Tuesday nights I teach Turbo Kickboxing.I set up my Hybrid so that a longer Turbo Fire workout would fall on Tuesdays (as well as giving me Sundays off), so my class falls nicely into my schedule.Turbo, truly, is my “soul-mate” workout.It’s the workout I crave.I’ve done other Beachbody programs, and while I truly love them ALL, Turbo is in my blood.I always seem to come back to this workout.This workout never seems like “work” to me…it’s always a party!
Wednesday – well, my husband surprised me with tickets to go see the Ducks hockey game in Anaheim.The seats were sa-weet!2 rows from the glass!It was awesome.Because of the game, I wasn’t able to get my workout in.No worries.My schedule is “flexible” so I’ll just move all my workouts up a day and won’t take a Rest Day on Sunday.
There’s a lesson to be learned here: go with the flow.You’ve committed yourself to 90 days of clean eating and daily workouts, carefully following the program as it’s laid out for you.But, as any of the Celebrity Trainers will tell you, you’ve got to make it work for YOU; otherwise you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.It’s ok to have a cheat meal, or maybe even a cheat day.And it’s certainly ok to take a Rest Day (I’m talking to you Kari!).The problem lies when it becomes a daily thing.It’s so easy to fall off track, but harder to get back on the longer you’ve been off.This goes for fitness and nutrition.It’s a slippery slope.
Moral of the story…it’s ok to go with the flow, but don’t stay off the boat for too long. ;)
Do you know what I love most about this Hybrid program I'm following? Other than it being 2 of my most favorite formats with my favorite TBB Trainer, I love the flexibility I have with this Hybrid program.
Last night was an excellent example of how I was able to make my workouts work for me:
I live in Southern California, South Orange County to be precise (same area where the Real Housewives of Orange County reside, but they don't represent the REAL Orange County, but that's another post for another time) so we have pretty decent weather most of the year. But every once in awhile we'll get a freak storm. Yesterday was our freak rain storm. It had been raining off and on all day, but when I pulled up at home after work yesterday, the sky decided to open up and literally POUR rain down just as I stepped out of my car. Seriously. Didn't matter that I had an umbrella...I was SOAKED! So, I started my workout late, which threw my schedule completely off.
Luckily, because the Hybrid I'm following is totally flexible, I was able to get my HITT 15 and Stretch 10 workouts done before the rest of my family came home, and finished with Burn 2 once the baby went down, before dinner was ready. BTW - my "baby" is 15 months old, so he's moving into the "Toddler" stage, but he'll always be my baby, awwww.... ;)
Last night was actually the first time I've tried HIIT 15, or any HIIT workout for that matter. And, to be honest, I was a little scared. Could I push myself as far as I needed, in the short amount of time that the workout allows? Did I have it in me? When Chalene mentioned we'd be doing 3 HIIT workouts, 3 times each, I thought OMG, there's no way!
I had nothing to worry about! Chalene kept the chorography simple and not at all complex, and each HIIT was relatively short. But, the intensity was insane! It was such a great workout and it left me wanting more and full of energy. Definitely helped me get through the rest of the night with dinner, showers and homework. Loved it!
Burn 2 - one of my favorites. Tons of squats with bicep and tricep work. And, the Bowlers Lunges with Rows? HELLO!?!? I use these when doing the Legs Section of my Turbo Kick classes I teach Tuesday nights and they always pull out the "Ooooohhhhh"'s from my class members, which means they WORK!
So, I'm going to recap my weekend in 1 post...the holidays are HARD! LOL! Seriously though, doing a dedicated fitness program during the holiday season is tough, but doable. All the candy, cookies, holiday parties and FOOD that's tempting you everywhere you turn - it’s difficult to resist a taste, but reminding myself of my commitment and knowing that indulging will only make me sluggish during my workouts, and ultimately delay my results, have been my weapon of choice.
Friday was an awesome workout. I was FULL of energy and my calorie burn was through the roof. And I thoroughly enjoyed the extra 10 mins of stretch because I was sore from the Yoga earlier in the week.
Saturday I hit a wall, a solid brick wall. 6 days of straight, kick ass, mega calorie burn workouts took a toll and I was only able to get the 30 mins of Burn 1 complete. I pushed so hard during Burn 1 than I was completely spent and needed some Results and Recovery Formula to bring me back to life.
