strength training Archives - Page 3 of 5

The Fit 5: Triceps

March 2, 2015 by Jenna

Hello! Welcome to March and to the 3^rd installment of “The Fit 5”!

In January we talked about shoulders, learned what the heck the coracobrachialis is, discovered that the shoulder is the most moveable joint, and did rows, raises, presses, and shrugs.

In February we learned all about biceps, how it is an awkward sounding single noun and it inspired the word “muscle”. Then we did a lot of different curls.

Today, we move to triceps!

TRICEPS. They are my least favorite muscle group to train. Also, probably, my weakest. Coincidence? No. Not at all. However, I do know how important they are to strengthen and work on. No body wants to see flabby underarms.

So. Today I am going to give lots of love to the triceps. First, we’ll learn. Then, we’ll do.

LEARN…

If you can recall The Fit 5: Biceps I mentioned that the word biceps refers to a muscle that has both a long head and a short head – two heads. Based on that logic how many heads do you think a triceps muscle has?

If you said three, you are both brilliant and correct. The triceps brachii muscle has three heads: long, lateral, and medial. Now here are some more Fit 5 Facts about the triceps muscle.

And guess what?! It’s another awkward sounding singular noun. Hurray! As if I weren’t awkward enough.

DO…

Now that we know more about the triceps, let’s strengthen them. It’s almost summer, so before we know it we’ll be wearing tank tops and waving to people all over the place.

Right?! Summer is almost here?! Or at least spring? Or at least 30-degree weather?!

Blah. This is what we are going to do to get them into shape for whenever the weather starts to turn (or I hop on a jet plane to somewhere warm).

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: adapt these exercises to get the results that you are looking for. To work on your stability, perform the standing triceps extensions on one leg or sitting on a stability ball and do the lying triceps extensions lying on a stability ball instead of a bench. To build muscle use heavier weights and low reps; to maintain lean muscle use lighter weights and higher reps.

It is good idea to mix up the variables (reps, sets, tempo, intensity, rest, frequency) from time to time. If you are always using 8 lbs dumbbells for you triceps extensions, try bumping up the weight to 10 lbs or 12 lbs once a week. Also, play with your tempo. Try slowing things down and really focus on contracting and extending your tricepses. They will hate you and then they will love you.

I am going to pledge to you that I will start giving more love and attention to my triceps and fitting more of these exercises into my normal routine. Here are some ways that I am thinking:

Alternate these with the biceps exercises. Triceps and biceps are essentially opposite muscles. While one contracts the other extends, so let’s keep them even.
Perform an upper body circuit with biceps, shoulders, and triceps.
Pick two of the exercises for this week. Early in the week use light weights and high reps, then later in the week use heavier weights and lower reps. Then next week pick two other exercises any follow the same pattern.
Perform all 5 exercises with a set of squats and/or lunges in between.

People, the possibilities are endless.

As always, reach out in the comments with questions! Otherwise start working on those triceps!

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Run + Strength 30-Minute Workout

February 16, 2015 by Jenna

A full body 30-minute workout that alternates between treadmill running and strength training circuits.

On Saturday it was -3 degrees outside with a -20 degree wind chill. That’s not ok. I was volunteering at the photo stop for the Valentine’s Day TC 5K and it was so, so, so very cold. I bundled up in lots of layers, but my poor feet were frozen. Despite putting hand warmer packets between my layers of socks I still lost all feeling. It felt like I was walking on nubs.

BUT despite the cold, it was such a great event! There were hundreds of volunteers and runners out there making the most of the day. Evidence here. The running community in Minnesota never ceases to amaze me.

After my body fully thawed I hit the treadmill for 10 miles. That is the most I have ever run on a treadmill and the longest I’ve run since the Philadelphia Marathon. I’m not going to lie, it was hard. I went slow and took a few short breaks (for mental not physical purposes), but I’m glad I did it. Even though my hips are still a little mad at me right now.

Anyways, I put together a workout involving the treadmill; however, instead of running 10 miles we are only going to be doing three 5-minute sets. Between those sets we are going to do a strength circuit. It’ll be fun.

With this routine you will get a full body workout, plus some cardio, in under 30 minutes.

Pretty cool, huh?

I think so. Not as cool at -20 degrees though, which is a good thing.

PS – Did you watch last night’s 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live?! Oh.My.Goodness. I was dying.

