Mile Re-Test...Amazing!

This is the final week of the session and that means revisiting the WODs from 7 weeks ago to see everyone's progress. Let's just say that I was ecstatic to see how much everyone improved their mile times!! Seriously, so impressive!

For Time:

-Run 1 Mile

*Times:

3/12:               4/30:

Nelia-7:04             6:46

Rosie-7:56            7:30

Nicole-9:33           9:15

Kandice-8:10         8:04

Kirsten-9:40        8:56

Jessie-9:41           9:20

Amy-9:02            8:28

Karina-10:30        9:29

Cathy-10:15          8:58

Some of the ladies pushing through the AMRAP.

15 Minute AMRAP:

-15 Squat Jumps

-12 Hand Release Push-Ups

-9 V-Ups

-5 Burpees

Jessie and Cathy working hard.

*Most Rounds: Rosie-9 (That's 2 more than she did last time!)

Can you believe those mile times?? Everyone significantly improved their times! These are some fast ladies! I know how hard they all have been working and I'm so excited for them to see it paying off. I can't wait to see how the rest of the week goes. Once again, great job everyone! Keep up the hard work and good things will continue to happen!!

A little of the action last Friday morning.

My Birthday WOD

Yesterday was my 27th birthday and I got to start if off with my fabulous boot campers. I didn't let them know it was my birthday until the very end when I challenged them to a little burpee surprise. More on that later, though.

27 Minutes of Tabata
(Tabata is 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds off. It's a total of 4 minutes).
-Air Squats (They had to rest at the bottom of the squat. Yes, it's very hard).
-Dips
-Sprints
-Sit-Ups
-Dumbbell Power Cleans
-Jump-Ups on a Step
-Dumbbell Swings (They only had to do 3 minutes of this in order to total 27 minutes).

At the end of their workout, I challenged them all to a little burpee contest. If anyone could beat me at 27 burpees, then they would not have to do any burpees for the remainder of the session. I had a few challengers, but I was able to beat them. However, I have a little confession. I purposely challenged them after their workout because I knew a few of them may be able to beat me. Now that's evil. :)

I would just like to thank my future husband, family, friends and amazing boot campers for making my 27th birthday a good one. I'm lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life to make each day, not just my birthday, special. Cheers to another year in my late twenties!

A few of my favorite people helping me celebrate.

Friday was Rough and Monday Wasn't Easy Either...

Friday's workout was rough. That's pretty much all there is to say about it. Although, one boot camper told me it was "pure evil," one asked if I was mad at them and I also received a few other texts with some choice words that I will refrain from sharing. I would just like to say that I'm so happy everyone "enjoyed" it so much. Here are a few pictures to refresh my boot campers' memory and show others what they missed.

Back Squat
2-2-2

Rosie spotting Kandice on her last set at 105#.

"Don't Drop the Ball"
3 Rounds:
-8  Burpee Wall Balls
Run 200 m.
-20 Overhead Walking Lunges
Run 200 m.
-8 Ninja Get-Ups
Run 200 m.

The start of their favorite WOD.

*You were not allowed to drop the medicine ball throughout the ENTIRE workout. Yes, they had to run over 1 mile, complete 24 burpee wall balls and ninja get-ups and 60 walking lunges all while holding a 12-14 pound medicine ball. Evil? No. Extremely difficult? Absolutely!

A little lunging action.

**Fastest Time: Rosie-23:21. That was one of the fastest times out of both the boot campers and group classes!

Everyone loves ninja get-ups!

The aftermath of a great workout!

Since Friday was hard (does that describe it?), I decided to keep the challenges coming this morning as well. Nothing like starting your week off with a great workout!

-Sprint 200 m.
-30 Burpees
-Run 400 m.
-30 Dumbbell Thrusters
-Run 600 m.
-30 Jumping Lunges
-Run 400 m.
-30 Mountain Climbers (R/L=1)
-Sprint 200 m.
-30 Renegade Rows (30R/30L)

More burpees!! Sorry for the terrible quality.

*Fastest Time: Nelia-18:32

Great job to everyone! I have a special workout brewing for Wednesday. It will definitely include the number 27. See you all then!

Eat Fresh!

