All ABOUT Abs!!

I went live this week on Facebook and discussed ABS. As summer/spring comes close, this seems to be a more focused topic.  So I wanted to share some of the tips I shared LIVE with my viewer's here.

I had a lot of questions about lower ab work.  About doing ab exercises post-surgery, C-Section, or with endometriosis.  I discussed how long it takes typically for obtaining 6-Pack abs--and other factors that can affect you getting to that goal.

The video cut off early, so here are a few other samples demonstrating...

Other ab exercises that are better than crunches:
1) Paloff Press
2) Glute Bridges
3) Side Plank
4) Clam Shells with Band

A Movement...

"Today I fought for my kids...Tomorrow I fight for me."

I remember listening to a podcast a long time ago about leadership and coaching...

The one sentence stuck with me that said "as a leader you want to leave a wake long after your presence, as in creating a movement...not promoting a product or program...but in building up people with who you are..."

And that resonated with me on so many levels. But here is what's funny...I've been racking my brain on what that movement could be. How I could employ it. And why. 

In the meantime, I've just been sharing my passion for fitness. Giving my best tips of what I know. Messaging with others who have questions or concerns. Providing workout and accountability solutions for those who ask. And speaking from the heart.  Halfway feeling like my mom and mother in law were the only ones watching.

That's it. I put my thoughts and ideas out there in real and raw ways. I take videos with a sweaty face and messy hair, kids running around in the background, dog eating my sweats. I'm just being me.

And the past few days I have started to see something. And feel it. And while I keep feeling God promoting me to "wait." "Be still, let me work." And in my mind it means nothing's happening.

Something IS happening.

Screenshots of my new sheSTRENGTH sweatpants.

People excited to try out my new apparel line.

I get 15-some picture messages of people wearing sheSTRENGTH gear. MY GEAR. Supporting my program. And PROUD to wear it.

Then, I compete in a Crossfit event yesterday to support epilepsy. A friend and I loved the cause and the push in our workouts at home, so we signed up to compete together. 

And we won.

But that's not what I am getting at.
Yes, sheSTRENGTH is a program. It's a home fitness program for women to learn how to strength train and start doing CrossFit like workouts at home.  That is the base structure.  It comes through email form (for now) and includes video's, descriptions, AND coaching from me daily through an online website.  It also comes with a built-in community of women to support, encourage, and motivate you on your good days and bad. We focus on mindset and confidence.

Ya ya ya. I made that. I love coaching it. And I have about 70 women who are working with me currently on a day to day basis.

BUT, what I haven't seen.  Or what I've not realized is...sheSTRENGTH has become something SO MUCH MORE.

It is friends driving an hour one-way to cheer you on...as in someone who works out with you as part of your sheSTRENGTH program.

Lauren L. Przymus shared Anna M Woods Fitness's photo.

20 hrs · 

To watch someone you love and admire absolutely shine and light up an entire gym......priceless. And to meet a new friend and just know your life will be impacted by her......priceless. Thank you, Anna Woods and Raven Kimberely. It was a pleasure to watch and learn from you both today.

And she records your workouts for you...

And then while there, you meet multiple women you have met through your Anna Woods Fitness facebook page and they share their stories and their excitement for strength training, and competing, and working towards goals they never thought they'd ever complete...

And you receive messages of gratitude for your motivation the next day...

Clancy Mouton-Hoheisel

4 hrs · 

After the adrenaline and excitement of yesterday's competition is over ... I am reflecting on many things that pushed me to want to do this and helped me get better everyday! First my guy Chad he is such a great coach to me when we work on skills at home .. always patient and encouraging. The peeps who came over to our house for skill work Brad, Christina, Danielle, Brandon, Jessica, a of course my partner Kimberly who said yes to being my partner showed up for every skill practice and pushed me more than she knows!

My coaches Kansas Strength & Performance Brian Smarsh, Jonah Ungles & Jordan Ungles for working with me and preparing me for this. You programming and encouragement is amazing!

My 5am peeps who also push me and encourage everyone and our gym as a whole is just so supportive and that is motivation for me to keep getting better everyday.

Anna Woods and #shestrength-I have watched you online and your posts are motivating ,your honestly,realness and huge heart are like no other! Glad I was able to meet you yesterday.

Finally the support as a community who donated, came together for this competition all the competitors, coaches and gym owners who came out yesterday for a great cause to support my friend Jessica Seiler and her little girl Clara to raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation of Missouri & Kansas to help find a cure was just heart melting!
#teamclara

And Jessica is an aunt to Cindy, a client I exercise with at Disability Supports.

