New Years Resolutions

happy new year

With the start of 2016 everyone is starting to think about those New Years Resolutions. Some may be planning the trip of a lifetime. Others may plan on getting ahead in their career, and many of us even set new fitness goals. Just like everyone else, even personal trainers are always looking for goals to set for themselves to keep motivated.  Please try to think outside the box.

I’d like to challenge everyone to not only set goals that can be accomplished in the gym, but to set goals that can be enjoyed in the great outdoors.  Being outside has proven to be very beneficial for the mind and body.  Below are just a few goals that my family and I hope to accomplish in the outdoors this year:

  • Take the kid(s) sledding in the mountains.  Not that our local sledding hill won’t suffice, but experiencing new(and as my husband says “steeper and faster”)  hills is always an adventure.  If I must say, schlepping all of that gear up and down the hill is always an awesome workout…especially since the kid normally rides in the sled on the way UP the mountain as well.
  • Bring the kids hiking on some of our favorite trails we used to go on.  The kids are small and easy to carry now, the extra weight provides for a better workout and more of an experience for the whole group.  Everyone knows the further you hike the better the pictures!
  • Complete 1,000 miles in running, biking or some form of cardio. In June last year I did a hundred miles, so I thought it would be fun to have a year long cardio goal. Taking into consideration I will be in my third trimester for a majority of the year I will include other modes of cardio than just running.
  • Build a more inviting outdoor living area.  Not only do we want to sit and relax on the patio while we watch the little ones play, but we’d like to have a great outdoor area to exercise.  Being cooped up in a dark basement trying to get a workout in while it’s beautiful outside can be trying for even the most motivated.
  • What are some of your OUTDOOR goals?

Eventually it is going to be time to move indoors.  Don’t worry, I’m not talking about the gym…yet!  I’m referring to the  kitchen!  Here are some of the family goals for the new year that involve a healthy diet:

  • Meal PLAN and PREP as often as possible.
  • Purchase as organic as possible when it comes to the dirty dozen foods.
  • Try a new recipe every other week(being realistic).  If we enjoy the recipe I will post it on the website as soon as possible.
  • Try to let as little food as possible go to waste
  • What are your NUTRITION goals? 

I told you we would eventually move into the gym! This can be at your home, your local park or your local gym.  Hopefully it’s not as busy as my gym has been and will be this coming month- Geeze! With goals of a healthy mommy body and even healthier baby, there are somethings that only a good ole fashioned strength training session can work.  Gym have their upsides – not only does the gym have all that fancy equipment, but it has the people to go with it.  The support structure that your gym friends and family can prove to be invaluable.  If your friends are anything like mine they’ll rag on you for missing your workout, which only enhances my own guilt.  Everyone has those days when working out just sounds terrible, but there really very few reasons to miss your workouts.  They don’t always have to be the best workout, sometimes they just have to be a workout… Below are some of my goals for this coming year I hope to accomplish in the gym:

  • Get my pre-baby belly back.  This could be different for everyone.  I’m not talking about a hard 6-pack, but for me it means core strength.  Back to the days when I could do a 5 min plank, sit-ups for days, and be able to laugh so hard that I thought my sides were going to split WITHOUT actually peeing my pants!
  • Master the double under.
  • Keep my knees as healthy and stable as possible so I can continue to play soccer at the level I do.
  • What are some of your GYM/FITNESS goals?

The biggest thing to remember is to increase your success of achieving your goals is that they need to be realistic. If you want to lose weight or gain muscles there are many things to consider – exercise program, nutrition plan and time it will take to accomplish these. If you set your goals too high – example: I am going to lose 50 pounds in 2 weeks – unless you plan on losing a limb this is not going to be realistic. Plan your goals in stages – your long term goal may be to lose 50 pounds, but maybe you want to lose 5 pounds by the end of January and 12 pounds by February, etc. Plus, maybe you want to climb your very first 14,000 foot mountain, well you will need to start building your muscle (strength training) and increasing your cardio, which will also help you reach your long term goal of losing weight!!!  Think outside the of the box with your goals. Your 2016 goals should be for you and about what you are passionate about achieving.

Tell me what your goals are for 2016 and I will do my best to help you stay accountable! If you have questions or need help achieving these goals email me I am here to help – strengthtrain4baby@gmail.com.

