New Website Reveal + More Nutritious Movement
I have been so excited to let you know that my rebranded website is up and running! I can’t believe I haven’t yet shared it with you, but I want to say a huge thank you to Shannon at Quinlan.Mack for doing an amazing job – I definitely recommend her as she took my thoughts and ran with them, leaving me with a website I am very happy with! I gave her loose ideas, a budget and a few concepts and she made quick time to transfer my blog, change the look of my site, and keep it user-friendly for me – I hope you guys like it too!
Most of the photos were taken by Jeremey Fokkens who did an awesome job capturing me in my element at CityFit and outside, and I”m finally putting his photos to good use!
Today I wanted to share about short and sweet workouts. You guys know I’ve tried a variety of workouts in the past and love everything from kettle bells to barbell training to bodyweight exercises. But lately I’ve been loving lots of short workouts and have been trying to fit more movement into my day apart from those workouts, inspired by this post from Gina The Fitnessista who was herself inspired by Katy Bowman. I loved reading Gina’s thoughts and how she has changed her life to be more active and it lead me to check out more of Katy’s work. On Katy’s “About Me” section of her website there is a great video about movement, life, the way we sit and work, eat and dress and about ways we are sedentary even when we’re moving because of our culture today.
She shares in the video how we are missing “nutritious movements,” and I love this concept because it’s so true; we know now that even people who work out up to three times a week are still too sedentary. Little things I’ve been doing include making sure my chin and neck aren’t thrust forward but instead are pulled slightly back, keeping my neck long and in alignment with my body, taking the long way to or from work while I walk, and using my time in between clients to foam roll, use a lacrosse ball, or work on a few stretches or glute activation exercises. I am typically so tired when I get home but I’m trying to make more of a practice of standing instead of sitting while I type out emails, programs or invoices and always feel good when I do!
So – more NUTRITIOUS movement and less workouts-in-the-gym only. It is a real mindset shift from only doing work in the four corners of the gym, and while I love getting outside for kayaking, backcountry skiing and walks, it’s still easy to view my workouts as my workouts and not have a boarder perspective with my movement.
That being said, here’s a peek at the type of movements I’ve been doing in the gym lately:
Combo exercises:
Here’s a great example above – a curl and press plus bent over row where you add 1 row to each round you do, starting at 1 rep and moving to 8. Oh man, did this give me a great pump and blasted my arms in a short amount of time! These kind of compound movements or combinations of different exercises really help keep you accomplish a lot quickly and require core stability to keep you strong throughout the movement.
Short, focused sets:
I’ve been enjoying adding in little leg workouts or arm workouts that take 10-30 minutes and are effective, like this one lasting anywhere from 2-4 rounds:
20 forward walking lunges
20 reverse walking lunges
30 forward bear crawls
30 reverse bear crawls
10 curtsy lunges + lateral leg raise/side
Getting inspired from other fit friends:
Sometimes, when I’m not following a program (like right now), I turn to friends online for some fitness inspiration, and they are always full of great ideas! Some of my favorites include workouts from Kindal via her website and Jess from her Instagram page! I’ve also been doing some of the CrossFit Open workouts, which you can find (and modify if needed) online here.
One and done! I tried my hand at CrossFit’s 17.1 workout, which is:
10 DB Snatches (alternating arms, 35# women, 50# men)
15 Burpee-to-Box-Jump Overs
20 DB Snatches
15 Burpee-to-Box-Jump Overs
30 DB Snatches
15 Burpee-to-Box-Jump Overs
40 DB Snatches
15 Burpee-to-Box-Jump Overs
50 DB Snatches
15 Burpee-to-Box-Jump Overs
Whew! That was a burner. My lungs were exploding right away (those 35# dumbbells are no joke!), but I felt pretty accomplished afterwards, and that is one of the best feelings ever!
Jen Sinkler is also doing a 30 Days of Kettlebells challenge and I get daily kettlebell workouts in my inbox! I love it and am doing the Tuesday workout today. Short and sweet and I will probably add something else before or after it too.
So just a little update on how I’m moving these days! I’d love to hear if you’re going through a program or working in any specific vein in your training lately – and feel free to share a workout in the comments below, too! Have a great week, friends! Live well & be well,
Bonnie