Workout: Olympic Athlete Personal Challenge by Brit
Duration: 30-45 minutes
Calories Burned: 400-600
Brit’s Commentary: I was feeling so inspired by the Olympics this week that I designed a workout to challenge my own “Olympic worthiness.” I’m no where near an “Olympic athlete” but sometimes it’s good to feel my own SPEED, ENDURANCE, STRENGTH and GRIT! This workout was a nice change up to my usual routine and kept me in the Olympic spirit. It also allowed me to capitalize on all of the positive energy that the Olympics brings every 4 years! That said, try the challenge for yourself and go for the GOLD 🙂
*Be sure to warm up for 5-10 minutes before you start the sprints and stretch for 5-15 minutes after you complete the workout.
The word of the week is = PROGRESS! GRIT Ultimate Body Burn Vol. 1, my total body workout video will be released very soon! Last month I posted an article to express my excitement and gratitude after finishing the video shoot. Since then, we’ve made even greater strides in post production. This entire project has been a transformational learning experience – it’s amazing what we can can accomplish when we break a LARGE project down into SMALL tasks. Words can not express how eager I am to share my fitness tools with you! But for now…back to working on this client deck (gotta love Excel and PowerPoint). Lots of luv! – Brit
GRIT Ultimate Body Burn Vol. 1 is a total body, high intensity 30 minute workout set to endorphin-pumpin’ music. With full time job and demanding travel schedule, I was eager to create an effective and efficient workout that could be done in my busy schedule. Inspired by years of athletic training, sports conditioning, dance and teaching Turbo Kick, I developed an extreme, 30 minute total body workout that meets all of my fitness needs.
This at home fitness method utilizes 1 pound hand weights to maximize calorie burn and guarantee intensity. Kick boxing, athletic drills, plyometrics, Pilates, anaerobic intervals and resistance training are also incorporated for a complete, exciting workout that hits every major muscle group while keeping your heart rate elevated. You can get it all – effective, fun total body fitness and time to handle your busy schedule!
At my high school, in the lovely town of Mesquite, TX, you had to run a mile in 8 minutes or less to be on ANY sports team at ANY level (Freshman, JV or Varsity). No matter how talented or skilled of an athlete you were, no 8 minute mile = no spot on the team. So let me give you a little background as to why the 8 minute mile requirement, to this day, is the most stressful personal challenge I have ever confronted…
At the start of 7th grade I weighed about 165 pounds and wore a size 14 in women’s clothing (see pic below). BUT, I still LOVED sports! Luckily, I landed a spot on the 7th grade girls basketball B-team- YAY! On the first day of practice, I ate my usual ham and cheese Hot Pocket for breakfast. This was also the first time, in my life, that I ever ran (mostly walked) a full mile. HOWEVER, I did finish that mile in 11 minutes and 55 seconds. As soon as I crossed the finished line I puked that entire Hot Pocket right in front of all of the 8th graders. Long story short, my middle school years were definitely not my best.
After a year of puking, stressing about conditioning workouts and just trying to fit in, I actually saw progress. On the last of day practice that 7th grade season, our coach made us run the mile again. This time I finished in 9 minutes and 6 seconds – WOO HOO! BUT, my world was crushed when the high school coaches came to visit on the last day of middle school. During their high school preparation speech, they broke the news about the 8 minute mile requirement. At that very moment, my world fell apart. I mean, seriously, did they realize how much torture I had to endure just to get down to 9 minutes and 6 seconds? I was officially in panic mode.
All summer I ran and prayed and ran and prayed in hopes that I would be able to run the 8 minute mile on August 16th. My mom even put me on the prayer list at church; I think she was just as nervous as me. This was also the summer that my dad and I established a special bond which still holds today. He would run with me in the blazing Texas heat and always encourage me. “Hard work ALWAYS pays off,” he’d say. The week before the official high school timed mile test, he and I did a trial run. I was feeling good and ran my butt off! But the minute I crossed the finished line my dad shouted out, “8:15 – almost sweetheart, you’re just 15 seconds away.” At that point, I literally broke down and cried. What more could I do? I ran every day and pushed myself to the limit yet still had not reached my goal…
Finally, the big day came. I was so nervous I could hardly sleep the night before. I wanted be on the high school basketball and volleyball teams SO very badly and had actually become pretty good at both sports. The 8 minute mile was the only thing standing in my way. As we all walked up to the starting line, I said a prayer and took a deep breath. When coach yelled, “GO” I ran as fast as I possibly could. It was like something came over me. The only thing I could think was, “just don’t slow down, just don’t slow down.” Finally, I rounded the last curve and thought to myself “SPRINT!” That’s exactly what I did. When I crossed the finish line coach hollered out “7:56”! I broke down and cried, the same way I did during my trial run, only this time they were tears of joy! My teammates couldn’t understand why making the 8 minute mile meant so much to me, but it was the first time in my life that I truly understood my own strength. This accomplishment marked a new phase of self-confidence and personal pride that I still hold at 27 years old.
I went on to have a successful high school athletic career earning 1st team all district honors in both basketball and volleyball. I even went on to play basketball at the NCAA Division 1 college level for 4 years. I was co-captain of my college basketball team at Cornell University and made the Big Red Power Wall of Honor for 2 consecutive years. The wall of honor is for the top 2 athletes on each varsity team who ranked the highest in a variety of strength and conditioning tests. Who would have ever thought my name would be on that wall? Definitely not me!
So, from a size 14 , 11:55 mile running, 7th grade “B” team basketball player, I’m telling you, there is NO SUCH THING AS IMPOSSIBLE!
“What is impossible with men is possible with God.'”