This past Spring, I challenged myself to include more variety in my workouts. After a long Winter, I found myself in a workout rut and I knew I needed to mix things up.
In May, I fell in love with Hot Yoga and it renewed my enthusiasm for trying new forms of exercise. Since then, I’ve been mixing things up almost everyday and my body is the happiest its been in a while! I thought I would share the workouts that I’m excited about this summer and maybe you can share what you’re loving too!
1) Spinning
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If running gives me the ultimate workout high, spinning is a very close second. In university, I signed up for a couple 3 month spinning classes and I fell in love with spinning almost instantly.
One of my June Goals was to incorporate spinning back into my life and I’m so happy that I got back on the bike! I’ve been going about once a week and I look forward to the spinning high every time.
My only complaint about spinning is that I tend to get groin/crotch pain from the seat. However, this time around, I’ve been wearing my padded Pearl Izumi bike shorts (that I wore during our triathlon training) and they help a lot.
2) Short Distance Speed Running
Instead of focusing on long distance training runs and races like I did the past two summers, I decided I would focus on shorter speed runs this summer. I’m running a couple 5k races in the near future to celebrate my training!
Not only does speed training challenge my lungs, muscles, and mental stamina, but it also gives my joints a break from long-mileage runs. So far this summer, I haven’t had any aches or pains, which is a first for me when training. I must be on the right track…
3) High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) via hill walking
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Some days it’s just too hot to workout outdoors, so I like to hit the treadmill and sweat it out inside. When I first started blogging, I was in love with treadmill hill walking and it also got my body in shape for my wedding (along with resistance exercises). When I crank up the incline between 10-15%, it’s one of the most intense workouts that I do. When a walk is harder than a run, you know you are pushing yourself!
High Intensity Interval Training is exercise that involves intense bursts of exercise (e.g., sprinting) followed by moderate intensity exercise (e.g., jogging) repeated in an interval format. It’s great because you can squeeze a powerful workout into a short amount of time and it’s also said to increase your resting metabolic rate for 24 hours post-exercise. I like to do hill walking intervals alternating with slow jogs (with decreased incline) for about 30 minutes. For more info, see this post.
4) Body Pump & 30 Day Shred
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I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not in love with weight lifting, but I love how it makes me feel (confident! strong!) and of course how it tones my muscles. I first started doing Body Pump back in university and I’ve gone through spurts with it over the years. I like going once a week and I also enjoy the Booty Camp Fitness and 30-Day Shred workout DVDs for a quick home strength workout.
5) At-home Yoga
In May, I went to over 22 hot yoga classes in 1 month and I was completely hooked. I debated buying a class pass for a while, but as soon as the hot weather hit I found that I didn’t crave the hot yoga classes like I did during our chilly Spring. For me, Hot Yoga is more desirable during cooler months. Lately, I’ve been doing at-home yoga once a week or if I’m sore after a workout.
6) Whittle My MIddle
In June, one of my goals was to rock out 2 Whittle My Middle sessions per week and I achieved this goal for the most part (except 1 week that I bailed on it). My core feels and looks stronger than it has in a while. Now that I’ve built up my ‘base’, I’ve been doing weekly core exercises to maintain the work I did in June. I do about 5 minutes of core work per week (of these core exercises). It’s just enough to keep my core strong without having to devote too much time to it.
7) Hiking
Don’t mind those two weirdos…you never know who you are going to bump into on a hike!
And don’t forget to rest…
My workouts would not be possible without 1-2 rest days per week. Rest days should be part of the weekly plan, just like any other workout!
And blizzards, lots and lots of blizzards.
What workouts are you enjoying this Summer?
I received some exciting news that I’ve been nominated in Chatelaine’s Women of the Year Contest, in the Hot 20 under 30 category! I’m honoured to be nominated among so many amazing Canadian women.
I remember reading about this contest in Chatelaine each year and thinking to myself how much I would love to make a difference. And you know what? I told myself that I would never be able to. I guess it goes to show that our negative thoughts are not always right and we can prove them wrong.
Please check out the nominees and VOTE for your favs!
“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.” ~D.W.
Riding horses is my workout :)
Congrats on being nominated – you deserve it!! :)
As a young woman myself I look up to your great accomplishments and amazing blog posts!
I will def be looking into widdle my middle – something I have been working on since getting home from europe (good-bye euro wine/beer pooch). You should check out this at-home yoga site I have recently started using:
http://www.myyogaonline.com/
:)
I like body pump but haven’t been to the gym lately….gotta drop by this week!
Great workouts!
Really love this post Ange! I have to admit, I got HOOKED to your hill walking workouts before Steve and I got married and I remember when he came to Canada after not seeing me for two weeks he was like “whoa what have you been doing?” I love how the hill walking works pretty much everything (especially my core!!) and I think I was able to get into decent shape. I definitely second the “getting into shape for my wedding” comment you made! HIIT is amazing, I love it.
