Tag Archives: exercise

Going Strong: Turn Playtime Into An Intense HIIT Workout

12/05/2014 R.C. Liley 3 Comments

I’ve been feeling guilty lately. Avery’s activity level has increased tremendously from roly poly days of yore. Okay, it really wasn’t that long ago, but a guy can exaggerate, right?

Hi, I'm cute but can't do much else right now! — Hi, I’m cute but can’t do much else right now!

All parents say it, and we’ll probably continue to say it forever; time flies! I skipped the “when you’re having fun” part because, lets face it, it’s not always fun. 🙂

Anyway, my guilt is spurred from ability to play more and allow me to be active with her but I still take time to do my workouts in the garage as she plays in her jumper.

As long as I don’t push my luck, she remains patient and happily “talks”, screams, and jumps around, but these days are numbered. Soon, the jumper will no longer work and I need to setup an area for her to walk/crawl around. Keyword, WALK! You reading this, Avery?

Not one to just skip exercise for the day, I decided to get creative and combine playtime with a full body HIIT workout routine. I really wanted to stay indoors when I made this since the weather sucked that day, and it turned out to be pretty fun but intense. Functional fitness just took on a new meaning!

For this, the only equipment you need is a box and a baby.

Playtime HIIT Workout Routine

3 Rounds of 30 Seconds On, 30 Seconds Off

Thrusters with baby

Mountain climbers

Crunches (or other form of core work)

Push-ups

Running in place

Push your kid in a box (Substitute Bear crawls if no box)

Burpees

Lift baby overhead from side to side (in the shape of a half-moon)

Alternating forward lunges while holding baby

Karate kicks

Avery enjoyed the random movements and did the whole time until the end of the 3rd round. I think she was getting frustrated with me setting her back down, so be warned.

Either way, I think you should definitely give it a try as it will get your blood flowing while you “play” with your kid. It’s a win-win!

I can’t stress enough how important our role as parents is when it comes to teaching by example. Please for the health of your kids as well as your own, show them how being active can be fun and rewarding!

Being the nice guy that I am, I put together a quick video to demonstrate the moves. Since my stack of boxes on the kitchen island wasn’t high enough, I cut my head off of the entire thing. Since I have no desire to do a re-shoot, I’m leaving it as is. #keepingitunique

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HopIOAkS4I]

I hope you give the routine a try and share your experience with me in the comments. If you have any questions, please go right ahead and ask away. If you’re in a time crunch, only do 1 or 2 rounds of this. Moving some is better than none!

This post is part of the #FitFamilyFriday Link up where you can find other excellent posts by healthy parents sharing health-inspired information. Click on over and check it out and share if you care!

Going Strong, Life

Going Strong: Training Goals and An HIIT Workout Routine During Naptime

11/24/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Remember how I posted my workouts from last week a whole 2 times? Yeah, that didn’t last too long. Not that I quit working out, far from, but that typing it all out took too long. Honestly, keeping myself in check is hardly an issue, just ask my wife, so other than sharing my workouts with all who care to read, it felt pointless.

Sorry to anyone who seriously looked forward to knowing my workouts from the prior week. Instead, I hope to share strength & conditioning routines created either by yours truly (that’s me) or found elsewhere.

High intensity routines are perfect for the time-strapped parent (or anyone short on time) as they provide a superb training stimulus in 30 minutes or less. That is, of course, assuming you push yourself out of your comfort zone. If there’s one carry-over from my years of marathon training to strength training, it’s learning to push far beyond my level of comfort to reach and/or surpass my goals.

One thing I have trouble with in my strength goals is actually doing less to gain more. With marathon training, it’s all about doing more; more miles, more time on feet, and essentially, more running! When training for strength, you focus on lifting “more” weight (i.e. get stronger), but not much else since your muscles need to rest and recover in order to repair themselves and grow stronger.

Strength training is obviously more detailed than that, but that’s an extreme Cliff Notes version. Lift heavy, eat a caloric surplus, rest, repeat. I’ve done better with this over the years, but still have a major problem with creating a caloric surplus. I’ll admit I have this fear of getting fat, like I used to be, and anytime I actually eat what I think is a lot, I have this urgent “need” to go run or do some form of exercise. It’s borderline OCD if not worse, but like I said, I’m getting better at accepting I MUST eat more to actually get stronger.

Even with my diet comprising of almost all whole foods that I prepare, I still find ways to be hard on myself as if I’m not doing enough. I think it’s time I get over it and eat more peanut butter! Love that stuff!

I could blabber on and on about this topic, but it’d become more redundant than it already is. Plus, I have an HIIT routine I created that I want to share with you and hopefully you’ll find it effective.

Although this is mainly a blog about my life as a stay-at-home dad, fitness/nutrition plays a major role in our lives and is a field I want to get into when Avery starts going to school. Plus, parents need to keep fit too. If not for their own health, for the sake of leading by example for their little ones!

Once your kid goes down for a nap or you’re graced with a patient child, try this routine for a full-body blast that’ll have you full of endorphins once finished.

I'm waiting for you!! — I’m waiting for you!!

6 Rounds for Time

**6 *Pull-ups or Chin-ups**

10 Burpees

15 Push-ups

10 1-arm Kettlebell Swings (each arm)**

15 V-Ups

*If you can’t do pull-ups/chin-ups, try inverted rows or dumbbell bent rows

**If you don’t have a kettlebell, use a dumbbell or anything you can old and securely swing

I was feeling this the next day and loved it! If you really push yourself, expect to take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. I added 5 minutes of biking before and after but it’s not required.

