How to NOT feel like a stiff- legged robot after an intense workout

Happy Monday!

I hope you guys had a great weekend. I am still not feeling %100 better, but I am pushing through! It’s not really an option to get sick when you have a 1 year old..

I swear by This stuff..

The lemon lime flavor is the best.

We had a pretty low key weekend since I wasn’t feeling well, and Joseph spent the night with his grandparents Friday. Guess what he did while he was there?

He LOVES Clifford! He adores animals, even big red dogs, and every time he sees a puppy or cat he flips out.

Charlie and I went for a trail run on Saturday and it was rough! I was sore from a lower body workout I did the day before, and I haven’t been doing steady state cardio as much as I should be, so 45 minutes about killed me!

When I got home I took some precautions to ensure I was able to walk the next day.

Here are some important things you can do to prevent soreness:

1. Stretch– Loosening up the muscles will prevent you from feeling stiff the next day. It also helps speed up the recovery process.

2. FOAM ROLL, FOAM ROLL, FOAM ROLL– This hurts so good! You can find the benefits of foam rolling here.

3.  Ice, ice, baby– An ice bath will knock it out, but if you aren’t tough enough (I’m not), you can ice the muscle immediately after the workout to reduce inflammation.

4. Keep moving- I know all you feel like doing is sitting your butt down on the couch and watching the Real Housewives of NJ marathon (it’s all I feel like doing), but try to keep moving to keep your muscles loose and get the blood flowing. You can march in place while watching the marathon.

5. Soak in a warm bath with Epsom salt– This feels glorious after a long workout, or just a hard day. The Epsom salt relieves stress and relaxes your body. It also reduces pain and muscle soreness

I hope this was helpful and you never have sore  muscles again!

What do you do to prevent soreness after a hard workout?

No feeling is final.

Hi Lovelies,

I hope everyone had a fantastic week.

I was going to do a Friday Favorite post, but Joseph has been sick and he has passed the crud along to me, so I haven’t been productive at all.

I did want to share with you guys one of my favorite quotes that I have been using as an affirmation for the past couple weeks.

“Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” Rainer Maria Rilke

 

Have a great weekend!

Two killer boot camp workouts you can do in your backyard

I am glad you guys enjoyed the vacation workouts, and I hear ya on including links to the exercises! I am going to try my best to do it with all workouts from now on. It doesn’t take much more time and it really is helpful.

I can’t tell you guys how excited I am to share these boot camp workouts with you. They were so much fun to create and perform, and they left me feeling sore all week. It was a perfect way to whip my booty back into shape after a vacation!

They are full body workouts that took me around 50 minutes to complete.

Basically, do each circuit as many times through for 5 minutes, then run/ jump rope for a minute. Quickly move to the next circuit. Do this 2x’s through.

Feel free to take a quick break after the minute of sprinting/ jumping jacks. I had to a few times.

Exercises that may be unfamiliar:

squat jumps

mtn climbers

med ball burpees

  wall sit with ab twists

walking lunges with weights

kettlebell swing

squat pulses

scissor kicks 

180 degree squat jumps

plank jacks

side plank foot touches

lunge jumps

bicycle crunches

step ups with dumbbell curl  

lat raise front/ side 

shuffle kicks (jumps) 

burpees 

side plank with dumbbell twist  (same motion, just hold light dumbbell)

kettlebell row

tricep extension

russian twists

Have a great day!

Two vacation- friendly workouts

Good Morning, Friends!

So, the iPhone update is cool and all, but it is screwing with all my apps and it’s ticking me off. My Instagram app is so jacked up that I can’t see the filter names at the bottom to know which one I am using. Have any of you guys had this problem?

Also, my Spotify keeps asking me if I want to connect with Facebook and won’t let me cancel. I have to turn off my phone to get it to go away. Look, there are some things I listen to that I don’t want all of Facebook knowing about- Can’t a girl listen to Spice World without judgement?

So, as promised, I am going to share with you guys the workouts I did on vacation- tomorrow I will have the TWO boot camp workouts I did when I got back to whip my butt into shape after indulging for four days.

These workouts took me about 30 minutes to complete and you can do them anywhere. I did them on the grass near our condo AND on the beach.

Okay, the first one I did outside of our condo and there was a picnic table, so I utilize that, but if you don’t have one you could always use something else, or just sub a body weight exercise- get creative!

I took the next workout to the beach:

Below are links to the exercises that may be unfamiliar:

Plank with arm reach 

180 degree squat jumps

Chair dips

squat jumps 

Scissor kicks

Shuffle jumps 

squat pulse

Lunge jumps 

Side plank food touch

Butt kickers 

Curtsy lunge with knee tuck

Spidermans 

Have a great day!

Super Fly Workout Playlist

Happy Monday, party animals.

