We are partnering with ABOUND to bring you the FitDog Friday Fall Fitness Challenge and giveaway. Prizes will be provided and shipped by ABOUND. My GBGV Life only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. ABOUND is not responsible for the content of this article.
Sweet And Strong Strength Training
This week for the FitDog Friday Fall Fitness Challenge with ABOUND I will be taking you to my favorite course for some strength training! Have you been joining me, SlimDoggy, and To Dog With Love in getting, and staying fit with your dog? We are entering the season where the fat pants tend to come out of the closet. Our Fall Fitness Challenge is designed to get you and your dog motivated to stay fit over the holiday season, and to help you keep those fat pants in the closet.
Let’s take a recap of the challenges of the last two weeks.
Week #1 Challenge: No Grain, No Gain
The Week 1 Challenge was No Grain, No Gain. Did you take on this challenge and post about it? Going grain free, along with exercise, can help keep the pounds away.
Week #2 Challenge: Super Food, Super Circuit
The Week 2 Challenge was Super Food, Super Circuit. Do you have a training circuit for your dog? What kind of workout course do you use? Have you posted about how super foods help your dog with the super circuit?
Now for the Week #3 Challenge: Sweet and Strong Strength Training
A girl needs to keep her body strong if she wants to have a long, active, and healthy life. It’s important to build muscles and keep them in good condition so you can run, play, and do dog sports. Some dogs use a gym type of environment, but we prefer to use our daily activities for strength training.
I do a lot of photoshoots for my blog and social media empire. Much of the work has to do with posing which often requires a strong core. One way I practice this is on the wobbly duck at the playground. It is not easy for a dog to sit on a semi slippery small area that moves around because it is mounted on a spring. Keeping my balance on this works my core muscles really well. My forty pounds get this guy moving if I don’t sit still.
To work on strengthening my back legs, I stand on my back paws and put my front paws on the wobbly duck. The duck moves gently around forcing my back leg muscles to keep me firmly planted. I often stand for pictures, making this a good exercise for me to work on.
We aren’t allowed to jump on and off of things, but I am allowed to jump over these low obstacles on the playground. Check out my form! Not bad is it?
Walking the balance beam is not easy. It requires good balance, coordination, and a strong core. This playground teeter totter is also on springs making it move ever so slightly, adding to my strength training. I have my head down to help me focus better.
Do you have a favorite strength training regimen? I’d love to learn about some other fun ideas to keep myself strong. Don’t be shy, post your ritual in the comments below or even better, link up a post in our FitDog Friday Blog Hop.
Post Workout Treats From ABOUND
One of my favorite parts of a good workout is rewarding myself with a healthy snack. Grain Free Sweet Potato Slices from ABOUND are perfect post workout snacks! Sweet potatoes are great for us dogs because they are packed with vitamin A, B6 and C, plus minerals manganese, iron, potassium, fiber, and zinc, and did you know they are natural dental aids, since the chewy texture helps remove built-up tartar and plaque. A few more facts about ABOUND Sweet Potato treats:
- Rich in Beta-Carotene
- Low in fat
- High fiber for digestion
- No wheat, corn, or soy
- No artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives
Howβs your #FallFitDog Challenge?
Hopefully you have enjoyed our three challenges. If you have been reading the posts from others, perhaps you have found some new ways to stay healthy and fit with your dog! Be sure to link up your posts this week and next to show everyone how you and your dog are staying fit!
Have you and your dog entered to win a $200+ ABOUND prize package?
You and your #FallFitDog deserve to be rewarded for your hard work! Make sure you enter to win the Fall Fitness Challenge ABOUND prize pack! There will be four lucky winners! For all the furry details, visit our Fall Fitness Challenge Week #1 Post!
I would like to thank ABOUND for joining us in promoting a healthy lifestyle for humans and their dogs. Thank you so much for caring about pets, being a sponsor of the Fall Fitness Challenge, and offering such pawsome prize packages!
Iβm co hosting the FitDog Friday Blog Hop with SlimDoggy, and To Dog With Love!Β Please join us on Fridays to share your fitness stories with others, find new ways to have fun, and new fitness ideas too! Tell your friends to stop by as well β fit dogs are healthier, happier dogs!
