Day EIGHTEEN – Weight Loss for Women over 50 😅 31 Day Workout Challenge
Weight Loss for Women over 50
– Hey, Killer Bs, it’s Pahla B from pahlabfitness.com. It’s day 18 of the Weight Loss for Women over 50 series. I’ve got a great bodyweight abs workout for us. There is absolutely no jumping today. There are no transitions to the ground and no equipment needed. So when you’re ready for this one, I’m totally ready. Let’s go! (cheerful music) All right you guys, let’s go ahead and get moving and grooving. And that means that we’re gonna start with our normal warmups like we do. We’re doing arm circles with high knees. I feel like you know this by now. But I still feel like I need to introduce it, like, here we go, we’re doing the warmup.
Because just in case randomly you are here on day 18, and this is the first time we’ve ever met, hi, I’m Pahla B. And I’m so glad you’re here and these are the warmups that we do. We always start with arm circles and high knees because I tell you what. (exhales) As soon as I do that first arm circle, that first high knee, my brain and my body know what’s coming today.
Even if this is a very different kind of a work out than you’ve ever done before, you might have listened to that intro and thought, “What exactly is a MetCon?” Well my friends, MetCon actually is just short for metabolic conditioning. Which is actually just a fancy way of saying total body workout with cardio and strength and very little rest. Let’s go ahead and do some arm crossers with booty kickers. You know we fitness trainers, we really like to just, we like to have our acronyms. We like to have our vernacular, our way of saying things. But truly, this workout today, we are targeting the abs very specifically. But we’re targeting them by doing both cardio and bodyweight strength. So we’re not picking up anything
heavy except our own self. We are, we are working on balance today.
But here’s the thing about doing an ab specific workout. We have done them before, we’ve talked about abs. How it’s not necessarily the best way to lose belly fat. But it is a great way to strengthen and shape your midsection. You guys, everything that we do comes from our middle. Our middle is the middle of all of our fitness. It is so important to be able to think about, identify, find, and feel your abdominal muscles. Let’s go ahead and do some welcome to my homes. Now I know that it’s really easy to feel your abs when we’re doing crunches, you know. But I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we do not get down on the ground and do crunches during this weight loss series.
Because you don’t have to. But here’s what I’m gonna tell you. Even while we’re moving fast today. And while we’re moving slow today, be thinking about how your abs feel. Be thinking about specifically using them for the movements. Now here’s what it looks like, I’ve got my handy dandy Gymboss here set for 30 second intervals. None of those is rest, like I said, this is a total body workout with cardio and strength and very little rest. Or in our case, absolutely none. So we’re gonna get started with 30 seconds of cardio.
Doing something that I call twisting Ys. And what that means is we’re gonna form the letter Y with our body. Both hands up and out a little bit. Feet together and legs straight. We’re gonna reach one opposite hand down towards our opposite, I’m gonna say your knee. You might be able to get lower, but you might be able, just need to stay higher too. The point is the twist and keeping your hands up for cardio. So here we go. We are twisting that letter Y. Oh my gosh, do not worry about trying to touch your toes. Yes, there’s some flexibility here, but this is cardio. Which means that we’re moving fast while focusing on our abs. When it beeps we’re gonna go directly into our strength portion. And our first exercise is star balance.
We’re gonna stand on one foot and tip over to one side. And then we’re gonna put that foot down and balance on the other. And tip to the other side. This is strength. Which means that we are now moving very slowly. Gonna get very few reps of this strength done. I got this one done first because it’s probably the hardest balance for me. When it beeps again, we’re going back to cardio. So again, focusing on abs. Focusing on pulling in your core, but moving fast. We’re gonna do reach across crunch. Which is just what it sounds like. Gonna reach across in front of you and then pull that hand up overhead and down into a crunch.
So reach across crunch. Reach across and crunch. Awesome job. These transitions are pretty quick today. But the intervals are, well they’re still pretty moderate. Like we do for weight loss, but they are lengthy enough that you can really
get your heart rate up. You can really think about strength. Because coming up next, we’re thinking about strength. We’re doing standing cross body crunches.