I hope you all had a fab weekend and an amazing start to fall. Did anyone balance any eggs? The transition into different seasons, especially fall, has an enchantment about it that makes me giddy and filled with excitement.

We had a fun weekend that included watching the Auburn game and eating delicious gumbo at our friends house, and a day date on Sunday.

The weather here in the deep south was beautiful and couldn’t have been more perfect for the first day of fall.

We were going to go see a movie, but there weren’t many to choose from, and it was so gorgeous we couldn’t sit inside all day.

I have a sweet workout playlist to share with you guys. After I dubbed it my Super Fly Workout Playlist I couldn’t help but reminiscence of the first time I saw the movie Super Fly. I was at Bonnaroo and Super Fly was the only movie they played in the Cinema; it’s a terrible movie made in the 70’s about a drug dealer, but the cinema was one of the only air conditioned places there, so guess what? I watched Super Fly at least 3 times that weekend.

Anyways, here is your Super Fly playlist!

Have a great Monday!

Lower body gym workout

Hey guys!

I just wanted to drop in really quick to share a lower body workout I did at the gym last week, which I named The Jelly Legs Workout because that is how they will feel after this one. The last circuit is core focused since I have been dedicating extra time to that part of my body lately.

 

Links to exercises:

Smith machine squat 

Squat pulses

stiff leg deadlift

Bulgarian split squats

squat jumps

leg curls 

medicine ball burpees

Step up with knee raise

scissor kicks

Russian twists

Exercise ball pikes 

 

 

Just so you guys know, the boot camp workouts for next week are awesome and I can’t wait to share them with you! Get your foam rollers and ice baths ready. 🙂

Black Bean and Quinoa Burger recipe

Mornin’ friends.

I hope you guys are having a great week so far.

Yesterday I took Joseph to school after he missed friday (he goes Tuesday and Fridays) and had to go pick him up two hours later because they could not calm him down. He was restless and wanted his mommy. I knew it was going to happen; he missed Friday and we have been on vacation. I think it will just take a few days to get back into a routine, but at least I know how he acts after being off his schedule (not well!).

As promised, I have a delicious black bean and quinoa burger recipe.

I seriously LOVED these and they were extremely easy. They were also really great for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:

2 cans of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 cup plain rolled oats (ground in blender.)

1/2 cup quinoa

1 egg (beaten)

1/2 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Add quinoa to 1 cup of water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10- 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.

2. Saute onion and garlic until onion is transparent- about 4-5 minutes.

3.  Combine garlic and onion with a little over half the beans and mash with fork or hands. ( I used both.)

4. Stir in the rest of the beans, beaten egg, cumin, salt and pepper.

5. Stir in cooked quinoa and ground rolled oats.

6. Form patties- I was able to make 6.

7. Heat about 1/8 inch olive oil in pan.

8. Cook patties until brown and crispy on each side, about 5-6 minutes each side.

Add your choice of toppings! I used avocado, onion, tomato and ketchup.

Enjoy!

Side note: bare with me on the recipes- I am still a newbie at cooking and experimenting with recipes, so if the directions don’t completely make sense please let me know- I am trying!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Vacation photo dump and exciting news

I’m Baaack!

I had a great time at the beach, but I missed you lovelies! I seriously did not touch my computer the whole time we were there and it was kinda awesome.

Instead of a boring explanation of everything we did on vacation, I am just going to dump a ton of photo’s on ya.

Also, I am extremely excited about next week on the blog because I will be dedicating it to vacation and post-vacation fitness. I found time to workout everyday I was at the beach and created equipment-free, 30 minute routines that you can do while away from home. I will also share my post- vacation workouts; these will be hardcore, boot camp style routines because let’s face it, we all usually feel like the Michelin man when we come back from indulging for a few days.

So, here is a little taste of what you get on a Murphy vacay:

 

 

 

Have a great Tuesday, and get ready for a delicious turkey burger recipe tomorrow!

 

The BEST tropical green smoothie

Hello Beautiful people!

I don’t usually post on Thursday’s, BUT I made my new favorite green smoothie yesterday after my workout and holy yummy- it’s delicious!

Here ya go!

I just bought a pack of pre- sliced mango’s from fresh Market.

I am off to the beach where I plan on having plenty of tropical drinks that will probably not be green OR virgins. 🙂

Have a great Thursday!

Upper body + core circuit you can take to the gym

Hey guys,

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. This is going to be short and sweet. We are leaving for the beach tomorrow night, so I am already checked out!

Even though I get a free membership to THREE gyms in my area I still find it hard to make it to workout, so I continue to find ways to challenge myself at home. Yesterday I did the Sore for Days leg circuit and it’s awesome. As the name suggests, I woke up sore and will probably stay that way for the next few days!

The workout I am sharing today however, is for the gym but you could easily replace the machine exercises for something else.

It was an intense workout and I LOVED the core circuit at the end.

Do three rounds of each circuit:

Have a great hump day.