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Espresso and Ambition

A not-so-serious gal with some serious dreams.

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How I Stay Fit

February 24, 2017 by Taylor 6 Comments

How I Stay Fit - Espresso and Ambition

If you haven’t heard it before, I’ll be the first to tell you that the Freshman 15 is a very real thing. I’ve always been a pretty active person and I ate reasonably well, but I put on those 15 pounds the same as everyone else in the first few months of being in college. I shifted from homemade healthy meals to all-you-can-eat dining hall food, and I lost the structured fitness regimen that my many years of competitive cheerleading provided. This is a common issue for a lot of people, especially those who were intense high school athletes that no longer have that disciplined routine to keep them in shape.

Luckily, I was able to bounce back from that (although I tend to gain weight every time I go abroad… so we’ll see how I’m doing when I get back from Oxford). By adjusting my diet and finding a workout plan I can stick with, I definitely feel like I’m in much better shape than I was freshman year. In this post, I’m going to talk about some of the different workouts I enjoy and that I regularly incorporate into my regimen. Hopefully, you’ll find one you love.

 

1. Pure Barre

Pure Barre has become my holy grail fitness routine. While I don’t have it here in Oxford, I’m usually in at least 5-6 classes per week when I’m at home. It’s the perfect combination of cardio and strength exercises, which is what creates results. When I started attending regularly last January, that’s when I finally started dropping that Freshman 15. I can’t recommend this fitness routine enough.

(Bonus: most Pure Barre studios have a retail section up front as well so you can indulge in cute workout clothes after your sweat session. I’m not ashamed to say I own an embarrassing number of barre-related tank tops at this point.)

 

How I Stay Fit - Espresso and Ambition

 

2. Organized sports

While you may not be participating in the intense collegiate-level sports, that doesn’t mean you can’t join an intramural or a club team. I have friends on a couple of these teams at UGA, and I know that they all love it. Additionally, joining a sports team is how I’ve managed to stay in (relatively good) shape while in Oxford: I’m on the rowing team for my college here, and having those regular training sessions that set up a feeling of accountability is a great way to stave off that “I’m too lazy to go to the gym today” vibe.

In other news, I actually have my first crew race today – it’s the first in the series of races that happen at the end of this term. Wish me luck!

 

How I Stay Fit - Espresso and Ambition

 

3. Running

People either love or hate running. For some reason, I’ve always been in the former category – a good long run is my form of therapy. At times in my life, running has been my primary form of exercise, particularly when I was training for half marathons and such. However, it’s gradually become more of a “secondary” exercise in my routine. I use it as cross-training for rowing and as my more cardio-intense workout while I’m at home doing Pure Barre regularly.

If you’re one of those people who falls into that second category, I’d 100% recommend starting a running schedule and holding yourself accountable to it for a month or so. Hopefully, in that time, you’ll find that you hit a point where you actually end up liking it. I always have that moment in a run where I get a huge rush of endorphins – it’s the best feeling in the world if you can find it. “Runner’s high” isn’t a joke.

 

Outfit details: sweatshirt | leggings | shoes (that are ridiculously dirty)

What’s your exercise of choice?

xo, Taylor

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Filed Under: Fitness

Comments

  1. Tami says

    February 25, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    Fitness is so important. I love running and my exercise ball, haha. 🙂 Awesome post and love the color of your leggings!

    Reply
  2. Tisha Riman | The Nourished Mind says

    February 25, 2017 at 8:50 pm

    Great post Taylor! I also love barre classes. That, spin classes and weight training! But running? Oh, god, no thank you (unless I’m running to catch the subway).

    Tisha xx

    Reply
    • Taylor says

      February 26, 2017 at 3:45 am

      I think spin classes are the next thing I want to try – I’ll be spending my summer in DC so I’m thinking about testing out SoulCycle while I’m there!

      Reply
  3. Krista says

    February 25, 2017 at 10:48 pm

    Omg! I’ve wanted to try pure barre sooo badly!! I have to make it my resolution this month 🙂 gotta cut off that winter coat yaknow what i mean haha.

    Reply
    • Taylor says

      February 26, 2017 at 3:44 am

      Definitely try it – it’s such a great workout!

      Reply
  4. Julia says

    February 26, 2017 at 11:43 pm

    I will second you that the freshman 15 is a real thing! Anyone who says it isn’t… must be joking. I definitely agree that organised sport helps you stay in shape in Uni. I was in a sorority so always has mixed sports with the men in fraternities and it definitely helped with my freshman 15! xx Julia

    Reply

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Meet Taylor

A real-life combination of Elle Woods and Hermione Granger. Recent graduate of the University of Georgia, currently living and working in DC. New blog posts every Monday, new YouTube videos every Thursday. Subscribe by clicking the link below for post updates and exclusive content!

