4 Quick Tips to Get More out of Your Exercise Routine (NO MONEY REQUIRED)

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor do I practice medicine. The advice and tips I am giving are not intended to be a form of medical advice. If you feel the need to seek your doctor or do more research on what is included in this blog, please, by all means do so. What I am giving you are my own personal opinions based on what has helped me remain consistent in my overall health and fitness goals.

It's time to do a Spring assessment of those New Years goals we all set 4 months ago. Cause let's be honest even if we didn't verbalize them or make them known on social media we all made some sort of fitness/ weight loss/ nutrition/ healthy life goal. (Did I get them all?) So quick check here, raise your hand if you're making the necessary steps to get you to your goals? Raise your hand if you are ready to kick it into high gear?

For Spring I will be switching my workout up a bit, but if you are curious what I've been doing up until this point you can check out my weekly exercise routine here. I'll update that over the next month or so! (Giving myself some grace here!!)

The tips I'm giving you below won't cost you a dime. Seriously, just the mental desire to do them and the physical action of making them happen. Thats the great thing about fitness!! There are so many ways to accomplish your goals without spending any money whatsoever!

Water, water, water.....WATER! (To the tune of Money, Money, Money -- You got it right??)

Nothing, and I do mean nothing will make you feel better than when you drink enough water every single day. For years I struggled with drinking any water at all. I would get awful headaches and have zero energy and wasn't seeing any change whatsoever in my body physically. Our body is made up of 60% water and while there really isn't a specific amount you should be drinking daily a good rule of thumb is half of your body weight made up in ounces. If that is too difficult to figure out, go for a gallon a day.

If you aren't hydrated your body can't perform at its highest level. You will feel tired, you may get muscle cramps, and your joints may tend to ache. In addition to fueling your workout, water aids in the digestion process making sure nutrients flow throughout your body and helps burn calories. I won't get as scientific to day water does or does not help burn fat (honestly I just don't know), but I will say drinking enough water in the day can 100% help with belly bloat and therefore you may see a difference around your midsection.

GIVE YOURSELF A TIME LIMIT

I'm a big believer in time limits when it comes to doing anything. I can get lost in a to do list and before I know it 2 hours have passed by and I haven't really accomplished one single thing!

Usually I only have 15-30 minutes of uninterrupted time I can devote to a workout. I first make sure my workout fits into that time frame. For example I'm not gonna schedule a 5 mile run on a day I can only workout for 15 minutes. I then make sure I am working consistently to complete the workout. This means I have to be more mentally focused. I can't push myself too hard in the beginning to where I burnout and need a long breather, I can't take frequent water breaks, I just have to put my head down and do a steady amount of consistent work. You will be really surprised at how much work you can accomplish AND how much you push your body when you attach a time limit to your workout.

Time limit examples:

I will run 1 mile in 15 minutes.

I will work for 1 minute and rest for 1 minute. I will do that for 30 minutes.

I will do 10 squats and 10 pushups as many times as I can in 15 minutes.

MEASURABLE GOALS

We can't rely on our every changing body to be the only way we measure our goals in weight or physical appearance. Especially as a woman! Hormones play a huge part in how our body presents itself. If these become the only way we measure our goals, we will often be disappointed.

One way I like to set a measurable goal is by doing a baseline workout.

A great way to measure your body cardiovascularly (I don't even know if that is a word, but you get me, right?) would be 7 minutes of burpees. Set your stop watch for 7 minutes and do burpees, counting them along the way, and do not stop until 7 minutes is up. The number of burpees you have done at the end of 7 minutes is your baseline number. You can even record things like how you felt at the middle of the workout, how many breaks you took, were you about to vomit by the end? In 8 weeks re-do this workout. The measurable goal will be how many more burpees you were able to achieve, if you were able to take fewer breaks, and if you felt less winded half way though.

Another baseline workout that is more strength based is 1 minute of pushups. Same concept as above, complete 1 minute of pushups, counting along the way. (Take breaks as necessary.) Record the details. Could you only do one at a time? How many times did you have to stop? Could you do 10 unbroken and then had to break for 30 seconds to do 10 more? In 8 weeks repeat and see how you have improved.

Over the course of 8 weeks you should be implementing exercises that can help assist you in baseline workouts. Think of things that can improve your cardiovascular system. Think of exercises that will help develop your chest and arms.

DEEP BREATHING

Studies have shown when weight is lost the majority of it is breathed out as carbon dioxide. The deeper your breaths the more carbon dioxide you will expend from your lungs and in turn the more weight you will lose. This isn't a quick fix to losing weight, however learning to control your breathing while exercising can have a greater impact on weight loss.

You want to focus on steady controlled breaths. This will help control your heart rate as well and hopefully elongate the amount of time you can spend on your exercising. If you find you are in a place where you are breathing at a quick pace with shallow breaths, take a minute to focus your breathing to deep breaths in and deep breaths out until it is back under control.

Deep breathing techniques or participating in yoga with controlled breathing can also have an impact on your weight goals.

I know it isn't always easy to stick to goals especially as a wife and mother. We have so many other things on our plate and truth be told, if we don't have a deep love for exercise, it can get put on the back burner. I hope the tips I gave you can encourage you a bit to stay the course or kick your fitness into another gear. Don't give up on your goals. Don't give up on yourself!