by | Jul 3, 2013 | 6 comments

Happy (almost) 4th of July!  I’ve laid out ways to make a holiday weekend healthy, given you a summery recipe to take to your 4th of July parties, and now I’m going to round it out with a 4th of July workout! American flag at the ranchturnaround point at the ranch

For Workout Wednesday (and in honor of 4th of July tomorrow), I’m excited to share my first ever Lyons’ Share circuit workout!  I created and tested this workout on Sunday, after a 6-mile run in the mountains (more on that towards the bottom of the post!), and it was the perfect way to tack on a bit of strength and intensity to complete my workout for the day.  This workout is balanced, hitting the legs, arms, core, and cardio, and I finished in just under 24 minutes.  It would be great as a workout on its own (warm up first with a few minutes of walking or marching in place), or serves as a perfect add-on after some steady-state cardio.  Best yet, it requires no equipment, so you can do it anywhere!   I hope you enjoy it tomorrow for 4th of July, or pin it on Pinterest for later use (you can use the button at the end of the post if you’re a Pinterest user)! 7.4.13 workout

To complete this workout, perform 7 reps of each of the 13 exercises, with no rest in between.  Once you finish all 13 exercises, rest for 30 seconds, and repeat the entire circuit again, for a total of 4 rounds.  (Get it? 7-4-13?)  There is a short explanation of each move below, and a link to a YouTube video (warning: I previewed these videos last night while my family was watching TV, so I had them on mute.  While the demonstrations are great visuals, I have no idea what they’re saying!).  (Remember, I’m not a doctor or a trainer, so please consult a physician to make sure you’re ready for exercise).

  1. Burpees with push-ups: jump up with your hands above your head, then squat down and put your hands on the floor.  Jump back to plank position, and do a push-up.  This is one rep.
  2. Squats: reach your arms straight out, parallel to the floor, and keep your feet hip-width apart.  Squat down with your knees above your ankles, like you’re sitting in a chair.
  3. Star jumps: With feet touching each other, squat down just a bit, then jump up into a big “x” with arms and feet spread apart.  Land with your feet back together again.
  4. Forward lunge: With hands on hips, lunge forward with one leg, and keep your knee above your ankle.  Alternate legs to complete 13 reps on each leg.
  5. V-ups: Laying on your back with your arms above your head, bring your straight legs and straight arms up to touch above your waist.  This is tough – if it’s a bit too hard, try keeping your legs bent and feet on the floor, then reach straight up with straight arms to do the move with just the top half of your body.
  6. Push-ups: From plank position, bend arms into full push-up.  If this is too tough, you can keep your knees on the ground.
  7. Tuck jumps: With feet together, jump up into a tuck position.  I keep my hands in front of me, palms down, to give my knees a target to hit as I jump up.
  8. Oblique dips: From a side plank position with your elbow on the ground, dip your hip down to just barely touch the floor, then extend back up to start position.
  9. Chair step-ups: Step onto a chair with your right foot, then standing at the top of the chair, bring your left knee into your chest.  Step down with your left foot first.  Repeat on the other side, and complete 13 reps on each side.  If you don’t have a chair, just step forward and bring your knee into your chest, alternating sides.
  10. Jumping jacks: Jump your feet apart and bring your arms straight out to the sides, landing in an “x” position, then jump back together.  This is just like a star jump, with an extra bounce.
  11. Tricep dips: With your hands behind you on a chair and legs straight in front of you, dip down until your arms are in a 90-degree angle.  If you don’t have a chair, you can do this on a bench or on the floor, and if it’s too hard, bend your knees.
  12. Skater jumps: jump side to side, as far apart as possible.  When you jump to the right side, land on your right foot, and bring your left foot crossed behind you, touching your left hand to the ground.  Alternate sides for 13 jumps on each side.
  13. Mason twists: sitting on the ground with your feet touching the floor (or lifted up for an extra challenge!), knot your hands together in a fist in front of you.  Hit the ground on either side as if you were rowing a boat, and complete 13 hits on each side.  For the last round, try to complete 70 on each side!  Break them down into sets of 15-20 if you can’t complete 70 in a row!

If you try the workout, let me know how you like it!  Now, back to that run I was mentioning.  If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably already seen a bunch of the gorgeous Colorado views I’ve been experiencing while on vacation here.  But here, I want to share a few pictures with you of my daily running route on vacation.  It’s beautiful, quiet, and pretty much the most perfect place I can think of for running.  It quite literally takes my breath away – we’re at 8,200 feet of altitude, and the last 2 miles or so are completely uphill (of course, that means the first 2 miles are downhill!).  It’s tough, but it’s a great workout and I’m grateful to get to experience the amazing views – so of course, I want to share them with you!  These are the kinds of roads I run down…JMO ranch gate running routeturnaround pointrunning route ColoradoThis is a giant hill up the driveway to my house… giant hill on drivewayAnd, just for fun, here are some gorgeous views of the sunsets we’ve been experiencing… sunset at the ranch Coloradokev picture sunset at the ranch

So tell me in the comments… What are you going to do to make your 4th of July healthy?  And be sure to let me know if you try this workout!

6 Comments

  1. Debbie

    Those pictures make me want to run to Salida just to take in the awesome beauty that surrounds you. Unbelievable! And thank you for the explanation to the circuit training….I am printing them out and will work on them (maybe 1 at a time, ok…..maybe 5) HAPPY 4th of July!

    Reply
    • Megan Lyons

      That’s awesome, Aunt Debbie! One at a time is perfect. Let me know if you have questions!

      Reply
  2. Jenn

    Awesome photos!!!! Happy long weekend.

    Reply
    • Megan Lyons

      Thanks Jenn! I hope you enjoy the weekend too.

      Reply
  3. Gary

    How do you manage to carry a cell phone while running up and down those mountain roads? I had all I could do to carry my weary body back up to the house while there! This circuit training routine looks like it is well designed to work all muscle groups. That being said, I will probably be in traction at the rehab unit the following day!

    Reply
    • Megan Lyons

      You’re too observant, Gary! You caught me – I didn’t actually carry a phone on my run, but I took the 4-wheeler back to retrace my steps with my real camera for the blog. We miss you guys!

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Megan Lyons,

the voice behind The Lyons’ Share. I love all things health, wellness, and fitness-related, and I hope to share some of my passion with you. Thanks for stopping by!
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