Strategize Your Workout
After a long and awesome kick-boxing class, I realized that this is happening more and more throughout the gyms everywhere - multitasking your workouts. Americans have gotten so used to multitasking on the daily routines: operating a vehicle, cell phone to their ear, coffee in their hand, trying to have a simultaneous conversation with a clerk lady through the drive-thru window. It's insane how much brain power we need to fuel two conversations at once and think about which road we are going to turn on next or which train we need to catch. So, why not apply the same concept when it comes to toning your body?
We strategize throughout the day without even realizing it ... how to get the most value out of the least amount of time. We want to accomplish so much in a day and still have the energy to come home and be able to cook dinner, talk to our significant others/roommates or/and friends.
Multitasking usually keeps you fired up throughout the day, but you may be drained by the evening. You might think a lot gets done when you multitask, but a study conducted by Stanford researchers Eyal Ophir, Clifford Nass and Anthony Wagner says it isn't so.
The researchers are still studying whether chronic media multitaskers are born with an inability to concentrate or are damaging their cognitive control by willingly taking in so much at once. But they're convinced the minds of multitaskers are not working as well as they could.
"When they're in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, they're not able to filter out what's not relevant to their current goal," said Wagner, an associate professor of psychology. "That failure to filter means they're slowed down by that irrelevant information."
So even though when it comes to texting, reading a book, watching TV and trying to pay attention to a conversation might be a bad idea, when it comes to exercising, it's beneficial to multitask throughout your workout. The multitask workout includes the moves that combine muscles in the upper body and lower body simultaneously, while putting you a little off-balance for core strengthening. Then you can add cardio intervals between moves for a total body workout.
These moves will cut your work-out time in half.
1) Leg Lunges and Bicep Curls
Begin your routine by doing 15 lunges. To do lunges correctly, step forward and place your heel and then toe on the ground. Keep the front legs completely straight so that your knee is right above the ankle—if it isn’t, you’re not doing it correctly.
Take things up a notch by adding bicep curls to the mix as you stand between your leg lunges. You don’t need to use the heaviest weight, but heavy enough for you to feel some strain after completing 15 reps.
When you take a step forward, lower your weights to help stay balanced. Remember to keep your belly pulled in throughout the exercise.
2) Leg Lunges and Tricep French Press
Get heavier dumbbells for this part. Do another 15 reps of leg lunges, but this time lift either 1 or 2 weights over your head to do a tricep French press.
To do this exercise correctly, you’ll have to hold your dumbbells over your head. Do a lunge as usual, but this time when you bring your leg in and are back to a standing position, raise your weights above over the head.
Be sure to keep your elbows pointed forward (not on the sides).
3) Plea Squat Shoulder Press
Get into a classic plea squat position. Stand with your feet wider apart than your shoulders. Point your toes to the side (not in the front like a traditional squat). Bend your knees at a 90°, so they’re right above your heels. Move your upper body down, so your waist is around knee level.
Pull in your tummy to tighten your abs. Do an overhead shoulder press with the dumbbells in your hand. Your palms should be facing forward, aligned with your ears. Hold your weights tight and pull them over your head to the ceiling as you stand up straight.
When you go back to a squat position, lower your weights back to ear level. Don’t let the weights hit your shoulder because you’ll risk injury.
Do this for 15 reps.
Between each of these moves, jump rope or do jumping jacks for a minute. Repeat moves 1-3 for 3 sets; this will help you sculpt your glutes, quads, biceps, triceps, inner thighs, shoulders, and abs.
4) Outer-Thigh Lift and a One-Arm-Outside Bicep Curl
The first move is an outer-thigh lift and a one-arm-outside bicep curl. Balance on your right leg, lift the left straight leg to the side, this gets the hip abductor working.
At the same time, lift the right hand holding a heavy weight to the side for an outside bicep curl. Feel the abs engage. Do 15 reps and repeat on the other side.
5) Upperback, Abs and Outerthighs
The next move works upperback, abs and outerthighs. Get down on your hands and knees. Use medium-sized weights and balance on them. Lift your right arm out to the side while lifting your bent left leg out to the left side (we call this the hydrant, get it?).
Do 15 this way, then switch and lift the left arm and right leg at the same time. Notice how your abs have to contract as you lift.
6) Bench Press
Finally, lay on your back with heavy weights in your hands, elbows bent at 90 degrees. Align your wrists directly over your elbow, getting ready for a bench press. (Your arms should look like goal posts.) You'll simply straighten the arms to lift the weights towards the sky, and then bend the elbows back to 90 degrees, keeping the wrists above the elbows. At the same time.
Bend the legs and put your feet flat on the floor. As you lift the weights for a chest press, you will engage your glutes, quads and abdominals to lift the hips as high as you can off the floor. Lower hips and hands at the same time. Do 15 reps.
Finish with another set of jumping jacks or jump rope!
You can really get creative and strategize your workout to fit your needs. If you have your own favorite upper body exercises, mix them in with you not-so-favorite lower body moves, so the good will offset the bad. By the end of the workout, you might realize you actually LIKE what you didn't before. Your brain will not be so focused on the not-so-favorite while you are mixing in the fun moves.
Have a blast!
