How do you workout?

[PennyK]

Right now i am mostly walking outdoors (we live in a nice hilly neighborhood) for about 30-40 minutes in the evening and recently on indoor days i will do a 30 minute video of whatever i feel like and trying to add in some strength work. I have done something for at least 30 minutes each day for the last 22 days and wanting to work up to longer and multiple workouts. Ideally i want to do cardio most days, strength three days, and stretch daily.

My goals are to become healthy (mind/body/spirit), lose weight, gain strength, work on flexibility and mobility, and i want to have fun. I am also trying to really listen to my body and be good to myself.

I now know what your top workouts are (may i say you ALL are awe inspiring), but do you mind sharing how you do everything you do and what your goals are?

Thanks

[bubbles76]

I actually have a hard time fitting in all I want to do I know I want to do yoga, but having a little one makes it very hard. I try to squeeze in one hour to work out 6 days a week, but lately I've been getting in only around 30-45 minutes. In order to get that time to workout, I get up extra early in the morning (4AM) so that I am ready to workout at 4:30AM. I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination

My goals are to get stronger, get better body definition (especially in my lower body), increase my cardio endurance, increase flexibility, and decrease my stress. I really want to be able to just "let things go", and I know yoga can help with that, but I need to be able to fit it in. I always feel better afterwards.

[PhyllisG]

I have been sticking mainly to rotations. .i did Cathes monthly rotations forever but then got sidetracked and started doing more fusion and barre. Recently I did the 28 day fix rotation followed by FeFit and now just finishing up the P57 summer challenge. I realize that set rotations work best for me as I hate to get my calendar messed up so I will do the workout for each day no skipping allowed!
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[laurajhawk]

Wow, Bubbles, that's impressive to get up at 4 and not be a morning person!

I've let go of the idea of doing a full hour plus dog walk in the mornings. I get up early (5:00), and have lots of time before work, but it seems to go to other things including, this year, taking care of our sick cat. So I'm trying to keep to shorter workouts. Also, I'm lazy on the weekends.

I am doing a homemade periodization program: 3 weeks barre, then 3 weeks light weight/high reps, then 3 weeks heavy weights. I just started the heavy phase and am using Body Beast. I've modified the Build rotation to 4 days/week. So in the morning I do my Beast workout (cardio or yoga on non-Beast days), then breakfast, then a dog walk (a leisurely 25-30 minutes). 2 to 4 times a week, I go to yoga class - either at work (great benefit!) or after work at a studio. In the evening, I try to throw in a little inversion practice - I'm working on headstand in the middle of the room; this is usually a 5-minute practice: 2 min down dog to warm up, 1 min headstand, 2 min shoulderstand. And I try to get in 10-20 minutes meditation.

Goals, right, I'm supposed to have goals I *want* to lose 10 lbs but I can't say I'm *trying* to do that, so it's not really a goal as much as a wish. I have a goal of being strong, toned, and healthy (continuing/improving). I have a goal of continuing/improving the nonreactive calm approach to life that I get from yoga (asana and meditation). And I want to be able to pop into that headstand in the middle of the room without wondering whether I'm going to make it. (I'm almost there - then I'll think about forearm balance and/or handstand.)

[topfitmama]

I'm walking as many mornings as I can, usually 30-50 minutes. We live in a village so I walk through woods and field paths. I call them my sanity walks.
I didn't do a formal workout for nearly two weeks while my mother visited (I hadn't seen her in over year), but I got back on track this morning doing 30 minutes of Ballet Beautiful (Ballet Baby workouts). That's all I'm doing these days: anywhere between 15-45 minutes of Ballet Beautiful.

I'm working out to feel good these days. Yes, I'd like my body to look different, but that has more to do with what I eat

I'm enjoying having little to no pain from working out. My hips and knees are doing a lot better and I credit Mary Helen for that.

[Aunt Famous]

After years of equating workouts with punishment, but telling my fitness classes that they need to enjoy how they workout in order to stick with it, I have decided to take my own advice and do what I love.

What did that mean to me? I broke up (amicably, of course) with my long-time trainer and dear friend whose heavy weight workouts and prescribed at-home work I dreaded. In the aftermath, I discovered a deep and abiding love of Pilates, and a few weeks ago, I purchased off of Craigslist a studio reformer and jumpboard, which I use 5 or 6 days a week. (I wake up when I wake up, and adjust my home workouts accordingly.) In honor of my long-time love of dance, I started dancing again -- a Zumba class one day a week, an adult tap class another, and a 5 Rhythms class as offered. I quit running and started walking. I hoop while singing along to loud music for a few minutes a day. And I still teach my two spin classes each week, but with a much happier disposition.

You know what? I have lost ten pounds since February (the break-up date), sleep better, smile more, and generally look fantastic (more toned, smaller than in high school, defined abs -- yes, me, abs!). As a slow learner, it took me 46 years to embrace the fact that life is too short to be miserable. But baby, look at me now!

Aunt Famous

[PrairieGem]

I tend to be a rotation person--meaning, per VF parlance , I have a specific plan to do specific workouts on specific days, for a specified number of weeks/months. As opposed to just doing whatever workout strikes my fancy on any given day. I respond more reliably to the structure; without a rotation it's too easy for me to forgo working out altogether. And my body responds better to the focus (probably because I am far less apt to skip workouts. Funny how that works! ). I always *say* my rotations are going to be ~6 weeks, but I don't get bored easily, so I usually end up stretching them out about 3 months.

