Before I started going to uni, exercise was a huge factor in my life. I worked out at least 5-6 times a week and thrived off it, but with uni comes sacrifices. Adjusting to the workload and the demands that were apparent made it difficult for me to try and balance my life accordingly, making time for things that I enjoyed such as working out. Luckily, I have found a routine that works for me that allows me to have time to fit in a sufficient workout, but I do know how difficult it can be to try and find time which is why I want to share with you what I do/did to remain active even when I can’t workout. With that said, this post isn’t just for those who are in university or school. This post is for everyone who lives a busy life too!

Walk

Walking really is a great way to burn a few extra calories and bring that heart rate up if you do a good amount of distance. Being a student we are basically stuck to our chairs at home or the seats in lecture halls, so I would highly recommend getting up and walking when you have a moment, even if it means walking to class rather than driving! Not only will it help in getting those limbs moving and circulation going, it also helps with your mental health. I find that being stuck inside the whole day really makes me go a bit crazy and often leaves me feeling overwhelmed, so going for a walk outside, getting some fresh air and taking in the surroundings is just as important to me along with getting a little sweat in!

Make the time

As a full time student, I know your time is limited and you may be shouting at me through your device saying “BUT I HAVE NO TIME” and although that may seem like a valid argument, it’s not. There is always time, you just have to make the time – not find it. If that means you have to wake up an hour earlier to get a 45 minute workout in, then that’s what you have to do. If it means having to sacrifice getting home an hour earlier, then what’s what has to be done. It’s difficult and there will be days where it’s easier to just sleep in or go straight home after a full day of uni but you’ll feel so much more productive once you’ve gone to gym and it’ll set you up on a positive note for the day ahead. I’ve personally never heard someone say they’ve regretted going to the gym even if it was difficult getting there! Always remember that you don’t even have to get yourself to the gym, some of the best workouts I do are home workouts that only take me 20 minutes. It’s important to move your body in any way!

Improvise

If you’re at home and have enough time to fit in a workout but don’t have enough time to get to the gym and back, improvise! Find something heavy, such as a rock and do some weighted squats, lunges – obviously be careful, we don’t want any broken toes in the process but instead of finding excuses, find ways to make it easier for yourself to get a workout in. Another thing I like to do is use dish clothes as gliders for my ab workouts. Simply place them on the tiles, making sure there is nothing in the way and do some mountain climbers, ab skaters etc. Simple yet effective and that’s what we go for when our time is limited as a student!

Becoming a HIIT FIT Stellies coach [Find out more about that here] has been one of the highlights of my year so far. I’ve learned and grown so much in such a short amount of time that I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned and come across with you!

Stay soft on the knees.

It is important always be conscious about how you land when you are doing a squat jump, tuck jump or any other type of explosive movement. You want to aim for and focus on executing a soft landing. This is because the harder you land, the more pressure you put on your knees and this type of shock cannot be absorbed accordingly to protect your joints. If you aren’t aware of what you are doing or how it can damage your joints, it can result in injury in which prevention is always better then cure.

Engage your core when doing a push up.

Push ups are difficult and easy to make errors in, when you are in a push up position whether it’s military style or with the knees bent you want to keep your whole body aligned. The same could be said for a plank – suck your stomach towards your spine, engage and tuck your tailbone in. If you feel your t-shirt slipping up, it generally means your bottom is too high!

If it burns, it means it’s working!

I always say to my girls that as long as they’re moving i’m happy. Don’t be ashamed to step it down a notch and switch to an alternative move, that’s why we have them. Sometimes slower is better and there isn’t much use performing an advanced version of an exercise if you don’t know how to execute the simpler version first. It’s you against you, so work on your weaknesses and you’ll reap the rewards!

Wear the right shoes.

This one may seem a bit absurd but is definitely valid. I injured my knee towards the end of last year because I pushed myself during a high intensity workout, floors were slippery and I had no grip on my shoes so it was basically a disaster waiting to happen. When you need to jump forwards, do sprints or anything that requires you to move to a new space, it’s so important to have shoes that support your ankles and have grip to avoid slipping or tweaking anything. If you don’t have shoes that have the best grip and don’t want to purchase a new pair – you can use a yoga mat as extra prevention from injury!

