How to Stay Active During COVID-19: Tips from a Wedding Fitness Professional 

Not having access to your regular gym or studio right now can be SO challenging. Your wedding fitness routine is all out of wack. Your regular gym is closed or you are being put on class waitlists for the few open studios. Not to mention the “bored in house complex” causing you to make trip after trip to the kitchen for snacks. This is what my team and I have been hearing from the new brides and grooms we’ve been signing up lately, and it inspired me! Why not put together a few tips that have helped me and our Bells & Barbells Wedding Fitness clients stay on track during this pandemic. These tips will help you get motivated and stay motivated! 

(guest post by Katherine Bahlburg of Bells & Barbells Wedding Fitness) 

Stay on Track in The Kitchen

Plan your meals out. Every week, or every few days, take a moment to sit down and map your food out — breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course, snacks. The act of writing it down and or typing it out will make it easier to follow through on and mentally set you up for success. Another great tip is to only keep healthy options in the house, if it isn’t there, you won’t be tempted. Having a few things in the house that are healthier substitutes for your less healthy sweet and salty cravings will help you find balance and keep you from falling off the wagon. Here are some examples: Opt for dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Try opting for fruit as opposed to fake fruity candy. Gluten-free crackers and pasta made out of chickpeas, lentils, and or veggies is an excellent alternative for garb rich dishes and snacks. Here are a few brands our brides and grooms love, Banza and Cybele’s superfood pasta. 

Enlist an Accountability Buddy

Having an accountability buddy can be so helpful! Here at B&B, each bride and groom is paired with their very own accountability buddy/personal trainer, who is always just a short call or text away seven days a week. We know how hard it can be to stay on track even without everything going on today, and having someone there to keep you accountable is a game changer! So whether it is a personal trainer, a friend, or your partner, find that buddy and start getting after it! 

Find a Community

Surrounding yourself with individuals who have the same goals will significantly affect your ability to stay focused on your own goals – similar to having an accountability buddy but in higher numbers. One thing our clients always mention is that training at the studio around other men and women going through the same thing as them is comforting and extremely motivating. Some ways to do this on your own would be too create a group chat with friends and family so you can have a place to celebrate your achievements and find support amongst one another or create a motivating Facebook group.

Keep things interesting!

A fun playlist can help keep you energized and motivated while working out. Changing up your workout style is another GREAT way to steer off boredom and loss of interest. When it comes to effective programming to see the best results, repetition needs to happen so that you can test yourself and your capabilities and ensure that you are making progress. You should always keep your primary lifts/movements the same (squats, bench, deadlifts etc), but you can always rotate through different variations such as using dumbbells vs. barbells. Change up your accessory exercises now and then as well. This will not only keep you from getting bored, but it will also work to your benefit by challenging your central nervous system and helping you avoid training plateaus. Brides often mention that they have stopped seeing results with their current workout routine by the time when they reach out to us and are feeling frustrated and ready for a change. The halt in results is because they have been taking the same class over and over and have just been repeating the same workouts and movements and don’t have an effective system in place for testing and monitoring the weights they are using. Your body needs change, just like with anything else, it will adapt, so you must keep challenging it.

Consider a Personal Trainer

In case you’re curious about my studio Bells and Barbells, and because we get asked a lot of questions that I am sure a few of you already have been wanting to ask, YES, we are open. And because we offer our personal training services in a private studio setting, we never have more than 4-5 people on our studio floor at any given time. Luckily, crowds have never been a thing for us, and keeping our studio germ free and clean has, fortunately, been easy for us to manage. We also get many questions about scheduling. The answer is “YES!” if you are a B&B client, will you be able to reserve your preferred training time and can always count on it being there every week. 

Whether you want to find a studio to help you with your wedding fitness journey or your good rocking it out at home, my goal is to help you with your success! I hope these tips have helped!  Remember, the wedding is just your first goal, and the effort that you put into your health and fitness now will affect your habits and overall health long after you say “I do!” So, let’s get after it, ladies! 

If you have any more questions for Katherine and would like to book a complimentary phone consultation with Bells and Barbells, visit their website for more info!