outer thighs).

To be honest - it is really difficult to describe this workout, so I'd advise watching it online. What I CAN describe is how hard it was. Sonya and I were sore for days afterward. "It takes your muscles through a whole range of motion so you get double the benefits of a traditional strength training program," explains Angie. An added bonus - it was really fun!

If you want to give the paper plate workout a try - contact Angie. She's great!
Web: www.fitnesswithangie.com
E-mail: fitnesswithangie@gmail.com
Cell: (515) 710-6987

Here's to a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com