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BLEND Retreat 2015: Part 2

If you missed Part 1

SATURDAY

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early for a Boot Camp sponsored by Gnarly Nutrition and led by Kindal Boyle of Lifting Revolution. The elevation makes things much harder (I’m used to sea level!), but regardless of that, this workout was TOUGH. We did a partner workout (I partnered with Lindsay the badass) that involved sprints, push-ups, traveling burpees UPHILL, walking lunges UPHILL, one-legged runs, plank jacks, shoulder taps, squats and squat jumps. It was a KILLER workout and I was definitely feeling my workout from Friday throughout the whole thing.

gnarlybootcampPhoto Credit: Lindsay’s List

Upon finishing the boot camp, I chugged a protein shake with Gnarly Nutrition’s Chocolate Protein Powder. I only had water to mix it with and, as always, was nervous it was going to taste like crap. Surprisingly it was delicious! It tasted like a chocolate shake and the ingredient list was an A+ as well! I’ll definitely be trying more of their products in the future!

gnarly nutritionLoved it so much, I had to take a picture ๐Ÿ™‚

Next up was BREAKFAST. Breakfast was so, so good. The spread included FlapJacked pancakes, scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, Love Grown cereal and granola, along with bread and a spread of Justin’s nut butter flavors. I put together a little bit of everything, and ate it ALL. That boot camp made me HANGRY. FlapJacked had their new flavor of pancakes: Carrot Spice on hand. They were SO delicious. Definitely buying this flavor when it comes out.

flapjackedWhile we were eating, we had a surprise visitor pop in…it was THE Justin of Justin’s Nut Butter!! He was such a down to earth guy and told us about how he started the company. It was so interesting! Definitely wasn’t expecting that, so it was super cool!

JustinsHe rode his bike to breakfast, which I thought was super cool.

As if I hadn’t had enough exercise, Detour Bar had planned a hike for us in the gorgeous flat irons! I had only known Detour Bars from their old formula, but get this: they’ve started coming out with a new line called Detour Simple bars that are filled with GOOD ingredients, and they’ve cut out most of the junk! I love companies that aren’t afraid to change. I think it shows that they are listening to their customers. Kudos to you Detour!!!

Back to the hike: This was one of the most gorgeous hikes I’ve ever been on! The views were breathtaking, the weather was PERFECT, and I had some good conversations with the folks from Quest (our main sponsor for the weekend), Arctic Zero, and one of my cabin roomies.

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chautauqua hike

After the hike, I was BEAT and promptly took a 2 hour nap. I felt like I had been hit by a bus after all of the workouts I’d done in the past 24 hours! We didn’t have anything planned for the group Saturday evening, so Tedi and one of our other roommates headed to Pearl Street in Boulder and grabbed some dinner. We went home early and again, I crashed out.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning was our last morning. We were up bright and early for some yoga on the grass, sponsored by Bhakti Chai. I was so sore and didn’t really push myself. Instead, I used it as a means to stretching my body out and it felt glorious. That’s what yoga is all about anyways right? We couldn’t have had better weather and it was nice to just sit under the sun and stretch out with my BLENDS.

yoga in boulder

We headed to the dining hall once more for some breakfast. This spread included GoodBelly probiotic drinks, Barbara’s Puffins cereal, egg frittatas, bacon, muffins made with baobest, and chia seed greek yogurt made by The Epic Seed. I didn’t eat quite as much as Saturday and ended up with an egg frittata, chia seed greek yogurt, bacon, and some fruit.

By the time we finished, it was time for us to pack up to go home. Tedi and I had an earlier flight, so we had to miss the closing ceremonies (boo!). Denver airport is no joke, so we didn’t want to risk missing our flight.

Overall, this was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time. I met SO many cool people, new blogger friends, amazing companies, and enjoyed a weekend in the mountains with great weather, views, and a breath of fresh air.

I’ll definitely be back next year, I just wish it was sooner!

Thanks again to the wonderful sponsors and a SPECIAL thank you to Janetha, Lauren, and Lindsay for putting together such an amazing retreat. You guys are amazing! I’m so glad I met all of you and I’ll see you next year!

