#MotivateMe Monday

This is my first contribution to Motivate Me Monday, hosted by Fitness Cheerleader.

You know when you discover a food you love and you eat so much of it so often that suddenly you can't stand the sight of it?  I don't do that actually, however, my kids do all the time.  But it did happen to me with cardio.

I used to love nothing more than spinning, running, and other hard-core endurance activities.  Until I didn't.  For the last 2 years I have been doing very little, and focusing much more on strength training, my martial arts fitness programs, and a bit of HIIT, with only my Sunday morning spin class I teach as endurance work.

A few months ago I almost barfed running a short distance to get the bus and realized I may have let my cardio endurance slid a bit too much.  Also, the brutal winter took a toll and I fell into a bad habit of driving or taking public transport everywhere.

Since the weather improved this spring I am back to walking and biking a whole lot more, but I am definitely not the fittest I've been.  Certainly injuring my lat muscle didn't help things.  For most of the month of May I really couldn't do much in the way of martial arts or weight lifting.

So my goal this summer is to get back into fighting form.  I've mixed up my workout routine adding in a bit more endurance work.  I have been at this for a few weeks now and am already feeling and seeing a difference.  I am also so happy that my lat is healed and I am back to lifting, punching and striking.

So here is my summer fitness plan:

Monday - Martial arts and abs
Tuesday - Tapout XT Legs & Back/UFCFit/Insanity cardio DVD (will alternate between 3-4 different workouts) plus back and chest
Wednesday - Tapout XT Cardio plus arms
Thursday - Same as Tuesday
Friday - One of my UFCFit DVDs plus arms and legs
Saturday - One of my UFCFit DVDs plus core
Sunday - Full body weights and teach spin

I love that my various fitness DVD programs come with so many workouts that I can change it up.  Honestly, one of the best ways to stay fit is including as much variety in your routine as possible.  I am adding in some more cardio/endurance workouts into the mix but will rotate regularly so I don't get bored.  I stopped doing my Insanity DVDs ages ago, so its been fun to bring them back.  Maybe I will even incorporate the Asylum series, which I never really got into, but has some cool drills using the ladder, etc.

Doing different things every day also means you don't 'have' to take a rest day. Frankly, even most people who go to the gym a few times per week don't need to take a rest day, especially if they have a sedentary job.  If you're doing heavy duty training for a weight lifting competition or marathon, than that's different though, and rest days are critical.

For stretching, I try to do my Eccentrics every day, and I'm still loving it.  I haven't done any yoga or pilates in almost a year.

So there you go, what's your fitness goal for the summer?