our work is never over

Now that I'm home for break, I have a chance to enjoy the simple things in life, like sleeping, eating actual meals, sleeping, doing laundry, sleeping, reading, sleeping, blogging, sleeping, and working out.

If you've ever been in college, you know how easy it is to let these things fall to the wayside.  For example, my friends all refer to me as a professional sleeper (I can sleep anytime, anywhere), but once school gets into full swing, I find myself missing and craving my much needed hours of shut-eye.

But my least favorite thing to give up during the school year (even more than sleeping) is working out.  Though I take four different dance classes a week at school, I find that going to the gym for an hour or two and just taking time to focus my thoughts while working out on the elliptical or stretching or doing ab workouts on the side is incredibly refreshing and motivating.  I find myself more energized overall and I notice how much better I do in my dance classes when I work out my ideal amount.

I always start off each semester with a regular workout plan, going to the gym for at least an hour 4-5 days a week either to work out alone or to take one (or two, or three) of the university-sponsored fitness classes.  However, once MT life kicks into high gear, I find that I barely have time to take a breath, let alone work out any more than stretching and doing planks in my trailer in between all of the rehearsals, practicing, crazy class schedule, homework overload, work schedule, and a few hours of sleep here and there.  Add in getting a crazy bad case of pneumonia, and there's really no time to work out even a little bit as much as I would like to.

Disclaimer to other majors: this is a joke!

Thankfully, now that I'm school-less for a month, I have time to work out to my heart's content.  I would like to be able to join a gym near my home, but since I am only here for a month, I'm thinking it may be more trouble than its worth.  "But how does one work out without a gym?" you ask.  I think that there are many ways of doing so: my brothers workout for lacrosse at home by running on the treadmill, doing pushups and crunches, facing-off against each other, and practicing stick skills with each other or using the LAX wall in our backyard.

I, however, am not good at creating my own idea of how I should be working out.  That's where the beauty of modern technology comes in: I get the majority of my workouts off of YouTube.  YouTube is an amazing resource for all kinds of workout plans; I can get cardio workouts, ab workouts, arm workouts, leg workouts, ballet workouts, floor barre classes, stretch classes, tap classes... the list goes on and on and on.  I love the multitude of videos that exist in cyberspace; I can pick and choose which workouts I do each day and never get bored.  Some of my favorite channels for workouts are Blogilates, XHIT Daily, and JessicaSmithTV.  All of these channels have completely different types of workouts that are all created to be done in a small space at home and I highly recommend nearly all of their videos.

So if you're thinking that you should spend your break sitting on the couch watching TV, take a minute, hook up your laptop to your TV (with a handy-dandy HDMI cable), stand in front of your couch and do a workout or two in the comfort of your own home.  Try and fight the lazy stupor that always seems to arrive with vacations.

And if you really can't seem to get motivated to do a workout, play a quick round of Just Dance, either alone or with family and friends.  Those dances are so entertaining and the competition is so intense, that you won't even realize how much of a workout you're getting. :)

The.Best.

Happy exercising!

Love, Leaza