10-Minute Bubble Butt Workout

I recently read an article talking about the most popular plastic surgeries in 2014. Apparently, the demand for bum lifts and implants has sky rocketed 35% in the past few years. Out of these, the most common request is to remove the fat below the bum so it has a more rounded look. The good news about this is that working that area can save you thousands in surgery costs and pain. Yep, there are some pin-point moves that will work the area under your bum- reducing fat and increasing the overall roundness of the bum.

One set of this workout will take 10-minutes to complete. Of course, you can always do more if you wish. Although I love workouts that do not include weights, this one will work best with a set of 8-10 pound weights in each hand. If weights are not an option for you, I would recommend using a resistance band in its place. No, the workout will not be quite the same, but it will be a whole lot better than nothing at all.

September Book Club

So, September may be more than half way through, but that is not to pick up a great book! Some friends and I recently started up a book club that will be meeting once a month to discuss some monthly reading. We will each take turns hosting, picking the book, bringing snacks, and bringing drinks. This month, I got to choose the book and decided on We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I heard good things about it and have also heard that the ending is a complete surprise. Other than that, I know nothing.

If you would like to join our monthly book club, that would be so great! We can read them together each month (I promise to notify you of that month's reading sooner than this one) and then come back for a book review. Of course, there will be a spoiler free and spoiler filled section easily seen. That way everyone is super happy with how little or how much information we have.

As for this month's book, I can tell you right now that is fits in the YA category and is based on a wealthy New England family. Two things I had no idea about when deciding on the book! Another thing I have learned is that it is a pretty easy ready. Really. I was halfway through with it after one sitting.

And, since there have been very few fitness related posts this week, I added in some workouts that were recently discovered from Brooke Burke-Chavet's YouTube Channel. Did you know that she had a YouTube channel? I had no idea. Brooke's channel, Modern Mom, is all about health and fitness with guest trainers (Tara Stiles was the most recent), healthy eating, and lifestyle tips. I am officially addicted.

So far, the two workouts that I have done include the Bum workout with Tara Stiles and this one for hip slimming. Both were fantastic and kicked up quite the sweat. They did not make me super sore, but were still great! If you looking for a bum workout that will make you super sore, just wait for the one coming out later this week!

A Great Treadmill Interval Workout

Ok, so I cannot take any credit for this 30-minute interval workout that will feel like death while doing it, and ike you have conquered the world when it is over. This was the treadmill portion of my workout at Orange Theory yesterday and I simply had to share. Seriously, so good! The workout includes a 3-minute warm-up and 3-minute cool down. I completed it before going on to do floor work, but you can do it all on it's own as well.

If, however, you are wanting to get some major calorie burning, the floor work we did was pretty great too! There were four total sets, the first being six reps of squat rows and six reps of push-ups. Then came six reps of jumping lunges (per side) with six reps of tricep dips. A lot of other things happened with the rowing machines, but doing these two sets twice each would be a killed workout all the same!

I like to keep each pace the same or higher than the time before. For a killer workout, try increasing the sprints by 0.1-0.3 for each interval... Including the last one! Increasing the sprints really helps work my glutes as much as my lower abs. It also get a way higher calorie burn since my heart rate is going through the ringer.

What are some of your favorite ways to get a massive calorie burn?

This Week in Workouts: Being Back

First off, I found this video earlier today and absolutely loved it. It is a big advertisement for proper skincare, but more-so, it is just plain pretty! The music in it just might be one of my favorite parts. Another favorite was that some people seem to look prettier with the UV light and freckles showing. As a girl with freckles, I simply love seeing people who look dazzling with them!

Being back home after a long trip is one of the best feelings ever. An equally good feeling is being back in your usual hot yoga class after a long time away. I was totally able to accomplish my goal this week of taking two hot yoga classes and feel all the better for it! This week has also been a time for me to get lots and lots of work done on all fronts... Which is pretty great considering that I am taking two days off next week to have all wisdom teeth removed. Yikes!

I would tell you more about the tooth removal situation, but when the doctor started telling me, I kindly asked him to stop talking. This will be my first ever surgery and I am already nervous enough, let alone finding out what will be taken out of my mouth. A serious no thanks there!

Annnyyywayy, off that tangent and back to the workouts... This week was pretty good on the workout front and I was able to get in to Fit2Run for a run analysis. Turns out that I roll my feet in after landing. The best shoe we found for this was the Nike Lunarglides- the shoes I almost bought two weeks ago and wore religiously during college. The Lunarglides reeaalllyyy hurt to run in at first, but I think that was because of some foot injuries that they brought up; my third run this week felt fine and I am happy to see how they work for my run today. 

Sunday: 1-mile run

Monday: My first Hot Power Yoga flow with my favorite instructor in 2-months!!

Tuesday: 1-mile run in my new shoes!

Wednesday: Rest day

Thursday: 2-mile run followed by this kettlebell workout. My bum is still sore from those few minutes with the kettlebell.

Friday: Rest day- I had an Orange Theory class scheduled but had to cancel due to the immense soreness my legs and bum were feeling from the kettlebell workout. Seriously, I walked like a zombie for two days.

Saturday: 90-minute Hot power Yoga flow!!

Weekly Workout Goal

I just found out that my Orange Theory membership has kicked back up and I now have two weeks to use four classes. For that reason, this week and next week's workout goals are to use all the classes. My hope is to complete two classes per week, all with my favorite trainer!