SSU 2013 Week 1 Workout and Meal Ideas
So excited you’re here! I hope you’re PUMPED to kill it next week. Make sure to print out your weekly calendar (in the newsletter) and stay tuned for the Summer Shape Up intro page (posted Sunday) with all of the details.
In the meantime, I wanted to give you the week 1 meal ideas and workout in advance so that you can plan for the upcoming week.
The week 1 workout consists of mostly supersets of the above moves.
Here’s what you’ll do:
(Optional dynamic stretch and foam roll)
Warm up for 5 minutes, cardio of choice
Complete the following workout:
1) Walking lunge with a twist a knee lift. Holding a moderate dumbbell, 15 on each leg.
2) Superset 1: weighted squats and squat jumps (3 sets, 15 each). You’ll do 15 weighted squats immediately into squat jumps (15). Squat, squat jump, squat, squat jump.
3) Superset 2: bent-over wide row and pushups (3 sets, 12 each). Alternate between your 12 bent-over wide rows and 12 pushups, modifying (on your knees) as needed. Try to avoid resting in between exercises.
4) Dumbbell swing. This is an awesome glute and core workout! Check out the tutorial on this site. Do 2 sets: of 15-20 on each side.
4) Superset 3: knee tuck and tricep dips (3 sets, 10 each). Come into a plank position with your feet raised on a sturdy bench or chair. Use your core to bring one knee in towards your chest then back to start position. Complete 10 on each side before going into your triceps dips. For the dips, bent knees will be easier than straight legs, and if you’re looking for a challenge, lift up one leg)
5) The banana (20 total): Come into a V-up (exhale on the way up), then roll onto your stomach and lift up into a back extension. Roll back up into your V-up, back to the superman.
*Follow with cardio as indicated in the calendar.
Cool down and stretch.
Some meal ideas for week 1:
(*= can be made on Sunday and stored in the fridge or freezer for the week)
Breakfasts:
Smashed avocado and one egg on top of toast
*Chia pancakes + one egg
Egg burrito with fajita veggies, cheese and salsa
Nut butter on one slice of toast and a small smoothie
Eggs, bacon (turkey or tempeh bacon is great, too!), small bowl of chia pudding
Lunches/dinners:
*Crustless quiche with salad
*Tempeh tacos with black beans and sautéed zucchini
*Carrot/beet/bean burger on whole-grain bread with salad
*Grilled/baked protein with sweet potato and veggies
Chicken or veggie coconut curry and quinoa
Snacks (2 snacks each day)
*Amazeballs (2)
*Veggies and hummus
Fresh veggie/fruit juice with a *quinoa muffin (savory or sweet)
*Chicken crust pizza with lots of veggies and/or cheese
Fresh fruit and some cheese
Dessert:
Glass of wine or small cocktail
Dark chocolate
Baked apple with a drizzle of almond butter
Anything you love that you don’t want to kick out of your life. Since we’re working on fitness gains, I would just recommend keeping portion control in mind. At the same time, don’t make anything off limits; it will just make you want it more.
What are you planning and prepping for the upcoming week? Leave a comment with your meal plan and this Sunday, start to make it happen!!
xo
Hey Gina! I can’t wait to start! I just noticed that there are dumbbell swings in the week one workout picture, but when are we supposed to do them? Thanks so much happy Friday!
yes, sorry i spaced that! will add it in today. you’ll do your dumbbell swings after the row/pushup superset (15 on the right side, 15 on the left)
No worries at all! Can’t wait to start on Monday!
I don’t mean to be a pain but your printer link does not work and when I try to print the info on my own, the font is all crazy and small. I wonder if anyone else is having this issue??
It’s not working for me either…
i was messing around with it a little last night. not having luck with printer plug-ins for wordpress…
did you try copying and pasting to a word document?
Right now all I get is “undefined” as a single word on the page. 🙂
So nothing to copy and paste.
Looking forward to this! Thank you so much. I am out of work right now as well so I really appreciate all the work without charging!
from the actual post, not the print window. see if that works. i’ll get the widget figured out today!
I just selected the text I wanted and printed the selection. It printed fine for me!
awesome!
This is awesome Gina, I’m so excited for SSU this year, thanks for all the effort and time you put into this, its so appreciated!!!
Hey Gina! So excited to start 🙂
I’m a bit confused, you do 3 sets of each exercise back to back, then move on to the next 3 sets in a row? Or one of each and then repeat the whole way though?
Also you didn’t mention dumbbell swings in the written directions, I’m just not entirely sure how to do them!
Thanks gilr!!!
you’re doing to do your 3 sets back to back, with little to no rest in between.
ahhh! i’ll add in the dumbbell swing directions today <3
My printer link doesn’t work either.
