OUT OF THE NORM

Happy February, another month closer to spring!! Last month we had an incredible amount of participation in our “Move it to lose it” 1st quarter challenge! Keep up all the amazing work that you are doing!! But with five weeks under our belt you may feel like you are starting to hit a slump and maybe starting to drag a little. The New Year has come and gone and sometimes our motivation and enthusiasm for a new healthy life style goes with it, especially if you have been doing the same exercises or the same routine all this time. Well have no fear some new exercise are here! It is hard to get to the gym every day we know this, and it has hard at times to have that motivation when the couch and Netflix are calling your name, but here are some new fresh ideas of exercises that may not be as common that could be fun to try. Studies have shown that mixing up your exercise routine helps fight those plateaus that hit every now and then!

Aerial Fitness


At first, when I heard about aerial fitness classes, all I thought about was circus performers… but then I realized this: Have you ever seen an aerial circus performer who appeared to be out of shape?


It builds & requires strength, stamina. It can seriously build your balance, increase your flexibility, and it looks like a ton of fun.


HIIT THE COURT


Have a basketball or volleyball court nearby? Make it your personal gym with this super-effective high-intensity-interval-training (HIIT) plan from Andrea Metcalf, celebrity fitness trainer and host of Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

How it works: Use the outline of a basketball court (or a similarly sized court) to perform the three fat-burning drills below.

Sprints (5): Sprint from one end of the court to the other, running forward and then jogging back backwards. Repeat 5 times total.

Lateral hops (30): Jump over and then back along the full court line, facing forward the whole time. Do 30 hops total (1-2 lengths of the court)

Side shuffles (6): Do side shuffles the full distance of the court and back,. Repeat 6 times total.

The entire workout should take about 15 minutes and will have you sweating buckets!


CROSSFIT ON-THE-ROAD

Take your CrossFit workout outside with any of these CrossFit On-the-Road Workouts that use very little equipment.

Workout 1 (5 Rounds)
5 Pushups
10 Sit ups
15 Squats

Workout 2 (5 Rounds)
10 Burpees
20 Bench jumps
30 Pushups
40 Squats
50 Lunges

Rock Climbing

I love rock climbing. It’s one of the best arm/back/forearm workouts in existence, you get to feel like a cool cat when you reach the top of the wall, and all climbing routes are graded so you can level up the challenge as you get stronger/fitter/better. It’s a fit nerd’s dream!

Dancing

Ever tried serious swing dancing? You’ll be sweating within ten minutes. How about hip hop? Drenched in sweat, and sore as heck the next day. Zumba? Tango? Flamenco? You’d be surprised what you can sign up for and what will elevate your heart rate.

Martial Arts

Be honest. You watched The Matrix, you heard Neo go “I know Kung Fu” and you wanted to be able to one day say the same thing. Whether it’s Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Karate or Capoeira, there’s a martial art out there that will make you feel like a ninja.

Play video games that make you be active

Wii Tennis, Wii Fit, Just Dance on Xbox Kinect, and whatever games actually exist out there; I am not the most knowledgeable with video games. OK, and DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) counts too. I know an hour of that is exhausting!

Don’t be afraid to mix it up and try something new, get out of your comfort zone and out of the norm. You never know you may find a new love!!