Tuesday Burn Out Challenge

-Burpee Burn Out (5-yard Lateral shuffle , 5 burpees) x 5 for time
- Battle Rope Interval, Jump Squat (Tabata style)
- Battle Rope Interval, Jump Lunge (Tabata style)
- Burpee Pull up (5 reps), push ups (10 reps) x 5 for time
- Arm & Ab Attack Challenge (Spiderman pushup & V-Up), 15, 10, 5 for time
- Kickboxing Burn Out (30 punches, 10 right leg roundkick, 30 punches, 10 left leg roundkick) for 3 minutes

Train Hard, Eat Right, Get your mind right, Be Inspired!

Eat Smart - Progressive Diet Goals

Eat Smart
A key to successful weight loss is not dieting but eating the right quality and quantity.

Pick one goal each week that you feel confident you can modify in your diet for years to come. Every week, record date of commitment by goal. Share your goal with those close to you and put a note of your goal on your refrigerator so you are more likely to succeed.

  
1. Eat smaller meals throughout the day

• Eat a snack during the time you are without food the longest during your waking hours
• Eat small meals every 2.5 or 4 hours throughout the day
• Plan 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks distributed throughout the day, every 2.5 to 4 hours
• If eating less than 3 meals, eat an additional meal
• Introduce breakfast by drinking milk, fruit or vegetable juice
• Add an additional food to breakfast
• Eat cereal for bedtime snack instead of a high fat snack food
• Prepare extra for meals so leftovers are on hand
• Plan time for preparing a nutritious lunch or snack for hard to get away times
• Slightly decrease portion sizes of your largest meals

2. Eat more fiber

• Eat 100% whole wheat instead of white bread
• Add beans or steamed or raw vegetables to any meal
• Eat a green salad every day
• Eat fresh fruit for dessert or a snack
• Eat oatmeal or other higher fiber cereal for breakfast
• Stock up on frozen vegetables and fruits so they are always available
• Add raw spinach leaves to salad for more nutrients
• Add a vegetable to a meal: breakfast, lunch, or dinner
• Add vegetables to omelettes, pizza, sandwiches, stir frys, and other recipes
• If you find it hard to eat vegetables consider vegetable juice or gazpacho
• Purchase pre-cut veggies and salad mixes for convenience
• Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily; keep a tally of servings eaten

3. Eat healthy fat foods

• Substitute meat with fish high in omega-3 fatty acids
• Instead of spreading butter or margarine on bread, dip 100% whole wheat bread in the equivalent amount of olive oil
• Substitute other saturated fats for polyunsaturated fats or polyunsaturated fats for monounsaturated fats (See Fats Exchanges and Fat Comparisons)
• Eat ice milk, sherbet, or non-fat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream
• Choose lower fat salad dressings (low fat, no fat) or olive oil and lemon
• Substitute plain yogurt for sour cream
• Substitute plain yogurt for mayonnaise in your chicken or tuna salad
• Decrease sandwich spread or salad dressing by progressively adding plain yogurt
• Eat lower fat cuts of meat (See meat exchanges)
• Choose milk with lower fat (2%, 1%, 1/2%, Skim or non-fat)
• Choose lower fat cheese (mozorella, low fat cheese)
• Eat whole grain cereal with milk for bedtime snack instead of traditional snack food
• Plan to eat healthfully 6 days a week and only eat sweets and higher fat foods one day a week

4. Appetite control

• Eat a snack before lunch or dinner to reduce the tendency to overeat
• Keep a food journal of the quantities of all food eaten
• Rate appetite after each meal or snack: 1) Very Hungry, 2) Hungry, 3) Satisfied, 4) Full, 5) Very Full
•   Eat just until comfortable (rating of 3)
• Check your diet periodically using computer diet analysis software
• Weigh food and serve pre-determined portion before sitting down to eat
• Limit the number of times you eat out at restaurants
• Eat before being around processed snack foods (eg: party, shopping, etc.)
• Agree to do extra exercise if you eat more than you had planned using a caloric expenditure and calorie content database or table.

Post Fat Turkey Burner

Warm up with:

1 minute jog in place

50 Jumping Jacks

50 Butt Kicks

The workout:

 10 exercises – Complete each exercise in a circuit for 3 rounds.  Rest 1 minutes in between rounds.

50 Mountain Climbers

20 Push up jacks

30 High Knees

20 Spider Push up (Oblique knee push up)

15 Burpees

20 Floor switch kicks

30 Ice Skaters

30 Jumping Lunges (Split Jumps)

20 Butterfly sit ups

20 Plank Jacks

Fitness Tip: Yoga for Strength Training

Flexibility is an important component of a well-rounded fitness routine, especially for those who tend to gravitate towards strength training.   Adequate range of motion around the joints is imperative to perform loaded movement patterns safely and effectively using strength-training tools such as barbells and dumbbells. In addition to enhancing performance in the gym, incorporating movements into one’s workout routine that enhance joint stability and mobility will also address existing muscle imbalance and allow for greater ease and efficiency when performing activities of daily living (ADLs) outside of the gym. The following yoga poses focus on stretching the major muscle groups typically used when performing ADLs (calves, thighs, hip flexors, back, chest and shoulders) while enhancing mobility in the hips, ankles, shoulders and thoracic spine.

Incorporating these yoga poses into your workout regimen will help increase range of motion, as well as enhance stability and mobility.

Downward Facing Dog

Upward Facing Dog

Low Lunge

Lizard Pose 

No Lazy Labor Day

HITT Training for a quick Labor Day weekend.
Complete set of AMRAP exercise for a many rounds as possible before continuing to the next AMRAP.
Good luck, stay fit, and have fun!

