For the last month, I have been participating in the Lorna Jane Fit Challenge through my affiliation with Sweat Pink. I thought I would update you on my experience and tell you a little more about her program. I don’t do “diets” this is not a diet nor is it an extreme workout challenge. I am currently 5 weeks into the 12 week program. There are 3 components: Move, Nourish & Believe. The philosophy behind the challenge is:
Move your body and live an active life.
Nourish your body with clean, healthy meals.
Believe in yourself and your abilities.
For this post I am going to focus on the “Move” component and give you a little insight into my experience so far.
What is the Lorna Jane Fit Challenge all about?
“We are on a mission to empower every woman to lead her best life through Active Living” (Lorna Jane)
Move
When I went off on vacation last week, I thought it the perfect time to delve into the LJ Move Guide. I brought my (approx 100 page) guide with me and tried out the different routines all week.
What do I love about these workouts?
-The workouts require no equipment-just you and your body
-There are 3 phases(levels) of workouts giving tons of options for newer exercisers or more experienced
-The workouts can be mixed and matched in hundreds of ways creating endless possibilities
-The illustrations and instructions are fabulous with each exercise explained in detail with “do’s and don’ts” see above
-I could easily increase or decrease of intensity of each exercise to fit my current exercise level.
-There is a FB Group to chat with other participants, ask questions and share achievements. Who doesn’t need another FB group??
Obviously, there is no magic exercise or routine here. What I did experience was a great way to weave in a full body exercise routine without needing any equipment. I normally perform my workouts with numerous pieces of gym equipment and it has been great to learn that I can mix it up once in a while and have an intense workout. I had an epic fail with the photos I took of myself. These are 2 of my favorite exercises from the Move Guide.
“Downward Dog Pushup”-I loved this combo and it was a lot harder than I thought. I modified it by doing 5 push ups on each rep and not resting in between. It was tough!
“Tricep Butt lift”-Adding a pulse at the bottom of each rep really ramps up the arm burn! In a good way.
It’s not too late to join in on the challenge if your interested check out the Lorna Jane site here.
Stay tuned for my next update on the Nourish aspect of the program soon.
What exercises are you loving right now?
Their offices are in my town – I pass them all the time!!
I am loving bicycle crunches a ton right now and definitely see it in my abs. Also planks (different variations), single leg bridge and butterfly kick!! Downward dog and child’s pose (relaxing at night) are favs on the yoga end. Have fun with the challenge!!
They don’t have any shops on the east coast yet I can’t wait until they do. I love the plank variations too. Hope to hit a yoga class this week.
Since I am not a member to any gym I am always doing body weight exercises at home. I will have to start incorporating some of these moves.
I am really liking the variations on the body weight exercises that she does and her cookbooks are amazing!
Round the clock planks are killer! I can’t do all the exercises since I can’t run or jump yet but many of them like the squats I was already doing for PT. It’s been fun to weave in a few new things.
I feel you on the running & jumping thing. I am so over it!!
Right now my exercise is sitting on my biscuit. But that is going to change soon because I am going stir crazy!
What it’s only been like 2 days!! You need to rest missy. Go power shopping 🙂
Oh man, I have done downward dog push-ups before and they are SO HARD. Much more so than I anticipated them to be! This programs sounds really neat; I like that it’s not a diet but more about putting some good habits into place.
Absolutely! I am really liking mixing it up a little.
The downward dog pushups looks crazy! Love it!
They are great my new fave exercise!
I love Lorna Jane and down dog pushups! I might need to get in on this challenge. 🙂
It’s a fun one! We all need more challenges right?! LOL
I am loving the fact that I can get back to yoga- just me and the mat! No fancy stuff 🙂 Happy hump day my friend!
So glad that you are feeling better so soon! Hope you are joining the coffee date this weekend
I am doing the DVDs from the 21 Day Fix (Beachbody) right now and quite enjoying them… of course I am running too and walking EVERYWHERE!
I haven’t tried those dvd’s yet but I hear good things! Enjoy 🙂
Glad you’re enjoying the challenge. I love my LJ workout gear! My focus all year has been on heavy strength training and learning to swim. Quite a change from marathon training.
