Choosing to Exercise + Pyramid Fat Scorcher

It’s mid-week, and after doing some serious HIIT on Monday morning, my body is tired, and my quads are a little sore. But it’s nothing a good yoga session can’t cure.

Has anyone else gotten their HIIT on this week? How did it go?

I wanted to talk for a minute about workout motivation.

Sticking with a workout program is difficult. Everyone likes the idea of exercise, and anyone that has worked out for a period of time in their life knows that they feel great after a workout. But, how do we stick to a routine, and more importantly, how do we get to that point where we start to enjoy working out?

We all have busy lives. We have families, work, church, school, commitments, social lives, sometimes even a second job that are all pushing for priority in our schedule. But, I’m going to be brutally honest, we all have time to workout. It might be 10 minutes, or 60 minutes, but we can all find time in our busy lives to fit in exercise for the sake of our health. It might take some sacrifice, like getting up an hour earlier, or cutting your TV or internet time short, but it is totally worth it. Try it for awhile, exercising will probably make you even more productive as you do your other daily activities due to an amazing boost you will experience in your energy levels.

I truly believe that the motivation to exercise comes from a habitual, almost disciplinary choice that we make, daily, to do something for ourselves to make our selves a stronger, healthier person in body and in mind. The choice to “move” daily isn’t easily made at first, but as it becomes habitual it can become something that we enjoy, and *gasp* look forward to.

However, as exercise becomes a part of our daily routine, we need to keep it fresh, and interesting. We need to grow in our knowledge of what will make our body stronger and healthier. We need to not fear trying new things, otherwise we get too comfortable. How we are exercising becomes mindless and stale and eventually we will stop enjoying it, and we won’t stick with it in the long run.

I’ve been there. And I want you guys to know that that’s part of the reason I started this blog, to help friends, and readers keep their workout routines and healthy eating fresh. However, the blog has challenged me too! Which I guess I just didn’t expect. But, it’s a good thing. 🙂

So here’s to motivation, and…are you ready for a workout!!

I did this little Pyramid Fat Scorcher on Sunday and it whipped my little hiney!! So, I decided to include an advanced version, and a beginner version of the workout so everyone can join in the fun.

The Pyramind workout consists of two exercise pyramids combined into one. One pyramid focuses more on strength and the other on cardio. With both pyramids combined you get a fat scorcher of a workout!

How to do it:
*Start at the top of the pyramid and do each exercise in succession until you reach the bottom. Try not to rest long between exercises, you want to go from one move to the next quickly to keep your heart rate up. Once you have completed the entire pyramind top to bottom, rest for 1-2 minutes and then complete the pyramid again, but this time from the bottom to the top.
**From top to bottom took me a little under 30 minutes, with a few quick water breaks.

ADVANCED VERSION:

Explanations for a few “newer” exercises:

Prison pushups – starting in a pushup position, quickly bring your right knee to your chest, then put it back, then bring your left knee to you chest and then put it back, and do a pushup. This all happens as quickly as possible. Knee in, knee in, pushup.

Crab toe touches – Sit on a mat with your feet flat on the floor and place your hands on the floor behind you with your fingers pointing towards you feet. Push up into a table, or crab walk position. Next lift your left foot into the air and at the same time reach across your body with your right hand and try to touch your left toe. Come back to the crab position and repeat with the opposite arm and leg. While reaching for your toes concentrate on pushing through your glutes to keep your butt up, and use your core to do the reaching.

Twisting ski jumps – Start standing with feet together and your elbows at your sides and hands out in front like you are holding ski poles. Then jump both feet twisting your hips to the left, when you land your toes should be pointing to 9 o’clock. Immediately jump back to the start, and then immediately to the right side where your toes will point to 3 o’clock. Continue ski jumping until you have completed the 100 reps.

BEGINNER VERSION:

How do you motivate yourself to workout? Share your tips, you never know when what you do might help someone else. 🙂 

Have a great workout, and day!

Liesl