Working Out At Home

Here’s the difference between working out at home and working out at a gym: 

At a gym, the people around you hold you accountable. You have the person next to you who you can silently compete with, you have the friend in the class who makes sure you’re going to be there, and you have a community.

That community gives you energy, it motivates you to show up, and gets you excited (even on the smallest level) to do the work.

At home, YOU have to hold YOU accountable. 

That is such a hard thing for people. Myself included. When I started working out at home after I had my daughter, it was SO hard to stay motivated. I missed the energy of the class, not the competitive nature, but just being around other people and having them join me in getting stronger.

It made it super easy for me to quit on an interval when I only had a few seconds left, or skip an exercise because I didn’t want to do it.

When I started noticing that I was doing that, I seriously checked myself. Granted, things didn’t change overnight, but I started reflecting on why I would waste my own time when my time was so limited.

Knowing that I didn’t have a lot of time to workout, I gradually stopped half asking my work. I started becoming competitive with myself. I started drawing inward to find the motivation I needed to keep pushing so I could become stronger.

It wasn’t always cute and definitely wasn’t comfortable, but over time, I began to rely on myself for my own accountability instead of the people around me.

How will you show up when no one else is watching?

Grab Your Dumbbells!

$0.00

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Grab the workout below to show yourself your strength.

Pyramid AMRAP

5 minutes

Start with 2 reps of each exercise

Increase by 2 reps on each exercise until the 5 minute mark

Rest for one minute

Start where you left off, and work back down to 2 reps of each exercise

Reverse fly

Hang clean

Reverse lunges

Have Kids They Say...

I was never the mom who wore the destruction of my body from having a baby as a badge of honor.

Labor is hard. Even when it goes smoothly, the transition into parenthood is like being initiated into a thunder dome. It tries even the strongest of people and it’s something no one else can understand unless they’ve been through it themselves.

I remember prior to having my daughter, telling my husband that even on the toughest days, I was going to shower. I wasn’t going to be one of those new moms who went days without brushing her teeth or taking a shower or changing my undies.

Even if I had no time for the kind of selfceare I would want to have, I would have time for something small like a shower.

I didn’t want what happened during labor, how quickly it spiraled out of control and how difficult it was after to become an excuse for me.

I didn’t want the newborn phase and the pure exhaustion and elation that came with it to be an excuse to let myself go.

I knew that if I went there, it was a slippery slope for me neglecting myself, and that neglect would lead to my chronic pain kicking in.

I also knew, that for me, if I went there, I wouldn’t lose the baby weight and eventually that last 10 pounds of baby weight would just be 10 extra pounds of weight.

It wasn’t a reason for me to give up on my body or how I looked in my clothes.

It was, frankly, another injury I needed to overcome.

With love 💗 , care, and a whole lot of f-ing patience. Not just with myself, but with my new schedule of having a newborn 👶 , and with the physical capabilities OF my body.

This is what I learned through that process: 

Change comes from challenge but the challenge needs to be realistic. You have to meet your body where it’s at, without judgment or criticism, in order to push yourself to get the change.

Respecting your body and honoring it will get you change. Your body will respond to that love and support.

Trying to meet an unrealistic expectation for your life, your body, or where your head’s at, is only going to end in disappointment.

I also know that figuring out how to do this for yourself is overwhelming af.

Not just because you don’t have the time to figure it out because you don’t even know where to start.

But start you MUST so you can feel better. You deserve to figure it out because you deserve to feel better and to step into your own power and strength.

Ask for help, use the resources at your disposable to get you there, and don’t forget to take a deep breath. Change is a gradual shift, but it will happen as long as you continue to take steps forward.

You're it Babe

The only one who’s going to make sure you achieve your fitness goals is YOU.

Here’s the thing with fitness: I can teach you skills all the live long day. I’m freaking good at teaching skills. I can get your body to do the hard exercise and to do the thing, because I have honed my OWN skills of teaching people how to do hard things.

While I can teach skills, I can’t teach heart. I can’t teach you to want getting in shape and feeling better for yourself. I can’t teach the hustle of showing up to show yourself you’re strong.

That’s completely on you.

I know the one time you’re thinking you would actually ask for help, it won’t really do a whole lot. Even when you hire a coach, the work is still ultimately up to you.

The people I train who get the transformation they’re wanting, the one they crave so much they can taste it and the one they don’t tell anyone else about, are the ones who know that whatever happens is their doing.

They’re over making excuses as to why working out is on the back burner, they prioritize their health with the knowledge that everything else will get done. But their health is their priority. 