Yes, people. It's that time of year. The fruit stands are beginning to open!!! I was driving down Monte Vista the other day and literally squealed when I saw the strawberry stand open. Wooo!!! There's really nothing better than fresh strawberries. Besides maybe fresh watermelon, fresh asparagus, fresh bell peppers...Honestly, I could go all day.

We are extremely lucky in the Central Valley to have access to such fresh produce. There are literally dozens of fruit stands scattered throughout Turlock itself. You know what's even better? Having locally grown produce in one area on a weekly basis. That's right. I'm talking about Turlock Farmer's Market. It begins next Friday, May 4th!

That's it. No more excuses for not eating right when you have countless varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables at your fingertips every Friday. Get your butt down to the farmer's market every Friday from 8-1. I'll see you there!

Wednesday's Partner WOD

What a great morning! I'm so excited for the warmer weather and lighter days to come. As the weather starts to heat up, there's no better time to get your sweat on than early in the morning. The air is still crisp and the sun begins to peak through halfway through the workout. It really is a fabulous way to start your day. One of my boot campers recently requested a partner workout and since I'm there to please them, I came up with this little WOD. I think they all enjoyed sharing the "fun" with someone else.

10-9-8-7...1

-Burpees

Rosie and Nelia crushing the first partner WOD!

*While one partner does burpees, the other partner does as many explosive sit-ups as possible. When one partner finishes the burpees, they switch. After the second partner completes the first set of burpees, the partner doing sit-ups sprints 100 m. and up a flight of stairs. The other partner waits to sprint until their partner returns from the run and tags their hand. 

*It's a total of 55 burpees and 10 sprints each. They did not have to count their sit-ups.

**Fastest Time: Nelia & Rosie-27:42

Finish With:

10-9-8-7...1

-Dips

Nicole and Karina competing against each other.

*Similar to the burpee, sit-up WOD, one partner does air squats until the other partner completes the dips and then they switch. I asked the boot campers to keep track of their air squats.

*Most Air Squats-Suzanne, Karina and Kirsten-118 (2 worked at the same time and they only counted 2 people's air squats)

What a fun morning! I loved watching the partners work together to complete this tough WOD. I think there will definitely be more partner WODs in our near future. See you all Friday!

I'm a Slacker...Monday's WOD

I really have no excuse for not posting since last Thursday, besides wedding stuff. Despite scaling my wedding waaaaay back and making it much more casual, there's still quite a bit that has to be done. I don't know how brides of extravagant weddings do it!

Anyway, the weather was perfect for running yesterday morning and that's just what they did!

My cousin's crossfit war wound and future tattoo. :)

4 Rounds:
-Run hard for 5 minutes.
-Rest 2 minutes.
*Try to run the same distance each time.

*All the ladies ran at least 2 miles.

Nelia working on handstand wall walks last Friday.

3 Rounds for Perfection:
-10 Tricep Push-Ups
-20 Single Leg V-Ups (10R/10L)
-20 Reverse Lunge, Kick (10R/10L)

Here's what my boot campers completed last Friday. It was a tough one!
Shoulder Press
5-5-5

Kandice working on her wall balls.

10 Minute AMRAP:
-Run 600 m. (Just once)
-10 Slam Balls
-5 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (SDHP)
-10 Wall Balls

Rosie, Nelia and Amy moving through the 10 minutes of fun.

Finish with...
-3 Minute Plank Challenge. Holy shaky arms and dead shoulders!

2 minutes in...

Great job to all my boot campers. Two challenging workouts and more to come tomorrow! I had a few requests, so I have a few ideas working. See you all bright and early tomorrow morning!

Get Outside and Move!

The weather is getting warmer, although it's been a little fickle here, but it is happening gradually. With the warmer months approaching, take it upon yourself to change up the scenery and get outside to exercise. There are endless possibilities when you step outside. Of course, there's running, but take a chance to look around at some different options in the area. Make a date with your special someone or good friends to take a hike, sign up for swimming classes at local colleges, go roller blading/roller skating (my mom actually recently bought some skates) or just get out and take a nice long walk in a neighborhood you've never explored.

Can you imagine a few trips up those babies?

