Muffin Top-Less

A great blog I recently came across that gives me daily motivation to stay fit and healthy!
http://muffintop-less.tumblr.com/

I definitely recommend you check it out if you're looking to start or keep a healthy lifestyle. The author of the blog is now in the fitness industry and even models after leading an unhealthy lifestyle throughout high school and college. She's a huge inspiration!

LIVESTRONG's 20 Best Fitness Tips

It seems like everyday there's a new workout fad that comes out or new advice on how to get the best bod. More cardio, more weights, yoga, pilates, kettlebell workouts... So what really works? A little bit of everything to be honest. LIVESTRONG.com has a great article featuring the 20 best fitness tips from various fitness experts to work out in a safe and effective manner.

A lot of exercises or tactics I practiced in college are featured in the article such as interval training, free weights, being explosive, testing your range, mixing grips, doing a dynamic warm up, and having an appropriate recovery.

Intervals is a form of working out that I strongly believe in. So much that any time I do cardio (and sometimes weights) I turn it into an intense interval workout. Intervals mixes various levels of intensity into a workout as opposed to remaining at a steady pace.

Whether you're on a treadmill, running outdoors, on an elliptical or a bike, you can always do an interval workout to maximize your calorie burn and keep it going after your workout's done!

One to one ratios are really tough but such a good way to push yourself. I like to sprint for a minute on the bike, then just ride for a minute, sprint for a minute, ride for a minute x 5. Quick 10 minute workout (minus warm up and cool down)! But I guarantee you you'll be sweating, gasping for air, and feeling the burn in your legs.

If you're on a treadmill, change the speed every minute. Go from level 6 to 6.5 to 7 to 7.5 to 6 to 8 to 7 to 7.5 to 6.5... or whatever you're feeling that day. In my opinion, intervals are undoubtedly the best way to get the physical results you want through a cardio workout.

That's it for tonight! Super exhausted again tonight after a loooong week. I'm hoping to try out more healthy recipes this weekend so stay tuned for that. :) Good night!

Achieving your fitness goals

Whether your fitness goal is to lose weight, tone up, or bulk up, there are always standard practices of working out one should apply to achieve their goal. Since not playing sports anymore, my workouts have definitely changed in terms of frequency and content. I started Beach Body Insanity a few months ago and haven't been a gym since, which is so unlike me! In college when training, I would have to do power cleans, lifts, back squats, front squats, kettle ball workouts, free weights, resistance work, med ball work... you name it. But since graduating I haven't really done any hard core weight lifting and, to be honest, I kind of miss it. I always enjoyed lifting weights more than I enjoyed intense cardio, yet I've been doing more cardio lately than weights. Ironic, isn't it?

The Insanity workouts kicked my ass so much that I just figured I would stick with those to give me a great workout, but lately I've been thinking about getting back in the weight room to switch up my routine. And a lot of fitness articles seem to be pushing me in the direction as well.

One article I read lately was really really helpful and reiterated all the training advice I learned and followed in college.

You can read the full article at the link about, but to give you a quick run down it's titled, 10 Things Trainers Wish You Knew About Your Workout.

1. You need to switch up your workouts
2. Cardio isn't the magic bullet for weight loss
3. Wimpy weights will get you nowhere
4. Muscles come in pairs; train them that way
5. Crunches aren't crucial for strong abs
6. A workout doesn't merit a post-gym pigout
7. Bad form is bad news when you're strength training
8. Working out on an empty stomach won't burn more fat
9. A death grip on the cardio machine strains your bod and burns fewer cals
10. The "fat-burning" zone isn't really a fat-burning zone

Something is better than nothing. I even need to remind myself of that every so often. So whether you love cardio, lifting, or both, there's always a workout that you can enjoy. Spinning/biking, running, intervals, circuits, jump roping, skating, resistance, dumbbells, kettles, whatever! The more you mix it up the better, in my opinion. Not only can that elicit better results, but that'll keep your workout more fun.

Recover

I just completed day 38 of Insanity. Today's workout was Max Cardio Conditioning, and I have to say, after Monday's Interval Circuit and yesterday's Plyo workout my body is HURTING. My legs are sore, my butt is sore, my pecs are sore, and my back is sore. I think of the three workouts, Max Cardio Conditioning is the least difficult (notice I'm not using the word 'easiest') but definitely still a great workout. It's the Max version of Pure Cardio from Phase 1. So it's pretty much 30 minutes of straight exercises with no allotted time for water breaks. There are definitely some less intense workouts thrown in there though to give you a couple "breaks" in between. 

Somehow after today's workout I didn't feel as exhausted as I typically do. Imagine: me on my hands and knees on my garage floor, dripping sweat, gasping for air...yeah, you get the picture. But with this feeling of pain, misery, and exhaustion always comes the feeling of accomplishment, pride, and satisfaction. I think the workouts in Max Cardio Conditioning are more slow and controlled, focusing on raising your heart rate through burning your muscles as opposed to by doing a lot of quick movements. With that said, it was really difficult for me to push past some of the exercises because of how sore I am! I was trying to think of why I could possibly be so sore. The workouts are obviously new to me and they're undoubtedly physically exhausting, but I never felt this sore with any previous Insanity workout. Even during my first week of Phase 1 when I came off of doing nothing!

I thought about it and came to the conclusion that my muscle fatigue must be do to lack of proper recovery after days 36 and 37. I'm making more of a conscious decision to cut back on calories during this Phase because I don't think I did it enough during the first phase, but my efforts might have been too extreme. I didn't replenish my body with enough protein, carbs, fat, and calories afterwards to give my muscles the fuel they need after a rigorous workouts!

