I know we do a lot of high intensity workouts together, so today I wanted to slow things down and show you another style I use to train that really fires up the intrinsic stabilizing muscles of the hips, butt and core – those muscles that support our posture, alignment AND sculpt those dangerous curves
You can do this at home with a couple jars of peanut butter (or coconut oil, or light dumbbells) for props like I am – I had to eat some to even out the jar weight LOL. You’ll want an ottoman or bench handy as well for some of the elevated moves.
Doing low-impact workouts doesn’t mean low intensity – there are many ways to turn up the heat. I was sweating just halfway through this sequence, and you’ll definitely find it challenging at any fitness level.
I’ve got modifications in there for you so you can build strength in your body – be where you are at, and remember that giving it the best you’ve got is just right!
Time Stamp - Workout Begins: 2:30 if you'd like to repeat it & skip the warmup
Special thanks to my friend Cassey Ho from Blogilates for my gorgeous Spring Yoga mat!
Pre and Post Workout Eating...
Just a note about peanut butter and healthy fat in general - and when I eat it, since I ended this video with me stuffing a giant spoonful of peanut butter in my mouth haha
There is a lot of random and mixed information floating around about pre and post workout nutrition.
While many supplement companies and fitness magazine ads would love you to spend money on pre and post workout drinks, they're just packaged versions of the same things you can get from the whole food meals you're spending your money grocery shopping for. So don't get bamboozled into thinking you need a bunch of fancy stuff.
The bottom line is it's way more important to be eating healthy, whole foods and balancing your nutrient intake consistently than it is to worry about perfect meal timing unless you're a pro athlete.
This is one of the best articles about pre, during and post workout nutrition in my opinion if you want to dig in a little deeper from a reliable source.
Here's what I do...
I don't generally include fat post-workout, as I don't want it to slow down the delivery of carbs to replenish muscle glycogen stores or the amino acid pool. Fat has the important job of slowing down how fast nutrients get absorbed, which serves an important role in keeping our blood sugar stable and helping us feel full - but just after a workout I want the opposite effect.
I'll often make a green smoothie right after my workout with a scoop of wholesome protein powder (you can check out my top protein powder picks in all categories here), a big handful of greens, some almond milk and fruit.
Since that's a pretty small portion of nutrients, I'll be hungry for a fuller meal 45 minutes to an hour later, at which point I'll enjoy something like chicken, turkey or fish with some quinoa and pesto and avocado. Or I'll just eat that meal after my workout, depending on what's going on.
I tend to eat a small meal or just workout an hour or so after I've eaten a normal meal rather than having a "pre-workout." It really just depends on what is going on in my day, like if I'm starting to get hungry but I know I want to work out within the hour, I'll make a smoothie similar to that one above, but I'll add a scoop of nut butter to it. A little fat prior to my workout just gives me more brain power.
Here's a great interview I did with 2 other awesome women trainers, where we go over some of our top strategies when it comes to training - we're talking about weight training in this article, but the nutrition questions we covered relate to all training styles.
Hope you enjoyed today's workout! Be sure to leave me a note below to let me know you did it!
Original article and pictures take thebettyrocker.com site