I remember when I was in Australia and I was doing a spin class on a Friday night with an amazing instructor (obvi he must have been amazing for a Friday night spin!). He said to us “did you know that only a small percentage of people do this on a Friday? Do you know what that means? You are not normal!” Cracks me up each time I think of him. Love me some spin!
So many congratulations for your nomination, you are a TRUE inpsiration, and totally deserve it, Angela! <3
This summer I have been loving interval training on the Arc Trainer at my new gym, upper body and lower body weights routines in the gym, using machines and free weights (a new addition for me), biking and hiking outside with my boyfriend, and lots of wonderful at-home yoga practices…my favourites are my Moksha Yoga CDs (60 and 90 minutes – without the heat!), Yoga for Athletes DVD, Bethenny Frankel's 'Body By Bethenny' Yoga DVD, and Jillian Michael's YogaMeltdown. I'm really trying to mix everything up and keep lots of variety! Take care and have a beautiful day! <3 xyx
Wow, you are a workout machine! To be completely honest I haven’t been working out as much this summer (once the heat get going I get slow;) anyways but I have been loving yoga. Really I have just gotten into it in the last few months. Doing it at home is great but now that i am doing a class I love that too! I have been doing your “whittle your middle” a few times a week but I don’t count that as a full workout :) and hopefully get a run or two in (when the hubby and kids will let me:).
Congrats on your award nomination! You are not just Hot under 30, you sizzle baby! You deserve the nomination and the win!! Off to vote for you next!
“Lately, I’ve been doing at-home yoga once a week or if I’m sore after a workout.”
YAY for at home yoga!
My typical workout is this: a 3 mile run, give or take. And then I come inside and do about 20 minutes of at-home yoga moves that incorporate core work, lots of chaturungas for upper body challenges, and although I used to use an exercise ball and 12 lb weights for some other at-home moves, lately, it’s just the running + yoga. It works for me. It takes less than 45 minutes per day to do. It’s on my time table and convenience level and it’s streamlined. Oh, and it’s free :)
I had the same problem with the spin bikes, but I found that the gel bike seat cover helps a LOT more than the padded shorts…& you can buy them for about $20 vs the $50 I spent on my pearl izumi shorts. Oh well. It’s REALLY painless when you use both :)
I love how spin makes me feel too! You’ve got such a great variety going on.
I’ve heard of HIIT quite a bit (hey, that rhymes!), but I’ve never heard about it via hill walking. That sounds awesome! I like running but am not in love with long distance running like some people. I bet if some people knew that they could get an equally good workout from hill walking as from running, they’d dread the thought of exercise less.
Like you, I enjoy exercise in a multitude of forms. That being said, after a long, hot day, walking (even hills) sounds ten times more appealing than running :)
You totally deserve that award! You are amazing!
loveloveLOVE incline walking ;) Its like a hidden workout! Seems so easy, but if you do it with the right incline you get great results!
What a great post! Not only do I LOVE all of your recipes, but I really enjoy the great infomation you share as well. Speaking of info…I have a question. I own a preschool and I will be doing a unit on Healthy Foods next month. This will be my first time teaching this until after becoming a vegan and my perception of “healthy” has changed quite a bit in the last year. Do you have any suggestions for websites where I can obtain infomation that is parent friendly regarding their children’s eating habits and foods they consume? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Congrats on the nomination! you deserve it! I have been loving at home yoga too, its great to stay inside in this humidy!
Whoaaaa that last quote is super deep!!! I love it <33
I am really into biking, a little bit of running, and DVDs.
Congrats on being nominated! You have definitely got my vote. My favorite workout this summer has been a run from my home to Mount Tabor Park in Portland, OR. I have to run up a long and steady hill to get to Mount Tabor and then there is a series of stairs that I run up to the top. It is killer! Once you make it to the top you are rewarded with a beautiful view of downtown Portland on one side and a view of Mount Hood on the other. It makes it all worthwhile!
Have a great day!
I just voted for you !! Good luck :)
I took up tennis a couple years ago and LOVE it ! But I agree, it’s easy to get in a rut ! Thanks for your motivating ideas.
I love, love, love working out. I ran long-distance through highschool and for fun during college. I stopped running frequently until about a month ago. I’m really happy that I got back into it because it feels so good! I also love doing the toneitup.com workouts. Karena and Katrina are my favorite motivators. Have you done any of their workouts? I love that I can do them at home without needed to drive to the gym. Good luck with the nomination!
hi there! Im a new reader, and LOVE your blog! I’ve already baked the apple muffin tops (ah-maze-ing!!)
thanks for sharing these. its winter here in australia – and i’ve fallen in love with spin classes after taking an injury induced break from running! i can’t believe how sweaty I get in about 40minutes!
Thanks Ali!