“Rock Your Body Juice Workout” Day 8

Hey Everyone!

I hope you enjoyed your day of rest and ate your Wheaties because this workout is a killer!  It actually goes by really fast, so that part is nice, but I had to summon all of my warrior strength to complete this one!  The best part is: I felt amazing after completing it and so will you!

Day: 8

Mood: Determined

Energy: Groggy (did this one early in the morning)

Workout: Rock Your Body Juice <——-Workout Link

Equipment: Timer

The Workout

This workout is like a pyramid.  Complete the 7 exercises in order, and then reverse them until you get back to the first one!

Low Jacks (20)

Pike Presses (6)

Mountain Climbers (30)

Tricep Leg Lifts (10)

Superman Lifts (10)

Roll over

Toe Touches (20)

Leg Lifts (10)

~These are the 7 exercises.  Now reverse.  The leg lifts are the peak of the pyramid, so you only do these once per round.  Everything else will be done twice~

Toe Touches (20)

Roll over

Superman Lifts (10)

Tricep Leg Lifts (10)

Mountain Climbers (30)

Pike Presses (6)

Low Jacks (20)

**This (the entire pyramid) is one round (dun dun dun)!  Do a total of 4 pyramids to complete the workout.**

My time: 29 min and 46 sec

Whew!  I bet you’re glad that’s over.  I bet you felt the burn in all of your muscles and your heart pounding in your chest too.  You know what that means?  It means you’re getting stronger.  You’re challenging your body by pushing it beyond what you thought it could do, and it’s improving; getting faster and more agile.  Your heart muscle is becoming healthy and conditioned, and is pumping blood throughout your whole body and making you feel energized and alive.  That is what fitness is.  Working out is not always comfortable, and definitely not ever easy (it shouldn’t be), but it’s worth all of the effort!

Let me share a little secret about myself with you: Throughout my life, I have had difficulty finishing what I started.  I’ve quit playing every musical instrument I learned how to play, I no longer sing with a choir, I quit massage school before I got my license, I’ve changed my major a thousand times, and I have attempted college twice now (I had dropped out due to time constraints).  At the time, I saw each of those withdrawals as failures, and that was terrible for my self esteem.  I began to believe that I couldn’t follow through with anything, and that I would be stuck in one place forever because I was too afraid that I would end up disappointing someone, or myself.  I went through a period where I had completely stopped trying to improve myself because my fear had grown to such overwhelming proportions.

One day, I had an epiphany.  I realized that the only way to break out of the self-destructive loop I was in, was to take responsibility for my life again; to make things happen, not to let them happen to me.  I started with the smallest, most manageable piece of my life that I could to prevent overwhelm.  That piece was my health, or at least the things about it that I could control.  It was not an overnight transformation to say the least.  I started by getting my diet back in check.  Veganism works for some people, but it did not work for me.  My body was weak and malnourished, and it needed the nutrients that I was depriving it.  Next I quit smoking, which I had attempted about 20 times before without success.  Somehow, this time was different.  About half a year later, I decided I wanted to get my vitality back, and realized that the best way to do that was to start exercising.  I was instantly hooked 🙂  The desire to push myself and discover what my body was capable of–to look and feel my best, became overwhelming in a good way.  By achieving those things, one baby step at a time, I taught myself that I could stay committed to a long term project, and all together those tiny baby achievements make one big one.  Getting a grasp on my diet, health habits, and fitness gave me the confidence I needed to push myself in other areas, like work and school.  I am back in school and I feel that I know exactly what I want to do with it.  My point is: life isn’t always easy, and some of us need a little push to get things rolling.  Fitness training is a great way to practice that–it can teach us so much about commitment, discipline, and also the consequences that follow when you sacrifice the quality of your work, neglect your training, or even give up.  The good news is, it’s never too late to start again.

Improve the quality of your entire life by devoting just 30 minutes a day to your fitness 🙂  I hope you’re drinking your water… I know I am!

Thank you for the workout Zuzana!

-Lauren ❤