Personal Training
Thanksgiving Recap and Lower Body!
I was so blown away at your responses on my last post “15 things I have learned” Each and everyone of you keeps me inspired and you all have been a HUGE part of my learning process. I cherish Onefitfoodie with all of my heart and the fact that I can share some very important aspects of my life with you all make me so grateful for this amazing community and your unconditional, never ending support. Thank you all so very much.
So….I realize I am a bit past the “Thanksgiving Post” timeframe, but being as Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays…I just can’t just not post about it
In a few words…it was just perfectly delicious. My favorite part? The stuffing. My family and I got into a conversation about stuffing. We talked about how amazing it is, but also how no one ever makes it besides this one day a year. Its like there is some ‘unwritten rule’ that you can’t make stuffing on any other day other than Thanksgiving, right? Why doesn’t anyone make Stuffing any other time? I must figure this out because it is honestly one of the best foods on the planet. My mom went for a sourdough stuffing made with celery, mushrooms, white wine, and macinstosh apples. I will find that recipe. But if I post it…that means someone has to make it before next Thanksgiving, deal?
My brother always takes charge of the bird. He spends about 35 minutes carving away. Its a work of art to watch him with the meat. AND hes a goon. But I love him!
The beautiful turkey!
That right there; the stuffing. OH YEAH. Sourdough stuffing. My mom always browses a few recipes to get inspiration but the ultimate product is all her. She did use THIS recipe from the Food Network as inspiration
Orange liquor infused mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar and pecan topping
My pumpkin Biscuits! I cannot take the credit for these guys. I got the recipe from CookingLight
Spiced Pumkin Biscuits adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients
- 9 ounces
- all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/3 cup fat-free
buttermilk(I used Greek Yogurt) - 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
- 3 tablespoons honey
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a large bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Chill 10 minutes.
- Combine buttermilk and honey, stirring with a whisk until well blended; add canned pumpkin. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times. Roll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5–inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds (as if folding a piece of paper to fit into an envelope). Reroll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5–inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds; gently roll or pat to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a 1 3/4-inch biscuit cutter to form 14 dough rounds. Place dough rounds, 1 inch apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400° for 14 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan; cool 2 minutes on wire racks. Serve warm.
Roasted root vegetables (turnips, carrots, sweet potato, parsnips)
Mango-Ginger-Orange Cranberry sauce from Averie’s Blog.
Bring. It. On. And then I sat down for a bit.
It was a great Thanksgiving filled with family, food and fun. I enjoyed it like I always do. Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy and indulge a bit and I am A-OK with that. It acutally somewhat bothers me when all I see this time of year are articles on “how to survive Thanksgiving” As if you wouldn’t survive? Its one meal. Its one day. Enjoy it, eat what you like with proper portion control, drink lots of water, wake up the next day and get back right on track!
The rest of the weekend was fabulous, spent with friends….all weekend with friends. I needed it.
Today I had a great lower body workout. I took a couple of days off from the gym so I knew today’s workout was going to be a good one! I try to hit my legs twice a week. One day is a heavier day and one day is more plyo based and lighter weight, higher rep. Today was the latter
Warm up:
10 minutes treadmill (5 min incline 10%, 3.8 speed, 5 min 1% incline 6.5 speed)
foam roll
Dynamic stretching
20 body weight squats
20 glute bridges
10 each side bird dogs
Strength Workout
Straight Sets:
1. Alternating front loaded barbell lunges 3×12
–>15 push ups
2. Goblet squats 3×12
–>10 burpees
3. DB step ups (not alternating, holding DB in opposite hand overhead) 3×15
–>Hamstring roll in 3×15
4. Single leg DB deadlifts 3×12
–> pallof press
Lately, I have been finishing up my strength workouts with some sort of metabolic conditioning. Short and intense to really give my muscles one last push before I am done for the day. I love to push myself out of my comfort zone and have no problem doing so. Some people ‘need extra motivation’ to get it done such as a gym buddy etc. Me? I need myself and my focus ON. Metabolic finishers are a great way to end a workout and also it is fun for me because I have been getting very creative! The options are endless. Sometimes it is a weight training combined finisher, other times a cardio/tabata and other times it is a kettlebell based finisher. Play around with it and see what works for you! Keep it 8-10 minutes, no more and GO HARD
Metabolic Finisher:
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Time
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Speed
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Incline
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0-1
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3.8
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10.0
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1-1:40
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7.0
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10.0
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1:40-2:40
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3.0
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10.0
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2:40-3:20
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7.0
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12.0
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3:20-4:20
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3.0
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12.0
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4:20-5:00
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6.2
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15.0
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OFF TREADMILL
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10 squats
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10 Jump squats
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10 pulse squats
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Repeat minutes 1-5
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OFF TREADMILL
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10 squats
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10 Jump squats
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10 pulse squats
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DONZO!
Looking for some great lower body workouts?
Or click “PLAY” on this video and do it right now!
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and Weekend!!
QUESTIONS
Any new workouts/exercises/classes that you have taken or tried out lately?
What is your favorite food on Thanksgiving?