We're lucky in California to have some pretty amazing places to get out a break a sweat, but I recently went to Denver and was somewhat jealous of the amazing mountains they have surrounding them. Not to mention the crazy altitude that winds you after walking up one flight of stairs. My friend took me to Red Rocks Amphitheater where they hold concerts and numerous boot camps. I was instantly overwhelmed with jealousy and decided I needed to move my boot camp to Denver. Anyone want to follow?

Check out that view. Any takers?

How about now?

Wednesday's AMRAP's

Holy crazy weather! It has gone from raining, to somewhat muggy, to clear, to sunny, to hailing and back to sunny. Luckily for my boot campers, the rain let up for almost our entire workout. It was actually nice and dare I say, even somewhat warm this morning. A few boot campers were down to tank tops. It drizzled a little at the end, which was actually a perfect cool down after the tough AMRAP's (As Many Rounds as Possible) they completed.

5 Minute AMRAP:
-7 Dumbbell Burpees
-25 Singles (Jump Rope)
Rest 1 Minute

Dumbbell burpees and jump roping in the fabulous lighting.

5 Minute AMRAP:
-10 Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch (5R/5L)
-10 Turbo Twists (Imagine extremely uncoordinated break dancing and this is what it looks like).
Rest 1 Minute.

Nelia, Jessie, Amy and Kelly surviving the single arm snatches.
FULL SQUAT!

5 Minute AMRAP:
-Jump Up the Steps and Run Down (3X)
-10 V-Ups
Rest 1 Minute

Some of the ladies working on their turbo twists. Suzanne
is definitely a break dancer at heart.

*Repeat all 3 AMRAP's and try to match or beat the number of rounds you did the first time through each. Check out their last time through on the final AMRAP. It started raining again at this point.

I was a little worried when I woke up this morning that the weather would not permit us to get everything in that I had planned, but it turned out great! I'm always proud when everyone shows up ready to bust their butts, regardless of bad weather. Rain or shine, you're all troopers and true bad a**es!

Monday's "Make Up for Eating Crap on Easter" WOD

Another Monday and another great workout. Everyone worked their butts off this morning and I have a feeling it may be slightly due to some over-indulging on Easter. Whatever it was, it worked and I was thoroughly impressed. However, this does not mean that I'm condoning poor eating. It happens, make up for it and try to avoid it until another special occasion. Here was the redmption workout my boot campers completed.

The beautiful moon giving us a little
light at 5:30 a.m.

5 Rounds:
-Run 400 m.
-5 Scorpion Push-Ups (Youtube these. They're hard!)
-10 Grasshoppers (R/L=1. You're doing 20, but 10 sounds so much better).
-20 Hollow Body Rocks
Rest 90 seconds between rounds.

Another amazing iPhone pic of this
morning's action.

*I only kept track of the 400 meter times. This WOD was mainly about the 400 meter intervals. I challenged the boot campers to keep all 5 of their 400's within 5 seconds of each other. They all did a pretty awesome job.

**Interval Times: Nelia-1:29-1:36, Kandice-1:31-1:40, Rosie-1:35-1:40, Suzanne-1:45-1:51, Nicole-1:46-1:53, Amy-1:45-1:52, Kirsten-1:57-2:08, Karina-1:58-2:07, Cathy-2:24-2:35.

Beginning their last 400, finally!

Those times are all great. I did a similar WOD last week and was pretty sure I was going to lose my breakfast during the 4th round. Major kudos to all of the ladies for a)completing it, b)hardly complaining and c)not puking Cadbury eggs, deviled eggs, potatoe salad, roast beef or whatever else they ate the day before at their Easter celebrations. I'll see you all Wednesday, ready to put the picture below into action.

A 31st Birthday WOD

Good Friday started off well for my boot campers. They completed a special workout in honor of Kandice's 31st (or was it 12th??) birthday. Let's just say that 31 reps of 9 exercises proved to be quite difficult. I know, I just did it too. Sorry and you're welcome boot campers!

Rosie setting up for her deadlift. Great form.

Deadlift
3-3-3-3

Suzanne and Rosie busting out 31 calories on the rowers.

"The Fun 31"
31 Reps of Each. You must complete each exercise before moving to the next:
-Dumbbell Cleans (Full Squat)
-Pull-Ups
-Slam Balls
-Explosive Push-Ups (or however you can manage to push yourself off the ground)
-Toes to Bar
-Wall Balls
-Row (Calories)
-Back Extensions
-BURPEES! (Everyone had to finish with these)

Kirsten and Lauri working on their push-ups.

