( blog )

This morning I finished a 6:00 AM workout at my home gym, the awesome Lifestyle Family Fitness “Citrus Park” in good ole’ sunny Tampa, Florida where I live.

After an hour consisting of an elliptical warmup followed by a series of basic total body exercises in the group fitness room, I drove home feeling incredibly hyper and totally pumped up as I belted out “Show Me How to Live” by Audioslave which I had blaring in my car.  (It is on my eclectic playlist of inspirational music that I chose to listen to this morning).

As I was driving home, my energy was so pervasive that I actually felt kind of cooped up, like I wanted to “bust out” with some insane cardio right then and there or fast forward to 7:30 PM so I could attend the evening’s Zumba class, or better yet, a Booty Jam class.  In fact, I was even feeling kind of bummed that my first meeting of the day was at noon because I was so excited to start my day that I didn’t want to wait!  Go figure!

The energy and zest for life that comes about due to endorphins from working out are flat out exhilerating.  My wish is that everyone discover them.   While coffee (which I rarely drink – as in twice a year) gives me anxious jitters and an uncomfortable tightness in my chest, due to my heart beating too fast, the exercise rush is far, far better!  I can only describe it as a feeling of joy and enthusiasm that seems to “poof” in the middle of nowhere on the drive home.  It isn’t rational, it has nothing to do with circumstances, but it sure feels amazing.  Coffee energy is just a cheap substitute (use decaf for it’s antioxidants, instead).

There’s also something inspiring about the quiet early morning crowd.  There’s a lot of energy, but everyone just keeps to themselves and does their routine in a focused, precise manner.  It’s great to be surrounded by ambitious, motivated people who get up early to get the most out of life.   Also, since my home gym doesn’t start their group fitness classes until 9:00 AM (I have to go to the other area Lifestyle’s to get early classes), I can hijack the group fitness room to get my exercises done in the mirror to check for form and get more “in the zone.”  At that time of morning, only a few people are using it.

So next time you’re feeling blah or bue, consider exercising early the next morning.  To make it easy, here’s a trick I’ll share with you…sleep in your clean exercise clothes.  Yes, I just said SLEEP IN YOUR EXERCISE CLOTHES!  When you are getting ready for bed, pull out your stretchy bottoms, sports bra, etc. for tomorrow and suit up.  I know.  It sounds crazy.  And it’s not exactly “lingere”, but I’m just telling you, it works for me and I admit I did it last night!  When you do this, you yawn and stretch when the alarm goes off at 5:00 AM and then you just roll right out of bed (already dressed of course), drink a quick protien shake, lace up and head out.  You can skip the makeup and just do some moisturizer (my personal favorite, and guilty pleasure, is Nars “Illuminator” moisturizer in Orgasm).  Don’t forget your MP3 player with your inspirational playlist, a bottle of water, a a towel.

Use the peaceful morning time to get in the zone, enjoy your alone time, focus on your form and get in touch with your body.  Really listen to and relate to your inspirational music.  Get into the rythym of the music while exercising.  Then as you walk out of the gym, look up  and see the sun just baaaaarely rising in the sky.  You did it!!  And your energy rush is just about to start!

My Workout Today

6:00-6:10 – Elliptical on “cardio” setting

6:10-6:30 – Series consisting of the following:

-Side squats with resistance bands on the outside of my legs, while simultaneously doing bicep curls with the resistance bands

-Tricp dips

-Hamstring dips (while seated, have one leg pulled in and the other raised off the ground. Then dip your body up and down for an incredible isolation of your hamstrings and a little of your arms as well)

-”Lawn mowers” – for back muscles

6:30-6:40 – Abs

-”In and Outs”

-Side raises

-Basic crunches

6:40-6:50 – Stretching

-Worked on my side splits and relaxed with my tunes

6:50-7:00 – Random

-Finished with push ups and the machine where you do assisted pullups with weights

My Inspirational / Worship Playlist

Great lyrics, passionate and insirational.

-Delerium – Silence (warm up)

-Flyleaf – Fully Alive

-Skillet – Awake & Alive

-Savin’ Me – Nickleback

-Audioslave – Show Me How to Live

-Chris Tomlin – Our God is Greater

-Chris Sly – Empty Me

-Barlow Girl – Never Alone

-Mariah Carey – Vision of Love (cool down)

-311 – Love Song (cool down) (I get “into” this song by imagining this is a love song that God is singing to me personally)