Ensure good form.

Lastly, remember that when you are doing a high intensity workout, it’s easy to let go of good form and so it is important to be mindful and conscious about the movements while performing them to ensure optimal performance while keeping your muscles and joints protected!

HAPPY MARCH!!

During second year sport science, Fitness is a compulsory sport that we partake in – both theory and practical classes which excites me (as we all know, very well) because of my love for both health and fitness. This subject is currently helping me expand my knowledge on the topic drastically which can help me inform you better regarding my fitness related posts!

With that said, what’s a better way to bless the new month off other than with a good old top 4 favourite booty exercises? I know, I couldn’t think of any either!

Hip thrusts

There are many variations of this exercise to tone it up or down, my favourite at the moment is just adding a resistance band whilst my upper back is on the floor. This exercise is great as an activation exercise to wake up those glutes but also to target those hammy’s, lower back and even your core!

Leg press

This is one of my most beloved exercises to incorporate into my workouts. I’ve been using this for years and years now and still don’t get tired of it! The primary muscle targeted here is your quads but it does still work the overall muscles within the leg. Adding a resistance band is a good progression method to spice things up!

Resistance band clam shells

This is a a newly found fav of mine which is almost always supersetted with the hip thrust. OH. MY. GOSH. Will they make you gasp for air? Probably!! I’ve been incorporating in the beginning of my workouts to really activate the muscles of the targeted area. This is great at targeting those hip abductors and your glute medius!

Barbell Squats

This may seem like an obvious one but I haven’t been able to do these for the past few months due to an injured knee so you bet that i’m going to do these when I can, now that i’ve recovered!! This is a great exercise to target those glutes, hamstrings and your lower back. Just make sure you look up, keep your back straight and that those knees stay in line with your toes. (You can add a resistance band if you want more of a push or add extra weight!)

One thing many people forget to do during exercising is breathe, Breathing is so important to the execution of an exercise. My brother once told me that ‘your legs know what to do, focus on your breathing’ and after all these years, it’s still something I practice and preach to people who ask for advice or our HIITFIT members.

I am a little obsessed with using a resistance band when training booty, one I would really recommend is the GraceFitUK extra heavy – https://gracefitguide.com/products, but of course choose according to your fitness level and you can increase the difficulty of band when necessary for that extra challenge!

If you enjoy blog posts like that, please leave a comment and I will be happy to do similar one’s!

Disclaimer: The images in this blog post are not my own, I found them on google. Click on the images and you’ll be directed to the page where the images originate from.

We have all been at a stage in our lives where we haven’t been able to workout or what we like to think is a valid reason but is actually an excuse, right? There have been many moments throughout 2018 where the last thing I ever felt like doing was going to the gym or for a jog because I was drowning in tests and assignments! Well, I can tell you that this year is going to be no different, although I want to make more of an effort to be active – when I cannot go to the gym or if I just run out of hours in my day, I want to ensure that I’m still helping myself remain healthy and fit the best way possible. Here are 5 tips I have found help me!

Take the stairs not the elevator, walk or cycle to your destination don’t drive. We live in world where convenience really is at our fingertips, it’s easy to just hop onto a lift whilst on your phone or to drive to get there a bit quicker – however, it’s definitely not the healthiest way to go about your day. Instead leave a few minutes earlier, look on maps and see how long it will take you to walk or cycle to your lectures or your meetings and plan your day around that. You’ll be getting some fresh air and keeping active while going to the places you need to be at!

It starts in the kitchen. If you know you’re about to have a crazy week where you’re not sure you’re going to have time to breathe ned alone go to the gym, clear your kitchen of all the foods you know aren’t going to help you reach your health and fitness goals. Keep foods that are wholesome, organic and colourful – keep it clean and you’ll feel a difference sooner than you think! Of course you can treat yourself here and there but do it all within moderation.

Stay hydrated. Whenever I am feeling a bit hungry, I always have a glass of water beforehand. Many people always mistake their hunger for thirst, so drink a glass of water before every meal and make sure to drink 1L of water for every 25KG’s that you weigh, that way you can ensure you are keeping your body hydrated and drinking the right amount of water for yourself! If you struggle to drink water, put some lemons in or fruit to make it taste a little less like nothing. You’ll probably find that drinking a glass of water before eating will result in you eating a little less too which helps keep large food portions to the minimum.

