Friday 14 February 2020

Let's Talk Wellness: Pre-Planning My Workouts



Most people ask how I manage to get my workouts done while also working full-time, cooking, being a mom, blogging and still having a life.  Well, I'll say that next to my family, working out is a top-priority for me.  I put thought and intention into how and when I will be working out.   I know that in this season of my life I look for high intensity work outs, ones that build muscle and cardio into them, and that I can get within 30 -60 minutes, including travel time.  I have also come to value my lower key activities such as walking the dogs, yoga, cross-country skiing or playing outdoors with my family,  in the evenings and on weekends.  I also used to run early on Saturdays and Sundays but I am so exhausted by the time the weekend rolls around that I really appreciate the lazy mornings that the weekends bring.  Drinking my coffee.  Reading or blogging in my bed.  And planning for the week ahead. 


One of my rituals is pre-planning my workouts for the week.   I sit down with my work schedule, the weather app, the schedule at my gym, connect with my running partner, and pre-plan my workouts for the week ahead. I still use a paper calendar and have a special green pen to write down all of my workouts in green.  Because early mornings are tough, I usually strive for four days a week and on the weekend I leave it more open ended to  enjoy a seasonal  activity with my family/husband  and I try to squeeze in a quick yoga session.  I don't love yoga but I need to be intentional about stretching my hips, hamstrings and lower back as a runner.  My favorite free website is Do Yoga With Me .  It's provides a  lot of variety of yoga levels, class lengths, and types of yoga, all for FREE! So in my calendar I schedule and commit to 5 days of pre-planned activities. 2 runs, lane swim, shred workout or a tabata workout, yoga, and the other days are just open to whatever possibilities might arise.  Also, I want to note that these commitments are mostly done at home and I keep them anywhere between 30 - 60 minutes, so that it's manageable to still get ready for work.  I keep any extra or different workouts, like swimming/spin/gym, very close to my home, so that travel time is minimal and if I go there, I often go straight to work form the workout location.


Pre-planning my activity, writing it down, creates a COMMITMENT.  It creates ACCOUNTABILITY to myself and my well being. 


I am trying to figure out how to add more strength training to my workouts these days and I love how easy and fast the Jillian Micheal workouts are and how I feel afterwards.

Getting outside more with my family and husband has become a top priority for me on the weekends.

Lane swimming has become a great alternative workout in the winter!




So my tips for you are:

1.  Be honest with what you can do each week.  Is it 3 days a week?  4? 5?


2.  What do you actually enjoy doing?   I don't love yoga so I've decided to keep it to 20 minutes a week, only out of necessity.


3.  Have a conversation with your partner.  My husband and I came to an agreement that early mornings are best for our family, but it does mean that he is on his own in the mornings with the kids.  Yes, even when they were little.  Also it means that we have everything ready to go the night before. 


4.  Pre-plan your week with your workouts.


5.  Have a buddy.  You won't bail on a friend like you bail on yourself.


6.  Take a week off when you absolutely need it, but don't go over a week because it's extremely difficult to come back from it!


Me and my running buddy run usually once a week.  One 5-6 run and we try for one longer run every week.


How do you stay on track with your workouts?

22 comments:

  1. You need to link up with me on Wednesday with our monthly Planner post...
    I love you are so intentional with your workouts. They say once you put it in your schedule, you're more likely to do it

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    1. Sure, I'll linkup tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up!

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  2. These are great tips! Whenever I'm training for something I make sure to schedule out my workouts so I can get them all in. You are a powerhouse girl! I'm so impressed with all you fit in during the week!

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    1. I think that's actually how scheduling began for me, when I was training for my first half and had a toddler and working. There were only so many hours so I became very intentional.

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  3. I find a workout has to be done first thing for me.I do weight machines three days a week, yoga poses after. Denise Austin on youtube has lots of workouts and many are short and sweet.

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    1. I used to love Denise Austin years ago. Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to check that out.

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  4. it's great you manage to find time to exercise so often! I count the times running around with the kids or walking the dog as my exercise, but after injuring my knee at the end of the year last year I haven't been able to do that a lot and I miss it, even if it wasn't hard core exercising! Looking forward to taking it slowly, building up the strength with the exercised the physio gave me, and getting rid of this constant pain!

    Hope you're having a great weekend :)

    Away From Blue

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    1. Constant pain is the worst and working your way back from injury is definitely a process. Slow and steady.

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  5. Nice suggestions to help inspire us busy women! Thanks, Angie - www.yourtrueselfblog.com

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  6. I love the idea of pre-planning workouts! I use fitnessblender.com for yoga and need to check out your recommendation for more options!

    Jill - Doused in Pink

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    1. I need to check yours out too! The problem is I am just not a yoga lover 😢

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  7. These are such great tips! I always like to plan ahead too, I find that I'm more likely to stick to it as I don't like to let myself down xo

    Makeup Muddle

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    1. That's exactly it for me too. And then I don't overplan my week or am more likely not to over commit.

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  8. I was just thinking, like Rebecca Jo said, this would be a good planner post, too. We try to schedule our workouts for the week, too. LIFE sometimes has us rearranging our plans but at least we have kind of mapped things out. I wish I had a running buddy. Just 2-3 miles a couple of times a week. That was what I did for exercise when my babies were young.
    What a sweet husband to work with you for scheduling your workouts. Sounds like a pretty good guy!

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    1. That's exactly it and sometimes I do have to switch things but it reminds me what I hoped to accomplish in a week. I'll definitely linkup tomorrow, now that we are back in the city from our weekend away.

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  9. Yes, I couldn't agree more and these are great tips! My workouts are set in stone and will only change if something drastic happens and I cannot make it. Rain or shine, if you are ever looking for me, your best bet is at the gym! I hope you had a great weekend and happy Monday!

    Maureen | www.littlemisscasual.com

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    1. Once again you are a lot like me. Us mamams need to make sure we have enough time for all the things.

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  10. Ah very inspiring and helpful, thanks for posting :)

    Allie of
    www.allienyc.com

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  11. Bo, I am so inspired by your dedication to exercising and maintaining a schedule. I need to just maintain a schedule for daily life without exercise, but I am wondering if my focus would be better if I squeezed in just 20-30 minutes to be active. I am very sedentary and I need to change that! Thanks for sharing and inspiring me!

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

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  12. Nice information on here, I would like to share with you all my experience trying to get a loan to expand my Clothing Business here in Malaysia. It was really hard on my business going down due to my little short time illness then when I got heal I needed a fund to set it up again for me to begin so I came across Mr Benjamin a loan consultant officer at Le_Meridian Funding Service He asked me of my business project and I told him i already owned One and i just needed loan of 200,000.00 USD he gave me form to fill and I did also he asked me of my Valid ID in few days They did the transfer and my loan was granted. I really want to appreciate there effort also try to get this to anyone looking for business loan or other financial issues to Contact Le_Meridian Funding Service On Email: lfdsloans@lemeridianfds.com / lfdsloans@outlook.com He also available on WhatsApp Contact:+1-9893943740.

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