Travel Workouts Born From a Storm

With Hurricane Milton heading straight for the west coast of Florida, my little family decided to travel out of the storm’s path. 

We are no strangers to hurricanes at this point. Both my husband and I are born and raised Floridians, fully adjusted to the Sunshine State’s moody, erratic weather. Even still, the time window between being alerted to the storm and getting prepared or getting out is very small. It requires some swift decision making and action.

Staying Consistent When Your Routine Goes Out the Window

It got me thinking about all of the times life hits us with surprises and we are forcefully thrown from our routines. Whether it be hurricanes, busier seasons at work, the kiddos sharing a virus they brought home from school with the rest of the family… there’s always something! We have to be adaptable to be successful. 

As an online personal trainer and nutrition coach, I see it over and over again. You’re making headway, slowly building the consistency needed to sustain those healthy habits and achieve your fitness goals. Then out of nowhere, your proverbial easy jog down a flat road takes a sudden turn into a steep, harsh climb. (Ahem… Doesn’t happen much in Florida, but lets pretend.) Now you’re trying to sustain those healthy habits under wild conditions - less time than you had before, less resources, more stress, etc. 

And you want to press pause on your healthy habits. “Just until the kids feel better. Just until work slows down. Once I get through this week, I’ll start again. Once the new year starts…” Sound familiar? 

DON'T Press Pause on Your Goals!

We can get realllllly good at pressing pause, pressing play, pressing pause, pressing play on our fitness routine and healthy habits. But can I ask you, how’s that going for you long term? Isn’t the yo yo between rigid fitness champ and chaotic, structureless survival ANNOYING? Not only is it annoying, but it hinders any lasting progress towards your goals.

Think about it this way, if my action or inaction is rooted in my circumstances, life just turns into this cycle of fitness sprints where we do great and then collapse the second we get smacked with that steep hill. 

 

Scaling Healthy Habits Up or Down to Stay Consistent

Alas. I’d like to propose a happy middle ground. What if we focused on turning the dial up or down on our habits, but always continued to do SOMETHING? How much further along would we be by the end of a year? 5 years? If we straight up did not stop. We might not always be sprinting to the finish line. Maybe sometimes we’d be crawling. But we’d always be moving closer! You know that saying “an object in motion stays in motion?” It’s a lot easier to keep it moving if you don’t stop! 

That’s the approach I take with my clients AND myself. Maybe you can’t do alllll the fitness things in this season of life. Maybe tracking every morsel of food just isn’t realistic right now. But instead of waiting for the perfect moment to do all the perfect things, what if you focused on the small things you COULD do? 

Messy Action is Always Better Than Inaction

So in the midst of all my hurricane stress / travel prep  (i.e. buying 15 gallons of water, racing my fellow floridians to the gas station, packing a suitcase with 20 extra outfits I definitely did not need) I decided that this week would be a week of Do-What-You-Can-And-Let-That-Be-Enough. 

In order to make room for the 20 extra outfits (no regrets), my husband may or may not have unloaded my dumbbell collection from the trunk of my car. Don’t ask me why I keep a gym in my trunk. I’m a trainer, okay? What if there’s a fitness emergency??

That being said, I opted for some fun bodyweight workouts while we’ve been away and my fitness journey most certainly hasn’t suffered because of it! I’ve included the 3 bodyweight circuits I’m using this week for you below. Because we don’t need all the fancy equipment or the state of the art gym or the full hour of training to make a dent in our goals! We just need the perseverance to keep doing something that gets us one step closer.

Sista, leave that all-or-nothing mindset behind. Allow yourself to focus on what you can do instead of waiting to implement the perfect fitness plan. And watch how your results, mindset, and consistency improve! 

Here’s 3 Bodyweight Workouts for the Days When Life is Life-ing 

I did each of these 3 workouts on separate days. For each one, complete 3 rounds, 15 reps each. This means you're doing 15 reps of each exercise back to back without rest. Once you complete the 15 reps of the last exercise, rest for 60-90 seconds. That is 1 completed round. Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 rounds.