Give this routine a try and let me know how you liked it (or didn’t like it) in the comments below. This is also a great finisher after pure strength training with compounds exercises like squat, deadlift, bench, etc.; just shorten it to 3 rounds.

Do you struggle with getting motivated to exercise or are you like me and struggle with doing less to gain more?

Do you like crossfit style “WODs” like this?

This post is part of the #FitFamilyFriday Link Party. Click below to find posts by other health-minded bloggers and be sure to share with your friends and family!

Going Strong, Life, Parenting

Last Week’s Workouts and “The Bear” Complex with Baby

11/10/2014 R.C. Liley 5 Comments

This is the week! The week our baby turns 1 year old! On Saturday, the 15th, we’re having a small birthday party at our home and then we’re leaving her with G-Ma as we head to a friend’s wedding. Is that wrong of us? Nahhhh.

Last week’s workouts were a repeat of the previous week, just adding weight to most exercises in classic progressive overload fashion. I would normally continue in this pattern for the week ahead, but might need to improvise as we prepare for the big day.

Here’s what I have for last week….

Note: All workouts are in a fasted state. I have a homemade pre-workout mix of beta-alanine, bcaa’s, creatine, and pure caffeine powder and then I’m ready to go within 20 – 30 minutes!

Monday – 11/03

– Back Squat: 4 x 8 x 220lbs

– Straight Leg Dead Lift: 4 x 8 x 210lbs

– Dumbbell Lunges: 3 x 11/side x 45lb/side

Superset w/ Glute-Ham Raise: 3 x 12

– Double Kettlebell Swings: 3 x 31 x 25lb/arm

– 31 1-leg squats and Push-ups

Tuesday – 11/04

– Bench Press: 4 x 8 x 165lbs

Superset w/ Strict Chin-ups: 4 x 7

– Dumbbell Hang Clean & Press: 4 x 11 x 30lb/arm

– 1-arm Dumbbell Rows: 3 x 13 x 45lb

Superset w/ Bodyweight Dips: 3 x 13

– Man-maker Push-ups w/ 30lb Dumbbells: 3 x 11

– Dumbbell Twisting Bicep Curls: 3 x 12 x 20lb

Superset w/ Standing Triceps Dumbbell Kickback: 3 x 10 x 20lb

– 31 1-leg squats and Push-ups

Wednesday – 11/05

– 4 Tabata Rounds: 1. Bike, 2. Burpees, 3. 15lb Ball Slam, 4. Bike

– 31 1-leg squats and Push-ups + run/walk 2.3 miles

Thursday – 11/06

– Front Squat: 4 x 8 x 175lbs

– Dead Lift: 3 x 8 x 235lbs

– Clean: 5 x 5 x 125lbs

– 31 Bulgarian Split Squats w/ 20lb Dumbbells/arm and 31 Push-ups

– Walk/Run with Avery and Abby (our Golden

Friday – 11/06

– Overhead Press: 4 x 8 x 110lbs

– Barbell Bent Row: 4 x 8 x 135lbs

Superset w/ Dumbbell Incline Press: 4 x 11 x 45lb/arm

– Dumbbell Hang Clean & Press: 5 x 6 x 45lb/arm

– 4 Rounds: Close-grip Bench – 10 x 135lbs, Wide-grip Pull ups x 6, Kettlebell Windmill w/ 25lb/side x 10/side, Bike ~30 seconds

– 31 1-leg squats and Push-ups

Saturday – 11/08

– Walk 3+ miles with Kelley while wearing Avery on my back. She had a good nap….

– Quick conditioning workout of countdown/up:

->31, 25, 20….10, 5: Double 25lb Kettlebell Swings

->5, 10, 15…..25, 31: Push-ups

– 31 1-leg squats, burpees, and bodyweight squats

Sunday – 11/09

– Work on rearranging garage to make room for Avery’s play pen gate setup.

– 30 minute cardio/strength routine of 30s on and 30s off with different exercises

– 31 1-leg squats and Push-ups

I need to get Avery’s gate setup since she’s close to walking and I don’t expect she’ll have patience to sit in her jumper once this milestone is achieved.

Hmm, or maybe she’s already lost her patience. What do you think?

When she starts making these faces, it’s either nap time, a poopy diaper, or just plain bored. For the last one, when not finished working out or never having a chance to star, I have a solution…..combine playtime with your workout!

To me, barbell work is king when it comes to strength training, but as parents and really all time-strapped people know, we don’t always have time for or access to a barbell. And if you did, just what, with maybe 10 minutes of time to yourself, would you do anyway?

The answer is a complex where you complete multiple exercise back to back without stopping to rest. A classic example of this is called “The Bear” Complex where you perform a power clean, front squat, push press, back squat, and push press without setting the bar down to make 1 rep. It’s an awesome workout that, when done for 5 rounds of 7 reps at a challenging weight, is a quick, effective routine.

But when there’s no barbell or time to use one, grab the nearest baby/kid/toddler/teenager (preferably your own), and make them the barbell. Here’s a video I put together to show you how.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb9EU4eyKlg&w=420&h=315]

Avery enjoys the moves and hopefully your kids will too. You get to bond with your child through “playtime” while fitting in a full body exercise to boot. Not bad! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Now it’s time to prepare for a fast approaching birthday; Going Mom has off Thursday and Friday to make sure things are setup right since I’m not the best in that area. Have a great week!

Do you have any favorite workouts you’d like to share?

Any tips on how to manage a first birthday party? We have the beer, what else is needed? 🙂