Three YouTube Workouts to Do This Weekend

Happy Friday! To all those who came to the blog yesterday and found no new post, I am sorry. My day started early and I did not even think about a post until it was far too late to write. Usually, there are a few extra posts laying around for the uploading in case of a situation like that, but after Greece, I am all tapped out. I guess we all know what my next week will be full of ;)

Anyway, to make up for it, I will be writing a special post on Sunday all about my first GRIIT class. It was so fun and there will be plenty of calorie counting and heart rate monitoring along with a run down of why (or why not) to try it out! For now though, we have a few YouTube videos that I found this week and have either been dying to try or just plain love.

A Capoeira Workout!

Ok, we have all seen those crazy Brazilian fight/dancers. They have incredible muscle tone and now we can too! This is a great online intro video to Capoiera that is sure to get your heart pounding! It also just looks like fun. Like A LOT of fun!

Look Good Naked Workout

This is a ballet workout but I just get a kick out of the name. Hehehe. If you are wanting to work the upper thighs, inner thighs, and bum, you should try this. Ballet is a great workout for your core and arms as well. This one is a bit of a ballet mix so you will get some non-ballet elements to kick-up that muscle growth. This is one I would recommend to people who maybe have a harder time building muscle and do not want a major cardio sequence.

10-Minute Bum Workout

The bum is my absolute favorite area to work and, also, the one of my biggest problem spots. Do you remember when you were young and gravity had no impact on your body? Yea, me too. Ha! However, in this bod's defense, there is also waaayyyy less ballet going on and that seemed to give me the best bum ever.

Thankfully, we have workouts like these that bring in elements from dance and cardio workouts so you get the best benefits. It is also by Kelly Ripa and Sarah Jessica Parker's trainer. Not too bad.

Happy Halloween and A Great Running How To

Happy Halloween!! Do you have any plans for the night? So far, I think ours include a night at home where I force the hubs to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas yet again. But really, how can anyone resist This is Halloween? I don't know. Unfortunately, we live right next to a massive shopping complex so all the cute kiddos go there for candy instead of our place. The first year we learned this the hard way and ended up with a very anticlimactic first Halloween in our new place and a MASSIVE bowl of candy. Being the kind person that I am, we pawned most of it off to our front office. Those poor girls got so much Halloween candy.

Now that the Halloween bit is over, let's talk running! I recently came across (and by I , I mean the hubs showed me) this YouTube channel all about running. The Ginger Runner has tons of great tips for runners out there and he is an untra-marathoner himself. Pretty great! This video gives some great tips for running at night, but he also goes a bit above and beyond the norm for it. I would definitely recommend watching it whether you are an ultra runner yourself, or are just getting your toes into the running world. Heck, even watch it if you want to live vicariously through an ultra-marathoner. His tips are pretty darn great!! Let me know how the video helped you as well :)

Happy Halloween and TGIF!!

A Squatastic Wake-Up Challenge

Good morning! I hope your day has started off right! If you are still feeling a bit sluggish or the idea of conquering your pillow sounds between than conquering that to-do list, this morning challenge should help. I have been doing this challenge every morning for over a week now and LOVE IT. It is simple, quick, and let me tell you, it is effective. As you may have figured from the title above, this weeks challenge is all about the squat. For this challenge, you will be doing 99 squats in 3 different varieties.

Of course, this challenge can be done at any time during the day, but I find mornings to be best. The squats get your blood pumping and your morning started without feeling like you just ran 5-miles. Plus, doing this simple exercise in the morning will make it more likely for you to workout again later on in the day. And, for all you over-achievers out there, I recommend doing this more than once. That's right, try fitting in some squats throughout your day and see how it helps your energy and your bum. I did this a lot while we were traveling and it seriously helped me not feel so achy during and after flights.

Crunch Challenge

This challenge sounds much easier than it actually is. There was once a time that I thought crunches were some of the easiest things in the world, then, my ballet teacher taught me how to complete a real crunch. I was able to complete three. The next day I could not believe how sore my abs were from such a simple thing.

To do a proper crunch, begin with your back on the ground in sit-up position. Hands should be behind the head and the lower back should be resting on the ground. Your first crunch will be a little different from all the others since this is the only one where the upper back will be touching the ground... To complete them, only use the contraction of the abdominal muscles to lift the torso off the ground.

Once the torso is off the ground, keep the abs contracted for a few moments, then slowly lower so everything below the shoulder blades is on the ground and everything above the shoulder blades is still lifted. Then,start the whole process over again keeping the upper body off the ground. If you can do ten, you are doing quite well! If you do more than five and are not quite feeling it, you may need to re-evaluate what muscles are being worked and how the crunch could be tweaked.

So, how many can you do?