Workout #1

1. Bulgarian split squats
2. Push ups
3. Standing Bird dogs
4. Unilateral Walking lunges
5. Tricep dips
6. Walkouts

 

Workout #2

1. Reverse lunges
2. Push ups
3. Elbow Plank
4. Single leg dl
5. Russian twists
6. Pulsing Sumo squat

 

Workout #3 

1. Split squats 
2. Alternating High Knee Lift
3. Push ups
4. Wall sit
5. Seated tucks
6. Burpees no push up

The Exercises 

Bulgarian split squats

1. With your feet hip width apart, place your left foot behind you on a bench. Your feet should be about 3 feet apart.

2. Bend your right knee as your hips move backward to bring your left knee close to the floor.

3. Pause and then drive through your right heel to push back up to the starting position.

4. Repeat for prescribed reps. Then switch sides.

Push ups

1. Start in plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees or toes on the floor behind you. 

2. Lower yourself toward the floor until your chest nearly touches. Elbows should form about a 45 degree angle to your body. Your core should stay tight and the back flat. 

3. Push yourself back up to the straight arm plank position.

4. Repeat. 

Standing Bird dogs

1. Stand up straight with your feet hip width apart and your arms relaxed at your sides.

2. Activate the core muscles to protect your spine. You want to harden the abs as though someone were about to punch you in the stomach. This is going to keep your back from arching during the movement.

3. Shift your weight onto your left leg without locking out your knee. Keep the left leg just slightly bent. 

4. Slowly lift your right knee up to hip level. At the same time, raise your left arm in front of you and then up. Keep the arm straight. You're only moving it at the shoulder joint.

5. When your knee and arm reach the top of the movement, pause and maintain stability using your core.

6. Slowly return your right leg and left arm to the starting position.

7. Repeat on the other side. That's one rep. 

Unilateral Walking lunges

1. Stand up straight with your feet hip width apart and your hands either on your hips or loose at your sides.

2. Keep your core activated to maintain stability and keep from arching your back. 

3. Step your right foot forward 2-3 feet, bending the right knee to bring the left knee close to the floor. Stop when your right thigh is parallel to the ground and your back leg forms a 90 degree angle. Try not to let the right knee go past your toes. 

4. Throughout the lunge movement, keep the chest upright.

5. Drive through the right heel to push yourself back up and close the distance between your feet with your left foot coming forward.

6. Repeat, lunging with the same leg for the prescribed number of reps. Then switch sides.

Tricep dips

1. Sit on the edge of a sturdy bench, chair, or step with your hands beside your hips. Fingers should be gripping the edge. Feet are flat on the floor, hip width apart, and knees bent at about a 90 degree angle. 

2. Keeping your fingers on the edge of the bench, slide your hips forward off the bench so that your arms are supporting your body weight. Activate the core.

3. Bend at your elbows to lower your body down into the dip. Elbows should remain pointing straight back. Don't let them flare out to your sides.

4. When your upper arms are parallel to the ground, press through your palms to straighten the arms back into the starting position. Don't lock the elbows at the top. Keep a slight bend in them.

5. Repeat for the prescribed repetitions.

Walkouts

1. Stand up straight with feet shoulder width apart.

2. While keeping the legs straight, bend forward to bring your hands to the ground. 

3. Slowly walk your hands out to the plank position while keeping the core activated.

4. Walk your hands back inward until you're back at the starting position.

5. Repeat.

Reverse lunges

1. Stand up straight with your feet together and your hands on your hips or loose at your sides.

2. Step your left foot back behind you, bending the knees to lower toward the floor. Keep the chest up the whole time. 

3. When your right thigh is about parallel to the floor, drive through the right heel to push yourself back up. At the same time, lift the left leg up and forward to get back in the starting position. 

4. Repeat for prescribed reps and then perform the movement on the other side. 

Elbow Plank

1. Lie on your stomach with your elbows on either side of your body next to your chest. Palms should either be in a fist position or to the floor directly in front of your elbows. Feet are together.

2. Push off the floor into push up position with your elbows and forearms supporting your body weight. 

3. Activate the abdominals to keep your body stable and protect your back from arching. You want your body to form a straight line from head to toe. Hold for 60 seconds or until failure (whichever comes first.) 

Single leg dl

1. Stand up straight with your feet hip width apart. 

2. Shift your weight onto your left leg with a slight bend in your knees. (Don't lock the knees.) Your right heel is off the ground, toes just lightly grazing the floor. 

3. Extend your arms forward toward a wall, sturdy chair, or bench for balance. You want to just lightly hold the support with your fingertips for balance. You aren't leaning your bodyweight into the support.

4. Activate your core for stability.

5. Hinge at your hips, pushing them backward as your torso bends forward. Do not allow the hips or shoulders to shift to one side. They should remain squared to the ground.

