Sharing some benefits of stretching in the morning + my favorite morning stretches. 

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How was the weekend? Ours was a busy and fun one! Liv’s team crushed it in their last dance competition of the season, and she placed 7th overall for her solo! It was very exciting 🙂

Today, I’m going to chat a bit about stretching. While the research is mixed on stretching, I feel like it can be extremely beneficial. When you stretch, you’re taking your muscles and joints through full range of motion. When you have full range of motion, you’re less likely to compensate during your activities. Compensation can lead to muscle imbalances, altered movement patterns, and injury. Also, stretching feels good!!

Morning is a great time to get in a gentle stretch; it’s just important to remember to move slowly, especially since you’ve been (mostly) still all night.

(Top here // sports bra // shorts)

In today’s post, I’m going to share some of the benefits of stretching in the morning, some of my favorite stretches, and offer tips on how to incorporate it into your daily routine.

5 Benefits of stretching in the morning

Increases flexibility:

Regular stretching can help improve your flexibility and range of motion. This can help you perform daily activities with ease and reduce the risk of injury.

Can reduce stress and tension:

Stretching can help release tension in your muscles, which can help reduce stress and anxiety. It also promotes relaxation and can help you feel more calm and centered throughout the day.

Can improve circulation:

Stretching can help improve circulation by increasing blood flow to your muscles. This can help improve energy levels and reduce fatigue.

Enhanced posture:

Regular stretching can help improve your posture by lengthening tight muscles and reducing tension in your neck, shoulders, and back. This can help reduce the risk of chronic pain and injury.

Boosts mood:

Stretching releases endorphins, which are natural mood-boosters. Starting your day with a quick stretch can help you feel more energized and positive throughout the day.

So, how can you incorporate stretching into your morning routine?

Here are a few tips:

Start small: If you’re new to stretching, start with just a few basic stretches and gradually increase the duration and intensity over time.

Be gentle: Don’t push yourself too hard when stretching. Stretch to the point of mild tension, but not pain.<

Running, biking and other aerobic exercise help improve your health and fitness. Find out just how much aerobic exercise is right for you and how much cardio is too much.

Hi friends! How’s the morning going?? I hope you’re having a wonderful week. For today’s post, I updated an older *beefy* one with lots of fitness tips. If you’re wondering about how much cardio to do and need help with your routine, join us for Fit Team!

I frequently get variations of the same question. What is my weight loss goal? What cardio exercises should I do? What is a *good* amount of cardio I can do without losing muscle? What’s the bare minimum?

But what the core of each of those questions is ultimately asking is: How much cardio is too much?

Let me dust off my cardio queen badge and tell you a long tale.

How Much Cardio Is Too Much?

The Tale of the Cardio Queen

Back in the day, I thought cardio was the “end all be all” of health, fitness, and (what my goal was at the time) losing weight. I figured that more was better as far as cardio exercises go. Little did I know, I was burning my precious muscle away as I pounded the treadmill and was striding along on the elliptical.

It’s equally tragic and amusing to consider the amount of time I spent doing cardio, thinking I was throwing myself a solid to only later find out that it was overkill. I cardio-ed my little heart out, and there was a time when I was going an hour +, almost every day of the week. I was doing way too much cardio at high intensity. (This is also when I screwed up my me

Hi friends! Hope you’re having the best week. I’m so pumped to have one of my very good friends on the podcast today: Giselle! I’ve known Giselle for many years through the fitness and blog world, and I’ve loved watching her success and how much she’s been able to help so many women. She’s my mastermind bestie and my IHP study buddy. I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this one!

133: Eating more to lose weight with Giselle Schroer

Here’s what we talk about in today’s episode:

– How becoming a macro coach helped her heal her relationship with food.

– Why women need to eat more food in order to lose weight

– What nutrition periodization is and why it is key to sustainable weight loss

– What most women need to focus more on if they want to optimize their health

– Why what worked at 20 and 30 just doesn’t work at 40 and beyond

and so.much.more.

Here’s a bit more about Giselle:

Giselle is a certified nutrition coach, health coach, and personal trainer with a passion for helping women live healthy, balanced lives.  She’s also a busy mom and knows just how hard it is to try to do all the things while also taking care of yourself.  This is why she has created coaching programs like The Macro Way and her Four Phase System for Fat Loss that help women to learn to fuel their bodies for their lifestyle, improve energy, reduce stress, balance hormones, reach their personal goals and sustain them.  She does not believe in quick fixes or fad diets but yet a sustainable approach to nutrition that allows for food freedom and flexibility.

