Core and cardio workout
Hi friends! How was your weekend? Hope you had a great one. It’s been a weird and glorious weekend over here. I can’t remember the last time I spent so much time in the supine position.
I read a book in 24 hours,
watched movies (Sicario was very intense!)
snuggled with my babies
ate a lot of takeout,
and spent a lot of time healing/resting. It was eerily reminiscent of sick days from high school where I’d watch A Wedding Story and A Baby Story all day on TLC. Did anyone else do this?! It was very different than the early days of having a newborn. Even when you come home from the hospital, there’s a lot of stress as you find your groove and routine, figure out feeding, and are awake most of the night. For this recovery, the Pilot swooped in and took care of everything while I slept. A lot. He is amazing.
The Pilot took Liv on a date to Mission Saturday night,
and I felt good enough to put on *real* clothes and enjoy a girls’ date to the movies yesterday afternoon. Madre and I took Liv to see Zootopia. It was hilarious and heartwarming; far better than I was expecting.
(We have a pretty solid “no princess dresses outside of home” rule unless we’re venturing to Disneyland, but somehow Liv knew I was on pain meds because I was just like “treat yo’ self.”)
We had a delicious dinner at home (chicken, sweet potato, zucchini, and macaroni n’ cheese shells) and spent the evening hanging out. It was perfect.
Even though I’m out of the fitness game for a while, I still have some fun ideas for posts coming up (including some how-tos, recipes, workouts, and a random craft I’ve been dying to make). Here is a core workout that I was able to try last week!
(Shirt is here. Peace out, gym. I’ll be back soon!)
I stopped working out my core so often when I realized that visual ab definition is directly attributed to clean eating and cardio more than anything. But, there’s something to be said about cranking out some burning core work in conjunction with sweaty cardio. It’s a great way to break up the cardio segments (so you get a rest from that type of work and can really hit it hard each time!), and also bring awareness to your core during the sprints/runs. Over time, I’ve learned how important it is to engage your transverse to support your other exercises. Another key component is breath! Make sure that you aren’t holding your breath as you work out.
So tell me friends: what was the highlight of your weekend? Any awesome fitness accomplishments? Last movie you saw at the theater? I can’t wait to see the sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding. (I still say, “And inside the lump… was my twin” on a regular basis haha.)
Happy Monday!
xoxo
Gina
62 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Glad to see you’re healing and that you got out to see a movie! Your dress is adorable, too! Thanks for posting the workout. I’m going to give this a try tomorrow!
Sam
thanks, girl! let me know how it goes <3
haha, I love that quote, and “it’s a bundt!” Enjoy your downtime, speedy healing!
haha i love that one, too!
thank you <3
hope you had a great weekend!
Did you love Me Before You?! I cried through the ending (and am still a little mad haha) after finishing the book in less than 48 hours. I also just discovered that there’s a sequel called After You!
it was everything. i figured out how it was going to end, but i didn’t mind because it was so beautifully written. i’m downloading the sequel now! are you going to read it?
Yes!! I started it last night. I also knew how it was going to end but I’m still mad about it haha.
Love the pics from The Pilot and Liv’s date! TOO CUTE!
they are so fun together <3
Ha, I just about spit my coffee out when I read ‘treat yo’ self’ on Liv’s dress! I tend to steer away from crunches because I don’t ever feel amazing effects – especially since starting to take Megaformer classes here and there where it hurts to sneeze 2 days later. That’s my kind of core bang for my buck 🙂
I got a 9 mile run in yesterday in prep for a half on May 1, which – for a very UNNATURAL runner like myself who has had to work pretty hard to get there – always feels like an accomplishment.
Glad you’re getting plenty of time in recovery mode!
megaformer classes are my current fave for core work- so, so tough, every time!
9 miles! GET IT GIRL. that is awesome <3 hope the rest of your weekend went well!
A Wedding Story & A Baby Story…yes! So glad I’m not the only one 🙂
Glad to see you’re able to enjoy yourself while you recover! Hoping the rest of recovery is speedy!
thank you so much, friend!
We watched Room this weekend – holy moly, intense.
Re: princess dresses. Friday night I was serving where I work, and this Mom came in with her two daughters. ALL dressed in different princess dresses – the Mom was Snow White. She totally owned it and was like, well, I told them they could pick my outfit. It was pretty cute and ballsy to walk into a busy SF restaurant like that. My coworkers and I were like “we didn’t know royalty was coming in tonight!” Too cute.
I watched the Room this wknd too & had the same reaction. So good! I was engrossed.
we’ll have to watch it this week! thank you for the rec 🙂
haha that is amazing. she is braver (or just more fun?) than i am, but i could totally see liv and p convincing me one of these days 🙂
Ha – I used to be obsessed with TLC when I was home sick!! Baby Story, Wedding Story, some makeover show that I can’t remember the name of. I could literally sit and watch for hours!!
same! i would watch it ALL DAY haha
OMG I was just thinking of those shows yesterday! I think A Makeover Story always aired around the same time as well. TLC reality shows used to be so innocent…hahaha. I think they still advertised it as “The Learning Channel” back then.
