I will never understand how some of my best workouts occur when I wake up feeling like absolute garbage. I don’t get it, but I’ll take it!
I didn’t get home from work until close to 9 p.m. yesterday and it took me a while to unwind and get to sleep. I tossed and turned throughout the night and woke up at 5 a.m. feeling like Oscar the Grouch.
I’m pretty sure I found a way to answer Ryan’s open ended questions on the way to the gym with one word answers. I am such a joy sometimes.
Once we got to the gym and the endorphins kicked in, my mood changed and I started to feel much more like myself. I know I’ve said it before, but exercise really does do magical things for my mind. Elle Woods was onto something.
Cardio Killer Workout
Today’s workout began with a 10 minute elliptical warm up after which I completed the hardest Nike Training Club workout I’ve done to date. And it was only a 15-minute workout!
It’s called the “Cardio Killer” workout for a reason! Holy cow!
Here are links to video demos of some of the exercises:
Once I had a chance to catch my breath, I did another 15-minute NTC workout (the “Shoulder Ripper”) and called it a day.
Breakfast
Breakfast this morning was… ugly. I almost made the below picture black and white to spare you from looking at the horrific color of my smoothie!
In my smoothie:
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 tbsp. dark chocolate cocoa powder
- Lots of fresh spinach
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- Enough almond milk to get everything moving
As unattractive as this smoothie looks, it tasted great after my challenging workout this morning.
Off to blow dry my hair and head off to work!
Question of the Morning
- What workout have you completed recently that totally kicked your butt?
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Your smoothie may not be the prettiest color but I swear sometimes those are the BEST tasting smoothies!
And seriously, exercise does AMAZING things for my mind!!
What an awesome workout – can’t wait to do this !Pinning now !
I took bootcamp last night. I go every Tuesday but this week he said he was kicking up the intensity and he sure did. So many cadio and total body movements. Felt great to work hard!
Haven’t tried that NTC workout yet, but it definitely looks like a tough one! The last workout that kicked my butt was definitely from NTC. The Drill Sergeant one is a lot of fun because it has super short sets so you’re constantly switching it up.
Oooh! I’ll look for that one!
LOVE this! Can’t wait to try it at the gym today!!
I’m ‘snowed in’ today (not really, but Georgia doesn’t know how to handle a couple of inches of snow, so everything shuts down), so I will definitely be trying this since I can’t go to my gym today.
I love this! I have the same probably I will be short with my husband on the way to the gym and think how awful the workout is going to be but as soon as I get started things change and I feel so much better!
Agreed! Elle Woods knew what was up. This workout looks like so much fun!! I might have to do it when I get home from class. I recently have just been taking shorter breaks in between each exercise, makes me out of breath, and by the time I’m done I feel like I got a great workout in!
That workout looks intense! Maybe I’ll attempt it one day… mayyyybe 🙂
Thank you for the recommendation of the NTC app! Downloaded it last night and did my first workout. It was awesome!
Yay! I am loving the app, too!
This morning I did your 50-40-30-20-10 reps workout. I honestly don’t know what I would do without your blog to supply me with new and interesting workouts. Thank you!! 🙂
This makes me so happy! Thank you for reading!!
Agreed!
I’ve done the Cardio Killer workout and it is killer! I’m glad it’s not just me that go my butt kicked by it! 🙂
Seriously! I tried it too a couple weeks ago and definitely felt it in my legs the next day. Killer 🙂
Did the new Kettlebell workout on the Nike App this morning after spin class…it totally kicked my butt…well actually it wiped my legs!!
I agree with you, those NTC workouts are killers! The Cardio Killer is the first one I eve tried and thought I was going to die! Ha! Took me a couple of days to be brave enough to try another but I did and I love them.
I’m a total cardio junkie, so this workout is totally for me. Love it!
Haha great minds think alike! I used that Elle Woods quote on my Fighting the Winter Blues post on Monday! LOVE that movie.
I got the NTC app and have been meaning to use it but just haven’t gotten around to it. I like looking over the workouts for cool exercise idea though, from what I’ve seen a lot of their workouts look killer.
Ahhh, tuck jumps! For some reason, these are the bain of my existence. I have a burpee/tuck jump combo finisher in the form of a ladder posted on my blog that the hubby and I did on the beach when we were in FL – killlller!
