Move it Monday #7 {Wall Workout}

Welcome back to MOVE IT MONDAY. It has been so nice here in Utah I just had to get in a good little workout in outside. I am not mad at you mother nature. This weather is so fantastic. This is also one you can do inside if the weather does not permit, all you need is a PVC pipe or broom stick, a wall, an elevated surface such as a step or bench, and yourself. This is the perfect workout to start out your week right. This is a full body workout that is sure to get you energized for the rest of the day, and should only take you 30 minutes to complete from start to finish including the warm up, tabata and the AMRAP. So lets do it together and let me know how it goes. 

Shirt: Lulu Lemon  ||  Shorts: Nike  ||  Shoes: Reebok Nano 4  || Sports Bra: Nike ||  ||  Facility: My home  ||  Photo Credit: Tyler Ulrich

To find some of my previous at home/out side work outs you can find them HERE HERE, HERE ,  HERE, HERE, HERE and an introduction to the series HERE, you can also find all of my other workouts I have shared on the blog since Last year through the search box on the side or the links I provide at the bottom of this post. I cannot wait to share with you all of my workouts and recipes to help you to be a better you. This year is going to be a great one. Lets get healthy and crush some goals together. Remember you can always email me with suggestions or questions at wjwiki07@hotmail.com Now lets finally get to this workout shall we!!! 

Let's take a closer look at each exercise and break it all down before we get started....

WARM UP

Warm up! It is important! Don't skip it and do it all! Its like breakfast it should not be skipped, it should be taken seriously and it should be done well, because it prepares you for the rest of the workout.

Running/jogging is always a great way to get the body warmed up and ready to go. It gets your heart rate going, your body warm and your blood flow going! This week in the warm up the running is a 400 m run which is a quarter mile or once around the track if you have access to one. 

Pass thrus. You will want a wide grip on the PVC/stick raising it above your head keeping your arms straight pass through to behind you, rotating your shoulders, then still  keeping your arms straight you will pass back up to over head and back down to your hips. Repeat until you have done ten.

good mornings. These are fantastic at stretching out those hammies, calves, back, abs and pretty much everything else. You will place your hands about 6-8 inches past shoulder width place the bar behind your head, and resting on your shoulders, then you are going to bend at your hips to a 90 degree angle keeping your hammies tight, your head up and your back straight. This form is very important and will warm you up and stretch in all the right places. Then you will stand back up. And repeat until you have done 10.

Air Squats- Start in a standing position with your feet about shoulder width apart. Before you do the squat it is important that when you are squatting down to keep your torso vertical, your weight on your heels, knees push out- tracking over the feet. Then when you squat down you will keep your eyes forward and slightly up, your arms out for balance, and squat down until the crease of your hips are at or below your knee, core tight,  keeping a good lumbar curve and chest up, then stand back up and repeat.

Inch Worm Push ups You will start with your legs apart and your hands touching the ground in front of you then you will walk your hand out until you are in a plank push up position, you will do a full push up with your chest touching the ground, back to the plank push up position, then move your hand back to your feet. Then repeat.

TABATA

A TABATA is a short 4 minute workout of 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds rest and repeat until the 8 rounds are up. This can be any skill you are wanting to work on. If you are doing two skills you will do 4 minutes of one and then 4 minutes of the other. For this workout we are working 8 minutes and 2 skills. 

Box jump- Start on the edge of an elevated surface, bleachers or steps, jump up and land on the bleacher the box jump is not complete until your hips and aligned with your shoulders at the top with a straight body, then you will step or jump down and repeat.

Dips- Go over to an elevated surface of a chair, stair, or in my case our driveway, walk your feet out then keeping your hips up and your abs tight bend your arms down into a dip. Elbows back until you reach 90 degrees and straighten arms back up, repeat.

WORKOUT

This workout is a 10 minute AMRAP meaning you will be working the whole ten minutes. You will go through the workout and repeat it until you reach that 10 minute mark trying to get as many rounds as you can before time is up. Keep track of those rounds as you go.

Wall Walks- you will start in a push up position on the ground you will then push up and start walking your feet up the wall and your hands on the ground toward the wall until you are in a straight handstand position against the wall with your shoulders pushing up, legs straight, arms straight and your head in, then you will walk back down into a push up and repeat until you have done 5.