Most importantly: they show up especially when they don’t want to show up.

Those days when they would rather lay on their couch, they’re doing the work. When they’re tired, when they’re not motivated, when they’re over it, they’re showing up.

They know that even with the support they have, the choices they make are ultimately their own and achieving their goals is ultimately up to them.

It’s that simple. 

Not every workout is going to be easy, not every workout will be your best, and that’s ok. Because in those no so awesome moments is where you truly build your strength and where you show yourself that you are WORTH achieving your goals.

What matters more is continuing to show up and to put in the effort even when the going gets tough or things don’t go as planned. That doesn’t mean it’s always going to be pretty but it does mean that you will progress because you’ll be consistent. 

My Pro Tip for establishing those consistent habits? Make appointments with yourself in your calendar like you would for the doctor or to get your haircut. Then don’t cancel. You wouldn’t cancel those other appointments so why would you cancel on yourself? Then keep doing that until showing up becomes second nature.

Try it for a month, then message me and let me know how it went and how much better you feel.

Can I Just Get 5 Minutes by Myself PLEASE?

In fairness, most of the time I make this comment out loud to the dog who is my constant shadow, and not my human.

I mean I’m not complaining…but…GOOD LAWD #momlife is a lot.

I am an introvert by nature. Well a socialized introvert. I realize I can’t live my life by myself and I need to be around people to adult effectively. 

I knew when I became a mom that I would basically have someone on me all the time. I read all the articles about moms having over stimulated central nervous systems because someone was always touching them, and how that impacted their relationships because once that little person was asleep for the night, the last thing they wanted was to be touched.

I know my alone time would be going away.

What I didn’t anticipate was that it would be gone for much longer than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I love being an active participant in my household. I get a lot of satisfaction out of taking care of my people, sometimes I just need to be by myself. 

Some people hide out in their bathroom or their closet, for me, it’s the garage gym. Every being in my house knows when Mommy is in the garage, if it’s not a life or death matter, leave me the F!CK alone.

I don’t feel guilty about taking those moments anymore. I know that even 10 minutes to fill my cup will leave me in a better mood and more effectively able to take care of the people around me.

Time to go hole up in my garage gym. 

✌️ Mama’s busy.

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Today’s Workout

Grab the workout below for a little break from the stress that is adulting.

3 Rounds

25 reps each exercise

Toe touches

Bridge hip taps

Side leg lifts

Bicycle crunches

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Half Assed Results

If you half ass your fitness🏋🏼‍♀️ routine, you can’t expect spectacular results. 

But how can you realistically fit a workout into days that are already jam packed?

Here’s my Top 3 Tips for Crushing Your Workouts 🏋️‍♂️ When You’re Busy AF:

1. Plan. Take time on a Sunday night to plan out your week, including when your workouts can fit into your schedule. Then book mark that time in your calendar 🗓 like you would an appointment to the doctor. You won’t cancel an important appointment, so don’t cancel on yourself.

2. Be realistic. How many days a week are you working out RN? How many days do you WANT to workout 🏋🏼‍♀️? Don’t jump to your most ideal goal, make incremental changes so you can adjust to the new normal without losing your sanity.

3. Have a back up. When you do Step 1, include what workouts you WANT to do during those times. It makes transitioning into the workout faster because it takes out the thinking. And then have a back up workout in case shit hits the fan and you don’t have as much time as you intended.

Make the Change

I had to make a change because I was over having to suck in my tummy ALL THE DAMN TIME. Seriously. My abs hurt 😔 .

I didn’t feel like I was asking a lot to feel comfortable in my own clothes. Much less my own skin.

But dang girl, how do you even take accountability for your health when you’re responsible for EVERYONE AROUND YOU and that To Do List isn’t getting any shorter?

Here’s my Top 3 Easy Changes to Start A Healthful Life NOW:

1. I was realistic with my time. We all have demands on our time that can’t be changed. Don’t put extra pressure on yourself to workout 🏋️‍♀️ on a day when you know it realistically won’t happen.

2. I checked my portions. I’m not one to cut out anything unless it’s due to a medical necessity like an allergy (I mean we only get one life, so I’m gonna eat the chocolate 🍫 and drink the wine 🍷), but life is best lived in moderation so I had to learn how to cut myself off of the things I adored. (Extra PRO TIP: portion out your snacks or meals and then put everything away. That extra level of effort to get more will have you thinking 🤔 twice before you do it).

