Yesterday, as I was signing up for the group fitness classes I want to take throughout the week (Btone, Barry’s, a yoga class, spinning), it dawned on me how completely different this is from what I was doing a year or so ago. It was last June when the company I worked for laid off a bunch of employees (what an AMAZING blessing in disguise!), and I made the transition into blogging full time and pursuing a career in fitness.

While some things have stayed the same—I still don’t have a gym membership and try to spend as little money as possible on working out—the career change has had a huge affect on my workout routine. Ultimately, I think the best workout routine is simply one that you stick to—there is no wrong or right. I think switching it up as my life has changed has helped me hold on to this crazy love I have for fitness.

My Workout Routine while Working a 9-to-5 Office Job

While I definitely relate to the struggle of finding time to workout while holding down a 9-to-5 office job, I have to admit I was spoiled at my old company. We had a small gym space in the building complete with machines, kettlebells, med balls, jump ropes (all the things I love!) that we could use at any time, and a group HIIT class was offered in the cafeteria twice a week for employees.

Every morning, I would wake up at 5:30AM and go for a run—nothing crazy, just 3-6 miles around Castle Island or the Charles River (depending on where I was living). I’d make myself breakfast, do a little work on the blog, then I’d commute to work. On my lunch break, I’d make up a workout for myself and head to the office gym for a sweat (most of the P&I workouts posted in the first year of the blog were made up on these lunch breaks!). If it was a group HIIT day, I’d skip my lunch break workout and do the class after work if I didn’t have any plans that night.

On the weekends, I’d run and workout in my apartment one day, or maybe just run. And on busy work days when I couldn’t take a gym lunch break, I’d do P&I workouts in my apartment after work. I really tried to limit the post-work workouts though because I had such a hard time motivating myself to do much of anything after working all day and commuting back to my apartment through Boston traffic. The best way to make sure I got a workout in was to do it all before work or on my lunch break (or, as was usually the case, a little of both).

And that was it! Running and P&I workouts. I honestly couldn’t afford to do anything else. I would take the occasional class at fitness studios if they were running a special on Groupon or Gilt, but that was rare. And back then, this totally worked for me!

My Workout Routine Now while Blogging from Home & Teaching Fitness Classes

Fast-forward to today and I work from home/coffee shops/libraries as a blogger and teach nine Lagree Fitness classes at Btone throughout the week. Talk about a 180! It has impacted my weekly workout routine in several ways:

I take a Lagree Fitness class at Btone 3(ish) times a week.

I do teach there, after all! I am so passionate about this workout, and in addition to instructing nine classes each week, I try to take three or four classes. Not just because it’s an amazing class and free for me, but also because I really do think it makes me a better instructor. Knowing how different exercises and combinations make your body feel, helps when planning classes for others.

And I should probably clarify that I’m not actually doing the workout when I teach—just demonstrating and then walking around the studio helping/adjusting/torturing/etc.

I take more group classes in general.

When I spend the day at home working on the blog, the last thing I want to do is also workout there—get me out of the apartment! And as a fitness instructor, it’s nice to be told what to do for a change. Instead of focusing on motivating other people, I can let someone else push me through the workout. Similar to what I mentioned about Btone, I also think taking other instructors’ classes (regardless of the mode of fitness) makes you a better instructor—you pick up on techniques you like and don’t like and incorporate them into your own classes.

The workouts I post to P&I are less frequent, but more effective.

I am still such a huge believer in high-intensity training and the short-but-sweet workouts I post to the blog each week, but I’m not doing them every day like I used to last year. I’d say I do them two-three times a week, and I think the smaller quantity is balanced by improved quality.

I remember when I was making up P&I workouts on my lunch break, maaaaaybe one or two out of five would be keepers and make it onto the blog. The others would, well, suck. I’d finish them and feel like I didn’t get a good workout in at all. So sure, I was doing these types of workouts 5-6 days a week, but I was probably only benefiting from them a couple times a week.

