Spring is officially here, although it may not feel like it with the cooler temps. Time to ditch the "weather excuse" of not working out on a regular basis and eating a healthier, cleaner diet.

For those of you who participated in the March Clean Eating Challenge, I hope you have learned more about the foods you eat and put in your body and that you are making a practice of clean eating as part of your lifestyle.

For the April INSPIRED BY FITNESS Challenge, we are working on combining time spent on cardio and strength each day. The cardio/aerobic activity is different each day of the week to mix it up and keep it FUN and utilize different muscle groups.

The exercises require no equipment and can be done at home, at the office or school on a break or outdoors.

The strength moves are two of my favorite, most effective functional fitness movements focused on developing the strength of our glutes, legs and core through Squatting and developing our  Abs and Back muscles by progressively developing our Planks.

For Planking, alternate Forearm and Upright Planks. On Side Plank days, be sure to plank on both left and right sides.

If you are a beginner, practice each day on working up to the time for each day and perform each movement at 1/2 or 1/3 of each time listed until you are able to perform the full time.

For intermediate and advanced fitness folks, practice performing 2-5 rounds of each of the 3 exercises on each day and add this to your own workout for the day you will already do or make this your workout to ensure you are exercising each day with a focus on core strength and a change in cardio. When squatting, you may progress by adding weight to your bodyweight squats.

Here is a visual reminder of proper form for Planks and Squats.

Proper Squat & Plank Form