My Workout Routine & Top Tips for a Great Workout – Featuring All for Color

Happy Monday! I’m starting the week out at the gym, and since a lot of you have asked lately about my fitness routine I wanted to share with you some of my favorite tips! I am in no way a fitness expert or trainer, but would love to share my thoughts and what I do at the gym that works for me.

My Routine

I typically workout a couple of times a week, and can get in and out of the gym in about an hour. Since I’m not there that much or for that long, I try to make it count when I’m there.

 I need lots of motivation and guidance so for my cardio I like to use the App ‘Running for Weight Loss’. It’s a pretty good app (unfortunately a ton of annoying ads) but I like it because it has you run in intervals. It’s really easy at first, telling you to walk for a few minutes and then run for a minute, then walk. But 3 times a week it goes up in difficulty, asking you to run longer, and walk for shorter times. Just when your body gets into running mode, it tells you to walk, so your body is constantly switching back and forth, and your heart rate is going up and down. I highly recommend it if you want to do cardio but are easily bored, and for someone like me who typically hates running! This app is really great too for outside. Occasionally I will ride the stationary bike to switch it up, but if the Tv isn’t on a good station – I get really bored really fast.

After I do about 30-40 minutes of that, I switch to doing a few weight exercises. One of my favorites is something I learned back in high school, where you spread your legs apart and squat, and rotate side to side touching your ankles. This works your love handles and even though it doesn’t seem like much while you’re doing it, you will definitely feel it the next day. You can add weights if you want, but they definitely aren’t needed to get a good burn.

My other favorite weight exercise I actually saw on Something Navy’s Snap chat, so props to her trainer for this one. You get in plank, and reach underneath and across your body to grab a weight (I do 5-10 lbs) and bring it back underneath the lifting arm, put down, switch hands, and do it again. I will do this about 20 times, making it 10 times per side.

After that I’ll do fifer scissors, see demo here, and mason twists to give my abs a good workout before I head out.

My Top Workout Tips

 Workout with a Friend – Working out with a friend really helps motivate you! I just never feel like actually going to the gym and getting sweaty, and when I get a text from my usual workout buddy I think of a million excuses in my head of why I can’t go. I always end up going, and I’m always so happy when I did. It gives me so much energy and automatically puts me in a better mood when I’m done. Shout out to Amanda who is my type A, get your ass over here, we’re really doing this, workout bud and photographer for the day!

Stay Hydrated – I’m so bad about this! I hate drinking anything and would rather eat my calories, but water is so essential and extremely necessary for working out. I try to drink more water on days I will be working out, but don’t drink a ton right before I go to avoid any heavy feeling while I’m exercising. Post workout I definitely drink a few glasses of water to replace the sweat. I add lemon slices to my water to make it more pleasant and I end up drinking more water throughout the day.

Look Cute – this one is for real! You should definitely wear something comfortable when headed to the gym, but there’s nothing more motivating than putting on some cute workout gear. Something about it just makes you feel good and gives you more confidence, usually resulting in a better workout. My workout looks are from All for Color, all their clothing and accessories are bright and colorful, and perfect for a workout! My pink half zip top, and paneled leggings are available, and there’s a really cute matching sports bra. The quality is awesome, and they are easy to wash without fading the bright colors. The material is lightweight – and doesn’t make you feel weighed down and heavy.