Baby steps to a better you {finding a plan for you}

Happy Friday the 13th! It’s always been a lucky day for me (first date with my hubby, our rehearsal dinner, and many other great days)! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Today, Chrissy is back with this week’s Baby Steps to a Better You issue! I hope that you have enjoyed her advice so far! Let us know if you’ve incorporated anything into your lifestyle.

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Hi ya’ll!

So now I’m going to compile a list of workout options that are available to anyone who has internet, can stream YouTube through their gaming devices, or has a Smart phone, so no excuses, no really!

I wanted to only talk about options that I have personally used and found to be fun and effective. So that’s not to say that there aren’t 20 or so more amazing trainers out there that might be more suited to you and your style, so go hope on YouTube and do some searching, put on your tennis shoes and get a little sweaty!

Let’s break it down into how I found these trainers and my experience with each.

After having my second son I thought I that I needed something “easy”, and I found Blogilates. I figured, I get to lay on the ground and workout! SCORE! But it proved to be so much more than that, and I loved every minute of it. And no joke, I could feel my improvement as early as the next week, moves were easier, things were shifting, it was a good thing! Cassie is A-MAZ-ing! She has an infectious attitude and she knows just to keep you smiling throughout your entire workout. Oh, and let’s face it, pilates is FUN!

Then I moved up to the Tone it Up Girls, Karina and Katrina are adorable and their back and forth is peppy and up-beat, but their workouts will kick your butt! Some of their exercises do involve weights, so there is minimal equipment necessary, or you could get creative and grab a few soup cans. What I liked about these girls is that they also emphasize on cardio and give you a schedule to work out along with, which helped me immensely when my stamina was back up and I was ready to kick things into gear, but was unsure where to start.

Now, I’m currently following and working on getting on Zuzana Light’s level. OMGoodness! Her workouts will leave you as a puddle on the floor when you’re done. She’s beautiful, soft spoken, and has the most inspiring body I’ve ever seen! Don’t let her workouts intimidate you either. I was so afraid to start with any thinking, “there is no way!”, but when I did finally suck it up and try I was amazed at how much I could actually keep up. All her workouts require at minimum moderate to heavy dumbbells and for you to leave the whining at the door. All of the workouts I have done were all less than 20 minutes, and trust me it’s all you need! I saw the most results the quickest from Zuzuna’s workouts.

Those are the absolutely free options out there. I also wanted to talk to you about another option that I am finding to be perfect for me and my family. Recently my family has joined our local YMCA, as a way for our little guys to get out and play with kids their own age while my husband and I work out. Our local Y takes babies as young as 6 weeks, and I know that in other places it’s a bit higher  think 9 months in Maryland where we lived before. This works well for us, because my husband and I will push each other in the gym, or we’ll swim, and during the winter months I can still run indoors without using the Washington weather as an excuse. And BONUS you can sign your little ones up for classes, we’re looking into gymnastics for my 3 year old, tumble for our 1 year old and swimming for both!

There are also tons of great classes that are included in your membership! Anything you can think of, they have it. I’m thinking of taking a hip hop class… or extreme yoga.

Now I open up the floor to you! What are your favorite exercise routines? Some of your favorite DVD’s or online trainers?

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Thanks, Chrissy! I have to add in the MY favorite is Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred! It’s only 25 minutes a day for 30 days straight, and I saw HUGE results with it! I have several of her dvds and love them all. I just started her 90 Day Transformation in addition to running 3-4 days a week! So what are YOUR favorite routines?!?