20 Minute Sweatfest! {workout inside}

Hey guys!

I’m so glad the weekend is almost here! I’m getting over a little cold, and I want to just chill out and watch movies. Remember the good old days when you were sick and it meant that you were automatically excused of all responsibilities? Oh how I wish that were still the case! As an adult, being sick just means you feel like shit as you go through your normal daily tasks. Boo.

Today I was feeling a bit on the mend and decided to see how a workout would feel. Working out when I’m getting over being sick is a 50/50 risk I take. Sometimes I feel like it kicks me out of the sickness for good….other times it just makes me feel worse. I’m happy to say that I think I’m feeling better after this one! Fingers Crossed.

For this workout, you need a barbell, a kettle bell (or a dumbbell would work too), and a medicine ball. I used a regular 45 lb bar, a 12kg Kettle Bell and a 16 pound medicine ball, but use what works for you.

20 min sweat fest

This workout kicks my butt. I do it once per week for conditioning and it never fails!

After:

IMG_7926That’s my sweaty post-workout bathroom selfie inception photo. What do you ya think?

I’m spending the rest of my day getting a bunch of work done, finding some boxes (oh yeah, we’re moving!), and then going to hopefully relax and get the rest of this sickness OUT of my body.

Have a wonderful day peeps!

Question of the Day:

Do you work out when you’re sick?

 

xo,

Lizzy

Weekend Things + Booty Building Exercises!

Hey Friends!

I hope your Monday is off to a great start! I’m not quite ready for the weekend to be over, but what can ya do?

Weekend

Friday night, we went and saw one of the bands Charlie worked with at the W in Hollywood. I had never been there, and it was pretty cool! The event area is on the 12th floor, so the views were amazing!

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Saturday morning I headed to Temescal Canyon with my friend Tedi to catch up and sweat a little. It was hot out and we didn’t have a ton of time, so we only went about half way up and turned around to come back down.

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I sat on the couch and ate lunch/snacked a bit while watching Dick Van Dyke,

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and then got up the energy to go do a Chest workout.

I got home, showered up, and took a nap. I’ve been extremely exhausted lately and although I’m not usually a napper, I’ve been trying to sneak them in more often. Not being rested has so many bad effects on the mind and body, so I’m trying to be better about getting enough of it. If I’m unable to get enough hours of sleep during the night, I’m working on finding 20-30 minutes to nap at some point in the day.

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Shots, Shots, Shots!

Anyone ever gotten a B12 shot? My friend’s friend just opened up a clinic where she does all kinds of vitamin shots and IV’s. I went in last Wednesday and got a B12 + MIC shot. It’s supposed to help keep my energy up. I’ve actually felt a lot better since, and I ended up buying a package of 4 more. I’ll give me full opinion on how well I think it works (or not) after I use up all of my appointments. They suggested that I go in once a week and that the consistency helps, so we’ll see!

My Favorite Booty Building Exercises

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post for Chrissy atย  Snacking in Sneakers. It’s a topic that I’m constantly asked about, so I thought I’d share it here, too! Check out my Top 5 Best Butt Exercises for Building Glutes!

New blog post is up on FitLizzio.com. I'm on my soap box today talking about how you can stop saying I CAN'T....and start doing more than you thought possible....link in profile.

Questions of the Day:

1. What’s your favorite booty exercise?

2. Least favorite?

One Arm Rows, Workouts + OB Dog Beach WEEKEND!

Hey peeps!

This morning started as it always does…COFFEE! My family always laughs at me when I talk about coffee. Before I moved to LA, I HATED coffee with a passion. I thought the smell and taste was so awful, and I just couldn’t get on board with it.

Fast forward to living in LA…

You basically need coffee to live here. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but I just think it’s a “thing” here. It’s a busy city and since moving here, I’ve had a really busy life! I definitely found out quickly that I needed it when I moved here, and well…now I’m a total coffee snob. I’m picky about my coffee, I know what I like and I know what I don’t like and it just is kind of funny. Total 180!

