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 really enjoyed the WSU. I didn’t get to follow it exactly, but love some of the new moves that I have learned and can now incorporate into my workouts. I too was sometimes confused at where to check-in after completing a workout.
Thanks for all that you do! I love your blog.
The workouts are awesome and fun as always. Just a suggestion for future ones….in past workouts you used to have a printable version of the workouts. I loved the fact that I could print it out and have the pictures and instructions in one click. Any way to bring those back or maybe I’m doing something wrong. When I try to print out your workouts I have to print out the entire web page.
I also followed you on Pinterest! =)
Thank you!!!!!!
hi gina,
during wsu week 2 i aggravated an old injury and have had to take it easy. i’m feeling better though and in february i plan to start over. i haven’t read through the comments today and i’m sure this has been stated many times, but thanks so much for doing all of this. i know it’s a lot of work and you’re also giving it out for free, which is amazing.
as far as any suggestions for future shape ups: i know that it helps me to see a video of the circuit so that i am more aware of the proper form. the pictures are great, but i think people are less likely to do the movements improperly if there is a video reference.
I love when you make videos for workouts so that I can clearly see what the proper technique is for a given exercise. I didn’t follow the Winter Shape up exactly but tried everything you posted at least once, incorporated into my already set workout routine. It definitely added some needed variety!
My first time following any of your workouts- Loved it!!! I loved the photo graphics you posted with the strength moves. This way, I could have my computer facing me and quickly glance at it as I moved through the circuits. I also really appreciated week 2’s video of each of the moves!
I am now following you on Pinterest 🙂
I enjoyed the WSU, esp this last week. My inner thighs are still sore. Seems like we worked some different muscles groups and pushed ourselves on time yield more sweat & results. Thanks!
I didn’t follow along with the WSU this time because I’ve been following my own hybrid training program to prepare for a Super Spartan race my hubby & I are doing this Sunday, but I’ve loved reading over the workouts & reading your tips! My only suggestion would be for readability/easy reference for those that ARE following maybe you could setup something similar to a recipage to catalog the workouts? Just a thought. I actually use Evernote (and the Clearly Chrome plugin) to snip things I’d like to reference later, so that would make it easy for anyone to grab *just* the workout of the day & save it for later reference & sweat sesh.
I followed you on Pinterest as well! 🙂 Have a great weekend & thanks for all you do!
I didn’t follow along because I am almost 28 weeks pregnant and am super tired all the time!! Would love to win one of these bras though for when I get the go-ahead to start working out regularly again this summer. 🙂
I also follow you on Pinterest! 🙂
I could always use a new sports bra! The WSU looks awesome. I didn’t participate only because I’ve never been one to follow ANY kind of workout plan. I have my rhythm in the gym and for now I’m content to do my own thing. I’m sure at some point I’ll need to mix it up, and then I think following a plan like yours could really help!
I loved your winter shape up workouts and especially love the image collages you take the time to make. I don’t always want to watch a video and love to see the step by step workout images! Those sports bras look awesome! Thanks for all the time you put into WSU!
I really enjoyed the WSU– first one that i really followed along with. I appreciate the variety in the workouts with out having to think too much about it!
Only suggestion for improvment- sometimes the check in links were hard to follow, I feel like it would have been easier to just check in on the daily post.
Thanks!!
I follow you on Pinterest- Nwynn88- Natalie Wynn
Gina, thank you so much for all your hard work in putting together this and the other Shape Ups for your readers. I wasn’t able to fully participate this time around because I was doing the Tone It Up girls’ Love Your Body challenge which kicked off at the very beginning of January and ran through Valentine’s Day, but I read your blog daily and looked over all the workouts whether I completed them or not. I did a few of the workouts at the start of the challenge (#1 and a few of your cardio suggestions) but had a hard time reconciling the WSU schedule with the TIU schedule and stuck with TIU since that had already been going for a few weeks. I’d actually like to start the Shape Up starting this coming week since I’m starting a new job and as I adjust to my new routine it’s a huge help that there is already a schedule up for me to follow. Generally, I had a hard time following a few of the photos in the weekly workouts, especially the exercises I wasn’t previously familiar with, but pairing that with the form cues and occasional videos was a big help. Thanks again for all that you do – I am really looking forward to the next round of challenges!
