What if I told you that you could go to the gym only once a week, and still get in the best shape of your life? You’d probably think I was lying, right?
Well I’m not. Buuuuut, I’ll admit that title was clickbait, and it worked on you. 😉 So now that you’re here, just hear me out!
I only go to the gym, the actual gym once a week. But it’s not exactly sweatpants and binge-watching Love is Blind the other 6 days a week — here’s what I do the other days:
1-2 days a week: T-25 videos at home –
I LOVE these videos. 25 minutes with Shaun T. (Not to be confused with Mr. T, though he is almost as ripped) is the perfect amount of time to have me sweating each morning and feeling like I did SOMEthing. All you need is about a 6 x 6 foot square of space, a DVD player, and a workout band or hand weights. It only takes 25 minutes so there’s really not an excuse to miss it, and it’s great for just breaking a sweat, getting you moving, and maintaining your work from other workouts. (I wouldn’t expect this to get anyone super toned by itself.)
Body Benefits: Overall maintenance and mental health << Feeling like I did something, albeit small, helps me feel like I never have “fallen off the wagon.”
1 day a week: Hot Yoga –
I’ll admit, I was never into yoga, let alone yoga in a 90 degree room — until I found Y7. Personally, the spiritual “light in me honors the light in you” stuff felt very airy-fairy and I just couldn’t get into it… until I discovered Y7, which is candlelit, with no mirrors, set to hip hop music. They blast the music like you’re in some sort of cool hot club, and without mirrors you can really get lost in your own flow and forget about the outside world. (<< Alright now I sound like a hippie weirdo too.) For a COVID-friendly version, turn up the heat in your house and check out their online classes, or IG Lives hosted by my favorite instructor, Brandon Scott.
Results-wise I love hot yoga because it stretches and leans out the muscles I build in my more intense workouts. As my girl Paris Hilton would say, “That’s hot.”
Body Benefits: More overall strength, especially in smaller muscle groups, and by focusing on pulling my shoulders down I’ve made my trap muscles chill tf out.
OR
1 day a week: Cycling –
Cardiooooohhhhh my gosh — This is the one workout I cannot live without, but nearly die doing. Little known fact, I have mild Scoliosis — but it’s enough to eff up my back when I run, so cycling is my alternative cardio method. I currently take classes on Zoom (using my apartment’s stationary bikes) with Aaron Hines, the former owner of Cycle House in LA — and let me tell you, he will Work. You. Out. Once Aaron learned my name it was over for me. He will call you out in front of everyone, and make your legs feel like Nancy Kerrigan after Tonya Harding had her whacked with that club. It’s intense. You know how fast the witch was riding her bike in the tornado scene of The Wizard of Oz? That will be you.
Body Benefits: I think the combo of cycling and hot yoga is what has allowed me to see a smidge of abs when I’m on my game, and for sure leans and tones my legs.
1-2 days a week: HIIT Training –
I don’t do this all the time — I do this when I want to kick it up a notch and see real changes in my body, muscles that normally aren’t there, up my endurance, etc. But I definitely believe that High Intensity Interval Training is the way to do it. F45 is my preferred HIIT workout in studio, and Training Mate (taught by hilarious Australian instructors) is a close second. Both include a series of stations that you rotate through with free weights, bikes, dumbells, kettlebells, exercise balls, medicine balls — all the balls. It’s tough but it goes by quickly, and it is SUPER effective. If you need a COVID-friendly bodyweight version of HIIT at home, Aaron Hines also teaches class on Zoom almost daily.
Body Benefits: All over toning and endurance. You can actually get “cut” and see definition all over. They mix cardio and strength/resistance training so you get a little of everything!
So after rotating through whatever variation of those workouts I feel like, I also add in…
1 day a week: The Gym –
This is the one and only workout that I do NOT enjoy doing. I have to psych myself up to even get to the gym on Sundays. But I do go to LA Fitness or my apartment gym once a week to do a targeted leg and glutes day. I do a warmup that my best friend Andrea gave me (20 high knees, 20 squat jumps, and 20 lunges), followed by whatever 5 or 6 machines I feel like doing that day. No, this is not very scientific. But I’m not trying to win fitness competitions, I’m out here trying not to have a pancake booty, OK? I finish this workout with 20 minutes on the Stair Master doing different steps and speeds, and I put on a self help podcast to train my brain at the same time. (<< OK, sometimes I listen to my horoscope, but WHATEVER. Mind your business.)
Body Benefits: I definitely notice a difference in the size and perkiness(?) of my butt when I go to the gym vs. when I don’t. But a word of caution, this is definitely a “you don’t use it, you lose it” type of workout. If I miss even a week or two in a row, Aunt Jemima is calling me up cause she heard I had pancakes.
So there you have it — that is how I go to the gym only one a week, and also how I use clickbait to lure my readers in 😉 Let me know if you want to know more about any of these workouts!