Which means that we’re gonna reach our opposite elbow towards our opposite knee. The knee is gonna come up in between. So elbow to knee. And then down. And elbow to knee and down. Hands are just here on your shoulders. Again, this is strength, so we’re moving slowly. Thinking about balance, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing from your abs and using your obliques. When it beeps again, there’s no rest for the wicked, we’re going right back to cardio.
Coming up next, we’re gonna do punch down tap outs. Which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. We’re gonna punch down and tap out. Punch down and tap out. Again, really thinking about that twist. Thinking about pulling in your core and controlling this side to side motion. When it beeps again, we’re gonna do side bends. Gonna have your feet just about hip width apart, reach up over your head while we bend to one side. Making sure that your hips stay super duper stable throughout the entire motion so that we are focusing. Here we go. Side bend and pull up. Making sure that your hips stay stable so that your abs and obliques are doing the work. This is not cardio even though having that hand up over your head sure feels like it, doesn’t it? Moving at a pace that works for you to bring your heart rate down a little bit from that cardio but still focus on the work. When it beeps again, we’re gonna do kick twists.
Again, exactly what it sounds like. You know, I’m not very fancy. Here we go. We’re twisting our upper bodies while kicking forward. I’m sure there are official names for most of the exercises that I do. But I gotta be honest with you, when in doubt, I just call ’em what they look like. When it beeps again, we’re doing something else that is exactly what it looks like, knees to elbows.
We’re gonna have our hands on our shoulders but elbows facing forward. You’re gonna bring up one knee at a time towards its opposite elbow, squeeze the same elbow, and then down. Okay, this is strength so we’re moving slower. Squeeze, see if you can touch that knee and that elbow without curling forward into it. It’s all abs all the time today. And some of these exercises are not easy because of that. When it beeps again, we’re doing rainbow kicks. Hands are gonna move up over your head like a rainbow, one leg at a time is gonna kick out to the side. So here we go, rainbow kicks. Now this is cardio, so we’re moving fast. But again, because we’re targeting our abs today, really thinking about bringing
your hands all the way down to your leg. Bringing that leg all the way up to your hands by squeezing from your abs and obliques. When it beeps again, you guys, we’re gonna do welcome to my homes, but not welcome to my homes.
We’re gonna keep our feet together and immobile. And just twist form the torso. So feet are together and immobile. We’re twisting welcome to my home. Oh, but do you feel, oh my gosh, how different that is? When we do this as a warmup, and we will do it again probably as a cool down, by moving our legs, we’re really able to stretch the abs rather than squeezing, contracting, and twisting them like we are in this exercise. You guys, this was the circuit. When it beeps again, we’re starting again with those twisting Ys. Keep your feet where they are and here we go right back into cardio. Reaching down and even more importantly, twisting across your body my friends. The hallmark of any kind of standing abs workouts like this is this twisting motion. When it beeps again, we’re gonna do star balance. And I want you to know that this is an important move. We unconsciously twist, here we go with star balance, quite a bit in our regular lives. And yet, with exercise, unless you work out with me, we rarely twist.
Truly with exercise, we very frequently go forward and back, up and down. Kind of regular, one plane of motion type of exercises. Coming up next, we’re doing that reach across crunch. Going back to cardio after this slow moving strength. But because our bodies are built to twist, here we go, reach across crunch. Reach across crunch. It is such an important functional thing to do, to practice that twisting and crunching motion. When we practice the kinds of things that we’re doing in every day life, when it beeps again, we’re doing those cross body crunches. Elbow to your knee while bringing your knee to your elbow. Slow moving strength where we’re twisting and crunching my friends.
When we do, okay I’m thinking about this. Elbow to knee, knee to elbow. When we do functional work like this, it is preparing us, not just to look amazing, you know obviously, we’re trying to lose weight. We’re trying to get fit. It’s all good. But we are also preparing ourselves for every day life. Preparing ourselves to use this balance and this core strength when we need it in a pinch. When it beeps again, we are going to do punch down tap outs. Here we go. Thinking about reaching across your body, squeezing, pulling in your core, keeping your back and spine nice and safe. When it beeps again, going back to those side bends. Now here is the trick about doing this much twisting and squeezing and crunching during any kind of a workout, if you are not familiar with this kind of work. If you are struggling to pull in your core, this can actually, here we go with side bends.