Anyways…

This past weekend, Charlie, Oscar and I went down to OB in San Diego. Charlie found this great little hotel called the Ocean Villa Inn that not only allows dogs, but basically caters to dogs! There was a dog beach right behind the hotel, the rooms were dog-friendly, they had a dog-wash station on site, and each room had a back door that let out into yards for the dogs to play!

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The beach part was awesome! There were soooo many dogs running around, and there was a place for humans to lay out and relax as well. Oscar ran around through the ocean and sandy beaches, played with other dogs, and had a BLAST. I think he was upset when we had to leave on Sunday. He must have run around for 3 hours both Saturday and Sunday! I’d be lying if I said Charlie and I didn’t have a blast as well!

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We wore both ourselves and the pup out. At least one of us got to sleep on the ride home.

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One Arm Rows

When we got back on Sunday, I somehow roped Charlie into doing an upper body workout with me at the gym. This is the workout we did:

Superset – TRX Rows + KB Clean & Press

Superset – TRX Renegades + Lat Pulldowns

Superset – DB One Arm Rows + Plate Squat to Press

I took some video of the one arm rows (below)

I love this exercise because it really focuses the lats. Notice that I really get a good stretch at the bottom of the movement. This really helps to keep the lats engaged and helps me to pull from my lats, as opposed to from the arms.

Workouts for the Week

Here’s the tentative plan for the week:

Monday: Track Workout + Legs (DONE)

Tuesday: Paddle Boarding

Wednesday: Shoulders/Chest

Thursday: Conditioning + Legs

Friday: Back

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: Hike or some other active recovery ( TBD)

Questions of the Day

1. Are you a coffee drinker? snob? connoisseur?

2. Have you ever been paddle boarding?

Good, Good, Bad

Happy Wednesday!

It’s been quite a busy few days! I was in AZ this weekend for Celebrity Fight Night and drove back on Monday. I was able to get some work done on the drive back (I wasn’t driving), and went right into more work as soon as I got home. I can’t believe it’s actually already Wednesday, now that I think about it!

I thought it would be fun to anticonvulsants-info some of the good and bad from the last week, with a good, good, bad post where I highlight 2 good things and then a not so good thing. Here goes!

GOOD

I got to hang out with this cute kiddo this weekend,

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as well as his little brother (my newest nephew). I love, love, love hanging with them!

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Clearly, Oscar wasn’t getting enough attention haha!

 

GOOD

I got to celebrate my belated birthday this weekend with my family (my birthday was March 10th).

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My sister got me the BEST necklace I’ve ever owned for my birthday. It’s a necklace from Origami Owl and she put charms inside that represent me. She put a cup of coffee, a dog paw, a kettle bell, a heart that says “aunt”, a guitar, and my birth stone. To say I’m obsessed would be an understatement!

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BAD

I found out about I ticket I had from 2013 that never got paid and had to pay a BOAT LOAD to ensure my license would be in good standing. NOT COOL.

GOOD

I attended Celebrity Fight Night again this year and had a blast! Kelly Clarkson performed and was AMAZING, along with Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire, Josh Groban, and Ronny Dunn (Boot Scootin’ Boogie!!). Frank Caliendo also did his standup and OMG…it was hilarious. His impressions are so spot on, I could have watched his standup all night! I laughed to tears!

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GOOD

I got my pup and my mom’s pup together while I was in AZ and they were too cute! These two guys love eachother. We call Oscar mini-me because he’s SO much smaller than Knuckles.

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BAD

My diet has been all over the place and I haven’t been sticking to my macros as consistently as I’d like to. I’m maintaining my weight (it’s what I do best! lol), but I want to stop allowing stress to get in the way of my goals. It’s something I’m going to work on this month as a top priority.

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Question of the Day:

What is one good and one bad thing that happened this past week?

Things I’m Loving Lately, Workouts, and a Survey!

Woahhh! Long time no see, guys. Sorry for going MIA there for a few days. Life is BUSY right now and I’m just trying to ride the wave.

Things I’m Loving Lately

Track Workouts.