 

 

Christmas Catch Up

The family had a wonderful Christmas full of family and friends, and even a bit of snow!  As we all know finding time to squeeze in a workout is harder than ever.  Especially when you’ve had to much holiday “cheer” the evening before.  Luckily for me I am unable to partake in the so called holiday “cheer” everyone else does.  I’m fine drinking my Perrier with a pinky up and my belly out, however I do miss my beer and wine.  I miss it enough to count my reps using extra wine corks laying around.  My husband uses them as a back drop for his dart board, I use them as a counter.  5 rounds total, pushing a corks over for every round completed.  I know it seems silly, but for me it helps with the motivation.  I put those corks in the “completed” workout pile and go for more.  As they keep piling up, it keeps me motivated as I get closer to the finish.

After a few days off, due to Christmas, I was able to get in a quick workout, even with my little one running around and the dogs attacking me for kisses whenever I was on the floor! With Christmas and my crazy schedule, but I was dying to get back even if it was for 45 minutes.

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My little one helping with my burpees and my pup following close behind!

5 Rounds

15 Burpees with Bosu
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15 Assisted Pull-Ups

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30 Kettlebell Swings
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My kind husband was able to capture a few more pictures than usual and show how I keep track of my rounds. Regardless of it only being 5 rounds, I find that between my pregnant brain and anything else going on around me I tend to forget what round I am on. Thanks to our huge collection of wine corks I use these to keep track of myself.

Deadlift Thursday

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Today’s workout felt great! I got in a quick and heavy lift in with two friends. Both of my friends are training for a CrossFit competition, so I get to push them as they don’t want to get beat by the “pregnant lady”. Hehe! It’s fun to still workout with others training for competitions, it helps push my own workouts. Now my “heavy” workout is lighter than I would do when I am not pregnant, but still challenging enough that I am almost spent by the end of my set. Try out this quick WOD.

250 meter row
10 Deadlifts
5 Push Press
5 Diamond Push Ups
Repeat 4 times

Total time for me today: 14:02 minutes

Finished with 3 sets of bent over rows with heavy weight.

Gym Day

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Overhead Squats – 6 reps
20 Double Unders with Jump Rope
Repeat 5 times

1 mile jog!

“A baby is a reason, not an excuse!”  Strong mom, strong baby!

Colorado Snow Day!

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What an amazing day here in Colorado!  Went to bed around 10 pm without a trace of snow and woke up to nearly a foot with it still coming down.  My work and travel plans went by the wayside, however my plans for fun suddenly became the priority.  With nearly all of my clients snowed in I had no reason to be at the gym.  I did however have to improvise my workout for the day.  Mother nature had turned my “gym” workout into a “home” workout.  I didn’t mind much and told myself that I would get the best workout I could even at home.  I tried my best to tire the little guy out as much as possible so he would nap as long as possible.  After all there were much needed chores to be done and a workout to be completed.

I dressed the little guy up in the stereotypical coat so puffy he could hardly move, which eventually led to some good laughs and even better pictures.  This was his second time to play in the snow and let’s just say the first ended quickly. My little one wasn’t a huge fan of fact that snow makes your skin cold, but it is so fun to watch him learn all of these thing we adult now take for granted.  Learn things like picking his feet up high in deep snow with snow boots on is really hard.  Or that his doggies have so much fun in the snow they could care less about running little boys over.  Or that mommy’s hand will eventually get cold enough with out her glove that she will have to stop trying to make me smile for the camera and let me play!

While we had no where to go my “to do” list took up a majority of my time, so my workout was part of dinner prep tonight. I made homemade Green Chili with extra veggies, so once I got everything in the pot I had a half hour to workout while it simmered! Here is a quick 30 minutes workout that can really get your heart rate up, challenge your legs and easy to do with your little ones around.

 

Equipment: Bosu Ball and Medicine Ball or Weight

Bosu Lateral Jumps – 100 (50 each side)
Bosu Push-Ups- 15
Cherry Pickers with Medicine Ball- 15 each side
Bosu Squats with Medicine Ball – 15
Repeat 3 times

 

Today’s Workout

Home workout day in the Chavez house! As of last week I officially signed myself up for the Spartan Beast at the end of August 2016!!! I am so excited!! We did the Spartan Sprint this past year when my little one was 11 months old. This one is going to a bit more challenging because I will only be about 3 months post pregnancy. I know this probably won’t be my fastest race, but I will finish hell or high water…in this case probably muddy water.

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The nice part of having a fun goal to look forward to next year and post baby is that it will motivate me to keep up my workouts! If you are interested in joining our team at the Breckenridge Spartan event – sign up with team “Strength Train 4 Life” and I will email you workouts starting in March to prepare yourself!

To click here to register! The Beast in on Sat, Aug. 27th and the Sprint is Sun, Aug. 28th. We will have teams for both.