3. I increased my water intake. Most of us live in a state of dehydration without even realizing it, making us feel sluggish or hungry when we’re truly not, so I invested in an awesome reusable water bottle that I could cover with stickers and I take it with me everywhere. That way I have no reason to NOT drink water.

Tell that Negative Voice to STFU

Why do we always go to the negative narrative when the workout gets hard?

I do realize we can be our own biggest critics. I feel like it’s just human nature, albeit a crappy one, but that’s our inclination. Shit gets hard and we automatically start telling ourselves how much we suck.

When really we don’t.

But when that negative narrative kicks in, all we end up doing is sabotaging ourselves. It creates this horrible cycle because we end up dreading the workout, knowing it’ll be “too hard”, thinking “we’re not strong enough”, and then we’ll find an excuse to avoid the workout. Then the cycle continues. Much to our own personal detriment.

So we gotta change that narrative.

Working out for me is a reminder of how strong I am, even though it wasn’t always that way. My workouts will always get hard, that’s intentional because I don’t have a lot of time in my day TO workout so I want to feel like every workout is worth my time.

When I get into that space where the workout is making me want to quit, when it’s THAT hard, I simply tell myself “yes I can”. I put that on repeat and I keep going. And even if the workout isn’t pretty or isn’t my best, I still proved to myself that I could do it.

You have to find that positive narrative for yourself. I found that space for myself by having some serious reflection about all the bad shit I’ve experienced in my life and how I overcame ALL of it. Which is just a testament to my own strength and resilient, but we’re all the same in that regard. We’ve all been through shit, be it positive or negative, and we’ve ALL gotten through it.

So yes YOU can do it. You can continue to prove to yourself that you’re strong, that you’re resilient and you’re more capable than what you think.

Discipline Carries You

Discipline carries you when motivation fails you. 

We all hit points in our workout when we would rather be doing anything else EXCEPT what we’re doing. Like peace ✌️ out, I’m gonna go work on my taxes because this workout is HARD. That’s not a bad thing though. Pushing yourself and expanding your comfort zone is a good thing.

But that distraction is to be expected. Maintaining that warrior motivation for a long duration on a workout that has you questioning your life choices is tough. It won’t always go smoothly and it takes a ton of time and practice. 

It’s those moments of sheer struggle where your discipline to show up for yourself kicks in. It doesn’t mean the workout will be the most kick ass thing on the face of the planet, but it does mean you’ll continue to do the work to the best of your ability.

Don’t doubt yourself, don’t doubt your process, rely on the habits you’re already creating to get you through. 

Stronger Today than Yesterday

I dare you to get stronger than yesterday. 

The first time I worked out after I had my daughter, I legit felt like I was going to have to get a new job. I felt so weak, I didn’t think I would ever be able to train people again.

It sent me into a straight panic.

I had no idea what I was going to do or how I should handle things. I felt weak and it made me feel so discouraged. I pride myself on being able to teach people the things that I put my own body through, and at that point in my life, I didn’t feel like my body could effectively do anything.

Then I realized that I wasn’t any different from the people around me. If I felt that way after having a kid, I probably wasn’t alone in that sentiment of feeling like I would never be strong again. 

I knew I could fix it though. I just knew it would take time.

I regained my strength. It took time and a whole lot of patience because I knew that in order to regain my strength and maintain my strength in a healthy manner, it wouldn’t be an overnight adventure. 

But then I took a deep breath, and I set small incremental goals so I could regain my strength and whenever I felt like I wasn’t getting there quickly enough, I reminded myself that consistently doing the work would get me the results I wanted.

Be Brave

I want you to get brave and curious about your strength. 

We are so quick to tell ourselves that we can’t do something. Really, we’re normally the first ones to doubt ourselves, to convince ourselves that quitting is OK because we wouldn’t have been able to do it anyways and to just plain give up.

When I got hurt, I had two roads in front of me. The one where I doubted myself and my capabilities constantly or the one where I said Fuck it and just tried anyways. It doesn’t mean I didn’t fail, oh girl I have failed and in spectacular fashion, but I’ve tried. 

Failing didn’t mean that I beat myself up about not being successful.

Failing meant I had the opportunity to see where my limitations lie and how I could get past it. It just showed me what edges could get expanded on and what I could change.

When I let go of those thoughts of failing, I could see my strength for where it was really at as well as where it could go. It made me curious to see where I could take things and where I could grow.

How strong are you REALLY? Have you ever even thought about it? If you stopped putting limitations on yourself, how strong could you become and what could you be truly capable of doing?