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 🙂
Took a nice and easy workout today. Getting ready for tomorrow!
Had a great Week 3 workout this morning!
Ok, so when I got to the point of walking my hands down my body and then walking out to a plank, then a pushup, I may have said out loud, “is she crazy?” Ha ha, but I managed to do some! Yay 🙂
On a roll! Phew.
Just checking in. I had 2 consecutive days of hard skiing on Friday and Saturday of last week so I took 2 rest days. Did 4 miles on the treadmill yesterday and I plan to do workout 3 after work today with the plank and pushup challenge. I did a lot of swapping around this week, but I plan on getting 3 sessions of workout 3 in. Feeling fit. Thanks for the workouts!
So yesterday I did steady state and ran 2.5 miles…today I am going to tackle the week 3 workout!
Boot camp this morning. Burpees were involved-they are the devil.
I can’t believe WSU is almost over! 🙁 The workouts and meal plans have been great! Thank you again so much to both of you for putting this together! Gina thanks so much for the videos!! I can’t imagine all the extra time you have had to put in to do this!!
WO 3 done. It was a hard one especially recovering from a bad cold/ sinus infection. Hopefully Fridays WO I will have more energy.
[…] was the Winter Shape Up week #3 work out! I modified it slightly to focus more on shoulders than biceps (substituted […]
Got a great workout in despite the snow!
I completed today’s week 2 workout including the plank burner! Rock on!
Okay – confession. I totally fell off the motivation wagon. I’m feeling stiff & achy though so workout #3 WILL be done today..
I was shuffling the schedule around so much due to ski days that I felt like a slacker. Alas, I did not let the team down! I got in workout #3 and a push-up/plank challenge yesterday. I’ll do my yoga/flexibility day today after work since it is a borderline snow day.
Did WO 3 last night..didn’t have motivation to do anything long but it was perfect and just what I needed!
Did work out 3 today plus the plank and push up challenge…holy moly my arms are jello!
Made up a sweat workout today with your 10 ways to burpee! It looked like this and took about 35 minutes:
Move 1: One set of Burpees (with pushups) per round –
* 10 Standard Burpees
* 10 Mountain Climber Burpees (10 mountain climbers each)
* 10 Sumo Burpees
* 10 Single Leg Burpees (5 each leg)
* 10 180-Rotation Burpees
* 10 Split-Move Burpees
* 10 Side Burpees (5 each side)
* 10 X Jump Burpees
* 10 Frog Jump Burpees
* 10 Plank Jack Burpees
Move 2: V-up to Supermans (50 sec – 10 sec rest)
Move 3: 10 High Knees + 5 Air Squats (50 sec – 10 sec rest)
– Repeat 10 round of the three-move circuit (10 burpees each round)
Checking in! 5 miles on the spin bike & upper body workout.
Workout #3 done 🙂
I had an awesome breakfast of Anne’s protein pancake with pb and strawberries followed by an hour of yoga.
Have a great Saturday everyone.
I did a run this morning, but my phone died leaving me with no GPS. I think it was about 4 miles!
workout 3
Did WO3 again last night with the barre burner!! It was awesome! Warm weather (40 degrees yeah) here today hoping to run outside.
Can’t wait to do WO 4! Please keep the Facebook up after WSU is over!
I really am looking forward to Week 4 workouts tomorrow. Yikes! Let’s do this 🙂
WO4 done! Woohoo!
week 4 workout done
[…] today was Winter Shape Up day!!! I have thoroughly enjoyed participating in this 4-week workout. Added bonus – there is […]
Today was my rest day.
On the treadmill now doing 40 minutes before work.
40 minutes of steady state yesterday!
Workout 4 done today! With the exception of the rolling. I was in an unfinished basement. 🙂 I opted to do walking planks and added a pushup to make up for it!
Worked out this morning doing a half mile sprint and 100 push ups. bow were my arms and chest sore!
I took a rest day last night, but am going to tackle WO4 tonight!
I’ve done so horribly with checking in this time around! Anywhoo, workout 4 was INSANE and I loved it 🙂 Even got my 2 year old to join in a little bit! Today I haven’t done any exercise yet
Wednesday; Yoga abs workout; arm burner; 20 minute steady state
Yoga night for me!
Did WO4 for the first time last night it was AWESOME!!
completed a 3.2 mile run this morning.
I LOVE WO4! It makes me sweat which is something that doesn’t happen often (I don’t workout very hard anymore lol). Did workout 4 and the arm burner today!
I did workout #4 this morning…or we could say that workout #4 did me!
A HUGE thanks for putting all of this together Gina! I’ve been struggling lots the past 2 months with some pp blues after my second son was born in December and these workouts have been so awesome for boosting my mood and giving me energy/a positive outlook on life lol. Thank you!!
[…] on Thursday was (supposed to be) 10-minutes of steady state, and then round two of the Winter Shape Up workout #4, as posted […]
Foam rolled Wednesday night and my booty was still singing for the HIIT last night!! Took this morning off but will be completing kettlebells and a run later on.
Did my 2nd WO4 this morning as I had to have a couple of lame-o days with just some elliptical because I’m fighting something ….
Rest day today. Looking forward to Pilates class in the AM!
Thursday check-in: total body cardio – 30 minutes
Friday check-in: Upper Body Circuit
Saturday: quick 5 mile bike ride then 30 mins yoga!
A nice hour of yoga!