Burn 1 was great. A ton of upper body work, specifically working on the shoulders. I've read reviews online about CLX before and people were complaining that there was too many shoulder exercises. I couldn't disagree more. I think shoulders are beautiful when well defined, on both men AND women, so I say BRING IT ON, Baby!
The exercises in Burn 1 are great foundational exercises, one's that stress the importance of developing a strong core. And, without a strong core, you're really setting yourself up for potential injury, poor posture, etc. You need a strong core in order to assist you with exercises to develop other muscles. It all begins with the core, and I'm thankful that Chalene stresses this importance in all of her exercise videos.
Sunday - does anyone else feel like they're cheating on their Rest Day, or is it just me? I always feel like I'm cheating on my workout by taking a Rest Day. Rest Days are SO IMORTANT - they help with muscle recovery and repair, and muscle growth, and are good for the mind and soul. But, after 6 straight workouts, I kinda feel like I'm being lazy when I don't do anything on a Rest Day.
I scheduled my start date so that my Rest Days would fall on Sundays, since this is our Family Day of the weekend, the day we run errands, clean the house, go grocery shopping, and spend quality time as a family. But, I think I'm going to have to do some sort of stretching on my Rest Days to make my subconscious feel better. The guilt of not working out wasn't worth it. :)
WOW! Did I need this workout! Seriously, perfect timing for a nice break. Break? HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's what I THOUGHT!
DUDE! D-U-D-E! 20 mins of straight Core work = LOVED IT! 40 mins of Stretching, I wish! ;) It was 40 mins of Chalene-style Yoga. Not quite PiYo (her mind/body strength gym program) but just as intense and tough.
DUDE!
First off, I'm not a Yoga person. I'm not a "knock on the door of You"-kinda gal. So not me. But Chalene's version of Yoga isn't like that, AT ALL. Very similar to YogaX in P90X. Focusing on breathing, grounding yourself, stretching your muscles all the while building strength and flexibility. It was a challenge, but I LOVED IT!
What I loved most was that my 6 year old daughter joined me last night for some Mommy & Me Yoga. It was great to spend the extra time with her, teach her a few things about fitness and explain parts of her body to her, names of muscles, what those muscles do, and why stretching is so important. Besides spending extra one-on-one time, what I loved about doing Yoga with her was that I was showing her (not just telling, showing is SO much more convincing) that fitness and living a healthy lifestyle is a daily thing.
She knows HOW to work out, heck, she's been working out with me since conception. But learning the importance of physical activity is what we're working on. Teaching her that daily physical activity is just as important as brushing your teeth is a life lesson that will set her up for success as she grows up. In addition, we're working on helping her identify when she's hungry, vs. eating because she's bored, and how to make healthy food choices. My heart skips a beat when she asks for a healthy snack saying, "This will help fuel my body". Awesome!
So, for me, last night’s workout didn't just benefit my physical fitness. Together we were laying the foundation to a healthy life for our family.
I'm not following the traditional hybrid schedule in the Turbo Fire guide, I'm doing my own. I'm a busy mom, I have a busy schedule. From family duties, to working full time, to teaching group fitness classes, to running our at home business...I'm busy, B-U-S-Y! So I needed to adjust the hybrid program to work for ME and MY schedule.
Day 3 was great! I'm always a little sore the day after I teach a Turbo Kickboxing class at the gym because I go all out and give it my all during the class, so I was expecting some soreness. Wasn't anything I wasn't able to push through.
I really liked this combo together:
Fire 30 + Burn 3
Burn 3 is full of lower body workouts, which was great right after a 30 min Turbo class. It was tough, not gonna lie, but I enjoyed the challenge of pushing through and felt a sense of accomplishment afterwards. And, I always welcome any chance I get to stretch. Ahhh, just thinking about the stretch puts my body at easy.
I highly suggest NEVER skipping the chance to stretch after working out. First, this is the optimum time for stretching. Your muscles are nice and warm and elastic. Secondly, stretching helps with your flexibility and helps to prevent injury. And finally, stretching forces you to ground yourself, I'm not talking literally, because you're usually laying on the ground, but it helps your mind focus on what your body, what you've just accomplished and helps bring clarity to your thoughts.
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