Okay, let’s talk about bedtime stretches and moving your body!

When I was cleared to work out after Liv’s birth, I couldn’t wait to get back into sweaty interval training. Finding my personal max and soaked in sweat sounded like a dream to me. After P’s birth, I couldn’t wait to Orangetheory and Spin again. (Hopefully, I’ll be back at OTF in the next few weeks as my hand gets stronger!)

After my most recent hiatus, I had one thing on my mind: yoga.

Yogaaaaaaa.

I was craving a fiercely heated room, finding my way into familiar poses, and soaking it all in during savasana. I still haven’t been able to take a class -push-up and plank feel great but I’m not quite ready for a full practice- but I’ve been incorporating bits of yoga into my daily life. Maybe it’s a reminder to stay in the present moment (instead of rushing through the “what-ifs” in my brain), or a few deep breaths to center myself. It might be a quick flow with Liv (she’s a big yoga fan), or a simple stretching routine before bed.

This is the perfect way to wind down after a long day. It only takes a few minutes to stretch your muscles, become mindful of your breath, and ease your way into sleep. I find that setting a timer for 5 minutes to stretch and breathe helps me fall asleep faster, and as an added bonus, I’ll tack on 5-10 minutes of meditation. Afterwards I feel peaceful, centered, and ready to crash out. Works literally every. single. time.

5-Minute Bedtime Stretches  for Relaxation

1) Seated Cat/Cow

Start in a comfortable seat with your legs crossed and hands on your knees. As you inhale, fill your belly, and arch your back, bringing your chest forward. As you exhale, draw your belly in and round your spine. Repeat 5 times, taking long, e

’Tis the season for fun family gatherings, lots of holiday events, and wondering how the heck you’re going to fit in a workout. I’m always a fan of quick dumbbell circuits, but even more during such a busy season. I’ll always appreciate the amazing feeling I get when I can grab a pair of dumbbells, put in my headphones, and 20-30 minutes later, I’m sweaty and energized to tackle the rest of the day.

For today’s post, I wanted to share a quick workout you can do anywhere this holiday season. All you need is a medium pair of dumbbells and a mat. Please let me know if you give it a try! (As always, talk with a doctor before making any fitness changes and honor your body.)

Holiday Strength Circuit Workout

Form cues and tips:

Squat to Upright Row

Holding a pair of dumbbells, keep your chest lifted and your weight in your heels as you squat down and back. Exhale and squeeze your booty to rise, and perform an upright row at the top.

Jump Squats

Make sure to land softly with bent knees. As you spring up, reach your arms overhead, and try to create some lightness within the movement. Squat as low as you can and reach up as high as you can.

Curtsy Lunges

Cross one leg back and behind the other, and come down into a curtsy lunge. The front foot stays flat on the ground and the back foot has the heel raised off the floor.

Froggers

Start in plié squat position. Bring your hands down to touch the floor (keep your chest up). Jump up and land, touching the floor.

Biceps Curl to Overhead Press

Holding a dumbbell, squeeze your biceps and exhale as you curl, inhale to bring the weights up to 90 degrees and exhale to press up overhead.

Push-up to Renegade Row

Start in a plank position, on your knees or toes, holding dumbbells in both hands. Keep your hips down in line with your spine, and exhale, squeezing your chest, to rise.Lift one dumbbell up and squeeze your back to bend the elbow in towards

This is a 25-minute barre workout you can do anywhere. All you need is a set of light dumbbells, 2-5 lbs. Check out more of my barre workouts here, barre bootcamp here, and how to combine barre with other workouts. 

Hi friends! I hope you’re having a lovely morning. How is your week going?

The Pilot has been gone since last weekend and is back this morning, so I’m looking forward to having him home. He’s been flying a lot, which is a good thing. When I first wrote this post, we were officially wrapping up our first year of the airline life. I’d always envisioned throwing a giant party, but that ‘Rona had other plans. Instead, we settled for a smaller but still just as enjoyable backyard BBQ with the family.

25-Minute Barre Strength Workout With Dumbbells

I filmed a new workout for you and this one is a classic barre workout with a little twist: we’re using dumbbells the entire time.

Full Body Workout With Dumbbells

This dumbbell workout is a great way to add in an arm component while our legs are on fiiiiiiire and an easy way to add some extra resistance and challenge. Best of all, you can do it right in your living room!

