Wednesday Workout: Glutes & Back Workout

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Hey there! What a week it has been. Waking up to the news about the Vegas shooting was absolutely horrible. While these things always upset me and leave me feeling unsettled, for some reason this one hit a little harder than others. I don’t know if it’s because we were in Vegas earlier this year (and planning another trip out there) or if it’s because I love country music or if it was because it was so deadly, but it left me feeling absolutely devastated. I just can’t imagine that someone would do that, and why on earth he was able to legally buy that many guns and those types of guns. To anyone who may have been affected by this terrible act of violence, please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you.

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We all need more of this – LOVE. Less hate. Less violence. More love.

And to top it off, Tom Petty passed away. One of my favorite memories of our wedding was when our band played “American Girl” and RM grabbed me onto the dance floor and we danced our hearts out. To this day, I remember that moment so clearly ❤

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Working out has always been a good outlet for me when I’m feeling down (or happy!), so I wanted to share this workout that I did a few weeks ago. All you need is a set of dumbbells and an elevated surface. It’s focusing primarily on the glutes (& quads, of course) and the back, so I challenge you to go a little heavier than you normally would!

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In case you need any explanations or want to see what a move looks like, check out these videos:

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If you’re loving the tank I’m wearing (why wouldn’t you?! 😉 ), you can get one for yourself here.

That does it for me today! If you missed Seaport Sweat with me this week, you have THREE chances to sweat with me tomorrow at EBF FIDI! Hit me up if you want more information.

Have a great day, everyone!

“How can I get motivated to workout?”

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Over the past couple of months, I’ve had a handful of people come up to me and say that they’ve been lacking the motivation to workout. They say they see me post workouts that seem doable, they say they definitely can find the time to take 10-20 minutes to do something, they say they WANT to move more, but, for some reason, they just don’t do it.

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Does this sound familiar? I get it – I think we can all say we’ve been there a time or two (or more!), but the key here, is how to figure out when to push through and find something to motivate you to get back into it vs. when it’s time to listen to your body and honor it’s desire to rest a bit more than usual.

When I’m lacking motivation to workout, it’s usually a result of something else that’s going on in my life:

  • stressful times at work & long hours
  • teaching lots of classes
  • season changes
  • being sick
  • being busy & having little to no “down time”
  • general life stresses
  • grinding hard in my workouts for an extended period of time

Any of these, or a combination of them, can cause me to have less motivation to workout, or less motivation to workout at my normal intensity. I think for me, the biggest culprit is when I’m teaching a lot of classes. That, combined with a full time job leaves little time to workout on my own, and I’m generally pretty worn out so I just don’t have it in me to do an intense workout.

That said, when I’m faced with any of these things, I listen to my body and take it down a notch- that may means going for a walk instead of something intense, doing a bodyweight workout instead of lifting weights, doing just a 10 minute workout to help get the blood flowing and give me some energy to get through the day, etc.

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On the flip side, we may find ourselves lacking motivation, but not for any specific reasons that I may have listed above. We may have just fallen out of our groove because of too many days of skipping workouts in favor of getting drinks, going out to dinner, or working late. It happens! The key here, though, is figuring out how to get back into it, which is what I hope this post will help you do!

Here are some things that help motivate me to workout when I’m not feeling it – hopefully they will help you, too!

