Winter Shape Up Week 4 Workout + Reebok Zquick Giveaway
Hi friends! Here’s to your last and BEST Winter Shape Up week! I can’t believe how quickly this year’s challenge went. Your check-ins, feedback and participation were amazing.
If you’re like me and sad to say farewell to WSU, you can repeat the challenge to make it 8 weeks. As always, you can join in at any time! All of the Shape Up info can be found here on the intro page. Summer Shape Up will be here before we know it!
I hope that through Winter Shape Up you were able to learn some new moves and fitness strategies. Many of you have already noticed physical results and energy boosts from the challenge, too. Anne and I both had an amazing time being a part of it, and I’m so grateful to have had her help and expertise with the meal plans. <3
Here’s what the week 4 workout schedule looks like:
Workout links:
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Week 4 workout + 10 minutes steady state
Wednesday: Arm burner (optional 3x) + 10-20 minutes steady state
Thursday: Week 4 workout
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Barre burner + core burner + Week 4 workout
Sunday: Flexibility (any yoga or Pilates class you like)
(feel free to shuffle around as needed)
Notice anything different? That’s because I have a little surprise for you: the Week 4 workout is PURE CARDIO. 20 minutes of sweaty HIIT training…. intense to say the least. One of my favorite quotes from filming the video: “This is real life.” You’ll see 😉
As always, check with a doctor before making any fitness or nutrition changes. Honor your body and modify as needed. If you need ideas for modifications, check out Megan’s ideas in the video. She provides some fantastic low impact (but high intensity) options. Before experimenting with any type of interval training, you should have a solid cardio base of 30 minutes of moderate steady state, most days of the week.
Week 4 video:
If you prefer to workout on your own instead of doing the video, feel free to substitute with 20 minutes of steady state cardio, 20 minutes of HIIT, or 15 minutes of HIIT training + 15 minutes of steady state of your preferred cardio.
The workouts are broken down in the video, and here are some tips for the intervals:
-Land softly and exhale on the challenging portion of the movement
-Keep your core engaged throughout the exercises and use your glutes to power up the jumping movements
-Modify as needed. Watch Megan to make the exercises more low impact and Meredith for ideas to make it more intense
Thank you again to Megan and Meredith for helping me out with the videos. Their energy was incredible, I feel like doing the workouts with them made me a little less awkwardsauce (I hope??), and we had a blast filming. My video director and editor, Grant Hunker (who also did Soli Beat!) did an incredible job filming and editing. I’m also very thankful to Black Belt 4 Life for allowing us to rent their beautiful studio and to Reebok for the outfits + sneaks.
A last special thank you to all of our Winter Shape Up sponsors:
Sabra, Cabot, Stonyfield, Reebok, White Plum , Sizzlefish and Fitfluential!
Here are the two winners of last week’s Cabot and Sizzlefish giveaway:
Carrie and Abby!
Both winners have been emailed 🙂
The fitness giveaway for the final week is courtesy of Reebok. See the sneaks that I’ve been wearing in the videos? These are the brand-spanking-new ZQuicks, and my current favorite crosstraining sneakers. The inspiration for the shoes’ material was Z-rated tires, so they provide traction, control and speed. The material is extremely durable, but the shoe is form-fitting, light and comfy. I wear these shoes for my “everything” workouts: strength and cardio blitzes, just like we’ve been doing in the Winter Shape Up.
3 lucky readers will each receive their own pair of ZQuick sneakers:
Here’s how to enter:
-Check in every day this week by leaving a comment with your fitness activity for the day. Even if it’s a rest day, comment to enter (up to 7 chances!).
-You get a FREEBIE entry today. Please leave a comment with Winter Shape Up feedback! What did you love? What do you want next time? If you didn’t participate, what held you back?? We can use your feedback to make Summer Shape Up even better <3
Happy Week 4! Let’s finish STRONG and with the same intensity. You can do it!
*I’ll announce the Week 4 giveaway winner next Monday along with your Shape Up successes. Please send me a photo and short paragraph if you’d like me to include it in next week’s recap (fitnessista at gmail dot com, subject: SHAPE UP SUCCESS)
xoxo
Gina
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Long ass elliptical workout
Killer workout! Can’t complain as I’ve started my birthday year at my goal weight & a kick ass workout.
Did the week 4 workout this morning and it was great!
wooo workout 4 felt great! i loved all the cardio! i need more of it in my life
Workout number 4…. holy sweat-making workout! So good! I also did about twenty minutes of snow shoveling for my “steady state.”
Went for a half marathon 7 mile training run in the snow followed by an hour of core yoga. No amount of snow is stopping me from getting my sweat on!
Yesterday was an off day for me (flight in the AM then straight to a long day of work) but headed to do a short barre3 workout and the week 4 HIIT workout right now. LOVING all the HIIT!
Had a blast this morning with the week 4 workout!
Completed a 40 minute weight sesh this morning!
Did the arm burner and steady state yesterday. Arms are sore today.
Does anyone know where the meal plan for week 4 can be found? There’s no link that I can find and don’t see it on Anne’s pg either???
Here is the link. I have it from the FB page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRty8DFJiRQ
Here is the link. I have it from the FB page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRty8DFJiRQ
Wow, tough one! On to the 10 min steady state now!
