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 🙂
So excited to join in!!!
Sounds great! This shape-up looks like your best one yet!
I plan to join in as much as I can! I’ll have to move some things around to accommodate for teaching Body Pump twice a week, but I love your workouts and I’m excited to get Anne’s advice on meal planning!
Can’t wait to get started!!!
BRING IT ON! I’m getting married 5/31/2014! Perfect timing 🙂
That will be our 6th anniversary! Congrats! It’s a good date. 🙂
Definitely just the motivation I need to get in shape for my wedding in May!
You bet I’m in!!
I’m so excited!!!!
Can’t wait for next week and to get started! Just put my request in to join the Facebook group.
This is just what I needed! I’m in.
Can’t wait!
I’m going to participate as I can! With the CrossFit Games Open coming up, I could use a little extra cardio/endurance help, and a little cleaning up of my diet 🙂
This looks great! Wonderful for motivation!
EXCITED! EXCITED!!! 😀
I’m so pumped! I started reading your blog right before the last WSU and didn’t really participate as much as I would have liked, so this year I am pumped!
Thanks Gina!
Have thought about doing the other SU plans but never was able to commit. Hopefully this one is the one!
Woohoo! Can’t wait.
I am so excited to participate! Can’t wait for new workouts!
I’m in and super excited 🙂
I’ve been waiting for this since the holidays finished up! Can’t wait!
Sounds great! I am looking forward to it 🙂 !!
Eeeee!!! So excited:) I love this time if year… this will be my 3rd year participating in WSU and I can’t wait:) Thanks Gina and Anne!
Thank you for all of the hard work you put into this- I’m so excited for WSU! My old college roommate and I live in different states now and plan to participate “together”. 🙂
So excited for this!! Been waiting since the last summer shape up 🙂 Excited to have Anne joining in with some nutrition advice this year, too. Any chance of you emailing out the week 1 workout the night before (Sunday)? I wanted to try and do Workout 1 Monday morning…
I’m excited, this looks like it’s going to be awesome!!
I plan to participate – modify for my very 7-month-preggo body. I’ve been able to keep up with Zumba with some modifications, lift free weights, and swim laps to this point. The shape-up (or rather, stay moving for me) will be the change up and motivation I need. I’m excited to see what Anne has come up with for nutrition too!
Loved Summer Shape Up and I will be participating in the Winter Shape Up!! So excited!
These shape ups always get me motivated and encourage me to change things up a bit. Thanks Gina (and Anne)!
I’m in!
Excited to try this Winter Shape-Up! My friend and I are doing it together so it should be a lot of fun 🙂
Yay! I am so excited!
I’m in! I’ll have to shuffle stuff a little bit thanks to my addiction to a cross-fit type class at my gym and spin class 🙂 But I’ll make it work! Thank you for putting this together for us!
Yay! I love the Shape Ups!
I’ll be participating!!
I can rarely stick to bloggers’ fitness challenges because it seems like I’m always training for a race when they happen, and they don’t accommodate for that. I like the look of your workout plan because it seems I can adapt it to my weekly miles and use it as cross training! Your workouts are always great quality, so I’m super excited to participate, can’t wait for Monday!
I’m in!
Excited to get started!
Just in time, I trying to get in shape. Can’t wait! Thank you
Super excited! It’s technically summer in Australia but hey, I ate too much over Christmas so I’m keen! 🙂
Can’t wait!! I am in!
Can’t wait to start!
I’m in!
Looking forward to checking out the workouts. I’ve been doing some pretty intense workouts during the last 6 months and am ready to step it up!
Looking forward to it!
So glad you ladies are teaming up!
I’m so excited! Thanks so much for doing this!:)
Absolutely! Can’t wait!
I hope to join in as much as I can 🙂 I have a 3 month old and am ready to get that pre-baby body back! Sounds like an awesome program.
I’m excited to get started!
Whoo hoo! Let’s do it!
Can’t wait! I’m joining in! 🙂