After years of practice and fitness certification courses, I am so much better at putting together a workout routine that will kick my (and your) ass. I can’t remember the last time I made up a workout, did it, and then thought eh, that’s not good enough to post on the blog.

Working out is now, literally, my job. So I do it…a lot.

When you get paid to do what you love, you do a lot of it—whether that’s painting, managing stocks or working out. For years, working out has been my favorite part of every day, and now I (directly and indirectly) get paid to do it. “Blessing” doesn’t even begin to describe it. Every morning I wake up excited for all I’m going to do that day, and I’m filled with so much happiness and gratitude.

I, of course, listen to my body and still take rest days and don’t overdo it, but I definitely workout more now than I used to. Between my flexible self-employed schedule, frequent free classes (a perk of blogging and being an instructor!), and an ever-growing motivation to reach new professional and personal fitness goals, I am more active than I’ve ever been.

Dangit I always do this!! I intended this to be a fun, quick post, and instead I’ve written a novel.

Has your workout routine changed over the last couple years? How so?

Pigeon pose with…pigeons. Learning from the masters.

Ok, last post about the fun experience I had in San Francisco with Stitch Fix & LUNA last week. I’ve saved the sweatier parts of my trip for a fitness journal post. I’ve done a couple in the past, which you can check out HERE.

Any time I travel, I make an effort to stay active, and it’s particularly easy when you’re with a group of health & fitness bloggers.

Monday

Running & Btone

I spent the majority of my Monday running last-minute errands around Boston and packing for my trip. That night, I went for a 3-mile run along the Charles River (it’s so pretty at sunset!), and ended it by jogging right up the stairs at Btone and taking a class with Kristen.

Tuesday

A Soul-ful Welcome to San Fran

I was one of the first bloggers to arrive in San Francisco, so to kill some time before we were able to check into our house, I decided to take a class at Soul Cycle. I went straight there from the airport, so looked like a total bag lady wheeling in my suitcase. Weird looks aside, the class was great! Bea was the instructor, and she had awesome music and choreography. It was just what I needed to shake out my legs after the six-hour flight from Boston. There was lots of cheering and “woo-hoo”s from the class during our ride, which was a good reminder to take that New England stick out of my ass and loosen up for some laidback California living.

Wednesday

Golden Gate Park Run & Yoga

I woke up early (my sleep cycle was still on East Coast time) and went for a quick 3-mile run around Golden Gate Park. When I got back, the Stitch Fix & LUNA teams met up with us for some yoga in the park led by LUNA’s in-house yogi, Sadie. It had been a few weeks since I’d hit up a yoga class, which made the session feel all the more wonderful. The rest of the day would be jam-packed with activities, so yoga was the perfect way to kick it off.

Thursday

Quick Jog & Barre at The Dailey Method

Dressed to celebrate the new season of Orange Is the New Black…?

We had another nonstop day with Stitch Fix & LUNA, so a few of the girls and I decided to check out a barre class at a nearby studio early in the morning. Sarah (Sarah Fit), Brittany (Eating Bird Food), Julie (Peanut Butter Fingers), Gina (The Fitnessista) and I ran the mile and a half to The Dailey Method and then took a class with Abby. It was mostly floor work (very little time was spent at the barre), but it was a fun class and I’m glad we checked it out.

Friday

Megaformer-ing at BodyRok

When I first found out I’d be going on this San Francisco trip, I immediately Googled Lagree Fitness studios in the area (I’m a dork, I know). I feel like taking classes on the megaformer with different teachers and studios only makes me a better instructor, and I was curious to see how it would compare to Btone. I ended up going to a morning class at BodyRok (there’s another Lagree Fitness studio in San Fran called Core40, but the class times didn’t work for my schedule). The class was really abs heavy—no complaints here, I love targeting my problem areas!—and only had a quick leg sequence and no arm sequence (minus a few push ups).

I had a ton of fun checking out a west coast megaformer studio, and the BodyRok space is beautiful—lots of natural sunlight, lockers, and a room for spinning classes. The instructor, Jakob, was also beautiful. Just throwing that out there.