Whoa for week 4, tough one today. About to finish up my steady state on the elliptical after a whoa workout. Thanks Gina!
Gonna do week 4 workout!
This morning I went for a run before my kids woke up, and now I am doing Bob Harper’s Inside Out Method Yoga DVD. Have a great day!
Erin
fairyfractal at gmail dot com
Ran 5 miles outside today. It was 37 degrees. Wow, we haven’t seen that in a long while. It was quite icy on the sidewalks so we took to the streets. It was kind of dicey but we got it done. Planning on workout #4 tomorrow but to tell you the truth, I’m kind of scared. 🙂
Loved this week 4 work out!! I will be shoveling more snow tonight so I think I will have my steady state covered!!
I did 20 minutes of cardio and the arm burner this morning! Soooo sore!
30 min HIIT class at the Greco tonight! so excited for Reebok ZQuick giveaway!! 🙂
Did workout 4 + 10 min steady state last night, workout 4 was killer! Fast, efficient and totally kicked my butt. Little lower back disk/nerve aggravation this morning, so I postponed the arm burner/steady state combo until tonight or potentially tomorrow if the Advil doesn’t kick in.
Did Workout 4 yesterday after work. Planning the Arm Burner tonight with a 40 minute Step Video!
Body Pump class! 🙂
30 minute walk and yard work yesterday and workout 4 today. Wow! Sweaty mess as usual. My 2 year old kept saying, “burpees mom! High knees mom!”
Step class today. I feel ridiculous, but I kind of love it.
Wow, That was real life! WSU week 4 video done.
I went to CrossFit this morning and did high hanging snatches with an overhead squat, then 20 minutes of 400m run, 30 alt step-ups, and 20 alt Turkish get-ups. My shoulders are totally feeling the TGUs. Yesterday I did one of your 5 min barre burners as part of a longer workout, and I am definitely feeling my glutes today!
Did a long walk around my neighborhood yesterday and it felt great.
I love the workouts you post, and that you can mix/match them in addition to my regularly scheduled program (hot yoga and barre). Thanks for doing this! You’re awesome!
Week 4 workout done and also did couple of mins on the elliptical.
Getting excited to try week 4 today!!!
Unfortunately, I am still fighting this stomach flu, so I can’t workout today either 🙁
Super fun workout this morning!! Fun to change it up with more cardio!
Yesterday was a hot yoga class with friends and today is a rest day!
30 mins of cardio on the agenda today!
today is a rest day but yesterday was winter shape-up #3 again- i love the variety of strength moves in that one!
I have been rocking the winter shape up since the beginning but have been knocked down by an awful head cold, taking a few off days to recover but hope to try out week 4 in the next couple days!
Great workout today!
I am down 12 pounds so far since following your workouts for the past few weeks. Tonight is my first night for week 4!
Yesterday’s workout was teaching Body Pump!
Just did the Week 4 workout = sweaty beast! Loved it! Both my husband and I did it and we kept each other doing correct form and giving it our all. Finished with my personal daily fitness challenges of : squats, planks, burpees, headstand and shoulder stand, plus 10 minutes of other yoga. Feel amazing! Thank you 🙂
I’m doing some yin yoga tonight to stretch out my sore muscles from workout one.
Going to do a yoga DVD before I got to a concert!
Busted out 20 minutes of steady state on the bike trainer and went for the arm burner. I have only 10 lbs weights at home and since the video was so short, I was sure 3 rounds would be cake. Um. Nope. 1 round in and I was out of gas. You win this one, Gina!
Exhausted from traveling all day yesterday and not getting home til 1am (!) but hoping to get a short workout in tonight. Either week 3 or 4 workout.
WSU Feedback: This year’s Shape Up is awesome. I’ve been reading your blog for years, and this one was by far the best shape up yet. I used to have a hard time being motivated to do the workouts because it took time to figure out what the exercises were and how to do them with correct form, and not get bored doing them. The videos really changed everything and made me motivated to actually do the workouts and helped me to be sure I was doing the exercises correctly. It was just much more fun, and so I participated a lot more. I liked that the videos were relatively short, but I still felt like I got a great workout and was often sore the next day. I’m a runner, so I messed with the workout schedule a bit, but I usually got in all the WSU and burners. I just skipped the assigned steady state cardio minutes and did my regular runs and spin classes.
I really liked Anne’s meal plans, too. I didn’t follow the meal plans exactly, but I used her meals for most of the meals I had. I just tended to have more leftovers than expected, and can’t handle wasting any food so I did a lot of repeat meals for ingredients I had leftover (canned pumpkin=lots of oats until the can was empty) or ate leftover chili or minestrone for lunch for multiple days in a row. It worked out just fine that way and cost less than doing the meal plan exactly.
I did a CrossFit class yesterday…Tabata Time! I can still feel it!
How cool would I like wearing a new pair of Reebok sneakers to my gym after extending my 6 month contract for one year?!? Ha ha!
steady state on the treadmill last night. I chickened out to go outside 🙂 Hopefully will get to workout 4 today.
T-25 Abs and Strength (legs).
30 minutes cardio followed by abs. easy workout.
Today’s check-in = afternoon snowshoe with friends up a very large mountain followed by Workout 4. Should be a sweaty one!