Fall is my favorite time of year, and I figured since I posted some pictures of the trail I walk the dogs on a few months ago, I’d share some fall pictures, too!  It was a great day for a walk today, as even though it was overcast, it wasn’t windy and the temperature was just right.     Happy Fall!

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Well, since I enjoyed Body Pump 44 so much, I figured I would try out another one today. I really have fun with these workouts, and the music really makes these workouts feel different from each other, even when the exercises are nearly the same. This workout is the same format as all Body Pump workouts, and has 10 tracks that are about 4-5 minutes each. The entire workout clocks in just under an hour, including warm up and stretch. Each high energy track has a different focus. This workout is led by five instructors who take turns throughout the workout. I liked the different personalities and training styles, and as usual – the workout really flew by! All of the exercises are done endurance style, with lots of reps and a variety of rep speeds. There were a lot of helpful form pointers throughout, and I know I always say this about Body Pump, but I love the energy of these workouts.

Below are the tracks and exercises featured in this workout:

• I Surrender – Nicki French
  Warm Up
• Simply Irresistible – Robert Palmer
  Squats
• Pump Up The Jam – Technotronic
  Barbell chest press
• Paradise – E-type
  Barbell Deadlifts, Barbell Rows, Clean & Press
• A To The B – Infernal
  Barbell triceps press, skull crushers, standing overhead triceps extension (plate or dumbbell)
• Time 2 Move – Porno vs Hannah Jones
  Barbell Biceps Curls
• Like The Sun – Trinity
  Un-weighted alternating lunges, barbell stationary lunges
• Pretty Vegas – INXS
  Push Ups, Lateral Raise, Delt raise with a flip up to the front, barbell shoulder press
• Sweet Home Alabama – B.A.M.A.
  Leg raises with knees bent, crunches, weighted oblique crunches, weighted crunches
• I Belong To You – Eros Ramazzotti & Anastacia
  Cool Down/Stretch

Well, I was hoping to get my Upper Body circuit workout on Wednesday or Thursday, but I’ve been super busy this week and short on sleep! On Wednesday I did do my treadmill workout, the usual 45 minutes of hills with some abs work afterwards. So while I didn’t get as many formal workouts as I’d hoped, I’ve been plenty active and feel pretty good about the week.

I did my Upper Body circuit on Friday, and it was a nice workout for a busy week. I did each exercise quickly with little rest, and 15 reps per exercise. And like my Lower Body circuit, I went through the list three times. I was hoping to do some body part split workouts without videos starting next week, but it looks like another busy week, so I may just do some full body workouts instead. We’ll see how it goes!

These are the exercises I used in my circuit workout:

• Lat Pulldown
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise
• Seated Row
• Dumbbell Biceps Curl
• Triceps Rope Pressdown
• Arnold Press

For the next few weeks (unless I change my mind, heh) I’ll be doing strength training without videos. To ease back into things, I decided this week will be one lower body circuit and one upper body circuit with 3-4 days of cardio. I went with sort of a “machine circuit” theme.

Today was my lower body circuit, and while I’ll usually prefer body part splits when I’m not using videos, this workout felt pretty good. It’s based on a plan I found in one of my old log books – from December 2000! I worked up quite a sweat, and felt like I got a pretty good lower body workout, too. I did each exercise back to back, with very little rest in between. I rested briefly at the end of the circuit, and repeated the circuit two more times, for a total of three times through the list. I did 15 reps for most exercises, but did 20 reps for good mornings and calf raises. I’m looking forward to my upper body circuit later in the week!

These are exercises in the circuit, in the order I performed them:

• Smith machine squats
• Good mornings
• Leg extensions
• Lying leg curls
• Smith machine wide squats
• Hip sled leg press
• Hip sled calf press