We love to do these sorts of activities, too! Great post, Emma! π
Thanks. We actually think of you guys when we do these things since you are such trick dogs.
Great job, Emma!! We aren’t allowed on our playground so it looks like we are going to have to improvise in our backyard with some chairs and tables! π
We have playgrounds all over in our area and have never seen no dogs signs, thankfully.
Excellent workout Emma – it’s always fun to use playground equipment isn’t it!
It is fun, and these springy things really make it tough.
You are amazing and beautiful, Emma! XOXO Sparkle the PBGV
Just keeping my girlish figure in line.
Good job working that core Emma!! I need to implement some good core/hind leg training for my two. We don’t go to the playground, but we do have lots of fallen trees in our little woods. I can probably use some of those!
Tree stumps and fallen trees work great too! We know how important hind leg strength is watching Katie. She was always fit, but even so, her back end is having trouble. The vet credits her still doing so well from being such a fit dog.
Emma you have a super gym! I wish I had such a cool playground here too o)
It is right down the street, so real practical. You all don’t have playgrounds all over like we do here.
Look at you walking on that balance beam!!! My huskies would fall all over the place on one of those, i’m sure! BOL!
α¦ husky hugz α¦ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
It is tough, but being lower to the bar with my short legs helps with gravity. The hardest thing for me is sitting on the duck because of the spring which makes it wobble.
You look just like an Olympic champion going through your core training! I definitely score you a perfect 10!
Thank you. I love to train and it is nice to have a good figure too π
My, that’s awfully impressive but I need a nap now. It’s a cat thing, Bert will understand.
He gets it. He is always willing to supervise and then we find he has fallen asleep!
Looking good! Forty pounds of pure power.
I am pretty strong for a small dog!
What a great way to get your core training in! Maybe you should do an exercise video, Emma!!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
Maybe one like Mom has on an old VCR tape from the 80’s? GBGV in spandex???
Way to stay in shape!
I try my best. Mom is always giving me challenges.
Great pictures Emma! We enjoy playing at the park too-there are so many things which can act as natural strength training equipment.
Exactly, and it is fun, so a dog doesn’t even realize she is working out.
Wow! What a fun playground to keep fit!
The two of you would really tear up the place! I can only imagine!
We’re sorry we haven’t had time to join in most of this! I wanted to share Luke’s “agility course” – when he runs around the yard around various obstacles, but we just didn’t get to it. These are some great ideas of other things we would love to try in the future! Luke loves jumping up on things, so I need to find some things for him to balance on.
It’s not too late. You can link up a post next Friday as well, and the contest goes until the 26th. My mom is chasing her tail in circles here too with a serious time shortage. So much going on and not enough hours in the day!
Love the photos and great ways to stay in shape. Kilo and I need to jump into the Fall Fitness Challenge now I am back from my business trip. Luckily he loves these sort of exercises and his hind legs and core have got much stronger since we got him
Health clubs and gym type scenarios just don’t work for Mom or us dogs. We like things we can do that are fun and and in our real day to day life. That’s great Kilo is getting stronger. I’m sure you can find some things for him to learn to balance on.
Posing does require a strong core! And you’re so good at it!
As you well know, it requires good posture and a good core. I bet you are strong as an ox even though you are small!
What a great workout! We like using our environment, too. We save the “gym” equipment for winter when the outside stuff is buried under snow or too cold to touch (or when we’re in agility class, which would be really weird without equipment!).
We love the cold and snow. Often with the deep snow, that alone is a workout for us short legged girls. Agility does need equipment, but sports are a whole different animal.
Cool playground! We may need to take another look at some of the playgrounds near us, but I’m not sure we’ve got any of those wobbly things. Love those!
Some playgrounds have them some don’t around here. They make it all really hard because 40 lbs is enough to get it moving if I’m not careful. Rocco may be light enough it wouldn’t move much.
Great challenges you had going on. You have to be in great shape to balance on that horse. Great pictures.
That is a tricky one since it wobbles.
I love your playground pictures, Emma, especially the teeter-totter on springs! You have great balance π We just joined this week’s FitDog Friday hop with our very own combination of strength & trick-training exercise!
It is definitely a challenging playground.
You are definitely a fit girl Emma!
I try to keep my girlish figure!