Happy 4th of July!!!
Ryan and I have lots of fun stuff on our agenda today, so we made sure to get in a good workout before the festivities kick off!
Workout
As we drove to the gym, Ryan and I both felt less than motivated and decided to combine forces and work out together. Though we go to the gym together all the time, we rarely work out together, so it was a nice change of pace!
We did a ridiculously sweaty circuit workout and finished it up with an 8-minute ab workout, formatted kind of like a tabata workout! (For those of you who may be in the dark about tabata training, you typically pick one cardio exercise and go at it as hard as you can for 20 seconds, followed by a 10 second rest for eight rounds.) You can read more about tabata training here. It’s seriously intense.
For our ab workout, we followed 20 seconds of hard core work (hardcore = hard core <— love it!) with 10 seconds of rest for just four rounds. We also incorporated four different core exercises into our workout to keep our interest. By the end of the workout, my abs were fried!
Here are some video demonstrations of some of the exercises:
Breakfast
By the time we made it home, I was ready for breakfast!
I made myself a strawberry smoothie with coconut milk, frozen strawberries, cashew butter, vanilla protein powder and cottage cheese.
It was very creamy and satisfying!
I’m off to shower. It’s time to get this day rollin’.
I hope you guys have a fabulous 4th of July!
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I love tabata workouts like that – they’re some of my favorite!
8 minute abs makes me laugh because it makes me think of that 80’s workout.
And I’m craving a smoothie like that asap, since the weather is pretty darn hot over here! Can’t wait to make one up.
I love tabata style workouts!! You can do anything for 20 seconds!! Happy 4th!!
Coconut milk in smoothies is the best. I just tried cashew butter the other day and I’m in love–I haven’t tried it in a smoothie yet though!
I need to try coconut milk in my smoothies! Happy 4th of July!
Happy Fourth! I don’t think I’d be very productive on my own so I ran the Red, White and Boom Half Marathon in the Twin Cities at the crack of dawn today(at least for me :D). I hope everyone has a safe, happy holiday!
that’s awesome!!! what a great way to kick off the day. happy 4th of july!
That workout looks crazy good! I’ll be doing it in about 30 minutes when I head off to the gym! I’m going to be getting in my workout pre-4th of July festivities too!
Hope you have a great one!
hope you like it!!
I love any kind of circuit workout because you just keep your mind going without allowing it to feel the “OMG, I’m so tired” thoughts! I need to keep my body guessing or I get bored SO easily! Happy a great fourth of July!
I should really get to the gym soon…Maybe I will need to do this ab workout to actually motivate myself! And dream of that smoothie to have when I’m done. 🙂 Have a great fourth of July!
I’ve never tried Tabatha workouts, but they sound super intense! Love your smoothie!
Happy 4th Julie!
That smoothie looks yummy! May try that out today!
I ran a Freedom Four race this morning with a bunch of friends and my dad in a neighboring town. It was so much fun!! I ran it in 35:48, which surprised even me! I didn’t come close to placing, but I ran it as more of a fun thing and just wanted to do it with my friends. The course was pretty hilly, too, which makes me feel even better about how I did. There was at least one girl that I kept going back and forth with, and I ended passing her (and another girl) at the very end. My dad ended up beating me (I won’t hold it against him), but I beat the friend that I ran most of the race with.
Happy 4th!! I just finished my workout and now its off for a day of swimming and cooking out 🙂
That looks like a great workout. Super jealous you have a husband who works out with you, mine won’t go with me. Hope you have a great 4th of July!
Sounds like a great start to your day! I wish you’d come be my professional chef. You always come up with the best flavor combinations! Happy 4th!!!
Hi Julie,
Question. You seem to do intense circuit style or rapid/tabata every single day. Do you ever get tired? Like shouldn’t there be intense/circuit style workouts only 2-3 days, and switch it up, etc..I don’t understand how you aren’t tired . I NEED your energy (and body ) 🙂
Love the workout and the smoothie! Tabata is great-like a lot of people are saying you can do anything for 20 seconds! Happy 4th!