Paul and Lindsay

20 Kettle bell swings
10 Push-Ups
6 Forward Single Arm Overhead Press Lunges each side
6 Backward Single Arm Overhead Press Lunges each side
10 Kettle bell Snatch each side
10 Kettle bell Sumo Deadlift High Pull

Repeat 4 times

 

Yesterday’s Partner Workout

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Kept the workout simple yesterday and by simple I just mean 3 exercises, but by no means was it easy!

5 Rounds

10 Push Jerks
20 Deadlifts
30 Calorie Row

Modifying Your Workout

This workout today kicked my butt and my belly. Today was a good example of modifying your workout based on how your body feels. The first round of “Kelly” I was able to complete the full 30 reps, but noticed at the end I had some light pains in my grown and my belly. First pregnancy this scared the crap out of me, but this time I knew I just needed to slow down. For me, I believe, these pains are due to growing and moving of my pelvis. Typically I notice the pain at night when I am tired, but will sometimes have them when working out. I spoke with my doctor during my first pregnancy and she said everything was alright, therefore I will modify my workouts if I experience these pains. Everyone’s comfort levels are different, if you experience anything similar or just don’t feel right, stop and talk with your doctor before continuing. Today’s modifications were slowing down and only doing half of the reps. As much as it crushes my ego to slow down, it is important that I am safe for me and baby!

 

Overhead squats – 4 x 8

Kelly – 5 Rounds (I only made it 4 today due to time)

400 meter Sprint
30 Box Jumps (I did 15)
30 Wall Balls at 14lbs (I did 15)

I finished 4 rounds in 26 minutes, what time can you do it in?

 

New Gadgets

Sorry everyone for being so sporadic with my posts over the past couple of weeks. You can thank my old not so dependable computer for that one, but good news Cyber Monday brought me a new one!!! I should now be back on schedule and I would love to hear more from everyone following me. Please feel free to comment on any of my postings or even ask questions. That’s what I am here for!!!

Today’s workout video is brought to you by my husband! He took our dogs out for a walk, meanwhile I figured I could sneak a quick workout in while he was out and our little guy was napping, but he returned before I finished. This meant no quiet moment for me and my workout, but rather him asking what I was doing and if he could film me. I love him dearly, but sometimes you just need those few QUIET moments to yourself.  In the long run it was great for you guys and I did enjoy his company! Remember with this workout that the Bosu ball makes your workout harder and if you do not feel safe doing any of these exercises on the ball, do them on the solid ground. I don’t want anyone falling or hurting themselves!!

Equipment: Bosu Ball and Dumbbells

4 Rounds

Single arm alternating Bosu Push-Ups – 10
Bosu Dumbbell Squats – 10
Bosu RDLs – 10
Bosu Step-Ups with Overhead Shoulder Press – 10
Bosu Mountain Climbers – 20

Working out for Turkey!

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I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and managed to survive the dessert selection. My husband, myself and our little one started our Thanksgiving off this year with the Turkey Day 5K. It was starting to snow and getting cold but we bundled up and headed out anyways.  We had the little snowman all bundled up in a giant fluff ball of blankets and sleeping bags.  He hardly made a peep the whole race besides the occasional “Go GO!”.  With his bright red cheeks and nose he happily enjoyed his post race pancakes while we waited for the rest of our friends.

Typically my husband hates running and will meet me at the end of the race, but this time he stuck with both of us the whole time.  He said he was worried about me falling on the ice, although I think he was really just cold!  Normally he ends up in the beer garden right after the race, this time it was straight to the hot chocolate.  The thought had crossed our minds to stay in our jammies all morning, but when all was said and done we are happy we made it out.  A little fresh air, no matter the temperature, does a body(and a baby!) good.

This year, while I missed my family dearly, I was super excited to only eat one Thanksgiving meal. Typically we visit both my family and my husbands family, but this year my family was out of town. You would think a pregnant lady would want all the food I could get, but it doesn’t work quiet like that for me! My eye’s are definitely larger than my stomach, five minutes into my meal I’m full. Therefore, one meal this year was plenty and I didn’t feel obligated to find room to try a bit of everyone’s dishes.

 

Yesterday’s workout, thanks to my friend Abby, was as follows:

Rowing 1600 meters

Jump Ropes – 30 seconds jumping/15 seconds rest x 5

FRAN
21-15-9
Thrusters at 65lbs
Pull-Ups with Band (50% body weight)

Kettle bell Push Press – 8 each side
Kettle bell Squat to High Pull – 8 each side
Repeat 5 times

50 Jump Ropes
50 Mountain Climbers
Repeat 5 times