100 Burpee Challenge

Burpees are great. No matter how much we hate them, there is no denying that they work the legs, butt, core, arms, chest, and back while giving us a massive cardio burst. These guys are like a secret weapon for toning and tightening all those areas that are so hard to tone and tighten. Once, there was a time when the idea of doing a burpee sent my running (almost literally) away from a workout. That is, until, I realized this little secret... For what they do, they really are not that bad. Gasp!

Yes, they are ridiculously difficult. And yes, doing an hour of burpees could bring a full grown he-man to tears; but, who has ever done burpees and not felt the rewards of it in the following days? Me either. That is why I have a challenge for you on this fine day. The 100 burpee challenge, to be precise. Yes, 100 burpees. How long will it take you? Can you do it in 15-minutes or less?

This past weekend I went to my first ever Crossfit class with a friend. It was great and there will be more on that later this week. What made this class so different from usual though, was the 3,000 burpee challenge for charity they were doing all day. After every circuit we had to do a minute of burpees. Then, there was 5-minutes at the end of the hour class. The 5-minutes were split between your team so you only ended up doing 2.5-minutes total. It was still insane. I did 88 burpees, averaging 12 burpees per minute.

Although I loved the Crossfit class and plan on returning, the burpees may have been the most useful part of the whole deal. And that, my friends, is what inspired me to put out this little mid-week challenge. 100 burpees in 15-minutes or less. Can you do it?

In order to really do this challenge, be sure that you are doing a full burpee. Start with your front on the ground, arms bent and hands on either side of your chest. Lift off to plank position and jump feet between the hands- no stepping here! Then, jump up, lifting hands straight up overhead. Jump back to plank and lower back down to the ground. That is one. Now just repeat 99 times and you are there!

Let me know how long it took you!

Workouts I Will be Trying in 2014

{via}

One of my New Year's resolutions for 2014 was to try a new workout a week. So far, the greatest example I have of this is aerial yoga. This form of yoga is something that I have been interested in for quite some time and only recently tried. Now, I am an addict and have brought a few friends in on this addiction with me.

Honestly, I was not expecting to have so much fun stepping out of my comfort zone, but am sure happy I have. This super fun and super new experience has pushed me to try a few other classes and forms of exercise that I have seen and heard of, but have never tried before. Here are just a few classes that I am set on trying this year. Funny, but most of these i have never even attempted before!

Pure Barre

There is a Pure Barre facility about 5-minutes from my house, but I have shamefully never tried it. What makes it even worse is that I have a close friend who swears by pure barre for getting her back in shape after her first and second child. This type of workout combines ballet work, pilates, and weights to work all those areas most us women have some massive issues with.

It is embarrassing that I have not tried Pure Barre yet. Not only is the studio closer than almost any gym, but it focuses on all the areas I try to focus on as well. Them bum- check. The wiggly parts of the arms- check. The inner thighs- check. This will probably the next class I am going to try. Classes are a bit pricier than the $15/class I am use to, but my wallet is going to have to take a backseat to my curiosity.

CrossFit

This form of intense cardio, weight lifting, and gymnastics is something I never thought would be on my list to try. Sure, it will burn some massive calories, and sure, it is super popular, but it is also a bit scary. This no frills form of fitness keeps things simple and boasts of circuits that do not have break in between. That's right, you do intense cardio and Olympic style weight lifting without breaks.

I have a close friend who co-owns a CrossFit gym and many friends who love it. They will all have to give this yogi the courage to try something so intense, but with some encouragement, I am sure I can do it at least once! Then, I can (hopefully) add it to my list of classes I was afraid to try but am now completely addicted to... And be able to bench a car, of course.

Dance

Yes, this previous ballet dancer has dance on her list of workouts to try in 2014. Although I was trained in ballet for over a decade, I have hardly tried any other form of dance at all and am starting to believe that my rhythm is abominable. The only way I will know if this rhythm curse is real or completely in my head is to try something that puts my abilities to the test.

Zumba is first on my hit list of dance classes. I was recently in the grocery store with another Jenni who owns a Zumba studio and she was able to convince me that I needed to try it out while we were in the check-out line. Zumba is a dance fitness program created over two decades ago by Colombian dancer Alberto Perez. If you have never heard much about Zumba, it combines many different dance styles including samba and merengue along with martial arts. Although I am a bit of a fish-out-of-water when it comes to Latin dancing, I sure am excited to try this!