Happy Friday! Today kicks off the first day of the Fit Fridays series and I’m excited to share a calorie-blasting workout with you from Liz Jones @ Pojo Fitness. Liz is a nationally certified group fitness instructor and personal trainer and has been teaching and training for over 5 years. I used to take one of her Yogalates classes and I wouldn’t be able to walk the next day. Yes, from yogalates. She kicked my butt.
Liz just sent out her Holiday Fit Letter that gives great tips on how to survive the craziness of the Holiday season when eating right and exercise tend to fall by the way side. If you’d like to subscribe to her letter, shoot Liz an email at pojofitness@gmail.com.
Here is a blurb from her Holiday Fit Letter and her kick-booty workout….
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POJO’s Calorie Blaster: 22 Minute Cardio
When you are pressed for time, intervals should be your go to choice of cardio. You can do this on the treadmill {preferred}, stepper, bike or elliptical machine. With intervals, you can burn at least 100+ more calories and you are shedding fat faster. Trust me, after 20 minutes you will feel like you got in a hardcore workout.
Here’s how my workout goes: You will be doing a pyramid type workout. There are 6 sprints involved and a recovery period after each sprint. If you feel like you could keep sprinting, once the allotted time is up, then increase your speed.
1 – 3 minutes: warm up
3 – 4 minutes: 1 minute sprint
4 – 5 minutes: 1 minute recovery
5 – 7 minutes: 2 minute sprint
7- 8 minutes: 1 minute recovery
8 – 11 minutes: 3 minute sprint
11 – 12 minutes: 1 minute recovery
12 – 15 minutes: 3 minute sprint
15 – 16 minutes: 1 minute recovery
16 – 18 minutes: 2 minute sprint
18 – 19 minutes: 1 minute recovery
19 – 20 minutes: 1 minute sprint
20 – 22 minutes: cool down
Make sure to stretch, drink plenty of water and if you have a few minutes left, do some abs.
try this quick ab workout:
1 minute plank hold
30 second side plank hold (both sides)
repeat 2 more times.
fit fact: planks not only work the core, they are also a total body toner. make sure to keep your abs in, squeeze your glutes and thighs and make sure all your weight is in your upper body. if you do planks like this, then you will be strengthening the biceps, shoulders, core, back, glutes and thighs all at once!
not sure how to do a plank? just google it.
–Liz Jones
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Thanks Liz! We can all squeeze in 22 minutes right? Running is my cardio of choice, but I don’t like treadmills. The less time I have to spend on them, the better. I think I will like this bang for you buck approach. I’m heading to the gym now, so I will let you know how it goes. Who else is trying it?
Here is an easy pre or post workout smoothie that I love!
Green Smoothie
Ingredients
1-2 large handfuls of spinach
1 apple, sliced
1 banana sliced
1/2 lemon, seeds removed (you can throw the whole thing in, or just squeeze some of the juice. I don’t mind the rind)
1/4 c. water
ice (I just add it until I get the desired “smothie” consistency I like, usually just one handful.)
Instructions
Place everything in a powerful blender or Vitamix. Blend and enjoy! Serves 2-3 people.
You can sweeten it up with a drizzle of honey too.
Watch for a guest post from Pojo Fitness later this month….we are teaming up for a little present for you….
If you just took that picture of a smoothie and your yard looks like that this time of year – I am immensly jealous. I tried to make my fiance a green smoothie once, but all I had was food processor. He did not like chewing the spinach, so the color and texture turned him off. But now I have a blender – yay! Time to try again.
It’s the PB shake! 🙂 I LOVE your site! I have never been on it and I think you are doing a great job!!