Back when I used to be a CrossFit guru, prior to spraining my ankle and straining my scapula (though happy to discuss my CrossFit experience if that’s of interest), one of the tricks that I learned and still prescribe to is the base line workout. Essentially, a “base line” workout is a minimum or starting point for comparisons. In CrossFit, a base line would typically be a short chipper workout, such as a mix of rowing, squats, sit ups, push ups, and pull ups. But a base line can be anything you want it to be, as long as it is something that you want to use as a benchmark to use as tests and measurements to track how far you’ve progressed since you last performed.
Lately, I’ve been a huge fan of circuit HIIT workouts. I’ve grown muscle and overall strength, but I’ve been noticing my muscle endurance and overall endurance fading. Though I’ve tried to love running, and tried to focus on workouts highlighting muscle endurance, I now feel like I kind of have to “force” myself into building endurance. So here come the running workouts, Bettys and Baldwins… let’s do this!
In the future, I’m going to continue with my circuits, but plan to have one base line running workout that I plan to complete once a week – regularly on Tuesdays if I can to keep consistency. Because I’m not an expert on this, I went digging for a workout that looked like a challenge, but still looked do-able. And my digging led me back to one of my Top 10 Fitness Bloggers to Follow, as Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers created some great workouts that I’m now using on a regular basis. I’m starting with the one posted below, with a primary goal of finishing. But I’m also able to increase my speed over time to see how my ability is increasing across the weeks.
Maintaining a 7.8 speed for a couple minutes is brutal for me, and highly unlikely with where I currently am in my fitness journey. I adjust my speed based on how I’m feeling that day, because my goal is not to race myself. My goal with this workout is to honestly discover where I am at this point in my fitness journey.
How do you know that your workouts are helping you to improve? Please let me know in the comments section below!
Weekly Workouts
This week was a great one of workouts. No, I did not achieve an amazing six days of workouts, but I did stay committed and improve on my weekend workouts, which was a HUGE step in the right direction. I had a good mix of cardio and muscle strength, but recognize that I have to take a day or part of a day to stretch and use my foam roller. My muscles are feeling incredibly tight due to only having my quick, 5-minute stretches at the end of each workout. Foam rollers will be my best friends in my near future,.
Wednesday: First Day of My Base Line 30 Minute Treadmill Interval Workout from Peanut Butter Fingers
Thursday: 3-Move Total-Body Dumbbell Workout from Ashley at A Lady Goes West
Friday: 20-Minute Fat Blasting Full Body Workout from PopSugar
Saturday: 3 mile run with Ray
Sunday: BBG Meet-Up, which was Pure Barre inspired
Monday: Ended up being a rest day, but just because work came in the way #toughlife
Tuesday: Break day, because it’s my birthday and I decided that celebrating with friends and family was more important in my book
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
How was your past week of workouts?
What is your most recent “base line workout”?
Create a great life!