Workout Tips from a Amateur

Hey y'all!

Those who know me, know that I have a love hate relationship with working out. Today's post is going to be 10 tips from a gal who loves (and hates) working out, but isn't a pro by any means.

1. Drink your water

During your workout when you're huffing and puffing: drink your water.
After cardio: drink your water.
When you're super sore after your workout: drink your water!

2. Have a recovery day

I usually take the weekends for a recovery day. Sometimes we will just stretch. It's good to give yourself a rest, and let your sore muscles recover.

3. Confuse your muscles // Have a plan (a workout regimen)

Ok, so this is important! Don't just find what works for you and do it every day. Don't do the same workout without mixing it up. The idea is to confuse your muscles so you can build muscle. Have hard and light days. On light days, do more but with lighter weights. On heavy days, do less but heavier weights. If you're doing cardio, mix up the workout moves. Etc.

4. Remember to count reps && have good form

This is key, because I forget to count my reps so many times! Focusing on how many reps is so important! I usually shoot for three sets, 10-15 reps each. Say, if your doing a simple curl, you'll count to 10 curls and you'll do it three times.

Also, if you don't know how to do something, research it. Don't hurt yourself with bad form.

5. Music helps!

Make a playlist that motivates you to move! Whatever songs give you energy. Because... you'll need it!

6. Get yourself an accountability partner

My family is so important in helping me get out of bed in the morning to workout. Having someone to encourage and motivate you along is where it's at.

7. Set aside time to workout

Working out is one of those things that will get pushed to the side. It just happens. So make sure to block out time to workout. Usually for me, it's in the mornings (because i'm too tired at night...) But find whatever works for you, and stick with it!

8. Wear deodorant 

Lol. Yes, trust me, just do! (Also, natural is best!)

9. Have the right gear

If you are doing a ab video, get a mat. If you are jogging, wear the right outfit. (Good tennis shoes!) If you are lifting weights, have the right equipment. Don't sabotage yourself by not being prepared.