I love when you post the workouts in that picture-explanation format (like the one above). It’s easy to have the image on my phone, printed, or wherever and be able to follow along and understand the exercises.
I didn’t do WSU because I’d just gotten two Jillian Michaels DVDs for strength, but now that I’ve done them several times, I downloaded the WSU workouts to shake things up every once and a while. 🙂 I also enjoy your recipes…so keep up the great blog work! It’s awesome!
Love the pictures to help describe the workouts. I would love to see a more printer friendly recap for me to bring to the gym.
I loved all of the workouts, and the collages made them really easy to follow or print off and bring to the gym with me! I also loved all of your meal plans and fuel ideas! (baked bfast cookies are genius!!)
And I follow you on pinterest 🙂
loved the WSU workouts! I really loved the images you posted with pics of the workouts and a little explanation to the left or right. I was able to follow along the exercises by saving the images on my iphone/ipad to quickly bring up at the gym with me (since I don’t always get service and can’t bring up the site). Please keep doing those 🙂
I’ve been following you on pinterest! (http://pinterest.com/jleblon/)
Hi Gina! I loved the workouts where you did the video form cues…helped me feel more like I knew what was going on, especially since I was taking your workout to the gym and “coaching” a friend of mine through it with me (“For this one, she said to make sure your back stays straight as you’re bending” or “Wow, this is super hard, she said you could modify it like this”). I signed up for an 8 week bootcamp that happened to start the Saturday before winter shape up, so I’m planning on repeating the whole thing…it’s nice to have 2 whole months of workouts planned out already 🙂
Hi Gina! I really enjoyed WSU- it was my first time participating, and I probably will repeat the workouts until I go home for spring break! I used to be all about cardio, and would over train/burn myself out. I love weight-training now, & what it has done for my body. I find myself stronger, and running faster than I thought I could! I’m looking forward to Summer Shape Up!
I thought the layout was great & easy to follow! Sometimes I longed for some form tips, but it was really easy to Google the exercises I was slightly iffy about.
Thanks so much for putting the time into this… you’re an inspiration!
I personally prefer printouts with pictures and cues rather than videos.
It’s easier for me to jot down notes and take it to the gym with me, where as with videos I have to watch it, pause and write down notes.
Thanks for putting together all these amazing workouts!
Also, I’m now following you on Pinterest!
Hi Gina, I’d love a sports bra! I actually didn’t follow because I’m limited on what I can do with my bad knees/back/joints, so that wasn’t going to work for me. But I think the concept is great and you’re awesome for starting it!
I loved WSU this year! I think I like it best when you give the workouts with pictures and from cues. I’m a visual learner so seeing what the move is actually supposed to look like helps a lot! Thanks again for putting together this awesome plan 🙂
I didn’t follow along exactly because I was in the middle of a package at my Pure Barre studio. I did follow the eats though, that’s my favorite part! I looove the weekly meal planning posts, especially on Saturdays to help plan.
I did save the workouts to do later!
I already follow on Pinterest 🙂
Followed you on Pinterest too!
Hi Gina, I love the WSU and did what I could (32 weeks pg). I loved how you posted the ‘card’ of workouts so they can be easily pinned and printed. Awesome job as usual!!
I’d love to win as my ta-ta’s are overflowing in my current bras 🙂
I also just followed you on pinterest – how was I not doing this before I don’t know!?
I really enjoyed WSU. I have followed your blog for over a year now but this was the first time I particpated in any of the challenges (although I do your ab burners on a regular basis). I like the way you presented the workouts, however maybe next time around maybe have some more videos? I know its probably time consuming, but I aways learn proper form best from videos. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication!
WSU Workouts added a boost to my regular routine, and I loved them! I especially loved the pictures with descriptions-I screencapped them on my phone and could easily refer to them through the sweat sesh. 🙂
also following on Pinterest!
I follow you on pinterest as well, have been for a while now!
I didn’t do WSU because I’m on my third month of Bikram challenges. This time it’s 5x/week for 5 weeks. My goal is to be able to wear only a sports bra on top to class by summer (bare midriff) so one of those Champion Show-Offs would actually be appropriate! I still want to try their Smoothie bra, too, after your review.
