I take my workouts with a ........

Howdy Friends,

I take my workouts with......

...... a side of baby monitor

....... a steaming cup of coffee (pre-workout, normally while feeding a sleepy baby)

....... a dash of kettlebell

....... a hearty serving of Pilates

........ a healthy dose of Barre

........a pinch of burpees

....... a splash of TRX

...... a dallop of walking

...... a dash of breathlessness

...... a heaping dose of efficiency!

Stir in some amazing students and bake it all together in the comfort of my garage or the ToddPilates studio!

I talk a lot about fitness here on the old blog and in life in general (I guess the name gives that away). During some of these conversations, a lot people ask me what my favorite types of workouts are or what I think is the most efficient workout. Honestly, I think that is a really hard question to answer and my answer changes from year to year. I believe everyone is different and everyone's bodies respond to different things in different ways. Some people only like to run, while strictly taking Barre classes work for some, and hitting the weights 5x's per week works for others.

I started my fitness career teaching 10-15 high impact aerobics classes per week, and although I was having a blast and felt fit, I had a few stress fractures to show for it as well. When I started doing Pilates about 8 years ago and Barre about 4 years ago, I knew I had found something that I would continue doing for the rest of my life. They make me feel strong, give me great results, and are definitely my favorite fitness format to teach (Belle is a big fan of the Pilates studio as well)! Since we moved to Austin, I've been doing mainly Pilates, Barre, and running........until recently.

So why did I decide to switch things up? Because variety is the spice of life my friends oh and running was killing my joints and making me feel like I got run over by a mac truck! I 500% love Pilates and Barre and think they are amazing, but I still crave the occasional sweat dripping, muscles screaming, lungs burning workout. So enters HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training..... aka quick, effective, and dirty) workouts to save the day.

It's really only been in the past few months that I have swapped out my runs for HIIT workouts, and I can honestly say, I have never felt stronger. The Pilates and Barre keep me feeling long, lean, and centered while the HIIT workouts give me an opportunity to push myself in new ways. This formula seems to be working for me at this stage in my life so I am going to roll with it until my body tells me otherwise. I was truthfully super worried that it would be hard for me to take off the rest of the baby weight if I stopped running 3-4 times per week, but that was not the case at all. My body happily shed the rest of the baby weight and then some with my new workout schedule. :) Am I saying all runners should stop running and switch to HIIT workouts, absolutely not! I am just sharing where I am in my fitness journey at this moment in time.

Here's a look at what a typical week looks like for me exercise wise. Please note that I am teaching all of those Pilates and Barre classes, I am not advocating doing that many classes in one week (I would say I typically do about 85-90% of a class when I am teaching it). Additionally, I have been teaching multiple classes per day since I was a freshmen in college so my body is totally used to it.

Weekly Workouts:

Monday: 30 minute HIIT workout + Barre at 11 AM

Tuesday: Pilates Mat at 7 AM + Barre at 9 AM + walk with Belle

Wednesday: Barre at 6 AM + Pilates Mat at 11 AM

Thursday: Pilates Mat at 6 AM + Barre at 7 AM + Barre at 9 AM + walk with Belle

Friday: 30 minute HIIT workout + Barre at 11 AM

Saturday: Rest + family walk

Sunday: 30-40 minute HIIT workout + family walk

If you are new to my blog, here are a couple of my typical HIIT workouts. You can find more than you probably care to browse through on my workout page as well!

So there you have it folks! I take my workouts with a side of ....... well everything and I like it that way! Since variety is the topic of this workout, be sure to head over to the Workout Wednesday linkup to find even more great workouts!

What do you take your workouts with a side of?

In health,