Workout of the Day

Modifications

Sprinting: This can be on a treadmill or outside. The goal is to push yourself beyond your usual jog. Should be breathless after your quarter or 3 minutes!

Pull-ups: If you are doing this at home, I usually use a normal table that is high enough, and can be used for and do sitting pull-ups. It's pretty low range of motion, but it's better than nothing.
Form: Without moving your lower body, pull yourself as high as you can; your chin should rise above the bar/table. Pause momentarily, then lower your body until your arms are straight, and repeat.

Push-ups: Remember this can be done on your knee. If you are doing them elevated use a small low step of any kind,  or a medicine ball.
Form: Look at my 6 day push-up challenge for proper techinque and form.

As with all forms of exercise, you should consult with your physician or healthcare professional before undertaking any of the fitness training discussed in this blog. Any application of the techniques, ideas, and suggestions in this blog should be used as a guideline. Always do a proper warm-up, stretch, and cooldown.

Hydration- How much water should I drink?

I hear this question all the time- How much water should I drink? There is so much information out there with so many different thoughts on this, that I myself also become confused.

Based on my research 45-50 percent of our water intake does come from drinking fluids, which includes juice, milk, soda, and yes even coffee. Another 35 percent is from foods, and the rest tends to come from metabolism.

Have you ever heard- Drink before you are thirsty? Well, now the new thing is to drink as you are thirsty. For a long time we have been told by experts that if you feel thirsty you have become dehydrated. From reading different studies, it seems that this has shown no negative impact on health nor an individual's performance.
Since there appears to be no perfect indicator of thirst- I have come down to this conclusion- balance. Drink as your thirsty, eat plenty of fruits and veggies to get some of your flluids, and just see what works for your body.  I personally like to take little sips of water every 10-12 minutes when I am working out, instead of guzzling it all at once (stomach can't handle that). We are all different (duh) so different things may work for us that may not work for others.









sources: http://www.active.com

Workout of the day!

Workout Wednesday- In honor of my 31st birthday this past Monday, I did this 31 workout. So here I pass it on to you, but instead (if you are feeling frisky) replace it with your age!

Jumping Jacks

Stand with both arms down at your side. Feet should be close together. Body should be straight and comfortable. Knees are slightly bent. Jump or step out and spread your legs apart as you raise your arms to the side and over your head. Land back down with your legs together and your arms back to your sides. That's one!

Crunches

Muscles: core

Lie on mat with lower legs on bench. Place hands behind neck or head.

Flex waist to raise upper torso from mat. Keep low back on mat and raise torso up as high as possible. Return until back of shoulders contact mat. Repeat.

Leg Lifts

Muscles: core and hip flexors

Lie faceup on the floor, and raise your upper legs until they're perpendicular to the floor. Bend your knees slightly. Without changing the arch in your lower back or the angle of your knees, brace your core and try to take 3 to 5 seconds to lower your feet as close to the floor as you can. One trick: Press your lower back toward the floor as you perform the movement. Once your feet touch the floor, raise them back to the starting position and repeat. 

Bridges

Muscles:glutes and hamstrings

Lay on your back with both hands down by your sides. Your knees are bent, and feet are flat on the floor. Raise your hips up to create a straight line from your knees to shoulders, and squeeze your buttocks, and tighten your abs as you are pressing up. gently lower yourself back on the floor

Chair dips

Muscles: Triceps

Sit on the edge of the chair with your feet together. Make sure hands are on either side of thighs with both feel flat on the floor. Bend those elbows 90 degrees and lower yourself toward the floor. Straighten those arms, and raise yourself back to starting position.

As with all forms of exercise, you should consult with your physician or healthcare professional before undertaking any of the fitness training discussed in this blog. Any application of the techniques, ideas, and suggestions in this blog should be used as a guideline. Always do a proper warm-up, stretch, and cooldown.

sources:http://www.womenshealthmag.com/

http://sportsmedicine.about.com

Challenge of the Week- Standing Calf Raises in the shower

This is a great exercise for the lower leg muscles. It is generally used to develop more power for running and agility- based sports. It can also help runners with shin splints.

 You have two muscles in your calf the gastrocnemius, and the soleus. The standing calf raise focuses more on the gastrocnemius, and the seated calf raise more on the soleus.

Everyday this week

3 times 12 beginner

3 times 20 intermediate

advanced- go until they burn, rest, and do it two more times

How to:

If you need support hold a bar or you can support yourself on a wall.