I’m not familiar with supersets either, so I’m with Shira… How do I do sets? 🙂
Thank you! Thank you! for your time on this! I’m excited to get started!
you’re doing to do your 3 sets back to back, with little to no rest in between
bent over row (10), pushup (10), row (10), pushup (10), row (10), pushup (10) 🙂
It’s here it’s here it’s here!!! I am so excited to get started on all things SSU. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into it
Thanks for all your hard work, Gina! So excited to start! I was wondering if it would work to do the super sets and cardio at different times in the day? I could do the supersets at home during nap time but will have to wait for my husband to be home for the HIIT.
you could definitely do it that way 🙂
Thank you!
Thanks for all of your hard work! Excited to switch up my routine for the month! I have a silly question… I’m not on Twitter (last person on earth??), but am on Instagram… if I hashtag just on that, does it still work? I want to be sure to give you shout outs! Thanks :o)
I was actually wondering this, too, as I’m not on Twitter OR Instagram…do I just check in here?
I’m excited to swap out my old DVDs/strength routines for these workouts! Thank you so much!
yep it will still work! tag me, too @fitnessista 🙂
On the calendar, Sunday is not listed…Is that also a rest day?
Thanks! Can’t wait to start!
sunday is a wild card/rest day 🙂
Awesome! Thank you. I just finished SSU 2011 week 3 today! I love going back and doing the previous SSU’s.
Take Care!
Thanks so much for the plan Gina!
What should I do if I can’t do jumps?
Also what does “steady state tempo blast mean?
the intro post (sunday) will have all of the cardio specifics. for the steady state tempo blast, you’re going to maintain a steady speed (moderately challenging) and at the end of your workout, add in some speed for the last 5 minutes (super challenging).
xoxo
Excited to get started on Monday! I know for some workouts, you post videos demonstrating the moves, which is super helpful for me, especially for the exercises I’m not as familiar with. Do you think you’ll post some for these SSU workouts? Thanks!!
last time, i made a few, but few people said they were helpful, so i skipped it for this week. i can look into doing that for next week!
This is amazing!!! Thank you for all your hard work.
Thank you! Looking forward to trying it out!
If my arms could be as toned as yours, I will do whatever you tell me to. 🙂 I am freakin’ PUMPED!!
I’m so excited to get started! Thanks for doing this for us! We’re lucky blog readers!
I’m so excited! This is exactly what I need right now…something different to liven up my work outs!
Thank you for all of your hard work!! Can’t wait to start!!!
I’m super excited! I’ve always wanted to really commit to getting fitter and if you’re making an effort to make time to plan this SSU it would just be rude of me to not take it seriously =) Thank you, Gina!
So looking forward to this — did my first summer shape up last year, then the winter shape up this year and can’t wait for summer shape up 2013! Thanks so much for all the thought, hard work and time you put into doing this for all of us! You’re amazing!
thank you so much! so happy you enjoyed past shape ups, too 🙂
Thanks for the plan! Any idea of approximately how long the workout should take for Week 1?
Can’t wait!! Need a jump start to change things up! Thank you:))
I am going to make quinoa ahead and try my hand at the muffins you linked. Oh, and make some pancakes and freeze. I am normally a “smoothie-for-breakfast” kind of girl in the warmer months, but pancakes sound pretty good right now! Here is my dinner plan for the week!
Monday – My birthday! Dinner out!
Tuesday-Salmon, steamed green beans and sweet potatoes
Wednesday-Bacon wrapped turkey fillet, red potatoes and zucchini
Thursday-Chicken Taco Salad
Friday-BBQ Chicken, Sweet Potatoes and steamed broccoli
Wow!!! Great plan Molly, you’re dinners sound super yummy. I think I’m going to steal your chicken taco salad for tonight’s dinner : )
Happy early Birthday!
Thanks for the birthday wish!
I use an easy chicken taco recipe. Put some chicken breasts (I make four at a time) in the crock pot with a small jar of salsa and one packet of low sodium taco seasoning. Set it on low and let it cook until the chicken is easily shredded with a fork! I use it on salads, homemade burrito bowls (Chipotle-style), and quesadillas.
Yum..(does not describe how good that sounds). Thanks for the recipe!
And Happy Birthday, of course!
sounds fantastic!!
I can’t wait to get started! I’m gonna be doing workouts with my trainer instead of your workouts on a few days, but can’t wait to add all the extra cardio.
Can you give us examples for the HIIT and Hill Challenge and Tempo?
yes, all of the cardio guidelines will be up sunday morning with the intro post.
SUPER excited!! perfect timing. gina will be the perfect trainer and cheerleader over the next month!!
I’m really excited about this shape-up!!! I love this week’s plan, nothing too intimidating for me (not that it will be easy). I know you’ll continue to bring it all month! Thank you so much for putting so much work in for all of us! Besides getting the motivation to do the workouts, I really need to work on planning my meals! Thank you for all the ideas! I do see a big batch of pancakes being froze this weekend!
Long Live Summer-Shape UP!
Thank you so much for all your hard work you put into it. And for making it free!!
