I love mixing up my workouts, especially in the summer when the warm weather makes me want to get outside. Also, the whole "not working" thing gives me the time I need to drive to a new running trail... or to just take my sweet damn time with my workout!
One of the many things I am excited for as I embark on my new side business of personal training is designing workouts for clients. I love making my own workouts and I am ready for the challenge of making workouts that help others reach their goals!
Most of the time, if something is working, I stick with it. But when I feel the urge to get creative with a workout, there is no telling what I will come up with!
For instance, this past Sunday, Paul and I went on one of our famous disc golf/running dates. The place we were going gave me two running options:
Choice #1: Run the EXTREMELY HILLY back roads around the park.
Choice #2: Run in circles around the .75 mile paved walking trail around the park.
I was feeling lazy and did not want to run hills, so Choice #1 it was. But wouldn't that be boring, running around in a circle seven times?
Not with a deck of cards... MUHAHAHAHA!
What I did was combine running with a deck of cards workout. If you don't know what a deck of cards workout is, you can read about it here!
My workout was this:
1 mile run
1/4 of a deck of cards workout
1 mile run
1/4 of a deck of cards workout
1 mile run
1/4 of a deck of cards workout
1 mile run
1/4 of a deck of cards workout
1 mile run
It equaled 5 miles and 1 deck of cards workout total. I was exhausted. Try running after doing a bunch of mountain climbers, burpees, and jump squats. It's humbling.
(Yes, I carried a deck of cards with me for 5 miles. Luckily there was no one else around to judge.)
The best part of my workout? I got to kick around in the "Splash Pad" at the park. It's a fenced in area of several sprinklers for kids to play in. Well, there were no kids around, so I took off my shoes and rinsed some of the sweat off of me. It felt soooo good. I thought to myself, "This must be what Ali feels like when she gets to jump in her pool after a run!"
This is not me, but it is the Splash Pad!
Have you ever done anything weird to mix up your run?Ever go to a "Splash Pad"?
The card workout is rough enough but you threw that in with your run, yikes! The splash pad sounds awesome after a nice workout.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah it was def a challenge!
DeleteLast night I REALLY wanted to mix up my run with weights in between each mile, but the a/c was BROKEN at my gym!!!! It was like the deepest pit of hell in there! I should have remembered your deck of cards workout and did it outside, damn!
ReplyDeleteOmg that sounds horrible. It was REALLY hot yesterday all over the country, too!
DeleteYou have such creative workout ideas! I'll have to steal this one sometime.
ReplyDeleteI was on a roll this week but I'll prob go back to my standards soon hehe
DeleteI wish I had a splash pad in my backyard hehe!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'll ever understand people who WANT to go outside when it's warm...but maybe that's because summer temps to me are broiling.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of combing a deck of cards workout with running! That's seriously intense! Do you try to keep all the workouts cardio-based if you're doing that, so that you're not overworking too many muscle groups?
For me personally, I keep them to plyometric type stuff- mtn climbers, burpees, squat jumps... push ups are good too, though I guess they are not technically plyos? Thinks like high knees, lunge switches are good to. I like to keep my strength training focused workouts to heavy stuff at the gym. But combining steady state cardio (running) with some short bursts of plyos with the deck of cards is good to sneak in some fast twitch muscle action. I like the deck of cards but of course someone could just decide, okay, I'm running a mile, then doing 10 burpees, 10 squats, 10 whatevers... and then they don't have to carry cards.
DeleteThe last time I did a workout in the park I honestly wanted to die. To be fair, I had just flown back from Ibiza at 3am the previous night, had very little sleep and was pulling around a lot of heavy ish, but I thought I was going to at least pass out!
ReplyDeleteooh sleep deprivation is never fun!
DeleteWhat a fun workout! Awesome that you were able to go to the splash pad without any kiddos! There is a kiddo pool in our town and after every run, I want to jump in but the lifeguard there gives me the stink eye when I run by!
ReplyDelete