Whole30: Day 14

I had my tuchus served to me on a silver platter Saturday. The Brickhouse class at Thrive Studio in Chattanooga (where I teach Tuesdays and Saturdays so come see me!) is a hour long pain fest of agility drills, calisthenics, kettle bells, and bridge sprints. Two minutes in, at burpee number ten, my legs were toast. By the end, I was lying flat on the dirty floor in a puddle of sweat and rain. It was exhilarating but a wake up call too. If the zombie apocalypse erupts tomorrow, I'm their first course. My only hope would be to hide and wait it out because I can't run to save my life.

That means it's time to amp up my workout routine. Week two is under our belts, and you should be finished with the detox phase and feeling much more energetic. I've notice that those perpetual, nagging headaches, brain fog, and fatigue have lifted. Cravings are gone, even the desire to have something sweet after dinner. With the revived energy it's the perfect time to focus on adding some extra movement to our day.

I teach five spin and yoga classes a week. I count the spin as my cardio, and an additional three times a week I do some heavy weight lifting. If you want to change the shape of your body, heavy lifting is the way to go. It'll get your heart rate up while building and tightening your muscles, and the calorie burn lasts for hours afterward. Plus, the more muscle you have the more you burn, and you just feel like a bad ass hefting all that iron in the gym.

Anyway, it's clear I've got to do some work to build agility and endurance when it comes to push ups, sprints, and plyometrics (jumping exercises) so here's the shake up:

Monday: AM- 45 minutes heavy lifting
                PM- Kickboxing
Tuesday: AM- 30 minutes agility drills, plyo, sprints, etc.
                PM- Teach spin
Wednesday: AM- 45 minutes heavy lifting
Thursday: AM- 30 minutes agility drills, plyo, sprints, etc.
                  PM- Teach spin/yoga
Friday: AM- 45 minutes heavy lifting
Saturday: AM- Brickhouse class or yoga
                         Teach spin/yoga

Then again, my aunt shared this video with me.

I'm hooked. Chattanooga, watch out. Dance walking classes are coming soon!

So think about ways you can move a bit more during your day. The energized, healthy feeling you've got now by getting your nutrition on track will be amplified by physical activity. Get out and do what ever you enjoy most. Walk, run, dance, swim, practice yoga, lift weights, do a body weight circuit, take a spin class or a body pump class, Zumba, or fitness dvds. YouTube has several yoga and workout videos to try. For the next half of our Whole30, add another facet to your challenge by committing to physical activity at least three days a week. Grab your tennis shoes and water, and let's go.