Yesterday morning I squeezed in an early morning workout before my long day. I've always been a morning person and would rather get my workout in before the day starts rather than after a full day. It's also nice having a slightly empty gym at 6 a.m.! Working out early sets the tone of the day for me. P.S. I can't do it every day. I only have to workout super early about one to three days a week so I don't mind it!

Sometimes I go in with a game plan, other times like yesterday I kind of make up as I go along. I did some upper body strength work before completing the following circuit three times! I have a video as well that shows most of the exercises.

The only thing not shown in the video is the box jumps. If you do box jumps, make sure to jump up and then step down! I used a box that I felt comfortable jumping on for 20 reps. If you don't like the box jumps you can always modify with step ups, squat jumps or bodyweight squats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c-MEalXnBY

Let me know if you give it a try!

Rach

This past weekend I was at Auburn University for the third ever Evolve Fitness Conference! Evolve was actually started at UF two years ago and travels to different southeastern schools every year.

There was a group of 30 from UF this year and we all packed into mini vans to make the six hour drive on Friday at noon. We made it into Auburn at around 5 p.m. and registered for the conference before figuring out what to do for dinner. Eating plans are always on the forefront of the minds of 30 college-aged fitness crazed human beings. We are like eating machines.

Once we registered at Auburn's facility, we went to check into the hotel and decided to eat at a local burger joint called Niffer's. I was starving and got the grilled chicken, avocado and jalepeno burger with steak fries.

We all got quite the laugh on Friday night. We couldn't stop talking about how good the water tasted in Alabama compared to the Gainesville water. So much so, that Tracy, a fellow Zumba instructor, asked for some water to go and the waiter brought her an entire gallon of water, no joke.

And then there was a balloon magic man who made us a balloon gator...

We arrived back to the hotel around 11 p.m. and my room passed out. Needing to be at the gym at 8 a.m. the next morning, we needed to prepare for a full day of fitness.

I was lucky enough to snag a bike in a master spin class taught by Robin Dayer, a master Schwinn trainer. It was such a blast, her energy was incredible.

After the class, the keynote speaker was Martin Rooney, a highly accomplished athlete, businessman, coach, you name it! It was a really inspiring speech all about how bringing out the best in others as a coach will bring out the best in yourself. He focused on the importance of this characteristic in fitness and sports, but I also feel it's extremely relatable to any industry or job, really. When Martin finished, I opted to take a tour of the facility, which is beautiful, but UF's gyms will always be my favorite!

The rest of the day consisted of some more presentations. Saturday night we went out to the Bank Vault and Skybar - both awesome bars in the Auburn area!

On Sunday, I presented on a class specific to UF, iBurn. I taught this class for more than a year and couldn't wait to share it with student instructors from other schools. It's an awesome and challenging strength-based format. I had a short introduction, but the majority of my presentation was a demo iBurn class! It was a lot of fun and a great way to close out the conference.

I was glad to be back in Gainesville after a full weekend and back to cooking my own food! It seems ironic, but always at these fitness conferences, there is limited time to eat, and the majority of our meals are fast food. Plus we were on the road for a total of 12 hours, and the best options were Wendy's and Subway. I was craving greens and glad to be back in my kitchen for Sunday night dinner.

I'll have some more recipes & workouts to post later on this week. Now to go to work, study for my exam tomorrow and apply for a million jobs. Do all the things!!

Happy hump day y'all!

Rach

Happy St. Patty's Day! I've got a yummy recipe for you. Last night I made this spinach, corn and bacon dish along with some grilled chicken for a really flavorful and healthy dinner. The bacon and corn add a lot of flavor! The thing with cooking and what you'll see in this blog (once I get more recipes posted) is that everything I make on a week day or night has to take less than 30 minutes. I don't make anything fancy schmancy but I like it to taste fancy schmancy.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 3/4 cup sweet yellow corn (I used frozen)
• 4-6 cups roughly chopped spinach*
• 2-3 slices bacon
• 1 teaspoon each of salt & pepper
• Mrs. Dash garlic & herb seasoning (can also use regular garlic powder)

Directions:

• Chop shallots, garlic, pepper and spinach

• Add oil to medium pan and bring to medium heat
• Add garlic, shallots and pepper and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the pepper becomes slightly tender

• While the above is cooking, place the bacon on a pan to bake in either a toaster oven or oven. Bake on 350 degrees for about 5-10 minutes (this really depends on your preference of how crispy you want your bacon!)
• Add in spinach, corn and seasonings to pepper mixture and stir frequently while spinach wilts
• Once bacon is done, pat off oil, chop in small pieces and add to spinach
• Turn heat down to low and cook for 1-2 more minutes before serving

I added some BBQ sauce and it hit the spot! And then I got into this:

Delisshhhh. I'll be back later with a recap post about my weekend at Auburn University for the Evolve Fitness Conference!

Have a wonderful Tuesday,

Rach