GRIT by Brit

Free, Fierce, Fitness


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5 Reasons Fitness is a Mental Health Miracle Drug

True Beauty GRIT by Brit

I know I’m always talking about the external, physcial benefits of working out (6 pack by summer, J-lo legs, Michelle Obama arms).  But, let’s not forget about all of the ways that fitness helps us on the inside.  Maintaining our mental health is critical for overall wellness.  Here are the top 5 ”non-physical” reasons I believe exercise is a mental health miracle drug.  Keep these in mind during your next sweat session!

  1. Super Self confidence – Pushing through physcial challenges gives us confidence which spills over into other areas of life.  Nothing is sexier than confidence :)
  2. Less Stress – Studies show that the most common mental benefit of exercise is stress relief.  Boss getting on your nerves?  Go walk it off.  Angry is not a good look.
  3. More Memory – A good sweat session boosts our memory capacity and brain power.  Jocks are smarter after all…and smart is HOT
  4. Addiction Control – Since our brains releases dopamine “the happy chemical” during exercise, we get a natural high – goodbye addictions!
  5. Real Relaxation – Moderate exercise can have the same effect on your body as a sleeping pill.  Who needs chemical drugs for a little R&R?  Not us!

When we are healthy on the inside, we are beautiful on the outside! xoxo, Brit


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Workout of the week: Calorie Crusher Pyramid

Happy Monday!  I had a great day at work and am wrapping up my day with some relaxation and watching The Bachelorette (gotta love it).  Here is the workout I designed to do in the morning – just wanted to share with you guys.  Try it out and let me know what you think.  Lots of luv, Brit

Calorie Crusher Pyramid


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Eliminate the Love Handles

Eliminiate Love Handles GRIT by BritHey hey ladies and gents!  Hope you had a FABULOUS weekend!  One of my best best friends from London came to visit me in Dallas this weekend.   We had a great time dining, laying by the pool and catching up on life.  This Friday we’ll be heading to Greece for our much awaiting summer vacation – eek!

As last-minute prep for our beach bodies, I designed this ab workout to focus primarily on the love handles (yes…that little layer of fat that sits so nicely on my side above my low-rise pants).  The workout incorporates some techniques that I use in my PiYo Strength (Pilates/Yoga fusion classes).  BTW, if you live in Dallas, you better come join me for PiYo on the deck every Saturday – it’s free and we have the best view in Dallas at the W Hotel 16th floor wet deck!

My “Eliminate the love handles” workout only takes 8 minutes – try it out and let me know what you think! Trust me, you will be sore tomorrow :)


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Active Recovery #GottaHaveIt

Goin’ hard is great, but be sure to give your body some down time. On the weekends, I literally wear myself out teaching group fitness classes. So during the week days, I try to mix in an Active Recovery workout. For instance, this morning I did this “Treadmill Recovery Workout” at my hotel gym. It’s great fitness option because it keeps my cardio up, burns calories (about 250) and lets my joints recover so I can go hard next weekend.

Keep in mind, that extreme (high intensity) workouts are not intended to be performed more than 3X per week. This means no CrossFit or running sprints every single day! If we don’t give our muscles time to recover, they never rebuild. We want our muscles to rebuild because that’s how we develop more lean muscle mass. More lean muscle mass = more strength AND more calories burned while our bodies are resting – yay!

Try my “Treadmill Recovery Workout” on one of you lower intensity days and let me know how it goes. Enjoy!

Take it easy every now and then! Lots of luv, Brit

Treadmill Recovery Workout


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To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the GIFT

Happy Sunday!  You guys know on Sundays I like to spread a little encouragement/inspiration, so today I want to share something that’s been heavy on my heart = Appreciating and Maximizing the GIFT of Life

the gift grit by brit

What is the “gift’?  That IS the question.  To me the “gift” is the privilege of having a human life.  As humans, unlike any other species, we have the ability to be BE and DO whatever we want.  Why?

  1. Because we have free will
  2. Because we can change

With hard work, can be WHATEVER we want to be and that’s amazing!

  • If we are weak, we can make ourselves  strong.
  • If we are dumb, we can study and become smart.
  • If we are lonely, we can find companions.

The list goes on and on. However, with this amazing “gift,” also comes a huge responsibility.  To me, that responsibility is to promote peace, abundant living and encouragement to others.  The cool thing is that we each fulfill our responsibility in different ways.  For me it’s through sharing fitness.  What is it for you?

While we all have different passions and different ways of encouraging each other, one thing that we have in common is that we have to continuously work REALLY HARD to perfect our craft.  It’s a life-long journey, but it’s so rewarding to know that our lives have a purpose and that we each play a crucial role in helping others live a better life.

As you start your week, I encourage you to think about your “gift.”  Are you making the most of it?  Are you giving your best?

Work hard, dream big, help others! Lots of luv, Brit


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SKIP into Shape! New Jump Rope Workout

I’m back on the road for work this week which means more Hotel Gym Workouts! There are jump ropes in the fitness center of my hotel, so this morning I made up a new jump rope circuit to “skip” into shape. It was a GREAT way to fight hotel gym boredom and to include some plyometric training in my routine. I felt super athletic while doing the exercises and got a good sweat!

Here are the details…

  • Calories Burned: 400-500
  • Duration: 40-45 minutes
  • Focus: Cardio + Lower body power and explosion from the jumping and burpees
  • Brit’s Commentary: Our bodies are SO efficient! This means we constantly need to change our workout routines so that our bodies have to adjust and thus, get stronger and burn more calories. Mixing a jump rope circuit into your usual cardio routine is a great way to SHOCK your body.

Remember, if we do what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always got. #GRIT

Lots of luv, Brit

SKIP into SHAPE


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3 weeks till GREECE! #BikiniBody

mykonos

It’s almost Summer!  In less than 3 weeks I will be lying beach-side in Santorini and Mykonos, Greece! I’m SO excited.  I’ve never been to Greece before.  Have you?

Last year I went to Monaco and Italy which was AMAZING.  In preparation for the trip, I designed an Extreme Bikini Body workout which got me in tip-top shape.  I felt tight and toned in the Côte d’Azur! Below is a throw back pic from Summer 2012 at the Monte Carlo Beach Club!

grit by brit bikini body

Now, it’s time to get bikini ready yet again!  So I made a new and improved EXTRA Extreme Bikini Body Workout.  I plan to do this workout 4 times in the next 3 weeks to get me in super bikini shape.  On my off days, I plan to do power yoga and my teach my regular cycling and PiYo classes.

The workout is very intense with heavy cardio and lots of focus on the core – it’s designed to burn 1,000 calories!  Simply getting through the workout requires at lot of #GRIT which makes us feel strong and confident.  After all, confidence is the most important thing we need to look awesome in a bikini :)

Got a beach trip coming up?  Try the workout for yourself

Yay for bikinis! Luv, Brit

EXTRA Extreme Bikini Body Workout

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