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The Road to Costa Rica

By Nicole DeBoom, Founder of Skirt Sports, Women’s Quest Groupie
Workouts will be posted by Tue evening and we’ll do our best to video ourselves live on the Women Who Move Challenge Facebook group. Please join the group to view all of the workouts and join us!
I learned to surf last year. I was 45 years old, a former professional athlete who spent the last decade (plus!) trying to hang on to my fitness while I chased a career and later a kid. That career is now 14 years old; Skirt Sports is helping women find happiness in their bodies through beautiful, great-fitting athletic clothing. That kid is now in 1st grade and I’m still chasing her.
When I set the goal to Learn To Surf last year, I immediately contacted Colleen and said: “I’m in!” I had no idea what may lie ahead, so I went to Costa Rica with an open heart and open mind. What I found was so much more than I ever expected. I fell in love with surfing. I fell in love with the culture. I fell in love with the women on the retreat. I fell in love with the feeling of falling in love! I was so moved that on the flight home, I wrote an episode of my Run This World Podcast called “What I Didn’t Know I Needed,” chronicling what happens when you open yourself to an experience that is so completely full of unknowns. You allow yourself to feel.
In my past life, my body and my fitness were my number one priorities. Over the years, my body and my fitness have slid down into a solid 3rd or 4th place, which isn’t bad, but it could be better.
Last year I had no idea what to expect. This year I still have no idea what to expect emotionally, but I have an inkling of what to expect physically. To prep, I decided to create a 10-week “Road to Costa Rica” surf-centric workout routine that will give me a little confidence that I can “pop up” and not blow out my shoulders or crank my back. Every Thursday morning at 6 AM MT, Jen Szabo and I will do a 45-ish minute workout followed by a 15-30 minute swim. We call ourselves the “Former Pro & Real Life Rockstar” and we’ll show a range of modifications for each workout so anyone can do it. Below are our workouts.
And if you need to grab some cute workout gear to get you through the eating season, use this code – SKIRTQUEST – on skirtsports.com for 15% off! I’ll tune in later with recommended products for your next retreat!
 



T Minus 7 Weeks
CORE: 30 reps each (this rotates throughout the workout)

  • Crunches of your choice
  • Oblique core move of your choice (bicycles, russian twists, etc)
  • Back move of your choice (supermans, flutters, etc)

 
Warmup

  • 5min walk, jog, bike
  • 5min dynamic moves
  • 5 min shoulder warmup: rotator cuff exercises

CORE #1
Legs/Core (2 sets)

  • Bosu/balance squats (10-20)
  • Burpees
  • Kneeling swiss ball press
    • 10 with both legs up
    • 5 with one leg only on each side
  • DeBoom Quad Busters: 4 exercises (30 sec each)
    • Squats
    • Back Lunges
    • Lunge Jumps
    • Squat jumps

Arms/Core (2 sets)

  • Weighted Thoracic openers on one knee (5 in each direction)
  • Slamball rollbacks (or just slams or just rollbacks)
  • Swiss ball oblique crunches
  • Plank or Plank jacks with slider discs or mountain climbers 1 min

CORE 2
DECONSTRUCTED POPUP HIIT (5-10 MIN TOTAL)

  • Swim with bands (30 sec)
  • 20 Mermaid pushups (change sides)
  • 10-20 jumps on bench of your height preference
  • Balance 1 foot on smooshy surface 20 sec (holding weight optional)
  • Repeat

CORE 3
SWIM!
 


T Minus 8 Weeks
CORE: 30 sec each (this rotates throughout the workout)

  • Crunches
  • Seated angle Vs
  • Bicycle
  • Supermans
  • Russian twists with or without weight

 
Warmup

  • 5min walk, jog, bike
  • 5min dynamic moves
  • 5 min shoulder warmup: rotator cuff exercises

CORE
DO THE ENTIRE THING – LEGS AND ARMS – THEN REPEAT FOR 2 SETS TOTAL
Legs/Core

  • Bosu/balance squats (10-20)
  • Kneeling swiss ball press (10-20)
  • Swiss ball dumbbell rotations (5-10 each side)
  • DeBoom Quad Busters: 4 exercises (30 sec each)
    • Squats
    • Back Lunges
    • Lunge Jumps
    • Squat jumps

Arms/Core

  • Weighted Thoracic openers on one knee
  • Slamball rollbacks (or just slams or just rollbacks)
  • Plank or Plank jacks with slider discs or mountain climbers 1 min

CORE 2
DECONSTRUCTED POPUP HIIT (5 MIN TOTAL)

  • Swim with bands (30 sec)
  • 20 Mermaid pushups (change sides)
  • 10-20 jumps on bench of your height preference
  • Balance 1 foot on smooshy surface 20 sec (holding weight optional)
  • Repeat for 5 min

CORE 3
 


 
T Minus 9 Weeks
CORE: 30 sec each (this rotates throughout the workout)

  • Crunches
  • Sideswipers
  • Seated flutters
  • Back flutters
  • Russian twists with or without weight

 
Warmup

  • 5min walk, jog, bike
  • 5min dynamic moves
  • 5 min shoulder warmup: rotator cuff exercises

CORE 1
Legs/Core (2-3 sets)

  • Bosu/balance squats (10-20)
  • Kneeling swiss ball press (10-20)
  • Swiss ball dumbbell rotations (5-10 each side)
  • DeBoom Quad Busters: 4 exercises (30 sec each)
    • Squats
    • Back Lunges
    • Lunge Jumps
    • Squat jumps

CORE 2
Arms/Core

  • Pushups any variation including shoulder blade pushups
  • Slamball rollbacks
  • Plank or Plank jacks with slider discs or mountain climbers

CORE 3
HIIT (5 min total)

  • Swim with bands (30 sec)
  • 5-10 pop-ups

CORE 4
 


 
Road to Costa Rica Workout – T Minus 10 Weeks
CORE – this will be done after each set – 30sec each move (2:30 each round)

 

  1. Bicycle crunches
  2. Seated Angled Vs
  3. Bird Dogs
  4. Supermans
  5. Russian twists

 
Warmup 10min: suggest bike, walk, easy run, dynamic exercises, etc
CORE Round 1
Set 1: Quads & Balance 2-3 sets
4-way lunges with weight (1 min)

  • Front lunge and lift weight overhead (each leg)
  • Front lunge and twist with weight to bent leg side (each leg)
  • Back lunge and lift weight overhead (each leg)
  • Back lunge and twist with weight to bent leg side (each leg)

DeBoom Quad busters (1 min)

  • 20 squats
  • 10 lunge jumps
  • 10 squat jumps

 
CORE Round 2
Set 2: Core & Shoulders 2-3 sets

  • 12 outer & inner rotator cuffs both arms – lightweight (ie 5 lbs)
  • 6 over/under rotator cuffs both arms – lightweight (ie 5 lbs)
  • 20 pushups: Forearm, knees, mermaid, whatever. The key is to keep neutral wrists so use a dumbbell to keep shoulders safe and good form.
  • 5-10 Plank dumbbell-ups both sides. Hold for 5. Light to moderate weight.

 
CORE Round 3
Set 3: Surf Sim HIIT – 5 times no stopping

  • Armbands or ski machine or simulate pulling through water 30sec
  • 5-10 surf jump ups

 
CORE Round 4
SWIM 15-30 minutes! Grab a kickboard for a few laps and pretend to “paddle out” on it just for fun. 🙂