I don’t have any of the gear yet. They are supposed to be opening stores on the east coast soon I hear. I’ve been swimming too and really liking it. I bet it is really different but different can be good!
I am seriously loving my Shaun T. Insanity workouts right now. I just started the second month of Insanity Max30 and what a great way to work up a sweat. I love his speed drills
I haven’t tried them but I hear they are killer! Good for you!
Ooh this challenge looks like a lot of fun, I just don’t have enough time 🙁 Right now I am married to running and anything related to the sandbag until I get my cert. 🙂
It is fun! With not being able to run too much it’s been nice to have something else to focus on. I’ve been doing lots of swimming, weights and kick boxing but still miss the running
What a great challenge. I am participating too but my shoulder has really impacted my progress because there are many exercises I cannot do. Great job month 1.
I can see how that would be hard. I am liking the recipes as well.
Those down dog push ups are no joke!! I would love to do a challenge like this, I always find a few exercises I’ve never done before, which is just so fun for me! I love the idea behind MNB too! Thanks for sharing your favorite moves with us!
I love Lorna Jane’s Philosophy! Sounds like a great challenge, those downward dog push ups look tough!
She does have a great philosophy! Try the push ups they are a challenge
I am trying to vary my cross training activities to not only help me be a more balanced person but to also help me maintain my interest in the activities.
It definitely helps to mix it up!
Oh, I need to try that downward dog push-up soon – it would be great for a 45 soon!!! (my exercise of the day)
It’s more challenging than it looks!
I’m ready to get back into boot camp or the gym so I am loving sprints, presses, lateral and front raises and any other exercise that works the arms and shoulders.
I am determined to have some amazing guns myself this summer!
This challenge looks great–I thought about signing up for it but then the Yoga Challenge came my way…I like the theme, tho. Move, nourish, believe…it’s really all about the whole body/mind experience, right?
Yes It is all about the 3 concepts together and I just love her philosophies and attitudes about eating and exercising. You are doing amazing with the yoga challenge I’ve loved your pics.
Those pushups look tough! One of my favorites is from a Dave Scott strength routine. You do with one of the low resistance bands with handles. Stand on the band and cross it in front of you and hold handles with your arms in front of you, elbows bent like starting a curl. Then bring your arms up and out like a reverse fly motion (working your upper back) so your upper arms are extended to the sides and parallel to the floor with your forearms up like the beginning of a shoulder press. Then drop your elbows to the sides to waist level and raise them back up again (working shoulders). Return to starting position in a controlled motion. That’s 1 rep. Do 2 sets of twelve. No matter how much I work my upper body these always crush my ego!
Moving is a huge thing! Ladies I work with tell me all the time they don’t have time to workout because they get too tired at work all day on their feet. So I am always saying, your already on your feet, just move around more, take extra steps, it doesn’t make you any more tired to be on your feet 8 hours standing as it does 8 hours walking, I know because I’ve done it:) I have worn off on a few of them, but just moving is so important to working towards a healthy lifestyle!
Great post!
Thanks! I am enjoying participating in the challenge. You’re so right small changes can make big differences.
I just tried the dogward doggy push up and it is not easy!
I told you!! 🙂
This book sounds fabulous. I love these types of resources that allow you to get a good workout, progress with no equipment required. So good for health on a budget!
Great for everyone really! I am enjoying it.
Great job staying committed to the LJFitCHallenge! I love it and the group.
It has been fun to participate in!
I’m in a post surgery rut of only hanging out on the elliptical. Ugh. I can’t wait to be able to do all of these fun exercises again!
I’ve not been doing too much running either bc my foot was still bothering me but I feel like I am coming out of it. Hopefully March is better for both of us
This sounds like a good challenge. I was going to do it also but already had a lot on my plate at the time. Lately I am enjoying my Runs and HIIT training. Soon some hikes and trail runs 🙂
Thanks! I am enjoying the challenge and just really love her philosophy. I love hiking too but don’t get to do it that much