MasterChef, a reality TV show on Fox, features three famous culinary icons as judges; Gordon Ramsey, Graham Elliot and Christina Tosi. In its latest season, DC area resident, Ailsa von Dobeneck, joined the esteemed group of home cooks, ready to compete before the judges for the title “MasterChef.”  This past week, I was honored to join forces with Ailsa to offer a fun and healthy event for women. The workout was sweaty and the food was to die for! Here are some details on how to replicate both.

The workout that I coached is SO easy to replicate at home or in a local park with friends (as we did – see our beautiful park below!) since it doesn’t require any equipment. Also, it’s fun and fast-moving so you don’t get bored or hit a wall. Plus, if you do the workout in a park then you get the added benefit of sunshine and fresh air. What better way to spend a Saturday morning?!

Pssst – I converted Ailsa, a professed foodie who has little history with exercise. If she enjoyed it, I bet you will too!  

The Workout:

1) Pick 12 exercises that involve the entire body and boost your heart rate. Write them down on a piece of paper.

2) Exercises 1-3 should be performed in sequence (including rest intervals) and should be repeated 2-3x.  This breaks up the workout’s sets and gives you mini goals to accomplish.

3) Each individual exercise should be performed with maximum effort for 30-60 seconds. After each exercise you rest for half the amount of time that you were working hard for. For example, if you do mountain climbers or burpees for 60 seconds, you rest for 30 seconds. This keeps you working at full capacity each exercise as you progress through them.

To sum:

• Choose 12 exercises
• Perform exercises 1-3 in sequence for 30-60 seconds, each with 15-30 seconds rest in between
• Perform exercises 4-6 ”     “
• Perform exercises 7-9 ”     “
• Perform exercises 10-12 ”  “
• …Sweaty and DONE!

The whole workout will take you less than 30-35 minutes but you will have exercised your entire body, burning tons of energy and maximizing toning potential.

Here are some of the exercises that we did (videos will be uploaded for demonstration purposes to Instagram: @maggie_wellnesswinz):

Set 1:

• High Knees while holding the arms straight over head
• Lateral Squat Hops
• Diagonal Mountain Climbers

Set 2:

• Double Leg Lift + Sit-up (alternating)
• Burpees
• Speed Skaters

Set 3:

• Down Dog to Upward Dog (with tricep burner transition)
• Plank Jumping Jacks
• Alternating Lunge Jumps

Set 4:

• Core V-tucks
• Balancing Plank Hand-to-Toe Taps
• Quick Feet

Don’t stop, get it get it!!! 

A few of the girls who participated…happy after a hard workout. That’s the spirit!

Recovery Snack:

Now, for the FOOD! I know, I know, it’s probably the best part of the experience. It’s a bit of a love/hate relationship that forms when I coach people through a tough routine, but Ailsa…well, she just gets the love part of the equation as a chef.

Let me tell you, we were lucky ladies to be fed this easy-to-replicate recipe that Ailsa brought us as a recovery snack. Ailsa has all sorts of delicious recipes up her sleeve and many are featured on her blog, The Curious Tastebud, but I have to say, this one recipe felt like perfection after a summer morning sweat.

She made us a delicious fruit pudding that was perfect for restoring our energy and supplying us with key nutrients. The pudding’s exact recipe will be posted to her blog early this week, so check it out! The recipe consisted of mango, chia seeds, strawberries, shredded coconut and agave. Another helping, please?

In case you don’t know much about chia seeds, they are what many health professionals call a “superfood.” It’s pretty close to the truth too. Chia seeds pack in tons of fiber, protein, omega-3s, calcium, magnesium and more! Magnesium is especially important after a workout since it helps repair muscle tissues. Here is a typical nutrient breakdown for just a single ounce of chia seeds:

• Fiber: 11 grams
• Protein: 4 grams
• Fat: 9 grams (5 of which are Omega-3s)
• Calcium: 18% of the RDA
• Manganese: 30% of the RDA
• Magnesium: 30% of the RDA
• Phosphorus: 27% of the RDA

  yummmmm – enjoying our post-workout revival snack!

So now you can see that it’s straightforward and fun to create your own healthy girls’ gathering. In fact, it may be even more enjoyable than bonding over cocktails! Or is that too much of a stretch?!? Oh, life’s great questions…

Yours in health and wellness,

Maggie

References:

http://authoritynutrition.com/11-proven-health-benefits-of-chia-seeds/