Valentine’s Day Workout

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

In Estonia where I'm from (and Finland where I am currently living), we celebrate the 14th of February not only as Valentine's Day, but also as Friends' Day. I kind of like this idea – why should we limit this special day to lovers only? So why not to celebrate this day with your friends, too. 

Even though I'm normally not working on Saturdays, we had a Valentine's Day Special event at the gym I'm working at and I had three HIT (High Intensity Training) workout to teach.

I love whole body workouts, so today I put together one that targeted quads, butt, core and arms – everything. I believe that whole body exercises are the most efficient ones when your goal is to burn some fat. And this is the goal for most of my clients. 

We did 15 minutes AMRAP, in other words, as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes: 

Overhead Plate Lunges target your legs – especially glutes, hamstrings and buttocks, but because you hold the weight above your head, also arms and core are working hard all the time. 

Squat Jumps are a great power exercise for the legs – again, glutes, hamstrings and buttocks. They also get your heart beating, meaning, burn a ton of calories. 

Wall Ball Shots are a great exercise for the whole body. By getting into a deep squat, you target all your leg muscles, and by throwing the ball up to the wall your arms and core area are working hard as well. At the same time you must keep your back straight and strong, too!

And last, but definitely not the least – burpees. I love burpees and find them probably the best whole body, no-equipment-needed exercise. There's basically no muscle group this exercise doesn't work on – it targets all the body from the legs all the way up to your arms. The jumps activate those muscle fibers and make sure to get some explosiveness to your exercise.

After all three HIT workouts I taught today it was time for my own workout. Did some deadlifts, push and jerks, box jumps, push ups and regular sit ups. It was a good one!

After work I got home. My husband is away right now so I felt little lonely. Hey, it's Valentine's Day and all.

So here's how I celebrated the day – with some Macadamia nuts and wine. 

I also cooked up some of my Beef Stew to have in hand for the next days when I'm busy with work and don't have all that much time to cook. Preparing is the key to healthy eating, that's why I'm prepping some food almost every weekend. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, my friends!

What are you up to this weekend?

Hope you guys have a great Valentine's – or Friends' Day!