Exercise: Burn Off the Holidays Workout

Hi all! I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! I defiantly did, I was lucky enough to spend half of the holiday in good ole Chi town and half in lovely Naples with two wonderful families. Santa was also good to me :-). I went a little overboard with all the carbs, man can those midwesterners eat bread!! So despite my plan of eating in moderation, I would have to admit I went a little crazy. But that is ok! It is another day, fresh start and the holidays are over and I am ready to kick my butt and yours!! This workout is serious!! It is packed with cardio busting moves to help you burn calories for the holiday season.  This is a time challenge, do it as fast as humanly possible and make sure your form is perfect!

100 High Knees
with chest out and core tight, bring one knee up to the chest, switch moving as quickly as you can, you may also jump rope instead if you have the space (I would demolish something in my little house)
15 Alternating Squat to Reverse Lunge & Twist (15 each leg)
start in a squat, hold hips low, abs tight and step back right leg into a lunge, with straight arms tap left    hand outside of left foot, then windmill arms and tap right hand inside of left foot, push back into squat   and switch. If this is difficult try not using the arms or just do alternating lunges.
25 Jack Squats
start in a squat with feet close together, staying low with the abs tight, jump out so the legs are wide, jump back in, STAY LOW! To ease this one just do regular jumping jacks
25 Body Rows or Pullups (or lat pull downs with an elastic tube)
Under a smith bar or dip station, keep body in a straight line with core tight and pull up squeezing your shoulder blades together as you open the chest. For more of a challenge do pullups. To make it easier secure an elastic band high, pull down the tube so that your elbows wing out and your shoulder blades squeeze together
100 High Knees
20 Squat Thrust to Side Plank Leg Lift
squat down and place hands on the floor, jump the legs back into plank with very tight abs, feet should be about hip width apart, lift the left arm up high as you twist the left hip up towards the ceiling, pause at the top and slowly lift the left leg up off the floor as high as you can-keep core super tight! Bring leg down and rotate to the right side and repeat. Then jump back up to a squat position and stand-repeat 20 times. To make this easier, avoid the jumps and step back and avoid the leg raise until you are ready. To make this challenging, add a pushup before each side plank.
25 Jack Squats
20 Knee In Butt Squeeze Pushup (10 on each leg)
start in a plank with core tight, as you descend down to the floor simultaneously bring your right knee in towards your right elbow, as you pushup bring the right leg back straight and lift up until you feel your butt squeeze but do not arch your back! To modify this you can do regular pushups or try them on your knees
100 High Knees
30 Chop Squats with Weight (15 on each side)
holding a dumbbell or medicine ball (or whatever you have that feels heavy enough for you) squat bringing the weight to your right foot, contract the abs as you stand up and rotate the ball over your left shoulder, keep weight moving in a diagonal line. Do 15 then switch sides. Make sure the weight is heavy enough for you to feel it. To make this easier you may obviously use a lighter weight or none at all (clasping the hands together)
25 Jack Squats

I did this workout in 17min and 23sec...good luck!!!

Info: Holiday Tips

So the Holidays are here along with parties, shopping, presents, family and food. This time of year is truly amazing. Everyone seems a little bit more cheerier, more gracious and more appreciative. It is a time where we come together and celebrate life with the people we love the most. It is also a time for a great deal of stress, unhealthy food and over eating. There is absolutely no reason we cant enjoy our favorite foods. That awesome casserole your aunt makes or those indulging cookies your mom has made every year since you can remember can still be savored. The key is MODERATION. And all that holiday stress of making sure you sent out your Christmas cards to your distant cousins and getting your husband the perfect gift can take its toll on our waist lines and health. The key to this is WORKOUTS. So one here we have both! Tips in moderating your foods so you don't overeat and great kick butt workouts. Some great tips are below and the workouts...well choose one and enjoy some stress busting!

1. Before every cocktail, beer or wine drink a glass of water. Of the 3, the best choice would be red wine, then light beer, then a light cocktail (and that does not mean eggnog and brandy or whatever they put in that stuff). You can even sub the second or third alcoholic beverage with some sparkling water with a lime, try drinking it in a wine glass to make it a little more special.

2. Do not hang out where the food is, mingle and chat with everyone. So what if you have to listen to your grandpa's story of how he built something with his bare hands and some scrap metal again. He will appreciate the attention and you will avoid eating all the 20 types of cookies your mom made.

3. Load up on veggies and go light on the unhealthy carbs and starches such as potatoes and bread. Be careful of veggie casseroles too, those are full of butters, creams and cheeses.

4. Move around after dinner. Help clear the table, do the dishes and straighten up. Try to even go for a quick walk if you are lucky enough to live in a place with decent weather (ah hem Floridians).

5. If you know you are a sucker for desserts, go light on your starches and carbs...and vice versa. I know this year my mom is making Yorkshire puddings (my fav!!) so I am going to try not to eat every cookie she made. Count on me doing some serious training too.

6. Avoid starving yourself all day until the big meal. People do this all the time!! They don't eat all day, then dinner hits and bam!! They eat 5000 calories on a sluggish starving metabolism. Eat light, clean (unprocessed fresh foods) healthy meals and snacks during the day. This will keep your metabolism on even kiel and you wont want to eat the whole pork roast and everything else on the table all by yourself.

7. Savor your food. Take your time and enjoy the food you are eating instead of shoveling it in (like a certain husband I know). Savor each and every bite, making the goodness last!

8. Enjoy your family and laugh. Remember the whole point of the holidays is to be with loved ones, although the food is good too, spending time with family and friends is the true meaning of holiday get togethers.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays EVERYONE!!!

Exercise: Holy Hips and Hammies!

