DIY Olympic Athletic Shirt and Fitness Tips

Howdy! Or should I say “Oi” because the 2016 Rio Olympics officially kicked off yesterday! To say I am a huge fan of the Olympics might be a slight understatement. I’m pretty much glued to NBC for two weeks every two years. I even have the app on my phone! I remember for the 2012 London Olympics I was so upset that our marching band director scheduled band camp DURING the Olympics. I really questioned his sanity. The Summer Olympics are only every four years, he really couldn’t have scheduled camp around the Olympics?

Anyways, Nothing gets me wanting to get into shape more than watching the Olympics! To work out you have to have some athletic clothes! I wanted to spice my athletic tank top up with some Team USA flare and I thought I’d share with you how I did mine! Of course, if your cheering on a different country feel free to change up some of the decorations to match your country! The most important part of this DIY is to have fun and show team spirit!

Now you’re ready to through on some tennis shoes and get active!

I mentioned that the Olympics always get me wanting to get active, and now I desperately want to get into shape and get fit. As I mentioned in a previous post I’ve never been overly happy with my body, but I also have never been incredibly athletic ( I literally tried out for every sports team and didn’t make any of them….. Unless you count twirling as a sport, in which case I was pretty good at that if I do say). I thought I’d share some of the things that have been helping me with my fitness journey recently!

Inspiration: The Olympics are a HUGE inspiration for me, but also my almost olympian father is. That’s right my dad made it to the finals for Olympic shooting trials for the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympic games. He was SO close to making the team! He was also invited to compete in this year’s trials for air rifle but unfortunately the car wreck I was in happened when he was suppose to do that so that pretty much blew his Olympic dream… but hey, not many people can even say they’ve been that close to being on the team!

Find an Activity You Enjoy: I hate running. I’m just going to say it. It hurts my boobs and I feel ridiculous. What do I enjoy, however, is bike riding, fencing, kickboxing. Bike riding has always been my go to workout, and ever since watching the Flying Scottsman I’ve always wanted to ride in a velodrome! I was actually debating earlier about paying the 25$ to go take the developmental course to get certified at the Superdrome in Frisco, Tx. There is just something so fun about the wind in your hair as you pick up speed!

This past semester, I actually tried fencing at A&M and LOVED it. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts arose and I had to quit, but it was definitely a good work out! My legs felt like jello for days after! I’m hoping this semester I won’t have a timing conflict and I can rejoin.

Kickboxing/martial arts is also a ton of fun! I did Taekwondo throughout high school and loved it, and recently I’ve been doing a lot of kickboxing workouts at home. I think one of my favourite aspects of kickboxing is that I can let out some aggression. I am one of the sweetest, polite people you will meet, but I bottle every little thing that hurts and bothers me up. So this allows me to just get some of it of my chest without any confrontation.

Stay Hydrated and Eat Right: Let me start off by saying low potassium, or hypokalemia, is scary!!! I’ve had it twice now and each time it is scary. So drink your Gatorade and eat your banana! You lose a lot of electrolytes through sweating and those are extremely important to keep your organs functioning right. Also, eating clean will provide you with the energy you need to workout and build muscle! I have recently switched to a primarily vegan diet (when I’m with friends and don’t have much say in food choice or don’t want to make a fuss I eat non-vegan, but I do try to make most of my meals vegan) and it really has given me more energy!

Have Good Tools: By this I mean, have shoes that give you the support you need and some sort of device to really help you keep track of your efforts. I’m lucky and have a normal foot, but if you’re flat-footed or have a pronating foot, I suggest going to a store that specializes in athletic wear. I go to Sport Spectrum in Shreveport, La. They have a machine that analyzes your foot and then their staff will help get you fitted for the right shoe for your foot.

I also use a variety of technology to help me with my fitness endeavours. I use the map my ride and map my walk app to keep track of those activities and Island Boy gave me this watch that’ll keep track of my heart rate while I work out! It’s awesome!