If you've been doing your Quick Workouts Of the Day religiously, you're probably pretty tired by now.  Your reward is a slow and toned down balance day.  But don't get too comfortable.  Balance exercises are like gold: it looks easy, but it's extremely tough to do.

QWOD for Monday - Do These Barefoot

• Single leg squats - 10 per leg
• Single leg squats with eyes closed - 10 per leg
• Single leg hip rotation - 15 per leg (bend knee of raised leg, and rotate hip out and open slowly)  Put a hand towel under your foot to create an unstable surface
• Single leg jump rope hops (thanks Beth!) - 10 seconds clockwise, then 10 seconds counterclockwise, then switch feet and do the same
• Single leg bent over back flys - 20 seconds per foot (bend over with a flat back, and squeeze your shoulder blades together - we did this on Wednesday)
• Single leg biceps curls (with towel under foot) holding 5-10 lbs dumbells/milk cartons, etc. - 30 total, 15 per leg - GO SLOW!
• Side planks with 10 reach unders
• Stand on one foot and hold a 5-10 lb. weight in each outstretched arm (or a soup can, etc.) and twist your torso back and forth, keeping your abs and glutes squeezed.  Switch feet after 30 seconds and repeat.
  

Rest Day (according to Merriam-Webster):  A day of relaxation and peace, where the mind, body and soul have some time to unwind

Rest Day (according to Barefoot Benny): Running 1 mile for time, aka running as fast as you can


QWOD

• Run 1 mile as fast as you can.  If you're injured (not sore from yesterday's workout, but truly injured) do 5 minutes of jumping jacks, 1 minute of squat jumps, 2 minutes of roundhouse kicks, and 2 minutes of jumping jacks
  

Get ready to jump a bit for today's Quick Workout Of the Day!  Movin' and groovin' baby, just movin' and groovin'!

QWOD

• 5 minutes of warm ups (jumping jacks, run in place, etc.)
• 1 minute cat/cow (on hands and knees, stick bum out and look up while arching back, then look down arching back in other direction, trying to get your bellybutton up to the sky)
  
• 30 squats jumps (keep your feet parallel and stick your bum out to get low)
• Max reps pushups, but cycle through wide hand width, regular hand width, then close hand width (thumbs should be touching) and then back out to wide width
• 23 fast air squats (again, make sure your feet stay parallel throughout.)
• 45 second side plank per side, lifting your top leg up every 5 seconds for a 2 second count
• 15 second supermans  - 3 times
• Hop on 1 leg for 45 seconds in a clockwise box formation (right, back, left, forward) - go opposite direction for other foot
• 3-way single leg balance reach (standing on one foot, bring leg slowly forward, side, and back.  Repeat 10 times per leg)  Your legs will be burning after those hops!  Concentrate on your balance.
  
• Burpee time!  20 burpees, the first 10 with pushups.
  

Today's Quick Workout Of the Day is going out to my late Grandfather Nathan, who was one of the toughest guys in the army back in WWII.  He was 6'1", 235 lbs, and used to eat a dozen eggs for breakfast every day.  No joke!  He used to bend steel spikes with his hands, and be able to stretch his arms out and have grown men do pullups on them (also no joke!)  Here's to you Gramps!  Miss you and love you!

QWOD

• 20 opposite hand/opposite foot per side, bringing your back leg left and arcing it right in a rainbow.  Keep those glutes squeezed and core activated.
• 25 step back lunges per leg, switching off every lunge (50 total) - take a big lunge step backwards, then come back forward to the starting position.
• 20+ dips on edge of couch/bed
• 25 lateral duck unders per side (like a lateral lunge, but get really low and pretend to duck your head under a bar, limbo style)
• Plank to prone iso-abs switchoffs for 1 minute (cycle through straight arm plank to prone iso-abs, remembering to keep your forearms like train tracks and squeezing those glutes)
• ***REPEAT*** but do forward lunges in the second set
  

One exercise, one main muscle group, tons of burn!  Which way to the beach?  That way!