  1. Start small – pick a small goal that you know you can do. Maybe it’s just 5 minutes of stretching, a 10 minute walk, or even just some squats and jumping jacks. Whatever it is, is better than nothing, right? And sometimes just that little bit of movement triggers the memory of how good it feels to move and workout. Remember that post I wrote a while back called “just do something” – Action -> Inspiration -> Motivation. The simple act of doing SOMETHING generally leads to motivation to keep going. It’s as simple as that.
  2. Buy a new workout top – Whenever I buy something new to workout in (shoes, top, pants, sports bra, etc.), I’m instantly motivated to workout because I want to wear whatever it is what I bought! It doesn’t have to be expensive, either – you can find great, affordable things at Old Navy, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc.
  3. Download new music – This is another great way for me to get motivated! I love finding new music to workout to. You can follow me on Spotify (mgagnon85) if you want to see what I’m using in my classes these days!
  4. Make a workout date – Having the accountability from a workout buddy is usually enough to make it so that you don’t skip your workout. Plus, working out with a friend is more fun. My sister and I try to do weekly gym dates where we will find a class that we both want to go to and then go to it together. Sometimes we will get drinks after!
  5. Find a new studio/gym/class to go to – Sometimes we lack motivation to workout simply because we are bored with our workouts. This is a huge culprit for why I lack motivation sometimes! Whenever I try out a new class, gym or workout, I instantly feel more excited about working out! This is another reason why I try to get to other instructors’ classes – I’m often reminded of exercises I like, but have forgotten about, I learn new combos, new formats, etc.

I could go on and on, but these are probably my top 5. At the end of the day, even if these things don’t help you feel motivated to workout, it’s ok! There’s no need to beat yourself up over it. Start small, do something (doesn’t have to be anything big or formal), and honor your body. The motivation will come back – I promise!

Questions for you: Did I miss any of your “go to” ways to get motivated to workout? Do you tend to be more or less motivated to workout when you have life stressors? 

Wednesday Workout: 12 Minute Medicine Ball Workout

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Hey there! Happy Wednesday 🙂 I feel like I have so many workouts to share with you, but I’ve noticed that a lot of them tend to be pretty similar in terms of format/structure and timeframe. Have you noticed? As with most things, I feel like I tend to get in a groove (I like that better than saying “rut”) for a while and do mostly the same thing until I finally get sick of it. I do this with food, clothes, drinks and my workouts. Lately, I find myself doing quickie 20-30 minute workouts that are usually a combination of 4-6 exercises, 8-12 reps each and either doing it AMRAP or round style. I like this format for a few different reasons:

  • I like counting reps vs. waiting for a timer – I don’t know why, I just do. Except when I’m teaching – I like a timer so that everyone can work at their own pace and I can coach more easily.
  • It’s easy mentally for me to get into a workout this way. I know the format so I don’t have to think about it.
  • It works well for bodyweight and weights
  • When I have the ability to lift weights, I think this type of format produces the most gains in a short amount of time for me in a physical aspect

I went through a phase a while ago where I did mostly conditioning style workouts – lighter weights and more combo moves rather than sticking to the basic push, pull, squat and hinge movements that I find allow me to lift heavier and see physical changes quicker.

Last week, though, I was getting better from a cold and after having taken a few days off, still wasn’t feeling my usual strength. I also didn’t want to push it too much so I created a total body conditioning workout that used a medicine ball rather than something that had me lifting all sorts of weights. Was it the hardest workout I’ve done lately? Definitely not. Did it get the job done in terms of giving me a good workout, though? Sure did!

I actually had fun just using a medicine ball and creating exercises to do with it. I also liked the 30s intervals rather than rep counting for a change. I used a 10lb medicine ball, which was a little light for some things, but otherwise worked pretty well.

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In case you missed my Insta story where I showed each move, I’ve uploaded them to YouTube so you can check them out if you have any questions.

Questions for you: Do you prefer total body conditioning style workouts, strength workouts, cardio workouts, etc?

I Sometimes Create My Own Stressful Situations

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Over the weekend, I created a very busy day for myself on Saturday. I didn’t need to, but I have a tendency to over-book, over-commit and over schedule myself (WHY?!). Granted, if everything worked out time-wise how it should (or how it does in my mind), it would be a different story, but we all know that is generally not the case. Something is delayed, something takes longer than we anticipate and something doesn’t go as smoothly as we planned, which in turn means it takes longer to complete.

