Winter Shape Up Recap + finale giveaway
Hi friends! It’s about that time: we have 2 full days left of Winter Shape Up! Make sure to end it with a BANG, mmm k?
Before I share some of my thoughts on this year’s WSU, I want to announce the winner of the BodyMedia fit giveaway! I got over 200 entries -and am in the process of writing back to all of them- and in addition to being fun reads, they were so heartfelt and motivational. I especially loved your personal fitness stories and funny pictures- some had me cracking up, and others made me look for the ninja cutting onions in here.
I loved putting the program together, and you’re the ones who rocked it out 🙂
Congratulations to China, who will be getting a Bodymedia Fit to track her progress and goals from now on.
Here’s what she sent in:
I’ve been reading your blog for a few years now (discovered it in 2010, and quickly went through and read all the archives), but this is the first year I’ve participated in a shape-up (or any of your workouts, really). I have some autoimmune health issues and exercise-induced asthma, which can make it pretty challenging for me to exercise at times. I got used to feeling slow, heavy and sick, and over time, I convinced myself that I didn’t have the strength and stamina for “hard” workouts. Even though I’m a health enthusiast, I thought that I had extreme limitations. I thought my future was to be sick, overweight and strolling on the treadmill for the rest of my life.
However, I’m really trying to bring about positive change in 2013, so this year I decided to go for it. When you announced the WSU, I told myself to just try it and see what happened. To my surprise, I’ve been able to keep up (even though I had to take an extra day off in week 3 to recover from illness) and I’m showing definite signs of improvement. My weight hasn’t really changed, but I’ve gone down to the last notch on my belt, my abs look flatter, and lunges don’t hurt quite as much as they used to. Overall, I’m feeling a lot better. There’s even been a totally unexpected benefit: my skin looks clearer and more glowy than ever. I think it’s because of all the hardcore sweating!
So, thank you, Gina. Not only for creating this amazing plan, but for giving me the confidence to try it and prove to myself that I’m far more capable than I ever thought. I can’t wait to see what week 4 brings! 🙂
She also sent in a pic from each week of the challenge:
Congrats, China! Send me an email and we’ll get your prize on the way <3
HUGE thanks again to all of the companies who participated in the giveaways:
and thank you so very much to mah girl and trainer inspiration Lacey Stone for hooking us up with a killer week 3 workout. Be sure to check out her app on iTunes if you’d like to see more from her- she’ll make your muscles cry tears of happiness and sadness.
Some WSU thoughts:
-Your comments/tweets and Instragram pics were by far my favorite part of the challenge. I always love to see what you’re up to- please keep checking in even after the Shape Up is over! It will be a good habit when Summer Shape Up comes around and I’m just not ready for #eatlikeaPRO to die, mmm k? 😉
-I LOVED the giveaways. It was so much fun to post them for extra boosts of motivation and is definitely something I’ll plan for next time. Summer Shape Up will coincide with my 5 year blogiversay, so the giveaways will be pretty legendary. Buckle up!
-It’s always tricky for me to find the best method to post the workouts. Video, printable image, text image, form cues…it’s a lot of info to deliver in a concise and organized manner. I just wish we could all rent out a gym in cyberspace and work out each morning. They would have childcare and time would freeze for an hour while we got in our sweat session. Sound good? If you have any preferences or ideas for next time, I’d love to hear them!
[Yay or nay?]
-All in all, I think this WSU was a huge success because you all worked so hard, cheered each other along the way, and made WSU so amazing <3 It was an honor to watch and shake my pom-pons (and my bom-bom) from the sidelines. Keep up everything you’ve done and remember than a ball in motion stays in motion. You’ve already completed the most challenging part by getting started, so just keep going. I’ll keep the workouts, meal ideas and recipes going, too.
For our last giveaway, Champion generously offered 25 of their Show Off Bras:
Beautiful spring colors, with a comfy and supportive design.
