Bikini Booty!

The latest addition to Tone It Up's Bikini Challenge is an amazing Beach Bum Workout. This routine focuses solely on your back side to tone it into a perfect swimsuit shape. I've already completed the routine once today and will be doing it a second time after tonight's super sculpt and Zumba classes. :) You can never work your back end too much.

You all already know that I firmly believe that a fitness playlist can make or break your workout. If the music I'm listening to isn't fast paced and keeping me pumped, I'm not going to work out at the level I need to. There are ton's of great places around the web where you can find and download (sometimes even for free!!) great tunes to spice up your ipod. 

• The Nike Women Facebook page has a link on the left side that takes you to their favorite workout songs and even lets you download a couple for free. 
• Certain artists, like DJ Lindsay Luv, offer free downloads of their mixes on websites such as SoundCloud.
• Other mashup artists, like Girl Talk, combine short bits of thousands of songs to create long, party mixes. Since they don't pay to use artist's songs, they have to offer their songs for free on sites such as Illegal Art. Here you add an album to your cart and when you checkout, you can pick the price you wish to pay (free if you want.)
• Other workout blogs post entries of their favorite workout songs.
• Fitness magazines, such as SHAPE, often have online or print articles that include great songs.

Those are only a few places to explore fantastic collections of music that will keep you working hard and enjoying your time at the gym. 

Here's another list of some of my current favorite songs:

1. Snoop Dog ft. The Doors - Riders on the Storm
2. Adele - Rolling in the Deep
3. DJ MZ- Rokin Blanks
4. Girl Talk - Triple Double
5. Tanlines- Real Life
6. Goldfrapp - Ooh la la
7. PILL ft. Keri Hilson - Pretty Girl Rock Remix
8. Nicki Minaj- Your Love (Danny Genius Remix)
9. Miike Snow- Animal
10. MillionYoung- Hammocks 
11. MGMT- Electric Feel
12. M.I.A.- Bingo

I hope you all are keeping your ipods full of the most fun and upbeat music you can find so your sure to get the most out of each workout!

Early Morning Exercise

I'm so glad that I woke up early enough to attend morning flow yoga (finally!)  It's such an amazing feeling to wake up with the sun and stretch your muscles to awaken yourself for the day. I am seriously (I know, I've said it before lol) determined to continue this and make it routine. I felt so much more  focused throughout my day. I highly encourage all of you to wake up a bit early and even do simple stretches in your room to wake yourselves up :)

Image from ToneItUp

I've found another new site for you girls that's full of wonderful exercise tips and nutritional info. Tone It Up has become my latest go to site for wonderful ideas and inspiring updates as I continue on my fitness journey :)  Created by girls for girls, this site has so many exercises, food ideas, beach body inspirations and lifestyle makeover tips.

Karena and Katrina put together their workout and nutrition plan in an effort to help themselves slim down and tone up. Their personal workout routine has now grown into a blog, fitness community, nutritional system and diet plan. And the site is so much fun! Reading it makes me want to work out and really gives me inspiration to get myself in shape and on the right path. Check out their Music Monday workout playlist here!

The site even has fun videos that help you as you learn new exercises to do at home. Their toned and slim thigh video shows a great routine that specifically targets your thighs. It's unbelievable. 



Check out their site for all kinds of fun innovative workout tips to help you get your sexy summer body!

Spring break? More like an everything break!

Well apparently for me spring break means take a break from everything. I haven't slacked totally though, I have been getting up early to take some aerobics classes at my local gym. This morning I took a class that is new to my gym, Cardio Fuel. It's a 60 minute high cardio circuit class. It was a mixture of step, kickboxing, general cardio and some focused toning. The class definitely pushed me to my limits, but I felt amazing afterwards. It feels great when you stick it out and finish a class that is really difficult for you.

I've been on the hunt lately for some new songs to add to my workout playlists. Especially since I finally started teaching some classes at the gym on campus (It was so scary!) I realized that I needed a serious iPod update. I'm not a big fan of mainstream hip hop and pop (except for the occasional Lady GaGa, my guilty pleasure) so sometimes it's hard for me to find some tunes that really make me want to get moving. 

Here's the lineup of my current fitness playlist:

1. Lights (Messed Remix)-  Ellie Goulding
2. That's Not My Name- The Ting Tings
3. When I Grow Up (Lissvik Remix)- Fever Ray
4. Pursuit of Happiness (Steve Aoki Dance Remix)- Kid Cudi
5. Dog Days Are Over (Breakage Remix)- Florence and the Machine
6. Heartbeats (Rex the Dog Remix)- The Knife
7. Born This Way- Lady GaGa
8. Ghosts 'N Stuff- Deadmau5
9. Through The Wire- Kanye West
10. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger- Daft Punk
11. Summertime Clothes- Animal Collective
12. My Delirium- Ladyhawke
13. Little Secrets (Felix Da Housecat Remix)- Passion Pit
14. Waka Waka- Shakira 
15. Swing Tree- Discovery

Where do you ladies find your music? Do you search around for premade workout cds/ mixes or do you create your own? Or do you just listen to whatever is playing at the gym? 

