Find Love in Fitness

Box Jumps! Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We have traveled to Chicago, Bloomington, and South Bend- and are so lucky we got to see all of our family. I sure am happy to be back and have the whole week off of work. A week off of work means lots of good workouts planned. I am dedicating this post to a workout of the week, which is box jumps this week. There are so many reasons to love this workout and the benefits are amazing! I like to do these at the gym (LA Fitness), but they can be done absolutely anywhere, including your home with no equipment. I take a stepper and put 4 lifts under each side to make the stepper high enough to jump on. You can use actual boxes if your gym has them, stairs,  sturdy ottomans at home, even your bed!  After running a couple of miles I love to do the following with box jumps: 15 jump ups 15 dips ( arms) 25 abs Repeat 4 times You can also jump completely over the box, jump up to one leg, go faster, slower, really whatever challenges yo...

For those of you who don't know, Jake and I were perfect strangers until we met....at the gym, doing what we truly love. Since being with Jake my eyes have been opened to what it's like to work out with your partner. I encourage each and every one of you to incorporate fitness in with your love life. I am not saying every workout needs to be done together, but every once in a while it is nice and healthy. Since being with Jake, he has pushed me harder than I ever would push myself in the weight room. He challenges me and is always there to help me when I need it. For example with squats lately- he stands behind me when I go over 135lbs.  On the other hand, I would say I have pushed him in the running world more than he would himself. We balance each other out really well when it comes to fitness. It is truly rewarding to see your significant other working hard and getting results. The options are endless when it comes to couples working out together. 1) Do your warm up ...

Happy Holidays! This time of year is filled with family, food and traveling for most people. All of that makes it harder to stay on a good workout schedule, right? Wrong! For me, fitting fitness in around the holidays is fun. For us, we spend a lot of time traveling to Bloomington, South Bend and Chicago and we are always getting delicious food wherever we are with family. It is important for us to enjoy ALL of the food, family AND make sure we get some sort of workout in. Walks- Holidays are spent with family, some who you don't get to see much. Grab them and head out for a morning, mid day or evening walk wherever you are! While we were in Bloomington, my mom, sister, 2 neices and brother in law all went out for a walk after our feast. It is always nice to get your blood circulating, burn a few calories AND socialize. Holiday Runs- There are so many organized runs around the holidays and they are SO much fun! I encourage everyone to take advantage of their local runs ...

Hi friends! Sorry I haven't blogged lately. I have been consumed in husband, work, family and working out! As this weather is starting to get colder, it is definitely harder for people to workout. Falling back an hour means less light after work to run...which means I have been seeing a lot more of LA Fitness. Stay tuned for posts about great gym workouts! In the meantime, here is what I have been doing the past few weeks: One of my best friends, Kelly got married! It was a beautiful wedding at a Bloomington church followed by a reception at The Stables. I spent the next weekend in Bloomington celebrating my Grandpa's 87th birthday. I during my time at home I took full advantage of my parents and the hills and we went on a long morning bike ride. I used to do this all the time when I lived at home so it is a treat to do when I am visiting!  I am a lucky girl that my Grandpa has been such a big part of my life. Jake and I have been doing o...

One thing that I love about fitness is the fact that you can include your friends and family. There are so many organized runs and walks that are so fun to do with friends and family. Everyone is different when it comes to training for a big race though. Some people like to do it independently and others like to do it with someone else so they are held accountable for not missing training runs or sessions. I personally like both. Sometimes I love just working out or training for a race by myself, and other times I like to have a friend or family member alongside. Recently I have had a really nice variety of training and working out both alone and with people. My most recent race with people was Hoosiers Outrun Cancer in Bloomington. I have done this race for many, many years and it is very near and dear to me being in my home town and supporting a cause I am passionate about. My mom, dad, sister, nieces and Jake did Hoosiers Outrun Cancer this year, along with lots and lots of Bloo...

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/sedentary-lifestyle-hazards   There is nothing worse than sitting at a desk all day if you ask me. Majority of us have a typical 8-5 job that requires us to be at a desk, in front of a computer most of the day. Not only is it uncomfortable, but it is not healthy. Plus, if you are trying to get physically fit, one workout a day and then sitting all day will not give you the results you are looking for. I am lucky that my day time job is pretty flexible and we can get up whenever we want. We have lots of paths around our office, and we even have a walking station where we can be on a treadmill and work on our laptops. We are become more and more “remote” meaning people can pretty much work anywhere. I do still spend most of my time at my desk though, which can be pretty painful. To get through a work week of sitting ,there are many things you can do to save yourself.   Get up often and stretch or walk around the office...