Weight Loss for Women over 50
Up overhead, hips are stable. This can actually exacerbate low back problems. Frequently we get low back pain because our abs aren’t doing the work that they’re supposed to. When your abs are feeling a little bit lazy, they recruit other muscles to do the work for them. Usually low back muscles. When it beeps again, we’re doing those kick twists. Hands about shoulder height, twisting your torso, kicking forward. If that is the case for you, if you have a history of low back pain, low back problems. I would like you to think very carefully about your core during this workout and possibly move even slower. We’re already moving pretty moderately because we’re working for weight loss. But if low back pain sometimes happens to you, my friends, it’s very important that you protect and think about your low back. Here we go with knees to elbows, elbows are forward. I was thinking so hard about talking to you about low back pain that I wasn’t paying attention to what was coming next, my friends. Knees to elbows standing up straight and tall. Reaching that knee across your body, on the same side of your body, and down.
Definitely harder here in round two. And I’ll tell you what, today, we actually have a round three. I don’t often do that, I prefer a two round workout. But today because we are doing such focused work, here we are with rainbow kicks. We are doing such focused work, I wanted you to be able to really get good at these exercises. Make sure that you’re doing them with excellent form. Even when we move fast, even when we move slow. We’re always thinking about doing the best movement for our body. Coming up next, those crazy welcome to my homes where our feet stay stable but our spine is twisting. Here we go. Welcome, oh my gosh, to my home. This is literally impossible to do without grunting. Grunting is always encouraged, my friends, it’s optional, but it’s always encouraged. This is the end of round two and that means woo doggies, that we’re going into round three. Our third and final round. Starting with those twisting Ys. We’re gonna go ahead and keep our feet together here in the middle, hands go up, and here we go. Back to cardio.
Wee! Now here’s the thing about a three round workout. Even though it’s the same length as our other workouts, we are really, really targeting your abs. We might really, really slow it down a little bit. And that’s totally okay. When it beeps again, we’re doing star balance. You know, as I tell you, every single workout, you never need to keep up with me. If your moderate is slower than my moderate, here we are with star balance, then go slower. If your moderate is faster than my moderate, go faster, my friends. Moderate is always, always, always up to you. And today’s moderate might be different than yesterday’s moderate.
Might be different than tomorrow’s moderate. Coming up next, we’re doing that reach across crunch. Every day, every day your workout has a gift to give you. And some days that gift feels like tiredness. Some days, here we go with reach across crunch. Some days that gift feels like endless energy. You almost, I’m not gonna say you never know, but it’s hard to predict truly. Take what today has to offer you when it beeps again, we’re doing cross body crunches, and do your best with today. So we’re gonna have our hands up on our shoulders reaching that opposite knee towards your opposite elbow, squeezing and crunching.
And here we go. Opposite knee towards opposite elbow. Oh my gosh, okay. Here in round three, my balance is definitely suffering and telling me to moderate even more. Not necessarily modify, just moderate, slow it down, catch my breath, think about what I’m doing. Pulling in your core, doing your best. When it beeps again, gonna do those punch down tap outs for the third and final time. Trying so hard, oh my gosh, trying so hard not to fall out of these poses. And thank goodness I made it through one more exercise.
And these punch down tap outs, thinking about that twist. Thinking about it’s very different when we reach down than when we reach up. Pulling in your core, not letting your lower back offer to take any of this work away from your abs. When it beeps again, gonna do side bends. Standing up straight and tall with your feet about hip width apart. Hips stay very stable. Here we go. Side bend and pull it back up. Catching my breath again, this isn’t even balance work. But thinking about pulling from my core rather than letting my hips and inner and outer thighs do this work. Because you very easily could. If your hip pops out to the side, your hips are working, not your abs. When it beeps again, doing those kick twists. Back to cardio. Feeling so good, oh my gosh, about the work that we are getting done today.
My friends, I know that here on day 18, you’ve heard me say it plenty of times, but I’m gonna tell you again. An efficient and effective workout like this done at a moderate pace, is all the work you need. When it beeps again, we’re gonna do those knees to elbows. So hands on your shoulders with your elbows pointing forward. Bringing your knee up across your body and then on the same side of your body.