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The 10-Minute Quick-I-Need-A-Workout Workout!

February 9, 2015 by Jenna

This is your 10-minute quick-I-need-a-workout workout. Some days 10-minutes is just all that you have. But hey, that’s ok. 10 minutes is better than no minutes.

On Saturday my parents and younger brother were heading out early in the morning to drive to Sioux Falls for my sister’s birthday. I knew I wasn’t going to get a workout in, so I put this together as something we could all do quick in the morning before sitting in a car for 3.5 hours. My dad opted out, because he had to go “drive around and check things out” around the farm.

This workout consists of 10 exercises that you perform back-to-back for 1 minute each. It works your upper body, lower body, core and even includes a few cardio bursts. You can do this workout anywhere and the only equipment you need is some sort of timer – a stopwatch, a phone, an app, a microwave timer, whatever is convenient!

This is what you’ll do:

You may think, “10 minutes? What is even the point?” And if you do, I can totally see where you’re coming from, but I promise that his workout will still challenge you (Pushups for a minute? Not fun.) as long as you push yourself to work and make those 10 minutes worth it.

Plus, if 10 minutes is all that you have, then 10 minutes is what you should take.

So on Saturday morning at about 7:15am my mom, brother, and I started this workout. The first minute was spent doing jumping jacks while trying to stop laughing over the fact that we were doing jumping jacks… in a our dining room… while Taylor Swift played in the background. We were quite the sight. Another giggle-attack started during the lunges and then another during the pushups. The laughter just helped us burn a few extra calories! Regardless of the all the giggles, we did it and all felt better for it.

Besides being short and effective another bonus of this workout is that you don’t need to get re-ready afterwards. You’ll get your heart pumping, but you won’t be drenched in sweat. So if you need to squeeze in something during your lunch break, between work and happy hour, or even just on a super busy day, you won’t need to spend a lot of time to refresh yourself afterwards as you probably would after this workout or this workout.

This is perfect for all you business travelers out there! You can easily do this in your hotel room before heading out for the day or after work before going to dinner.

And what if you have more than 10 minutes? Do it twice. Or three times. Or add in a minute of burpees. Or a round of intervals on the treadmill. So many great options here!

The next time you don’t think your schedule will allow you to fit in a full on workout, try to at least carve out 10 minutes of time for this one! You won’t regret it.

As always, if you have any questions about the exercises feel free to ask them in the comments.

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The Fit 5: Biceps

February 2, 2015 by Jenna

In January I kicked off a new series called “The Fit 5” and talked a lot about shoulders. This month it’s all about the biceps.

When I say “biceps” I am referring to the biceps brachii muscle on your upper arm, not to be confused with the biceps femoris, which is a part of the hamstring muscle group. Also, did you know that biceps is actually a singular noun? It refers to a muscle that has both a long head and short head; the plural form is “bicepses”. This can lead to awkward sounding sentences.

The biceps on my right arm is sore. My bicepses hurt from all those hammer curls. Awkward, but correct.

Here are some more interesting biceps facts!

Now, let’s talk biceps exercises. I am sure you are familiar with biceps curls, but there are other exercises you can do to build those biceps!

As always, adjust the variables to meet your needs. For example, the dumbbell hammer curls can be done standing on one leg, standing on both legs, sitting on a stability ball, or sitting on a bench. Use heavy weights and perform less reps (20 lbs, 8 reps) or lighter weights and more reps (10 lbs, 15 reps). Just do whatever you are in the mood for and then switch it up the next time you do them!

Here are a few ways you can incorporate these exercises into your strength training routine:

Between each biceps exercise do a set of squats.
Do 10 burpees after each biceps exercise.
Alternate these with the shoulder exercises.
Perform one exercise every day, Monday-Friday.

These are just a few examples of so many more possibilities!

Side note: I am pretty excited about these plank hammer curls. They are an awesome full body exercise!

I hope you enjoyed the second edition of The Fit 5 and learned a little bit about bicepses (still so awkward!) If you have any questions about these exercises, feel free to ask in a comment.

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Interval + Strength Gym Session

January 19, 2015 by Jenna

HIIT and Tabata workouts are fantastic. You can be in and out of the gym (or your living room) in 30 minutes with a solid, effective workout, but sometimes you just want, maybe need, to spend a little bit longer in the gym. Like an hour… or more.