Connect with her on Instagram and on her website.

More resources from this episode:

I’m still obsessed with my sauna blanket – right now they’re having a Mother’s Day promo and you can use FITNESSISTA20 for 20% off!  (Promo ends 5/4 – after 5/4 you can use my regular code which is FITNESSISTA15). This is one of my favorite ways to relax and sweat it out. I find that it energizes me, helps with aches and pains, I sleep better on the d

 Today I’m feeling reflective as I celebrate a major milestone – 20 years of practicing yoga!

Hi friends, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Ours was low-key and we saw Riverdance, which was everything.

While I was at hot yoga last week, I realized that I’ve been practicing yoga for TWENTY YEARS. It hit me pretty hard and I couldn’t believe how much life I’ve been through since I was first introduced to yoga. Moves, deployments, babies, highs, and lows, yoga has been a fairly consistent part of my life. I’ve cried during savasana, mastered certain poses, struggled with others, spent 90% of certain classes in child’s pose, and learned to truly be present and focus on my breath.

It’s been two decades of unrolling my mat, connecting with my breath, and flowing through sequences that challenge and transform my mind and body. It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since I first discovered yoga, and while I can’t do any crazy tricks and I’m not the most flexible bear, this practice has shaped my life in countless ways. So, in honor of this milestone, I want to share with you some of the lessons I’ve learned, and the rewards I’ve reaped over the past 20 years of practicing yoga.

(Maisey also wants me to tell you that today is her birthday! OF COURSE she’s getting a doggy cake and birthday song)

20 years of practicing yoga

My introduction to yoga:

My very first class was a Rodney Yee yoga DVD I picked up at Target on a whim. I was in college, feeling the stressors of a dramatic relationship and constant homework deadlines, and figured I’d give it a whirl. Instantly, I was drawn in by the sense of calm it brought me. I also loved Rodney Yee’s clear, concise instruction and his ability to guide students to a deeper understanding of their bodies and the practice of yoga.

Looking back, this was the perfect way to get started: it was zero pressure (because I was solo, at home, in my mom’s living room). I started to practice yoga regularly, mostly before bed, and eventually transitioned into studio classes. Over the past 20 years, I’ve taken hundreds of yoga classes in studios all over the US, from California to Orlando and many spots in between.

Sharing my thoughts on Sculpt Society and if I’d recommend this workout!

Hi friends! How was the weekend? I hope you had a wonderful one. We celebrated Liv’s birthday with friends and also enjoyed a long hike with Maisey. It was the perfect weekend.

For today’s post, I’m excited to share a new-to-me workout format: Sculpt Society! I was ad-targeted for this one forever, and since I always love trying new body workouts and absolutely love dance cardio, I figured I’d give it a whirl. This workout program was founded by Megan Roup (you can check out her Instagram here) and I’ll share a full review below. Heads up that this review isn’t sponsored; I signed up for a 7-day free trial and am going to keep my subscription for a couple of months. I’ve tried a lottttt of fitness apps in my day and am always pumped when I find a winner. 🙂

You can use my referral link to get a 7-day trial plus one month free on the app!

Sculpt Society Review

What Is Sculpt Society?

As I mentioned above, Sculpt Society was created by trainer Megan Roup and is a blend of dance cardio, barre, Pilates, and traditional strength. Megan worked as a professional dancer for the Brooklyn Nets and developed this workout style in 2017. She says, “I wanted to create a program that would help women reach their goals and would still be fun. My mission with The Sculpt Society workout app is to empower women through movement, to stand in their bodies with confidence and strength, and to feel their best self.” (Source)

The Sculpt Society App And Website

On The Sculpt Society app and website, you can find over 400 classes. When you first log into the TSS app, you’ll see an example weekly schedule of classes, a live video schedule, popular videos, and programs you can follow.

The classes are also organized into segments: Gentle + Beginner classes, 30 min sculpt, 30 min dance cardio (my personal fave), 30 min full body, 45-50 minute full body, side body classes, stretch + yoga. There’s also a “Getting Started” section which breaks down common exercises and offers modifications. I’m going to focus on a couple of my fave Sculpt Society workouts below:

30 min Dance Cardio

As I mentioned above, this is my favorite one. The combos are more athletic and on the simple side, easy to follow, but still a lot of fun. This is hard when you’re teaching mixed levels of dance abilities, and I feel like a beginner to advanced dancers would enjoy these combos. The beauty of online dance workouts is that you can pause the video and