Along with hunting for new songs to add to my mixes, I've also been searching around for some new exercises to add to my routines. It's so important to keep updating your workouts to keep your body guessing and working hard. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but new moves are great for making your muscles stay tight and toned. 

Trainer to the stars, Tracy Anderson, is wildly popular for her hardcore workout routines that work to strengthen and tone muscles without adding any bulk. Using no more than 3lb weights and mixing toning moves with cardio and dance routines, she has created the Tracy Anderson Method to transform bodies worldwide. 

Image from InNewsToday

You can check out Tracy's website, search for some videos from her on youtube or read about her workouts on a variety of workout blogs across the net. Her tips and workout moves are fantastic for both at home and gym workouts. I read an article about Tracy's routine and found a couple great toning exercises within:

• Ballet Grand Plies: Stand with hells together, toes slightly apart. With a straight back, bend at the knee as low as you can, then go back up again. Work up to 100 reps.
• Single Arm Overhead Pulse: Using 3lbs weights, stand with feet shoulder-width apart, arms at your sides. Raise one arm above your head with your elbow slightly bent and then straighten your arm completely over your head. Pulse like that, up and down. Work up to 100 reps on one side and then the other.
• Piking: Lie flat on the floor, arms at your side. LIft straight legs up to ceiling at 90 degrees and then gently lower. Without pausing, lift them back up again .Your upper body should remain flat on the floor.

For more information on Tracey's routine and workouts for the stars check out the article I read, Tracy's website, FitSugar's collection of articles or any of Tracy's workout DVD's.

Workout rut? Fashion Fix :)

Image from FitSugar

Have you all ever hit a point in your workout/health goals where you are either bored with your routine or not seeing any results? I bet you have because I have! Sometimes you just feel like there is only so much you can do to make things different or to push yourself. FitSugar posted an article today (no surprise there haha) called "10 Fitness Tips to Help You Work Smarter and Get Results." It's got some really good ideas and ways to keep yourself going while changing up your routine enough to see results.

Sometimes we think we have to push ourselves harder and harder to see changes, but surprisingly you may need to slow down to see some results. Read through the tips to see how you may be overworking yourself or learn how to mix up your daily routines to get the results your looking for. You can check out the tips here!

You all know how much I love finding other fitness sites or blogs online. Somehow I stumbled across this site and it's pretty much amazing. MizzFit is blog about fitness (duh!) and fashion! What an amazing mix :) MizzFit follows all the latest trends in the workout world: classes, routines, products, gyms, events, services, wellness tips and of course, the latest in couture exercise style. The site is based out of New York, but works to promote fitness worldwide. 

Image from MizzFit

Ladies, if you love to workout with style, this site for you! Just read MizzFit's Manifesto:

Women who work out, fell sexy and radiate confidence.

Who embrace their inner jock and fashionista as one.

Who are proud to sweat and accessorize (a lot).

Who are determined, consistent and open-minded.

Who crave new challenges and know how to have fun.

Who love their bodies in and out of their workout clothes.

Who push hard, cheer loud and never give up on a dream.

Who inspire us to feel great and cherish who we are.

Here's to you for inspiring mizzFIT.com!

If this manifesto is calling to your inner workout wonder woman, check this site out here.  I know sometimes I load you all up with sites, but when I find something I love, I just have to share it with you! Even if I may not need, use or enjoy everything I find on a site, when something good comes along, it makes it worth checking the sites daily :)

oh, college

As expected, the flood and bombardment of senior year courses have hit me all at once. (so annoying!) The free time I had only two weeks ago has become a memory and every moment of my day is now filled with some form of work. :( (boo!!!!)  It will take everything I have this week to manage my time wisely enough to fit in even a hopeful hour of exercise a day. This serious time crunch will force me to focus more strongly on my both my eating habits and my mental/inner health.

If I'm not careful to keep my stress level down and take a few minutes to breath, I know that I'll only work myself up to a crazy mess where I am unable to do any of my work well. It's more important to relax yourself and complete most of your work really well, then completing all of it terribly while your having a little freak out. (nobody wants to watch you freakout,  I promise)

Icon from Gain

Since I've not been able to hunt around for some super cool stuff to share, I thought I'd let you all know about one really helpful website I've been using lately. This website is still in the creation stage, so not all of the options are available yet, but what they have so far is really fun (I can't wait for the rest!!). Gain Fitness is a personal trainer tool that allows you to build a workout plan just for you. You set your own time constraints, fitness level, available equipment, workout location (home or gym,) goal and focus, then the site creates a routine. (yay! i love things that are just for me) 


The site also currently has a BMI calculator and body fat percentage tool available. In the future they will have weight chat, calorie burn and exercise equipment tools to use :).   The site also is showing that they will offer gain-plan, analyze, library and connect sections for users in the future.  I'm so excited!

FYI: Some of the workout options are hidden under 'tuning options' below your exercise time

The best part about this site is that it is free to join and you can constantly update and create workouts tailored just for you! Any exercise plan you love can be printed out, saved or emailed for use another time. This site really helps to offer you exercises you didn't know about or wouldn't think of using.  If your interested, you can check it out here.

I've gotta know, are you guys stressing out at much as I am, or have I dug myself into a little hole haha?