I didn't even get pictures with everyone who stopped in over their lunch break, between military drill's (Sarah), the messages from women I barely knew that popped up in my phone throughout the day cheering Raven and I on.

And probably most impacting, are the messages from people I have never met, from all over, saying they've been prompted to pray for me...at the most odd times of the day and night.  I've received messages from women saying they woke up at 3 am, 4 am...and God laid my name and my cause upon their heart to pray for...

Ok, so first off I would like to say I am not crazy and I am sorry we haven't had a chance to get to know each other better so you would know that first hand...with that on the table... this morning I woke up at 3:57 am... you were the first thing I thought of Anna Woods... seriously God was waking me... I prayed for you, your husband, your beautiful children, your business and that God knows your heart and your deepest desires that they may be fulfilled... sorry may seem strange but God works in mysterious ways... may you be blessed...

Whoa. Completely humbled.

And as you lie in bed that night...tired, but heart is full.  Mind is going 100 mph.  You realize you have created a movement..you ARE creating a movement.  By simply being you.  By sharing the good and the bad. By being available.  By defying the norm in the fitness industry.  By praying with people and for them. By sharing you world with those around you.

All from an iphone and barn gym out in the middle of Kansas.
So I say all that to say this,

Do NOT discount the power of your story. Your words. Your truth.  No matter how meaningless and unimportant you may feel in this world...as in a stay at home mom, who works out in her barn to deal with stress, and simply shares her thoughts with those around her.  You CAN have an impact.  Start a movement.  Be someone for somebody.

Home Gym Chronicles

Ever wish you could go back to your old CrossFit gym or group exercise class daily like you used too before kids? Or before your budget no longer allowed it? Or before you moved away?
I did.




I hated having to leave the community of friends I made over the course of time there. I hated missing out on the conversation.  The push in my workouts. The ability to just show up and do the work without having to come up with something to do on my own.  I hated missing the competition. The shared celebration of progress.  The coaching. The ability to ask questions and not feel dumb.  -
- -
-
Then, we moved. I couldn't go any longer. And my kid's schedules didn't allow for the extra time to drive there.

And it was awful. I lost my community. My motivation to push myself. My access to equipment and a program and a coach.

Fast forward a few years. I have since built my own home gym from the ground up in our barn. I collected equipment from local garage sales, thrift stores, and social media trading websites. And I hired a coach. I found a community in my online friends that I so desperately craved to have in my life again.

AND I was CHANGED.  I had NO idea I could recreate the friendships and fun I had experienced face to face in my old gym in an online setting with men and women all over the world!!  SO I took it upon myself to create a business that fills this same void in so many other women's lives. Coaching. Training. Community. But all from HOME.  Because I knew I couldn't be the only one in this position, feeling the way I did, lost and unmotivated.

I decided to take a risk on an opportunity with online coaching a year ago. I started my own Beachbody business as a way to tools and an opportunity to so many women who were in my shoes. But I took it a step further and made it my own. I added my own strength training and CrossFit flair. I worked out in my garage instead of in front of a TV or computer. And I shared this approach on social media hoping to provide HOPE for so many women like myself.

And in that year...
--I have coached 100's of women with the same passion for strength training through a private online community similar to a gym.
--I have turned my home gym into a successful business that has allowed us to pay off nearly all of my school loans.
--We have been able to take more trips than all the year's before, combined.
--My online fitness studio now has a world-wide outreach.
--I have met the best friends and been added to a community of women who encourage, inspire, push, and challenge me daily.
--We have a beach vacation planned next spring.
--And I can NOW work from home, work on my own fitness daily, and make more income than I ever have BY sharing how I filled the void of missing my old gym by re-creating it at home.

And I want to teach you HOW as well...I'm not promising you the success I have, but I'm not promising you won't either.
I'm HERE to partner with 10 women that want to make money AND a difference in the world. Women who want to live bold and courageous and FINALLY pursue their dreams of being a career-woman LIKE me. Women who MISS their old gym and coaches, but do NOT want to sacrifice their family and budget to do so.

Want a sneak peek to see what it's all about??
I'm running a FREE sneak peek into MY life as a home gym Coach. You can join and after it's done I will be accepting 10 new interns who want to get paid to get in shape, help others do the same and to be personally mentored by me.  AND get in killer shape at home.  I'll show you how to build your own home gym. How I built my gym on a minimum budget.  Where to find the best equipment and deals.

Join this Project to Redefining Home Fitness.
What could YOUR dream life look like? It's time to revive some of those dreams SISTER!!
1) APPLY here: https://forms.aweber.com/form/18/948764718.htm
2) THEN--comment below "ME" so I know to look for your application.