Customized morning workout

Hey everyone,

With some busy evening plans, we chose to do another morning workout.  Although getting up at 5:30am can be a shock to the system, it always feels amazing to finish the workout and feel so energized throughout the rest of the morning.  It's a great way to start your day - with an immediate feeling of accomplishment!

For our morning workout, we focused on lower body.  We chose to customize this workout slightly, to suit our personal preferences and to accommodate our use of equipment.  We chose a time-based workout, to fit with our morning schedule.  We did a four minute block of exercise, followed by a one minute rest.  In the block of exercise, we did 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest.  Here's what we did:

Alex's morning workout

1. Left-leg pistol squats
2. Right-leg pistol squats
3. Alternating kettlebell deadlifts (40kg)
4. Hamstring bicycles (Jungle Gym XT)
5. Double kettlebell stair carries
6. Double kettlebell one-leg deadlifts (24kg kettlbells)
7. Jungle Gym overhead kettlebell squats (24kg)

Tannys' morning workout

1. Pistol squats (alternating legs)
2. Foot-up lunges (Jungle Gym XT)
3. Hamstring bicycles (Jungle Gym XT)
4. Alternating kettlebell deadlifts (24kg)
5. Jungle Gym overhead kettlebell squats (12kg)
6. Double kettlebell stair carries
7. Double kettlebell one-leg deadlifts (12kg kettlebell)

Demonstration - Pistol squats with the Jungle Gym XT

Demonstration - Hamstring bicycles on the Jungle Gym XT

Demonstration - Jungle Gym overhead kettlebell squats

We enjoyed this workout and felt that the time-basis was a perfect fit for a morning workout.  Also, 40 seconds of exercise, followed by 20 seconds of rest was a new rhythm for us and seemed to work well.  A minute between each exercise block was sufficient for transitioning, but didn't allow for too much recovery, which kept it challenging.

The other benefit of this workout was that it was slightly customized for each of us.  For example, given Alex's love of pistol squats, he chose to do two blocks (one per leg), while Tannys incorporated a set of foot-up lunges, as she enjoys their focus on balance.

We will definitely use this workout format in the future, especially in our morning workouts.  It was a perfect dose of challenge, at a good pace, while fitting into our morning schedule.  Give it a try!

- Tannys & Alex