QWOD

Find two 5-10lb weights (dumbells, soup cans, milk cartons, resistance band, babies, pets, etc.) and do one-hundred (100...yea, 100!) biceps curls while standing on one foot.  Switch feet every 25 reps.  If possible, hold the object with palms facing forward (thumbs should be facing toward the outsides instead of just forward.)  Do not swing the weight nor go too fast, and really concentrate on keeping your abs and glutes firm to prevent body sway.

Apparently, "Barefoot Bev" Ratcliff is a trainer to the stars, or at least a pretty good trainer.  She made an appearance on "CBS This Morning" recently and demonstrated a few exercises including a plank (though I prefer arms like railroad tracks), squats, and bridges, aka hip raises.  She has great form, but my only beef is that she's wearing Nike Frees instead of being barefoot, or at least rocking some VFF's.  It's ok Bev, I ain't mad at ya!  Bev states that "going shoeless forces you to focus on balance and form while targeting muscles."  Amen to that!

I was a little worried that my fellow barefoot bootcampers were going to be too tired to work out yesterday evening, but they found a huge lode of energy buried deep within and ended up dominating the burpees, squats, and other tough exercises.  Great job!

Give today's Quick Workout Of the Day a try!

QWOD

• 30 seconds straight leg lift - keep legs lifted about 3" off the ground
  
• Lateral squats - 20 per side
• 30 seconds straight leg lift - keep legs lifted 6" off the ground
• 1 minute toe hops (like jumping rope, but go fast and stay on your toes...feel those calves burn!)
• 30 seconds straight leg lift - keep legs lifted 9" off ground
• Max rep pushups +3 (do your max, rest for a few seconds, then bang out 3 more)
  

If you can't make it to the Father's Day boot camp, try doing this Quick Workout Of the Day at home.  Have an awesome weekend, and enjoy the weather!

QWOD

• Go outside and run for 5 minutes nice and easy
  
• Stop wherever you are and do 10 pushups with staggered hands (one hand is further up than the other)
• Hold a prone iso-abs (parallel forearms plank) for 1 minute and 15 seconds
• Do 10 more pushups with staggered hands (switch hand placement from first set)
• Run 5 more minutes, but pick up the intensity versus the first run
  

We're keeping it real simple for today's Quick Workout Of the Day.  Your quads should be on fire after this, but it's ok, because you'll be burning calories faster than you can count!

Be sure to do a 2-3 minute warmup before beginning any QWOD (jumping jacks, running in place, etc.)

QWOD:

• 50 jump squats (break them into sets of 5-10 if you have to) - Do it barefoot so you LAND SOFT!
• 150 fast mini jumps (jump like you're jumping rope, and keep on your toes.)
• Stretch out your quads and calves
  

Last Tuesday evening I had the incredible opportunity to attend a barefoot running clinic hosted by the legendary Barefoot Ken Bob. Ken Bob is the authority on barefoot running, as he's been doing it for over 10 years now! He's run over 75 marathons...barefoot, and seems to have no aches or pains at his age now of 55. He is very laid back, quite funny, and has a passion for the benefits of barefoot running. He truly enjoys going out and dancing on pavement and being one with the outside world.

He began the clinic by telling us his lengthy discovery of barefoot running, and then began to explain the basics, such as keeping your knees bent, landing on the ball of your foot, and taking smaller steps. Ken Bob has a much different teaching style than Michael Sandler, in that he's more about letting you figure out the feeling, rather than telling you what precisely your legs should be doing.

I think it's amazing that Ken Bob is going across the country giving out barefoot running lessons totally free, and I thank him very much for his visit to Central Park. I can't say that I learned much about the mechanics of barefoot running more than I already knew, but I took away his passion for running naturally and the idea that running doesn't have to be a competition or a race, and that it's all about the love of movement.

For a great introduction into barefoot running and lots more information, check out Ken Bob's website.  If you're interested in getting some hands-on barefoot running and minimalist running training, sign up for one of my barefoot running clinics!

Bonus: Try to find me in the picture! (Hint, my eyes are closed.)