Fitness Friday: A Workout & Tips for Seeing Results

I’ve had a great week of workouts. It’s funny what the mind can do when it comes to exercise. I just felt like stepping it up and once Monday rolled around I pushed myself more than I have lately. I got in a nice variety- 2 days of treadmill running, 2 days of Insanity and 1 day of weights. I plan on doing a long outside run on Saturday with a new neighborhood running group. It will be my first run with them and I am hoping I like it because that is probably the only way I will be fitting in long runs in this cold weather. I need the motivation!

(pictured above: sporting a few of my new Christmas gifts- a crazy bright workout shirt from my mom along with some Nike tights and Nike running shoes, Lululemon gloves from the hubs for my outside runs!)

We had lots of sunshine this week (still cold temps) which was nice. I was even able to walk to pick up my son from school one day this week which we haven’t done in a couple months.

Even though I got a few longer exercise sessions in this week, I am still a firm believer that you can get a great workout completed in 20-25 minutes. If you are looking to lose a large amount of weight, you will most likely need longer sessions to see greater results, but for maintenance you don’t have to be in the gym for over an hour to make it count.

Sometimes I am so crunched for time getting all three kids ready in the morning that the less time I have the more efficient I am! Sounds weird right, but instead of thinking ” I only have 25 minutes I’ll have to skip my workout” I think “Let’s push it and see what I can do in 25 minutes!”. It usually ends up being a better workout than when I have a leisurely hour to workout.

Here is what I did one morning last week before rushing my son to school. Although it wasn’t the hardest routine I’ve done, I pushed myself to finish in time on time so it was a great workout. Plus it was a different routine which made it more exciting.

If you are trying to lose weight, remember that all exercise is good exercise so don’t skip just because you don’t have an hour available. Two 15 minute sessions can be just as effective as one 30 minute session. And please don’t give me the excuse that you don’t belong to a gym! There are so many options for equipment-free or minimal equipment workouts (I have linked to several before).  Here are some other option for those of you without gym access:

• borrow a exercise video from a friend, a coworker or the library
• create a collection of no-equipment workouts to do at home (just google or blog search). Save them to Pinterest or an email so they are all in one place when you need one.
• climb stairs during your lunch break at work
• go for a walk
• set up a mini gym in your garage using basic free weights, bands and jump rope
• incorporate walking/running into your schedule during your kid’s activities (think walking around the outside of the field while your kid has football practice)
• do push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, running in place, dips, etc. So many no-equiment options!

If you are stuck and not seeing results that’s when we need to talk. When we aren’t seeing results, and everything is good with the diet, it might be time to change the intensity of your workout or the workout routine in general. Your body likes for you to change it up otherwise it will coast on in maintenance mode. If your form of exercise is walking 3 miles on the treadmill everyday, surprise your muscles by trying a new machine, a new class, try doing weights. If 4 miles is your standard run and can’t seem to lose any weight, try incorporating sprints into your distance. This can be very effective to bump up your calorie burn (thus resulting in more weight loss).

So remember the following

 

A special note to my DietBet participants. Don’t forget to log into the game’s page (I do every day to chat with the other players). It is a great place to stay on track and communicate with everyone else in our game.

Have a fabulous weekend friends!

Questions: What are your weekend plans? When is the last time YOU stepped up your exercise routine?