“Keep It Up!”

How are those fitness journeys going?

Wow! It’s November already! I know half of us skipped Halloween and started thinking about Christmas and probably already have our Christmas tree up lol. The holidays seem to bring a sense of togetherness, joy, and REST. That’s what they do for me. It gets colder outside, I want to do nothing but curl up on my couch in some sweatpants with a good movie or book. The holidays are great and quickly roll into a brand new year (don’t get me started on how 2022 is just around the corner!).

Anddd we know, with a new year comes new year resolutions, anddd one of those resolutions is usually something fitness or health-related. Most people reset their workout button, want to hit the gym 3 days a week, try Whole30 or paleo for a month, or even give up alcohol. (I may just be mentally exhausted right now, but I do not plan on having any “2022 resolutions” or goals. I have some things I am currently working on right now that will most likely come to fruition within the next year, but I’m not creating a physical list that is set to start on January 1st if you know what I mean!). All of those goals are great! But we don’t have to wait until January to get started on them.

The holidays are right around the corner, with the holidays come great meals and cold weather. So, what can we do to keep up our fitness journeys?! Well, fun fact, a few months ago I started leading the virtual workout my church engages in once a week. We call it ChurchFit! My church started this at the beginning of the pandemic, and every Tuesday at 7pm we workout together on Zoom and it’s usually streamed live on Facebook. I lead the workout every other Tuesday, and let me tell you, it was a challenge trying to create workouts that are effective, use no equipment, and are done pretty much standing the entire time. We want to make sure the workouts can be done by everyone who joins the call!

So, for some of us who may not have gym memberships and it’s getting too cold to go for long walks, I will share with you some movements I like to do during ChurchFit that really get the blood flowing and target many muscles. They’re all low-impact and require zero equipment!

Jumping Jacks — great for cardio, works the shoulders and the calves.

Jogging In Place — another great cardio movement and the higher you lift your knees, the more you work your calves and quads.

Heisman — keep the heart rate up by targetting the glutes, hip flexors, quads, and hamstrings.

Squats or Squat Jumps — we all love a good squat and it works probably one of the most important muscles, the glute! Haha, and adding a jump once again gets our heart rate up without having to go outside to run!

Lunges — if you have hand weights at home, add them! Lunges target the glutes, hamstrings, and calves, and you can do front lunges, reverse lunges, and side lunges.

Calf Raises — self-explanatory, finish off of good leg workout with some calf raises.

Glute Kick Backs — another self-explanatory movement, stand up, keep the core tight, kick back your leg and squeeze your glute!

Kicks — so, when I think of core work, I immediately think of situps, crunches, or planks. But, when I started leading ChurchFit, I realized a lot of the workouts were done standing upright rather than getting down on the floor on a yoga mat. I was challenged at first, but I learned that kicks such as front kicks and side kicks target the abs and the obliques without having to get down on the ground!

Knee Tucks — another core movement that helps strengthen the abs and obliques. Knee to the alternate elbow. Side knee tucks. Quick knee tucks to also get the heart rate up.

Woodchoppers — if you have hand weights, use them! This movement activities the muscles in your shoulders and your core, especially your obliques.

Arm Circles — front, back, big, small.

Punches — you can do alternating punches such as jabs, rotating quick punches. Whatever to get those muscles moving and working!

Jumping, moving forward, backward, sideways. We may not have any weights or do the traditional push-up or sit-up, but I promise you, we WORK HARD! 7pm is usually that time of day when you get home after a long day of work, don’t want to do much, but once you get your body moving, you can literally feel the stress of the day roll off your shoulders and your mind become clearer. Even though some of the movements may be repeated weekly, I like to always switch up the repetitions or the time of each movement. For example, this past week I chose 4 movements, we did them for 1 minute each, and repeated that sequence 4 times! Sometimes, I do 12-15 reps per movement or change up how long we work and how long we rest. There is always a warmup and a cool down. We get in a good workout in those 30 minutes and I’m blessed to be able to be a part of the church crushing their fitness journeys!

ChurchFit November 9, 2021
Warm-up (2:00)
1:00 each:
4 High Knees Each Leg, 2 Squats
Reverse Lunge, Front Kick (:30 Each Leg)
Squat, 2 Side Steps, 2 Calf Raises
Side Kick, Alternating Knee Tuck
Rest :30
Cool Down (2:00)

Join us in the next ChurchFit on Tuesday at 7pm on Timothy Baptist Church’s Facebook page!

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” — Hebrews 10:24-25, NKJV.

Moni Jay, Off the Record