Things Every Girl Needs: An easy exercise routine

This week I'm so grateful for sweet blog friends like Sam from Fitness Food and Faith, who supplied an amazing guest post that I'm excited to share with you since so many of us make every possible excuse not to work out (or at least I do).  Sam's blog is a great source of advice for healthy eating and exercise, as well as inspiration.  It's one of my daily reads, so I encourage you to stop by and say hi!

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Hey Cardigan Junkie readers!  Sam here from fitness, food and faith.  I adore Haley’s blog and always find myself adding items to my home and clothing wish lists after reading it!  I’m really excited to be adding a little something to Haley’s “Things Every Girl Needs” series.  Although I’m not great with fashion and design, I love talking (and writing!) about health and fitness.  As a group exercise instructor, I have the privilege of being surrounded by fit and motivated people all the time; however, I realize not everyone has the luxury of time to spend at the gym, equipment to use at home, or even a schedule that allows a consistent workout regime.  

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I’ve come up with a routine that can be done by the stay at home mom, traveling business woman, broke college student, and anyone else in between!  All you’ll need is some floor space and perhaps a few tunes to pump you up.  So this is your anywhere-anytime-workout that will get your heart pumping and build muscle strength – it’s definitely something every girl needs!

Movement	Length	Description
Jog in place	2 minutes	Warm up (if you have a jump rope, you can substitute here)
3 way jump squats	2 sets of 10	Stand with feet together, squat and hop feet hip width apart, squat and hop feet to plie (wide) squat, squat and hop feet hip width apart, squat and hop feet together (that’s one rep)
Walking lunges	25 on each leg	Stand with hands in front of you and chest lifted, don't let your front knee bend over your toes. Take lunge steps back and forth across your room/office
Tricep dips	3 sets of 15	Sit with hands behind you and fingers pointed forward, legs fully extended, lift up and then gently tap butt to the floor by bending elbows straight back. If you have a low, stable chair, you can put your hands on the chair and just lower and lift butt in the same way.
Skaters	2 minutes	Stand on your left foot, spring to the right, land on your right foot and let your left leg cross behind, bring your left finger tips to the ground, repeat in the other direction
Body builders	2 sets of 10	Start standing, bring hands to floor, jump back to plank, jump legs wide and together, do a pushup, jump feet to hands, hop up (that’s one rep)
Pushups	3 sets of 15	Start on your toes before modifying to knees, keep your back flat and your core strong. Hands stay wide
Oblique twist	2 sets of 10	Start in a plank on hands and toes, bend right leg and bring right knee towards left elbow (while keeping back flat), return right foot to floor, repeat with left knee to right elbow (that’s one rep)
Walking plank	2 sets of 10	Start in a plank on hands and toes, come down to both elbows and push back up to hands (that’s one rep)
Regular plank	4 sets of 30 sec	Support body on your elbows and toes with a flat back and contracted abs; start on your knees if you would like until you build strength

*Repeat entire sequence twice and stretch at the end.

Stop by fitness, food and faith for 2-3 healthy recipes each week along with other thoughts on fitness and health.  I’d love to “meet” you!  Thanks again, Haley, for having me! 

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Thanks so much for the great post, Sam!  I have printed it and am excited to have something I can do indoors while it's (literally) 110 degrees outside.  If anyone else would like to contribute a post to this series, send me an email and let me know!  I love meeting new bloggers!*

*This series is intended to offer exposure to other independent bloggers.  No companies, please.  Thanks!