It’s important to note, when I say “fit” I mean “as fit as possible” and I am not attempting to convey that I’m now a workout junkie. I, by no means, consider myself a fitness guru, trainer or aficionado. You will not see me selling workout bands or waist trainers in the near future, I promise. However, I do consider myself someone who takes working out and my overall health seriously especially in a pandemic.
With that said, I’ve always loved being active. As a kid, I preferred to play outside with my Skip-it or ride my scooter. I also grew up playing sports starting with Y-Winners basketball in fourth grade to playing volleyball until the end of high school. More recently, I’m valuing exercise for reasons besides the obvious health benefits including the dopamine increase (for my mental health) and the opportunity to get out of the house.
My current workout routine is as follows:
- Monday – Yogalates
- Wednesday – Power Yoga
- Friday – Gym (glute circuit, abs, cardio)
- Saturday – Gym (back, abs, cardio and whatever other workout I think will be fun that day.)
Yoga sculpt & pilates.
Prior to COVID, I was really getting into my groove at Core Power. I was comfortable in the classes and was actually growing to enjoy being drenched in sweat after getting a good stretch. As we all know that came to a halt right around March 2020 which led me to doing virtual Core Power classes at home, eventually leading me to Krissy Wegen. Krissy is a former Core Power instructor and took her talents to YouTube after Core Power classes went on hiatus. With that said, I’ve been doing Krissy’s workouts for the past year and have seen a huge difference in my strength and muscle retention. To paint a picture, when I first started her videos, I struggled to get through ten squats and now I’m grateful for the 5 minutes squat portion of her videos. I recommend the following videos to start:
35 min Power Yoga/ Full Body Sculpt (depending on my mood and calorie in-take for the week, I may do this video on a Friday where I can’t make it to the gym)
35 min Power Yoga / Full Body Sculpt– I do this video every Wednesday
25 min Yogalates – I do this video every Monday
A gym membership.
Going to the gym has several benefits, obviously, but during COVID getting out of the house was huge for me. Also, going to the gym really helps me to get out of my head when I’m around people I don’t know. I used to struggle with the idea that everyone at the gym is staring at me and assuming that I’m doing my workouts wrong. But then I considered the fact that I, personally, am not looking at everyone else when I work out, so chances are no one is even thinking about me. I typically go to the gym on Friday evenings and/or Saturday mornings to avoid evening crowds and focus on exercises I can’t do at home such at the standing glute machine and the stairmaster.
A workout circuit.
As amazing as yoga and the gym are, it’s important for me to have a workout tailored to my body. I personally have a strong core, but my legs could use some work. So, recently, I decided to research leg workouts that focused on building my glutes and hamstrings. These workouts from Women’s Health magazine are great to for me to reference when I’m in the gym but don’t necessarily want to spend all of my time on the machines. My favorite workouts on the list are the single-leg deadlift, step-ups, donkey kicks, and goblet squats.