Look after yourself. Get a good night’s rest, when you are busy from morning to night your body needs some time to rejuvenate and reset. If you are feeling stressed, take a few moments to try and destress, it’s known that your body tends to hold onto extra weight when you are stressed – so do some things that you know work for you in order to feel relaxed whether that be kicking your feet up with a good book or putting on a face mask. Looking after yourself and your body are key aspects to your fitness and health journey!

Give up the excuses of why you shouldn’t and find reasons to why you should. Although these points are all valid and can help lead you to a better and healthier life, you do need to make the time to fit in some workouts. They don’t have to be for hours on end, some of the best workouts are only 20-30 minutes you just have to change your mindset! If you go in with a negative mindset, you won’t come out feeling fulfilled. Ask yourself why you can’t gym at the moment, plan and structure your weeks and days ahead so you can do any sort of activity you love to help you get to your goals a lot faster. Give yourself some well deserved ‘me-time’ amidst the chaos of work, uni and life! There is no race, it’s you against you – even if you just do something active on the weekend, that’s fine! It’s a start and we all start somewhere, just don’t put pressure on yourself.

2018 has come and it has gone. I can’t say that i’m sad to say goodbye to the year but I am thankful for everything it taught me!

First of all, I want to say hello and welcome to my blog – whether you are new here or have come to visit my site before, I hope 2019 brings all the success and luck you deserve! I quickly want to say a personal thank you to my readers, those people that like, share, comment & read my blogs. I’m forever grateful for all the support you guys have shown me over the last year – I absolutely love writing these posts and seeing any kind of response from you guys just makes it all the more enjoyable! So thank YOU!

With starting university in 2018, I didn’t write as many posts as id have liked but when I got a chance – I loved it. Let’s have a look at some of my favourite posts from 2018!

Swimming my way through the ocean exhibit | Two Oceans Aquarium

This day has definitely got to be one of my favourites of the year, swimming with turtles & snorkeling around the edge of the ocean exhibit was the ultimate highlight for me!

Towards the end of the year I started getting a feel for what I wanted my blog to be about & how I wanted to present it to you guys – I think most of my favourite posts from 2018 definitely come from December.

5 Ways to an Environmentally Friendly Christmas | Gift Wrapping Ideas

This post has got to be my most loved of the year – It made me so happy to see people interested in wanting to find ways to be more eco friendly for our environment!

Lessons I’ve Learned in 12 Months | 2018 in Review

I’ve always enjoyed reflecting on the things i’ve gone through and learned at the end of the year. I felt that, although personal this post was one of the most insightful one’s I had written!

I really hope to only grow my blog this year and continue to inspire you all. I’m so excited to see where we can go from here!

For some reason, I have this habit of writing out my New Year resolutions. Whether it be in a journal or a blog post so this year, I thought a blog post was fitting. I find that if I’ve written it down somewhere, I can go back to it and I keep myself accountable for the things I want to achieve throughout the year but also in the hopes to spark some inspiration for those reading this.

Usually at the start if every year I have my plans and goals set out but this year is different, it just feels different. I have this new fire in my belly, this excitement and curiosity for what 2019 has in store for myself. I havent gone into the year putting the pressure on myself to achieve certain fitness goals and to eat clean for a certain amount of days and to be honest, I think that’s why I feel so good about this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely have resolutions and goals to achieve but I feel comfortable with them. I don’t feel the pressures coming from different directions, it’s just me and my goals in my own time. I’ve been thinking about what I want my resolutions to be, for a few days now and I had the same thing pop into my head repeatedly – I want to improve who I was in 2018.

2018 was a huge learning curve for me, I grew a lot and I want to grow on that. I want to do better and be better, I want to be kinder to myself for myself. I know we can all get a little lost trying to see the bigger picture, including myself – I want to allow myself to enjoy the little things without worrying about the big things.

I like to think I am a pretty organised person and i’m sure a few family and friends would vouch for that, however sometimes my organisation gets lost amidst the chaos of university. I want to practice keeping things and areas clutter free to avoid a cluttered mind!

