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

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

12 Week Transformation Challenge

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Avoid This Exercise

Just a little humor to brighten your day.
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HIIT – The Smarter Cardio

Most women believe that in order to lose fat they must do long aerobic sessions. The truth is there is a much more effective way to lose fat that requires less time – which is a precious commodity for working or stay at home mothers. High intensity interval training (HIIT) can be done in only 20 minutes and will have a greater effect on your overall fat loss goals. HIIT is short bursts of intensity followed by short rest periods. HIIT cardio will help you lose 9 times more fat than those who train the traditional way of doing low – moderate intensity for 20-60 minutes.

Here are 5 reasons you should use HIIT’s in your weight loss program:

1. Longer Fat Burning Effect (After burn)

There have been many scientific case studies that show that using high intensity short intervals for training results in EPOC (Excess Post Oxygen Consumption) levels remaining at a high level for several hours longer than regular low intensity aerobic activity. A higher EPOC level means you keep burning calories at an increased rate after a workout.

Regular low intensity cardio sessions only burn fat while you are doing the exercise. After you stop calorie burning stops. Steady state cardio just allows you to become more and more efficient at burning calories so you burn less and less each time for the same effort.

This is not going to be very effective in the long run because your body will adapt to this amount of physical activity very quickly. You will end up needing to increase the amount of time you are doing these sessions to continue to see results. This is not a very efficient means of weight loss.

2. No Loss of Hard Earned Muscle

Low intensity intervals for weight loss is synonomous with muscle loss. During high intensity exercise muscle is spared at the expense of other tissues if there is a need for it because it offers the stimulus necessary to tell the body it requires muscle. This is the bodies way to protect itself against stress, and exercise is a stressor.

When a muscle is taken to failure, an alarm goes off, telling the body it’s in danger and it must do something to protect itself. Therefore, muscle will be protected at the expense of fat.

Low intensity intervals may cause weight loss. However, in addition to fat, muscle can be lost. The alarm system that signals the body to spare muscle is not present. Your resistance is often not intense enough to trigger the body’s protective alarm.

Look at the bodies of marathon runners versus sprinters. Marathoners look almost
emaciated while sprinters are lean and muscular. Which would you prefer to look like?

Losing muscle is the complete opposite of what you want to do to lose weight. Your focus should be on gaining more muscle because muscle will burn fat during our resting periods.

3. Less Chance of Injury

Doing long continuous cardio sessions day after day puts a lot of stress on our joints. Over time, you will find many people have problems with overuse injuries in their knees, ankles and backs. Continuous loss of muscle will also cause an increase in the risk of osteoporosis.

4. Takes Less Time – More Bang For Your Buck.

HIIT sessions take only 20 minutes. This is great for the time crunched person who needs to get in and out of the gym quickly. With all the benefits of high interval training, why would you waste your most valuable commodity – your precious time?

5. Can Be Done With a Variety of Equipment

High intensity intervals can be done on elliptical trainers, recumbent bikes, treadmills, stair climbers or even outside jogging and walking (for the very beginner). You can also use kettle bells, body weight squats, body weight lunges or jump ropes. You are limited only by your imagination.

Save wear and tear on your body and increase your fat loss engines with high intensity interval training. Not only will you begin to see significant changes in your body, you will have more time to spend with your family.

Sample HIIT Workout using your choice of exercise equipment:

5 minute warm-up at about 40% intensity level.

Follow with 3 rounds of the following:
1 min. at 70-80% intensity level
2 min. at 50% intensity level

Finish with 5 minute cool down at a leisurely pace.