Happy Memorial Weekend! Seems like everyone I’ve talked to is staying home and grilling out to celebrate the start of summer. We love to entertain at our casa so this weekend has been a barrage of shopping, prepping, grilling and more shopping. I thought this weekend was a great time to introduce my Summer Shape Up Tip #39 Pounce & Prep. This is a term I created for a workout strategically laced throughout your dinner prep. It is high impact, calorie torching and makes you feel like queen of the universe because you finished a quality workout and prepped dinner when you didn’t feel like you had time to accomplish either. Workout at high intensity for a few minutes and then pounce into the kitchen to prep. Your time in the kitchen is your rest in between cardio bursts. It is perfect for when you don’t have the time to do your normal workout routine. I’m just going to share an example of the exercises I do (along with a summer meal I make often), but feel free to substitute your favorite moves (and meals) into this. Also, I use a treadmill for part of it. If you do not have a treadmill, then just incorporate more one minute cardio interval exercises (like jumping jacks, star jumps, burpees or high knees) into it.
My example meal for this post: Grilled salmon, roasted brussel sprouts, baked potatoes, and a salad.
You will Need: Yoga mat & 1 minute interval timer (I adore the Gymboss). I also wear a Count Me Healthy color wrap bracelet to count my sets.
My essentials for Pounce & Prep: “Gymboss timer, shoes and my color wrap CMH bracelet in Ivy.
Run for 5 minutes at a moderate pace.
Run for an additional 5 minutes, but up your speed by 1 percent each minute. Use your interval timer so you know when to up the speed. My Gymboss has a clip, but when running I just keep in the cup holder of my treadmill.
Interval Training: Using your timer do 1 minute jumping jacks and 1 minute mountain climbers. and Now POUNCE…to the kitchen.
Kitchen: I use the Kirkland Alaskan salmon from Costco, so I wash the thawed pieces and pat dry.
Lace your workout into your healthy meal prep. Fresh salmon fillets are so easy to prepare.
Then I place the fillets in a ziplock bag along with a marinade (usually Trader Joe’s Soyaki). Place in the fridge. Wash my hands. Pounce to the…
Treadmill. Run an additional 5 minutes. Using your interval timer, up the speed by a percent each minute.
Interval Training: 10 burpees and 50 high knees.
Kitchen: Wash your potatoes. Rub with olive oil and top with sea salt. Wrap each individually in aluminum foil. Set aside to bake later.
Interval Training: 10 more burpees, 10 star jumps and 10 jump squats (each leg). Using your timer, do three minutes of three different ab exercises.
Kitchen: Take the brussel sprouts out of the refrigerator. Wash in colander. Pat dry and slice each brussel in half. Line a 13×9 pan with aluminum foil and spray with olive oil. Place brussels (cut side up) in pan and spray with olive oil. Garnish with sea salt and pepper. Set aside. When your ready, cook at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Interval Training: 10 more burpees, 10 star jumps, and 10 jump squats (each leg). Using your timer, do three minutes of three different ab exercises. Top off this set by running another 5 minutes at a difficult pace.
Kitchen: Set the veggies for your salad on the counter. Cut and rinse the lettuce, chop the veggies and toppings. Cover and place in refrigerator.
Interval Training: 1 minute of mountain climbers, 10 burpees and 60 high knees. Use your timer and do another three minutes of three different ab exercises. Top off by running another 5 minutes at a fast pase. Use your timer to up the speed by a percent each minute.
Kitchen: Clean up time! Load the dishwasher, wipe the counters and get out the utensils needed for grilling later tonight.
Treadmill: Final five minutes of running at a fast pace followed by 5 minutes of cool down. Get on your yoga mat for 5 minutes of stretching. Breathe. Feel proud that you have finished a workout, have a meal prepped to grill later tonight and that the kitchen is clean. Feels good. – CC
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[…] Do NOT Abandon Your Workout. Just modify it. If all you can fit in is 15 minutes then do 15 minutes. Do leg lifts or side bends by the coffee pot while it’s brewing. Do ab exercises during commercials or tack on 25 squats, lunges or hip lifts after each present you wrap (guessing this will be a serious glutes workout). My favorite way to get a great workout in in less than 30 minutes is using what I call Pounce & Prep. I use a Gymboss minute timer and do 5 minute sets of high intensity interval training (HIIT) laced throughout my dinner preparation. If you want to learn more on this read my full post here. […]