Split squats- You will do 5 of these on each leg. Put one foot in front of you and the other on the wall with a slight bend in the knee, then you are going to lower down into a lunge position and then stand back up to a straight front leg. Make sure to keep your chest up and your core tight. Keep your weight central with the weight in your heel in your front foot lowering straight down not forward.

Push ups- On your hands and toes, core tight bum tucked under and hips in a line. Go down to chest on the ground and push back up.  Make sure your elbow are tucked into your sides as you bend them and not out to the sides. You want your elbow pointing back. 

and repeat all of those for 10 minutes as many rounds as you can complete. Give yourself a goal, push yourself and get as many rounds as you can in that 10 minutes. It is as easy or as hard as you make it by how much you are willing to push yourself. 

Make sure to come and check out more of my At home workouts 

HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE,  HERE, HERE, HERE , HERE , and HERE
and don't forget to check out my blog each Monday for a motivational/workout Fitness post. 

I would love to have you follow me on Instagram

@WHITNEYULRICH

to see all my fun pics, my real life, fitness, fashion ideas

and sneak peaks of what I've been working on

Make sure to check out my other social media sites and follow along
 {links below}

Move it Monday #5 {Stadium and at home workout}

Welcome back to MOVE IT MONDAY. It has been a couple months since my last workout post, which I apologize for, but this one is worth the wait. Things get crazy as soon as the holidays start as I am sure all you busy people know. I really want to get you some workouts you can do at home or while you are out of town while the crazy busy holidays come up. Your health is important and it is important to find time to get that workout in at least 3 times a week. To find some of my previous at home/out side work outs you can find them HERE HERE, HERE ,  HERE and an introduction to the series HERE, you can also find all of my other workouts I have shared on the blog since Last year through the search box on the side or the links I provide at the bottom of this post. 

For this workout we are headed to the football stadium and track but you can also do all of this at your home or a club gym with small modifications. We recently moved back to my home town a couple months ago and so naturally I headed to my old stomping grounds, Layton High School, for a nice little workout session. It is super close to my home, it is a nice facility, its free and always open and my boys like to play there along side of me. The weirdest part about this workout was that I hadn't worked out at that stadium for ten years back when I was running track as a Lancer. Crazy how time flies and all of a sudden we are grown ups and looking at those students like they look like babies. ten years people! My ten year reunion is coming up! Im not sure how I feel about this. Anyway off of that whole Im getting old thing for a moment lets talk about this fun little workout I put together for you guys because I love you and its good for you! You can thank me after, its fine!

 Let's take a closer look at each exercise and break it all down before we get started....

WARMUP

Warm up! It is important! Don't skip it and do it all! Its like breakfast it should not be skipped, it should be taken seriously and it should be done well, because it prepares you for the rest of the workout.

Run 400 m- Running/jogging is always a great way to get the body warmed up and ready to go. It gets your heart rate going, your body warm and your blood flow going! This week in the warm up the running is a 400 m run which is a quarter mile or once around the track if you have access to one. 



Pass thrus. You will want a wide grip on the PVC/stick raising it above your head keeping your arms straight pass through to behind you, rotating your shoulders, then still  keeping your arms straight you will pass back up to over head and back down to your hips. Repeat until you have done fifteen.

Jumping Squat- Start in a standing position with your feet about shoulder width apart. Before you do the squat it is important that when you are squatting down to keep your torso vertical, your weight on your heels, knees push out- tracking over the feet. Then when you squat down you will keep your eyes forward and slightly up, your arms out for balance, and squat down until the crease of your hips are at or below your knee, squeeze your abs in,  keeping a good lumbar curve and chest up, then stand back up and jump and repeat.

Inch Worm Push ups You will start with your legs apart and your hands touching the ground in front of you then you will walk your hand out until you are in a plank push up position, you will do a full push up with your chest touching the ground, back to the plank push up position, then move your hand back to your feet. Then repeat.

TABATA

A TABATA is a short 4 minute workout of 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds rest and repeat until the 8 rounds are up. This can be any skill you are wanting to work on. If you are doing two skills you will do 4 minutes of one and then 4 minutes of the other. For this workout we are just working on one.

