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Espresso and Ambition

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

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A New Fitness Routine

November 24, 2017 by Taylor 2 Comments

A New Fitness Routine - Espresso and Ambition

Fitness-wise, this year has been a bit of plateau for me. I’ve been doing all the “right things” – eating well (most of the time), working out regularly, and drinking lots of water – and haven’t really seen any of the results I’ve wanted to. I know that it’s because my fitness routine is a bit on the lazy side – I don’t generally pay much attention to what exactly I’m eating other than that it’s not junk food (except donuts, whoops) and I’m kind of just working out to say that I did a workout for the day. This isn’t quite the right timing for a fitness routine revamp (the holidays are usually where people’s routines go off track), but I’m doing it anyways.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been researching all sorts of fitness-related topics – macros, weightlifting routines, the “right” amount of cardio, all that jazz. While I definitely don’t have it down to a science, I do think I’ve come up with a plan that’s a solid step in the right direction. I’ll probably modify it as I go along and see what works and what doesn’t, but for now, this is what I’m working with.

 

Workouts

My Pure Barre membership expired a few days ago, and I ended up making the decision not to renew it. Part of the reason that I did that is because I’m interning in Atlanta part-time next semester, and all that commuting means I won’t get to work out during “normal” hours on those days. And thus, I got a membership to a gym that’s open super early and closes super late.

I’ll be honest with y’all: gyms stress me out. I like to think of myself as someone who’s pretty in shape, but I always feel a little out of place walking through a gym (especially in the free weights section, where everyone’s biceps are bigger than my thighs and they all have like 5% body fat). I also hate feeling like I’m bad at something. So working out in a gym, where I feel like a complete beginner and a newbie, is way out of my comfort zone.

I’m working to embrace it. I’m adopting a “push, pull, legs” rotation to my workouts so that I’m getting shoulders/chest/triceps in one day, back/biceps in the next, and legs/glutes on the last day. I’ve heard good things about this particular split, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m also tacking cardio onto the end of each workout – whether that be rowing, running, or stair climbing.

Because I’m the type of gal who heavily researches everything, I’m really trying to research the best exercises to do, how much weight I should be trying to lift (answer: not much, because I have zero upper body strength), and all that jazz. I’m also going to start recording all of my workouts on the Notes app of my phone, and may or may not start uploading them to social media. If I do, I’m thinking either Insta stories or Twitter, but who knows. I’m three days in and all I can tell you is that it’ll be an adventure and a new experience, that’s for sure.

 

Diet

Personally, I suck at diets. I’m pretty good at being vegetarian, but other than that I don’t do well with restricting what I eat. I spent one semester of college not eating red meat, fried foods, or anything with white flour, and that was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. However, letting myself eat whatever I want whenever I want isn’t exactly the smartest idea either. (Because trust me, I will eat everything.)

So I’m adopting the trendy gym-goer diet of tracking my macros. I already knew that I didn’t get quite enough protein, but I never really noticed how little I was actually getting until I started tracking it. Since I don’t eat meat, it’s so easy to accidentally go a whole day eating basically nothing but carbohydrates. Right now, I’m aiming for about 35-50% protein, 25-45% carbohydrates, and 20-35% fat, with somewhere around a 500-calorie daily deficit since my ultimate goal is to lose a few pounds.

I’m hoping this will make me a little more intentional about what I eat. Instead of just counting calories, I now have to think about how each of those calories is fueling my body. I’m also having to go out of my way to ensure that I’m getting enough protein (hello, protein shakes!) and maybe chill out on the carbs just a little.

 

To be honest with y’all, there’s a good part of me that’s doing this for the spring break bod. I’m going on my first “real” spring break trip since freshman year, and I’d love nothing more than to look toned and ~on point~ for that trip so that I can enjoy my daiquiris by the pool guilt-free. But I’m also hoping that maybe this will turn into a lifestyle thing and I can officially categorize myself as one of those “fitness people” that I so often enjoy stalking on Instagram.

Wish me luck! If you’ve got any advice or are looking to revamp your own fitness routine, be sure to let me know in the comments.

xo, Taylor

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Filed Under: Fitness

Comments

  1. Molly says

    November 26, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    Gyms intimidate me too, I NEVER know what to do! I’d love to see those posts on Twitter so we can always go back to them 🙂 Best of luck, you got this!!

    http://www.mollyonthemoveblog.com

    Reply
  2. Deborah says

    November 27, 2017 at 1:02 pm

    I used to hate going to the gym for the same reason! I have a gym in my apartment building and I’ve found that going really early in the morning when no one is around makes it a bit easier, if that helps?

    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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