25 lucky readers will each get a Show Off Bra in a size of their choice. I think we all know that an awesome sports bra can make or break a workout. I still cringe thinking about that one time (only time) I tried to run in underwire.
Here’s how to enter:
-Leave a comment with some Winter Shape Up feedback so I can make it even better next time around! What did you like/dislike? Any ideas or changes you’d like to see? If you didn’t follow along, what was your reason?
-Follow me on Pinterest for an extra entry – leave an extra comment to let me know
-Have a friend enter for you. If that entry is one of the random winners, you’ll both be included in the 25 prizes
I’m closing the computer for study time, so if your comment doesn’t show up right away, I’ll approve any first-time comments in the morning!
I hope you loved WSU as much as I did <3
xoxo
Gina
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I honestly can’t think of much to improve on the WSU, but I would love if sometimes you just posted strength training workouts outside of the WSU. It was so nice to have a guide, and now that its over I will probably go back to my cardio + strength training.. but I never know what to do for the 2nd part!
Oh also, I have been following you on Pinterest for quite a while!
I honestly like the idea of pictures better than of a video! They’re extremely clear and very easy to follow! 🙂
Following you on Pinterest! 🙂
Unfortunately, I had to skip a few of the workouts, because I was out of town for a bit, but I loved most of it!! My favorite parts were the pictures you included to help demonstrate all the moves, and of course the giveaways. 🙂 I can’t think of anything I would suggest to change, honestly. You rock, Gina!
I already follow you on Pinterest!!
I loved the WSU! the meal ideas were the best part! keep it coming!
I didn’t follow the Winter Shape Up because between our eight-month-old, a full time job, teaching Zumba on the side, and making your fabulous baby food recipes, I barely have a chance to fit in my regular workouts! The Winter Shape Up seemed very well-designed, though, and I can’t wait to try it next year. Keep up the great work!
Following you on Pinterest!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having the pictures demonstrating the moves!!! Now if I can only do that plank one…
you’re very motivating!!!
I didn’t participate in this winter shape up sadly because I am in training for my first half-marathon so I have been running like crazy and haven’t really been doing as much cross training but I have been looking at all the workouts and they seemed badass.
I love the way you post pictures of the workouts– i didn’t follow along but incorporated some of your workouts into my normal routine.
I didn’t get to follow along completely becaus I was running a lot of miles so hopefully for the next one I can do them all! Or ill just fit the exercises In When I’m done with racing!
I found it very helpful when you posted the pictures and included text next to each move and then down below had a brief explanation of how to do the move, what not to do, what to focus on and how many reps and the amount of weight (if applicable). I really enjoyed your WSU and will definitely be doing it for 4 more weeks so I don’t have to come up with my own routine. Thanks a million!!!!!
The winter shape up really helped me getting back on track with working out after an exhausting semester in college! The pictures demonstrating the moves were very helpful 🙂
Hey Gina,
Love the winter shape up! I like a video and the list of moves better than the printable..it’s easier for me to watch the video ahead of time for any moves I don’t know and then bring the list to the gym. To make better, I would love to have a calendar with the workouts and meals (Maybe linked if that’s possible).
Already follow you on Pinterest 🙂
following you on pinterest!
I followed the Winter Shape up and I really, really liked the videos so I could understand the moves better…not really sure what could have been improved upon, it was all great.
I did all 4 weeks of the WSU and thought it was awesome. I really looked forward to a new workout each week. I’m sure it was a lot of work to put it all together, but I really did love it. I would appreciate a video of all the moves so I know I am doing them correctly. Some I had to kind of guess on. But I think the best thing besides a video and in addition to a video are the pictures of each move. That was really good.
I LOVE all your workouts! I usually type each workout so it is small and easy to carry around the gym. Circuits are my favorite!!
I am also a long time Pinterest follower 🙂
Following you on Pinterest!
I loved the challenge–especially the spotlight son what other people thought/felt about it. Reading the comments was great.
love looking back on great workouts! thanks gina!!
:)!