“Let’s Begin! – A 2021 Check-In”

What are your top three priorities in your life?

Wow, it’s already March! How are those fitness resolutions going? I am sure that on January 1st, many of us set goals to work out every day, cut out sugar and bread, or even give up alcohol! What were your 2021 fitness and nutrition goals? How are you coming along with them? Have you started them and then found yourself stopping, or placing other priorities first? I know that can easily happen, and sometimes that’s okay. Our mental, physical, and emotional health should always be at the top of our priority list!

If you feel as if you fell off the bandwagon since Jan 1st, or you even been consistent but have grown bored with your routine, you can go back to my Crushing Fitness Part 2 blog post for some helpful tips to keep moving forward towards your fitness goals. Are you feeling stuck and haven’t really jump-started your routine for your fitness goals? If so, that’s quite alright! So many of us have goals and we even write down the plan to achieve them, but then sometimes the goals or the plan can feel overwhelming that we get in our own head, psyche ourselves out, get intimidated by others’ successes, and never begin. But hopefully, after you read this blog post you feel a little bit better, and you return to that goal list/written plan and you just simply GET STARTED.

When it comes to working out, here are a few helpful tips for the gym:

Pick Your Schedule

I can’t say this enough: JUST START! We shouldn’t get overwhelmed with the things we set out for ourselves to achieve. Especially when it comes to our overall health. We should feel good when we’re doing something to make us look, feel, and even be better. Me, when 2021 was approaching, I was coming from a 5-6 day workout schedule with CrossFit, to a whenever I can workout schedule at home, to a 5-6 day spin class schedule, back to whenever I felt like it I’d show up at the gym. I knew I needed a schedule that would keep me moving, help get me towards my goals, and show me some results. So I chose 3x a week. Simple. Quick. STARTED.

I have been very consistent with that goal, too! At first, I felt like I was cheating myself, or I wasn’t doing enough because others are doing 5 days a week and have smaller waists than me lol. But I had to remind myself that what I do (even outside of the gym) differs from what they do, and how I do it will differ from how they do it. Don’t compare your journey to others! And yall wouldn’t believe, that without even aspiring to do so, I sometimes would make it to the gym 4x a week! I would do 3 days of my own created workouts and find myself in spin class on Saturday for day 4. I think that helped with the mental component of remaining consistent.

In conclusion, when it comes to picking your schedule:

1. JUST START
2. REMAIN CONSISTENT
3. DON’T COMPARE YOUR JOURNEY TO OTHERS

Choose Your Muscle Groups

I am not a personal trainer nor a fitness guru. But I create my workouts based on what muscle groups I want to hit (and the internet provides so much information and guidance on how many times you should work out a muscle group to how you should workout said muscle group). Since I am between 3 and 4 workouts a week, with the 4th being a spin class which is usually lower body and cardio, it makes it easier for me to target a muscle group or two in my workout.

I keep it simple:

1. UPPER BODY
2. LOWER BODY
3. CORE

But I read somewhere online that we don’t need to do too many core workouts. We don’t need to spend a whole 45 minutes doing sit-ups and crunches. That’s because we use our core often in the other workouts we do; such as pushups, back squats, anything that requires remaining stable or holding something over your head. So technically, your core probably gets some work in daily. But, I do try to include 1 workout a week that has some core-specific movements. And just like one of my key tips from my Crushing Fitness Part 2 post, I always make sure to write down my workouts. It helps me SEE what I’m doing and how often I’m doing it.

Here are a few examples of some of my created workouts that target specific muscle groups for that week. And as you’ll see, some of the workouts target a little bit of everything lol.

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Choose Your Time Commitment

I chose the gym to be one of the first things I do in the mornings. It took me a couple of weeks to get there, but I am now used to waking up around 6:00am and getting to the gym around 6:30am. I like to keep my workouts around 40 minutes in length. And if you think about it, if you’re not distracted, you are getting in the same amount of work as those who spend over an hour at the gym. BUT, we are NOT comparing ourselves 🙂 I don’t pick up my phone a lot, and I don’t spend a lot of time trying to record my workouts. And having the workouts written out the night before allows me to go in, go directly to the machine or grab my equipment, get to work, and get out. I always feel challenged and all-around GOOD after my workouts, so I guess I’m doing it the right way!

It’s okay to get in and out! It’s all about how YOU feel afterward. After a week or so, are your body parts sore? If not, then maybe increase the weight or the reps. Our muscles do not need a lot of training and do not need to be trained every day. They actually need time to heal and recover in order to get stronger (proper nutrition and rest help with the recovery). Building muscle burns fat. It’s not all about cardio, because that burns calories. It has to be a healthy mix of cardio + muscle training + eating well (which your “well” can differ from someone else’s!) Feel free to use some of the workouts/movements I posted above!