Loved starting the day with a workout on my favorite machine!

Saturday

Does drunk dancing at a Darius Rucker concert in Sonoma count as a workout? According to the FitBit LUNA gave me…no. No it does not.

Sunday

I spent the entire day traveling and didn’t get back to Boston until 8pm. Woof.

If you live in the area or have visited, what’s your favorite way to workout in San Fran?

After five days of vacation out in Colorado, I was so ready to get back on the workout grind. Typically, I never go a full week without taking at least one rest day, but my body felt energized and strong, so who am I to deny her a workout? Some days weren’t intense, and I switched up the types of exercise I was doing, so I didn’t feel like I was overworking my body. Rest is vital for recovery and maximal results, but coming off of five days “rest” (read: boozing, eating pizza and sitting on airplanes), I’m not too worried about depriving my body of it this past week haha.

(6AM) Core Workout and a Run

I woke up ready to shake off the previous day of traveling. I did my Stability Ball Superset Core Workout and then went for a freezing cold 4-mile run around Southie. I am SO OVER THIS WINTER.

(4:30PM) Studio Doubleheader

I did an SPX class at Btone and then walked right down Newbury for a spin class at Vélo-City (it’s super convenient having two of my favorite Boston fitness studios in the same ‘hood!). When teaching at Btone, I don’t actually do the workout with the class (aside from demonstrating moves), so I try to go to two-three classes a week with other instructors—not just for the amazing workout, but also to get ideas for my own routines.

The spin class I did afterwards was taught by Steph, and if you Bostonians out there haven’t taken her class yet, you must—she’s awesome, and the class is uh-mazing(ly hard). Steph’s whole class is to the beat of the music (my favorite way to spin), and she incorporates tough arm/upper-body work. Usually I can get through any spin class arm sequence (I may be dying on the inside, but I still force myself to finish because I’ve got a rep to protect, yo), but Steph has successfully defeated me several times with her arm songs.

(6PM) AMRAP Quickie

It was one of those days where you have so much work to do that you don’t even know where to begin. I kept pushing off my workout because I was stressed about getting a million other things done—but we all know how that goes. The longer you push it off, the less likely it is that you’ll actually get around to working out.

At 6PM I finally forced myself to set aside just 15 minutes for the AMRAP workout I posted yesterday. It seems like no time at all, but it really is all you need if you push yourself your hardest. Not only was I sweaty and spent by the end, but so much less stressed about work. Gotta love exercise!

(6:20PM) Megaformer Fun

I kicked off the weekend with an evening class at Btone.

(9AM) 20-Min Tabata and a Run

In anticipation of Sunday’s Tone ‘n Torch class (the new Btone class I’m teaching that is half megaformer, half HIIT), I tested out a 20-minute bodyweight tabata workout. Talk about a cardio challenge! I did tabata intervals of:

• Sumo Jump Squats with Alternating Leg Lifts
• Leaping Mountain Climbers
• Snowboarders
• Plank Jump-Jacks
• Burpees

At the end I didn’t feel like I needed any additional exercise/cardio, but I had to take advantage of a rare hangover-less Saturday, so I went for a quick 2-mile run around my ‘hood.

As a side note, everyone in Sunday’s class did an amazing job with that brutal tabata combo! Next week I’ll definitely throw in a couple exercises that are less cardio-intensive. Torching a ton of calories is great and all, but I’m not trying to kill any of my students.

(2PM) 3-Mile Run

My core needed a SERIOUS break after the previous days’ workout lineup, so I went out for an easy 3-mile run and then called it a wrap.

(4PM) Towel Tabata Workout & Yoga

Remember the towel workout I posted last year? It was a big hit on the interwebs, so I figured it was high time I come up with another. I’m going to share it on the blog later this week. After finishing, I popped in the Bob Harper yoga DVD I mentioned in a previous post for a 30-minute “ohm” sesh.

How many rest days do you usually take a week? (This week not withstanding, I find 1 works best for me.)