Here’s the way I thought my day was going to go:

  • get up, eat breakfast, make workout & get new playlist
  • Leave the house at 9:30 to bike to the Y
  • Teach 10-11 then do a quickie workout on my own
  • Leave the gym at 11:15
  • Shower quickly and head to a hair appointment at 12:30
  • 12:30-1:15 – hair cut
  • After hair, go to the grocery store to pick up other things we needed for the night
  • While this was all going on, Roberto would be getting ground pork in the North End
  • 3:15-3:30 leave for Jessi and Chuck’s

I mean, just looking at that written out now makes it so clear that I was setting myself up for a stressful day by jamming my schedule so full of different things. If ONE thing got delayed or took longer, it would literally throw off the rest of the day, so when multiple things don’t go as planned (as was the case for me on Saturday), I was left feeling anxious and like I was running out of time to get things done. It was not a relaxing day, even though it was filled with lots of my favorite things.

As we drove to Jessi and Chuck’s house (which was the thing I was most excited about!), 30 minutes late, mind you, RM asked what was wrong. We were stuck in traffic and I hate being late and when I told him these things and how anxious they were making me feel, he quite bluntly said, “Monique, you do realize that you created a busy day when you didn’t have to, right?”. Touché, RM, touché.

And, while I didn’t necessarily like being called out on this ( 😉 ), the guy did have a point. I could’ve spared myself a whole lot of stress, rushing around, and anxiety if I had just not filled my schedule so much. Committed to one less thing. Given myself time to enjoy fewer things rather than rush through them. RESTED and relaxed, maybe!

While I’ve gotten better at this since meeting RM (he, unlike me, much prefers not having plans and just going with the flow in terms of what he’s feeling on any particular day, especially the weekends), I still have the occasional self-imposed busy/stressful day like I did last weekend. Or even just the need to fill up “free” time with things I always wish I could do if I had more free time. However, I am really working on doing less of this, because at the end of the day it robs me of the enjoyment of each activity – and there’s no fun in that!

I’d love to hear from you – if you tend to be like me in terms of filling up your schedule, how do you force yourself to slow down? To not overbook or over commit? To “go with the flow” rather than have everything planned out?

And, if you’re not like me, but rather more like RM in that you prefer to not have plans scheduled out, what’s a tip you have for people to be like that? 

For me, before I over-book myself thinking that I’m a super woman who can handle it all, I’m going to think about what I REALLY want to do and what can wait. For the thing (or things if they’re spread out) I really want to do – that will be my focus and if nothing else happens that day then it’s no big deal. Bonus- if I get other things done based on time, that’s just things I don’t have to do another day!

Wednesday Workout: 5 Exercise Band & Bodyweight Workout

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Good morning! I hope you guys are having a good week so far. I ended up coming down with a cold, so it worked out well that Seaport Sweat was cancelled last night so that I could rest. Needless to say, I did not workout. In fact, I spent most of the day on the couch and napped twice – something I never do. But, I have to say, I’m proud of myself for taking the time to rest and let my body recover. In years past, I would’ve pushed through it, which was just stupid!

Anyway, if you are not resting today or this week, I’d consider checking out this workout. I did it the other day when it was a beautiful, dry, sunny, warm day. Considering these days are likely limited as we approach fall and winter, I had to take advantage of it and take my workout outside rather than in the gym. As you all probably know, I always carry a resistance band and jump rope in my gym bag so that I can easily workout outside with a little more than just my bodyweight.

If you don’t have a resistance band, you can easily do this workout without, which I’ll explain down below. As for the format, you can choose! I did 4 rounds, but you can do any amount of rounds you want or you can see how many rounds you can complete in 15-25 minutes.

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Few things:

      • Banded side steps w/thruster – see this video
      • HRPU = Hand Release Push-Ups
      • Reverse lunge w/single arm press – see this video
      • Banded jumping jacks – see this video
      • Plank w/shoulder taps – high plank and keep your body nice and still (hips are flat and quiet, not lifting) as you lift your right hand to touch your left shoulder. Repeat with the left hand to the right shoulder. That’s one rep.

    I hope you give this a try! It was nice and quick, but left me feeling a little tight the next day which just goes to show you that you don’t have to a. go to a gym for a good workout and b. that you don’t need to have access to lots of equipment.

    Hope you have a great day!