Wednesday Workout: Dirty 30

10 Exercises - 30 reps each exercise.  Repeat circuit 3x.  Rest 1 minute before each set.May use either kettlebells or dumbbells.

1. Kettlebell swings
2. Weighted lunges
3. Plie squats + high pulls
4. Kettlebell single arm swings 
5. Single arm high pulls
6. Thrusters
7. Hang Cleans
8. Globlet squats
9. Speed skaters
10. Burpees

Fit Tip: Don't skip your meals

Don't Skip Your Meals!

When you skip your meals, your metabolism slows down and you're not burning calories like you should.  Your body thinks your starving, so when you eat again, your body stores more away as fat.  It's better to eat 6 smaller meals a day to fuel your metabolism, like a burning fire, the more you feed the fire with wood, the more it burns.

Simple Steps to Good Form

Looking to improve your running time? Here are some good form running techniques.

Special Holiday Greeting dedicated to my Clients at APEXWellness

Benefits of side planks

Benefits of Side Plank Exercises  

Side plank exercises target the gluteal muscles, obliques, quadriceps, hamstrings, thigh abductors and adductors. Strengthening these muscles means that your lower back and spine have more support and are better protected from injury caused by back strain and/or sudden movements. Side plank exercises also improve core & lateral strength; this means increased core stability, which translates into a stronger back and minimal soreness.  A secondary benefit, the side plank also builds strength with the shoulder girdles.

Side Plank

Side planks are relatively simple to perform — but they are not easy if you are a beginner with little to no core strength. Start by lying on one side on an exercise mat with both legs straight and stacked one on top of the other.  If that's difficult, keep the knees bent on the floor.  Bend the elbow underneath you and use it to support your upper body by keeping it in line with your shoulder.  Do not press the weight of your shoulder towards floor, keep the shoulder blades elevated away from floor. Keep your hips, spine and neck in alignment throughout. Exhale and engage your abs, lifting your knees and hips away from the floor, keeping the side of your bottom foot in contact with the mat. Pause at the top of the movement, inhale and gently lower yourself back to your starting position. Repeat on both sides.

Do the Turkey Burn -

The Most Important Muscle In Your Body

Most people in the gym are doing chest, back, biceps, triceps.

Most of the time they neglect the most important muscle; the largest muscle in the body – gluteus, which needs a lot of stimulation to activate and the abdominal muscles, which are the center of everything. This muscle group is known as the core, and I suggest that you should start exercising core regularly.

Not only you will eliminate back pain and improve your posture, but you’ll fix performance in every aspect of training.  Workout for function and appearance will come by itself.

Hard Core

Mastered the plank? Challenge yourself with this one!…Feet up on the bench (or any inclined surface) and elbows on stability ball.

Fit Tip of The Day: Post-Workout Snack/Meal

Are you forgetting something?

Be sure to consume both protein and carbohydrates within 30-45 minutes post-workout.  The protein helps repair muscle, while carbohydrates shuttle the protein quickly to the muscle cells.

Lower Back Health

Most adults work and sit more than 4 hours a day in front of their computer causing tight hip flexors, hamstrings and inactive glutes which increases poor posture and lower back pain and tightness.  Now in the age of video games, even kids experience poor posture, tight backs and hamstrings. Your body works as a kinetic chain.  Tight hips and hamstrings will end up pulling your back, weak inactive glutes will not help stabilize your hips and back muscles. 

Try these exercise for 15 minutes a day to improve your lower back health.

Friday Fitness Tip

Change your fitness routine every 4-6 weeks to prevent a workout plateau.  Try adding a new workoout to avoid boredom. Try to add new exercise to your workout to keep your muscles guessing.

Get a program that will best suit you. Everyone is different. If you hate to run, don’t run. If you can’t stand yoga, don’t do it. Do what you enjoy and what works for you.

Set realistic goals. Make sure that your goals and the time frame are achievable and realistic.

Work on those muscles.  Cardio is great and a necessity as well but many avoid working their muscles.  Adding resistance training will increase your metabolism.  Increasing your metabolism will help your burn more calories. Ladie, you will not bulk up and look like the HULK!  Do it!

Be consistent. Consistency and frequency is key.  Take it slow and consistently adding to your workout program.

Variety. Every exercise program should have variety. You can change your workouts & goals to keep you motivated and on the go. Doing this will help you prevent being bored and losing energy physically and mentally.

Be Motivated! Renew that motivation daily.  Most importantly, don't quit!

Thursday Fitness Tip: Define your body with eating less crap and more Good food

The Best Diet (or “Way of Eating”) For YOU is The One You Can Stick to

There is a lot of debate about the different diets.

There are the paleo folks, the low-carbers, the vegans, the balanced diet folks and everything in between.
But the truth is… all of these approaches can work.
The problem is not which diet (or way of eating) is “best,” the key is finding something that is sustainable for each individual.
Losing weight and improving health is a marathon, not a race.
What matters in the long run is finding something that is healthy, that you like and can live with for the rest of your life.

You really are what you eat!

Exercise is important to include into your lifestyle and will help to achieve the body that you desire. However, if you don't fill your body with nourishing foods, you are likely to find it difficult to reach those results!

YOU WANT HE SECRET TO FLAT ABS?
Sit-ups, crunches and planks will not cause your muffin top to disappear. But a drop in overall body fat will do that for you.
So you want the secret to great abs? The secret is a winning combination of fat burning cardio, resistance training and clean eating.