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

The workout gets wet!

Hello workout friends!
Thanks for stopping by the blog. This week brings another adventure - and a workout Sonya and I NEVER do. Water aerobics. If this conjures up images of your grandmother and her peers - forget it. This is tough stuff.

The class is called "Aqua Boot Camp" and the name should've given us a clue as to what we were in for. "Just the sound of it has brought a lot of people in, "says instructor Jill Reding, "because they want a really hard water workout." And right off the bat, she has us working hard. There is a lot of running and kicking to start with as we warm up our legs, and oftentimes Jill has us "go suspended" - doing the moves without touching the bottom of the pool. Before long we start interval training. At first it's twenty seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest, but Jill keeps adding more and more time to the clock - thirty seconds, then forty, and sometimes up to a minute - and of course the rest period stays the same! Jill is really great about constantly giving us cues, which is helpful since neither one of us does this type of workout. She's always reminding us to relax our shoulders, tuck in our abs, squeeze our glutes ... it's a lot to think about and you have to keep your mind and your muscles engaged.

We are working way harder than we imagined we would, and then Jill drops this bombshell, "OK! This is the part where we drag each other to the other end of the pool!" Soon we're connected by bungee cords, with one of us acting as dead weight for the other. Then we have to get to the other end. The method doesn't matter - you can run, swim, wiggle any which way you choose - but let me tell you, your heartrate goes through the roof on this drill!

Once we reach the other end, we do arm work. First bicep curls, then another length of the pool, chest presses, another length of the pool, triceps, another length of the pool ... you get the idea. It's hard. Really hard.

We're feeling really pooped, but Jill has more lined up for us. The next round is cross country skiing and our heart rates are jumping again. All of this takes more coordination and strength than we dreamed it would. "A lot of people think water aerobics is easy, they think it's just good for your joints," Jill grins, "but you get so much resistance in the water, you've got resistance in and out and up and down!" And ALL AROUND! Ab work is next and it's just a tough! First we do a V-sit move that also works our inner and outer thighs, followed by a fast-paced tuck and press. The last move is something Jill calls "humdingers" and they are as hard as they sound! "I always tell class members - it's what you put into it. You can work really hard or you can slough off, because you can't see in the water!" That's so true, but this workout is also a lot of fun and we're pretty sure you'll feel great about donning a swimming suit after doing this for a few weeks!

If you'd like to try Aqua Boot Camp, contact Prairie Life:
4875 Mills Civic Parkway
West Des Moines, IA 50265
515-223-5999
www.prairielife.com

Keep sending us your workout ideas!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

Train like an athlete

Hello workout friends!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. Mine meant great time with family, but several days of eating poorly and not working out. It's time to get back in the groove!

If you're feeling like you need a jump-start, this week's workout is a great one to try. Nick Rouse is the owner of Spartan Strength in Clive and he knows a thing or two about sports training. He's a former Drake football player and coach and now he's a personal trainer - or as he likes to say, a "performance specialist." However, Nick says you don't have to consider yourself an athlete to train like one. He starts Sonya and I out with basic lunges and then starts adding modifications to target our guads and hip flexors - areas that are often tight thanks to many hours sitting at our desks. There are also little changes that force us to work on balance and flexibility, and side lunges and squats that get work our glutes and inner and outer thighs.

Various forms of running are next. We do high knees and rear kicks and then move on to a funky little move Nick calls "Kid 'n Play." He looks like a member of a boy band when he does it, but we feel pretty goofy. "You'll be on Dancing With The Stars, next!" Nick says with a laugh. That's doubtful, and be decide to give speed and agility drills a try next. We're doing footwork on a cloth "ladder" that's stretched out on the floor and it's not always easy. "Geesh!" says Sonya, "Can't I just go run a mile instead?!?" But that's the whole idea - to get us to do things we normally don't - and that includes the next portion of the workout. Nick sets up four cones - one in each corner of the artificial turf. We have to sprint to the first cone, turn, sprint to the next cone, run around it and sprint back to the start. We do that three times through and then reverse directions. We are sucking wind and not at all prepared for the next cone drill. This time we have to shuffle to the first cone, turn and shuffle to the next, turn and sprint to the next, back pedal to where we started and finish with a sprint. BRUTAL! We feel like we are back in our hometown high school gyms during two-a-days for volleyball! "That's the benefit," Nick explains, "at Spartan we are constantly giving you a different stimulous, so you continue to see improvement."

