I’ve got not one, not two, but three weeks of workouts for you.
I like to maintain a workout dairy for my own personal accountability, but I hope these posts provide you with inspiration for your own exercise regime, too.
Since injuring my knee (over two years ago), I would classify my style of fitness as “intuitive exercise.” Most of the time, this feels good – as I listen to my body’s request for rest, and level of intensity for each workout. For example, some days I do not want to do any plyometic/high-impact/jumping movements, so I will opt for a basic yet challenging workout. Other days, I crave all the cardio – a run, then a hike, and then a few thousand additional steps running errands.
There are occasions when intuitive exercise does not feel as great. These are usually the days when I don’t feel ascomfortable in my own skin, and I ask myself why I haven’t signed up for a gym membership yet. My thoughts tell me that if I worked out at a gym, I would kick things up a notch with increased interval training and a variety of classes to mix up my routine. Intensity and variety are the golden ticket to a fit physique, right? Or should I just be satisfied with my home workout efforts. Oh, rainy day Sunday thoughts…
Workouts | Week of January 19
Monday – Arms & Abs Superset Workout + 30 KB swings
Tuesday – 60-minute yoga class/Rest
Wednesday – 20-minute Tabata Kettlebell Workout (25lb.) + 5 x 12 burpees
Thursday – Rest
Friday – Dumbbell Chipper Workout + 5-minute Total Body Workout (2x)
Saturday – 5 mile run + this kettlebell workout (2x)
Sunday – 3 mile run + 20 step-ups / 20 lunges / 10 jump squats (3x) + 10 sets of stairs + 3.25 mile hike
Workouts | Week of January 26
Monday – Rest
Tuesday – 60-minute yoga class / Dumbbell Superset Workout (15lb. dumbbells) with 20 KB swings (25lb.) + 10 burpees between each set / Winter Shape-Up Workout #2 (video version)
Wednesday – 60 min. Spin + Strength class at the WREC + 10 min. step machine
Thursday – Rest
Friday – 30 min. walk/Rest
Saturday – 3 mile hike/Rest
Sunday – 4 mile run
Workouts | Week of February 2
Monday – Rest
Tuesday – 400 Reps for Time Workout (+ 40 weighted step-ups) + 20 sets of stairs + 3 sets of 10 reps: chest press / bicep curls / front raises / rows
14,600+ step daily total
Wednesday – 20-minute Tabata Kettlebell Workout + 5 x 12 spinal roll-ups + 5-minute leg workout
Thursday – Dumbbell Superset Workout (10/15lb.) + this workout (2x)
Friday – 60-minute yoga class/Rest
Saturday – 3.25 mile run + 15 sets of stairs
Sunday – No Equipment Plyo Workout + Dirty 30 Dumbbell Workout
No Equipment Travel Workout
Half-Marathon Training // Week 9
Half-Marathon Training // Weeks 7 & 8
Half-Marathon Training // Week 5
Half-Marathon Training // Week 4
I’ve been exercising intuitively for the past three years. This is my first time back to following a training plan as I train for Boston. I won’t lie… sometimes I miss just exercising intuitively. As soon as I start following a plan, I overdue it and get injured… like right now. Gah!
I’m so impressed with your ability to maintain workouts without a gym membership. I’m quitting the gym in April so I will definitely be looking to you for ideas!
Just curious – why are you deciding to quit the gym?
Too much running? What’s injured? =/
I’m canceling my gym membership in April because I *think* I’m quitting my FT job in April so I want to save money – at least for the spring/summer. I might join a cheaper gym… we’ll see :)
And do photography full time!?
yes! i always exercise intuitively and NEVER plan my week of workouts. i just do whatever works with my schedule and feels like the right thing for my body that day!
Jen – This is great to hear as I often admire your weekly workouts… with an ounce of jealously. I realize your career revolves around the gym/yoga studio, but it’s often difficult not to compare my efforts to yours. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Thank you for the fitness inspiration, nonetheless!
But if you had a gym membership you wouldn’t get those lovely views you get from hiking! Beautiful photo! I try to do intuitive exercise to some extent, although a lot of the time I just feel like staying in bed because I’m feeling lazy, so I do have to push through that. I do firmly believe in listening to your body and not pushing through illness or injury!
I am really struggling with this right now and looking for answers! Ah, so hard. I have struggled with an eating disorder and exercise for 20 years. It is wearing on me lately; I haven’t wanted to go to the gym and just work out at home on the spin bike or in my apartment gym. I do have stress fractures in both my legs which is hard. I am looking for answers on how to deal with injury! Ah. Anyway, thank you.
Be kind to yourself and appreciate rest days. I don’t have experience with stress fractures, but I imagine some rest would do you good. Wishing you all the best, Nikki :)
Ironically, I am being much more intuitive with my workouts now that I’m preggo. It’s like I have this excuse, so it’s the perfect opportunity and reason for me to listen to my body and do what feels right.
I would imagine that it is a wonderful time to exercise intuitively :)
Loved everything about this post :D Gym memberships are overrated anyways :P
Thanks, Miss Fit Foodie :)
I have been trying to be more intuitive with exercise (and eating). I’ve been working on trying not to feel guilty because I opted for yoga and walking the dog after a long day at work as opposed to spinning or a HIIT workout. Other days I struggle with: “Is this just intuition or laziness, hah!” Always searching for that balance!
I have exercised intuitively for the past year, but found that I wasn’t resting intuitively. Since having my daughter 2.5 years ago, I finally added a rest day after 2 years. If I wasn’t running every day, I was exercising for 1-2 hours. It was a bit intense. I didn’t get burnt out, but found my body not feeling as energized as it used to. Thanks for this post! I will be including it in my Friday Favorites this week.
Thank you for including it! :)