Friday Favourites #2

Happy Friday! Hope you have had a great week! I am sooo looking forward to the weekend! It’s going to be another busy one, but i’m hoping for at least a little down time!

For this weeks Friday Favourites I wanted to share with you three of my favourite workout websites. If you are anything like me and love variety and trying new workouts, check out these sites!

My sister recently introduced me to FITNESS BLENDER – a free website that has a ton of workouts to choose from.

• They have a variety of full length workout videos for all fitness levels – including (but not limited to) pilates, strength training, tabata and cardio – its like having your own personal trainer to keep you moving and motivated!
• They also have a ton of printable workouts for those who are already familiar with the exercises, but might not be so sure how to put them together into a great workout.
• Most of these workouts are quick but really get your heart pumping and your muscles burning!
• Workouts can be done at home or the gym.

A few of my favourites Fitness Blender workouts are:

The 1000 Rep Workout

Another favourite of mine is TONE IT UP – another free website with plenty of workouts, nutrition tips and recipes.

• Karena and Katrina provide you with a monthly workout plan with access to all scheduled workouts, which is awesome if you like to follow a schedule and/or you are not of sure how to properly plan your workouts.
• Most of the workouts are available as a video (so you can follow along) or in printable form if you are familiar with the exercises and/or you’d rather go a your own pace.
• There are muscle specific and full body workout options

A few of my favourite Tone it Up workouts are:

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And another great place to find workout ideas is PINTEREST, an online pinboard where users share their favourite things – including workouts! All you have to do is type in your search and bam, hundreds of workouts at your fingertips! To follow me on Pinterest click here.

What are your favourite websites to get workout ideas?

Are You a Cardio Junkie or a Strength Junkie? – August Writing Challenge #28

Today’s Blogger Challenge question is: Are you a cardio junkie or a strength junkie?

I am a total cardio junkie! My favourite workouts are BodyAttack and running! I’d say on average, I probably do 5 cardio workouts a week…which doesn’t leave a lot of time for strength training 😦

I am however, trying to work more strength training into my workout routine. Actually, I did a BodyPump class today and it was awesome! I kinda feel like a bit of a loser though, I took a look around the room today, and I was lifting the least out of everyone in the room 😦 I’m going to stick with it though – my plan is to do Pump twice a week – and hopefully, by the time I return to work in January I won’t be the weakest one in the room anymore! Wish me luck!

Are you a cardio junkie or a strength junkie?

What’s Your Favourite Workout Routine? – August Writing Challenge #17

Well, today is day 17 of the August Blogger Writing Challenge, I can’t believe I have posted at least once a day for 17 days…crazy! But super fun!

Today’s Blogger Queation is: What is your favourite workout routine?

Well many if you can probably guess what my favourite workout is…yep, BodyAttack!

I love, Love, LOVE it! It is seriously the best group exercise class I have ever been to it’s so much fun and such an awesome workout!

BodyAttack is a 55 minute, sports-inspired cardio class, with a focus on improving your speed, strength, endurance and agility.

The class is made up of 12 tracks, each with a different focus:

1. Warm-up
2. Mixed Impact
3. Aerobic Training
4. Ploymetrics
5. Upper Body Conditioning
6. Running
7. Agility Training
8. Interval Training
9. Power Training
10. Lower Body Conditioning
11. Core Conditioning
12. Cooldown/stretch

In a 55 minute class, the average person burns 735 calories! Click here for more information on BodyAttack, including the overall benefits of this workout. Wanna see BodyAtack in action? Head over to YouTube and do a search, there are a ton of videos! Better yet, why it find a class in your area and try it out for yourself? Trust me, you will LOVE it!

What’s your favourite workout routine? Please share it with us!

The Week Ahead

This week I am going to focus on three things….

Food
No snacking after dinner.

Fitness
Start working my cardio. I’m super excited to be boot-less and can’t wait to get back to BodyAttack and running. I know I need to take it SLOW and work my way back into things, but I’m ready! Here is my workout plan for the week.

Monday – walk
Tuesday – BodyAttack – LOW impact only!
Wednesday – walk
Thursday – BodyAttack – LOW impact again
Friday – run/walk
Saturday – rest
Sunday – run/walk

Of course all of this depends on how my foot feels, but it’s been 7 weeks since I was diagnosed with stress fractures, and I’m hoping things are fully healed.