This year I turned 40, and I've been re-evaluating the way I do a lot of things. I've tended in life to be an all-or-nothing sort of person... if I'm not doing cardio AND strength AND flexibility AND _______, then what's the point of doing anything? I am FINALLY realizing that my days just don't have that many hours in them! LOL So for the last several months, I've been planning my rotations around specific goals, while telling myself I will work on the NEXT goal in the next rotation. (That's the important part here! LOL The effort it takes to convince myself that it's OK.)

So for the end of spring/early summer, my GOAL was weight loss. My rotation included running for cardio, and Amy Dixon circuit DVDs for cross training and strength. I knew that rotation didn't have enough of a focus on core work, so I planned that for my next rotation. It helped eliminate the feeling that I wasn't doing "enough," while actually allowing me to hit all aspects of fitness. My current rotation includes running, but I've swapped my strength/cross training for Classical Stretch & yoga. I work out five or six days a week.

I don't have time to run every day and come home and do a strength workout with a yoga finisher. I *want* to be that person... but it's not going to happen in this lifetime. I know that (finally). So I've put down my weights for the next few weeks, while I work on my posture, breathing, stress, flexibility, and core strength. I think my next rotation will be heavy weights, though, so stay tuned!

[Breezy Trousers]

I only work out to stay fit -- to maintain muscle tone and flexibility. The endorphin high is nice, too. I'd be extremely sedentary without exercise because my job requires me to sit much of the day. I'm not at all results oriented. (If I was, I'd focus on something else besides exercise .... that which cannot be said here. I eat a lot and not always the good stuff.) I do the workouts that make me happy, and I mix it up constantly because I get bored easily..... I prefer to get my workouts out of the way in the mornings, and I keep it under 60 minutes a day ... I tend to feel confined and bored by most rotations by the 3rd or 4th week.

A typical week for me includes 2 weight training days, either heavy or high rep. I prefer total body but will do split training. The 3rd weight training day is for kettlebell training, functional fitness or circuit-bootcamp training. (My all-time favorite workouts mix up cardio & weights.) ... I do yin yoga or athletic stretching on Tuesdays, Bikram/hot yoga on Thursdays and a live power yoga or Bikram yoga class on Sundays. I started dedicating certain days each week to flexibility because I notice I don't get around to doing it otherwise .... On Saturdays, I do cardio, usually walking outdoors because I live near lots of parks and trails. On Tuesday or Thursday nights, I'll sometimes walk on an track while my husband is working out at the gym. Overall, I'm happy with my "routine" (which has lots of variety & isn't routine!) but need to spend more time walking and spend less time on VF, ha.

[caitlinpyle]

Right now, I'm doing SBF barre, spinning, and/or rebounding 6 days a week. All low or no impact!

M- cardio of some kind with barre legwork (45-60 min) rebounding later in the day

T- upper body and core work (30 min) plus spin classes I teach at night (two 45-min)

W- about an hour of SBF Barre (lower or total body depending on how upper feels) less focus on cardio but will rebound while the tv is on

Th. Upper/core again and the two 45-min spin classes at night

Fri. usually ends up being a rest day with maybe some shorter lower workouts thrown in and easy rebounding, since I had spin the night before, but I've been known to get antsy in the afternoons and do a tougher workout

Saturday I like doing long, harder workouts, total body, with cardio to get really sweaty! So a longer barre workout (30-40 min) plus an interval workout and maybe an active stretch.

Sunday I relax, stretch and maybe do a short plank or arms routine with my DH, or just rebounding in the evenings to stay moving

In the future I want to add in some harder barre workouts in place of some of the SBF, like P57, and I want to do some KCM weights workouts, or do barre3. When I get tired of only Suzanne Bowen. IF I get tired of only Suzanne Bowen, I mean :-)

ooh it was fun to put this "on paper"

[Jeanne Marie]

Interesting to read what all of you do. You're all so very inspiring!

I thought about this thread for a day or so before answering because I can't honestly say I have "goals". Maybe I should re-word that.... I don't have weight loss goals, or looking any different type goals. I'm pretty much where I want to be at this point. I do want to continue to maintain my fitness, flexibility and strength as I age.

I'm almost 58 years old, so I am lucky enough to have the time in my day to do a lot of fitness related activity. I've been running for years (40 years actually), so my day starts out about 6am with a 4 mile run. It's followed by a workout of some sort. For years it was a DVD workout. Most of the time about an hour long. I still do them of course, but in the last month or so I've incorporated an interval class at a local gym every day. I can say that it has really done a lot for me in terms of arm and core definition. I continue to stay strong with my Cathe weight workouts, and even still do favorites like Afterburn, Crossfire, Athletic Training, etc. But adding in that interval class took things to a whole new level for me. My Cathe (and Illaria and Bob Harper and Jillian and Amy Bento) workouts made it possible for me to jump right into these classes and out perform everybody in them... even the young guys and girls who are half my age. Many of them can bench press hundreds of pounds, but can't hang with the circuit training. It really drove home the point to me that cross training is essential.

I often think about VFers when I'm going through one of these classes because I know so many of you here would be right along beside me, kicking it into high gear.... because this is what we do in our DVDs! This week's class had 21 stations. We go 45 seconds on, and then have 15 seconds to transition to the next station. Stations were: Push-ups, spin bike, mountain climbers, incline sit-ups, burpees, bent over row, slam balls, crunches on the stability ball with weights, leg extensions, punching bag, lunges with weights, lateral raises, RDLs, heavy ball swings, another spin bike, goblet squats with kettlebell, kettlebell swings, ring pull-ups, triceps dips, step-ups and battle ropes -- and then finishing with another set of mountain climbers.