Happy New Year!

It’s strange how a single day can make you feel like you have a fresh start. New chances to make your goals a reality. New motivation. The truth is that we can choose to make these changes any day of the year, but somehow January 1st holds some type of Goal Magic.

We reflect on the year past and we plan for the year coming. As I type this I have my infant son on my lap. He will be 6 months old in just a few days. I see the changes and growth he makes daily. He faces challenges, change and new experiences constantly. Each day he tries something new and difficult. As children we aren’t afraid of challenges. We aren’t afraid that something will be too difficult, or we will fail. We just keep trying until we get it. All babies are different, they find their own unique ways of accomplishing their goals, and we can learn from that too.

You do not have to do things exactly as someone else does. You do not need to look the same way, or own the same things. You need to keep showing up, and keep trying. That consistency will pay off. Pushing through frustrations, and setbacks, and comparisons will help you achieve your goals. It’s okay if that journey looks different for you than it does for someone else. This year I challenge you to embrace your own unique journey. Don’t be deterred by the challenges. Embrace them as part of your experience, and push through them. The feeling of accomplishment that you get from achieving something difficult is much stronger than the feeling of accomplishment when you do something easy.

Learning to push through the things that are difficult will help you in every area of your life. Exercise doesn’t just train your body to be stronger, it trains your mind to be stronger.

I hope that you found some motivation here to start the New Year with me. Together we can achieve all of the goals we set our minds too.

Have fun with today’s workout and stretch. One of my goals for 2017 is to restore my flexibility. I have been having some lower back pain, and my Split stretching program is great for the lower back, hip flexors, and hamstrings, which can really help with lower back pain. My pain is postural, from the way I stand when I hold my son.  I am working on adjusting my posture, but the stretching is helping already.

I hope you all enjoy today’s workout! We will see you soon! Let me know what your goals are this year in the comments below!

Melissa

PS You can find me on Social Media: @BenderFitness and on Facebook: @MelissaBenderFitness and Jesse is on Instagram: @BenderCrosby1 

PPS If you want to help support BenderFitness so we can get a new camera & new equipment & make our site more sustainable your donation is greatly appreciated: https://www.patreon.com/BenderFitness

Repeat 1-3X
Max reps during each 50 second interval, 10 seconds of rest between exercises. 

1. Mountain Climbers
2. Temple Tap Abs
3. 3-Way Frogger
4. Angel Abs
5. Mountain Climbers
6. Side Plank Leg Lift (right)
7. 3-Way Frogger
8. Side Plank Leg Lift (left)
9. Mountain Climber
10. Knee to Elbow Crunch
11. 3-Way Frogger
12. Rock the Boat
13. Mountain Climbers
14. Super Swim
15. 3-Way Froggers

Stretches to Improve Flexibility for Splits (with Photos and Video)

*Warm-Up
Dynamic Leg Swings

1. Forward Fold
2. Runner’s Lunge (right)
3. Nose to Knee (right)
4. Runner’s Lunge (left)
5. Nose to Knee (left)
6. Pigeon (right)
7. Pigeon Fold (right)
8. Pigeon Stretch (right)
9. Pigeon (left)
10. Pigeon Fold (left)
11. Pigeon Stretch (left)
12. Down Dog
13. Cat/Cow
14. Leg Wall Stretch (right)
15. Leg Wall Stretch (left)
16. Saddle Wall Stretch
17. Split (right)
18. Split (left)
19. Split (center) 

Leg Swings

Forward Fold

Runners Lunge with Stretch Back

Nose to Knee

Pigeon

Pigeon Fold

Pigeon Stretch

Down Dog

Cow Pose

Cat Pose

Leg Wall Stretch (right)

Saddle Wall Stretch

Split

Center Split