Tuck jumps = Heart explosion
I’m always surprised by how tough the 15 min NTC workouts are – they sure feel longer than the 45 min ones! Everything NTC is awesome!
Totally agree! The 15 min. workouts are KILLER.
A tempo run that was supposed to be 8 miles and ended up being 9.4! The last 4.7 miles were run at a 7:20 pace and I was really struggling. It felt so good when it was over though!
Barre kicked my butt last night in the best way possible!
Sometimes the ugliest smoothies turn out to be the most delicious!!! This one is one of my favorite combo’s, minus the strawberries.
One legged burpees kicked my butt this morning!
Those are NO JOKE. Ah!
I should really start using NTC again. I used to use it all of the time then got out of the habit. The cardio killer one looks pretty killer – I’ll have to give it a shot!
It’s so weird how that works – good workouts when we feel terrible!
Getting in a workout always does wonders to bring me out of a funk. Your workout sounds like it did just that. Lots of love for NTC. I can’t wait for the weather to warm up around here so I can enjoy refreshing smoothies again!
I’ve done the Cardio Killer workout before! It’s definitely not an easy one, by any means!!
Body rock just started it love it so addicting!
looks great, deff saving it!!
That workout looks KILLER! Nike Training Club always makes me feel SO worked out at the end.
I’m the exact same way with my workouts- my best energy comes when I least expect it. Weird but true! I had a kick butt cardio/weights workout this morning. Woowee!
The ugly color smoothies are always the best! 🙂
Great workout this morning, my last hard workout was the 6 mile run yesterday, my legs felt like jell-o the whole time!
Those Nike Training Club workouts are ALWAYS harder than they look! I love how effective they are in such a short amount of time, though. 🙂
I’m stuck inside today, so I’ll definitely be using the NTC!!
Thanks for sharing this workout! I’m always looking for a good challenging exercise. This morning I didn’t know what to do, and I ended up doing some random workout I didn’t really care for. Too bad I didn’t see this before. 😉 Oh well, I am excited to try this tomorrow. It looks like an awesome workout. God bless you!
I have been using the NTC app and love it! I started using the Program feature and it has really helped me stay on track with the scheduled workouts and runs. I just wish you could switch around some of the days of the week to customize it to your own schedule. But it has been great to keep me motivated and interested. All the workouts have been great. I’m almost done with the 4th week and excited to start the level 2!
I am a complete cardio junkie! I will be definitely trying this workout out! I did a blog post about my favorite morning workout today. I hope you can check it out!
Julie, how do you stay motivated to work out when you wake up feeling crappy? I’ve been having a hard time getting motivated to work out in the AM or at all for the matter. I blame the cold 🙁 I live in New Jersey. Help!
You inspired me to do my first NTC workout yesterday. I’m SO sore! Those froggers are TOUGH! 🙂
Nike Training Club kicks my butt every. single. time. I love how such a great app is free!
Sounds like a killer. 3 minutes of Burpees?! Wooweee! I just did a great core workout that consisted of variations of the plank. I love plank exercises! They are great for targeting your entire body.
I’ve been meaning to download that app onto my new phone! Yesterday, I was feeling out of it and sleepy, but then I went to the gym to get a treadmill run in. It kicked my butt, but in a good way. I felt great during and after my run.
All the Nike Training Club workouts kill me! I’ll have to look for this one and give it a try!
Looks like a fun/hard workout!! I like.
And my smoothies always look gross too, but taste fab!
haha chocolate smoothies never turn out very pretty – and yes your cardio killer workout sure looks like a killer!
That smoothie sounds delicious despite the appearance!
I just did Body Attack for the first time this week – WOW! I am feelin’ it this morning and I love it!
That cardio workout sounds like a Body Rock workout – love it! They sure make every second count.
The same exact thing always happens to me. The mornings I feel like extra sleepy and like there is no way I’ll get a good workout in, I end up killing it! Hardest workout in awhile was this morning at bootcamp. We ended up doing 330 squats by the end of the class!
I made up a circuit on Sunday that kicked my butt! I had my little brother try it [who always thinks my workouts are too easy :)] and he almost died! 🙂