Julie is a certified AFAA personal trainer and ACE group fitness instructor. Along with personal training at the Plex, she teaches group classes Fit Over 40, Chiseled, and X-Fit. Every week she is here to bring you a quick 15-minute ball-buster workout that is sure to start the sweat!
While last week we played around with the Bosu®, this week it’s time to use another one of my favorite gym toys: the medicine ball. So grab your watch, because this week the exercises aren’t counted, they’re timed! The idea behind the time is to try and push yourself to do as many reps as possible within these time periods, so fight through and see how many you can do!
Every exercise will be timed for 50 seconds, allowing you 10 seconds of rest between each move. If you don’t have a watch, you can use your iPod or the clock in the Plex.
1. Wall Ball Squats (targets your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core)
Standing about a foot away from the wall in good squat position (toes slightly pointed out to protect your knees, your chest raised high, your abs held tight supporting your spine, and your weight resting in your heals) hinge at your hips and lower into a deep squat with the medicine ball held at your chest. As you squeeze your glutes, throw the ball up the wall as high as possible. As you catch the ball, at your chest, lower back down into the squat and repeat. Use your breath to help you, exhale as you come out of that squat, as you throw the ball as high as possible.
2. Wall Ball Sit-ups (targets your core)
Sit down, facing the wall, with your toes against it. Knees bent in a sit-up position, lay back on the ground bringing the medicine ball to the ground behind you. As you sit-up, throw the medicine ball at the wall, and catch it as you lower back onto the ground. Once again, exhale as you come up out of that sit-up!
3. Burpees! (targets your entire body) *put the medicine ball aside!
Get ready for a cardio “break!” Standing, quickly lower into a straight-arm plank position. Then, lower into a hand-release push-up. Here, your chest should touch the ground, and your hands should release before you push yourself back up. As you push yourself up, hop your feet into your chest and jump up as high as possible. Repeat! 50 seconds of these WILL BE CHALLENGING. Don’t do them too fast at first, but focus on doing them right. Focus on each movement: the plank, the push-up, the squat, the jump. Don’t just let your body flop, be deliberate, be strong.
4. Lunge Kicks with Press (targets your core, glutes, hamstrings, quads, triceps)
Standing with your feet together and the medicine ball at your chest, lower one leg back into a lunge, with your abs held nice and tight. Your back knee should almost touch the ground behind you, and your front knee should be directly over your HEAL and never your toes. Then kick your knee to your chest and simultaneously push the medicine ball into the air. This takes balance, so be careful! Do 25 seconds on one side, then switch legs.
5. SPRINT!
That’s right, this last move is simple… you just sprint as fast as you can down the track and back. Assuming you’re at the BC Plex, this means going the length of the tennis courts, to the red curtains. Try to break 30 seconds!
Repeat this series three times, or four if you’re feeling extra ambitious. When I’m training my clients and am feeling extra “mean,” I make them do the fourth cycle. Three is hard, I tell them, and the fourth is hell… aka AWESOME! Fight through, challenge yourself, and see how you do!
Photo Source:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/exercise/triceps-e…
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