10. Have fun!

Yes, that's right. Feel the burn, sweat like crazy, but have fun with it!

~~~

Here is part of the plan I just made for working out... thought y'all might find it helpful.

~Workout Plan~ 

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: Stretch

Mondays: Upper Body = Triceps and Biceps // pushup training

Tuesdays: Run 2 miles (speed) + T25 (<< It's a cardio video)

Wednesdays: Legs + Abs // pushup training

Thursdays: Run 2 miles + T25

Fridays: Upper Body = Shoulders + Back // pushup training

Saturday: Rest

Who all likes to workout? Tell me about your workout schedule in the comments below! 

Many Blessings,

Brooklyne Elysse

10 Fitness Quotes:::

Calling all fitness people who need the motivation to KEEP GOING today! This post is for you, remember: YOU GOT THIS! And I'm cheering you on. Keep working out, keep eating healthy. Keep going. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy. But it's worth it!

**Quotes are all from Pinterest**

Check out more of the my fitness inspirational quotes on my Pinterest board HERE!

Do you workout? What encourages you to stay motivated? Comment Below! 

Many Blessings,

Brooklyne Elysse

I Survived... Again!

Instead of posing a poem or devotional like I normally would, I thought I would share with ya'll something that was TOTALLY FUN we did on Monday... *Shoots off fireworks* *Throws confetti* *And mud in this case, or whatever else you throw when your excited*... We did a mud gauntlet! 

If you are thinking to yourself that this introduction sounded very familiar, your right! This post is going to be very similar to my triathlon post... if you are new around Showers of Blessings, then feel free to go check out my first "I Survived" post HERE!!!

So, I survived... again! Well, it was more EPIC fun than a survival, but I can still say that I have successfully completed a mud gauntlet! 

What is a mud gauntlet? It's a super fun obstacle course in the MUD! It was as long as a 5k with over 35 obstacles to work together as a team.

On September 3rd (funny how the triathlon was on June 3rd too) my family and I woke up super duper duper early (5am) and after our animal chores were done, we drove out. It took us a VERY long time to get there but we listened to music and ate/drank our breakfast, which was FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE DRINKS! (<-- I had no idea I liked them so much, but I think by now, the whole blogosphere knows how much I like them!)

And guess what, my stomach hurt! Advil was only making me dizzy, but you know, the moment we started, I felt completely fine! God made it possible for me to do this mud gauntlet, and I am so glad He did, because I made some great memories with my family! 

Before pictures...

When we arrived, we waited for awhile and collected our packets. During this time, my cousin drew on us with a sharpie maker our team name "Dirty Dozen." 

Fireworks burst in the air as we crossed the starting line. The first obstacle was to climb over a "mountain" of stacked canoes. Very fun, but slippery. We jumped round bales and and 4' walls. We slipped and slid into mud pits, and crawled through tunnels. We jogged part of it, but mostly just had fun with it. There was a hiking stretch that was mostly up hill with rope to climb up the steeper hills. Our team was very encouraging throughout! Lots of "Dirty! Dozen!" shouting, "Dig! Deeper!" calling, and counting to 12. We helped each other over walls and the rope swing (only a few people actually made it over, I was one of the ones to land in the muddy water below...) 

We crossed the creek twice, and then there was more obstacles!

We all agreed that our favorite obstacle was the water/mud slide in the woods. Two black culverts cut in half to make the "Slide" and a water/mud pit at the end! Super fun! (Although the muddy water did not taste very good... just take my word for it!)

Towards the end, we got tired, but kept going. Mud was EVERYWHERE! Well, I guess we did kind of help each other get just a little bit more muddy! ;P

After we crossed the finish line, they had hoses to wash off and food (food was just ok, since I couldn't eat most of it because it was meat) and music. 

10 things we all can learn from a mud gauntlet:

1. Its ok to get messy, that's the point!

2. Have fun with it! 

3. HELP EACH OTHER! Work as a team!

4. Bring shoes to change into. (Unfortunately we learned this the hard way...)

5. Be encouraging. People need encouragement.

6. Stay hydrated!

7. Keep moving forward!

8. Try the obstacles even if they are intimidating...

9. It's OK to need help with it.

10. God will bring you through!

Here's some more pictures...!

After Picture! You might not be able to tell, but we are covered in mud!

My Dad and I!

My Mom and I!

Yum! 

 The weather was perfect!

Little Petey is not so little anymore! 

Poor baby was scared of the fireworks!

Feeling accomplished on the way home and ready for a nap! 

Actually, later that day we were driving and saw a rainbow. Rainbows are so comforting to me because it's like a refresher on God's promises. And I'm just now realizing that the day of the triathlon we saw a rainbow too! Isn't God amazing how He places His sign for us to see at just the right times?? 

Has anyone ever done a mud gauntlet before? Do you like getting muddy? Did you like hearing about how it went? Ya'll, It's September! What are you up to this month? Have you started school? How's your WIP's going? Any thing exciting happening this September? Lets talk about it! 

➳✩➳✩➳✩

I Survived!

Instead of posting a poem like I usually would, I thought I would share with ya'll something very exciting that we did last weekend... *Drumroll* *Trumpet sounds* *And whatever other musical instruments they use for awaited news!* ...We did a triathlon!

I survived!!! I can now say I'm a triathlete, right?! 

