Hannah Lynn Fitness

Happy Sunday! Gosh it's almost Christmas... which means we're wrapping up the end of the year 😉 How are all of your December Intentions coming along?! Tbh, some of mine are going supes swell, but others are not. I haven't been altogether organized lately, which means its go time! Slowly disciplining myself to meet all my ambitions and goals... and it's not easy! I am so so so excited to accomplish some crazy stuff this next year!! But the person I am now can't meet those goals. I am growing into the person that can though! These last couple weeks of 2018 (wow how crazy!) are going to be the time where I am preparing for 2019. And all those freakin' goals I'm gonna crush! Working on my discipline and my December Intentions are helping me get there! This last month or so has been a huge time of growth for me. I have all these dreams and passions bursting inside of me, but in all honesty I don't have the organization, time management, and focus to...

Hi there! Only 21 more days until Christmas!! As it's still the beginning of December, I wanted to write down some goals/ habits/ intentions I have for this month. I shared this on my Instagram story (@littlehannahh_) but I want to go a little more in depth on here! 1.) Devote time to digging into God's Word each and everyday!! I want to make sure that I SET ASIDE TIME to not only read God's word each day, but to really study and apply His truths. It's so easy for me to get distracted by worldly wisdom and random advice, but I need to stand firm on what is really true. The best way to do that is to be continually immersed in the TRUTH. That word gets thrown around a lot these days, but truth is something that is of and belongs to God alone. I want and need to center my thinking and habits and decisions around what HE says! 2.) Read instead of TV This has been on my mind for like ever now, but separating the sofa from the TV has kind of forced this habit on me! ...

Hello beautiful people 😊 As I am diving a little deeper into working more on social media, I'm realizing that I don't just want to share fitness and health advice with you! I want to do that, but I also want to talk about living a truly totally healthy and fulfilling life (founded on Christ alone, but there's so much we can do to live our best life!) On top of that, I want to get real and personal with you all... not in a weird way but just sharing more of my life with you guys! I reallyyyyy appreciate all your love and support, and I'm starting to realize that people do in fact care about my life and thoughts and ideas. And it's fun 😉 Anyways, since volleyball has ended, I have been working after school. This means my day is go go go from 7 am to 7 pm. And I'm pooped!! Really the last thing I want to do when I get home is go expend even more energy for a workout. I just want to flop on the couch and watch TV. So healthy I know 🙄 I am trying to balance s...

Happy Wednesday guys 😊 So I don't know if you have read my last post , but you should!! 😉 This one might make a tad more sense! Anyways, instead of always writing about fitness and nutrition, I want to go a little bit deeper than that. I want to talk about how you can use the tools you gain from leading a healthy life, and live a truly fulfilling life. And that is ultimately found in Christ. But that doesn't just mean reading your Bible 24/7 and only playing worship music. While spending time in the Bible and worshipping God through song are major components to a full life, that's not all there is! God created us to worship Him. To live for Him. And you know what? God is glorified, honored, and blessed through so much more than music. He's is blessed by us using the gifts HE gave us; by being in community with people; by living to our fullest potential ordained by God; by loving other people; by having meaningful relationships; by choosing joy; by laughing with ot...

Hi everybody! As usual, life gets busy and the blog gets quiet. But now that volleyball is over, I have got some more "free" time on my hands. In the midst of balancing school, work, exercise, nutrition, homework, family, and friends, I am trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I have a very abstract dream of what my life looks like after high school. And as a senior, it's time to hammer out the nitty gritty details- as much as I can, since life does have a funny way of changing ;) I've known for a long while now that I have a passion for fitness. For health. To work for myself. To inspire and influence people. To help others to become the best version of themselves. To teach others, and remind myself, of the importance of m i n d s e t in regards to every aspect of life. And to somehow coherently combine all of this to point back to God. To our Wonderful Creator who has given us all these tools and opportunities. Who is glorified b...

