Category Archives: exercise

Best Body Bootcamp

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12

I talk a whole lot about food on the blog, but not a lot about fitness.. or not lately at least.

So let’s chat. About sweat.

truth

Back in June one of my friends put together a little workout routine for me because I had told him that I was in a rut. That lasted about a month, which was good, and then I went on vacation and ditched all routine. I did yoga with my mom and went on 2-3 mile runs whenever I felt like it, but that was the extent.

Then I was back in Florida, and all I wanted to do was run. Well hello I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s hot here (and yes, I mention it all the time, are you annoyed yet?). It’s not even cool enough to go running before dawn (not for me anyway), and I had no intention of using the hamster-wheel, so any hopes of busting out a few miles went out the window. The only other workout that sounded appealing was yoga. So that’s what I’ve been doing. Yoga, like everyday.

After a couple of weeks with little-to-no cardio, I decided I should probably start adding in some circuit workouts to get my blood pumping again. All it took was one good circuit to get me back in the game. So in an attempt to keep my motivation high, I was looking for some inspiration for my next circuit when I came across a few mentions of Tina’s Best Body Bootcamp throughout the blogworld.

Best Body Bootcamp.jpg

Instead of completely botching my explanation of what this bootcamp entails, if you’re curious about the complete details, click on the link above! But, in a nutshell, it’s an 8 week exercise program that is completely customizable to your needs. The overarching goal is to engage in physical activity 5 days per week. Tina provides various workouts for you to complete, but you can do as many or as little of her workouts as you’d like. For instance if you’re training for a marathon and you have 3 training runs per week, you could still do 2 of her workouts. The whole concept completely roped me in.

The best part is, in my opinion, the level of motivation. There are multiple group website where all participants are able to chat, and Tina sends out multiple e-mails per week with the workouts, weekly newsletters, and other info like cash prize winners (yes.. I said cash WINNERS!). You can also e-mail Tina with questions or concerns if you ever need direct contact with her. There are lots of participants so I don’t know how she does it, but apparently she’s some kind of wonder woman or something ;)

Yesterday, I completed the pre-fit test to see where I’m at, so that throughout the program and at the end of the 8 weeks I can see how my fitness level has improved. Here were my results:

Mile run - 9:54 (It’s been a while… obviously)

Timed wallsit - 2 min 10 sec

Timed plank - 2 min 15 sec

Pushups in 1 min - 29 (on my knees)

Burpees in 1 min - 21 woof

 

I tried to hold the wallsit and plank until I was completely shaking, but that wallsit burned. Maybe I should have done that before the run? Oh well, when I complete my benchmark tests I’ll make sure to do everything in the same order for a more accurate depiction of my progress.

I’m not sure how diligently I will follow the provided workouts just yet. The past few days I’ve actually forced myself outside for a run, despite my distaste for the heat. It’s been cloudy and rainy so at least the sun hasn’t been baking everything, but it’s the humidity that is still killing me. I hope to see myself running a couple days a week, but either way I’m excited to see how the Best Body Bootcamp goes! It officially starts tomorrow, so I’ll keep ya updated each week. Oh and it’s not too late to sign-up, you still can here.

 

Now if only personal training sessions with Chris Powell would be included….

 

Are you doing Best Body Bootcamp? Do you love Chris Powell as much as I do?

Morning Workouts

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18

Call me crazy, but I think I like working out in the morning?

Over the past two weeks, I’ve not only convinced myself to get my butt out of bed an hour earlier, but I then proceed to put on my workout gear and get my limbs in some sort of coordination that mimics what we know here on Earth to be exercise. Physical activity. Sweat and muscle. At 6 in the morning. And I’m enjoying it?

Like I said, call me crazy.

But what’s not crazy is checking it off my to-do list, and being able to come home after a long day to a glass of wine and some couch time rather than trying to motivate myself to go get in a workout.

If it’s raining, or I have limited time, I’ll do a short yoga video from Reflexion. But most days I go out for a run. Normally when I go running after work/internship, I’m thinking about things that happened that day, sometimes over analyzing situations. Exercise should be a time to de-stress! But in the morning I can just kind of be with my thoughts and let my brain do it’s thing. So, the other day I came home and wrote down everything that came to mind during my run.

Things I think about while running at 6am:

1) Why did my neighbor ask if I was going running or jogging? Is there really a difference?

2) It’s so effing humid. I feel like I’m swimming. Does running in this make my lungs conditioned more or less?

3) Aw look at all the baby ducks! I wonder what would happen if I tried to take one home with me. Would momma duck go ape-$h!t ?

4) These other people out running, I wonder what time they have to go to work?

5) Did Andrew wake up yet? I bet he slept through his alarm again.

6) I think I want eggs for breakfast. But I also want something cold. A smoothie? But I want eggs. I really want eggs. Probably gonna be a smoothie though.

Obviously, not a whole lot of intelligence in these thoughts. But it seems to make the miles go by quicker. I think I might just stick with the morning workouts.

Are you a morning workout person? How’d ya get in the habit?

Staying Active Lately

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10

I’ve learned a lot of things about myself over the past year or two. So many things have changed and I’ve had to do a lot of just plain-old growing up.

One big thing I’ve learned about myself is that when it comes to exercise, it needs to be something that I actually want to do… not something that feels forced.

Since February, my workouts have been kind of sporadic and totally half-assed. But the past month or so, I gave it a different approach and now I find myself back into a groove that I’m liking.

Running. Walking. Yoga. That’s about it.

Andrew and I started running outside again, before it gets too hot in Florida for us to handle. Nothing major, no distance goals. Just short 2-3 mile runs in the sunshine.

I’ve also been taking Annie on long walks when I can, and really enjoying the quite time with my most favorite little creature on earth. I feel like she’s my child… normal?

And yoga? Well I know you guys want to hear about the yoga. How can a poor intern afford yoga? Well, I can’t really. My yoga mat is old and faded and I haven’t set foot in a yoga studio in over a year. Yoga doesn’t have to be all of that.

But if you’re like me, you probably prefer at least a little direction when getting your Om on. For a while I was YouTubing “full length yoga” and coming up with just terrible, awful videos that just left me frustrated. Until, one day, Clare from Fitting-It-All-In did a review on Reflexion Yoga. This is a website with dozens of full length yoga classes, ranging from 30-60 minutes, with all of their own instructors.

First let me just say that I absolutely LOVE how the site is organized. You can filter the yoga by difficulty, length, and specific instructor. Also, under each thumbnail of the class is a short description, saying what it specifically focuses on, the length and the difficulty.

Another plus is that the instructor is actually teaching the class to a student, so they will sometimes redirect the student’s posture or position. I find this to be helpful because they are typically things that I’m not fully aware of in my own practice, and it keeps me mindful in the more difficult poses.

The best part about Reflexion Yoga is that it’s only $12 per month. I swear I’m not trying to sell you on their site… I am in no way affiliated with them! Just a satisfied, paying-customer that wants to share my find with everyone. Finally, good-quality yoga I can afford!

Even more, they offer a 15 day free-trial, and if you decide you don’t like it then you can simply cancel your “order” before the 15 days is up so that they won’t charge you. They also have a “Free Content” section with just a handful of shorter videos to try out as well.

With my long-lost-love yoga thrown into the mix, I’ve really just been having fun staying active. It’s not that I don’t like lifting, or circuit workouts, or anything else.. but for right now I’m happy with what I’m doing and when I feel the need to change it up, then I will!

What workouts are you loving right now? P.S. Tell me if you try Reflexion Yoga and if you liked it!