THISCLOSE to looking like  when I run. WINNING. One of my 50m sprints this morning.It’s more of a love/hate. They absolutely kill me, but I’ve been getting up every Monday morning and heading out to the track for a workout. It’s nice to get out in the sun and wake myself up with sprints and bleachers. My go-to right now is:

4 x 100 meter sprints

4 x 50 meter sprints

10 bleachers

My legs shake so much when I’m finished that I have trouble pushing the gas and brake. Good thing I only live 2 blocks away. ๐Ÿ™‚

This healthy chicken salad I made

This Chicken Salad was sooooo easy to make and sooooo delicious!!! Makes 4 Servings 2 cans White meat chicken in water 3 celery stalks 3 slices of red onion 1 small box raisins 2 dollops of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt  Mash the chicken, chop the veggies, add the raisins and mix together. Then add the greek yogurt and mix it in. I added fresh cracked pepper as well. ENJOY!!

It’s SO simple to make, and absolutely delicious. Here’s the recipe (makes 3-4 servings):

  • 2 cans white meat chicken in water
  • 3 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 small box of raisins
  • 3-4 slices of red onion, chopped
  • 2 dollops of plain greek yogurt (I use Fage 0%)
  • salt & pepper to taste

Mash up the chicken, and then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix it up, and then add the greek yogurt. Mash it all up again, and you’re DONE. It takes about 5-10 minutes to make this and then you have it on hand for a quick, healthy snack or part of a meal.

Working out at home using workouts straight from my ebook (not released yet)

COMING SOON + FitLizzio Presents Rockstar Fitness "Tour Edition" ~ Fitness for the Touring MusicianGreat way to get sweaty in 20 minutes with no equipment!

National Puppy day…and basically every day that I get to hang out with this guyNational puppy day.Workout Schedule

Here’s what my week looks like:

Monday: Track Workout + Back Workout

Tuesday: At Home Workout from the Rockstar Fitnessโ„ข ebook

Wednesday: Legs

Thursday: Conditioning + Shoulders/Chest

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Track Workout

Sunday: Hike

Fun Survey

I saw this on Carrots n’ Cake and thought it would be fun to do here as well.

Can you eat what you want or do you have to watch it?

I have to watch it if I want to lose weight. I can maintain pretty easily.

Do you want kids?

Maybe? I don’t know?

What are your favorite ways to pamper yourself?

I love getting acu massages!

Besides wine, do you have a go-to drink?

I don’t drink wine, but anyone that knows me knows that Kombucha is my JAM (specifically Trilogy!)

Do you have any health regrets?

No…I’ve learned from every step of my journey and I’m thankful for that.

Are you a yoga person?

NO.

What workout move do you loathe?

Bulgarian squats. i love/hate them. They are great, but they suck.

When do you feel sexy?

After a workout

Whenย do you feel your absolute happiest?

When I’m snuggling with my pup.

Q’s

1. What’s your favorite way to pamper yourself?
2. Are you a yoga person?

8 Ways to Find Time To Exercise on the BUSIEST Schedule

Good morning people!

Hopefully your day is going well. I’m working away and have a bunch of stuff to do with not much time in between. It got me thinking about busy days and how to find time to get exercise in.

One of the biggest excuses I hear from people about why they don’t exercise is that they just don’t have time. There are very few cases where that is ACTUALLY true. For the most part, there is a way to find time. It just takes some creativity…

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1. Get up an hour earlier. You can get a great workout in as little as 15-20 minutes (I save every workout I do and have hundreds that take just 15-20 min). Getting up an hour earlier will allow you to get an at-home workout in and still shower and get ready for your day.

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2. Get off Facebook and Social Media. We easily waste at least 30 minutes a day on social media. That time could be used to get a workout in. Less tweeting, more sweating!

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3. On Kid duty? Involve them in your workout. Take them to a park and play tag, set up an obstacle course for them to do while you’re doing your workout next to them, or use them as your weights. 2 year olds make a really good replacement for a medicine ball. ๐Ÿ™‚

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4. Instead of meeting a friend for coffee, meet them at the gym or at a park and workout together. I would say 75% of the time I’m hanging out with my friends, we meet up for a workout. It gives us a chance to catch up and get our fitness on all at the same time.

