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.

February Workout of the Month

Some of you have begun working out. Awesome job! Getting started is the hardest part. Once you get into a routine, it gets easier. I promise!

So, I wanted to help you get started right. Here is a workout that utilizes full body, multi-joint (compound) exercises and has your cardio all taken care of.  No need to spend another 60 minutes of the treadmill with this one.

Set your timer for 20 minutes. Grab some dumbbells (10+ lbs.).

Do as many rounds of this as you can in 20 minutes. Members of FitHomeschoolMoms.ning.com can view videos of each exercise.

Burpees x 15
DB Push Press x 15
DB Alternating Rows x 15 ea side
Mountain Climbers x 15 ea side
Push Ups x 15

Only take a rest after the push ups and no more than 60 seconds before starting back at the top.

5 rounds is really awesome.

Hugs~~
Coach Angela

5 Minute Fat Loss Workout

How would you like to spend no more than 5 minutes doing only one exercise to work your whole body and help you lose body fat fast?  It is possible.  This one exercise demonstrated in the video will do just that.

Because you have to use your whole body to accomplish this exercise, many muscles groups are being recruited which means a higher caloric burn in a shorter period of time.  Give it a try today.

watch?v=JKi0C3IY4DA

Quick Christmas Workout

I have been quite busy here in Ramos land.  I enjoyed the visit we had with my husband’s mom and sister.  It was sad to see them leave.  Since their visit we have been working diligently on getting our homemade gifts for each other finished.  Every year we always make a gift for each other rather than spend too much money on gifts that are soon forgotten.  We still purchase a few gifts, but we try to keep it to one or two gifts. 

Because we are so busy it is easy to get off track with workouts and nutrition so I keep up with my menu planning and perform quick workouts.  This way I have more time to focus on the kids without feeling guilty.   With that in mind, I have included a workout from my transformation guide that will be launched quite soon. 

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Choosing a Workout Partner

We had quite a busy weekend. The girls were in our church Christmas musical and performed three times. We watched two of the three and enjoyed them immensely. It was really nice to sit back and watch this year rather than perform. Performing arts seems to run in the family. We’re all just a bunch of hams I guess.

Although we have had company, my husband and I have been very consistent with our kettlebell workouts each day. It’s fun having him home. He’s my best friend. He’s also the best workout partner ever! He was the one who got me up at 5:30 am every morning when I began my transformation and never let me talk myself out of it. Some mornings he literally pulled me by the legs to get me up. I was always thankful AFTER the workout. Read more

Strength Training For Women

I have had the craziest week ever! I don’t think I’ve had a chance to catch my breath since last Saturday when my band spent 13 hours in the recording studio.  It was a lot of fun but exhausting.  On Sunday, our church had it’s annual Thanksgiving dinner and I performed a special as Hannah Montana’s alter ego.  It was a hoot but my voice was already exhausted from the day before and by Monday I was feeling it. 

I am hosting a kettlebell workshop this Saturday so I needed to get my manual finished for all the attendees.  It is almost done.  I need to take some pictures today and I’ll be able to take it to the printers.

My free website for homeschool moms is moving along with 23 members as of this morning.  A lot of great questions have been asked, such as, what do you eat for snacks and lunch, how to identify trigger foods and many, many more.  Be sure and jump on board to get the answers to your most pressing fitness and health questions.

One question I received is, “What is the best exercise program for me to use?”  Well, of course I’m going to say mine.  Ha! 

Seriously, women need to be strength training.  It should be the main focus of your program.  Building muscle will enable your body to burn off unwanted body fat.  More muscle = less fat.  I don’t like videos or programs that have women moving little pink dumbbells around. You will never make significant body composition changes with those little gals.  Lifting heavy will not bulk you up.  Lifting heavy will make you lean and strong. 

When you strength train you will improve the strength of your ligaments and tendons which support your joints.  When your joints are strong you will have a lesser chance of injury from other activities.

You will reduce your chances of osteoporosis.

Your metabolism increases from the increase in lean muscle tissue.  This is due to your muscle tissue coming alive and active using energy (calories) while you are resting.  It’s nice to know that you’re burning off fat while sitting on the couch reading with the kids.