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tayy_kay

📍 dc
🔥 nasm certified personal trainer
✨ self-love + balance
🎥 2 new workouts per week!

tayy_kay
without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little c without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little challenging to really feel like i’m working at my full potential on leg days 😶 enter: single-leg movements. since all the weight is in one leg, you’re putting way more emphasis on it than you do during two-leg movements - and you’ll definitely feel that 🔥 you also get some added bonuses in the form of ensuring you’re working each side of your body equally AND a balance challenge!!
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you can add in weights or bands to up the challenge level, or do it all bodyweight like i am here!
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1️⃣ 15 single-leg box squats per leg (use other leg as a kickstand for an easier modification!)
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2️⃣ 15 bulgarian split squats per leg
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3️⃣ 15 single-leg hip thrusts per leg
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4️⃣ 15 single-leg deadlifts per leg
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throw on at the end of a longer leg day workout or do it 3-4 times as a workout all on its own!!
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👚 @girlfriend 🎧 numb - neffex
🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time 🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time to be alive, and it’s more important now than ever to listen to your body and stop being so hard on yourself. motivation is a fickle thing and working out when you don’t have all the equipment you love is weird. give yourself permission to take a break when you need it. don’t beat yourself up for missing workouts - exercise should be something you do because it makes you happy, not because you feel like you have to punish yourself. if it doesn’t make you happy that day, that’s okay. give yourself a break, come back and try again tomorrow. 💪🏼
circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not kidding about how much i love this long resistance band, it’s so versatile! definitely worth getting your hands on one for home workouts 😊 (although almost all of these can be completely with dumbbells or heavy objects if that’s what you’ve got in hand)
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also please watch to the very end of the fourth video for quality footage of greg 😂
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1️⃣ 12 long band shoulder presses to standing chest presses
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2️⃣ 12 upright rows to bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 overhead triceps extensions per arm (the one leg stance is some bonus balance work!)
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4️⃣ 12 rear flies, featuring greg trying to fight my shadow
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5️⃣ 12 commandos
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6️⃣ 12 side-to-side pushups
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repeat 4x total!!
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👚 @underarmourwomen
🎧 best of me - neffex
giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, cra giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, crazy time in the world a little differently, and for me, it’s looked like a lot of establishing to and sticking to routines (seriously, sometimes it feels like my skincare routine and workout split are the only thing still giving meaning to days of the week, lol). my morning smoothies have been another important one - there’s a recipe in my story highlights and surprise surprise it uses this protein powder 😛
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anyways, onto the real reason you’re here! i’m giving away 25 $20 giftcards for @310nutrition with NO STRINGS ATTACHED 🤯 you hear that? you ain’t gotta do a thing to win - the first 25 people to use the code KAYGC20 on their order automatically win. get your hands on some fire plant-based protein powder, courtesy of me and 310 😋 (p.s. if you’re still seeing this caption, there are still giftcards available!!)
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#310gc20 #310shake
sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and hold a fake photo shoot just to prove to yourself that you’re still a real human
posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangen posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangentially topical. link in bio.
upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating towards circuit-style workouts lately, because they really work up a sweat and home workouts just don’t feel as legit to me unless i’m hardcore sweating 🤷🏼‍♀️ i don’t mind not breaking much of a sweat at the gym, but it feels weird not to when i’m working out at home - anyone else feel this or am i just weird?? 😅
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do all exercises back to back with no rest in between!
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1️⃣ 10 push-ups to renegade rows
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2️⃣ 12 alternating bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 diamond front raises
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4️⃣ 8 sets of 3 tricep pulses to this lil cross-body weight move that doesn’t have a name {keep your core tight to feel it on your obliques!}
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5️⃣ 15 bent-over rear delt rows
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6️⃣ finisher!! 🥵 10 burpees with 2 shoulder taps and 2 toe taps in the middle of each rep
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repeat 🔁 for a total of 3 rounds!!
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👚 top from @gymsharkwomen, shorts from @nike 🎧 dangerous - neffex
would be nice if both sides of my head could agree would be nice if both sides of my head could agree on whether my hair is wavy or straight, but apparently that’s a little too much to ask of it 😂
got a circuit-style leg workout for you today! 🥳 there are 3 sets of 3 exercises that you’ll complete back-to-back - once you’ve done those three moves, rest for 30 seconds before repeating them all over again 2 more times! rest for 1-2 minutes in between each circuit - keeping your heart rate up is the goal here, i was driiiiiiipping sweat by the end of this one 🥵
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circuit 1️⃣: 10 step-ups to reverse lunges per leg
10 reverse lunges to curtsy lunges per leg
20 lateral lunges
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circuit 2️⃣:
10 squats to surrenders (stop in a squat position before standing up at the end to really feel this one)
10 stagger-stance rdls
20 criss-cross squat jumps
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circuit 3️⃣:
15 leg lifts per side
10 single-leg glute bridges per side
15 frog pumps
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👚 top from @fabletics, joggers from @gymsharkwomen
🎧 watch me - neffex
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