Have you been asking yourself, “How do I get fit?” or “Should I get fit for a fitness competition?”
It’s a great idea to really dig deep into why you want to get fit. While getting strong and healthy is always a good idea, I encourage you to get your mindset right before taking your goals next level.
by Valerie Solomon, Busy Mom Gets Fit
Every summer, I host a fitness and empowerment camp for women called Camp GORGO #campgorgo (through my other company - an online publication and community, GORGO Magazine). Women come from all over North America to centrally located Elizabethtown, KY for an epic girls weekend filled with fitness training, mindset coaching, and ridiculous fun. No one leaves unchanged by this tribe of #gorgogirls.
And what women's fitness camp would be complete without a girl power play list full of empowering songs women will love as background music?
Here are some of my new favorites for this year's Camp GORGO. If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear! Click here for last year’s list of empowering songs for women.
Whole Lotta Woman, Kelly Clarkson
I Love Me, Meghan Trainor & Lunch Money Lewis
Woman Up, Megan Trainor
You Don’t Own Me, Grace (feat. G-Eazy)
Towards the Sun, Rihanna
Juice, Lizzo
Broken & Beautiful, Kelly Clarkson
Gold, Britt Nicole
Girl, Maren Morris
Wonder Woman, Kacey Musgraves
Queens Don’t, RaeLynn
Hurts 2B Human, P!NK
Best Years of My Life, Pistol Annies
Hey, Soul Sister, Train
Bonfire Heart, James Blunt
I’m Every Woman, Whitney Houston or Chaka Khan
In this video, I answer a common question that I get often: “How do I get rid of cellulite?”
I've got a few tips on how to get rid of cellulite but also a few tips on how to stop caring about cellulite.
Cellulite on the back of my legs is one of the things that got me started on my fitness journey to begin with. Years ago, after I’d had a few kids, I was unsatisfied with my body. I started eating low calories and doing a lot of cardio. My goal was to get back to my high school weight. I reached that, but I still was unsatisfied with my legs. I'd done all that work to get smaller and I thought that I would like what I saw, but I still saw cellulite. Getting smaller did not help that issue at all.
It occurred to me that I needed to start putting muscle on my body. As a teenager I had been a swimmer and lifted weights and I had nice legs. It didn't occur to me back then, but after I went the cardio and “getting smaller” route, I realized that it was muscle that was causing my shapely legs then.
One way to get rid of and minimize cellulite is to strength train and start putting muscle in your glutes, hamstrings, and build nice strong legs overall. Building muscle is going to fill out your legs, fill out your skin, and you're going to start liking the shape of them a little better.
The other thing that can help with cellulite is to get leaner...not just smaller. Cellulite is fat, but there is a way to eat to fuel your body to build muscle and burn fat. That way you stay strong, healthy, and build a solid shape.
We can lift weights, we can eat well, but the truth is, cellulite is very normal for women. The odds are, you will always have some cellulite! Please watch the video ‘How to Get Rid of Cellulite ...or Stop Caring About Cellulite’ so I share how I feel about cellulite now. I love strength training, I love eating to feel and look good, but I also want to enjoy my life. I want that for you too.
Body Shaming is always in season for some people, but January 1st often heralds a special time in the push to capitalize on women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies; headlines shout, “NEW YEAR, NEW YOU!”, the gyms fill up, and magazines and blogs everywhere explode with suggestions on taking off that “WINTER WEIGHT” and undoing the “damage” of all the holiday meals and indulgences.
Fitness industry professionals are in the business of getting people to pay for guidance on how to change their bodies. So it might seem contradictory for a blog post on a fitness website (intended to get you to buy workout plans) to say that you don’t need a “New You”.
But the message that strengthening your body, and eating in a way that supports that is a great goal does not automatically engender shame about the state of your body right now.
There’s the train of thought that fitness should only be about health and strength, and not aesthetics at all, and while that’s a strong body positive message, it’s not out of the realm of healthy mental attitudes to believe that you can love your body right now, and also take action to change the way it looks.
You can love your body and still think that it would be badass to have defined biceps, or bigger glutes. You can want fat loss for health reasons, and you can desire to have a different silhouette, and still appreciate what your body has done--carried you this far in life, housed children, etc.
Making changes that we like is a right we have, and sometimes changes that facilitate health also change our bodies in ways that we admire. That’s not wrong. Just remember that your body is worthy of love just the way it is. Desiring change doesn’t necessitate shame.
You can love your body at every stage, even if you’re enacting a plan to change it. Things change, people grow and evolve, and if you can love them every step of the way while they do, you can apply that same acceptance and love to yourself, as well.
Happy New Year, to the Current You.
The New Year often brings a bevy of folks to the gym, but what if you’re already there, three to five days a week?