Speaking of new stimulous - we're moving on to timed stations that include exercises we've NEVER done before. "That's a good thing!" Nick exclaims, "once you become accustomed to any kind of work, it becomes easy!" There's nothing easy about these moves. There are five stations and we spend twenty seconds at each one. We do a crazy mountain climber move with our hands gripping gymnastics rings, an exercise called "The Rock Singer" using a weight bar, high plank with an opposite reach, weighted ropes, and finally - some equipment that comes straight from the Rouse family farm. We get to use sledgehammers and pound the snot out of a huge tractor tire. This is definitely our favorite part! Nick usually puts clients through four rounds of this circuit, but for us he cuts it in half. "Everything is adjustable," he explains, "we can make modifications for anyone with any exercise." We're glad to hear it, and also glad this is the end of the workout ... except that it's not!!!

The last thing we do at Spartan Strength is what Nick calls a "finisher." We're pushing a weighted sled like you see football players use in practice and we have to do three laps, followed by three sets of shuttle runs. We are supposed to be sprinting, but our bodies are so tired we're mostly stumbling back and forth. We know we've burned a ton of calories and gotten a great workout, but we also feel like we've conquered a new challenge and that's what Nick likes most about his job. "My biggest pride is not seeing the body change - it's seeing the mind change," he explains, "that's what changes people's lives faster than any change in body composition." Amen.

If you want to work out with Nick - check out the website, drop him and email or give him a call.
www.spartan-strength.com
(515) 987-0341
NICKROUSE@SPARTAN-STRENGTH.COM

The Filthy Fifty

Hello workout friends!
I hope you're all staying healthy and finding time to try some new workouts.

Two weeks ago Sonya and I were scheduled to give CrossFit a try. We almost decided to cancel. Sonya did the Copper Creek Triathlon the day before the shoot and I taught two classes at the Y the morning of the shoot. Needless to say, we were both pooped but we decided to show up anyway. I still don't know if that was a good idea, but we got one heck of a workout.

The first thing you notice when you walk into the CrossFit Des Moines location is that it doesn't look like a typical gym. There aren't a lot of machines and there isn't an aerobics instructor in sight. Instead, you find coaches like Mike Brown - a former Air Force Special Ops member who informs us that we've shown up on the day Crossfitters are doing what's called "The Filthy Fifty." The workout is so hard, it happens only a few times a year. It's a sequence of ten exercises and you have to do fifty reps of each one. What?!?! We raise our eyebrows and immediately start whining about how tired we are and how we're both nursing injuries, and Coach Brown allows us to do "The Dirty Thirty" instead. "That's the thing about CrossFit," Coach Brown explains, "everything is scaleable - no matter who you are or what level you are."

That's great and all - but it doesn't diminish the fact that this is really, really hard. We're doing things like box jumps and kettle bell swings and push presses that work your entire body. "It gets you functional strength for real things," says Mike, "we're preparing for our sport and our sport is life."

This particular workout is also timed. So you're not only pushing and pulling a lot of weight, you're also doing it as quickly as possible. That becomes tough when you get through about twenty reps of exercises like burpees, not to mention things we'd never heard of - like knees to elbows and wall ball (if you're curious, watch this workout online). And there is no slacking. The coaches in the room are counting, and they force everyone to do every rep. "Whatever we put on the board, we finish," explains Brown, and he means it. I couldn't get through another push press, so I had to do extra burpees to make up for it. No mercy.

We always ask the trainers we work out with how many calories we're burning, and people here seem to think that's a funny question. "We treat our bodies like machines," says Coach Brown, "we put good fuel in and we're gonna burn it off." We have no doubt about that. Our muscles are burning and our hearts are thumping and we know we've gotten a great workout.

If you're interested in giving CrossFit a try - drop in, check out the website or call:
3209 99th Street (behind Stella's Blue Sky Diner)
Urbandale, IA 50322
(515) 360-8209
www.crossfitdesmoines.com

Have a great week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

Work? Play? Both!

Thanks for stopping by the Workout of the Week blog!

What you'll see this week is really fun. We visit a park and playground with personal trainer Heather Brunk - who sees the perfect outdoor gym. "I look around and see a million different exercise options," Heather says with a sly grin. And that's when Sonya and I realized we were in for a beating.

On the basketball court we ran sprints, did sports shuffles and walking lunges and squats. "You'll never look at a playground or a park the same way again," Heather tells us - and she's right. Next we move to the playground equipment. While Sonya does a minute of jumping jacks, I do a minute of reverse grip pullups and then we switch. It doesn't take long to get our hearts pounding. "It doesn't even have to be a long period of time," Heather explains, "thirty seconds to one minute intervals are amazing."

And if you don't have a playground nearby, don't worry. You can turn a park bench or a picnic table into workout equipment, too! For instance, we put one foot on the seat of a picnic table and do repeating knee lifts. Pretty soon our quads are burning and we're out of breath. Next, we put our backs to the seat and use it to do tricep dips. If we turn around, we have the perfect setup for incline pushups!