Stand straight, knees slightly bent, feet hip width apart

Point your feet straight

Raise your feet slowly until you are standing on the balls of yoour feet

Squeeze, and hold- 1,2,3

Return both feet slowly down, and repeat.

PS. Growing up I did these in the shower every night, and it paid off!  Do 'em!

As with all forms of exercise, you should consult with your physician or healthcare professional before undertaking any of the fitness training discussed in this blog. Any application of the techniques, ideas, and suggestions in this blog should be used as a guideline. Always do a proper warm-up, stretch, and cooldown.

Motivational Monday- Losing one pound

 "ONE LOUSY POUND! I HAVE BEEN EATING LIKE A DAMN BIRD ALL WEEK!" This was the response of a  past client that became really upset after only losing one pound. I can understand the frustration, expecially if you have been working your ass off.

What you have to keep in mind is that many different factors can affect your body at any given time.

I generally ask the client about these factors - stress, sleep, and sodium.

Between a job, a newborn, or just a hard to handle situation, our stress levels can really build up. When you are under stress, your body releases cortisol, the stress hormone. This has been linked to a buildup of abdominal fat. It also can cause your metabolism to slow down, so you may be eating the same amount, but just are not burning off as many calories as you used to.

Also, are you getting plenty of sleep? Not getting enough sleep has been known to increase stimulus to eat more food, and increase appetite-regulating hormones. Sleep for individuals will vary, but according to the National Sleep Foundation an adult typically needs seven to nine hours of sleep. 

Did you have too much sodium? Sodium is know to encourage water retention.

Keep these factors in mind, and do the best you can. We live in a fast paced world where we all have to juggle a million things at once, and multitask whenever possible.  I like to tell clients this when they whine about one pound - You were able to burn 3,500 more calories than you ate. This means that you either ate less or exercised more. Either way that is one less damn pound then before! Jump up and down, do a dance, because you are one step closer to your goal!

Sources: http://www.fitday.com,http://www.sciencedaily.com, www.livestrong.com

Healthy Sunday breakfast/brunch

Sundays are the best days. Some of us get to sleep in, and then we can cook a big delicious breakfast/brunch.

Today's menu- Strawberry smoothie with three "BOB"s (breakfast on a bun).

Smoothie:

1 cup of strawberries

half a 3.8oz bottle acai berry liquid whey protein

half a teaspoon of honey

1 cup of ice

Blend everything together

total calories: 173

BOBs (for all three)

3 slices of Jenni-O pre cooked Turkey Bacon (one slice per BOB)

1 serving of Southwestern Style Egg Beaters

1 egg

1 and 1/2 serving of Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese

3 slices of Arnold double fiber whole wheat potato bread

Mix together egg beaters and one whole egg. 

Cook in an omelet pan under medium heat.

Once the eggs are finished, slice into three pieces for each bun

Take each slice of bread (I used a small biscuit cutter to make them round) to cut the circles.

Since the bacon is pre-cooked, I just warmed it up in the microwave for a minute or two.

Place three of the circles of the bread you cut out at the bottom of your plate; the cooked eggs are next, then one slice of bacon (cut in half) on each circle of bread, then just measure and cut out 1/2 a serving of cheese, and place the top layer of the other circle of bread.

total calories: 208 per BOB

Workout of the Day

Workout Wednesday! This is a great gym workout, and the second half you can do at home. Please always remember to warm-up and cool-down!

As with all forms of exercise, you should consult with your physician or healthcare professional before undertaking any of the fitness training discussed in this blog. Any application of the techniques, ideas, and suggestions in this blog should be used as a guideline. Always do a proper warm-up, stretch, and cooldown.

Challenge of Week- 50 Jumping Jacks

Challenge of the week! After some stretches, jumping jacks really get your body warm. Not only do they engage most muscles, but they can also increase oxygen and blood volume that is moved throughout the body.

How to:

Stand with both arms down at your side. Feet should be close together. Body should be straight and comfortable. Knees are slightly bent. Jump or step out and spread your legs apart as you raise your arms to the side and over your head. Land back down with your legs together and your arms back to your sides. That's one!

As with all forms of exercise, you should consult with your physician or healthcare professional before undertaking any of the fitness training discussed in this blog. Any application of the techniques, ideas, and suggestions in this blog should be used as a guideline. Always do a proper warm-up, stretch, and cooldown.

