Back To The Basics

June 29, 2011 By

Many people think that in order to get in shape you need to buy the latest fitness gadget or spend all of your hard earned money on “the ONLY workout system that will get you fit”. Not true! Some of the most effective exercises are basic, require no equipment and best of all – FREE! These exercises are the basic building blocks to a great workout and having a fit body.

Pushups

Pushups are the THE perfect exercise. They can be done anywhere and there are a million ways to do them. Inside, outside, on the knees, on a bench, at an incline, at a decline – the pushup is the jack of all trades when it comes to exercises. Pushups work multiple muscle groups in one exercise: the chest, core, shoulders, glutes, back and triceps. To do the pushups with perfect form, make sure your core and glutes are tight, and the movement comes from the shoulders and elbows, not the hips and neck.

Lunges

Lunges are an amazing exercise to tone the lower body and get the heart rate soaring. There are many different types of lunges, but the one I think is the most effective is the walking lunge. Walking lunges are very similar to the way walk but include an extra element, the lunge. With your right leg, lunge forward about three feet until your right thigh is parallel to the floor and your left knee is nearly touching the floor. Pause momentarily and then repeat the forward motion with your left leg.

Tricep Dips

Tricep Dips are a great anywhere exercise and tone the back of the arms in no time flat. They can be done on a chair at work, on your nightstand or on a park bench. To do the tricep dip, sit on a sturdy platform and grab the edge keeping your hands close to your hips. Walk your feet forward slightly until your hips are off of the platform and your knees are at a 90 degree angle. Bending your shoulders and elbows, bring your hips straight down towards the floor. Push yourself back up.

Interval Training

Interval training can supercharge your fitness, boost your metabolism and burn off those extra calories. Interval training is an extremely effective form of cardio that mixes higher intensity bursts of exercise with moderate intensity recovery periods. A great outdoor example of this type of training would be walking for 4 city blocks then running for 2 blocks and repeat this for 20 – 30 minutes. Another fun way to interval train is to walk or run as fast as you can up a hill. When you get to the top, slowly walk or jog back down.

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Park Workout To Go

June 29, 2011 By

July is National Parks and Recreation month and what could be better than a spending an afternoon enjoying the weather in the park? How about soaking in the sun and getting a great workout at the park! When the weather is beautiful, the last thing we want to do is be cooped up inside any longer than we have to. Step out of the gym and head out to your local park to get in your workout. The 30 Minute Park workout is a fast paced workout that is guaranteed to torch calories, burn fat and get you results. No need to bring equipment with you – this workout uses items that can be found at any local park. And the best part about the 30 Minute Park Workout, it’s a workout that you can do while your child is at play right there beside you. No babysitter needed!

 

The How To’s

This circuit style workout consists of 6 exercises that can be done on equipment found at most parks. Each exercise should be done for 30 seconds or 15 reps each. After you complete one exercise, move right into the next exercise without rest. After you have completed all exercises, give yourself a 60 second rest. Beginners should stop the workout after one circuit and go right into the cool down. Work up to doing 3 circuits of all 6 exercises for the complete 30 Minute Park Workout. Do this workout 3 times a week for the best results.

The Warm Up

Start warming up your muscles by taking a 5 minute walk or light jog around the park.

The Workout

1. Platform Pushups

Find a platform that is about waist high, like a step on the jungle gym. Place your hands about shoulder width apart on the platform. Keeping the back flat, core tight and hips down, perform a pushup. Make sure the movement comes from the elbow and shoulders – not the hips.

2. Bench Step Ups

Using a bleacher or a bench, step up on to it with your left foot. Use and up, up, down, down cadence. After 30 seconds, switch and step up starting with your right leg.

3. Plank

To get into the plank position, start on elbows and knees, locking hands together. Straighten legs and raise your body so that you’re supported by the balls of your feet, with feet hip-distance apart. Face the ground, being careful not to arch your back or stick your hips in the air.

4. Walking Lunges

Walking lunges are very similar to the way walk but include an extra element, the lunge. With your right leg, lunge forward about three feet until your right thigh is parallel to the floor and your left knee is nearly touching the floor. Pause momentarily and then repeat the forward motion with your left leg. Lunge forward for 30 seconds and turn around and lunge back the way you came. To make this exercise harder, try doing the walking lunges up a hill. Your butt will thank you for it!

