Level Up Fitness

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. I love the concept they have over at Nerd Fitness. Whats the concept? Leveling up your life. Basically, it calls you to make your exercise program into a video game. How can you "level up" your character (you) to make them stronger, more healthy, more able to take on the enemy (the day/world).  I've always loved this but I've never quite put it into action. Its been in the back of my mind, sure, but what is leveling up without written out achievements to unlock? Since playing Pokemon Go, (yes, don't be a hater) I've realized that I need to feel like I've accomplished something in order to be motivated level up. Maybe a reward, maybe a sticker or just progress tracker. (p.s. I haven't set up any rewards yet other than stickers, feel free to leave suggestions).

So, I've finally taken the plunge. The things I have listed for my "levels" may not seem like much, but they will challenge me. Once I've reached all these I will make harder goals.


And yes, I bought a hula hoop.

Single Sided Strength is my favorite strength training video from Jessica Smith TV

Why yes, I do have a schedule:

Monday: Strength Training
Tuesday: Active Rest (like hula hooping or catching pokemon... something fun)
Wednesday: Cardio
Thursday: Cardio
Friday: Active Rest
Saturday: Strength Training (this may change depending on how well John and I do at getting out to the tennis courts)

I am sticking the progress charts in my planner and I am going to use my planner to schedule what work outs to do for the week. Wish me luck!!

Warrior Women: Work Out Inspiration and Plan

So, a few of you may remember that I was doing a 31 Day workout challenge not to far back? Well, I did that and it was fabulous! After those 31 days though... it's been a struggle. 

First, I wasn't inspired anymore. I hit my goal: to do all 31 days. Once I hit that, I was done. Sure, I still had vauge goals like "getting healthy" and "staying in shape" but that just didn't offer me the motivation I needed. Apparently I need a lot. 

After about two weeks I started working out again... twice a week, 10 minute videos... usually some gentle yoga. Not that that is a bad thing, but really, it's not doing a whole lot of good. I need to do more if I expect to see any improvement in my overall health. 

Then, I stopped even doing that because I got sick. 

One day, as I was scrolling through my emails, I saw a new blog post from nerdfittness. The post spoke to me. It made me realize that I needed to find inspiration in someone I wanted to be like. Read that again. Be like. Not look like. So, I compiled a list of women who embody my fitness goals. 

Now, all of these ladies are fictional, because I am a bit of a nerd. Because they are fictional and played by Hollywood starlets, they are all absolutely beautiful. But that is not the point, nor the reason I chose them.  As much as I would love to look like them, that is an unrealistic goal. Besides, I would much rather embody their fierceness and strength.  All of these ladies can kick some serious butt. They are warriors: mind, body and soul. 



Here is my workout plan which includes my train of thought to how I came up with it.

Inspiration: 

Black Widow: She is flexible, strong,  can fight off men more than twice her size, and quick.

Katniss Everdeen: She is strong, both in body and spirit. 

Tris Prior: She grows to be strong, to take care of herself. She is fast and (almost) fearless.

Sarah Walker: She can kick some serious butt, is fast, strong, and flexible.

Alison Argent: Also strong in body and spirit. She is fast. 

Goals: 
Be able to participate in archery (takes a lot of arm strength!), be willing try new things, rock climb, be able to defend myself, gain endurance, and gain flexibility. 

How: 

Yoga: For strength, flexibility,  and relaxed mind

Run/Walk/Cycle: For leg strength and endurance

Barre: For strength, flexibility, and gracefulness

Kickboxing: For strength and defense

Strength Training: For all over strength

Plan of Action:

Monday: Kickboxing 
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday: Strength training 
Thursday: Barre 
Friday: Speed walk/jog/Cycle 
Saturday: Try to do something active with John 
Sunday: Rest

Feel free to follow along with me. If you do let me know in the comments below and we can cheer each other on! 

I have made a youtube playlist to follow. It should last three weeks (minus walking/jogging days). After that, I just plan on repeating the sequence until they become too easy and then I will find videos that challenge me more. Here is the link if you would like to follow it with me! Though of course, you can always make your own with your favorites! This is mainly Jessica Smith workouts because I have done most of them before and I know that they are at my skill level but still challenge me... and I just think she's awesome! 

Who is your workout inspiration? How do you stay motivated to exercise? 

Quest for Health: 31 Day Ab Challenge Mid-Month Update

We are officially half way through the month of July? How ridiculous is that? This means its almost time for back to school and football season. Do you know what else it means? 