Health and fitness is and always will be a goal of mine, but it’s a consistent goal that i’m constantly working on – one I don’t think will ever be fully complete because there is always room for improvement. That’s why this year, although focusing on those aspects, there are other parts of my life that I was to focus more on. Self-care is a high priority for this year, we can all get carried away by life doing it’s thing, I know I do. Many times last year did it lead me to exhaustion and being burned out, getting i’ll a lot quicker then usual and having no energy for anything but to sleep. We all work best when we are feeling our best so here’s where I am at with this. I had this bad habit of studying for something ridiculous like 8 hours a time and if I wrote an exam every second or third day I would go into complete hibernation and not leave my apartment (how am I not a crazy lady yet? I’m not sure) so I’ve realised that this year I need to practice taking some more time off as well as some me time.

I have many goals for my blog, I want to post more often and inspire those during the most difficult times. Uni is my number one priority however, my blog literally keeps me sane so I want to work on balancing those two things without the added pressure of deadlines.

As selfish as you may think this sounds, 2019 is all about me and contentment, with that said I think it’s the year to make it all about you, too. Without shame, without guilt but with pure love and kindness for yourself. You deserve it just as much as I know I do.

So what about you? What are you doing in your life to make 2019 your best year yet? I’m looking forward to being one step closer to being fully content and if you’re there already, kudos to you, you’re an inspiration to us all!

I’ve never done a post like this, I thought it would be interesting for someone who is just starting out their fitness journey and isn’t sure how to plan their workout days.

Essentially it is up to you and your body. I usually go by how my body is feeling, if my legs are still sore from the previous leg workout then I wouldn’t necessarily train them again even if it is my next leg day. Listening to your body is crucial when wanting results.

Before my workouts I always like to do a 5-10 minutes slow warm up, whether it be cycling or an incline on the treadmill just to make sure that my body isn’t cold when I start my workout, then once my workout is finished I do a 10 minute cool down stretch. Stretching is so important when workout out so make sure to always integrate it into your sessions (even though it can be a little tedious sometimes)!

On Monday’s I like to focus on my legs. It’s one of my less favoured areas of my body so I usually put more time and effort into planning and doing those then I would my other days. I train legs twice a week and then usually a full body session at the end of the week depending on how my body is feeling, however Ive recently been enjoying taking Saturday’s and Sunday’s off and using them as rest days.

My workout split at the moment looks a little like this:

Monday – Legs

Tuesday – Back and bis

Wednesday – Chest and tris

Thursday – Shoulders

Friday – Legs

Saturday & Sunday -Rest or Full body

I like integrating back and bis together because you’re essentially using your biceps when you are training back. It just so happens to work out that way depending on the exercises being done but I always do exercises during the workout that focuses mainly the specific areas and then I enjoy integrating supersets for both, back and biceps.

Chest and tris are definitely my least favourite thing to train, but I think it’s important to train weekly especially when trying to keep your body in proportion. A lot of girls think that only boys can train chest because they will get “man boobs” but that’s not the case at all. There are actually a few benefits from training chest, such as improving your posture, making your breasts perkier etc. So don’t neglect your pecs, your future self will thank you for it!

I definitely enjoy getting a little shoulder pump in the gym, it’s not my strongest point but it’s something I enjoy working on and challenging myself so I like to focus mainly on shoulders on a thursday.

As for full body, because it’s weekend and usually getting to the gym is a struggle I like to keep it short and simple and high intensity. If I don’t end up getting to the gym, i’ll opt for a run or a walk on the beach.

I’ll do abs at the end of every workout day that isn’t leg day, just because you need to activate you core a lot of the time when you are doing legs and it’s usually a hardcore session I personally don’t see the need for me to do abs as well but I do love doing 10 minute challenges as a burnout!

Depending on the day and time I go to gym, if it’s too busy for me and there aren’t many machines open for a specific workout I want to do – I would just swop days around to make my life a little easier (TIP: This also helps prevent a little bit of gym anxiety!) This workout split has been working for me and my schedule for the past few months, so hopefully it will inspire you to create a schedule that works well for you and your lifestyle.

If you would be curious to see some of my workouts, please let me know in the comments below or send me a dm on instagram – I would be happy to film some clips!