Looking forward to more summer Saturdays in the park with Roberto Murichi

Ever feel like you’ve hit a rut in your fitness routine? Don’t worry – it happens even to the biggest fitness fanatics. The good news is sometimes all you need to get your mojo going again is a change of venue. Now that the summer season officially has officially started, there’s no time like the present to take some of your moves to a park, beach or other outdoor hot-spot near you.

I certainly have some extra kick in my step on this first Motivation Monday of my favorite season thanks to the leftover endorphin rush following a long overdue Central Park workout courtesy of  CrossFit UWS head coach Roberto Murichi.  Here’s how I kicked off a picture-perfect Saturday in New York City:

• Active Stretch:  20 sec squat stretch; 20 front kicks; 20 seconds running in place (ironically abbreviated R.I.P); 20 back kicks. Three rounds total.
• Warm up:  I had 10 minutes to complete as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) of the following exercises (I managed to get through four):

1. 100 single-unders (jump rope_
2. 10 plyo bench push-ups
3. 10 overhead squats

Roberto was kind enough to catch one of my rounds in action. (Before you take a peek, I admit my form wasn’t ideal for the first few push-ups, but for the next round I re-adjusted my hand position on the bench and I was able to bang them out without the arch in my lower back you see here.)

• Workout: The “Chipper”:  Roberto set his timer to see how quickly I could complete the following circuit: 

1. 400 meter sprint
2. 40 bench jumps. I chose to do modified step-ups
3. 40 kick-outs (I demonstrate both the step-ups and kick-outs in the park bench workout video posted earlier this month. Click here for a refresher.)
4. 200 meter spring
5. 20 step-ups
6. 20 kick-outs

I finished the above in 8:03. Not my fastest, but not my slowest time either. The bottom line is I pushed myself to a serious break-a-sweat, heart-pounding limit and felt ready to take on the world when I was done. I hope this workout re-cap offers a serious shot of motivation to use this week and the entire summer season as a time to get out there and get moving. There’s no time like the present to explore your surroundings and spice up your workout routine as part of your ongoing journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!