What are Anchor Exercises & How You Can Use Them

Let’s be honest life can get busy and figuring out how to fit workouts in to your schedule can feel overwhelming. But you know you need to take care of yourself to take care of the people you love. And you KNOW it will make you feel better!

So what do you do without just completely taking the week off? (There is definitely a place for a week off or a rest week but I think we can get into a rut that we are ALWAYS too busy or our routine is ALWAYS abnormal so then we ALWAYS don't get the movement our bodies need.)

When I have a packed week where I know my normal routine will be all over the place and there won't be the normal 30 minutes or so for my workouts....I use Anchor Exercises.

I use these exercises as “anchors" to my days or my week - giving me some effective movement even if it’s just for 5 minutes when I can get it in.

Here's how it works:

I focus on ONE exercise for the week. I will either pick an exercise I know my body needs or a favorite from one of my workouts that I have been working on recently. I try to at least get that exercise in a few times a day.

Here are some examples of times during my day that I try and do an anchor exercise:

• in the morning before I start my work
• then right before lunch
• and right before dinner
• and I also use anchor exercises as movement breaks if I need a mental break from work mid morning or mid afternoon

Then when I look back at my week - I might have done 15 sets of this exercise and I know I am still taking time (even if its more broken up then normal and not ALL of what I would normally do in a workout session) to take care of myself like I know I need and WANT to.

Anchor Exercises are ALWAYS a good idea!

Some of the perks of taking 5 minutes to do an Anchor Exercise is that it gets you breathing more fully, gets your blood moving AND helps you think more clearly - which I often need! 😄 I will sometimes even add in Anchor Exercises to my day EVEN IF I can get my regular 30 minute workout session in. Because another great thing about this is that I always feel like I am getting stronger in those particular exercises and movement patterns because I am emphasizing targeted muscles and function with repetition through the Anchor Exercise. 👏🏼💪🏼🙌🏼

If you need an easy, quick way to get some purposeful movement in - use Anchor Exercises!

And let me know if you do! I bet you're going to feel great!!

Here are a few options you could use for Anchor Exercises: 

Parallel Squats

Standing Sprinter Series

Obliques Core Exercise

Glute Series

More to come!

*If you want a full workout - even a quick one - you can find my workouts in my Workout Memberships! They’re fun, progressive and will help you feel great!*