Many of you know my two passions are fitness and fashion. Both of which fuel my days and give me constant inspiration. I don't claim to be the best in either one of these departments, but I sure work hard at incorporating them into my daily routine. I get a lot of emails asking about working out and how to stay motivated. I also get questions about what work outs to do and what works best. These questions can be hard to answer since everyone is different and has different opinions on what works, but I thought I would share my own routine and what works for me.
1. Try to plan your week in advance. Things are bound to come up and change, but it is always best to have an ideal schedule in mind that keeps you organized and prepared. This will keep you from making excuses that you don't have your gym bag or the right shoes.
2. Always pack your gym bag the night before. I have learned that if I am not ready to go to work out right away I tend to get distracted or too tired and decide not to go. However, if I have that gym bag in my trunk every day and can swing by the gym right after work I tend to go more.
3. Do something that challenges you. This is something that most women DON'T do. They will go to the gym and do the elliptical machine for 45 minutes while reading magazines and then they do abs and leave. NEWS FLASH this will not make you fit ladies. Most women have a hard time realizing that even if you only work out for 20 minutes, if you push yourself to your limits in that short time you will see more results than if you spent an hour working half as hard.
4. Do not try to work on trouble areas. This also does not work. You can't say, "I want my arms more toned and my calves to be smaller". Now, granted these things can come from an overall fitness regimen, but you can't go into a gym and try to do tricep push downs all day and expect results. You need a combination of weight training, cardo, and diet to attain results.
5. Don't be afraid to get bulky. This is something I have even struggled with. You think that by lifting heavy weights you will turn into a body builder. This will not happen unless you want to look like one and even if you did you would have to eat and lift like a crazy person to get there. Women spend way too much time worrying about this and lift 8-10 pound dumbbells. At Crossfit I lift heavy weight and I have more lean muscle than I did before. I do have larger quads, but they are fit and strong and what is so wrong about that?
There are so many other things to think about and I will save them for another post. Just remember the most important thing of all is to have fun and feel good about yourself. If you aren't than you may need to try something new.
