Personal Training Check-In: TRX

Happy Wednesday! This morning I woke up bright and early for my 11th personal training session.

During the course of these 10 personal training sessions I’ve mastered the routine. We start with five minutes of dynamic warm-up and stretching including butt kicks, lunges, deep squats, and high kicks. We complete 3 circuits, each including 3 exercises, 3 times before I get to enjoy the stretch session. Each session, there are at least 2 exercises which feel easier than the rest. Sometimes it’s a plank or a squat, but it’s never the lunges! Then, the rest of the exercises leave me sweating, shaking, or quivering depending on the day.

But, Lauren didn’t like how comfortable I had become with our sessions or the workouts. This morning, bright and early, Lauren decided it was time to switch things up.

Enter, the TRX training system. This simple yellow and black device is the devil in disguise.

It takes simple exercises and makes them so challenging that you’re quickly humbled and begging for mercy. I’ve watched people use the tool at Equinox with trainers and always thought it looked fun and not too bad. I’ve even read about Ali’s experience with the class at Crunch Fitness in NYC.

Today’s workout was more challenging than I ever imagined. In fact, after the first circuit I was sweating so much that I slid on the mat.

3x10ea 1 Leg Squat
3×10 Inverted Row
3x10ea Oblique Crunch on Hands

3x10ea Lateral Split Squat
3×10 Roll Out
3x30s ea Side Plank

3×10 Hamstring Curl
3×10 Atomic Push Up
3x45s Reverse Plank

The suspension training, or leveraged bodyweight exercise, uses your body weight to complete each exercise but changes your center of balance, therefore making the average exercise far harder. Completing 10 pushups was almost impossible with my legs elevated in the TRX straps! In addition, this lightweight tool can be carried anywhere since it’s only 2 pounds AND you can adjust the difficulty of exercises just by changing your body angle or position.

I highly recommend giving a TRX class a try or ask you gym if they have one you can use!

Question: Have you tried TRX? What is your favorite exercise to complete using it?

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Getting It Done

Today, instead of focusing on everything going on in my life, I focused on getting things done! The positive energy helped me finish the tasks faster and in a better mindset!

Today’s to do list was filled with evil chores that no one enjoys. My aunt is in town this week and she’s coming to our house Thursday night for drinks before dinner at Mas. Therefore, our kitchen, which was still a wreck from the weekend’s Derby Party, had to go from dirty to shining. The finished product only took 20 minutes of suds and elbow grease! I highly recommend listening to your iTunes library on random while cleaning. I had the chance to scrub to both Adele and Salt & Pepper.  IMG_2028 (640x478)

I proceeded to shine our Armetale after cleaning it so it will be ready and waiting for our next shindig. Shining Armetale and then cleaning our silver definitely delivered an arm workout.

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My next item on the to do list was doing a survey of my summer dresses. I have 10 different dressed I hadn’t tried on since last summer, when most of them didn’t fit. Today, thanks to 5 weeks of personal training, improved eating habits, and smart choices, 8 of them fit! The craziest thing is that these dresses range from size 4-10.

Last but not least was dinner! This was far more delicious and fun than I expected. I forgot that we had delicious leftovers in our refrigerator, just screaming to be used in a cool, delicious salad. Like Meghann and many others, I crave huge salads all summer long along with fruit desserts! Tonight’s salad included leftover tomato & okra, barbecue, chopped red onions, chopped tomatoes, and iceberg lettuce. It came together in less than 5 minutes and was a crunchy bowl of goodness!

IMG_2029 (640x478) IMG_2030 (640x478) Last but not least, I need your help! I’ve chosen my dress for this weekend’s wedding in Atlanta but need help accessorizing! I want to give this cute black dress some spring fun for the afternoon wedding we have on Saturday. What type of earrings or bracelets should I wear? Should I go with strappy shoes or fun, bright heels? HELP!

IMG_2026 (480x640) Also, don’t forget to enter my stress relieving giveaway here! The giveaway ends Wednesday night!

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The Best Stress and Anxiety Relief Giveaway

Over the past few days, my life has been getting more and more stressful. Due to some circumstances out of my control, I’ll be doing two jobs for the next few days. This means longer hours and a steeper learning curve.

Instead of heading to the office this morning, I headed down to Philadelphia with my new team. An iced green tea and unpictured spinach feta wrap were enjoyed during our smooth trip down.

IMG_2002 (478x640) In between work discussions I relaxed with some new music and enjoyed the scenery.

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I forgot how much I love the Main Line suburbs and the Philadelphia skyline!  IMG_2004 (478x640)I said a quick hello to the Schuylkill River as we passed over it! I can’t wait to return in two weeks and enjoy a run with Meghann along Kelly Drive!IMG_2007 (640x478)While the trip down to Philadelphia was great, spending all day left me absolutely exhausted! By the time I got home at 8pm my feet were swollen and tired from visiting stores, my mind was whirling with the many unanswered emails in my work inbox, and I was stressed about what the next few weeks hold.

Over the past few months, I’ve discovered every unhealthy way to deal with stress including a few to many happy hours, too many sweets, and too little exercise. Luckily, over the past few weeks, I’ve done my best to fight stress and anxiety with healthy alternatives. But, nothing I’ve discovered melts away the stress of the day like a warm bath. Tonight that relaxing bath received an upgrade thanks to a new treat I purchased today: Ahava Muscle Soothing Eucalyptus Mineral Bath Salts. IMG_2022 (480x640)After hearing rave reviews of this product from friends and co-workers alike, I finally splurged today!  IMG_2023 (480x640) This 32 oz jar of soothing bath salts doesn’t come cheap but it does more than any bath salt or Epsom salt I’ve tried before. The descriptions sums up these salts perfectly! 

    • 100% Pure Dead Sea Salts provide mineral healing to help relax tight muscles, soften skin, and release stress
    • Therapeutic essential oils of eucalyptus revive tired, aching muscles

The smell is stronger than most bath salts but the strong eucalyptus scent is what ads to the sensorial affects. The salts literally pulled the pain and swelling out of my legs and feet!

In fact, I’m so in love with these salts, that I will be giving one away to a lucky reader! In order to help other stressed bloggers and readers alike, I want to dedicate a post to your stress relief ideas!

You can enter this giveaway a few different ways:

  1. Leave a comment on my blog letting me know how you best relieve stress and anxiety.
  2. Tweet about the giveaway: @healthyhappier is giving away @ahava muscle bath soak so you can soak your stress and anxiety away!
  3. Add me to your blog’s blog roll!

Please leave a comment letting me know that you did #2 and #3.

I will pick a winner, in the continental US ONLY, Wednesday at midnight!

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