Over Head Squats- Start in a standing position with your feet about shoulder width apart. Hold the PVC pipe or broom stick above your head, arms wide and locked out with your elbows pointing downward. Before you do the squat it is important that when you are squatting down to keep your torso vertical, your weight on your heels, knees push out- tracking over the feet. Then when you squat down you will keep your eyes forward and slightly up, your arms out for balance, and squat down until the crease of your hips are at or below your knee, core tight,  keeping a good lumbar curve and chest up, then stand back up and repeat.

You will do as many over head squats as you can in the 20 seconds, then rest ten seconds and repeat until you get to 4 minutes. 

WORKOUT

Shirt: Lulu Lemon  ||  Leggings: Lulu Lemon  ||  Shoes: Reebok Nano 2  || Beanie: Forever 21  ||  Jacket: Target  ||  Facility: Layton High School  ||  Photo Credit: Tyler Ulrich

20 minute AMRAP- This means that you are going to do as many rounds as possible in the 20 minute time frame. So just keep going through all the exercises over and over in order until the 20 minutes is up and make sure to count your rounds.

Run for 200 meters- just run the 100 straight meters down and back equalling 200 then you will be in a good spot to do the rest of your exercises. 

10 Push ups- On your hands and toes, core tight bum tucked under and hips in a line. Go down to chest on the ground and push back up.  Make sure your elbow are tucked into your sides as you bend them and not out to the sides. You want your elbow pointing back. 

20 Step ups- You will simply find a bench, a step, or anything elevated. Start straight up, step up with one leg onto the bench while bringing the other leg along and standing straight up on the bench, step down and repeat on each leg.

10 Dips- Go over to an elevated surface of the bleacher seats, walk your feet out bend your knees then keeping your hips up and your abs tight bend your arms down into a dip. Elbows back until you reach 90 degrees and straighten arms back up, repeat.

20 lunge- Start straight up then go down into a lunge with your chest up, your knees bent to a 90 degree angle and your hips and shoulders in a straight line, then push back up to a standing position, switch to the other leg and then repeat.

10 Burpees- Start in a standing position, bend down to a squat with your hands on the ground, push your feet back into a push up position, go down into a push up, come back up to push up top position, bring your legs back into the squat and stand straight up with a jump and hands over head at the end. 

Repeat all of the exercise in that order until you get to 20 minutes. Give yourself a goal, push yourself and get as many rounds as you can in that 20 minutes. 

Make sure to come and check out more of my At home workouts 

HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE,  HERE, HERE, HERE , HERE , and HERE
and don't forget to check out my blog each Monday for a motivational/workout Fitness post. 

I would love to have you follow me on Instagram

@WHITNEYULRICH

to see all my fun pics, my real life, fitness, fashion ideas

and sneak peaks of what I've been working on

Make sure to check out my other social media sites and follow along
 {links below}

How I stay Motivated to Exercise

I have had a few people ask me how I make the time and stay motivated to exercise and stay consistent at it so I thought I would write up a quick post of some of the ways I do just that. These are all things that have helped me to start back up after babies, stay motivated through pregnancy, and through motherhood. All of these have helped me at different times and on different days. They are simple but are everything if this really is important to you and you want this for yourself. 

 Find An exercise program I enjoy

First and for most you need to enjoy it. If you don't like it, if it is miserable you wont keep at it. There are so many different ways to stay active. Running, Swimming, lifting, crossfit, HITT, Biking, hiking, climbing, sports, dance, barre, boxing and so much more I can't even think of right now. There are options and you are bound to find one of them enjoyable. Try them all out if you have to but find something you love. Most places have free trials so take advantage of those and find what really speaks to you before you invest in memberships. I have found through trying different forms of fitness that I love to run and Crossfit is my passion. I love to run because I can just go, turn my mind off completely and run my heart out for as short or as long as I want. I love Crossift because it pushes me in ways I had no clue I could be pushed, it brings out a drive in me I didn't know I had, it is fun and it teaches me a lot about life. 

