Winter Shape Up 2014 Intro Post + Week 1 Workout
**This is your landing page for everything Winter Shape Up-related! Put it in a safe place 😉
It’s the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year….
Welcome to Winter Shape Up 2014!
I’m even more stoked about this year’s Shape Up because it’s the first year that we’re having full meal plans, provided to you by a Registered Dietitian. I asked my friend Anne to help out with the Shape Up this year, and she’s using her extensive nutrition knowledge to create efficient meal plans (for high energy and fitness gains) for the 4-week challenge.
We’re also really excited to welcome this year’s official Winter Shape Up sponsors:
Huge thanks to:
and Fitfluential!
They’ll be providing tons of amazing giveaways for the next 4 weeks, so stay tuned for your chance to win sweet prizes for participating!
So how does the Shape Up work?
I started doing the Winter Shape Up because it’s the perfect amount of time before spring to start making some visible results from your hard work. As the saying goes, “Summer bodies are made in the winter” so when the sun starts to come out, I already feel and notice the results from my efforts. This isn’t an extreme plan in any means, but rather a lifestyle to easily be able to follow until we change it up in a couple of months. (To avoid plateaus and keep things fresh and exciting, you should change your fitness routine every 4-6 weeks. For the Shape Ups, the plan changes EVERY week so you’ll never feel bored!) You’ll have a plan to follow if you’d like each week, and you can complete the weekly workout 1-3 times on non-consecutive days.
Anne will be posting the full nutrition plans on her blog and I’ll have the weekly workouts here on my blog. On my sidebar, I’ll also have a Winter Shape Up widget that will take you to this page. We’ll have all of the workouts and meal plans easily linked:
(Bookmark this page, pin it, or put it in an easy-to-find spot so you can easily get to the pages below)
Each week, you’ll have a workout plan and a nutrition plan to follow, if you’d like. The beauty of Winter Shape Up is that you can participate as much as your unique preferences and schedule allow, and you’ll be rewarded for participating and checking in along the way! Winners for each giveaway will be announced on Mondays throughout the challenge.
All of the workouts will have a video that you can follow along, as well as a text version. The videos include modifications for each exercise, but keep in mind that they were designed for the average gym-going Jane, who is injury-free and comfortable lifting weights. If you’re just getting started with fitness or strength training, I highly recommend talking with a local certified personal trainer for form guidance. You should be able to easily complete 30 minutes of steady state cardio, 5 days a week, before attempting any type of interval training, As always, check with a doc before making any fitness or nutrition changes.
How to check in and enter the giveaways:
The above pages will be your sources for all of that particular week’s info, and your chance to comment and check in with that week’s progress. When you check in by leaving a comment, you are automatically entered for that week’s giveaway. Check in each day on Anne’s site for your clean eats and here for your fitness progress. (Yes, you can enter up to 14 times each week; 7 on my site for fitness and 7 on Anne’s for food!) For example, for week 1, you will check in below each day with what you did for your fitness routine, how it went, how you felt, etc. On Anne’s Week 1 landing page, you’ll comment to check in with your eats! (I hope I’m not making this more confusing than it should be, haha. Let me know if you have any questions! The simple version: Check in EVERY day! On my page for fitness, on Anne’s for nutrition. Obviously, the more you check in, the higher your chances of winning).
Let’s get this party started, shall we??
Here’s the Week 1 workout schedule:
-For the steady state, do anything you enjoy for moderate intensity. A run, dance class, Soli Beat, row or Stairmill session work nicely
Your official Week 1 Workout, video and form cues will be up Monday, January 27, along with our first giveaways!
Here’s how to prepare for the official launch on Monday:
-Check out the fitness plan above for the first week and see what/if you need to shuffle. If you are beginning or changing your fitness plan, now is a great time to get the “Ok” from your doc, too
-Check out Anne’s intro post for your Week 1 meal plan and grocery list
-Join our Facebook group for discussion, links to the posts, and to connect with your Shape Up teammates
-Take some “before” pics! I don’t recommend going by weight -as muscle is more dense than fat and you could essentially lose fat, gain muscle, look leaner, and weigh the same- but you could have your body fat percentage checked this weekend, and take some before pics to see your chances over the 4 weeks
-Add to your inspiration board, or make one if you haven’t yet. Visualize your goals and success for this Shape Up. What are you planning to accomplish? Having your goals in an easily visible spot will encourage you to take steps towards achieving them
-Here’s a handy badge to add to your blog, too, if you’d like 🙂
Remember to tweet your sweaty workout pics and clean eats so we can all cheer for each other! @fitnessista @fannetasticfood #wintershapeup
This is going to be the best one yet.
xo
Gina (and Anne!)