Motivational Monday-Confidence when working out

 In the past couple of months, I have been working with a client who, at the beginning, suffered from anxiety attacks (anytime she attempted to work out). She would always want to work out in an exercise room alone, and wear a ball cap to hide herself. Over time, she slowly started coming out of her shell, and became comfortable around her surroundings. She created a routine, got to know the people around her, and learned that everyone is there for the same reason - to be healthy, and feel good about themselves. 

Working out tends scare many of us in the beginning because we like many things in our lives we are not confident in something that is brand new to us, or we just feel like everyone is staring at us criticizing us while we working out. Here's a tip - NOBODY CARES! or they are watching you to replicate the routine you just completed (I have seen that many times). So what can we do to change that? Well, that depends on you. I personally like to drag a friend when going somewhere new. I also like bring some music that pumps me up and gives me energy. What I do know is that working out regularly releases endorphins, and just like in Legally Blonde - "endorphins make us happy", and create a positive feeling in the body. Some people report this feeling as "euphoria". That tends to give many of us an extra confidence lift. 

It's not always about how hard you exercise, but rather if you actually exercise. Meaning going to the gym, going on your walk, or doing your routine at home. This act itself increases self-confidence, and your personal worth because it gives you that feeling that you have done something rather the brood over it.  So remember if you are just starting out and lack confidence in your workout, know this- everyone starts somewhere, and even a little bit tends to do wonders for your sense of self.

February Fitness Challenge

Alrighty, with all the January resolutions fizzled, I'd like to present February, which I like to call the "do-over" month. February is also heart healthy month. For the next few weeks or so, let's push ourselves to make our heart healthy (myself included, so I need all of you for motivation!). You will weigh-in weekly, have a COW (challenge of the week), and other tips to help you on your journey.

Here is the printable calendar for your fridge:

(right click, and open image in a new window)

 If you aren’t sure what type of exercises you need to do each day or what intensity your workout should be below is an explanation on how to build an exercise program. First off though, see your physician before beginning any kind of exercise routine. Don't go out there and try to be a super star, work out for two hours, then you can't move the next day. Example: walk for 10 minutes the first week, and add on a few minutes the following week. Read over the FITT, and see how you can incorporate each section daily. 

I also wanted to talk about heart rate. A lot of people ask me "What should my heart be when I am exercising?" It is based on your fitness level, and of course your age. Click on the link below, enter your age, and it will provide you with a beginner, intermediate, or advanced heart rate.

https://www.acefitness.org/acefit/healthy_living_tools_content.aspx?id=7

How To: Build An Exercise Program

An awesome general guideline to use when building your exercise program is:

 FITT- Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type.

Frequency: How frequently the exercise or activity is performed in terms of times per day and/or days per week

This is the number of exercise sessions per week for a healthy adult.

• Cardiovascular Exercise: 3-5x/week 
• Resistance Training: 2-3x/week
• Flexibility Work: 2-7x/week

**Highly deconditioned adults: most days of the week.

Intensity: The level of exercise in terms of heart rate, perceived exertion, pounds, strength levels, METS, etc.

This is the measure of your perceived workload during the exercise.

• Cardiovascular Exercise: measured through VO2 %, RPE (rate of perceived exertion on a scale of 7-20), or heart rate %
• Resistance Training: work to fatigue, or 19-20 RPE
• Flexibility Work: stretch as far as you can at a full range of motion without pain

**Highly deconditioned adults: Perceived exertion "moderate", at least 55%-64% maximum heart rate. 

Time: The duration of the exercise or activity in minutes and/or sets

This is simply how much time you spend on the exercise.

• Cardiovascular Exercise: 20-60 minutes/session
• Resistance Training: 2-3 sets of 6-15 reps/exercise
• Flexibility Work: 15-30 seconds/stretch

**Highly deconditioned adults: 10-30 minutes, this can be done in 10-minute bouts accumulated throughout the day.

Type: The mode or description of the exercise or activity.

 Type is the kind of activity you are doing.

• Cardiovascular Exercise: dynamic activity using the major muscle groups
• Resistance Training: include all the major muscle groups
• Flexibility Work:  include all the major muscle groups

** Highly deconditioned adults: Continuous movement or activity including gardening, housework, and other activities of daily living.

A FITT example for a sedentary person from ACE Fitness:
F: 3 sessions/week
I: 50-60% heart rate reserve or 12-13 RPE
T: 20-30 minutes/session
T: Walking, cycling, or swimming


Let the challenge begin!!! :D

Source: Sports Fitness Advisor: The FITT Principle of Training, ACE:Are you FITT to be a Personal trainer