Pre-COVID Life….I miss my gym!
Talking Quarantine Fitness: Life without Gyms
Fri -YAY! Another week gone in the quarantine books! It’s hard to believe that its officially been a month since I’ve worked out at my gym! It feels like my last workout there was forever ago, but at the same time I feel like the days go by so quick with the kids!
There are things I definitely don’t love about working out at home …for instance….making up my own workouts every single day, or trying to manage the kids if they are awake during my workout LOL…But, I HAVE started to enjoy challenging myself a little more and varying my workouts up. It’s been nice to actually prioritize my workouts and not just be rushing through them like pre-COVID.
PRE-COVID Workout Routine
A little background for those of you who don’t know my normal workout routine: I lift usually 3 times a week; once upper and twice lower. For cardio, I run usually 2 times a week and on the day of my upper lift I get some sort of HIIT training in. My running has generally been steady state since September. Heading out the door and running 3 miles is my quickest workout- I’m done in 25 minutes, so as a busy mom its my “easy” way to get a fast workout in. I have such limited time as it is, so my cardio HIIT workouts are always the first ones to go by the wayside.
As you all know, my baby just turned 15 months. Every day I feel stronger and slowly get more energy as he continues the weaning process and sleeps better ( I am still up once a night). If you have nursed a baby before, you know how physically demanding it is! I’ve been itching to do more for myself physically over the last 4-5 months now that he’s slowly down (we are down to 3 feeds per 24 hr) - but with the kids, their activities, work, nursing, lack of sleep, family time and my blog it was hard to fit in another day or two.
Of course I could always MAKE the time, but at what cost was kind of my rationale? I could write a whole blog post on trying to balance fitness with motherhood!! Actually, how to balance anything with motherhood haha!
To be honest, my ideal schedule would be Monday /Thursday lower lift, Tuesday/friday HIIT or track workout, Wednesday upper lift and Saturday distance running. But, like I said, juggling everything is such a balancing act.
Enter COVID-19 “Stay at Home”
When the news first hit regarding the stay at home order, my first thought regarding fitness was not negative. Of course I was sad to not work out in my gym..but I also was feeling.. this is it. I can finally focus my attention on my nutrition and fitness. Yes, I’m homeschooling and watching the 3 kids and on my own a lot, but I’m still able to squeeze a good workout in everyday with my husband not working late into the night, and not traveling anymore.
Focusing on my fitness has given me peace at a time where so much is unknown. There are so many things out of our control right now, and this puts a little bit of my TYPE A personality at ease knowing I CAN control this. I can control my own health & fitness level. My fitness level is down to me and only me!
So, truthfully….I’m so dialed in right now guys ... it’s crazy. And by dialed in I mean of course with my workouts.. but mostly with my nutrition. My baby is now 15 months old, and I’m closing in on the “golden “ 18 month postpartum sweet spot. I always feel it takes me a good 12 -18 months to fully recover from pregnancy and I’m so ready to get that last 20% during this period of time.. 18 months always has been my goal of getting to where I want to be.
So, what am I doing?
6 Pillars of My Quarantine Fitness
Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. I map out what I’m eating everyday- usually that morning or even sometimes the night before In MyFitnessPal. This keeps me accountable and ensures I’m eating the right portion sizes. I know this sounds completely OCD but IT WORKS. Especially when you’re home ALL DAY and it is so tempting to just eat! Sure, it feels a little bit over the top when you start to do it, but once you get used to it after a week or so it’s part of your day! I’m also still following the FASTer Way to Fat Loss program. I lost about 15 lbs on this program. To read more about the program, click here for my blog post on it that I published over the summer. Also— you will see a big difference in my body from then until now! I’m so much leaner now by continuing the program (I’ll post another update in a month or two) and you will see that. This program is truly amazing. click here to register for it!
I’m continuing with intermittent fasting: I truly believe having a window of time to eat really works in fat loss. It also makes me feel good. This is another facet to the FASTer Way to Fat Loss program that I love.