Always remember to give your body a good amount of protein and carbohydrates after you workout. There's a window of about 30-45 minutes after the completion of your workout when your muscles are starving to be fed and you don't want to deny them any replenishment or you won't have a successful recovery. Your body has just used so much energy that it needs the proper nutrients back to reap all the benefits of exercise. Your muscles are going to be looking for any source of energy, so something is better than nothing! Ideally, you'll have protein bars or shakes on hand. Chocolate milk works well too because it has a lot of carbs and protein.

If you don't recover properly, you'll likely be sore and/or fatigued and won't be able to work as well as you normally would.

Recovery is just as important for your body as the workout itself! I know I'll be remembering that because I hate being sore like this! Stay safe!

Dig Deeper

Yesterday I began Phase 2 of my Insanity workout and it was by far the most difficult day of exercise to date. I felt so defeated during the video! Not too pretty. Last week was the last week of Phase 1 and was used as a recovery week so it was much easier and lighter than the rest of the workouts. It was definitely nice to get a little break, but now I honestly feel like I'm back at Day 1. I guess I am on some level. Phase 2 begins with the Fit Test and the Max Interval Circuit. I did the Circuit in the morning (which is the one that severely kicked my ass) and the Fit Test in the evening. I think my Fit Test numbers definitely improved. I never kept track prior to yesterday so I don't have anything to compare my numbers to, but from what I'm remembering, I'm pretty confident I improved. 


The Max Interval Circuit was definitely INSANE! The warm up wore me out and I had to take more breaks that ever. The video's about an hour long so it's also the longest workout to date. It works every part of your body - shoulders, back, core, hips, legs... Needless to say, I'm pretty sore today. But I'm just about ready (or as ready as I will be) to start my workout for today. Today's Max Interval Plyo and I've heard it's unmerciful as well.


Gotta Dig Deep today. Here we go!

Don't Snooze to Lose

With only one more workout until I've completed 4 weeks of the Insanity workouts, I'm getting to that point where the ADD kicks in and I'm starting to get tired of doing these routines everyday. To be honest, I'm just tired in general! I usually do my workouts first thing in the morning; I like to get them out of the way, rev up my metabolism early, and wake myself up with a good sweat. But for the last couple of days, I've wanted so badly to just trade in my morning workout for a few more Zs.


I know I've heard that there are many benefits that come with working out in the morning, but I wanted to reevaluate them and see if the early bird really does get the...bangin' bod?

After reading a number of articles on the topic of AM workouts, the majority of them said that working out in the morning really does benefit you more than working out later in the day. It helps rev up your metabolism for the whole day and increases your mental acuity throughout the day as well. There are a number of other benefits that come along with working out in the morning and the majority of them will help your goals of losing weight, toning up, or staying in tip-top shape.

BeachBody article

NY Times article mentioning it's even better to workout before breakfast. I've heard mixed reviews about that one... I personally like to have something light like a banana before my morning workout, but maybe it is better with no breakfast. I just feel, it you need a little something to help give you a better quality, more efficient workout, then it will more than make up for the few calories it has.

If you're not used to working out early, then it will definitely take some time to adjust, but how nice will it be to know you can sit back and relax after work with no more obligation? I remember when training in college, I would DREAD our evening conditioning, but whenever I had a morning workout, the rest of the day was stress free!

So set those alarm clocks! It's never too early to get fit and feel fab!

Sweat and Sour

Just another day of Insanity...

Evidence of a quality workout. :) Gotta love it.

Hurt So Good

One of the first things I mentioned I love was athletics and fitness. Now, I personally believe that in some light, every elite athlete is a masochist. If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me, “How do you do that?” or “Why do you do that?” accompanied with that you-crazy-idiot look after telling them my workout regimen and schedule, well… I’d probably be a couple bucks richer. But seriously, I couldn’t begin to count how many times my teammates and I had group sessions to share the agonizing soreness/fatigue/inability to easily sit on the toilet we felt from training.

So now that I’m through with the 7am weight training, feared conditioning tests, 6-hour practices, and countless Versaclimber challenges, I should be relaxing sweat-free right? Well, the masochist in me is still very much alive, and I can’t seem to live without rigorous training. Somehow that inability to breathe and unceasing sweating is just oh so appealing to me. 

Without organized athletics, I’ve adopted another form of insanity. Literally. I decided to take on Team Beachbody’s 60-Day Insanity Challenge to keep me sane (ironically enough) and fit. It's a 60-day at-home conditioning program that kicks. your. ass.

An edited infomercial...

"If you're a masochist, bring it!" Love it!

So I'm actually almost three weeks into the program already and I've definitely noticed changes since starting the program. I didn't take a "Before" photo but I still have some relevant pics to post. ...will do so shortly. I've always had pretty fit legs, but they're getting really toned with this workout. Honestly, I haven't lost that much weight but I can still notice my stomach shrinking. Really, the number on the scale doesn't matter that much if you can see the results on you! I do my workout every morning to take advantage of a high metabolism throughout the entire day. It's been a ton of fun and the laid out calendar keeps me on track so I feel guilty if I skip a day. It's all about individual will power to do it but having someone plan your workouts definitely makes it easier to stick to! And the workouts are less than an hour each day (for now anyways). We can all make time for something that benefits us in so many ways. More to come soon. 

Happy Friday!