I was huffing and puffing during this workout and I hope you love it, too! It felt like a solid mix of endurance strength and cardio.

Pin it here for a rainy day:

And here’s the full follow-along video!

I’ve been working on posting videos more frequently, so please subscribe to YouTube channel if you’d like an update when I post something new.

Please let me know if you give this one a try. Also, I’d love to hear if you have any workout requests for the summer months!

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by the blog.

xoxo

Gina

More barre workouts:

Read more

Sharing a total body TRX workout plan for beginners. As always, talk with a doctor before making any fitness changes and modify as needed!

Hi friends! How’s the day going? I hope you’re enjoying the morning so far! Resharing this updated post for my friends who may have missed it. <3

For today’s post, I’m sharing a TRX workout plan for beginners! As you guys know, I’m a huge fan of the TRX suspension trainer and it’s been a staple in my workout routine for years. What is the TRX? TRX stands for Total Body Resistance Exercise and was developed by Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick. He was deployed and wanted to create something that he could easily use for resistance training. He created the first prototype for the TRX using a jiu-jitsu belt! You can read more about his fascinating story and journey here.

TRX suspension training uses gravity for resistance, which means that you’re using your own body weight. However, your distance from the anchor point of the TRX can make an exercise easier or exponentially more challenging. You also may find that the TRX enables you to find more range of motion, support, or resistance for your workout; depending on your fitness level and body position.

The TRX is also super lightweight and portable, so it’s an awesome home workout tool or travel workout companion. 🙂 Many gyms have them, but they’re an inexpensive home gym option, too. 

Use can use the TRX system to train your entire body, and it’s easy to modify or advance, depending on your personal level. This style of training helps to improve strength and endurance, and is generally a safe and effective tool to use. Today, I’m sharing a TRX workout plan that’s designed for beginners, but keep in mind that a simple shift if your position can make this harder for my advanced friends out there.

TRX Workout Plan for Beginners

This workout is a circuit-based workout, meaning that you’ll go down the list of exercises. You’ll complete 12-15 reps of the first exercise, move onto the second, then the third, etc. until you reach the end of the circuit. You’ll rest for 60-90 seconds and complete the circuit 1-2 more times through.

What makes this a beginner workout?

Typically for beginners, I’ll start with lower weights and higher rep exercises

Sharing some workouts you can do with kids and my tips for working out with kiddos at home.

Hi friends! How are ya? I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far! WELCOME TO FIT TEAM to all of the friends who signed up this past week! We are so so pumped to have you and I can’t wait to hear your feedback on the workouts. If you missed the details, check it out here – enrollment closes this Sunday. What are you even waiting for??

For today’s post, I’m sharing some workouts that you can do with kids. Until COVID hit, I very rarely worked out with the kids around. I was typically teaching classes and doing my own thing at the gym while they were at school. (Over the weekend, I’d take an off day and then hit up some type of class.) When the world shut down and we were home for months, they definitely started to see me work out. I realized that by having them around, I was setting an example for them in multiple ways. They were able to see that I prioritized moving my body each day, they were able to see that my workouts affected my mood and well-being (I feel great and energized after a workout), and sometimes, they’d even join in the fun.

15 workouts you can do with kids

It’s important for me to lead by example that moving your body is a good thing. It’s fun, and it helps to keep you healthy and active for the long haul. There are so many benefits to working out with kids: it can help moms squeeze in exercise time while keeping the kids busy, it can tire them out for naptime or bedtime, it’s a fun and different way to bond with the kids, and it’s a great way to teach the importance of health and fitness at a young age.

In today’s post, I’m sharing some of my favorite workouts to do with kids both outdoors and at home! If you have any resources your kids love, please spread the word in the comments section.

Indoor scavenger hunt

This is one that Liv’s PE teacher sent while the kids were home from school. He really did an awesome job of choosing YouTube workouts for the kids that kept them engaged and enjoying themselves. We’ve come back to this one and similar ones a few times.

Cosmic Yoga

Cosmic Yoga is just a treasure. If you haven’t tried this yet with your kids, the workouts are so creative and fun. It’s a nice way to introduce yoga at a young age, and each video has a the