5. Bench Dips

Say goodbye to the “Batwing” and hello to the bench dip! Bench dips are an awesome exercise that will tone the back of the arms in no time flat. To do the bench dip, go back to your bleacher or park bench and have a seat. Grab the edge of the bench keeping your hands close to your hips. Walk your feet forward slightly until your hips are off of the platform and your knees are at a 90 degree angle. Bending your shoulders and elbows, bring your hips straight down towards the floor. Push yourself back up.

6. Hanging Abs

This one is tough! Hang from the high monkey bars. (Your feet should not be able to touch the ground.) Pull your knees up towards your chest and then lower them back to your starting position. Be sure to keep the movement slow and controlled. Remember – this is an ab exercise, so your abs should be doing the work, not the legs. Try not to use the momentum and swing the legs.

The Cool Down

Walk around the park for 5 minutes at a slow pace. Finish off the workout by stretching the muscles you just worked. Reflect on the AWESOME thing you just did for yourself, your body and your health. This is a challenging but very effective workout. Whether you did one circuit or all 3, you deserve a high five! WAY TO GO!

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No Excuses For Parents

June 7, 2011 By

I think I have heard every excuse in the world on why a person can’t workout. Seriously, I could write a book on the subject – 101 Excuses to Not Workout and Other Fun Ways to Tick off Your Trainer. I’m too tired, I’m too busy, I have to cancel our appointment because my son flushed my car keys down the toilet. True story – that one made me giggle for a week. What I’ve noticed in my years of “excuse hearing” is that most excuses come from parents. Now, it’s true,  I don’t have kids, but  I can only imagine what a world filled with diapers, play dates, midnight trips to the ER because someone stuck a toy car up their nose AGAIN, school functions and all the other “perks” of a being a parent would be like. Being a parent, from what I’ve witnessed only, is a tough job. You are constantly running somewhere to pick up someone/something or racing to drop something off for someone who forgot said something and at the end of the day you are exhausted. (I’m exhausted after writing that sentence). It seems like there is never enough hours in a day to do the things that you really have NO energy to do anyways. Well parents, that is the one reason right there why you should make time to workout. Imagine a world where you can take time out of every day to destress, get energized and maybe even have a little peace and quiet to yourself. What if that could be a reality? Well, maybe not the peace and quiet part, but you know where I’m going with this. Taking as little as 30 minutes a day to workout will do wonders for your energy level and mental health. Exercising releases these amazing endorphins that make life’s little stressors easier to handle and gives you more energy to do all the things you want to do in a day. How great would it be if at the end of a long work day you actually had the energy to go outside and play with your kids? Combine the exercising with a healthy diet and you and your kids will both be living a healthier lifestyle that will benefit the whole family. And don’t be selfish and keep the fun of exercising to yourself – get the entire family involved. Take walks or bike rides together, sign up to do a Family Fun Run/Walk or do something as simple as play tag. Starting a fitness routine now will not only benefit you, but it will teach your children the importance of their health as well as yours. Be proactive in your health to ensure that you can have a long, active and healthy life with your children.

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Taming The Trouble Spots

June 7, 2011 By

Want to tame those trouble spots before summer? Here are 4 ways to tighten and tone the areas that most women struggle with

Batwing Blaster – Tricep Dips

When you wave goodbye, does the underneath of your arm continue to wave even after you stop? If you are looking to tighten up your arms and get rid of the “batwings”, give tricep dips a try.


Starting Position

Sit tall on the edge of a sturdy chair and wrap your fingertips over the front edge. Place feet on the floor in front of you with knees bent. Lift hips and butt up and slightly forward.

Action

Bend elbows about 90 degrees and lower hips toward the floor. (If you feel pain in the shoulders, your elbows are bent too much). Press up until your elbows are straight, but not locked. To make this exercise more advanced, keep one leg lifted as you do this exercise. Work up to doing 15 reps and 3 sets of this exercise.

 

Gam Glorifier – Clock Lunges

Clock lunges are guaranteed to tighten up your tushy, slim the hips and give you well defined gams. Because this exercise moves through multiple positions, it can hit all the lower body trouble zones that women tend to struggle with.

Starting Position

Imagine you are standing in the center of a clock. Straight in front of you is 12 o’clock, to your right is 3 o’clock, behind you is 6 o’clock and to your left is 9 o’clock.

