What motivates you to work out?

I was just assigned a project for Glamour.com to gather quotes from women about what motivates them to workout, and it got me thinking about what my answer to the question would be.

The drive I have to be the best version of myself is the main thing that motivates me to workout. Whether it's with my body or career goals, I'm constantly striving to be better. I think this inner-competitiveness is healthy (who wants to be complacent?), but sometimes I know that I am a bit too hard on myself, especially when I start comparing myself to other women. So, I suppose it is vanity that motivates me, as embarrassing as it is to admit.

However, it's not just vanity. I have been working out for as long as I can remember (two swim practices a day starting at age 11), so I think I would just feel weird if I wasn't working out on a regular basis. Going for a nice run or spinning class in the morning starts my day off right. If I go more than a few days without exercising (which never happens unless I'm on vacation), my body just feels out of whack and lethargic.

Now that I'm working in an office five days a week, blogging and doing outside freelance work, I need to reorganize my routine so that I still make time to work out. I had planned to at least do my Physique57 video before work this am, but I had some emails to write and blogging to finish up, so it didn't quite happen. I did 3 sets of 10 pushups before I hopped in the shower, but after the way I ate in Charleston over the weekend, I don't think that's gonna cut it. I suppose I'll have to hit up the gym after work!

If you want to share what motivates YOU for my Glamour project, please feel free to write me at firednfab@gmail.com by tomorrow at 6pm. I'd love to hear from you!

Best.Workout.Ever.

I went to bed at 12:30 last night and woke up to my alarm at 6am. You know when your alarm is going off, but you're so tired you think that the annoying beeping noise is just a dream? That's how I felt. I was invited to test out a spinning class at SoulCycle on the Upper West Side this morning, which is why I was up so early. 

I spin once, sometimes twice a week, but I was a little nervous entering the class. I had heard that it is THE spinning class to take in the city, and that the instructors are hardcore—a lot of them come from L.A. When I walked in, I was handed a pair of biking shoes to wear that attached to the pedals. I was a bit overwhelmed with getting the shoes on and getting my bike set, but a nice woman next to me was very helpful. Thank goodness. 

There wasn't much of a warmup; the entire 45-minute class felt like a sprint to me. At one point, the instructor looked at me and said, "I DO NOT RELATE TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T SWEAT." She must have been looking at the girl behind me because there was no lack of sweat on this body—it was pouring down my face, stinging my eyes, drenching my T-shirt. Towards the end of class, we used 1 lb. weights to do arm strengthening moves as we cycled. It was not easy, but I felt so good when I finished. I'm definitely going back!

Click here to return to the homepage.

I didn't think anything could beat this workout, but I think this spinning class did. Are any of you fans of spinning? I wasn't really until today!

My Hollywood Workout

I'm getting ready to do my Physique57 workout video. It's probably one of the hardest workouts I have ever done, and it never gets easier no matter how many times I do it! Supermodels like Christy Turlington go to Physique57 classes in NYC on the regular, and Kelly Ripa lives for it. I've heard she does it at least four times a week—um, have you seen her bikini body? The workout is great for sculpting and lengthening your muscles, which is exactly what I need. There's one set of moves for your inner thighs that is done with a playground ball—it's so hard, you'll want to throw your DVD player against the wall and smash it into tiny pieces 30 seconds in. It hurts. But, it's worth it. My friend Erin is a Physique57 instructor and her body is sick (she's the cute blonde in the video on the left!)—perfectly sculpted arms, rock hard abs, insanely perky ass—if she wasn't so darn nice, I'd totally hate her. (JK, Erin!)

After the video, I'm going for a run across the Williamsburg bridge. A few months ago, Luke passed Joshua Jackson (aka "Pacey" from Dawson's Creek) on the bridge, and he swears he gave him a little head nod. I was so jealous. I've been keeping my eyes peeled every time I run it, but no Pacey sightings yet!

Click here to return to the homepage.

What awesome workouts have you been doing this summer? Please share—I need to start mixing mine up a bit more!