Motivational Monday

I finished my third week of T25 on Saturday, and for the first time I see progress. As someone who has exercised and played sports my whole life, it may seem weird that I'm saying it's the first time I see progress, but it's true. I have always noticed a difference in how I feel when I've been working out or training hard and have definitely felt a difference in stamina when I focus on bettering my running...but this time it's different, and I couldn't be happier.

I usually have some muscle definition, strong/defined legs, and have a pretty in-shape upper stomach. After I finished my workout on Saturday and I looked in the mirror, I surprised myself with my results thus far. I notice the biggest differences in my stomach and butt. My stomach is definitely in the best shape it has ever been and is very defined while my butt is very strong and has gotten bigger--but in a good way! I was even brave enough to snap a pic! (I hate 'selfies' but it seemed appropriate).

After Saturday, I started to think about motivation and how many people out there quit because they aren't SEEing results. When in retrospect, fitness should first and foremost be for health. If you are feeling energetic, feeling strong, don't easily get out of breath, eating healthy, and are in good health, then why give up? If you continue to work hard, eat right, and stay healthy, results will come in time. 

We live in a time where we want everything right this instant. It is so unrealistic to think anything can happen in the snap of a finger. Working out would be work if it was easy. So today I present to you motivation. Some of my favorite quotes comes from author Ralph Waldo Emerson. This is one of my favorite quotes and it can relate to every aspect of life, especially getting in shape:

This next one is for you to remember to better yourself. Fitness should make you feel your best. Your body should be one of the most important things to you and you should always remember to respect and appreciate it. Let these words sink in and let them inspire you to make the most of your workouts and health.

T25 Calendar

Week 2 of Focus T25 has come and gone.

I have been busy moving to a new house, and still wanted to get to the gym for my power class, so I got a bit behind with the workouts this week. I challenged myself by doing 2 days of double workouts rather than the 1 that is on the calendar to make up for those missed days! Cardio is still a killer. I have to remind myself to stretch and massage out my arches before doing the cardio workout...you're on your toes almost the entire time, which makes my arches cramp up like crazyy, but as long as I stretch them out properly beforehand they are fine.

The calendar has honestly been SO helpful. Since I have never done a Beachbody workout before, I didn't realize that they provide you with something so detailed. There are 2 sides, Alpha and Beta. You start off with Alpha, and then after the first month (5 weeks) you are ready for Beta. It goes into a lot more detail about Beta workouts on their site, but I assume Beta gets more intense: http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/focus-t25-workout.do They set the calendar up having a sprecific workout for you to do Monday-Friday. Friday is your suggested double workout day.  Saturday is your STATurday, where you reflect on your week and review how you are doing, statistic wise. Sunday is your stretch day! (Which always feels sooo nice)

I was a bit excited the first time I opened the calendar..

Each day is labeled with a workout that you are meant to do and has a mini check box that either says 'Nailed It' or 'Barely Made It' (Friday has 2 workouts listed and has check boxes under each workout). This way you can track your progress. If you 'barely made' one workout but 3 weeks later you 'nailed it' that shows you're making progress and gives you a little something to be extra excited about! I've been trying to make myself feel like I 'nail' every workout. Some are definitely more tough than others, but so far I've been able to make my goal!

Ready for week 3!

The Start of T25

Hi All!

Lauren here -- Back in October I did the Toughmudder. I'm sure I will write about how that went in the future, but for now let me just say that it was one of the most fun, intense, and demanding moments in my life. A few weeks after it, I started feeling my hip flexor kind of 'lock up' while running making it very difficult to push through 2 miles. But I'm stubborn and I continued to run anyway, knowing that after the mile mark, it would become extremely difficult to go any further, let alone walk after I finished my run. Once the new year hit, I decided I should back off of running but not running regularly leaves a giant void in my life and I feel like I accomplish nothing when I exercise without getting a run in. I love to attend group exercise classes at my gym, but again I needed way more cardio in my fitness routine. 

So in doing some research on different programs, I started my first day of T25 on the 11th! It seems like it really focuses on cardio and is great for toning, which are 2 things I love getting out of a workout. I wasn't sure how I'd be since I had not run in a month and of course the first cd/day of exercise is labeled 'cardio'..but I was ready for it! 



It comes in a rather intimidating box...mainly because there are motivating quotes all over it and come with a lot more than just the dvd's! 

The Box.."It's All About Time": 
 



The Dvd's box comes with a small but very informative booklet of recipes and a guide to follow for eating while doing T25. I skimmed through it but I am sure I will be looking at it more this week and will write a post on that! But this is the dvd box.."Get it done!": 
 



It also comes with a resistance band but I am not sure when we will be using it or for what exercises! 
 



They give you a calendar, which tells you which dvd to put in next and to track your progress. 

One side is the Alpha, which you start with, and the other is Beta, which is for the second month of the program. I started it the morning of the 11th with my boyfriend and it was awesome! Yes, it was tiring and we both needed a quick little break 15 minutes in but we were able to bully through! Out of everything, I felt it in my calves the most during the workouts because many of the exercises required you to be on your toes/balls of your feet. But they aren't sore from it..just felt that the most! My boyfriend's booty was the most sore, but he made sure to continually stretch it. It was definitely great cardio which is what I was looking for! 



The next morning, my roommates and I went to a gym class called 'power' (a low weight, high rep, weight lifting class). Doing that after T25 made me feel really good, and my body already felt more 'awake'. I am really going to try to stick to a routine of doing T25 for 3 or 4 days a week and lifting about 2 or 3 days a week. 

