Parque Centenario
One thing we’ve found really grounds us is our daily workout. If we’re not hiking or spending all day on a bus or plane, we try to prioritize getting out to do this right after breakfast.
Here in Buenos Aires, we’ve found a beautiful park that is usually the backdrop for these workouts. It reminds me a little bit of Boston. Lots of pigeons. But also lots of parakeets. Who couldn’t find joy working out among sweet little parakeets?
The city also has workout equipment in most of the parks. People young and old use them often. Great idea, Buenos Aires.
Pull ups!
Pull downs
Working towards pull-ups
Early on, I realized that I was going to have to prescribe myself something in terms of a workout schedule or else I’d never actually do anything. (I’m learning this and many, many other nifty things from this book Switch, which you’ll hear more about in a later post. This is called an “action trigger” people, and it’s powerful.) This is how I work. If there’s a list or a guide, I will do it and complete it. If I’m relying on my own strength and creativity each day, forget it.
Front knee strikes or, more affectionately, Skull Crushers
So I made us a workout for each day. These require no equipment, but we typically bring towels with us since sometimes we’re lying on the ground. Sometimes we’ll swap this out for a run, and we definitely won’t do a workout if we hike, but here in Buenos Aires it’s given us great motivation and guidance when it would be really tempting to sit on our butts and drink cafe con crema all day. Our good from Lauren over at BostonBelle also suggested we add some sprints, which is a fabulous idea, too.
Sometimes unexpected friends join us.
Nothing is more motivating than seeing progress
Here are our workouts. If you’re reading this and thinking “I should work out more regularly”, then please use this as motivation and a guide to get going. These take anywhere from 30min-hour. And it’s all scalable. I based this off of where my conditioning was at this moment in time, but it’s easy to swap a “1 min side plank with hip dips” to a simple “30 sec side plank”. Also, many of these are x2 or x3 but you can start them by doing it just once through. Start where it’s challenging but not painful, focus on correct form, and build from there. I added to these until it felt pretty challenging to me. Give yourself a week to tweak the daily workouts for yourself and then when you have your workouts in place no excuses – finish it every day! I keep this on an Evernote note in my phone so I can always see what’s next during the workout. Also, some of this is in my own workout shorthand language, but I’ll do my best to provide helpful links.
MONDAY
1 min jumping jacks
1 min high knees
1 min fast feet
1 min butt kicks
20 push ups
1 min cherry pickers for abs
30 double leg drops on back
25 squats
10 standing one leg squat touch downs L
25 squats
10 standing one leg squat touch downs R
1 min yoga headstand hold (please only do this with guidance from a yoga instructor if you’ve never tried it before)
1:30 wall sit
25 no push up Burpees
X2
TUESDAY
1 min plank
1 min side plank w/ knees to elbow
1 min side plank w/ knees to elbow
1 min jumping jacks
1 min speed skaters w/ ground touch
10 chat pushups
20 backwards lunges
20 jumping squats
20 lying single leg drops
25 lying pike leg lifts L
25 lying pike leg lifts R
1 min front knee strike on raised platform L
1 min front knee strike on raised platform R
X2
WEDNESDAY
2 min rows for abs, no hands
1 min plank shoulder touches
10 standing one leg squat touch downs L
10 standing one leg squat touch downs R
25 jumping squats
10 chat pushups
1 min donkey kick plank L
1 min donkey kick plank R
1 min side plank w/ hip dips L
1 min side plank w/ hip dips R
1:30 wall sit
x2
THURSDAY
2 min pushup-side plank
2 min squat-side kick
2 min pushup-side plank
2 min squat-side kick
1 min mountain climbers
1 min speed skaters
1 min bicycles
1 min mountain climbers
1 min speed skaters
1 min bicycles
2 min squats and keep count each week – try to add a few more!
1 min front knee strike on raised platform L
1 min front knee strike on raised platform R
30 Pushups
50 sumo squats
FRIDAY
2 min side leg circles L
2 min side leg circles R
10 push ups
25 squats with side leg lift
25 situps
x3
SATURDAY
1 min jumping jacks
1 min high knees
1 min butt kicks
20 forward lunges
20 backward lunges w/ front kick L
20 backward lunges w/ front kick R
50 rows for abs
25 pushups
20 jumping squats
x3
SUNDAY
1 min jumping jacks
1 min high knees
1 min butt kicks
1 min plank w/ toe taps
1 min side plank w/ leg lift
1 min side plank w/ leg lift
25 jumping squats
25 sumo squats
1 min bicycles
1 min butt lifts
20 lateral leg lifts L
20 lateral leg lifts R
X2
Butt Blasters: on hands and 1 knee. Repeat on L and R
1 min knee circles
1 min opp direction
1 min donkey kicks
1 min knee to shoulder/side crunch
These workouts are designed to wear you out
Friends, what should we add? What are your favorite workouts? And if you do try any of these, let us know!
Now go get sweaty!
PS – Lest you think we are just crazy masochistic people, this is our motivation to work out: so we can eat these (almost) guilt free…
Hot dogs!