Thursday, March 29, 2012

activity review: lady gaga inspired workout routine

About a week ago, @cherielianne posted a workout on her blog that caught my eye.  To see the original blog (and you should, because her blog is way awesome!) then click here.  

Now because everything (and it's mother!) is on the internet these days, I did a quick search and found the Glamour online article here for a bit more advice and clarity before I gave this workout a try.  

Then, because it was my birthday weekend I put the blog, the article, and working out in the back of my mind and I ate pizza and drank beer.  Luckily, I didn't face a "+" sign at weigh in because I took an extra spin class last week and did Jillian's Yoga Meltdown dvd.  Thanks for planning ahead and not having any cupcakes or birthday cake, I was able to avoid a birthday gain.  Thank heavens!  

Monday after my birthday, the gift I purchased for myself arrived in the mail and I couldn't wait to use it!  I took some cash that friends and family had given me to buy workout gear and spin classes and I went to Bodytronics' website and bought myself a black and gold Polar FT7 heart rate monitor, because black is slimming after all!  

I was going to try the Gaga workout on Tuesday, but let's just pretend Tuesday didn't happen.  

So on Wednesday morning I dragged my butt out of bed at 6 o'clock and threw on some workout gear.  I went downstairs and adjusted my new heart rate monitor and was wetting the electrodes on the band as I put it on and then YEEEEOHHHHHHH!!!  I didn't think about how cold that water on my skin would be at 6 o'clock and before I'd had coffee.  Go ahead, laugh at me.  I certainly am laughing at myself.  

I walked into my living room, brought up my iTunes playlist that I made on Monday night, and started my workout!  

Song #1
Cold Wind Blows by Eminem (5:04)
I started with about one minute of active stretches like windmills and cherry pickers.  Then I went straight into alternating jumping jacks and air jump rope.  

Song #2
She's a B**** by Missy Elliot (4:01)
Don't judge me because I love this song, I feel as if when someone calls me a b**** that I've truly earned it and I just own up to it.  It's not always a bad thing.  
I started with 30 reps of plain old squats.  
Then I went into 30 reps of should presses.  
I followed that up with 30 plain old crunches.  

Then I jogged in places for a burst of cardio as the song was ending.  

Song #3
Born this Way by Lada Gaga (4:20)
Because you can't have a Gaga workout with out a Gaga song, right?
I started with 30 reps of bicep curls.
Then I went into 30 right side lunges.  
Following the lunges, I did 30 side crunches.  
Then I stood up and finished out the song by jogging in place again.  

Song #4
What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) by Kelly Clarkson (3:42)
Just try not to feel awesome when you workout to this song, I dare you.  It's a staple in most of my spin classes and I love it!
I opened up with 30 tricep extensions.  
Then I did 30 of the left side lunges.  (See above.)
Finally, I ended with Russian twists.  
There wasn't really time at the end of this song for a cardio burst, but I planned it that way so I could finish strong with my fifth and final song.  

Song #5
The Last Song by The All American Rejects (5:00)
I almost always end my workouts with this song and I have no really good reason why other than I am usually in a good mood when I hear it.  
I did about three minutes of alternating between jogging in place and jumping that imaginary jump rope again, then I started to bring it down for a minute or so and finally, I used the last minute of the song to stretch out my hamstrings, quads, gluteus extra maximus, and arms.  About the time that the song finished, so did I.  

All in all I would say it was an excellent workout, and I really enjoyed using my new heart rate monitor.  I was in the "fitness zone" for 21 minutes and couldn't talk much during that time, so I plugged 20 minutes of high intensity into the activity calculator for 4 Activity Points Plus.  I know everyone does this differently, and I've heard that you earn 1 Activity Point Plus for every 80 calories you've burned.  My Polar said I burned about 260 calories which is more than three points, but less than 4.  Honestly, I'm tracking 4.  Judge me if you'd like, but I felt as if that was a tough workout for me.  

The playlist rocked, the exercises were great because I got to choose them myself, and the fact that I was warmed up, working, and cooled down in about 22 minutes was a HUGE bonus.  So there you have it!  I'm sure I'll try it again, and if I find new exercises to share or new songs to add to the playlist, I'll let you know!  

1 comment:

  1. Hmm - Born This Way is not one of my favorite Gaga songs. Do you like Alejandro? I got into that song late, Telephone is good too. LOL. Russian twists kill me whenever I attempt to do them!

    ReplyDelete