Hello everyone! Gosh it's been a while since I've been on here! But I am back to follow up on this Fat Loss Series I'm doing- and today I wanted to talk about what really is fat.  Fats are made of something called triglycerides, and all triglycerides are not equal! These fatty acids determine whether something is a liquid or a solid (at room temperature). It's solidity roughly equals how good or bad it is for you. Triglycerides have different lengths and types of bonds. A single bond makes up what we call saturated fat. 1+ double bonds are responsible for unsaturated fats. Saturated fats, in excess is bad for you, while unsaturated fats are known as the "good" fats! However, there is more to unsaturated fats than that! Unsaturated fats are made of both "trans" fats and "cis" fats. While cis and trans fats have the same exact components or "building blocks," they are arranged differently and have very different affects on yo...

Hello my friends! The last post was going over some of the basics of calories. Today is focused on fat loss, and how calories figure into that picture. So, we have learned that there is a balanced equation when it comes to calories: calories in vs calories out (Check out the last post if you haven't read it already!). To gain weight, you need to eat more calories than you burn, and to lose weight, you must eat less calories than you burn. But is there all there is to this? Yes and no. When it comes down to it, yes.  You need to be eating less calories than you burn to lose weight. Plain and simple. But, there are so many different factors that can affect how your body burns and uses calories. This is where hormones are a huge part of weight loss. Not only do hormones affect you mentally, but can also physically mess with how your body uses the food you give it (think insulin). Another thing happens along the weight loss journey as well. Your metabolism "slows down,...

Hola, and welcome back to my blog! Happy Monday Everyone!! Today we are gonna talk about calories- some people love them, others hate them. But no matter what your take is on them, there is no getting rid of the fact that they exist (no matter what you call them). So let's understand this "thing" that seems to dictate our eating habits (or not). The definition of a "calorie" is the amount of energy needed to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius. However, since the calorie as we know it is actually a kilocalorie, our definition would be the amount of energy needed to raise one kilogram of water one degree Celsius. The simple math equation we use to understand calories is a balanced equation- calories in vs calories out. If we want to lose weight, we need to have less calories in than calories out. If we want to gain weight (usually muscle), the opposite is true- we need to take more calories in than calories out. "Calories in" comes from ...

Hello friends! Happy Summer!! I'm SO happy the sun is out today!!! 😃 So I have been feeling a little bloated the last couple days, which was the inspiration for this post! Years ago bloating REALLY bothered me and I tried everything to stop it. Now I have just accepted that it's normal, I'm fine when it happens, and just wear a looser shirt to be more comfy 😉 There are hundreds of explanations under the sun as to why you could be bloating. Many common reasons are: Not eating enough fiber Dehydration Food intolerances That time of the month for females "Swallowing" air - more on that later If you are a human, you are going to experience bloating- there's no way around that. Even if you are avoiding all of the common reasons stated above, you are still going to deal with bloating at some point in your life. Even if it's just the end of the day, your stomach will be full of food, and will never be as flat at the end of the day as it is in the morn...

I’m sure we all can relate to this problem of overeating. It’s so prevalent in our culture, it’s almost considered “normal.” However, this is not a good thing! Childhood obesity has skyrocketed in the past few years- it’s even seen in babies as young as 6 months old. How crazy is that???? While there is nothing wrong with enjoying sweets and treats every now and then (in fact, I recommend it!), constantly bingeing and losing control of what you are eating is not good! Not only does bingeing have effects on your physical body, but also your mental state. During a binge, you have given up all self control and have succumbed to the temptation of food. While this can lead to weight gain, diabetes, and a number of health concerns, this harms your mental and emotional state. You feel defeated, overwhelmed, and even disgusted with yourself. This overflows into other areas of your life- you lose motivation to workout, to perform well in activities, to work hard, and to live up to your poten...

Happy Tuesday! Gosh it feels like it has been forever since I have been on here, even though it's only been two weeks (which is still "two" long!!). I have been busy and honestly lacking motivation for just about everything the last couple weeks. I am almost done with school for this year, and am itching to be! Although I am tempted to slack off until then, I know that it's not over yet, and I need to keep doing my best! Since the marathon (these last two weeks), I have not been lifting heavy quite as much, and doing some lighter workouts. I have been running at least once a week (short, baby runs!), as it is something I want to keep doing. And in all honesty, my nutrition has not been on point. Between cravings, running late, and overall laziness, I have not eaten as many veggies, as much whole food, or even as much protein as I aim too. I have been overwhelmed with my to-do list, and you know how I respond? I shut down. I hide and do absolutely nothing. What a ...