Here are a few different styles of workouts:

1. EMOMS: “every minute on the minute.” Pick your time length. Then, pick 2-4 movements that you think you can complete in about 45 seconds each. At the top of every minute you complete that movement, and at the top of the next minute you complete the next movement, etc. For example, for one of my cardio days, I did a 12-minute EMOM of 10 calories on the rower and 10 burpees. That means for 6 rounds I alternated between 10 calories on the rower and 10 burpees. Round 4 I was definitely feeling it!
2. AMRAPS: “as many rounds as possible.” Pick your time length. Then, pick a few movements that you want to repeat. For that time period, you will go through your workout and keep repeating it until the time is up. For example, for a full-body workout, you can do a 20-minute AMRAP of 10 pushups, 15 squats, and 20 sit-ups. You’ll keep repeating that sequence until the 20 minutes are up, and BOOM you just worked out every muscle group!
3. Sets + Reps: I think this is more of the norm. You have your selected muscle groups and the number of movements you want to do. You go to a machine and you do 3 or 4 sets of 10-20 reps, with a short rest between sets. Then you move on to your next machine or movement. Some of the workouts I shared above are like that!

Intense Cardio vs. Strictly Strength

I try to do 1 heavy cardio day a week. And I like to switch up my cardio – I do not like running, but I can tolerate it for 1 day. I might walk/jog on the treadmill for 20+ minutes then go do a core workout. The walking helps to break up the monotonous feeling of being on the treadmill for 20+ mins, anddd I can’t run for a straight 20+ minutes anyway lol. It ends up making it a HIIT (high intensity, interval training) workout that burns fat. I also incorporate the rower a lot. Both on my intense cardio days or even on my regular workout days. I LOVE THE ROWER. It gets the heart rate up, arms are going, legs are pumping, core is being used. I also like to jump rope as a form of cardio, and YES even burpees. Long stints of cardio like running or the elliptical can get boring and requires a lot of endurance. But shorter “sprint-like” cardio such as jumping rope and burpees, I think, burn the same amount of calories/fat but in less time. Again, it’s like HIIT.

Here is an example of a cardio day without running!

Some days I go into the gym and I have my muscle group chosen and I’m going to pick 4-6 movements of that muscle group and then I’ll do 3-4 rounds of 10-15 reps and that’s my workout. Remember, muscle burns fat. I am also not trying to bulk up, so I keep my weights on the lighter side such as 5s, 10s, and 15s. And if it’s a barbell movement, I have no desire to lift the amount of weight I used to lift when I did CrossFit. Your muscles are being targeted, used, and worked. Depending on your goals, it doesn’t have to be heavy!

At the Gym vs. At Home

COVID is still real. The pandemic is still happening. Some gyms are still closed. I get all of that, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t get a workout in! You saw some of the workouts I do in the examples I posted above, or even if you follow me on Instagram. (If you don’t yet follow me, you should!) Many of them can be done at home, especially if you own a pair of dumbbells! Going to the gym helps ME stay on track and consistent, so you have to figure out what helps YOU.

Here are a few body-weight movements that require little to no equipment and you’ll definitely feel the burn!

1. UPPER BODY: pushups, plank holds (all of em!), tricep dips with hands on couch or chair, arm circles, shoulder taps, pull-ups if you have space. And if you have dumbbells or even gallon jugs: curls, shoulder presses, tricep extension, reverse flies.
2. LOWER BODY: squats, jump squats, lunges, calf raises on stairs, booty band walks with resistance bands (I got some for $6 at TJ Maxx!), donkey kicks with resistance bands, good mornings with resistance bands, step-ups on a sturdy surface, wall sits.
3. CORE: sit-ups, crunches, more planks!, v-ups, hollow holds, supermans, Russian twists, heel touches, ab roller if you have one. And if you have a yoga ball, sit-ups on yoga ball, yoga ball passes from hands to feet. And if you have a kettlebell, kettlebell swings are a good core and upper body workout, and even a little cardio!

There you have it folks! That’s how I’ve been able to maintain my 2021 fitness goal of “workout consistently.” Just like I stated in my Crushing Fitness Part 2 post, I got a good accountability partner and group! One of my good friends is up early (way earlier than me) and we check in on each other every morning to make sure we got our butts to the gym. I promise you, having that extra nudge helps get you out of your own head, get you out of bed, and get you to that gym! I hope this post was helpful for you to get started. Don’t feel guilty about starting now vs. January 1st. Health and wellness are lifestyle journeys. The important thing is that you got up and you got started!

I’ll be checking in with you again shortly!

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” — Genesis 1:1, NKJV.

Moni Jay, Off the Record