 

5. Schedule it into your day. It is extremely easy to let the day get away from you. If you make an appointment for your workout, it’s much easier to plan your day around it and make sure you get it in. We somehow find ways to get doctor appointments, pedicures, etc. into our day, so we can surely get a workout in if we plan for it. WORKOUT schedule BLANK

6. Plan your workouts for the week based on your busiest days. If you know that Mondays are super crazy for you at work, maybe that isn’t one of the days that you schedule a workout. Schedule them for the days that you’re more likely to be able to stick to that appointment. Don’t set yourself up for failure, make it as easy as possible to stick to your plan.

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7. Meal prep on Sunday so that you don’t have to take a lot of time putting together dinners each night (thus creating space in your schedule for a workout). Chop your veggies, cook up some chicken, beef, or other meat. Steam some rice. Prep whatever you’re able to prep in order to make putting your dinners together much easier.

8. Use your lunch break to workout, and bring your lunch to work. Most people get about an hour lunch break. Take 30 minutes of that to workout, and the other 30 minutes to clean up and look presentable to get back to work. I highly suggest getting some Shower Pill body wipes. Game changers I tell ya.

Q’s:

1. What is the biggest obstacle that gets in the way of your workouts?

2. Do you have any other tips for getting your workouts in on a busy schedule?

 

Track Workout + Leg Workout {videos}

Good morning friends!

How’s your Monday treating you so far? Mine’s been pretty productive so far, so I’m trying to continue on that wave. I have soooooo much to do this week (a few writing projects + regular work), so I’m trying to keep myself on track to finish it all.

I started my morning with a track workout that knocked me on my ass.

I seriously could barely walk afterwards. My legs were shaking and all I could think about was taking an ice bath.

Side note: If taking an ice bath sounds like a GOOD thing…you’ve officially kicked your own ass.

After the workout, I grabbed a coffee from my favorite place (it made my legs feel better, I swear), took a shower, iced my legs (because I didn’t have enough ice for a legitimate ice bath), and made breakfast.

I’ve been on the same kick lately: 1 egg, 1/2 cup egg whites, 1 slice of Ezekiel bread, and shredded cheese.

Pre leg workout meal. 1 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 slice Ezekiel bread, and some shredded cheese.

It’s so delicious and satisfying that I just can’t steer away from it yet! I’m sure in time I’ll get sick of it, but until then…it’s my go-to!

Leg Workout

Yesterday I did a leg workout that also got me pretty good.

I started with heavy squats (3 sets of 1-5 reps). Here were my numbers:

Set 1: 145 x 5

Set 2: 155 x 4

Set 3: 165 x 3

165x3...Here I go!

I haven’t squatted heavy in about 2 weeks, so I didn’t really try to push it too hard. I plan on hitting legs again later this week, so I may try to go heavier then.

The rest of my leg workout:

Deadlifts: 135 x 12, 145 x 12, 155 x 10

Walking Lunges: 50 x 15, 50 x 15

45* Hypers: 10 x 30, 10 x 30

Banded Hip Abductions: 10 reps leaning forward, 10 reps neutral, 10 reps leaning back for a total of 2 sets

Q’s:

1. Do you take ice baths? Have you ever?

2. What’s your go-to breakfast? (Maybe it will help me break out of my rut)

 

Friday the 13th, Conditioning, and a Birthday!

Good morning, friends!

Is it just me or have there been a LOT of Friday the 13th’s lately? Maybe I’m just noticing them more? Anyways, I kind of like it. ๐Ÿ™‚

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This morning I rolled out of bed to do some conditioning. It is sooo hard for me to get out of bed to workout these days. I can’t believe I used to work out at 5am every day! I’m sure if I tried, I could get back in that routine, but I actually really like my afternoon/evening weight lifting sessions too! Ah, getting older.

My Birthday

Speaking of getting older, I celebrated my 27th birthday on Tuesday. It was actually one of the best birthdays I’ve had in a while. I have the best friends, family, boyfriend and co-workers anyone could ask for. They made me feel super special!

IMG_7120I had to work on my birthday, but I took a break to get a great back workout in, too!