Take progression pictures and look back on them

This is one that is hard for me but I think it is hard for everyone. But you will be so glad you took these pictures when you look back on them and see how far you have come. Once you have found that form of exercise you love take a picture, and every so often take another and keep doing that and look back on them often. Seeing results is probably one of the best motivators out there. You do not have to share them, you do not have to show anyone, just looking at them yourself will give you that motivation to keep going and see what it is doing for your health.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I have body image issues I think most women do. I have since I was a teenager. I don't know if it is that my body type isn't the ideal type that are shown in all the magazines or what but I have always struggled with my accepting my thighs, tummy and arms, but especially my thighs. I have been in a rut lately and just haven't seemed like i have been progressing, Then i saw these pictures side by side and i couldn't believe the change. It is hard to see the change in ourselves so take those pictures you will be glad you did. The first picture is a month after I had Holden, The second is when I was just running, the third is when I had been doing crossfit a while and then last one is recently.

Focus and Remember how I feel after I am finished

Sometimes it is just plain hard to push through the uncomfortable times that working out brings, you are gasping for breathe and just plain tired, and sometimes it is hard to even get out the door to go to the gym. Those are the times you need to really focus on and remember how you feel when you are finished. Did you feel energized? accomplished? proud? strong? Focus on those feelings. Because that is what this is all about. 

 Surround myself with people who I enjoy working out with 

This is one of my faviorite and most powerful motivators to keep on going. When you hit those hard days, when it is cold outside and you just don't want to go out the door, when you are tired, and are thinking of every excuse in the book remember who you get to go see. Surround yourself with people you enjoy working out with, your friends, people who push you, people who inspire you. Because when you surround yourself with those people they will keep you accountable, they will push you, and you will have a good time. 

 Find clothing I love to workout in

I've said it many times before and I will say it again because I truly believe that when you feel good and look good, you perform better. Sometimes all you need to go to the gym on a cold, dark winter morning are some new bright, adorable leggings because you want to go show them off. Some of my favorites are Albion fit {pictured above in the leggings and hoodie}, lulu lemon, swoobfit, reebok and nike, 

Use it as my me time

I wrote all about my feelings on everyone getting their time to themselves in this post. But shortly I am just going to say that it is super important mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, single, in a relationship we all need time to ourselves. Something to rejuvinate us, energize us, in the end make us better people and sometimes yes to even get away from responsibility for just a tiny bit. Is it selfish? Well I guess it is, but I have learned that selfish is not always a bad thing. Being selfish one-two hours a day when there are 22 more to be selfless seems like a pretty good deal in the end. Take time for you. It is important. I mean I am saying this for me just as much for you because even though I feel this to be true and know it is what I need as a mother it is hard to put yourself first for a little bit, but I am working on it because I know how good it is for me, my health and my family. 

Write down goals and record times/weights/reps to revisit

This is another great way to see your progress and how far you have come. Progress and results are the best motivators. You then see all the hard work, time and dedication are worth it and it is showing through times, weight, energy level, or strength. Don't just have goals, write them down. Because you forget, you forget what a huge deal it was when you thought of it so when you write them down and look back on them and can say "hey, I achieved that goal." that is going to make you feel good. It is going to motivate you to want to keep growing and then you are writing new goals all the time as you grow and progress. 

Use as therapy 

I'm not sure what it is about exercise but it is great therapy. If you are needing to get out frustration go out for a run and clear your head, go boxing and get some aggression out, kill a work out to make yourself feel strong and worth it or go and lift some really heavy weight to prove you can. See what you are capable of, feel, and use that as fuel to help you get through the workout. 

Listen and Rock out to good music

A great song, and playlist are great motivators and keep me going when I am tired. Getting a good beat, a song that means something to you, a song that makes you feel like you can fly these are all great motivators and get you pumped and ready to go. Listening to good music helps me to run and just keep going. It helps me lift heavy when I need an extra push and hey I just really like music so it makes me happy while I exercise too, sometimes if you are lucky I even dance. 

Reward Myself

This is one that I am not the best at and need to be better at that can be a great tool and motivator is rewarding yourself for exercising, for getting the PR, and for meeting goals. These don't have to be big rewards. It can be allowing yourself 30 extra minutes of sleep, a cheat meal or dessert, or for the bigger successes it can be a piece of workout clothing, or shoes, Just reward yourself with something because you deserve it for working that bum off.

I hope that at least a few of these suggestions can help you to stay motivated to workout and enjoy it.

Happy Friday

Get out there and kick some booty

I would love to have you follow me on Instagram

@WHITNEYULRICH

to see all my fun pics, my real life, fitness, fashion ideas

and sneak peaks of what I've been working on

Make sure to check out my other social media sites and follow along
 {links below}