I got such a positive response from my Week in Workouts post a couple weeks ago that I thought I’d do another one—maybe I’ll shoot for two a month instead of one.

I have Achilles tendonitis, which is 99.9% a result of constantly going from walking in 6” heels to running in sneakers, day in and day out. For the past couple years, it’s been totally manageable, and I found it was almost completely resolved by switching up my running sneakers. Getting a pair of flexible shoes that naturally push the foot to do more of a toe-strike (as opposed to heel strike) was totally game changing for me (I wear the Nike Free 3). However, every once in a while, my tendonitis flares up, and by now I know that the best thing to do for it is just take a few days off of running (and stilettos) to let it calm down. Here’s what my no-run week looked like:

My Week in Workouts: November 18-24

(8:15PM) Late-Night Pilates Plus

Snapping a quick, embarrassing selfie before everyone arrived.

I usually prefer working out in the morning, but switched things up with a late Pilates Plus class at Btone. I like trying out different instructors, and this was my first class with Kristen—she was awesome; the workout was super challenging.

(6AM) 15-Minute Bodyweight Challenge & Stretching

I snuck this quick, 15-minute bodyweight challenge in before my roommates woke up (it’s really hard to focus on the workout and not laugh when your roommate walks in the room while you’re just casually flying through the air with your limbs everywhere).

Click image for full workout tutorial.

I then dedicated a good chunk of time to just really stretching out my tight muscles. I always give stretching some extra attention when my tendonitis is bothering me, but I actually focus on other areas (hamstrings, hip flexor, the arches of my foot) as to not aggravate my Achilles anymore (a deep calf stretch, for example, would probably just exacerbate the problem).

(6PM) Spin Class at gstarfit

One of my favorite perks of blogging is getting to visit different fitness studios. I was invited to try a spin class at gstarfit in Needham, which I’d best describe as a boutique gym. Gregg, the owner, teaches the spin class, and his energy is unreal. He uses sets from DJs instead of a traditional playlist, so the music is continuous, with one song transitioning right into the next. I’m a big fan of EDM, so I loved it. And no breaks in the music meant less breaks in the workout, so I was drenched in sweat by the end.

Spin class attendance is definitely aimed towards gstarfit monthly members. Day class passes are available as well, but cost-wise it makes the most sense for those also looking to use the gym’s weight/cardio machines and take advantage of personal training and other offered membership services. You can get more details here.

(12PM) Pilates Plus at Btone

Broke up my day with a lunch break Pilates class.

(6AM) 30-Min Stability Ball Workout

I bought a stability ball a couple months ago, and finally got around to using it in a workout. Up until now, it’s been strictly a desk “chair.” Can’t wait to share this workout with you guys—I’ll get it up on the blog in the next couple weeks.

(6PM) 15-Min Kettlebell AMRAP

I did this quick kettlebell workout before hopping in the shower to get ready for the night. And I beat my previous numbers, getting through six whole rounds and into the seventh. Woop!

Click image for full tutorial.

REST.

And by “rest” I mean “recover from hangover.” I went to an event Friday night, and had a little too much fun. Oopsie…

(10AM) Pilates Plus at Btone

This class is really too perfect for an achilles flare up to not do again and again…and again. Doesn’t bother my tendonitis at all!

One of the questions I get most frequently is about my weekly workout schedule. While I love, love, love getting emails from you all, I figure a better solution is to address this common question by sharing my weekly workouts on the blog from time to time. The intent of Pumps & Iron was never to be a daily fitness diary, so I’ll just do a weekly summary once a month or so, giving you an idea of what I did during a random week. I switch up my workouts all the time, so you’ll see the amount of working out and types of exercises will vary with each post. For someone who’s always been so anti-diary-blog, I’m actually excited to make these a regular feature on P&I!

My Week in Workouts: November 11-17

(6AM) Morning Run

I started my day with a 3-mile run. Lately, instead of my usual route along the water (from which 90% of my annoying Instagram sunrise pictures come), I’ve been aimlessly running around backstreets of Southie looking for cool street art and graffiti. They’re no Banksy, but I’ve actually found a few cool ones (clearly this pic wasn’t taken on a run…I don’t run wearing collared shirts and carrying handbags, promise).

