Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Cross Training Sets

"Adopt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own." -Bruce Lee

I think one of the biggest benefits to taking workout classes and trying new workouts is that you can take even just one piece of it you love, and adapt it to change the way you work out at home or on your own. If you were a runner, use those workout you love even if you don't run anymore. If you were a gymnast, you can still use pieces of that workout in your gym routine. Our workouts are unique to who we are and where we have been. Cross training in your workout not only gives you a great workout, it lets you express that, and shapes your body to reflect our varying life experiences! Think about that, that's a wonderful thing! So, I just thought I'd share a couple home cross training workout sets I love to do outside my regular circuit training workout. These are three exercise sets of 10 reps each 3 times... I just do these every once in a while. They are a combination of things I've learned from gymnastics as well as boxing, ballet workout, and various fitness classes which I have put together to target my own biggest problem areas with exercises I love.

Push up set: 
Military push ups-my fav!- these are a push up with a body roll up, followed by a push up with a a body roll down.
 
 

Sumo push ups-Push up touch each of you shoulders, push up again 
Tricep push ups- push ups with your elbows in to your sides, not out.

Ab set:
Tuck ups-my fav!- lay flat arms up and legs out, tuck legs in and roll up to shoulder stand or as close as you can get) and then roll back down. 
V ups- lay flat arms up keeps arms by ears and lift arms and legs to sky and touch together ( this is more of a lift up than a v)
 
Bicycle- military kicks and hold your head is regular push up position, alternate knees to elbows. 

Butt set:
Frog leg lifts-my fav!- knees bent laying on your side, lift one leg up and alternate just your foot up and down keeping legs open.
 
Donkey kicks- on all fours lift leg at 90 degree angle and pulse (flex your foot, and make sure to keep a flat back).

Straight leg pulse- same as donkey kicks, but straight leg (flex your foot, and make sure to keep a flat back).

I love these little sets and do them every so often as supplemental to my workout. They really give you a boost in those areas like lower belly, fat part of your arm, and that spot right between your butt an thigh, while also strengthening your core

You really could do these as a circuit once in a while too, but I'd pick two from each group for that.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

My Fitness Pal

"If Everyday Were Like Today, You'd Weigh 102 lbs in 5 Weeks." - My Fitness Pal

God, I love when my fitness pal tells me how fast I'll be fit and thin if I stay on track like I did today! And for that reason, the instant gratification I get even though I can't see my results yet, I find this app totally addicting! It's the easiest way I've found to track my calories and my exercise to get to a weight and fitness level where I want to be.

It's so easy to use. You put in your weight, your goal, your activity level, and set a calorie goal per day. Then, you enter the foods you eat and the exercise you do each day. Fitness pal tells you if your on track and your progress each day.

What's better is you can find your friends on facebook, or from your phones contacts, and share your food and exercise diary. Or, you can chose to keep your diary private. I like to share mine, and I enjoy getting snack ideas from my friends.

Before I started using fitness pal I would sometimes not eat enough before going to the gym, and get dizzy or tired. Which can be dangerous. On fitness pal, I can literally see if the breakfast I ate is going to be enough to get me through my gym workout. If my breakfast was 300 calories and my gym workout burns 500, that's a good thing to know.

I used to also think I was eating healthy, without understanding how many calories are in things or the breakdown of how much fat, protein, sugar, sodium I was getting each day, and what I still needed. Now I can see all of that on my fitness pal. I can actually look at the nutrition in my food and see if I need to eat more protein for dinner, or if I have extra calories to have that piece of cake for desert.

Whatever your using to track your progress, it needs to work for you. There are a lot of other aps and websites out there that work in ways similar to the fitness pal, and you should find the one that is a good fit for you. By tracking your progress in every meal, and every workout, its easy to stay inspired and on track. It's also impossible to lie to yourself when you see your not!