Fun/Family
Go to the zoo!

What are you focusing on this week?

Three Things Thursday

1. I’m totally bummed! I had a bone scan on Monday to see what’s going on in my foot, and the results were not good! It turns out I have more than one stress fracture and that I have to wear the boot cast for 6 more weeks! No running, no BodyAttack, pretty much no weight bearing activities for SIX MORE WEEKS! That’s half the summer! Seriously, what am I going to do with myself?

On the bright side, it’s not a plaster cast, so I can shower with (relative) ease, drive my car, walk…I know, it could be (much) worse!

2. Since cardio is pretty much not an option, I’ve decided to start a weight training program. Next week I am going to start the Venus Index Workout Program. Not sure what it’s all about….click here… or here to watch a short video. Basically, it’s a program geared specifically to women, involves 3 (super intense) workouts a week – which are clearly laid out and easy to follow. Sounds perfect!

A friend of mine at the gym has been doing these workout for a few months now, and she looks amazing! She loves the program and has gotten great results. I’m looking forward to getting back into the gym routine…it’s been over two weeks since I have done any form of physical activity. I definitely need to get back at it!

3. Friends of ours, Joanne and Dan had a baby girl last Sunday and tonight my sister and I went to visit and meet baby Kenzie! She is sooooo sweet! And soooo tiny! I already forget what it was like to have babies that tiny….and it’s only been 5 and a half months! Check her out….isn’t she adorable!

Motivational Monday! Personal Growth

This past weekend I took my Les Mills BodyAttack Training to become an instructor at GoodLife Fitness Clubs.

If you are not familiar with BodyAttack, check out this video and see what it’s all about.

The training weekend was totally awesome! It was both physically and mentally demanding, but at the same time very rewarding. Over the two days, I learned a few things about myself…

1. I can push through the pain to achieve my goals.

2. I can overcome my fears to achieve my goals.

3. I can work hard to reach my goals.

The Bad. The Better. The Best.

The Bad.

Monday is weigh-in day for the Skinny Jeans Challenge. YIKES! This weekend I consumed WAY TOO CALORIES! Although I didn’t actually eat too bad, I pretty much drank a whole case of Corona…maybe even a bit more!

The Better.

Although nowhere near caloric balance, I at least did a bit of exercise this weekend a burned a few calories.

Friday morning before my personal training session, I hopped on the treadmill and did this weeks ‘long run’ – a race pace 5k – and to my surprise, I did it in only 28 minutes 🙂

Right after that I had my training session where we did another new workout. This weeks focus was supersets. After a quick warm-up, we did 3 sets of each superset: Belgian split squats and push-ups, bent over rows and deadlifts, and double crunches and plank pull-ins. We finished up with a cardio blast and called it a day!

I also played a game of hockey Friday night and two on Saturday, which, again, didn’t burn many calories, it was at least exercise!

And lastly, in keeping with my 100 push-up challenge, I did workout 3 of week 1 (a total of 42 push ups) on Saturday afternoon. The best part was that my roomies did the workout with me 🙂 – which is kinda funny because I totally thought these girls would have been more likely to make fun of me, rather than join in! It’s a good thing no one else came by, they would have for sure made fun of us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A total calorie burn of only 903 calories all weekend. I guess it’s better than nothing!

The Best.

This weekend was awesome! I had so much fun hanging with my best girlfriends and playing some hockey, that the extra 2.2 pounds and lack of sleep was totally worth it! All I can say is, thank God we only do this once a year!!!

Thanks for the great weekend Crushers!

Happy Friday!

It’s only 8 in the morning and I’m already enjoying the fact that today is a rest day! No rushing through breakfast, no bundling up the kids to get to the gym, no packing snacks…just a quiet morning at home!

With all the running that I will be doing I need some fresh tunes to keep me going! So today’s task – make a new playlist! Since I haven’t updated my Ipod in forever – I actually think it’s been since my last race – I’m really looking forward to the change. There are so many ‘new’ great songs out there!

Music is what’s going to get me through those long runs and the race, so having a solid playlist is imperative!

What’s on your workout/cardio/pump me up playlist? I’d love for you to share your faves. I’m going to need a ton of songs to get me to the finish line!

Thanks for your help! Happy Friday!