Maybe there should be a new category of New Year’s resolutions for the crowd that is already grinding it out...and is ready to change it up.
You might have the knowledge that consistency is key down pat, but you’ve lost the excitement. It was fun in the beginning, when weight training was new and a challenge, but now your fitness routine is just that...a routine.
Tapping into new fitness plans that offer fresh challenges is key to giving your muscles new growth opportunities, and also important for keeping you motivated. It’s fine if you thrive under the regularity of your fitness routine, see growth and definition, and love your results. But if you’re itching to switch it up, or you’re not seeing the type of progress you want...think about starting the New Year off with a new fitness plan.
Maybe you want to go back to basics and build a foundation of strength, or maybe you need to jump start some hypertrophy. Maybe you want it all, and need a sequence of fitness plans that will walk you through it, with the thinking already done for you.
Not sure which plan would be right for you? Take the BMGF Fitness Plan Quiz, or purchase multiple plans at a discount, and get your body sculpting season all set up at once! (“Bundling Up” isn’t just for venturing outside this winter.)
If you’re consistent, you’re ahead of the game. But don’t let that devotion to the daily grind take away the fact that weight lifting can still be fun, even if you’re years in, and think you have to do it “A Certain Way”. You might also be surprised at how enjoyable a change of pace can be, even if it’s just tweaking a few exercises, or adding some new-to-you moves that amp up the fun quotient of your fitness routine.
Check out a Busy Mom Gets Fit plan, and let the New Year uncover a new aspect of your love of fitness.
In the world of physical health, a “fitness” plan or mindset isn’t easily quantifiable.
There are markers that a doctor might use to measure fitness, and they may include BMI charts or self reports about activity levels. Stress tests can determine certain limitations, and you can measure oxygen capacity.
If you’re in the military, there’s a very distinct standard to measure your fitness; run a mile in a certain time and perform various exercises in a particular number.
But what about the average individual? What if you’re a middle aged accountant who isn’t trying to become a Navy SEAL, or a stay-at-home mom that just wants to feel stronger tomorrow than you do today?
Even if the measure of individual fitness isn’t able to be captured with a simplified rubric, you can certainly set goals and work towards them.
And that may be an important facet to add to the definition of “fitness” itself; setting goals and achieving them. Not simply a state of being able to do a particular number of reps, but the mindset of continual challenge and achievement.
You can achieve a certain state of fitness and simply hold it. Run five miles every day. Do the same weight lifting routine for years. And as long as your standard of fitness stays exactly the same, you’ll remain fit. (Until the natural progression of aging makes it a little harder for you.)
But there’s a typical progression with those seeking “fitness”...they set new goals. They try new things. They offer their body and their mind new challenges.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (who knows a thing or two about physical fitness), said “The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up. To achieve. To conquer.”
If it fits as a good meaning of life, it’s probably also very applicable to a definition of fitness.
Moving up. Ahead. Achieving. Conquering.
Badass factor of building visibly strong muscles aside, strength training for women has a multitude of benefits.
What are they? What issues top most women’s lists? It varies from individual to individual, but if we’re being honest, there are some standard female challenges, that strength training for women can address...
Your Mental Clarity. From the anxiety and depression that can accompany PMS or PMDD and the rollercoaster of pregnancy and postpartum changes, to the “brain fog” of menopause, for most of a woman’s hormonal life, she is struggling against the mental effects that hormone dips and swells can cause. Studies have shown that strength training for women is particularly beneficial
Your Libido. Research indicates that cardio combined with moderate intensity resistance training has a positive effect on lowered libido in women. Even if you aren’t experiencing a low drive for physical reasons, building strength and muscle can help with your self esteem...which is often the culprit, too. (One study that demonstrated increased self esteem in young women after exercise pointed to weight training as slightly more effective.)
Your Booty. Can we just admit that some of us are on a seemingly never ending quest to plump our backsides? You can blame J-Lo, you can embrace what God gave you, and you can also build up your glutes (they’re more than just decorative; a strong posterier chain is important to protect your back as you age) with...say it with me...weight lifting.
Your Skin. Strength training for women might have a positive effect on aging skin. Yes, you should embrace those stretch marks that remind you that you grew a person. Yes, each laugh line reminds you of happiness. But keeping a rosy tone and healthy skin surface is still something you want, and research may be pointing towards the improved mitochondrial function that strength training for women provides as a boost for skin.
Your Bones. Weight lifting builds up your bones in much the same way it builds your muscles. When bones perceive stress they build up, offering a protective mechanism against that other “Big O”...osteoporosis.
The reasons are legion for women to strength train, but these are a few of the biggies.
Already on board, but ready to dial it up? Newbie who needs direction? We have a plan for you!
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Trujillo, C. "Effects of weight training and running exercise intervention programs on the self-esteem of college women