6. Extend the right leg behind you for balance.

7. Lower until your torso is about parallel to the floor, feeling the stretch in the hamstring.

8. Drive through the heel of your left leg to return to the upright position, bringing your right foot forward to meet your left. 

9. Repeat for prescribed reps. Then switch sides. 

Russian twists

1. Sit on the floor with your feet together and your knees bent. 

2. While activating the core muscles, lift your feet off the floor. Knees are still bent. Activating the abs is going to keep you from arching your lower back.

3. Clasp your hands together in front of your body and begin twisting your upper body to reach towards the ground on one side with your clasped hands.

4. Alternate to the other side.

5. That's one rep. Keep the back flat the whole time and focus on twisting slowly and with control. This is not about speed. It's about using the core to remain stable as the torso twists. 

Pulsing Sumo squat

 

1. Begin by standing with feet wider than shoulder width apart and toes pointed outward. Clasp the hands together in front of your body or put them on your hips.

2. While keeping the chest up, move the hips backward and bend at the knees to lower into the sumo squat. Make sure that your knees always stay in line with your toes. Don't allow them to cave in as you lower into the squat.

3. When your thighs reach about parallel to the floor, bounce a short distance back upward and then down again. This is your pulse which increases that time under tension for the legs and glutes.

4. Come all the way back up to the starting position. That's one rep. As you're lowering into the squat, make sure that you're moving slow and controlled rather than simply dropping to the bottom. A lot of the strength gains happen when you're controlling the motion on the way down!

Split squats 

1. Stand up straight with your feet together and your hands on your hips or loose at your sides.

2. Step your left foot back behind you, bending the knees to lower toward the floor. Keep the chest up the whole time. 

3. When your right thigh is about parallel to the floor, drive through the right heel to push yourself back up. The toes of your left foot stay planted behind you. The feet stay stationary for this movement and we bend just at the hips and knees.

4. Repeat for prescribed reps and then perform the movement on the other side. 

Alternating High Knee Lift

1) Stand straight with your arms out in front of you and your core activated. (Harden the abs as though someone were about to punch you in the stomach.)

2) Raise your left knee up until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Keep your upper body straight.

3) Slowly lower your left leg down to the starting position.

4) Repeat with your right knee. That's one rep.

5) Continue alternating between raising the left and right knees.

Wall sit

1. Find a sturdy wall that can support your back. Stand with your back flat against the wall. Walk your feet out in front of you about 2 feet. Feet are shoulder width apart.

2. Slide down the wall by bending your knees. When your thighs are parallel to the floor, stop there. Make sure the knees are right above your ankles so that your legs are forming a 90 degree angle. 

3. Hold this position for 45 seconds or until failure (whichever comes first.)

Seated tucks

1. Sit on the floor with your legs out straight in front of you. Place your hands on the floor next to your hips. Lean back, activating the abs to protect your spine. 

2. Lift your legs off the floor a few inches. Legs are straight with a slight bend at the knees.

3. Using your core muscles, pull your knees in towards your chest and your torso toward your knees. 

4. Bring your legs back out to the starting position, never letting the feet touch the floor. 

5. Repeat.

Burpees no push up

1. Stand up straight with feet shoulder with apart and arms at your sides.

2. Explode upward into a jump. Land softly with your knees slightly bent.

3. Drop into a squat by bending your knees and pushing the hips back. Keep the core activated.

4. Bring your palms to the ground directly under your shoulders.

5. Jump your feet back behind you into a high plank position. Core should still be activated so that your back does not arch when you jump into the plank.

6. Jump your feet forward toward your hands.

7. Repeat.

Are you ready to build a strong feminine physique you can keep for life?

Girl, it sounds like it’s time to apply for Emily Cramer Fitness 1:1 Coaching!

My 1:1 coaching program is for you if:

✔ You want to build lean, feminine muscle without your workout or nutrition program taking over your whole life. You want something sustainable and realistic so you don't just keep starting and stopping.

✔ You want help learning how to eat and workout for your goals and how to consistently execute on these healthy habits

✔ You've been struggling with all or nothing thinking. You're tired of feeling like you need to do everything perfectly in order to see progress.

✔ You want to radiate confidence and strength - not just look fit, but feel it too!

✔ You want to make changes surrounded by women who get you, get your goals, and make fitness fun.

Not convinced it could work for you? Take a look at my Client Success Stories.

I look forward to coaching you! 

To Your Good Health & Success,

 

 

 

Music: Chill

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