Staying Motivated Through Injuries & Cyclone Cup Winner {{W.O.W LinkUp}}

Hey hey hey!

So of course it's Wednesday and I like to party, so I'm joining the fun over at Preg Meg's blog today for Workout Wednesday Link Up. Which totally off sub but I just have to throw this out there, she is so dedicated to working out and staying fit and healthy through her pregnancy It gives me even more motivation on a daily basis because come on, she's PREGNANT and still gets after it -- Whats your excuse again?? Haha.

Today I wanna talk about working out while injured and while recovering. A lot of you have asked me to do this post, so as always - ask and you shall receive.

First off I want to start with a disclaimer-- I'm not a physician nor do I have any degrees in medicine these are my own opinions and what works//has worked for me. When in doubt consult your physician before partaking in physical activity.

Now that thats out there we can begin!

Rule number one about injuries -- don't over do it. 

Listen to your body. If it says stop, STOP. Your body knows it limits and you should never push it so hard that you risk further damage or prevent healing.

But just because your injured that doesn't mean you have to sit back and grow into the couch. If your like me then you have worked to hard to let everything slip away.

If you have any lower body injury than that just gives you the perfect opportunity to focus on upper body. The following exercise are great workout moves that require little to no assistance from the lower half.

*Russian Twists

Crunches

Reverse Crunches

*Superman's or Sometimes referred to as Swimmers 

*Seated Dumbbell Curls

*Seated Overhead Press

*Sidewinders

*Punches 

*Seated Butterflies 

*Seated Runners

The video will demonstrate all items with a * beside it 

Now If it is an upper body injury you can focus on the lower body. The following are prime examples to really work the body with out worrying about the upper half.

Squats

Lunges

*Sumo Squats

Walking

*Leg Kicks

*Bridges

*Single Leg Bridges

*Hop Squats

Calf Raises

*Pulsing Lunges

*Scissor Kicks

*Single Leg Pogo Hops

The video will demonstrate all items with a * beside it 

Ps- Totes ignore my face in this video, it was pre-makeup and pre-hair and well pre everything so I look a little pissy and constipated but I promise I'm not!!! I hope the video helps with confusion on some of the not so common moves!

Depending on your level of injury you may be able to incorporate some other moves that involve more interaction from the injured zone.

While injured though be sure to be giving yourself plenty of rest and treating the injury to help with recovery.

It is so easy to lose your motivation while injured because you can't do everything like normal. It can be really hard to keep your motivation as well because you fall into the slump. But just remind yourself that any little bit you do will benefit you greatly. Any form of physical activity great over shadows no activity at all.

While injured and your out of your regular workout regime, thats the best time to focus on your eating habits, because you can't work out as much. And you are wanting to really stay on point. This would be the best time to make sure your eating healthy like you want and not over indulging in too many calorie heavy treats. I know its hard cause when your bed ridden or stuck on the couch in front of the boob tube its SO SO SO easy to overeat without even realizing it!

I hope this answers the questions those of you had about working out with injury.

How do you cope with injury?

Now for a bit of a personal update

I'm on week two of Focus T25 by Shaun T. and DAAYYYUUMMM. He is kicking my ass. But I'm loving every SINGLE last second of it!!! The workouts are short but get your heart rate up, make you sweat, cry for your mommy, and you can feel the burn afterwards! I'm already noticing some great definition!!! Check out dem guns!!! I will post a progress picture at day 25. The program is a total of 50 days, with two 25 day stages.

I'm running a 5K for my birthday in October and to keep myself prepared, I'm running 3.1 miles once a week on my rest day of T25. The cross training I get from the T25 workouts is very beneficial to my running as well, so I'm hoping to see my times go down and to have a great race. It will be my first officially timed race. EEK! Although the course that I run is extremly hilly. Like no joke I can't go a block from my house in any direction with out hitting at least three hills. The race course though is flaaaaaaaaat.

 Thank baby Jesus.

Any tips for race day??

I've only ran "fun" 5K's till now.

AND NOW THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!

THE WINNER OF THE CYCLONE CUP IS...

DRUMROLL PLEASE

MORGAN DENNY!!!

Congratulations and thanks for following me and playing along!!!

An email has been sent, please respond with your mailing address so I can get the cup out this week to you.

BOOM!

Get up, get going and enjoy HUUUUMMMMPPP DAAAAAY!

- J