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I’ve never been great at balance, especially when it comes to my fitness. Growing up I rode horses competitively and with never needed anything else to keep in shape. I discovered running after moving to Chicago and away from the barn and went from 0 to 100 with 2 marathons and 5 half marathons in two years. Running became my thing and that was all I did as a workout. I discovered spinning in 2014 and immediately became hooked on the release and rush of 45 minutes of cardio in a dark room.

And while it’s great to have a “thing” in terms of working out, I’ve realized it’s probably not what’s best for my body. First there’s the plateau factor – your body pretty quickly gets comfortable with the workout format which means it not only gets easier during class, but you’re likely not seeing the same results afterwards. Then there’s the impact on your body – using the same muscles day after day can take a serious toll!

This year I’m on a mission to finally find some balance in my fitness routine. It’s been amazing to find workouts I truly love – taking the dread out of working out has gotten me hooked on 6 AM Soulcycle classes and a regular workout schedule that has me feeling really great overall. I want to step outside of the comfort zone I’ve found with spinning and mix in some strength training and yoga to take better care of my body and see better results.

The plan? Cardio 3x/week, weights 1x, yoga 1x. As much as I’d love to get back into running (and San Francisco seriously is the perfect weather for it), it just hasn’t felt right and instead of forcing it by signing up for a race, I’m just going to go with the flow and continue to rely on spin classes to get my cardio fix. If you’ve never tried Flywheel or Soulcycle, I seriously cannot recommend either enough. Have a competitive side to you? Flywheel will push you like no other as you battle it out with your classmates for top total power or against yourself for a class PR. Looking for some stress relief? There is truly nothing more fun than dancing with the pack in Soulcycle.

The weights and yoga parts of my workout schedule will admittedly be more of a struggle. As much as I do enjoy yoga (even though I am awful at it), I’ve never been great at going consistently. Blame it on the fact that Corepower yoga doesn’t make you register for classes in advance, or that a morning yoga flow doesn’t quite get me going like cardio… it’s been difficult to make it happen and get to my mat. And weightlifting? I. hate. it. I’ve tried sneaking it in within Barry’s Bootcamp classes, hitting the gym with B, trying to do my own thing with the Nike Training Club app… nothing makes it suck less. But I know it’s important not only for the results I’d like to see physically but for actually getting stronger instead of only focusing on cardio.

This year I’m all about staying the path. About finding balance in my fitness routine to create my strongest, healthiest self.

Anyone have tips for finding balance within your workout routine? Advice for getting into lifting weights?

This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of CALIA.