We're starting to realize the possibilities are endless, and excuses like not having a gym membership or being too busy are sounding really lame. "These are things you do for as long or as short a period of time as you want," says Heather, "and you can do all of this while your kids are enjoying an outing at the park! It's a great way for you to spend time with them and get fit at the same time."

We had a blast with Heather and she's got a bunch of other workout ideas up her personal training sleeve. If you'd like to contact her visit her website www.motivationllc.com.

Have a happy, healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

Sonya is my hero

Hello workout friends! Last week's workout didn't air because of severe weather, so below you'll find a repeat of last week's blog. In the meantime I wanted to let you know how amazing Sonya is. A few weeks ago she hurt herself during one of our workout shoots. Did she decide to stop her triathlon training? Of course not. Instead, Sonya started going to a physical therapist. She completed the Copper Creek Triathlon last Sunday. That in and of itself is incredible to me, but she also still gave 110% during the insane workout shoot we did yesterday morning. I've really enjoyed working out with Sonya - she always makes me work harder than I do on my own and I always walk away with a desire to do better next time.


Workout like a Navy SEAL
This week we're giving TRX Suspension Training a try. The exercises might appear to be pretty easy, but they aren't.

"It's basically a strength-training system," explains Barb Mendoza, "it's just body weight and two nylon straps!" It doesn't get much more simple that that and simple is part of the reason this personal trainer was drawn to the TRX. The other selling point - the system was invented by a Navy SEAL for working out in the field. "TRX 101 is that where you position yourself makes a huge difference," Barb tells us during our training session. We start out with our hands in the straps, feet on the ground, doing one-legged squats and lunges. Then we move on to upper body exercises like rows, flys and tricep extensions. We play around with the position of our feet and can immediately feel how a change in stance changes the level of difficulty.

What we didn't anticipate was putting our feet in the straps, but Barb shows us some moves that really push us out of our comfort zones. "You'll be on the floor for a couple of things and you'll be unhappy when you're there because it's gonna be hard!" She's not kidding. Sonya goes first. Her feet are in the straps and she's face down in a basic plank. That move is tough in and of itself, but then Barb tells Sonya to push her hips to the ceiling, into a pike. After several reps it's back to the plank - with a twist. Barb tells Sonya to swing her hips from side to side. This routine blasts your entire body, but really targets your core. "When we say core, everybody thinks abs," says Barb, "but hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes and back are also part of the core." And I get to target those muscle groups. Barb also puts my feet in the straps, but I'm face up. First I do hamstring curls like you would on a stability ball and it doesn't take long to burn out. The next move is a high bridge that torches your glutes and I'm thinking this is the fast track to a fantastic looking butt! Finally Barb has me swing side to side just like Sonya did and I can instantly feel my obliques and back working.

We loved the TRX workout. It was really hard and we're sure it produces results. If you want to give it a try with Barb, call her at 277-9721 or visit her website www.fitnessbydesigndm.com.

EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

Workout like a Navy SEAL

Hello workout friends!
This week we're giving TRX Suspension Training a try. The exercises might appear to be pretty easy, but they aren't.

"It's basically a strength-training system," explains Barb Mendoza, "it's just body weight and two nylon straps!" It doesn't get much more simple that that and simple is part of the reason this personal trainer was drawn to the TRX. The other selling point - the system was invented by a Navy SEAL for working out in the field. "TRX 101 is that where you position yourself makes a huge difference," Barb tells us during our training session. We start out with our hands in the straps, feet on the ground, doing one-legged squats and lunges. Then we move on to upper body exercises like rows, flys and tricep extensions. We play around with the position of our feet and can immediately feel how a change in stance changes the level of difficulty.

What we didn't anticipate was putting our feet in the straps, but Barb shows us some moves that really push us out of our comfort zones. "You'll be on the floor for a couple of things and you'll be unhappy when you're there because it's gonna be hard!" She's not kidding. Sonya goes first. Her feet are in the straps and she's face down in a basic plank. That move is tough in and of itself, but then Barb tells Sonya to push her hips to the ceiling, into a pike. After several reps it's back to the plank - with a twist. Barb tells Sonya to swing her hips from side to side. This routine blasts your entire body, but really targets your core. "When we say core, everybody thinks abs," says Barb, "but hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes and back are also part of the core." And I get to target those muscle groups. Barb also puts my feet in the straps, but I'm face up. First I do hamstring curls like you would on a stability ball and it doesn't take long to burn out. The next move is a high bridge that torches your glutes and I'm thinking this is the fast track to a fantastic looking butt! Finally Barb has me swing side to side just like Sonya did and I can instantly feel my obliques and back working.

We loved the TRX workout. It was really hard and we're sure it produces results. If you want to give it a try with Barb, call her at 277-9721 or visit her website www.fitnessbydesigndm.com.

EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com