This week has a simple goal.

Do more than nothing, when nothing feels like the thing to do.

When I first made the decision that I was going to turn around the trajectory of my health and fitness, I had fallen into a rut of working out ‘on occasion’ if at all.

I was full of excuses: I was tired, a little sore, kids were up early, I can only workout alone, etc.

Part of the goal I set was to simply do something, even if broken up, throughout the day.

I started doing pushups during breakfast, a half mile quick walk during nap time, carrying my kid(s) up some hills on walks. The point was to get my body used to moving again.

To gain some momentum.

So while we’re on the topic, let’s talk about workouts…

Workouts

6 workouts to mix and match this week

Equipment: The goal is to need as little as possible. The below workouts involve at most, a single weight (kettlebell/dumbbell or in some cases even a backpack full of books will do), and some cardio (running, jump rope, indoor cycle, whatever is most convenient for you)

Duration: Almost all of these can be done in under 30 minutes from warm up to finish.

Categories: These 6 workouts are split between 3 strength and 3 cardio focus.

“Do I have to do all 6 of them?”: No. Do more than 0. If you can do 6, great.. If you have time for 1, great - put all your effort into that one. These are designed to be mixed and matched in any order or volume based on your schedule.

Workout 1 - Lower body strength focus

• Strength:

  • 1 dumbbell or kettlebell

  • 4 sets of 8 reps each

    • Front rack front squat (4 each side)

    • Single leg RDL (8 each side)

    • Front rack split squat (8 each side)

• Workout:

  • Reps: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

    • Front rack front squat

    • Pushups

Workout 2 - Zone 2 cardio (Run)

• Warm-up: 5 minute walk or slow jog

• Workout: 25-30 minutes zone 2 running

  • (180-age = max heart rate for Z2)

Workout 3 - Fully body strength focus

Workout 4 - Interval cardio

• Warm-up: 5 minute walk or slow jog

• Workout: 4 times

  • 4 minutes Z2 movement

  • 2 minutes hard effort

Workout 5 - Upper body strength focus

• Strength

  • 1 dumbbell or kettlebell

  • 5 sets of 5 reps each

    • Single arm clean & press

    • Bent over row

• Workout

  • 12 minutes, as many reps as possible (AMRAP)

    • 10 kettlebell/dumbbell swings

    • 8 goblet squats

    • 6 burpees

Workout 6 - Zone 2 cardio (variation)

• Warm-up: 5 minute walk or slow movement

• Workout: 25-30 minutes zone 2 cardio (try to pick an alternative to running such as swimming, cycling as available)

  • (180-age = max heart rate for Z2)

Featured recipe

Greek Turkey and Rice Skillet

This recipe comes directly from BudgetBytes (link here). It takes ~20minutes to throw together and cook, tastes awesome, and if you add extra turkey (as I did below) can be ~50g of protein per serving. Eat it for lunch & dinner and boom, that’s 100g right there.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2lbs Ground turkey, 97% lean

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1/4 tsp salt

• Freshly cracked pepper

• 1 cup long grain white rice, uncooked

• 1/4 lb frozen cut leaf spinach

• 1/3 cup sun dried tomato halves

• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced

• 1.5 cups chicken broth

• handful fresh parsley

• 1 fresh lemon

• 1 oz feta

Instructions

• Add the olive oil and garlic to a large deep skillet and sauté over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the ground turkey, oregano, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Continue to sauté until the turkey is cooked through (about 5 minutes).

• While the turkey is cooking, slice the olives and sun dried tomatoes. Once the turkey is cooked through, add the rice, frozen spinach (no need to thaw first), olives, and sun dried tomatoes to the skillet. 

• Add the chicken broth and stir until everything is very well combined. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium high, and allow it to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low or medium low, and allow it to gently simmer for 15 minutes. Use the lowest level of heat that maintains a steady simmer in the skillet.

• After 15 minutes, give the skillet a brief stir, replace the lid quickly, turn off the heat, and allow it to sit for an additional 10 minutes.

• While the skillet is resting, zest half of the lemon and slice it into wedges. Roughly chop the parsley. Give the skillet a final fluff and stir, then top with lemon zest, parsley, and crumbled feta. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over top.

One final thought for the week

Be proud of yourself.

You’re here. You’re committed to doing, to changing, to growing.

Feel that.

You might not be ‘there’ yet, but you’re on your way.

And this week, you’ll do something more than last.

Earn that second wind.