My workouts and a 30-minute treadmill routine

And just like that, the holiday weekend is over, and it’s Monday again.

Over the past few days, I’ve enjoyed having some visitors from Florida in town, touring around the City and veering off of my typical schedule. I even had two consecutive days off of work, which will be (were) my only free days for the entire month of July.

However, fitness is always on my mind, so let’s get to it.

30 minutes of intervals 

I’ve been toying with some interval runs on the treadmill lately and have one to share with you. While this routine works for me, it may not be right for you, so if you want to give it a try, modify for your own level and use your discretion.

I prefer to do intervals rather than steady-state cardio, because I find it revs the metabolism, keeps me entertained and is a little bit more challenging than running at the same speed for half-an-hour. If you do try this workout, do not hold onto the handles at all, even when the incline gets tough. You’ll feel it!

I did this interval run a few times recently, and it definitely gets me sweaty and breathless.

Outside of cardio, I’m one week into a brand new resistance workout program, which I briefly mentioned last time in my workout recap. It’s all about heavy weights, shorter sets and more variety to help me train in a new way. I’ll give you some more background soon.

Now, let’s get to my recap.

Weekly Workouts

• Monday – WORKOUT B of my new program including a dynamic warm-up, mobility exercises, one-hour of total-body weight training, foam rolling
• Tuesday – taught one-hour BODYPUMP class
• Wednesday – WORKOUT C of my new program including a dynamic warm-up, mobility exercises, one-hour of total-body weight training, foam rolling
• Thursday – 30-minute treadmill interval workout shown above, WORKOUT A of my new program including a dynamic warm-up, mobility exercises, one-hour of total-body weight training, foam rolling
• Friday – did half of a BODYATTACK class at home (done in the living room, with my trusty house-guest, Amanda)
• Saturday – rest
• Sunday – rest

What was good?

Because it was a long weekend and I had friends in town, I didn’t fit in a full six days of working out, but I did have some high-quality workouts earlier in the week. The classes I typically teach over the weekend were cancelled, so I enjoyed two full rest days, which I needed. The mixture of changing up my routine and taking some days off was a great combination. It’s essential to get out of your comfort zone in the gym to make big gains, and I’m really happy that I’ve finally got a smart plan for myself, full of variety and challenge.

What could have been better?

I’ve found it beneficial to fit in a little yoga into my routine, and unfortunately that didn’t happen last week. Although I did spend time stretching nearly every day, one day of light-intensity mind/body is something I need to strive to include to counterbalance the hard work. Overall, my week was pretty good. On the days I didn’t work out, I clocked an average of 10,000 steps, so at least I was always moving.

I’m off for another long day of training. Hope your week kicks offs nicely!

Questions of the day

How was your weekend? What’s one way you were active last week?

Do you prefer steady-state running or intervals?