So excited for this to start! Thank you for all your hard work, and for putting this together! 🙂
I’m so excited and pumped…this is coming at the perfect time when I’m really focusing on pushing myself more at the gym and with nutrition!!!
I feel like I am on a team and I don’t want to let anyone down!! like having a gym buddy! I am new to the SSU so I don’t know some of the workouts for example… On the SSU for this week you have Monday Workout 1 + HIIT (20 Minutes) what is the HIIT part?
Thanks!
you’re going to do easy for 45 seconds, HARD for 45 seconds.
i’ll have all the cardio info in the intro post 🙂
the team setting is the best part!
I may or may not have squealed when I saw this in my inbox! Stoked to start 🙂 Thanks for doing this, Gina!
yay! let’s do this! I briefly skimmed your comments but I still need to ask- for the cardio (HITT, steady state tempo blast, etc)- are you going to provide what you want us to do or is that something we should make up ourselves?
yes, the intro post will have all of the cardio descriptions
You’re the best Gina! Workout and eats look amazing and I love how you have this all ready for us in advance. Thank you.
So excited to get something new in the mix along with training for my first 10k!
So excited to be a part of this for the first time! 🙂
Also, maybe I didn’t catch this, but do you provide the HIIT/cardio workouts as well or do we just do whatever we want for those?
Hi Ashley, I asked Gina that question too. She said on Monday she’ll provide the cardio deats. Can’t wait!
Hi Gina,
Can’t wait to get started with the summer shape-up. Woot!
Yesterday I made a huge batch of Jerk sweet potato and black bean curry – it’s delicious! 🙂
I can’t wait to get started!
yay! i’m excited! so what size weight do you recommend for the lunge/twist/lift and the squats/rows/swings? assuming 3-5? or more like 5-8?
it depends on what you’re used to!
YAY! Can’t wait to start this. Gina – you are the best!
I can’t wait to get started! I discovered your site a few weeks ago and already with your workouts I gave seen big improvements in my health and fitness! You are wonderful! Thank you so much for all your hard work putting this together!
This is so great to have the info early! I’m a plan ahead kinda girl 😉
Grilled salmon & veggies and your crustless quiche are both on the menu for next week here!
Thanks so much for this! I’m going on a mini vacation this weekend and won’t be back until Tuesday, so I’ll be in vacation eating mode for the first part of the week (steak and wine…mmmmm….) but will get back on track with quinoa & black bean soup & one-pot basil & tomato pasta next week. It is wintertime where I live, so it is too cold and damp for salad 🙂
I’m also training for a marathon in October, so my goal is to run 3x/week, strength train 2x/week and yoga once a week. I’ll use the shape up for my strength – thanks again for a fun plan that helps keep fitness interesting.
I am finally going to try the breakfast cookie! I’ve been meaning to try it forever and somehow I just keep forgetting. It’s going to happen this week. Also Chia Pudding!
I’m so excited to join up this SSU and hope I can finally kick some of this mommy tummy to the curb!
This week I’m going to focus on including a lot more veggies into our dinners and having lean protein. It’s been hot here in California. I love sharing menus and getting ideas from other people.
Our menu for the week:
S: Grilled Veggie Tostadas
M: Chicken, Brown Rice and Asparagus bake
T: Turkey Meatball stroganoff
W: BBQ Chicken with broccoli and zucchini
TR: Left overs
F: Homemade Vegetable Lasagna
sounds amazing!!
I am so excited to be doing this for the first time ever! I really need some motivation to get back into a good fitness routine. Thanks for working so hard on this. This may be a dumb question, but can I start early, like this Sunday? I will be traveling all next Friday so I want to make sure I make up for a lost day. Thanks!
of course!
Can’t wait for Monday!!!
this is awesome gina! i’m doing a paleo challenge at my crossfit box for the next 5 weeks so i’m going to incorporate your summer shape up and the paleo challenge together!
This is so great! Thank you for always putting together such thoughtful shape ups! I’ll be chroniciling my journey on my blog on a weekly basis on Mondays. Yippeeee!
I was going to sleep in this morning, but then I saw this was up and I was too excited to go back to sleep! 🙂 can’t wait to get started!
Thanks for this. Workout 1 looks great. Quick question: I have a persistent running injury in my foot and ankle (tendonitis), so I can’t really jump at the moment. Do you have a modification for the squat jumps? Normally, I’d just squat, but since that’s the other half of the superset, it would be a lot of squats. Any other ideas for me? Thanks!!
try burpees, walking back into plank and back up instead of jumping
Great. Thank you!
hey gina, thanks for this amazing program! i can’t wait to start!!!
any vegan options you can suggest for the meal plans? some of your suggestions i can make vegan, but didn’t know if you had any good ones that weren’t listed above. i will do the avocado on toast for breakfast, but definitely need to add in some form of protein since i’ll miss it from the no egg. thank you!!!!