Summer Sweat-Fest 2025
Hydration is King!
Happy Summer! If you are in the Northeast United States, you just enjoyed a cameo appearance by the sun this weekend after 3 months of mostly clouds, rain, and fog. What better way to celebrate than with a boot camp-style sweat-fest that you can do anywhere, with minimal equipment at your chosen intensity!
But first, I want to talk about the very important topic of Hydration. As the temperatures rise, it becomes more important to stay cool during your workouts. As blood circulates through our vasculature, it not only delivers nutrients and clears waste, but the plasma (containing water) in our blood also cools our core temperature by taking heat from the core to the skin’s surface to be released through sweating.
For mid-life women, this can be a challenge. Women tend to sweat less than their male counterparts. A female’s body is ~50% water (compared to 60% for males). With less water in our circulation, cooling efficiency is lower. With the shifting hormones of mid-life, these cooling mechanisms can be blunted, and more heat trapped in the core. These hormonal shifts can also lessen the thirst drive, where relying on the sensation of thirst may not be enough to ensure adequate hydration.
I can speak to this personally when I moved to South Florida in the brutal heat of August last year. My CrossFit gym (like many) has no air conditioning. The first time I trained there after the move, I almost didn’t finish the workout. So I doubled up on my hydration, and that alone was a total game-changer!
Here are some great resources from my colleague, Dr. Stacy Sims, who is the guru on sex differences in hydration: Hydration is Power and Women Specific Strategies to Train and Compete in the Heat.
Stay cool and enjoy the workout!
Today’s workout is an endurance grind with a core stinger that you can do anywhere with minimal equipment! The goal is a more moderate intensity for a sustained period with multiple endurance and core strength modalities. The magic here is in the time domain. Stay with the every-minute-on-the-minute schedule strictly, but adjust your work-to-rest ratio and pace of your repetitions to adjust your intensity. Whether you’re feeling like a sweat-fest or an active recovery day, today’s workout will give you what you need.
Warm-Up
AMRAP 5 (As many rounds of the three movements as possible in 5 minutes). Perform each movement sequentially for a total of five minutes.
10 high knee runs
10 alternating lunges (in place) – body weight
Movement Practice
Take 5-10 minutes to select your movement options and test out each movement sequentially for 2 rounds of all four movements. A suggested strategy is to pick a movement option/rep number that is doable consistently across all 7 rounds of the workout and do your best to stick to it!
Workout
HOW TO: For a more intense workout, plan to adjust repetitions to work for 45 seconds of each minute at a faster pace, leaving 15 seconds of rest between movements. For more of an active recovery workout, use a 30 seconds of work/30 seconds of rest ratio at an easier pace for each 1 minute interval. Not sure? Pick something in between! Your score at the end is your total number of reps for all rounds.
EMOM 28 (Every minute on the minute for 28 minutes)
Minute 1: 25 Jumping air squats
Alternatives: 60 single under (or simulated) jump rope, jumping jacks, or high knee run in place (R+L = 1 rep).
Minute 2: 25 Mountain climbers
(Right + left = 1 rep) –(alternative: bicycle crunches)
Minute 3: 5-8 burpees
Minute 4: Boat pose hold.
Modification: bend your knees or intermittently gently hold behind your knees to get you through the 30-45 seconds without rest.
You’re Welcome! ;)
Cool-Down
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!!
We have two options this week! This first yoga sequence is a little longer - because it’s vacation and what better time to treat ourselves to a little extra self-care.
25-minute Post-Workout Yoga for Tired and Sore Muscles - Five Parks
For those of you working this week or pressed for time, try this quick 15-minute stress-relief yoga sequence
#dontskiptheyoga
NOW TAKING NEW CLIENTS!
If you are an active woman or competitive midlife athlete who feels abandoned by mainstream medicine, I’m here for you!
It is with great excitement that after more than 2 years of preparation, I have FINALLY launched my Telehealth Consultation Medical practice focusing on the Reproductive Endocrine needs and Menopausal Care for active, athletic, and high-performing women.
Active and athletic midlife women have needs and risk profiles that are different from the general population. These needs often go unmet by the mainstream medical community due to a lack of understanding of fitness and sport and their impact on mid-life hormonal physiology or even a lack of acknowledgment that this dynamic exists. We put your health, fitness, and performance at the center of the equation so that you can achieve your healthiest, highest-performing self!
You will find all my service offerings on my website including a link to my calendar so that you can reserve your place in my schedule!