Hey there! Welcome to the FIRST DAY of the May Challenge: eat more veggies. I thought I would kick it off with some ways to incorporate vegetables into your first meal! Now, I am the person who would always prefer sweet things in the morning, so eating vegetables in the morning is a stretch for me! But whenever I do, I get to know I made a dent in my veggie-quota for the day; I love crossing things off my to-do list!! Here are some fun and sneaky ways to eat your veggies in the morning :) Omelet Or whatever version of this you can make, if your chef skills aren't on point 😂 Omelets are a super easy way to include vegetables in a meal! Sometimes if I don't feel up to attempting this culinary feat, I will place scrambled or fried eggs on a bed of leafy greens- and add ketchup or salsa :) This is one of my favorite ways to have veggies in the morning, since my taste buds are used to eating eggs in the morning! Smoothie A great way to still have that sweet taste in t...

Hello Everyone!! I have an exciting announcement... I am starting a month long challenge for the month of May! The challenge? Eat more vegetables. Simple as that. You don't need to sign up or pay money, this is simply a challenge I am posing to all of you! Why is eating vegetables so important? Well, there are SO many reasons, but here is a scary one: obesity statistics are rapidly increasing, and do you know what the main cause of that is? Our diet. Processed, sugar-filled food is literally EVERYWHERE, and is so convenient to buy. If we all started to slowly change our diet to whole natural foods, we could prevent so much disease. And the best way to start? Making SMALL changes, such as eating more vegetables ;) The recommended amount of vegetables to eat each day is 3 servings. This usually translates to about a handful of said vegetable, but can vary. My challenge to YOU is to eat more vegetables everyday. And "more" is different for everyone! If you hear the word...

Make sure you are eating enough protein if you are trying to build muscle! Happy Sunday! I thought I would take the time to share with you an at home, no equipment, leg workout! If you are serious about adding size to your legs, the most efficient way is to be lifting challenging weights. Now, as a beginner that only has 5 pound weights lying around the house, it's not difficult to create a challenging upper body workout! But your legs are so much stronger and more powerful, 5 pounds won't be quite as challenging. You can certainly get stronger and even increase muscle mass with no equipment, but this will take more time and may not yield as good of results as heavy lifting will (but more on why you CAN build muscle at home in a bit!). All of this goes to say that basically, as someone who wants to get bigger legs, this can be frustrating when you have limited or even no equipment around. So I highly HIGHLY recommend either joining a gym, or starting one in your own ho...

To me, there is nothing quite as refreshing as sipping on a smoothie while soaking up some sunshine.  This spring sun has got me itching for some good smoothie recipes! I decided I would try some out this week, and share them with you!  There are a gazillion and one smoothie recipes out there, but I typically find they have so many ingredients! So these are going to be basic (but still yummy!!) recipes, with food/fruits that aren't difficult to find in your grocery store! Read on to discover some simple and delicious smoothies!  Kiwi-Lime Smoothie 1/2 Kiwi  3 Strawberries 1 Chobani Key Lime Greek Yogurt  1 Handful of Spinach Optional: Add a dash of water/milk Kiwi's are not always something I buy, but it should! It is packed with potassium, fiber, and has more vitamin C than oranges! They are also relatively inexpensive. Cherry Berry Green Smoothie Handful of the following: Spinach Cherries Blueberries  Strawberries 1/3 cup o...

Green Tea is also known to boost your metabolism ;) What even is metabolism? I always pictured it as a physical "thing" somewhere near my heart. But that's not it at all! "Metabolism" is not one "thing" at all, it is made up of several different factors. So what makes up your metabolism? I'm so glad you asked ;) Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) Physical Activity (PA) Thermic Affect of Eating (TEE) All of these combined makes up your metabolism, aka your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).  Now that you know what makes up your metabolism, what do all these fancy things mean? Well, as complicated as they may sound, it's pretty simple! Your BMR is basically all the calories you would burn if all you did one day was lay in bed- and not move or eat at all. These are just the basic chemical reactions happening in your body to keep you alive each day, and this can make up over 50% of y...

