My Fitness Routine

Morning, y’all!

Today’s post is one that I was actually surprised I hadn’t written before. I searched my own blog for this post and realized I had never made one…say what???

Update: I found a post that I did on my spring workout routine last year. It’s funny how we forget out own posts 🙂

Incorporating fitness into my daily routine is something that comes naturally to me. It doesn’t come naturally to everyone and I totally understand that. But it always has for me.

Growing up, I was always involved in sports.

I’m pretty sure the first sport I ever played was t-ball.
In elementary, I played lots of soccer, I tried out gymnastics, I took dance classes (but that didn’t last long), I took golf and tennis lessons, and was on the swim team.
In middle school, I went from volleyball season, to track and field season, to soccer season.
In high school, I started off the year in volleyball and ended the year in softball. I joined a dodgeball team with some friends as well. And of course, I was always in attendance at baseball games (even though I didn’t play).
I took a martial arts class once too…that was FUN!

I mean, my life has always revolved around sports and some form of exercising. When I went to college and no longer played sports I found myself really missing it. I missed the competition, the goofing around at practices with friends, the being hard on myself to do better…but mostly just being active. I really missed being active.

Middle school started my days of running with being on the track team, but college is where I began really working on my running and enjoying it. Lately, I haven’t enjoyed it as much. It started feeling more like a chore to me than anything else so I stopped.

So that’s when I started to try various forms of exercise over the past 4 years…

…I ran on the treadmill…

…I ran outside…

…I started attending yoga class at Lululemon on Sunday mornings…

…I tried workout videos…

…I’ve tried following along with Kayla Itsines’ workouts…

…I tried just going to lift weights…

…and I lost interest in all of these things.

Back in November when I started my Fitness Goals, I decided to do something different exercise-wise.

I decided I wanted to join a gym. I used to go to Emily‘s gym with her and attend group exercise classes there and really loved it. I’m sure it’s the teammate in me (after playing all those team sports) and being surrounded by like-minded people looking to achieve the same goals as me. I just loved every part of it! So November is when I began testing gyms out to get serious about joining. I started with a couple of yoga studios. And I found one that I really really liked. However, it was all yoga classes. While I love yoga, I didn’t want to limit myself by that being the only form of exercise I could do. So I started trying out different gyms, you know the normal 24 Hour Fitness, Lifetime, etc. And i’ve finally found one.

Now, group exercise is it for me. It’s my preferred form of exercise. Maybe that’ll change, maybe it won’t. We’ll see since i’m difficult to satisfy 🙂

What does a normal week look like for me?

Well, I try to attend one yoga class, one strength training class, one HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), and then the rest I usually hit are cardio classes. I do take 1 day as a rest day and sometimes depending on what’s going on for the week i’ll take 2 rest days.

Monday‘s have really brought me to get up at 8AM for BodyCombat. I love this class. I mentioned it before, but it’s a martial arts mixture with Muay Thai, Boxing, and Kickboxing.

Tuesday‘s  have found their way to become my rest days because of classes, but now that i’ve changed my schedule I can fix it by fitting a class in my school schedule.

Wednesday is another cardio day where i’m going to a TurboKick (kickboxing has become one of my favorite hobbies lately) or Insanity. Or that’s my strength training day with BodyPump.

Thursday is usually dance day. I’ve been to a couple CIZE dance classes and a U-JAM class.

Friday has been another rest day or else i’ll go to Pop Pilates.

Saturday is my HIIT. This class will surely work you and I would totally recommend you trying to incorporate some HIIT into your exercise regimen. It will boost your metabolism as well as increase your after burn rate (calories you burn while just sitting around).

Sunday is either my TurboKick class or a yoga class at Lululemon.

Really it depends on what is going on that day. I love these classes for so many reasons but also the fact that I go in, I do what the teacher says, and i’m out in an hour. That’s it. That’s all. Then i’m healthy. Haha well, that and of course the foods I put into my body…but that’s another post for a different day. 😉

So you want to incorporate regular exercise into your daily routine? Here are some of my tips.

Find YOUR time.

Sometimes finding a time to workout is hard. I usually keep my gym’s group X schedule open in my safari to refer to when i’m looking at tomorrow. I like to figure out my schedule of things I HAVE to do and then i’ll decide whether or not I can hit the gym in the morning or the afternoon. Which is often times why you’ll find me there first thing in the morning. I get ‘er done and get going with my day! Some days it doesn’t always fit into what I have going on and i’ve been known to stress about that. That leads me to…

Don’t let it consume you.

Now that i’ve found a gym I like, classes I like, instructors I like…I have a hard time NOT going (more on that later). But do I want the gym to run my life and keep me from enjoying my family and friends? No. In fact, I sacrificed my Monday class yesterday to spend time with my dad at Starbucks. Did it stress me out a little bit? Sure did. But when my dad’s not here one day for me to get a coffee with am I going to still be mad about missing that workout class one Monday morning? Absolutely not.

Try different things.

Like the different types of exercising I previously mentioned, I had to find out what suited me the best and what I enjoyed the best. And you should too. It’s not so much of a “workout” when you’re enjoying what you’re doing. Just like a job. It’s not a job if you’re enjoying what you’re doing. No matter what it is!

Test different gyms, classes, and teachers.

There’s one teacher that I absolutely enjoy!! Therefore, I want to continue going back to her class. Finding a teacher that you look at and say “yeah, i’d want to look like her” is so much more motivating too. You feel like since she’s looking like this after teaching these class I ought to at some point! As for testing different gyms, there were some that I just did not like one bit. How much would I have regretted getting a membership before trying it out???

Eat when your body needs it.

I think there is a lot of confusion with this. Personally, I usually don’t eat before I go to morning workout classes. I get up and go, which is what i’ve always done since my morning volleyball practice days. There’s nothing to prove that a fasting workout is bad for your body, or eating before a workout is good for your body. This is a personal preference. So make sure you do what your body needs! All day for that matter…don’t eat when you’re not hungry. Don’t starve yourself when you are hungry. Find a healthy balance! I know i’m still working on this too.

Drink yo water.

You’re getting tired of hearing that now, aren’t you? There is so much research around this topic that if I received a dollar for every article saying how important water was, I wouldn’t have to work the rest of my life 😉 Find a cute water bottle and carry it with you! Do not leave your house without one!!!

Trust the process.

One day you will thank yourself for waking up early and hitting the gym…or squeezing in a workout class before plans out with friends that night. One reason I love working out is that it just makes me feel so much better about myself too. Am I exactly where I want to be in my fitness journey right now? No…but I am getting there and trusting that the process will get me there. Just don’t give up!!! Trust me, I have multiple times and it just makes it even more difficult for me.

So that’s me and my fitness routine. What does yours look like? What would you tell people who want to start incorporating a fitness routine into their schedule?