
Have you ever carried a 40lb jerry can full of water for 3 miles?! I haven’t, but I would love to one day {hopefully soon on a service trip with The Her Initiative, it’s on my 2017 bucket list}.
Honestly I can’t imagine that this 30 minute legs and shoulders HIIT workout comes close to the strength it takes to fetch clean water on a weekly basis; but these eight leg and shoulder-focused exercises are meant to replicate the muscles used by women who have to carry clean water in developing countries.
We’re talking shoulders, core, glutes and legs on fire. But my favorite part about this workout is that each repetition and timed interval has a purpose, representing a clean water crisis statistic {see below for the clean water crisis statistics associated with this workout}.
I’ve teamed up with Lee from Fit Foodie Finds on this workout as a way to share awareness about The Her Initiative and our upcoming Fit For Her MPLS Event on Saturday, February 18th!
You can learn more about The Her Initiative, our upcoming Fit For Her MPLS event, and how you can make a difference in the lives of women locally and globally below!
If you’re having trouble viewing this Legs + Shoulders Workout, try turning off or pausing your ad-blocker. If you prefer, you can also view this video on Youtube here.
If this workout give you a little extra motivation to get involved in the clean water crisis you can learn more + donate to The Her Initiative here.
This workout consists of 8 leg and shoulder-focused exercises to resemble the muscles used by women who have to carry clean water from wells to their homes in developing countries. Complete the number of repetitions or timed interval listed next to each exercise below. Repeat the entire workout x 2-3 sets.
All you need is one medium-to-heavy dumbbell or kettlebell {8-20 lb dumbbell} for this workout.
**Be sure to read the water crisis facts associated with the numbers of each repetition and timed interval below.
Repeat entire workout x 2-3 sets.
See video above for complete workout and proper exercise form.
9 Reps because 1 in 9 people world wide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water.
15 Reps because girls under the age of 15 are twice as likely as boys to be the family member responsible for fetching water.
64 second cardio interval because almost two-thirds, 64% of households rely on women to get the family’s water when there is no water source in the home.
10 reps because research has shown that for every 10% increase in women’s literacy, a country’s whole economy can grow by up to 0.3%.
7 reps because women and girls are responsible for water collection in seven out of ten households in 45 developing countries.
40 second cardio interval because the average container for water collection in Africa, the jerry can, weighs over 40 lbs when full.
25 reps because when you give $25 a month for a year, you will provide 25 women and children with access to safe, clean water and vital health & hygiene education. That means over the course of a year, 1 woman here can transform the lives of 25 women!
1 minute and 45 second cardio interval because girls miss 145 million days of school every year due to dirty water.
**Clean Water CrisisFacts from thewaterproject.org.
If you’ve been following me for sometime you know that I’m a huge fan of The Her Initiative, providing access to clean water and specific health & hygiene curriculum to women in the developing world.
I hosted the first annual Fit For Her MPLS event last April and I’m so excited to announce that Fit For Her MPLS is back for a second year — Minneapolis mark your calendars for Saturday, February 18th!
Fit For Her MPLS is a fitness fundraising event hosted by nourish move love {me}, Fit Foodie Finds, and The Real Food Dietitians with all proceeds benefiting The Her Initiative {in partnership with Healing Waters International}. It was the highlight of my 2016 events and I have a strong feeling it’s going to top the charts in 2017 as well!
Come sweat, eat and shop for a cause supporting and empowering women locally and globally.
You can purchase tickets to the event by making a $30 donation to The Her Initiative here!
Not local to Minneapolis, but still want to make a difference?! You can also make an in-kind donation to The Her Initiative Here!
Space is limited to 100 participants so make sure you claim your spot today! All event proceeds benefit The Her Initiative and help bring clean water to women around the world.
Complete the number of repetitions or timed interval listed next to each exercise below. Repeat the entire workout x 2-3 sets.
All you need is one medium-to-heavy dumbbell or kettlebell {8-20 lb dumbbell} for this workout.
Repeat entire workout x 2-3 sets.
That workout got really tough really fast. Having a dumbbell over your head for long lengths of time is tough!
Sara! So glad you gave this workout a try and right?! Talk about shoulders on fire! I can only imagine what it’s like to actually carry a 40lb jug of water overhead…Nice work lady and thanks for the comment! xo-Lindsey
I absolutely love this workout and the meaning behind the rep ranges. This sounds like such a cool event. I wish I lived close enough to attend!!
Jen! Yes, I love the meaning behind this workout too! Makes me realize just how privileged I am on a daily basis to turn on the sink and brush my teeth. And yes, one day we will all be in the same room for an awesome event like this :)! Have a great day! xo-Lindsey
I had so much fun at this event last year and am sad I can’t make it to this year’s. The whole experience was really great. (And I was excited to see that I made it into the promo video on your IG!) I know Baby B is coming soon, but I hope you’ll continue to do events like these in the future. 🙂
Katherine! You’ll be missed at this year’s event! But so glad you had such a positive experience last year — it’s my favorite event of the year! And yes, absolutely once I get adjusted to life with baby we’ll absolutely be doing more events! Thanks Kathrine! xo-Lindsey