YES! i forgot about a makeover story! used to love that one too 🙂
Glad to hear you’re on the mends! I do a few pilates core work moves in my strength routine, but otherwise I don’t do specific core work. As long as you’re stabilizing through the movements, you really don’t need to. Like you said, it’s about what you eat more than anything!
so so true. pilates exercises DESTROY my core
What is your nail polish in the gym t-shirt photo? Love it!
I saw the trailer for Zootopia before Star Wars and told my husband, “Is it weird that I want to see that?”
it’s an essie color! i think it’s something cameo?
and zootopia was surprisingly good! (the trailers cracked me up too)
xoxo
Thanks! I think I found it–Buy Me a Cameo!
Glad to hear you’re healing well!
I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE A Wedding Story and A Baby Story!! Too bad all they show on TLC now is trash! Good times!
i know- such a bummer! those were the days 🙂
Wishing you a speedy speedy recovery! Glad your soaking up the down time as much as possible! The theater? Uh….. I literally have no idea!
thank you, friend!
I’ve been wanting to read Me Before You for awhile! I need to read it before seeing the movie! This weekend’s highlight was a 5k I did on Saturday, despite the terrible winds haha. Hope you’re feeling better!
Glad you’re getting a chance to rest up and heal. It sounds like the Pilot and Madre are taking good care of you 🙂
We saw “Hello, My Name is Doris” this weekend…it was cute (and uh, so was the guy in it). Can’t wait to see MBFGW 2…What do you mean, he don’t eat no meat?!? It’s ok, I make lamb.
yes, they are amazing! i’m a lucky girl <3
i haven't even heard of that one. i'll need to check it out!
xo
I always say, “Bunnndddttt… Oh, it’s a cake!” out loud and in my head. Can’t wait to see the movie also!
one of my fave scenes, too 🙂 i’m ready for some new one-liners in my life
I loved Zootopia! I’m glad you’re getting to rest, relax, and heal!
thank you! and yes, it was hilarious 🙂
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at the gym today until I saw this blog post so thank you for posting this!! Excited about this workout I’ll let you know how it goes!
wahoo! how was it?!
Although it stinks to have to go through surgery & recovery, It’s kinda nice to enjoy the opportunity to take it easy and be waited on for a bit! We don’t get to do that very often (ever?)! Enjoy and continued good recovery vibes to you!!
totally. i can’t even remember the last time i did that. even though my body is still out of it, i forgot what it’s like to not have bags under my eyes hahaha
hope you had a great weekend <3
Now you have to read “After You” – equally great! Glad you are feeling better. And also loved old school TLC – Wedding Story was the best!
ok, i’ll download it now- thank you!
So glad to hear that you are recovering well! <3
I agree that ab work hasn't really been part of my workouts so much since I started focusing on the "whole body." Also, I just hate doing it LOL I was doing some weighted step ups today that were actually a killer core workout that you wouldn't expect!
i feel the same way! BUT i’ve found that a lot of clients (and guests in the classes i teach) really like “traditional” core exercises, so i’ll throw them in there in limited amounts 😉
love weighted step ups! so excited to do them again eventually 🙂
xoxo
Yessss to the sick days with TLC shows. Pretty sure that’s all I watched. Fitness win was signing up for my first race in ages. Looking forward to speed work tomorrow…not! 😉
haha! i hope it goes well 🙂
I love the color of your nail polish in the gym shirt pic! What brand is it?
Glad you are on the mend and had a relaxing weekend!
thank you! it’s essie 🙂
hope you had a great weekend too
I wish you the speediest of recoveries! I’ve also heard that anything from Extraordinary Desserts is scientifically proven to aid recovery time 😉 I’d also love to hear how you handle mentally being out from exercise for a while. I’ve been out since November after being hit by a car and I’m going crazy here (just let me run already! Argggh). You are so good at staying positive, it’s so inspiring and I love it, and I’d love to hear a post about it down the road. Cheers!
oh my gosh, you’re right! (can you believe i still haven’t been there?!)
i can definitely do a post about it later! for now i’m still in the “thank god this problem was fixed” euphoria, but i’m sure i’ll get antsy in the next week. not being able to move the way you’re craving is really hard. hope that you’re doing much better after the accident <3
You should really try Extraordinary Desserts. For science. (And to celebrate problems being fixed, woohoo! 🙂 )
I actually just signed up for the Coronado Bridge run in May as something to work towards, though I may end up walking it. It’s really frustrating when you want to do things that your body can’t.
it will be for purely research purposes 😉
yes, it’s super frustrating. hang in there. when you’re back in the game, you will crush it- and it will feel so good to know you took time to wait until your body was ready. thinking of you
Glad to hear your recovery is going well! Take it easy, you deserve it! Love the picture of the three of you at the top, so precious, and Livi and Tom- too cute! So many good books, so little time! Cameron Diaz’s new book came out today, so I’m excited to read it.
thank you, friend. also thank you for the reminder that it came out! i need to download it
Thank you for all of your posts. You’ve been a great inspiration for me to get wedding ready!
Hope you are feeling better!!!!
thank you so much, lovely! congrats to you on the upcoming wedding!
Can’t wait to try this workout! Hope you’re feeling better and recovering!
thank you! let me know if you give it a try 🙂
I just loved the exercises. These exercises can be the best way to start a day and keep yourself active. Thanks for sharing!
happy you liked them!
This is what I can an all-inclusive post! Great job! I couldn’t agree more with you about the core strengthening, it is crucial!