In March, I was focusing on progressive overload for the lower body, but now I have a whole new workout split. It is similar in goal (hypertrophy and progressive overload), but is much more focused and more specific. I wanted to amp things up so that I would actually have a plan to stick to, and hopefully see better results and more progress! Since I am still training for my marathon, I have one long run day on the weekends, and four heavy hypertrophy days. The other day is a core strength/ calisthenics workout. This is mostly based off functional training , which I've have been learning more about! On the four days of hypertrophy training, each exercise is performed for 8-12 reps, 3-5 sets each. Let's get into the workout! Monday: Upper Body Bench Press Bent Over Row Front Press Upright Row Reverse Flies Tuesday: Lower Body Back Squat  Stiff-legged Deadlifts Bulgarian Split Squats Hamstring Curls Calf Raises Wednesday: Core/ Calisthenics  Exa...

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all have something fun planned with your families :) Today has been so relaxing, and it's my rest day because yesterday, I ran 21 miles!! That's the farthest I have ran so far, and boy are my feet sore. I earned some new blisters from that run, but it was definitely all worth it! Since I can't actually workout today, why not talk about it! I have been wanting to share with you a new type of workout I have been incorporating into my workout split the past couple months- functional training. This has been becoming more popular, but is usually done wrong, or at least isn't actually helpful. Basically, functional training is a type of workout designed to strengthen your body for everyday things. So sitting down, picking up babies, pushing a lawnmower, and pulling open the refrigerator door translates to: squats, deadlifts, bench press, and bent over rows. There are so many more exercises, but do you see how those are helpful for everyda...

As a runner, or just an active person in general, there isn't really anything worse than getting injured. Not only are you in pain, but you can't workout in the capacity you want, or not at all! This can be especially frustrating if you are training for a competition, or have goals with a strict deadline in place. That's why I want to share with you my top tips for staying injury free while running! No More Shin Splints Even if you are a relatively new runner, chances are you have experienced the pain of shin splits . While the jury is still out on what exactly shin splints are, there is no debate that they can easily halt your training. Basically, shin splits occur by doing "too much, too soon ." If you are increasing your mileage too quickly, you are right on track to be plagued by this injury! While this can definitely happen to novel runners, it can just as easily affect accomplished runners as well. So when changing your training routine or starting a ...

Welcome back to my blog! It is currently beautiful outside; I am loving this sun! Today I thought I would share another lower body workout, however this one is a little different. On my last long run, I tweaked my low back a little bit. I have injured it before, so this was not a surprise, although it hurt differently than normal. I prefer to have my rest day after long runs, however my rest day had to be used the day before, so I did an upper body workout  to give my legs (and my back) time to recover. The day after that, it was time for some lower body exercise, but I changed it a little bit to accommodate my sore back. It was not the time for heavy squats and deadlifts! I want to share with you the workout I did to avoid putting too much stress on my back, as well as some applicable tips for you guys when you are injured. So here's the workout: Time: 35 minutes Equipment: Resistance Bands, Barbell, Bench Exercise ONE: Pause Box Squats (12) TO RB Lateral Squat Walks (30...

This is my 100th blog post!!! So to celebrate, I thought I would share a fun recipe! I have a major sweet tooth, so I am always trying to find healthier versions of my favorite foods (ice cream, cake, cookies, brownies, etc etc).You may have read about the monster muffins I previously baked, and I am still working on a better recipe :) However, I have perfected something equally delicious- protein pancakes. There are at least a million recipes on Pinterest for protein pancakes, and I have tried just about all of them! I have sort of mixed recipes and ingredients to bring you this 3 ingredient protein pancake! And no, one of those is NOT banana. So many healthy recipes include bananas (which I admit can give a great texture in baking sometimes), but I personally do not like the taste of banana. So this is also a banana free pancake ;) Your three ingredients are: 1) Protein Powder 2) Eggs 3) Oatmeal And that is all! The recipe I am going to share makes two good sized pancakes ...

