I was all set to post another workout for you today, but when I went to grab the little piece of paper I had written it down on, of course it was no where to be found. This is my problem: I write my workouts on scraps of paper and leave them around the house everywhere (which absolutely drives RM crazy), so it’s really no wonder that I couldn’t find it.

But, even though I don’t have a workout for you today, I do have a review/recap of the #BuffBride training program/plan that my friend Athena created for me. I reached out to her back in May asking her if she’d be interested in writing something up for me to do for the month leading up to my wedding. I had no intention of going on any strict “bridal plan” or diet (more on that later), but more so I just wanted something to help me keep a bit of consistency in my workouts. I knew working out regularly- even with the added stress and wedding related commitments- was not my issue, but rather it was that I would just do random things pending my mood.

While this is fine, I wasn’t feeling challenged, inspired or any sort of change in my body/strength. Even though I knew I could create a plan for myself, I just didn’t want to. I create so many workouts for my classes that by the time it comes to my own workouts my brain and workout creativity has generally been depleted… #fitnessinstructorproblems. But! The beauty of being in this industry is that I have so many fitness friends at my finger tips to help give me inspiration and something new to try. Sometimes all you need to get your workout mojo back is to have someone plan the workouts for you, incorporating some of your favorite moves but also some new-to-you moves.

Athena did just that! Shortly before June 1st she gave my my 4 week training plan with 3 different workouts per week. While they were all upper-body focused, they did include some lower body and lots of core which was great because it kept me training those parts of my body, too. Workouts for weeks 1 & 2 were the same (again, consistency!), as were weeks 3 & 4.

I think my favorite part about the whole thing was that I didn’t have to plan my own workouts 😉 That, and that I was introduced to some new-to-me moves that I’ve consistently added into my training plan. The workouts didn’t leave me ridiculously sore- which is a good thing!- but I was able to really feel the workouts the next day… that sounds weird, but there is a difference between feeling really sore and just feeling like you worked out, haha. I also liked that I did each workout twice because I could try and increase my weights the second time around, which I did on most of the exercises!

(week 1, week 2/3 and week 4- slight visible changes)

Going into this, I knew I wouldn’t necessarily see or feel any drastic changes because, let’s face it, one month isn’t really enough time for those types of changes to really show, but I was ok with that. Even though I wanted to look and feel my best on my wedding day, I knew that getting a little extra muscle or definition really wasn’t going to sway the image of myself very much. I love the way I feel and look and am so proud of all my body can do for me so even if I hadn’t done a #BuffBride training plan before the wedding, I still would’ve been more than happy with how I looked. But, I will say I did love seeing my muscles in the pictures… something definitely worked!

All in all, I was really impressed with Athena’s training plan and could tell she had a method behind her madness, for a lack of better words 😉 Every exercise within each workout had a purpose and worked well with the other exercises for that particular day, clearly showing me that Athena really knows what she’s doing (but I knew that anyway, duh!). If you’re looking for a way to spruce up your workouts or want a little help achieving various fitness goals or if you’re just looking for someone to help with consistency, I highly recommend Athena! Thanks girlfriend!

Wedding Photo Credit- the amazing Janelle!