Love Fit Life: Waking Up Accountable

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Waking Up Accountable Continues

As you know, I started Waking Up Accountable to get myself going in the mornings and make sure I'm exercising during the week [no matter how busy my schedule is or becomes]. Week 1 was a complete success! It was challenging to get myself out of bed 15-20 minutes earlier, especially on a daily basis, but it was also unbelievably refreshing to feel the positive difference that each morning workout made. Not only that, but reaching the point where it started becoming easier to roll out of bed and get moving is one of the feelings I love most! Last week, I decided to create and complete a fresh new schedule of morning workouts to switch it up from week 1. Now, I have 2 full weeks of routines to use in case I don't have time to make a new one each week - SCORE! Check it out, give it a try, and start feeling better one morning at a time:

MONDAY

100 jumping jacks

10 burpees

30 seconds plank

10 mountain climbers

20 squats (or lunges if you prefer)

20 bicycle crunches

30 seconds side plank on left

30 seconds side plank on right

50 (phantom) jump rope

Repeat 2 more times

TUESDAY

20 high knees

20 butt kicks

12 bicep curls

50 (phantom) jump rope

12 tricep kickbacks

12 shoulder shrugs

20 ski jumps

Repeat 2 more times

WEDNESDAY
100 jumping jacks
20 crunches
20 side leg raises (each side)
10 burpees
12 reverse crunches
12 back extensions or supermans
50 (phantom) jump rope
Repeat 2 more times

THURSDAY
20 ski jumps
15 mountain climbers
12 dumbbell chest press
12 dumbbell flys
50 jumping jacks
12 dumbbell overhead press
Repeat 2 more times

FRIDAY
30 seconds plank
The Hundred
20 bridge
1 minute shadow boxing
Repeat 2 more times
End with 5-10 minutes stretching and/or yoga poses

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Waking Up Accountable

Like most of us, I want it all - I want to be accomplished and support myself, I want a fun and fulfilling social life, I want to be healthy and in shape at all times, and I want time for myself to re-boot. Dang though... that's a lot to squeeze in, and as my weeks seem to be getting busier and busier, I just don't have time for it all.

So, about a week ago I decided that I needed to focus on one aspect of my overwhelming schedule and go from there. For me, the exercise aspect seemed to be a good one to address since it fuels and affects so many other things. I'll go into the week with a solid idea of 3-5 evenings I can go to the gym, attend a great class or go on a nice run... but things always seem come up: meetings, social events, working later than expected, being more mentally and/or physically exhausted than anticipated, and so on. Regardless of my calendar though, a regular and consistent exercise routine is so critical! When that part of my week falls to the wayside, I feel more tired, I have less motivation and drive, I don't eat as well, I have more restless energy, I have trouble sleeping, I feel gross, and I have a really hard time getting back into a more regular workout routine afterwards.

My solution?

Creating a Monday through Friday AM workout plan as an exercise fail-safe!

Working in 10-15 minutes of exercise on weekday mornings seemed like a great way to be realistic (since I fail miserably every time I attempt a full 30-45 minute workout in the morning), wake up accountable, get my exercise in even if my evenings fill up, and go into each day feeling great. To my delight, my good friends Hanna Azboy and Emily Adams were feeling the same way. So, we joined forces and created an AM-LDA Plan (AM-Long Distance Accountability) for this week that just came to a end. Yes, there were some snags, understandably, but overall I'd say it was a total success! Each night, we agreed on our workout routine for the next morning (usually via text message or phone call) and each morning/day we confirmed our status of completion (usually via a text message saying "I DID IT!! YEAHHHH!!!").

You wanna play?

Great! Since I like you guys, I decided I'd share what my week of AM workouts looked like....

MONDAY

50 jumping jacks

10 burpees

20 crunches

20 squats

20 bridges

Repeat cycle 2 more times

End with 100 jumping jacks

TUESDAY

50 (phantom) jump rope