Okay I’m thinking about this. Across your body, same side of your body, and down. Wanted to make sure I did not fall before I even got started on this balance work. This is why we practice our balance. You guys, coming up next, we’re almost to the end. Coming up next, we’re doing the rainbow kicks. And that is our final cardio in our final circuit. Heart rate has definitely come up at this point. Rainbow kicks, side to side over the top of your head. Doing such a good, good job.
When it beeps again, finishing up with those welcome to my homes on the final circuit, the final exercise. But I know you know we’re not gonna be finished afterwards. That was funny that word finished came out of my mouth, because we will be done after those. Here we go, welcome to my home. And let me tell you right now, of course there’s no rest before we do our finisher. And it is absolutely gonna be the hardest thing we do today. One interval on each side, we’re
gonna stand in on one foot, it’s balance work. We’re gonna do something I call flying fast ups. Which means that you’re gonna have one foot kicked out behind you and both hands up over your head. You’re gonna bring your hands down towards that flying knee.
And that knee up towards your flying hands. Both hands. Then, after we do that. So here’s what it looks like. Both hands up, hands to your knees, and then back out to an extension. And then your same elbow and same knee meeting on the side in an oblique crunch. So flying fast up plus oblique crunch. Fast up, crunch. Fast up, crunch. Tapping your toe down if you need to, I need to. Help yourself. When it beeps, we’re gonna flip it right on over, and do this exact same
thing on the other side.
If you have the balance, you don’t have to tap down, that’s okay. Flying fast up. Oblique crunch. Oh my gosh, as per usual, I’m here on my stronger leg, and my far more awkward leg and arm, oh my gosh, trying to do that oblique crunch. Thankfully, this truly is our very last interval for the entire workout. When it beeps again, it’s the last time it’s gonna beep in this workout. Oh my goodness, what a good job you’ve done. Shall we stretch out those abs? Yes we shall. In fact we are gonna start with those welcome to my homes. I know, I know, here I tell you that I do the same cool down every single time. But sometimes some workouts really demand that we start with a different exercise. And this one definitely did.
Do you feel that beautiful stretch in your abs? As we open up your chest, open up your abs, remind all of those muscles in your trunk and torso that they can go back to their regular length now. That your heart and lungs can calm down now. That we have done some beautiful, beautiful work today. I’m so proud of you. That was a little tricky. You know, here’s the thing, when we’re doing a month long challenge like this, some of the workouts are gonna feel harder. Some of the workouts are gonna feel easier. There’s always going to be enough variety, and hopefully the variety hits you on a day when you felt good about the challenge. Sometimes we do balance work like this and I don’t feel amazing about the challenge that I set for myself.
I hope that today felt just right for you. Let’s go ahead and do those arm circles with some tappers. That feels really nice to open up my chest, get some nice good deep breaths. This was the magic of MetCon my friends. If you’ve never done one before, well, if you’ve been following along for all 18 days, you’ve done at least one other one. But if you are not super familiar with MetCon workouts, you have survived a total body cardio and strength workout with very little slash no rest. And you did such a great job. Let’s go ahead and do those arm openers and crossers. Give yourself a big hug. So proud of you, so proud of you. Almost three weeks in my friend. So proud of you. I have an extended cool down here for you on screen up at the top. I know that I do these kind of quickly. It’s enough to cool down, but maybe not enough to cool down completely. If you’d like to do more, I have it available to you. On the other side of the screen is a playlist of all of the 31 workouts in this month‘s series.
Right now, there’s only 18 videos in that playlist. By the end of the month, there will be all of them for you to do again and again and again. And keep getting weight loss results. Down on the bottom of the screen, that’s the letter P. And that is an invitation to go over to Patreon, where a monthly pledge from you helps me make free workouts for all of us. And thank you so much for your support like that. On the other side of the screen, of course that’s a picture of me because that is a subscribe button. Make sure that you click that and the bell notification so YouTube will let you know every time I upload a new video. Thank you so much for working out with me today. I’ll see you tomorrow..