       I have found this chart from Pinterest to be helpful! Hey there! Have you ever thought that the only way to get a good workout in was to use all these fancy machines (that sometimes look like a torture device) at the gym? I don't know about you, but that is a pretty discouraging thought! Wouldn't it be great if there was someway to exercise every part of your body without any additional weight or machines? If you answered that with a resounding "YES!" then I have great news for you! You can get in a quality workout with just your own bodyweight! Yes it is true!! Keep reading to find out how ;) Whether you are a beginner and the weights are intimidating, you are short on time, or don't have access to a gym, these exercises are for you! There are a million and two different bodyweight exercises, but i want to share with you some of my personal favorites; the ones I have found the most effective. This isn't a specific workout, but just different ex...

Welcome back to my blog! Today is all about healthy habits! I previously shared some new health tips , and today is similar to that. Except these are just some new habits I have incorporated into my daily routine. These each take up so little time, yet add so much quality to life! Read on to learn some healthy habits! Stretching and Foam Rolling We've all been told how good it is to stretch, but how often do we really take that to heart? In addition to just stretching, I have been foam rolling more consistently as well. I recently went to a massage therapist, and she reminded me how good it is for my body to foam roll, especially since I run so much. I am making the habit of spending 5-10 minutes doing a little stretching and/or foam rolling right before bed! It helps me to make habits stick if I have a consistent time I do whatever it is. I also like to mix up my stretching routine so I don't get bored! I have learned so many different stretches over my years of sports, ...

Hello everyone, and Happy March! I have been so busy catching up on homework and reports and whatnot, but I am back! I have posted about my personal workout splits and nutrition before, so I thought a little update would be nice! At the end, I will also post a killer leg workout I did yesterday ( warning: my friend did this with me, and she is unbelievably sore now!!!!) I had previously posted that I was doing a mini bulk followed by a mini cut. Now that those four weeks have ended, I have a new plan. Since eating well is the hardest part of fitness for me, I just wanted to focus on eating good foods- just eat around my maintenance calories . This means that I eat around the same number of calories I burn everyday. I am not trying to lose or gain weight, just create a healthier relationship with food so I can fuel my body right. It's also worth mentioning that I am gradually increasing my calories every week or so by 50-100 calories; this is my own kind of reverse diet , to in...

Welcome Back! If you have read my last post , you would know that I have been sick the past few days; I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about how to treat your body right while you're sick! I am going to go through some of the top tips that I follow to stay as healthy as possible when I have a cold or flu. Sleep A LOT This has to be one of the MOST important things while you are sick!! Your body is doing all it can to fight the bacteria or virus that is attacking it, so you need more rest than you usually would. It is important to get as much sleep as you can at night, but also if you can take naps during the day. Sometimes when I have a fever, I spend almost the whole day sleeping! If you are having a hard time taking naps, or are unable to for whatever reason, aim to spend most of the day on the couch. A little exercise and movement is good, but it is even more important that you spend the majority of your day off your feet. Drink Fluids Drinking enough w...

Happy Monday! Today's post is just a quickie- a 10 minute full body workout, NO equipment needed!! I have been sick this past weekend with the flu, and haven't been able to workout at all. I am not recovered yet at all, but I wanted to do a light, low-intensity workout! Like I said in my last workout post , I like to do full body workouts after having a couple days off. I usually structure my workouts with around 3 sets for each exercise, but this time I changed it up- you go through one set of all the exercises, and then repeat! One "round" took me about five minutes, so I completed it twice for a simple 10 minute workout! You could use this like I did on a sick day, go through one round in the morning to get your blood flowing, or even complete three or four rounds to make it a longer workout while on vacation :) I took no breaks in between the exercises, just keep on going! Okay, here's the workout: 25 Air Squats 25 Squat Pulses 20 Lateral Squat Walks ...

Hello again! A very popular question is "how do you build muscle?" Almost anyone who starts getting into fitness wants to know this! Whether you are trying to lose weight, get stronger, or change your body composition, building muscle is one of the most important elements (besides nutrition of course!). Let's get right into this! There are three main steps in gaining strength and building bigger muscles: Breakdown Recovery Overcompensation  The first step is muscle breakdown- this happens when you do resistance training such as weightlifting. Your body tries it's hardest to be as efficient as possible, and does not like to expend extra energy. So in order to get stronger, you need to push your body outside of it's comfort zone so it will adapt to a new amount weight it needs to lift. So when you exercise, you are not actually growing your muscles, you are causing micro tears in the tissues. This sounds like a bad thing, but it's not! Overtraining I...