Action

Lunge with your right leg to each of the 12 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions. Lunge with your left leg to each of the 12 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 7 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions. Each time you lunge, make sure to return to the starting position before lunging to the next position. Once you have completed each position, you have done 1 rep. During this exercise maintain upright posture throughout to improve core strength and do not allow the knee to move over the toe.  Work up to doing 5 reps and 3 sets of this exercise.


Tummy Tamer – Bicycles

Bicycles work the entire core in one exercise. When you are doing this exercise you will be tightening the Rectus Abdominus (The”6 pack”), Transverse Abdominus (the muscle that holds your tummy in tight) and the obliques (the sides of your waist)

Starting Position

Begin by lying on your back, placing your hands behind your ears. Make sure your neck is aligned – imaging having a tennis ball between your chin and chest. Lift your legs in the air and bend your knees so that your legs form a 90 degree angle, knees directly above your hips.

Action

Move your legs in a bicycle motion by straightening one leg and pulling the other towards your chest. When your left knee is closer to your body, reach your right elbow to it. When your right knee is closer to your body, reach your left elbow to it. Work up to doing 30 reps and 3 sets of this exercise.

Fat Blaster – HIIT

We all have an amazingly sculpted body, but we just can’t see it because it’s hiding under a layer of fat. And the only way to uncover that sculpted body is to burn off that fat by elevating your heart rate through cardiovascular exercise. The best and most efficient way to do that is through HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training. It’s a short and sweet workout that alternates between short blasts of high intensity work with bouts of lower intensity “recovery” periods.  HIIT workouts should last no longer than 30 minutes.

Action

Try warming up for 5 minutes on your favorite piece of cardio equipment. For the next 10 to 20 minutes alternate between 30 seconds of very intense exercise and 90 seconds of lower intensity exercise.  Follow that up with a 5 minute cool down. HIIT training is very difficult and should not be done more that 2-3 times a week and never 2 days in a row.

Filed Under: Exercises

Dude – This month’s for you!

June 2, 2011 By

June is National Men’s Health Month and most of us wish our man was a little more active and a little less of a couch potato. It can be tough on a relationship when one person is “pro fitness” and the other person isn’t. Not only do you worry about the other person’s weight, you also worry about their health, mortality and stress levels. It’s unfortunate we can’t make people do what we want, but there are some ways you can nudge your partner in the right direction. And if gentle nudging doesn’t work using your womanly mental manipulation skills always does the trick.

Don’t Nag! Telling the man in your life over and over and over again that he should workout with you will only discourage him. Beating him over the head with the fitness stick won’t crack that thick skull of his. Plant the seed and let it grow. Tell him when you are heading off to the gym. If he doesn’t speak up and say he wants to join you, leave for your workout. When you get back mention how good the workout felt and then drop the subject.

Make a game out of it. Exercising doesn’t mean jumping on a treadmill and running until your legs fall off. Exercise is just the simple task of moving. Want your man to work up a sweat, challenge him to his favorite game. My hubby usually picks the one sport that I hate – basketball. He only picks it because he knows he can beat me at it every time. I always go along with it because the winning makes him feel oh so manly, but secretly I WIN because I got him exercising. Tera – 1 , Hubby 0.

Brag. Tell your hubby about all the amazing gains (and losses) that you’ve made in the gym. Model  your “pre workout jeans” and let him see how fit you have become or challenge him with a pushup contest and show him how strong you’ve gotten. BTW – getting beat by a girl in a pushup contest will definitely get him to the gym more often, so if you really want him to workout – start working on your pushups.

Make it interesting. Just because you love doing Body Pump and Zumba doesn’t mean he will too. If he is an absolute newbie to the gym, help him find activities that he would like and want to stick with. Are you unfamiliar with all that a gym has to offer? Hire a trainer for your guy. A trainer knows all of the ins and outs of a gym and they can help steer him in the right direction to find what workouts would fit him best.

Be Honest. Tell your partner why you want them to get more active. Is it because heart disease runs in his family? Is it because you’ve noticed a few health problems? Or do you notice that he’s having a harder time doing things that he used to do with ease? Honesty is always the best policy, but also remember their feelings. Even though our men seem to be made out of steel, they still have feelings too. Imagine how you would feel if the love of your life told you that you were getting a little soft around the middle? Harsh criticism hurts, so be gentle.

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