One-Hour Circuit Sculpt

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I successfully kicked my own booty in class this morning—by the way, 14 people showed up today. Yeah, early risers! I love that people want to get up and hit the gym with me. It inspires me to put together the best workout I can both for myself and for my students. I teach, but it's also my workout. So it's gotta be good for multiple reasons. Okay, so I'm tooting my own horn a little...but it's not easy to fill a studio at 6:00AM, y'all!

Anyway.
Here's what we did:

As always, you need to be aware of your own limits when following this or any other workout you come across online. This is what worked for me today, and for some of my students, but it's not necessarily what will work for you. Please proceed with caution, and only if you are medically alright to hit the gym.

It's mumbo-jumbo, but still...it's important that I say it.

Some clarifications:

Forward Crossover Lunge with Weights
Basically, it's a curtsy lunge to the front.

Single-Leg Hip Raise on Ball
This is a newbie to me and I absolutely love it. Why? It made my booty burn AND it challenged my core—it's a two-for-one deal that I found in my Women's Health Big Book of Exercises. Dudes, you can also find it in the Men's Health Big Book of Exercises. Everyone, CLICK HERE to see it.

Lat Pullovers on Ball
This is a newbie as well. I have the hardest time working the lats exclusively without a cable machine, and I thought this might be a good alternative, but I'm not sure I felt it exactly where I was supposed to. And I'm worried it might be too much for those of you with bum shoulders. Be the judge. CLICK HERE to see it, and imagine it with your shoulders on the exercise ball instead of on the bench. Also, we used a body bar instead of weights.

Toe Touch Crunch
When I was a cheerleader, I used to bust out toe touches like THAT. This, however, is nothing like that. Ha! Just lie flat, legs and arms outstretched, and bring your right leg up as you reach for it with your hands. Relax and repeat, keeping it on the right side until all repetitions are complete. Then switch.

Dumbbell Curl with Static Hold
By "static hold," I mean weight in hand and arm bent and held at 90 degrees while the other one curls.

Questions? dailydose (dot) notes (at) gmail (dot) com

Needless to say, I was pretty wiped after class. And since we all know that protein is a must after any good strength session, this totally happened:

I don't typically do the protein shake thing, but we were out of eggs and I was running out of time before little miss would wake up for the day—and Swanson Health Products recently sent me some goodies to sample—so I went for it, this quick and healthy protein fix. I've had it before. It's plant-based, and it tastes good. And if you buy it from Swanson, it's pretty affordable. Win, win and win.

(Seriously, Swanson Health Products sells everything. So if you love shopping at health foods stores but either don't have one near you or don't like the prices, I highly recommend you check them out.)

Question: What's your favorite source of protein? Mine will always be eggs. They're so versatile, in my opinion.

Disclaimer: Swanson Health Products gave me a code that allowed me to snag some free products, including the above. I was not paid to review the products or to mention the company. Rest assured, all opinions are my own. And rest assured that I really do think Swanson runs a great ship.