(8PM) Low-Impact Circuit Workout

For some reason, my knee had been bothering me since Sunday night, so I wanted to do an at-home workout that avoided deep lunges, jumping or any drastic bending of the knees. Usually, starting the week off with any sort of soreness or injury is the result of dancing in 6” heels drunk at a club at 2AM, but I was actually super tame and studious all weekend (how uncharacteristically mature!), so I have no clue from where the knee pain came.

Regardless of the cause of injury, I managed to get a workout in while avoiding irritating my knee further. I’ll share the full tutorial on the blog next week, but it was a circuit workout involving kettlebell swings, downward dog pushups, Russian twists and superman flutter kicks. Super quick (probably about 15 minutes), but just what I needed after sitting in front of a computer all day.

(9AM) Quick Abs & A Run

I woke up at 6AM to it snowing outside. Not. Cool. I delayed my run and instead spent the morning studying. When the snow stopped, I did this quick 5-minute pre-cardio ab workout and then headed outside for a 3-mile run. It’s not so much that I think 5 minutes of abs is going to give me a six-pack (it won’t)—it’s just really important for me to raise my body temperature before running outside in cold weather so that my Raynaud’s doesn’t do this: 

(4:30PM) Pilates Plus at Btone

I’ve raved about Pilates Plus (a type of Pilates done on Megaformer machines; also called Lagree Fitness) a bajillion times on the blog. After spending the day at the Boston Public Library studying/working, I walked over to one of the 45-minute classes at Btone. I try to make at least a couple classes a week because not only do I love it, but I hope to teach it once I’m certified—the more practice the better!

(12PM) 30-Minute Interval Workout

I broke up my day with an interval workout made up of all the exercises I love to hate. Starburst burpees, plank-to-pikes, med ball squat jacks, alternating superman planks, Turkish get-ups…kill me. I’ll post the tutorial on the blog in the next week or so—you’ll love to hate it.

(6AM) Morning Run & Full-Body Pyramid Workout

First thing in the morning, I went for a 3.5 mile run and then did the Full-Body Pyramid Workout that I posted last year on the blog. It’s still one of my favorites!

Click image for full tutorial.

(5:20PM) Barry’s Bootcamp

Pretending I have upper body strength…

I was invited to come try out a class at the new Boston location of Barry’s Bootcamp and LOVED it. Not gonna to lie, I first heard about Barry’s by watching Keeping up with the Kardashians (I know, I’m embarrassing), but have since heard nothing but rave reviews of the workout, and it definitely lived up to the hype.

During the class, you alternate between treadmills and floor exercises using weights/benches, and depending on the day you go, the workout will target different areas of the body. I did a Full-Body class, so the floor exercises included everything from side planks to lunges with overhead presses. Our instructor was Dustin, who did a great job of kicking our asses and coordinating both the “treaders” and those on the floor. The last treadmill section was a full-out sprint at a 15% incline—I don’t care how fit you are, that’s HARD.

Not only was the workout tough, but the whole thing was fun. The studio space is great, and Barry’s has done an awesome job of creating a cool, social atmosphere—something that really goes a long way when it comes to these niche fitness studios. The locker room is spacious and has showers; there’s a protein shake bar in the lobby area; they have retail racks with Barry’s workout gear—it’s the kind of place you’d go to workout with friends then hang out at for a bit.

I can’t wait to go back for another class, and would definitely recommend trying one out yourself. You can see the Boston schedule here or find a Barry’s in your city here.REST.

(11AM) Quick Run & Kettlebell Workout

I had signed up for another Pilates class at Btone, but couldn’t find parking and ended up missing the class (grrr!!). Fueled by irritation, I went for a quick 2 mile run and then did the 30-Minute Kettlebell Interval Workout I posted on the blog last year.

Click image for full tutorial.

What’d you guys do for workouts last week?