*Fastest Time: Kandice-20:41. Way to go birthday girl! Check her out at the end of butt-kicking performance!

I would like to congratulate everyone for completing this intense workout. Some said it was the hardest we've ever done. I may have to agree. Also, congratulations on completing the first half of our 8 week session. The food journals have been great and the hard work has been amazing. I can't wait to see where everyone is in another 4 weeks!

Dumbbell cleans and wall ball action.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Happy Easter to those that celebrate it. Enjoy a great weekend with your friends and family. Try to keep the consumption of Cadbury eggs and Peeps to a minimum.

Check out that full squat. Go Amy!

Wednesday's WOD and Fish Taco Salad

Happy hump day everyone! Despite a slight detour and scenery change this morning, my boot campers still managed to knock out an intense workout by 6:30 a.m. I want to thank you all again for being flexible and going with the flow. There's not too many valid excuses for not getting in a great workout, even if you're thrown off track.

2 Minutes of Each:
-Manmakers
-Ninja Get-Ups
-Bear Crawls
-Sidewalk Jump-Ups (Similar to a low, fast-paced box jump)

Nothing like early morning bear crawls.

*2 Tabata sprints between each exercise (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off)

2 Rounds of 1 Minute Each:
-Wall Sit
-Plank

1 Minute of Each:

-Manmakers

-Ninja Get-Ups

-Bear Crawls

-Sidewalk Jump-Ups 

*2 Tabata sprints between each exercise (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off)

2 Rounds of Seconds Each:

-Wall Sit

-Plank

Look how much fun they're all having!

That's quite a bit of work, despite being 20 minutes off schedule. Great job everyone! We'll be at the gym on Friday, as usual and on schedule! Until then, here's a tasty little dish I quickly whipped up for myself last night. Very easy and you can eat a ton of it without feeling an ounce of guilt. So please, go indulge!

Fish Taco Salad

Beautiful salad. Check out that sweet plate, too.

-1 piece of tilapia (or any other white fish you have)

-1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

-1/2 zucchini, chopped

-1/4 c. onion, chopped

-1/2 c. cabbage, chopped

-2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

-lime wedges and pico de gallo for garnish

Marinade/Dressing:

-1/4 c. olive oil

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 lime, juiced

-salt and pepper to taste

Broil the marinated tilapia at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Saute the bell pepper, zucchini and onion in the remaining marinade used for the tilapia. Place chopped cabbage on a plate. Top with sauteed veggies, broiled fish and garnish with cilantro, limes and pico de gallo. Inhale and enjoy!

*Serves 1-2 people, depending on how hungry you are. I was starving and ate it all. Don't judge.

Monday's WOD and a Dressing

Welcome to April everyone! It was a little windy this morning, so we got to work immediately. We started April off with a long, endurance WOD. To be honest, it turned out  to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated, but everyone did a great job.

Run 800 m.
-10 T Push-Ups
-10 Half Moon Sit-Ups
-10 Dumbbell Jumping Lunges
*Rest 1 minute.
Run 400 m.
-Repeat push-ups, sit-ups, jumping lunges
*Rest 1 minute.
Run 200 m.
-Repeat push-ups, sit-ups, jumping lunges
*Rest 1 minute.
Run 400 m.
-Repeat push-ups, sit-ups, jumping lunges
*Rest 1 minute.
Run 800 m.

*Everyone completed the WOD in under 33:00 minutes. You all did awesome and held yourself to an extremely high standard!

Also, I'd like to commend everyone for making some modifications to their diets. As I've said before, even small changes will make a difference. Be consistent and continue the hard work at boot camp and in the kitchen. It will be worth it! Here's a delicious recipe for a salad dressing/marinade. It's so simple and goes with just about everything. Try it!


Oil and Balsamic Dressing/Marinade

-1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-2 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
-1 tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
-1/2 Fresh Lemon Juice
-1 Garlic, minced
-1 tsp. Fresh Basil, chopped
-Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together in a mason jar. Put the lid on a shake. Serve immediately or put in the refrigerator to chill. Use as a salad dressing or as a marinade for meat or veggies. Seriously, so good and easy.