I am getting on a new kick of making a smoothie right after I finish T25. I always love the idea of having a smoothies as a post workout snack/meal but when coming home from the gym it is a little more difficult...I always wind up running last minute errands, taking care of things in the house, showering, and then by the time I remember to eat, it's super late and I don't want to make anything or eat a big dinner.  So i am looking forward to the ease of making and having smoothies right after T25! I even saw this awesome trick on pinterest to 'pre-make' your smoothies and freeze them! Throw what you want in freezer baggies, put it all in the blender when you're ready to have one, and voila! You have a smoothie: http://www.adventuresinmindfulliving.com/healthy-smoothies-busy-person/ (I'm sure you'll see me post many wonderful finds from pinterest...I'll admit now that I am a pinterest addict)

Week one is down, and I'm ready to start week 2! 

Keep checking back for weekly updates on my T25 journey!

And Have a Happy New Year!

See you in 2014

Exercises for snowboarding/skiing

                Hello everyone with the coming of winter, mountains are getting ready and some are even opening.  This all means that snowboarding season is upon us.  I absolutely love boarding and am extremely excited for this upcoming season and feel it is time to prepare.  There is nothing more frustrating than being in the middle of a boarding day and your legs begin to fatigue and give up on you.  This post will is going to focusing on exercises to help you prepare yourself for a season of hitting the mountains.

 (Sis and I boarding Cayons in Utah))

                Training your legs is vitally important for preparing for the season but I also like to add balancing exercises to help increase your body’s ability to balance itself.  That is why I love this first exercise, the one leg toe touch with a hop.  If you are a vet of Insanity then you will know what I am talking about.  You start off by standing with your feet together and lift one leg so you knee is at a 90˚ angle.  Then bend forward keeping bent leg even with body and touch your toes or the floor with both hands.  Begin coming back up and when body is in the start position jump.  Start with 10 per side and as you feel comfortable and your leg strength and balance builds feel free to increase the amount of reps.

                The next exercise I like to do for snowboarding are squats.  This includes regular weighted squats as well as pulsing squats.  These squats you start with your feet shoulder width apart going halfway through the squat so you are in the sit position and instead of coming back up hold it and start small pulses.  Do 5 pulses and on the next one explode jump so your arms and legs are fully extended where you would resemble a starfish.

                Now it's time that we directly attack out abdominals.  For this I love doing Russian twists.  Start off by sitting on the floor feet flat with knees bent.  Fully extend your arms lean back slightly while lifting your feet and twist side to side.  I also like doing crunches with 4 twists on a declined bench.  Do 10reps per set and increase amount of sets or amount of reps per set.  These are great exercises and you stomach will soon be on fire.

                Another exercise that are good for preparing you are walking lunges.  I enjoy these much more than regular lunges.  Walking lunges not only increase your leg strength but also helps you increase your balance.  Start by grabbing dumbbells or any weighted item that you are comfortable holding for some time.  The amount of room you have can determine how many lunges you can do.  Starting with 6-10 reps (keep it even so both legs are strengthened evenly) and if you want to challenge yourself do 10 lunges in one direction turn around and do 10 more ending where you began.

                It is important that you remember to exercise your upper body as it helps you with rotating your body.  A good upper body work out are bench tricep dips with balance ball.  Start by grabbing a bench, a balance ball, and extra weight if you want more of a challenge.  Sit on edge of the bench and place heels on top of the exercise ball.  Dip down and come back up keeping heels on top of the ball.  These help increase your upper body strength and also helps increase you body’s ability to balance itself.

                These are some of my favorite exercises to help prepare for the upcoming season.  Remember that these are only a few and there are many more that you can add to your repertoire.  Remember stay hydrated and to stretch, who knows maybe I’ll see you out on the mountain.

Till next time

Bogo Out

Proper Stretching Techniques for Pre and Post Exercise Part 2

                Today we are continuing our discussion of proper stretching for pre and post work outs.  To summarize what we covered on our last post it is important to perform dynamic stretches prior to any workout or sporting events.  Dynamic stretches run the body through its range of motion and properly warms up joints and muscles for any activity.

                Once you have completed you work out or event it is now time to cooldown and to do static stretches.  While dynamic stretching brings the body through a range of motion static stretching stretches the muscle to the point of tension and can be held for 30 seconds to 2 minutes.  Static stretching helps increase flexibility and range of motion.

                Static stretches include triceps stretch.  For this stretch you place your hand in the middle of back between your shoulder blades and with the opposite hand you push your elbow down and hold.  A chest stretch has you lock your hands behind you back about waist level and slowly lift arms straight up.  Some static stretches for your legs include hamstring stretch also known as toe touch.  For this stretch you can either be sitting or standing.  You bend at the waist and touch your toes and hold.  Another leg stretch is the quadriceps stretch.  This is when you lift your foot and grab with the hand on the same side and lift up towards your butt.  These are just a few static stretches that can be done.

                So in closing it is important to remember that for any physical activity that you are conducting, you warm up to complete dynamic stretches before you activity and you conduct static stretches during or after your cooldown.  We stretch to maintain flexibility and range of motion, this helps prevent injuries and properly prepares your body for your next activity.

Stay safe and have fun

Inspiring

The other day Youtube suggested a video for me to watch titled "Letting Beauty Speak Up Itself", I saw it was Crossfit's channel and was interested. I am just going to leave you with this what an inspiring video.