Lifting: I have a TRX, bands, a bench, and kettlebells at my house and you bet I’m using them 3 times a week for strength training workouts.
Cardio: walk, walk, walk. You would be surprised at how much of my cardio is walking! You don’t need to run crazy amount of miles to get lean. Move more, track what you eat, and you’ll get leaner. I’ve also started incorporating more speed work into my workouts. See below for my sample cardio workouts!
Meal planning: this has been a little bit tricky with only going to the grocery store once every 8 or 9 days, but I try to be smart and stock up on the things that I know I’m going to need just Incase something changes. I also do my best to meal plan for the upcoming 7 or 8 days. When shopping, I always always, always buy: bananas, apples, avocados (like 6 or 7!) salad, salmon, chicken, beef, berries, eggs, oatmeal, and peanut butter. Those are honestly the biggest staples in my diet!
Discipline: Discipline is probably the most important attribute my parents taiught me when I was growing up. Discipline is what pushes me on to do a workout on days that I don’t feel like it. Disipline is what keeps me accountable to my diet and meal plan. Discipline is what gets my coat on (and my 3 kids which is a workout in itself lol) out the door for a 2-3 mile walk. You aren’t always going to be motivated. That’s when you need to be disciplined. DISCIPLINE IS A CHARACTER TRAIT THAT YOU CAN LEARN. YOU JUST HAVE TO WANT TO LEARN IT.
Ok. So now that you have 6 most important pillars that I’m living by... here are a few sample cardio workouts that have been my go-to over the last couple of weeks!
Lots of Stroller runs & walks over the last month!
Distance run... 3-4 miles. This is an easy way to incorporate other members of your family -ie kids in stroller or on their bikes.
Speed workouts: my favorites would be repeat 800s (1/2 mile), repeat 400s, repeat 200s, repeat miles, or ladder workouts: 200, 400, 600, 800, 800, 600, 400, 200.
Tabatas: you can do these anyway you want. Running, bike, jump rope, burpees... basically its 20 seconds of High intensity cardio, 10 seconds off . Repeat for 4 minutes. That’s one set. 2 minutes between each set. I aim for 3-4 sets but if you’re just beginning base it off how you feel!
Interval running on the street: This is kind of a funny one, but try jogging and then picking a spot on the street ahead of you and sprinting to that spot. Then jog for 30 seconds and do it again. An easy way to burn more fat during a distance run and makes the run go quicker! You can also do this with walking and jogging if you are not really a big runner!
In home cardio: I frequently do cardio exercises in my house, like running up and down the stairs to get my heart rate up, do burpees, quick feet or broad jumps!
Jumping Rope: I mentioned jumping rope earlier with regard to Tabatas, but jumping rope is an amazing way to get cardio in!
Biking: I currently do not have a bike (its on my mothers day list with a child seat on it), but heading out for a bike ride (or if you have a stationary one) is a great idea for cardio. You can easily do an interval workout on a stationary bike if you have one at home. Example: 30 seconds pedal as hard as you can, 1 minutes slow. Repeat for 10-20 minutes!
Walk, Walk, Walk: There is no bad weather, only bad clothing and poor planning! I fully believe this! Starting your kids young and being outdoors in every element makes them more resilient and healthy. Get outside. I don’t care if its 30 degrees and windy! Added benefit that you’re burning calories!
Short sprints: Find a spot in your backyard, or your driveway and do sprints up and down your driveaway..AKA Suicides. Start out doing 4-6 and work your way up to 10!
Utilize social media: There are SO many amazing workouts that you have right at your fingertips! Many gyms are posting no equipment workouts on their instagram and facebook pages. Take advantage of this! I have especially because you continually need to change up your workouts to see changes!
Working out from home favorites
I hope this helps you all! Please, please remember that there is NO WAY to outrun/out train a workout! I cannot stress this enough! What you put into your body is 80% of the battle. Please feel free to use me as a resource and let me know if you have any questions about any of this or the FASTer Way to Fat Loss program!
xo
Alex