It means that I am halfway through JessicaSmithTV's 31 Day Ab Challenge! It will take me a little bit longer than 31 days because I am not working out on Sundays (religious reasons) but, it will be close and I have managed to work out every weekday and Saturday so far! 

I also have to admit that I skipped/will be skipping the stability ball workouts... not because I want to but just because I don't want to buy a stability ball for 2 workouts. Because, let's be honest, after those two it will just sit in a corner and take up space. So, at the end, I'm just going to redo two of my favorite workouts. 

Some things I've realized: 

- It's really becoming part of my routine. I feel like I've been getting up at 6am and doing a Jessica Smith workout for a lot longer than 2.5 weeks. 

- While I have to fight the urge to hit snooze in the morning, I really like waking up early and working out first thing. It wakes me up and I have more energy in the mornings. I'm also generally less grumpy though, this little thing called PMS still exists, so my husband may beg to differ ;) 

- The workouts I think I'll hate are the ones that I end up loving, and the ones I think I'll love, I end up not liking as much. So, this has been great so far. I'm learning what I like and what I really don't care for. So far my favorites have been Cardio Ball Blast and Single Sided Strength

- I'm kind of an old lady when it comes to stuff hurting my knees! 

- My shoulders pop, and it's super annoying. Apparently my shoulders think I'm an old lady too because I looked it up and most things said, "As you age/ If you're an athlete" and I'm definitely not an athlete soo.... 

- There is apparently not much I can do about my shoulder popping and as long as its not hurting me, its not much of a problem. No wonder I don't like arm workouts! 

- I actually like working out. I'm not to the point yet where I necessarily look forward to waking up at 6 am and working out but I'm not dreading it anymore so, that's an improvement. 

- I am a huge fan of videos vs. written workouts. If I'm counting my reps, I'm going to stop early. If I have somebody encouraging me and counting the reps for me, even on a screen, I'm going to do a much better job at following through. 

- Sometimes you need reward motivators. My motivator? John said if I complete the full 31 days he'll take me out to dinner wherever I want... I'm thinking sushi ;)

All in all, I'm doing well. I'm feeling a little stronger and my abs are consistently sore though, not to the point of pain, just to the point that I can tell I worked them out, which I love. I am getting stronger, though I know that it will be a slow process. 

How about you? Are you on JessicaSmithTV's 31 Day Ab Challenge? What have you learned doing this or any other challenge? 

Quest for Health: Exercise Challenge

I don't know about you, but I am horrible at committing... to exercise regimens that is. Part of it is lack of will power. The bed is just so warm and comfy, and it pulls me back in. Or when I get home from work, the couch is just so soft and inviting. The other part of t is that I don't have any real fitness goals. I know I don't really need to loose weight, I just want to tone. So, because I can't see immediate results, I loose my motivation.

But, sometimes even that doesn't work. Ever since I've learned about this awesome website called nerdfitness.com, I've changed my goals to be a bit more meaningful and specific. Though, still broad, my main goals now are to get healthy so that I can become strong and gain more energy. These are great goals, and keep me wanting to work out, but somedays, laziness and procasitination win and I get out of the habit and down the rabbit hole I go.

[Side note: Nerdfitness is an awesome website that takes fitness and makes it real. No gimmicks to get you to try to buy anything. It uses gaming philosophies to motivate its readers to workout. Things like "level up your life." There is fun stuff for non gamers as well.  And no, they are not paying me, I just want to share the love!]

One of the main philosophies at Nerdfitness is to exercise in a way that you love. Something that you find fun. That way, you won't  dread working out. The problem with this for me, is that the exercise that I find fun is swing dancing and gymnastics. Both are not really fun/wise to do at home and yet I don't have time/money to take classes at the moment. I am sure I will find other forms of working out fun, however, I'm not sure what those are yet.

The Solution:

Enter Jessica Smith from jessicasmithtv on youtube.

I follow Jessica on youtube and have done several of her workout videos. I've really enjoyed the ones that I've done and she is easy to follow. While I was scrolling my subscription box, I found the perfect thing for me: 31 Day Ab Challenge starting July 1st! I was a little worried, since it seems to be targetting a certain area and I was worried it was going to leave other out... good for core strength, but not much else. However, listening to her intro video, it sounds like she is very concerned about making sure the exercises are balanced. It seems perfectly in line with everything that I am learning about fitness and I am super excited to get started.

This is also going to be great because I can try out different types of workouts and see which ones I enjoy the most.

If you would like to join me so that we can support each other in this 31 day challenge let me know in the comments!

I'm also thinking of doing little updates on my challenge to keep me accountable! Let me know if you's be interested in that!