Fall Planning for New Years Success

Right now no one is thinking about New Year’s resolutions, but you should be. Now is a great time to get started on them. As homeschoolers, the new school year is really when our new year starts. We have the next 3 months planned out already so why not throw in your fitness and nutrition plan? Read more

Post Workout Stretching

I’ve been falling WAY behind in my posts on here. Owning a studio is a lot more work than I could have ever expected. One awesome thing though is that my hours are so different that I miss all the solicitors because they come when I’m closed.

I have a fitness conference coming up next month that is in Orland at the Hilton resort. It’s a brand new resort with two pools, a fitness center and a lazy river. Since I want to enjoy the lazy river while I’m there, I need to be sure I look good enough to put my suit on. Gotta have a goal. Read more

Mastering the Kettlebell Swing Part Three

You are now ready to swing that kettlebell. You are driving with your hips, you can sumo deadlift with perfect form and all that awaits you now is fat loss. Remember the lock out at the top of the swing. Don’t skip that important step or you will feel it in your lower back. If you do, go back to part two and work on mastering it first. Read more

Master the Kettlebell Swing Part Two

Now that you have worked on conquering the hip drive against the door, now you must master the sumo deadlift squat. In my boot camps, participants must get very efficient at this exercise, especially the lock out, before I allow them to swing a kettlebell. Read more

Mastering the Best Fat Loss Exercise Ever

As an RKC, I absolutely love the kettlebell and what it has done in transforming my body. One of the best exercises you can master to help you lose stubborn body fat is the kettlebell swing. However, there are some fundamental movement patterns you need to master before attempting to swing or you could injure your back.

A lot of people do not swing a kettlebell correctly, so I am going to break it down into 3 parts to help you start swinging right and losing body fat fast. Read more

How to Lose Your Mommy Belly Fast

I recently received this question in my e-mail box. In fact, I get this question a lot from homeschool moms because we tend to have larger families than most.

“How do I get rid of the belly fat? I do lots of crunches and abdominal exercises but it doesn’t seem to go away.”

First, spot reduction is not possible. You cannot do exercises that target one area only and see results. Those infomercials advertising 8 minutes to flat abs are a hoax!

Second, lots of abdominal exercises do not work for getting rid of belly fat. What you are doing is strengthening the abdominal muscles that are hiding beneath a layer of bodyfat. You may even have a beautiful six pack under that layer, but in order to see it, we’ve got to burn off the bodyfat.

I actually advise my clients not to do excessive amounts of crunches because it is hard on your spine and over time can cause disk problems. I work the abdominal muscles using compound exercises that also help burn off the body fat. Homeschool moms don’t have a lot of time to waste on exercises that don’t work. So, I like short bursts of high intensity exercise that strengthens, burns calories and keeps the burn going on into tomorrow. Read more

A Perfect Squat

Squats are one of the most often used exercises in my programs. Why?

1. It recruits a lot of muscle which means a higher caloric expenditure as compared to a seated leg press. This is also a movement that is used in daily activity which makes it a very functional exercise.

2. It increases your range of motion (flexibility) over time when done right.

3. You will build a strong posterior chain, meaning your glutes, hamstrings and lower back will become stronger. When your glutes are strong, you eliminate back and knee pain.

Unfortunately, a lot of women do not squat correctly. I will often hear about sore knees and lower backs from squatting. Since you’re going to see them a lot in my programs, I want to make sure you do these right. Read more

April Workout of the Month

Okay ladies! Here’s a really fun one to burn the fat and build the muscle. I call it “Pharaoh’s Revenge”! Campers LOVE to hate this one. I’m challenging you now.

There are 5 rounds of this workout. Do each exercise consecutively without rest until the end of the circuit. Rest 1 minute before starting the next round.

Round 1: 30 sec. each exercise
Round 2: 45 sec.
Round 3: 60 sec
Round 4: 45 sec
Round 5: 30 sec.

The Pyramid
Squat and Press
Rows
Swings
Push Ups (no knees allowed)
Alternating Reverse Lunges
High Pulls
Planks

Have fun!

Gardening, Groceries and Fat Loss

It is a beautiful day in NW Indiana! The girls are all outside enjoying the sunshine while I attempt to get some work done. I just finished running around town looking for some businesses to do some cross promotions with my boot camps. Met a lot of interesting individuals.

I was disappointed to find out that I am unable to put little yard signs up anywhere as it is a zone violation. Phooey! I am currently advertising on the local Christian radio station but it hasn’t been very fruitful.

I worked out with my 9 am boot camp class. The last day of camp in March we did a Meltdown 300 Challenge and I recorded everyone’s scores on our blog. So, today, being the last day of camp in April, we did the challenge again to see if they could beat their original time. It has been fun watching everyone push themselves and beat their scores.

Read more

March Workout of the Month

Ladies, ready for some more action? Here’s the new workout for the month:

Grab a timer and some dumbbells: You will perform each exercise back to back without any rest until your timer goes off. Rest 1 minute between each superset.

Superset A: Go for 5 minutes

DB Squats x 10
V-ups x 10

Rest 1 Minute

Superset B: Set timer for 5 minutes
DB Russian Deadlifts x 10
Military Presses x 10

Rest 1 Minute

Superset C: Set timer for 5 minutes
Push Ups x 10
DB Swings x 10

Enjoy! Post your progress on your personal pages. I love to hear how you’re doing.

Next Page »