On June 3rd my family and I woke up super duper early and after doing the animal chores, we drove out. It took us awhile to get there, and I was really nervous! Like, I won't lie, I was really nervous! I had never done anything like this before, although we did practice the course and that was AWFUL!  Since our practice didn't go very well, I was double nervous! 

My nervousness didn't go away until after we started, but as we were in the car almost there, I looked out my window, and guess what God gave me? He gave me a rainbow! Wow! That was exactly what I needed. To be reminded of His promise! What perfect timing too! God is so good! 

I will share some pictures! This was my breakfast in the car, a biscuit with veggie meat and apple sauce... 

When we finally arrived, we unloaded our bikes, dropping them off at the designated place. Then we walked down "Killer Hill" (what we would later run/walk up) to where we started with canoeing. Our start time was 8:22AM. We canoed non stop for 6 miles! We each had our canoeing "team." I was in the back of the canoe, and my younger sister was in the front. This means I got to tell or more like yell at her what to do! I'm not used to being in the back, so sometimes I would tell her to paddle on the wrong side, but for the most part we did good. We paddled hard and fast! By the time we were almost done, our shoulders were burning, but we kept on going to the finish! 

This is us starting off...

After we finished our canoeing, our mom's were waiting for us at the end with towels, water, our socks, and tennis shoes for the running part. They had everything ready for us. We couldn't have done it with our crew!

We started out for the 5.5 mile run. My dad was ahead of us at this point. His team was called the "Orange Crush Team." My cousins were a team and they were behind us for the canoeing part, but they passed us about two miles into the jogging. My younger sister and I, and My older sister and her boyfriend were teams. We decided that us four would stick together. 

We drained the gatorade and water pretty fast! We would jog, "To that telephone pole that the man in the yellow shirt was at." Then walk up a hill and, "Jog to that white mailbox." 

You get the picture! Anyway, we ate our energy gummies half way into the run. The last half mile was a strait uphill hike, aka "Killer Hill." I was breathing so hard but seriously I was going a snails pace! Even though I was going so slow, taking it one small step at a time, I didn't give up! I'm pretty proud of all of the teams! No matter what pace we were going, we still pushed through the pain and made it to the top! 

The last leg of this triathlon journey was the 18 mile bike ride! Wow! What a lot of peddling! Muscles were burning! And speaking of burning, I realized that at the end that I got a pretty good SUNBURN! We drank lots and I kept looking down at my hands for encouragement. Just so that doesn't sound weird, let me explain. Late the night before, I had sloppily painted my nails half asleep. Each nail got at letter I-C-A-N-D-O-T-H-I-S! 

There were lots of rolling hills which was a blessing and a curse, you see, going down them was great, but going up? That was a whole other story! Little kids were along the way at water stations. They'd say, "Drink or be splashed." It was really cute and we had to stop at basically all the stations, not only because of the water! One little kid even got us with a water gun! :D

This was hard! Canoeing was hard! Running was Hard! Biking was hard! But it was fun! I know, that might not make sense, but it was fun and hard! 

Half way through the biking, we were passed by a man with no legs. I seriously got goosebumps! This man, had not given up when things were challenging, he used the limbs that he had and pushed through! His arms were so muscular, I was so encouraged by watching him do this triathlon! How amazing, like, this was hard for me to do and I have legs. He passed us! What an amazing testimony that he has. Odds are against him, things are tough, but he persevered and exceeded! I think we can all apply this to wherever we are at in life. We may be going through a hard time right now, but lets not give up. Lets make the best of what we do have and succeed!

You know? As physically challenging as this was, I found myself smiling. We were doing a triathlon! And no, we knew we weren't going to win anything for speed, but we did have the feeling of accomplishment! (And we got a shirt!!! And a cooly bag thing!!!)

The last two miles were the hardest! I mentally has to tell my legs to move and keep peddling! But as we came to the finish, my whole family was screaming and so excited! We crossed the finish line! 

This is us running across the finish line...

Our time was 4 hours and 3 minutes! Dad came in at 3 hours and 17 minutes ! And my cousins came in at 3 hours and 24 minutes! Everyone did amazing!

After we all finished, they provided food and there was a band playing music on a hay wagon. 

Heres my lunch. Salad, Mac n' cheese, potato salad, veggie burger, sugar cookie, and sprite...

10 things we all can learn from a triathlon:

1. Never give up! 

2. Persevere through it, 'nuff said!

3. God keeps his promises. 

4. Get encouragement and give encouragement! 

5. If it is important to you, don't let the odds stop you from doing it! 

6. Stay hydrated!

7. Never stop! Even if you are going a snails pace!

8. Smile even if things are hard!

9. Take a step forward, even if it is a baby one!

10. God will bring you through! 

Here's more pictures...!

This picture might be too blurry to make out what my nail polish says. 

I CAN DO THIS!

Selfie with little sis'!

Selfie with big sis'!

Weather was perfect! Breezy and not too hot!

Little Petey was wiped out! 

Group picture after we finished!

Group picture before we started!

Feeling accomplished on the way home and ready for a nap!

Has anyone ever done a triathlon? Do you like canoeing, running, or biking better? Did you like reading this post? Didn't May fly by super fast? How is your June going? What are you excited about this June? Lets talk in the comments below!