Wanna play some FITness cards with kids (ie – get their energy out on a rainy day?!)
Get out UNO
Yellow = jumping jax
Green = squats
Red = planks (30 seconds)
Blue = push ups
“Action” card = 10 of anything you choose!! Continue Reading →
My new favorite thing is to work on mobility stretches. Mobility can improve the range of motion in our movement and improve our posture. It can also aid in taking away everyday aches and pains. Over time, if done consistently, it can improve stiffness in class and improve the range of motion in your movements. The goal may be to add in 3-5 days this week of short 3-5 minute mobility training. Here are three great mobility exercises you can try now! Continue Reading →
You know now that I’ve sustained a fairly sizable back injury – the idea of restoration is even more important to me. What can you do each week to make sure you are getting in the rest, stretching, and restoration that you need?
Here is one of Leah’s awesome full body stretch yoga videos!
I love the PiYo Flow section from our PiYo class too. It does build some heat but it also provides an excellent opportunity for stretching and holding. Here is one you can try!
Restore friends. Take it from me – it is super important! Don’t forget you can check out our Saturday Yoga class or our Monday Yoga Flow Express too. Adding these into your routine will increase your strength, core, stability, and give you that restore that you need! You can check out our schedule here!
Ever notice how your mood can sway you? Your workload? Your energy levels? Your to-do list? Your schedule? All of these (and more!) can derail even your best intentions for the day. While you will feel energized, motivated, and less stressed after your workout, sometimes it’s hard to truly understand that until after the fact.
Rather than letting yourself be swayed by these roadblocks, help yourself stick to your plan by actually making a plan! Pull out your calendar and plot your workouts for the week or month. Write them down and keep them like you would any other appointment. Writing them out will help you, too, to look ahead and plan realistically. If you have a crazy busy day, make that your rest day or contingency workout day. Be honest with yourself and what you can put in your schedule so that you can be successFULL in meeting your goals. Continue Reading →
One of the best aids for writing goals that are challenging, reachable and effect change is to keep a workout journal. This will help you know where you’ve been so that you know where you want to go next. It will also serve as an encouragement to you to see how you’re progressed.
What you record from your workouts is up to you, and will depend on the type of workout that you’re doing. Here are some suggestions: Continue Reading →
Our final in the series on traveling tabatas by Hannah! If you want to check out the others check out part one, part two, and part three. Each one of those focuses on specific muscle groups. Today’s workout is a full body workout.
Full Body Tabata Workout: Do each exercise for 20 seconds then take a 10 second rest. Complete each pair 2-4 times before moving on to the next pair of exercises. If you do each pair 4 times you’ll have a solid 20 minute workout!
(For deadlifts, start standing. One foot stays planted on the ground while you hinge at the hip; the other leg lifts off the ground as you bend forward, staying in line with your body all the way from head to heel. Come all the way back up to standing straight. Here’s the best tutorial video I’ve found of it; he uses a kettle bell, but even just using body weight, this is a very effective exercise.
For the rest of our awesome Traveling Tabata series check here for lower body and here for upper body.
Today Hannah goes for the core!
Core Tabata Workout:
Do 20 seconds of work and take 10 seconds of rest for each exercise.
Complete the pairs 2-4 times before moving on to the next pair of exercises. If you go through each pair four times you will have a 20 minute workout.
Here’s the traveling and still getting it done!
This is our second post in our Traveling Tabata series by Hannah. You can see the first post here and read more about how to complete these and WHY it is great to have them on hand!
Upper Body Tabata Workout:
Do each move for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds.
Complete the pairs 2-4 times before moving on to the next pair of exercises. If you do each pair four times, you’ll have a 20 minute workout done. But you can also just go through each pair once for a quick “pick me up!”
Push ups AND plyo push ups (elevate or do on knees as needed)
Superman holds with squeeze AND inchworms (Inchworms can be done in a small space if you alternate between doing a forwards and a backwards inchworm.)
Jab cross switch AND burpees (Jab cross switch: do your jab and cross punches, then jump your feet to switch your stance to the other side. Jab cross with hand will switch with your feet.)
V push ups AND dive bomber push ups
Tricep dips AND tricep push ups to 2-second side plank
Happy travels,
Hannah
The holiday season is full of wonderful things like parties, seeing family, buying presents, making cookies, Christmas plays, and more. While all of these festivities are super fun, they also add in a lot of extra to-do’s to our schedules! I find myself getting stressed out and exhausted from all the busyness. Make sure you take time to find PEACE this season with a little self-care! Below is a body weight Tabata workout that you can do anywhere. It can be fast if you need to squeeze a workout in, or you can do a few more rounds if you can take more time for some self-care. This is designed to be done in a small space, so that, whether you’re waiting 15 minutes for your cookies to bake in the kitchen, or you’re visiting your grandparents and have only 6 sq ft of floor space in the bedroom you’re sharing with your whole family (can you tell I know this situation well??) you can make time for yourself.
No matter where you are, or how long you have to do your workout, take an extra minute at the end to breathe, restore, and refocus yourself for the rest of the day.
Lower Body Tabata Workout: 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, for each exercise
Set One: Sumo squat to releve AND pop squats
Set Two: Reverse lunges to front kick AND jumping lunges
Lateral lunge to single leg balance AND lateral jumping (Lateral lunges to balance: do a lateral lunge, push off the floor with your lunging leg to center, bringing your knee up past your waist. Catch your balance for a second before setting your foot back down.)
Set Three: Calf raises AND power skips
(Calf raises can be done on the floor, elevated, or single-leg for an added challenge. Power skips are skips where you focus on getting as high as you can–they can be done in place.)
Set Four: Bench squats AND jump squats
(Bench squats can be single-leg for extra challenge)
Our personal trainer and group exercise leader Hannah (in Maryland!) gets serious with us about how we can get the most from our workouts! Check out her suggestions below! I know I struggle with #5 (and therefore so do all of my classes) but I do TRY. I am making a more committed effort for sure! Thanks Hannah for these awesome tips.
1. Skipping Warm-up
If you’re running short on time, (as most of us feel we are,) or if you’re just eager to get to the “real” work of working out, it’s awfully tempting to skip a warm up. There are so many benefits to warm-ups, though, this isn’t something you want to miss out on!
The purpose of a warm-up is multifaceted. It increases your body temperature, which leads to improved performance. Better performance = better results! A warm-up increases blood supply to your muscles, which means they are ready to respond more quickly; they’re more flexible and more agile. Depending on the type of warm-up you do, it can also prepare your body for the specific movements you’ll be doing later on in your workout. This reminds your body of proper movement patterns so that, when you add weights or increase your speed, it’s already prepped; this reduces the risk of injury, and allows you to lift heavier and push yourself harder.
A good warm-up should last 5-10 minutes. It can include a basic low-level cardio exercises to increase heart-rate and blood flow. It should definitely include some exercise-specific warm-ups as well. If you’ll be doing burpees, try low-impact burpees. If you’ll be doing deadlifts, try good mornings. If you’ll be doing push ups, try a few, or do some walkouts. If you’ll be running stairs, do some high knees or walk the stairs a few times. Get the idea? Continue Reading →