Mondays are usually my “long workout” nights where I do both cardio and strength training. An intense gym session is the perfect way to kick off the week. I always feel so good afterwards. Sweaty, but so so good.

During these sessions I love to sprinkle rounds of sprint intervals in between strength circuits. Not only does this make time fly by, but doing the intervals also helps elevate my heart rate throughout the workout. (Sometimes my heart rate doesn’t get as high as I would like it to during strength training, probably because I need to life heavier weights. Another story for another day.)

I want you to try this out, because you will feel so great afterwards. You’ll leave the gym with that I-dominated-that-and-can-pretty-much-do-anything feeling.

So, do some intervals. Hit the weights. Do some more sprints. Back to the weights. Then go back to th… well, I’m sure you catch my drift. Here’s the full plan:

A few quick notes:

Feel free to do the sprints on the treadmill, elliptical, bike, or rowing machine – whatever is your favorite! I am taking a break from running (sad face), so I have been doing mine on the elliptical.
Hold dumbbells when performing the Romanian deadlifts, Russian twists, lunges, and sumo squats for additional resistance.
This type of workout can take me anywhere from 60-90 minutes depending on the exercises and how quickly I transition. Also, I may tack on an extra long cool down and some additional ab work. If you are short on time go ahead and cut out one circuit and one or two round(s) of sprints.
If you aren’t sure of how to perform an exercise ask in a comment or look it up on You Tube!

These long gym sessions are so therapeutic to me. It’s like how I feel when I bake. Except, one activity debits my calorie account and the other credits. I like to keep my books balanced.

I hope you try it out! Let me know if you do.

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The Fit 5: Shoulders

January 5, 2015 by Jenna

It’s the first Monday of 2015. Welcome back to real life. Also welcome to a new series here on Just J.Faye! I call it “The Fit 5”.

In this series I will post 5 different exercises that can (and should) be incorporated into your strength training routine. The series will usually focus on one specific muscle group (back, triceps, quads), but I will also do some broader areas as well (full-body, upper body, plyometrics). To accompany the 5 exercises I will post 5 facts about the muscle group, because knowledge is power and it never hurts to learn more about your body.

So fun, right?! YES. So let’s get started with the first edition: SHOULDERS.

I won’t lie to you, before I started learning more about the body I pretty much ignored any shoulder exercises. To me upper body strength training was basically bicep curls and triceps extensions. But, hellooooo, there are so many more muscles up there to work!

Eesh. I know now though. Better late than never, right?!

So how much do you know about your shoulders? Do you know what the shoulder joint is actually called? Or how many bones it is composed of? I’m sure you’re aware that helps move your arms up and down, but what about the other movements?

I know. A lot of those words are a bit intense. Like, coracobrawhaaaat?! I broke out the ole kinesiology book for those fun (can we call them fun??) facts.

FYI, the coracobrachialis is basically the muscle that runs from the scapula (upper back triangle looking plate) to the humerous (upper arm bone). It helps the shoulder joint to adduct (when your arm moves in towards your chest).

We are learning things here, people!

Now onto “The Fit 5” shoulder exercises.

All of these exercises are adaptable to whatever strength training stage you are in!

Working on stabilization? Perform the lateral and front raises while standing on one leg and the shoulder press while sitting on a stability ball.
Lifting heavier weights? Performs less reps and sit on a bench.
Looking to increase endurance? Choose lighter weights and do more reps.

I strongly recommend sprinkling these into your strength training routine. Here are some suggestions:

Choose 1 or 2 of the moves and superset them with squats and lunges. Fun fact: when you do a circuit like this that alternates between upper and lower body exercises you are performing a “peripheral heart action system”. The more you know.
Perform all 5 exercises in a circuit format for an all shoulder workout. Just make sure to give yourself a solid 30-60 seconds of rest between each exercise, so that you don’t wear your muscles out right away. After running through the circuit once do some elliptical intervals or plyometric exercises (like squat jumps or burpees) then repeat the circuit again. Add in a third time if you’d like!

I am definitely going to be spending a little more time on my shoulders this year! Plus, I really want to be able to do a headstand and I feel like shoulders play a huge role in that feat.

We will keep learning more in future Fit 5 posts! If you have any questions about these exercises or anything I mentioned, feel free to ask them in a comment below!

What did you think? Will you try out these exercises?

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