workout Wednesday: my thoughts on Kayla and my weekly schedule

I had tried Kayla Itsines workouts after I had Madrid, but quickly found out I was pregnant with Leo and the workouts are very core based. In August, I began to start them again, hoping to be consistent, and found that in a quick 28 minutes, I was sweaty, extremely sore the next day and felt like I had completed a good workout. As a runner, this is hard to find! This isn’t sponsored, but I wanted to share what has made me feel like I am in better shape, better emotional shape and has made getting a quick but extremely efficient workout work for me. And…

I have abs.

Yes, I know that to keep your internal organs inside your body, everyone has abs, but mine are visible for quite possibly the first time in my life. And I give Kayla Itsines all the credit.

I know that a million bloggers, some that dedicate all their photos and content to tracking their Kayla workouts exist, so I am not going to reinvent the wheel and start documenting what I eat everyday. But these Kayla workouts have made my workouts stay on track, make me feel like I am getting something done in a limited time and have made me have visible abs for the first time ever.

I can’t help but think what amazing changes I would have seen if I had been more consistent this summer and beginning of the fall. The idea behind these workouts is you do them three times a week, along with cardio {find one of my treadmill intervals here. and another in this post}. For my schedule, sometimes I would do them once a week, sometimes four, always keeping track and trying to do them in the intended order. Let me tell you, I am still convinced that Week 1 Legs is the hardest!

By fitting them into my other workouts, getting back into CorePower, my favorite weekly/ bi-weekly runs and the amazing travels we had this summer, I felt that on days that I “didn’t have time,” or didn’t feel like it, or were traveling, I knew that I could modify the workouts. By knowing that I could get them done in a quick 28 minutes, and for the first couple of weeks, with limited gear, it kept the idea of doing it for 12 weeks attainable. Truth: in Sun Valley, I used logs from the fireplace for weights and various furniture to get the workout done. {think tricep dips on the coffee table, step ups on the fireplace.}

This is not sponsored but I know that if you follow other bloggers, or have a workout regime somewhat in your daily life, you probably have heard of Kayla Itsines. While I used images that I found on Pinterest and put them in order, I have heard that the app is extremely user friendly, with included modifications if you don’t have any equipment. Below is the short list of things that I do have in our home gym:

-treadmill {and I kind of want to add a rower…}
–weights : 15 lbs, 8 lbs and 5 lbs
–elastic bands
–workout step this is I purchased after realizing how much I would use it for the Kayla workouts. I use this instead of a bosu ball in week 10-12
-workout mat
–sliders