I LOVED winter shape up and am planning on repeating the 4 weeks once this week is over. I thought it was a perfect mix of cardio and strength. I also really appreciated that I could do everything at home…that was huge. I found the videos helpful but probably the best thing for me was when you would include 2 pictures on the workout of the move (like the plank pic with the knee tuck and extend). That makes it so much easier than googling all the moves I’m not familiar with and trying to figure out if their form cues are correct.
As everyone else has said, thank you, thank you, thank you for doing this. It was just what I needed at the right time. I have actually been excited (excited!!) for the new workouts each week, which is a first for me.
I love the WSU! I especially like when you break down the moves in pictures. I can’t view videos at work and things get too hectic when I get home.
Thanks for all you do to inspire us!!!
Again, thanks so much for creating the WSU. You are one of the only bloggers I read who actually takes time to put together thoughtful workouts for other people, instead of just posting their own workouts. Also, I love when you post the videos, I’m much more likely to complete the workout if I do it to a video. Thanks again!
I loved the WSU! Things got a little tricky for me during week 4 as I was traveling for work and didn’t have much free time. But, I really enjoyed following along and having the extra motivation to check in. I think that the form cues and videos are great. I watched the posted videos a few times so I had an idea of what to do — it was a great help. Thanks so much for posting such great info and ideas!
I love WSU, but I would have really liked a video… or at least links to off site videos explaining some of the moves. I sometimes questioned if I was completely the move in the right form, so a video would have been helpful. Other than that, I thought it was great! 🙂
Loved this WSU! I tried to follow as closely as possible with my schedule, and I will actually be repeating it for the next 4 weeks just for a little extra fun:) thanks so much for always posting such awesome workouts and ideas! I’m always thankful to switch things up out of my normal routine!
Ps… Just followed you on Pinterest! 🙂
I have a hard time getting myself to do strength workouts. I love abs and cardio but arms? Eh not so much. This really mixed it up for me. Even though most of the time I was opposite with your schedule it gave me something to follow and abide by.
The form cues and videos showing the exercises really helped me. I was nervous I was going to be doing a couple moves incorrectly but I watched the video one week and immediately was excited for when I got home so I could do them.. and they kicked my butt. Loved it.
Thank you!
Loved what you put together for us, as always. Planning on starting again next week and making it a full 8!
I don’t always have time to watch videos, so I love the pictures. Love that you have everything up so far in advance for planners like me. I work out first thing, so it’s nice to know what I’ve got going on before I go to bed the night before.
The only thing I would ask for is maybe some more cardio ideas for people (like me) who don’t go to a gym and can’t always get out of the house to run (kids).
Thanks for all your hard work and looking forward to SSU, it’s how I first started reading you, this will be my third!
I’ve been a Pinterest follower for a while! 🙂
I just love your wsu I look forward to every week. It’s so nice to have it all planned out every now and then a video would be nice sometime I wonder if I’m doing the move right. But thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this it really means a lot and has helped me so much!
I’ve been a reader for years, it was one of your past shape-ups that brought me here. However, I’ve never tried any of the shape-ups. I do much better when I have the convenience of being in a class and can see the moves/have an instructor help me with form, etc. I also tend to worry about workouts not being challenging enough when I dont have the energy and motivation that is present in a class. That said, I plan to participate in the next round, because I want a new challenge and you have created a well-organized plan. I just need to put in the extra effort to watch the videos you make for help with the moves and I’ll need to keep myself motivated!
Though I didn’t participate, thank you for putting so much of your time into this. It is greatly appreciated.
I really loved WSU! This was the first year I have done it, because I just discovered your blog a few months ago. I normally did the WSU workouts in addition to a class at my gym. It was really great for me to mix things up and do some moves I was not used to! I like the variety in the WSU, and it kept me from getting bored while also being challenged. One thing I would like to see next time is maybe how long it took you to finish the whole circuit, just so I can know if I’m really pushing myself or being lazy. I was out of town for a few weeks, so I tried to follow the plan as closely as possible! Thanks so much!
I also am now following on Pinterest!