Descending Ladder Treadmill & Dumbbell Workout with a Green Smoothie to Recover! ;)

Hey folks!  A very happy Saturday (or maybe Sunday for some) to you all!  It has been quite a while since I've shared a workout with you, so I figured I'd give you a double healthy shot of fitness and food all in one post. ;)  The two are very much intertwined.  If you want to have solid workouts, make sure you are putting good fuel in your body to give it energy and help in repair and recovery.

I am 6 weeks out from my next half marathon, so it's time to kick things into gear.  I'm incorporating some treadmill work into my strength workouts to make sure I not only get the mileage in (every little bit helps), but also to help make sure I can maintain some power late into the race when my legs are fatigued.  I may throw one or two heavier lifting days in every week or two, but for the most part my strength training sessions will focus on endurance like this one or functional work to keep all of my stabilizing muscles strong.  I will also start adding in some things like depth drops and plyometric hops to make sure my legs can handle the force of a downhill race.

Since I am all about the running right now, I used the treadmill for my workout.  However, you can use whatever piece of equipment or body weight cardio move to get your heart rate up.  If you do not have dumbbells handy you can also just do body weight on the other exercises.  This is considered a descending ladder as you will drop down in reps or time each set.  I may also play around and do this as a pyramid to make it a longer workout next time I do it if I feel up to the challenge.  In a traditional pyramid workout you would start low on the reps/time, work your way up, then go back down to the start.  As I am sharing it, this took me just under 40 minutes with a few water breaks thrown in.

For the exercises, pick a weight with which you can complete all of the exercises.  It makes it move more fluidly if you can keep a hold of the dumbbells throughout, dropping one for a few of the exercises as needed.  As the reps and time went down, I increased my speed on the treadmill and the weight of my dumbbells to make it challenging all the way down to the bottom of the set.

10 Rounds

Cardio:  Start out at 100 seconds the first round, then drop down by 10 seconds each round until you finish with a 10 second sprint.

Dumbbell Complex:

1. Squat Press
2. Bent Over Row
3. Side Lunge with Bicep Curl (Left, then Right)
4. Chest Press in Bridge Position
5. Weighted Situp

Go to my Instagram for a video demonstration:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgb4qQYHCmk/

So your first round you would do your 100 seconds of cardio, followed by 10 repetitions of each exercise.  Then drop down to 90 seconds, 9 reps and so on until you finish!

Since I had a client come in right after I finished, a green smoothie was just the thing to get some fast nourishment into my body after my workout.  I figured it was a little festive given the holiday. Since my Irish pal @moonunit posted a recipe for the SuperBowl, I thought I may as well post one for St. Patrick's Day. ;)

Green Recovery Smoothie

• 1 1/2 cups water or plant milk
• 2 large handfuls leafy greens of choice
• 1 small handful fresh mint leaves
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 small frozen or fresh banana
• 1/4 cup dried mulberries
• 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
• 1 tablespoon ground flax
• 1 teaspoon matcha
• 1 teaspoon amla powder
• 1/2 teaspoon morninga powder
• splash of key lime white balsamic vinegar or squeeze of fresh lime

Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth!

If you have any questions about the workout, let me know!  Maybe some of my fellow @runningproject buddies may give it a try. ;)