Our next featured Hot Mom not only keeps herself in excellent shape, but she also keeps a lot of other women and men in shape through her challenging group fitness classes and personal training sessions.  I consider Amy Morris the “Jillian Michaels” of the Dover YMCA.  (She might even be the Jillian of the Delmarva Peninsula – who knows?!?)

 

Start out with a little bio about yourself. Tell us about your family, job, any community

programs you are involved in.

My name is Amy Morris. I was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma and left in 1997 when I married my husband of 18 years, Tim. Tim is a pilot in the Air Force, and we have two boys 12 and 9 and an Australian labradoodle 5. I currently work for the Y of Delaware, and I just received my 10 year pin. I have been teaching group fitness classes and personal training for 18 years (with a few years off for the birth and first years of my boys’ lives). I work about 20 hours a week for the Y and the rest of my time is spent carpooling to and from the boys’ many activities.

18 years teaching group fitness classes?!?!  Say what?!?  And trust me, all those years of experience show in her class.  She brings it, she’s prepared, AND she has a modification for anything (injury, pregnancy, knee/hip/shoulder issues – whatever it might be).

 Like their mom, Amy’s boys are following in her footsteps of living a healthy life. I hope I can be an example to my own son of what healthy living looks like.

 

What are your favorite fitness activities?

My favorite fitness activities are half marathons, sprint triathlons, and a good Yoga class. I love the half marathon for the training that it requires, the sprint tri for the cross training and the Yoga for the rejuvenation.

What Amy didn’t tell you was that she is a former track runner and knows exactly how to train to get the time for a race that she wants. Not only is she good at kicking other people’s butts in the gym – she is also a glutton for punishment herself.  #beastmode24/7

Just how many fitness certifications do you have? I know it is A LOT! What are your favorite classes to teach?

I hold 10 certifications. I love continuing education! My favorite classes to teach are Bodyflow and Circuits of all types.

With 10 certifications she can pretty much teach ANYTHING your little heart could ever desire.  She always changes up her classes and keeps things fresh.

You are constantly changing up routines and exercises in the classes that you teach. Where do you go to find inspiration and ideas for your classes?

My favorite place to get ideas is a good fitness workshop which I try to attend at least one per year. I also get some great ideas from dvds and fitness magazines.   Cathe Friedrich has some awesome dvds, and Oxygen magazine is probably my favorite.

Maybe some of you will remember that I actually met Cathe Friedrich during my BodyPump Training

last January.  **Oh nothing like being paired up with a fitness SUPERSTAR on a critiquing exercise**   No wonder no one wanted to be her partner for that exercise (sigh).  I mean, you are a pretty big deal when your website is literally your first name “cathe.com”. 

Do you have any special dieting tips or healthy eating tips you can share?

The more experience I attain the more that I learn that nutrition is by no means a one size fits all. Each individual has to find what works for them. It’s best to make small sustainable changes to your eating habits and not get overwhelmed by eliminating entire food groups. Slow and steady is best.  Also, you can’t exercise away a bad diet. 😦

 

How do you stay so hot? What are your favorite fitness apps, equipment or class that you absolutely love and cannot live without?

I think hotness comes from being confident and happy, but a cute workout outfit helps. 🙂

I love what I do, and that allows me to feel both confident and happy!

My Timex watch is probably my most used piece of equipment, and I also love and use the Tabata Pro app. I can’t live without my Yoga. Flexibility becomes more and more important as we age, and it’s also important to just stop and listen to the breath when we do so much running around as a parent.

Since you have become a mom, what is your proudest fitness accomplishment?

 I would probably say I’m proudest of my consistency. My kids see me exercising and eating healthy most days. We talk about the importance of an active lifestyle and healthy eating habits on a daily basis.

 What is next for you? Are you working towards a specific goal or running any races?

I am currently training for two half marathons. One in Annapolis at the end of May and one in Nashville November 8th. I would also like to complete my 200 RYT, a 200 hour teacher training for Yoga.

Amy will be running the Annapolis Running Classic with me and Kristen in November.  If you haven’t already signed up – think about it! It’s pretty much guaranteed to be a good time.  Plus – there will be several “Hot Moms” running with us:  The OG hot mom Teen, Fitness at 40 Amy, Fast runner and photographer Jen and even a few more. Kristen will be sharing a discount soon so stay tuned.