This is a workout that focuses on all 3 of our gluteals (your tush and the sides of the tush) and hamstrings (backs of the thighs) and it kills!! I was sore for 2 days after. These exercises take focus however. You have to feel each repetition and really squeeze the proper muscles. This is not one you can just fly through and go through the motions. Honestly no workout should be like that. Exercise works best and gives us the best results when we actually focus and feel the muscles contracting. I put the exercises below, see the tutorial for further instructions. Have fun with those hips and hammies :-)

1) Skater Lunges   

    25 each side

2) Elevated Single Leg Bridge with Leg Lift  

    25 each (go straight into #3 before switching legs!)

3) Single Leg Bridge Pulses  

    25 each

4) Half Squat Hold with Lateral Leg Raises  

    20 each (do whole set on left, then right)

5) Gate Pose with Leg Raises 

    30 each

6) Single Leg Bridges with Legs Crossed Wide 

    25 each (go straight into #7 before switching legs!)

7) Single Leg Bridge Pulses 

    25 each

8) Half Squat Hold with Alternated Lateral Leg Raises 

    25 on each alternate sides

9) Side Plank with Straight Arm and Single Leg Raise 

    (bottom hip still)  25 each (go straight to #10 before switching legs!)

10) Side Plank with Forearm and Single Leg Raise 

    (bottom hip moves up and down) 25 each

Exercise: Tabata Intense Whole Body WORKout!

Hi again everyone!

Today I put together another Tabata workout (for more info on Tabata check out my post http://moveyourbodyathome.blogspot.com/2011/10/info-tabata-training.html). Every large muscle in your body will be used for this workout. 

There are 7 exercises you will do for 4 minutes a piece with a minute break in between, totaling 34 minutes. Use http://www.beach-fitness.com/tabata/ as a timer to help you keep track of your intervals. When you pull up this site there is a button in the top left corner that says "tabata this" click it. When it comes up you can put 7 in the total number of tabatas and the 8 rounds with 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off should already be set up. For the rest time I put in 60 seconds. Try to only take 1 minute breaks- tops, the goal of this workout is to really push yourself and keep your heart rate up. However if this is really tough for you just be safe and take as much time as needed to recover, you can press pause at the bottom of the screen. Always be smart! This routine may look simple but it is very challenging.

Here are the exercises, see the video below for the tutorial and instructions:

1) Medicine Ball Squats

2) Walking Pushups

3) Alternating Reverse Lunges

4) Body Row or Band Row

5) Jack Knives

6) Alternating Side Lunges

7) Leg Abduction Crunch

Here are my scores for the 8 rounds total with 60 second breaks in between 

1. Squats  105

2. Pushups  64

3. Lunges (with 2 20lb dumbbells) 68

4. Body Row 68...and these were so so tough!

5. Jack Knife (with 9lb medicine ball for 4 sets only) 64

6. Side Lunge (with one 20lb) 70

7. Crunch (supported neck 4 sets at the end, but kept legs straight) 105

PS, I was sore for 3 days! xo

Exercise: 12 Minutes- No Excuses

This was a short but intense killer! It is an interval train that lasts exactly 12 minutes. This is the time of year for me when I am slammed at work. I have very little time to workout myself. But no excuses, this routine did the trick and I felt like I at least got a little something in. I burned 171 calories, which is pretty good for such a small amount of time. So think, if you have the time and ended up doubling this you would have burned a hefty 342 (average 130 pound woman, if you weigh more than you will burn more). Not bad for 24 minutes! Although I was mentally and physically drained from work, I could always handle a measly 12 minutes (my showers are longer!).

For this workout you may use the site: http://www.beach-fitness.com/tabata/. Put in 3 rounds with 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off (although you will be "on" the whole time). Also make sure you check the box at the bottom that says "include last rest", it is down by the start button. So you will do 2 exercises back to back for 3 minutes-no rest. You have to do this 4 times, there are 8 exercises total. See below:

SET YOUR TIMER AND START
Mountain Climbers  30 seconds
Pushups 30 seconds
REPEAT 3 times/rounds

break if needed (no more than a minute)

RE START TIMER

Pull Ups  30 seconds

Jump Lunges 30 seconds

REPEAT 3 times/rounds

break if needed (no more than a minute)

RE START TIMER

Hip Flexion Kicks  30 seconds

Knee Ups 30 seconds

REPEAT 3 times/rounds

(see side bar for equipment)

break if needed (no more than a minute)

RE START TIMER

Jumping Side Lunges  30 seconds

Skaters 30 seconds

REPEAT 3 times/rounds

YAY you are done! But of course feel free to do again, dont let me stop ya!

Exercise: Perfect 10 Abs

This workout is a time challenge, you will complete what you can as fast as you can with good form and your goal is to beat me!! I would love it if you all beat me! If your abs aren't literally smoking after this workout I would love to train you personally. ;-) No equipment necessary except gumption!
Below are the 3 sets of exercises, there are 2 different exercises per set. Each set you will do 10 times!! So set 1 you will do 100 seconds of elbow plank total and 100 mountain climbers total. It is killer!! Take breaks if you need them (I had my fair share of them) to let those muscles cool off then start right back up where you left off. I added some modifications to a few of the exercises. Good luck and show off those six packs!

10 seconds elbow plank
10 mountain climbers
        10 times

10 double leg drops
10 crunch and reach
        10 times

10 side crunches left
10 side planks left
10 side crunches right
10 side planks right
       10 times
    (5 times each)

The toughest part for me were those leg drops-phew they killed me. I had to take a few breaks during that one but I didn't stop my stopwatch. If you need breaks or to modify please do so!! You can always try the workout again in a few days and see if you got stronger, but do NOT sacrifice your form or get hurt!! I finished this workout in 18:28 minutes.....BEAT ME!!