Hi friends! Happy Friday!! How was the week? I hope you had an amazing one. Ours was good; busy as usual, but time for some fun in the mix of school and work stuff.

What’s going on this weekend? P has a basketball game and a birthday party, and it’s her First Communion. We’re having brunch to celebrate with the fam. Liv has dance, it’s our nephew’s bday, and the Pilot and I have a date night. We also want to plant all of the spring/summer flowers and veggies! I let everything die last year with the eye saga, so I’m looking forward to starting over. I’d love to hear what you have going on.

(Pic from a fun event last weekend with friends)

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

Friday Faves. 4.12

Read, watch, listen:

So excited to be a guest on the IHP Coach Success podcast this week. You can check out the episode here.

Devouring this book! Abby Jimenez is one of my fave spring/summer authors because her books are perfectly light and fluffy, with fun storylines and witty banter.

The best advice I’ve heard in ages.

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Hi friends! How was the week? I hope you had a great one. What’s going on this weekend?

We have a birthday party, a night out with friends, and I’m teaching a barre class.  I also can’t wait to crawl into the sauna blanket this afternoon; it’s a little chilly today. I’ve love to hear what you have going on!

I was also thinking of doing a spring challenge, similar to Spring Shape Up but with MORE. Wellness tips, fitness programming, live calls, free, the whole deal. Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in doing and we can start later this month!

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party (on a Saturday! Yesterday ended up being wild, but I still love doing this particular post each week). This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

Friday Faves 4.5

Life:

Easter fun! We had an amazing Easter weekend here at home after our San Diego and Disneyland trip last week. Saturday night, the girls and I went to mass, and Sunday morning, the Easter bunny made a stop at our house.

He brought new swimsuits and candy for both kids, a drone and a stuffed animal for one kid, skincare and lulu for the other. 😉

We had a lovely breakfast at my dad’s house with his side of the family and we finally got to meet the newest member of the family, Hudson! He is snuggliest sweetest little guy… and is NOT helping my current baby fever. (Team Two and Through, but I’m struggling with this right now lol.)

Classic Easter pic:

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Hi friends! Happy Friday! How was the week? Ours was a whirlwind, but SO much fun.

I had our choir performance last Friday, drove Liv to Phoenix for her dance competition early Saturday morning, spent the night, the Pilot and I P drove up, I rushed home for our Sunday performance while they stayed in Phoenix for Day 2 of dance competition,

I took the shuttle from Tucson to Phoenix early Monday morning, they swooped me at the airport, we drove to Anaheim for Disney fun for a couple of days, then to San Diego for a couple of days. We’re finally back home after a super fun adventure and spring break!

It definitely felt good to sleep in our bed last night and I’m looking forward to a low-key Easter weekend with the fam. I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to!

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

Friday Faves 3.29

Spring Break vacation:

Some pics from the Disney and San Diego adventures:

We had our usual Goofy’s Kitchen dinner (so good and such a fun way to kick off the trip!)Read more

Motivation Tips For Group Fitness Instructors

For today’s post, I wanted to talk about motivation tips for group fitness instructors: what I’ve found to work in my years of teaching, what only works for some people, and what falls flat, no matter what. I would love to hear your thoughts and experience as group fitness participants or fellow instructors!! Whether you’re leading through a screen, like many instructors are after Rona, or in person, motivation strategies are super important. You want to transmit energy and inspire individuals and group exercise participants both effectively and authentically.

What works (almost) every time:

Use great music with a diverse playlist.

This is one of my favorite things to do! Include a mix of music in your playlists, because someone in class will love the *weird song* you picked. For example, I’ll throw in a random oldies or country song just to keep things fun, and will also try to mix up top 40s music with more alternative and instrumental styles. If you make an entire playlist based on one genre (like EDM or top 40s) one person in class will love every song, but one person will hate every song and possibly never come back.

Call out participants by their names.

I think it’s so much more meaningful this way and shows participants that you care about them.

Acknowledge their hard work and push them to take it up within a safe level.

I talk more about this here! It’s SO important to encourage participants to listen to their body, modify as needed, and be proud of them for showing up!!!

Demonstrate proper form and ways to modify or progress an exercise.

When participants have confidence in the moves and know they’re not setting themselves up for injury, it’s more motivating. 😉

Emphasizing the muscle group they’re working.

Explain why it’s important (“a strong core helps protect our low back and support everyday movements”), and helping them put their mind to muscle.

Just be quiet.

Sometimes it motivating and powerful to be quiet for a bit and let the energy and music do the talking for you.

What works sometimes, depending on the vibe and your personality:

The more “woo” side of things, like visualizations.

During a spin class, sometimes I’ll say something like, “Imagine the people you love standing on the side of the road right now holding a sign to inspire you. What does the sign say?” Or “For our sprint, we’re riding against your biggest competition. Maybe it’s someone from work, or maybe it’s someone who doesn’t even know who you are.”

Hands-on adjustments.

Some people love these and some people hate them, so it’s good to ask at the beginning of class if there are injuries or if anyone is uncomforta

Hi friends! Happy Friday! How was the week? I can’t believe that we’re already at the end of March and fully into spring! I hope that you have a wonderful weekend ahead. It’s going to be a busy one for our fam. I have two choir performances – local friends, come and see Requiem. If you’d like to attend, I have a discount code I can email to you – and Liv has a dance competition!

I’m going to be singing in between the dance shuffle… wish me luck 🙂

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party. This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

Friday Faves 3.22

Life:

Vegas fun! The Pilot and I got to enjoy a Vegas weekend together with friends. We originally went up for the basketball tournament, but the Cats lost on Friday night. It was a bummer, but it freed up more time for Vegas adventures 😉

Some highlights from the trip:

We got an upgraded suite at the Venetian, which was a lovely treat.

Little room service pic:

Parents’ night out:

(dress is here from Amazon! Shoes are here)

Dinner at STK:

The famous Flower Drink from the Cosmopolitan:

We stayed out until 3am, slept in, and then wandered downstairs to the Canyon Ranch spa and had brunch there.

(I had this awesome lentil hummus with veggies, a latte, and a sesame salad with chicken)

Shopping at Fashion Show:

Dinner at the Wynn buffet:

(this was EPIC. We need to take the kids!)

The necessary sparkly Vegas dress:

(from RTR Unlimited)

and time chiling the hotel room watching Love is Blind, which also felt like an indulgent treat. It was the perfect mix of friend time, couples time, party time, and relaxation. My cup is very full after such an amazing weekend!

Read, watch, listen:

I haven’t watched Love is Blind in years – since the first season!- and this new season is SO good. 20 minutes in and I was hooked lol.

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