Happy 4th! I’m going to have to try cottage cheese in my smoothies!
I am ALWAYS on the lookout for a good (but quick!) ab workout. Thanks for sharing :).
Ohhh I miss doing Tabata and interval workouts. The intensity of it all is quite exhilarating. And your smoothie looks amazing (as always)!!!
Yay for quick and intense ab workouts! The best way!
This workout looks wicked! And an ab workout is perfect pre-barbeque 😉 I haven’t done abs in a week so this will work out great. Happy 4th!
I just tried your 8 minute ab workout in my non-air-conditioned house (which will hopefully be fixed soon!) and it was awesome! I am sweatin’ bullets and my abs are feelin’ it! Happy Fourth of July!
So glad you liked it!! Thanks for reporting back, Alison!
I’ve never thought to add cottage cheese to a smoothie but it sounds delicious. Thanks for the tip!
Just finished your ab workout, Tabata was the first Cross-fit class I had ever done and really liked it. Yeah, I can do anything for 20 seconds but then there’s round 2!!! LOL! I did about 3 rounds so that’s pretty good for me since I already ran 2 and walked 1 miles and did 3 loads of laundry and made a pancake breakfast for the family, I need a nap now! Seriously, I agree with Gina, where do you get your energy??? Happy 4th!!
I’ve got a circuit workout planned for this morning too 🙂 I love how tough they can be but how you keep mixing it up with different exercises.
Happy 4th of July! 🙂
I’ve always been too scared to try a smoothie with cottage cheese..I guess it’s a mental thing. Can you taste it in your smoothie? Happy 4th!
Nope! It actually just made it even creamier, which I loved!
Currently doing the 30-day ab challenge (: (:
First the omelet, now the smoothie. Cottage cheese making its rounds everywhere! Looks delish!!
I just tried cashew butter for the first time and I LOVED it…..what brand do you use??
I actually make my own in the food processor!
I need to try this ab workout.
What are your thoughts when you read that smoothies have too much sugar in them for a breakfast? Just curious to hear other people’s opinions. I love smoothies, but tend to agree with the too much sugar comments.
Smoothie looks so healthy & great! I did something similar w/watermelon + all sorts of good things. Sure makes you full.
How did Sadie do yesterday Julie? Our poochies were very scared. The noise was terrible …. way too early and too long of an evening. They would not go downstairs after 7:00 p.m.
All food from C is overly salted …. way-way too much sodium ….. in everything they sell except soda pop.
She was surprisingly very brave! Thank goodness. I hope your dogs were able to relax after the fireworks were over!
Thanks so much for this ab workout. I’ve been in sort of a core workout rut and this looks like just the fix. 🙂
I love tabata workouts too. I love that they’re fast pace, and it’ll be over soon! Makes it easier to go all out. Fast and effective = my kind of workout. Thanks for sharing!
I’m making a coconut milk smoothie this morning, using coconut milk in my smoothie for the first time. I can’t wait to see how it tastes.
Thanks – I’m going to read further into this 20 sec and 10 sec rest thing, maybe try it myself.
Holy ab burn! Love this circuit- added it to my ‘must do everyday’ set of circuits! Those spiderman planks- feelin’ the burn 🙂
LOVED this ab workout, I’m going to be sore tomorrow!! Thanks Julie 🙂
Awesome! Check out another quick, yet killer ab workout here: http://skinnylately.com/2013/06/12/7-minutes-in-heaven-hell/
Enjoy!
Simple, but really effective training. The mentioned exercises such as plank, spiderman and reverse crunches are the best techniques to train abs efficiently. I always do these. Thanks for sharing.
I just did this as a quick home workout after my bike ride! It was PERFECT! Straightforward but challenging. Thank you 🙂