Are you really afraid you will get too big?  Women do not produce enough testosterone to produce bodybuilding sized bodies.  We are not genetically made that way.  The difference you will see when strength training is toned, lean muscles.  You will also have more strength and energy!  Very important when you’ve got kids to teach.

Don’t think that you have to lose all your body fat first before starting to strength train.  If you perform strength training exercises along with intervals for cardio, you will burn more calories than you would if you only were doing cardio only.  Also, combining strength training with cardio will help reduce the problems of droopy skin from loss of weight but lack of muscle tone.

A really well put together strength training routine can be done in 20 minutes.  Great news for busy moms.  You should be challenging your muscles when you work out otherwise you’re wasting your time.  Stay away from isolation exercises like bicep curls and tricep extensions.  Go for multi-joint exercise that cause you to expend more energy like squats, lunges, deadlifts, rows, pull-ups and push-ups. 

I am partial to kettlebells because you can get your strength and cardio workout done in 20 minutes or less with one piece of equipment that easily stores in a little cubby hole somewhere.   

Don’t shy away from strength training.  It will reshape your body and help you remove unwanted body fat fast!

Free Fitness Gifts For You

Leading Fitness Experts Give The Gift Of Health To World With Biggest Ever Health and Fitness Giveaway This Festive Season

On Wednesday, December 10, Dax Moy and over 250 of the world’s top fitness professionals will open the doors on the World’s largest ever health and fitness gift-giving, set to generate positive health for over 500,000 people this Christmas

The program, called ’12 days of fitness’ initially began when the UK’s leading fitness professional, Dax Moy, wanted to express his gratitude to his clients and offered them a gift a day for 12 consecutive days as his twist of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Last year Moy shared this idea with fellow fitness professional Pat Rigsby and they expanded the 12 Days of Fitness to include not only their own clients but to the world at large and gave fitness gifts to over 200,000 people who signed up at the site at www.12daysoffitness.com.

This year, with the help of 250 of the world’s top personal trainers, nutritionists, therapists and specialist fitness experts, the 12 days of fitness is set to become the biggest fitness gift giveaway in history with expected downloads of over 500,000 between the 10th and 22nd of December. “There’s never been another health event like this, where so many people stand to benefit from the expertise of true professionals for free” says Moy who has been working flat out to make this year’s 12 days a success.

“Fitness professionals from around the globe have contributed hundreds of e-books, reports, videos, meal plans and other free gifts in their hope of making 2009 the year that anyone, regardless or their location, financial situation or past failures, can finally reach their fitness goals and make those New Year’s Resolutions a reality once and for all.”

Perhaps the best part of the 12 Days of Fitness giveaway is that regardless of a persons health or fitness goals, there are going to be gifts specifically designed to help them achieve success.

“We’ve received gifts designed for busy mom’s, elite athletes, bodybuilders, back pain sufferers and pretty much anyone else you can imagine covering everything from fat loss to rehabilitation and everything in between.

There literally will be something for everyone this year and all of it free, making it, without a doubt, one of the most important gifts anyone will receive this year. After all, what’s more important than health?”

The 12 days of gift giving starts December 10th but those interested are urged to visit www.12daysoffitness.com right away to sign up for their free gifts.

Once enrolled, participants will get a daily email telling them how to access each of the new gifts that are being added each day as well as a reminder on how to access previous gifts.

To guarantee a healthy start to 2009, simply visit www.12daysoffitness.com today.

Exercise Machines Not Always Best

I tend to get asked a lot by friends and strangers alike what I do for my personal workouts.  I love sharing information with everyone, but I have also learned that most people will never take action on the advice I give them.  A prime example of this occurred yesterday in between church services.  Read more

The Gasser Fat Loss Circuit

www.InspirationFitnessCamp.com presents the Gasser Fat Loss Circuit performed by Winfield Indiana’s women only boot camp. This is a great workout you can do at home using a dumbbell and a stair step. For the running portion you can substitute running in place for 1 minute.
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