Are you joining in the fun?? Leave a comment below to let us know! It will count as your first giveaway entry, too 🙂
I did Week 2 workout today, it was great!
I just found your blog and I am excited to get started!
Wooooo! Great workout this morning did WO2 at the gym and came home for Barre Burner. Great way to start the day!
You can do anything for 4 minutes!!! My heart was racing though!
Just started the Winter Shape Up today and loving it! I’m sore tonight which is kinda what I needed. I’ve been in a weight loss/lifestyle change for over a year now…..with it I shed 30 pounds and fell in love with working out. I needed that jump back into high intensity after the first of the year and my favorite boot camp being cancelled….and this is it! Thank you so much!
congratulations of your weight loss success! that is amazing
Just did the week 2 workout and barre burner. I haven’t sweat this much in forever. Feels great. Thanks, Gina!
Week 2 Day 2 done! Got in a great steady state cardio even though my legs were sore from the awesome Barre Burner yesterday. Looking forward to a snow day and another day of week 2’s workout!
I just found your blog today and read this post, and I’m already so excited to start working out. Thanks for sharing
Did some not so steady steady state today. for 20 minutes of it I alternated between 30 sec fast and 30 slower. I can’t just truck along, I get bored and I was watching movie at the same time.
A bit of snow on the ground and some fun dance cardio inside the house!
First Day of WO2! It was awesome!! Kicked my butt!
Workout 2 kicked my booty this morning!
[…] beginning Winter Shape-Up about a week and a half ago, there is something I have reaffirmed about myself. In fact, here is […]
Workout 2 was great this morning!
Today was about 50 minutes of easy cardio. So sore from yesterday’s workout!
I’m still a day ahead…glorious rest day yesterday! Loved the time playing with my kiddos.
Off to yoga in 20 minutes!!!
Did a long recovery walk since I had a tough week work out wise!
I plan to do a little stretching and something easy to enjoy the rest day!
Swapped Thurs and Fri on the schedule due to some serious snow shoveling Wed/Thurs but very happy to say I completed workout 2 this morning and I am planning on doing the plank burner tonight!
did workout 2 and plank burner this morning. feeling stronger already!
Pretty sore after yesterdays workout. Glad it is a rest day. 🙂
Boot camp was this morning! In honor of the Olympics, our workouts were geared towards Olympic sports!
I did my 2nd Workout 2 this morning. I think I’m such a bad a$$ when I can do more than I did in the 1st Workout 2 🙂 ha ha
workout2, repeating the strength portions:)
Friday rest day, woohoo! Feeling a little bit sore from workout 2 yesterday. Today will be walking, stretching, and foam rolling.
Oops, wrong page 🙂
Today I am starting the C210K program! Hoping to be able to run a 10K in April 🙂
Did Carrot and Cake’s “botty burner” treadmill workout this morning along with a kettle bell workout. Wooo feeling the burn!
I’ll be doing a quick workout #2 after work tonight before dinner and drinks! I’m hoping I will have time to get in some cardio as well!
Yoga today.
Whoa that barre burner! so short but so good!
Did workout 2 again this morning!
I did Workout 3 today again! Yowzers!!
8 mile run this morning, felt great!
Ready to start week 3!
Work out #2 kicked my butt! Can’t wait for #3, I will be keeping all of these in my regular rotation. Thank you for the videos!
7 mile run and barre burner with planks today! Awesome start to the week!!
Looking forward to week 3!
workout 3
I wrapped up week two with a 40 min Barre3 DVD. My inner thighs are shaking! I’m looking forward to week 3.
Thanks again Gina.
Have a great week everyone.
Loving this workouts!
Luvin these workouts!
Ran just shy of 11 miles this morning. Was thinking about doing the strength portions from WO #2 tonight but me and my compression gear are getting nice and comfy after spending the afternoon running errands!
I did yoga on Thursday!
Today I rested and it was glorious. Wow! I’m sore!
Just did the plank burner, barre burner, and Workout #2! Had to modify a bit because I didn’t want to bother my downstairs neighbors… but still broke a sweat!
[…] Cardio – WSU […]
Gina,
The link for the week 3 workout seems to be broken. Help! Thanks, can’t wait to get going on a new week!
It should work now!
It does, thanks!
The Week 3 link didn’t work for me, either… the suspense is killing me! ha.
Doing tomorrow’s workout today!
off day today. Thanks goodness! I’m still sore from Workout #2