  • Pull Ups
  • T-Bar Rows
  • Cable Rows
  • Straight Arm Pulldowns
  • Close Grip Pulldowns

Birthday pull-ups! Kinda sloppy, but I'm working on getting these bad boys more strict. 3 sets of 4 today.It’s funny how simple things become much more fulfilling as you get older. I couldn’t think of a single gift I wanted this year, but just wanted to spend my day with the people (and furry creatures) I love, doing what I love…and I got just that!

IMG_7162I didn’t even get mad that Oscar tried to steal my balloon. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Anyways, back to today.

Here’s what I did for my conditioning:

KB Clean & Snatch Combo (4 sets of 8 reps each)

Barbell Complex (4 sets)

I’ll have a full post on barbell complexes in the next week. They are a GREAT way to get the heart rate up without having to do standard cardio. Stay tuned!

I’ve got a bunch of work to do today (it seems to just keep piling on), and then I’m headed to the studio tonight to set up for an all-day session tomorrow. It should be fun!

I’m really looking forward to Sunday to just relax a bit. I’m hoping to get a hike and/or leg workout in and then just lounge around the rest of the day. Sounds like a perfect day to me! ๐Ÿ™‚

In the works…

-I’ve got a few ebooks I’m working on at the moment that I can’t wait to release! Details to come soon!

Q: Do you hate the #13? Love it?

I love it!! I guess that’s the “metal” in me. ๐Ÿ™‚

 

Why I Write My Workouts Down {Monday Motivation}

Happy Monday people!!

I love Mondays! They are even better when I get my ass outta bed and get a workout in first thing in the morning. It is always soooo hard to get out of bed to do it (I hit snooze at least 6 times every Monday), but when I’m finished with the workout, I feel ready to take on the day.

This morning, I got up and headed to the track for a little something different. Last night, I wrote down what my workout would be (as I always do), so that I could just get up, throw on workout clothes and shoes, and just start doing.

Here’s what I did:

20 minute workoutMy goal was to do about 20 minutes of work, and I was in and out of there in 25 minutes (including my warm-up).

Brain Dump

I think I was on my 3rd or 4th bleacher when I started thinking about how f*&*ing hard this workout was and how much my legs were dying. This propelled me to start thinking about what i would do if I had just decided to “wing” my workout. I probably would have settled at 5 bleachers (because it was plenty) and gone home.

Since I had written out my workout beforehand, I knew that I had slated myself to do 10 bleachers, so I wasn’t going to quit until those 10 were done. (barring any injuries or my body being LITERALLY done).

It reminded me of the importance of having a plan. If you walk in without a plan, you’ll do as much as you can, work until it gets hard, and then probably go home.ย  Without a plan, it’s easier to talk yourself into just finishing when you feel like it. If you finish when you feel like it, it’s usually before you’ve really hit that hard sticking point. It’s that point when you want to quit and be done. Some days, that’s okay and I do believe in listening to your body, but if you’re trying to really make changes and achieve goals, quitting when you feel like it just won’t cut it. You need to push past the sticking point to really see progress. (at least that’s my opinion, others will have their own I’m sure).

If you go in with a plan, you’re more likely to stick to that plan. You’ll do those last few reps you thought you couldn’t do, and finish the final sets you didn’t think you could do, much like I did today at the track.

IMG_7079I hobbled away from the track today with my legs visibly shaking, but I completed the workout that I set for myself. It feels really good to want to quit, but to then push through and finish strong. I knew today would be a good day because of it.

Your Turn

I challenge you to start planning your workouts. Even if that means writing it in your car before you walk into the gym (which I do allllll the time), just set a goal for yourself, and complete that goal.

As always, check with a doctor before starting any new workout program and listen to your body. Learn the difference between pushing through a sticking point and pushing TOO hard. There is a difference and the more you workout, the more you’ll start to learn when to quit and when to push through.

Post-Track Workout Face

Post-Track Workout Face

Q’s:

1. Do you plan your workouts or just wing it?

2. Do you feel like you push through your “sticking point” or do you usually quit at that point?

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