Sharing a list of my very favorite, and what I consider to be the best, single-leg exercises! I hope this post will inspire you to include more unilateral training in your routine. 

Hi hi! How are you doing today? I hope you’re having a wonderful week so far!

For today, let’s talk fitness-y things. Single-leg exercises are one of my favorite elements to include in lower-body workouts. Single exercises are – you guessed it- exercises using just one side of your lower body at a time. Leg strength is important no matter what sport you choose or fitness mode you enjoy. Strong legs support everyday movements and our ability to perform, and focusing on one leg at a time can have several benefits. In today’s post, I’m sharing a roundup of the best single leg exercises that can help you reach your legs’ fullest potential.

(Set was gifted from Vuori. I love everything on their site, and especially their leggings and joggers.)

Why train unilaterally?

It’s SO easy to use bilateral exercises to *depend* on our strongest side. Think about a barbell biceps curl vs. a dumbbell curl. With the barbell, you’ll lift the weight without the true ability to determine if the weight is split equally between sides. Your stronger side will always kick in to help you complete the rep, which can cause muscle imbalances to go unnoticed. By training one side at a time, like with a dumbbell curl, you can really focus on developing strength in the weaker side. This will not only promote muscle symmetry, but also potentially prevent altered movement patterns from depending on the stronger sides of the body.

Here are some of my favorite single-leg exercises to include on leg day! As always, check with a doctor before making any fitness changes. Honor your body and modify as needed.

Best Single Leg Exercises

Single-leg deadlift (a.k.a. Single-Leg RDL)

Holding a dumbbell or kettlebell, shift your weight to your left leg, then float your right leg off the floor behind you. Keeping your weight on your front leg, hinge at the waist and tilt forward, keeping your back straight, until the weight reaches just below the knees (or as far as you can go while maintaining a flat back). Keep your right leg straight behind you. Exhale and return to an upright position. Repeat with your other leg. Make sure to keep your hips parallel to the floor and look straight ahead throughout this leg workout.

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Hi friends! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! We spent it at the Princess in Scottsdale and also saw The Nutcracker at Ballet Arizona. The Princess is one of my favorite holiday traditions and always puts me in the Christmas spirit. 🙂

I’m taking a few days off to enjoy time with the fam. I hope that my friends who are celebrating this week enjoy a beautiful Christmas (and happy Hannukah to my friends celebrating!), amazing food, time with those you love, and space to rest and enjoy. I understand that the holidays aren’t holly jolly and easy for everyone. If you’re going through a difficult time, I’m holing you in my heart.

I’m thankful for your support, comments, emails, DMs, and friendship every single day. Thank you for being a part of my life and hope you have an amazing week!

I’ll be back on Friday with some faves, so I’ll see you then!
xoxo

Gina

Photos by Kristi Harris

The post have yourself a merry little Christmas appeared first on The Fitnessista.

Hi friends! Happy Friday! How was your week? Ours was a good one. Lots of fun events with the kids and we’re headed off on a holly jolly adventure this weekend.

I can’t even believe Christmas is a few days away. How are we feeling, friends?? Are you ready? I totally feel like it snuck up on us this year, and while I think I’ve done a lot, I still feel like there’s so much to do. I’m trying to just take a step back, breathe, and rememebr the true reason for the season and not get too wrapped into the stress behind it all (even though it can be a lot). We’ve got this, friends!

Friendly reminder: it’s not too late to join in this year’s Favorite Things giveway! There are SO MANY amazing prizes up for grabs – the winner will get over $1800 worth of goodies.

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.

12.20 Friday Faves

Fashion + beauty + random:

(Holiday nails with Liv! While this won’t be a regular thing – dance competitions start in January and she can’t have anything on her nails – it was a fun little Christmas activity)

If you’re shopping for last-minute gifts, here are some ideas from this year’s gift guides:

– For Her

– For Him

– For Teens

– For the Kids

–

Healthy Holiday Potluck Ideas

‘Tis the season:

to deck the halls,

spend time with those you love,

don your ugliest Christmas sweater,

(my own Dick van Dyke!)

shop it up

and enjoy festive feasts 🙂

I’m not sure about you, but our schedule is jam-packed until after New Year’s with holiday events! Many of them: bring a side dish or dessert.

Anyone else experiencing a pot-lucking overload?

What to bring?!

I always debate what I should bring to a holiday party. I’d like to make something semi-healthy, since I know I’ll be indulging in the treats and libations at the party, something festive/seasonal, and something that guests will enjoy and remember.

So, as I pick my brain, I thought I’d share a list of my favorite crowd-pleasing healthy potluck recipes and those I have yet to try, but have been scoping out.

Most of these healthy holiday recipes tend to be on the savory side since parties this time of year are heavy on the sweets.

Healthy Vegan Artichoke Dip

I often think about this dip during conversations about the best comfort foods. It’s gluten free and dairy free, and one of our favorite vegan recipes to bring to parties.

Bring it in the slow cooker with tortilla chips or a crudités platter.

My Favorite Fall Salad

My favorite fall salad comes together in just minutes, and it’s loaded with flavorful and nutritious ingredients.

All you to make this crowd pleaser is greens, goat cheese, dried cranberries, candied pecans, and balsamic dressing. If you actually do need to feed a crowd, make a bunch, because it always disappears fast!

Red And Green Quinoa Lentil Salad

Cheezy Quinoa Bake

Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Greek Layered Dip

Buffalo chicken dip and Tuscan white bean dip (both dairy-free)

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Sharing a roundup of some of my favorite post workout snacks and ideas for fueling around your workouts. 

Hi friends! How’s the morning going? I hope you’re having a great one so far! I’m over here editing podcast content and have client calls the rest of the day.

For today, I wanted to chat a bit about workout fueling and some pot workout snacks. While I am a certified nutrition coach, personal trainer, and Integrative Health Practitioner, these are just friendly general suggestions. As always, reach out to your personal RD or health team for personalized advice.

As we all know, I looove working out. Some days are easier than others, but I experience so many amazing benefits from taking the time to move my body each day; I’m sure many of you can relate. It gives me mental clarity, energy, strength, confidence, and I love checking the box towards long-term health. After I work out, I usually have a meal or a healthy snack. Fueling yourself post exercise can maximize performance, speed up muscle recovery, and restore energy levels.

Just a heads up that not all snacks are created equal—some can derail progress.

Today I wanted to share a roundup of healthy post workout snacks that will help refuel, rebuild muscle tissue, and help you feel satisfied after sweaty workouts.

10 Healthy Post Workout Snacks

There’s a lot of nuance to workout fueling: how hungry are you? What time of day is it? What type of workout are you doing? What did you already eat today?

My very general rule of thumb is nothing or a little carbs before a workout, protein + carbs afterwards. When you include carbohydrates and protein, this can help restore glucose levels, support muscle repair and post workout recovery.

Here are some ideas for store-bought snacks and homemade recipes that include both plant-based and traditional meat protein sources.

Is It Healthy To Eat After A Workout?

Eating after a workout is one of the keys to recovery, whether it’s a snack or a meal. It depends on the timing of your workout.

Intense workouts break down muscle tissue and deplete glycogen stores.

Some of the benefits of eating after a workout:

Muscle recovery and repair – Provides essential amino acids for protein synthesis.

Restores energy – Replenishes glycogen through carbohydrates. When you combine protein and carbs, this can potentially enhance this.

Reduces muscle soreness – Supports faster healing and reduces inflammation.

Optimizes performance – Fuels the body for future workouts. You can crush your workouts if you’re depleted!