We went to Aquatica on Wednesday…so much fun! It’s a must do if you are ever in Orlando. When we flew back yesterday, it was in the 80′s in Orlando. We flew into Buffalo, complete with rain and in the 40′s. Isn’t this the way it always works? You leave beautiful weather to come back to crappy weather. Oh well…back to reality. Did you miss me? On second thought, don’t answer that…LOL

Here’s your workout for today, in case you can’t make it to class tonight:

Butt & Gut

You will need a watch/timer for this one. You will do 45s work with a 15s rest / transition to next exercise.

Round 1

45s – Parallel Squats – Right (Set up: start in normal squat position. Slide toes of Left foot to line up with heel of Right foot…heel of Left foot will be off the ground. Perform the squats from this position.)

15s rest

45s – Parallel Squats – Left (Set up: start in normal squat position. Slide toes of Right foot to line up with heel of Left foot…heel of Right foot will be off the ground. Perform the squats from this position.)

15s rest

45s – Sumo Squat with Alternating Side Knee Raise

15s rest

45s – Reverse Lunge to Front Kick – Right

15s rest

45s – Reverse Lunge to Front Kick – Left

15s rest

45s – Scissor Jacks (legs cross over and arms are the same as a normal jack)

15s rest

45s – Alternating Hand Tap Down Squats (legs jump out and one hand taps the ground; jump back to starting position and the other hand taps down – repeat)

15s rest

45s – Alternating Squat to Front Kicks (Squat down and come up while lifting one leg to do a front kick – continue to repeat with the other leg)

Rest 1-2 minutes

Round 2

45s – Diagonal Reverse Lunge to Lateral Side Lunge – Right (step back behind the left leg with your right leg to perform a diagonal reverse lunge then step to the right side to perform a lateral side lunge with the right leg. Repeat)

15s rest

45s – Diagonal Reverse Lunge to Lateral Side Lunge – Left (step back behind the right leg with your left leg to perform a diagonal reverse lunge then step to the left side to perform a lateral side lunge with the left leg. Repeat)

15s rest

45s – Forward to Reverse Lunge – Right (step forward with right leg and perform a forward lunge, push back through the heel as you step back with right leg to perform a reverse lunge. Keep repeating with right leg)

15s rest

45s – Forward to Reverse Lunge – Left (step forward with left leg and perform a forward lunge, push back through the heel as you step back with left leg to perform a reverse lunge. Keep repeating with left leg)

15s rest

45s – Skater Jumps

15s rest

45s – Single Leg Hops, side to side – Right

15s rest

45s – Single Leg Hops, side to side – Left

15s rest

45s – 4 Lateral Side-to-Side Shuffles with Touch Down, each direction

1-2 minute rest

100 Rep Gut Check (well…125 Reps total )

25 Get Up Sit Ups

25 Seated Knee Pull-Ins

25 Belly Blasters

25 Side Plank with Hip Raise, ea side

Until tomorrow…

Today I have a great little ‘cardio’ workout for you. Now I don’t mean cardio as in worshiping the Elliptical goddess or Treadmill gods. It’s a high intensity, interval workout that is 6 rounds long. You will work hard for 1 minute and then recover with a moderate intensity exercise for 2 minutes. It will take 18 minutes, start to finish. Remember, make sure you warm up properly and also stretch at the end.

60s High Knees in place (max effort), 120s Squats

60s Jumping Jacks (max effort), 120s Walking Lunges with a Twist

60s Burpees (max effort), 120s T-Push Ups (Stabilizations, also called Rotating Push Ups)

60s High Knees in place (max effort), 120s Alternating Prisoner Lunges

60s Jumping Jacks (max effort), 120s Single Leg Squats w/ Reach (60s each leg)

60s Burpees (max effort), 12os Side Plank (60s each side)

Stay tuned to tomorrow for your next workout. Until then…

Now get your minds out of the gutter…lol  I’m not talking about THAT kind of play time…although today is the day of love…hmmm. Ok, back on track. I’m talking about working out with your buddy, significant other, husband, wife, etc… Don’t have one of those or yours isn’t a willing participant? No problem…just follow the instructions in RED.

Partner Density Training

You will need a watch/timer for this set to 5 minute rounds.

Each circuit has 2 exercises. You will perform 10 reps of the first exercise and your partner has to do their exercise for however long it takes you to finish the first. Once you have finished your 10 reps your partner is done as well, and you switch.

The goal is to get as many rounds done as you can in 5 minutes for each circuit. Rest 1 minute between circuits. No partner…no problem. Just do what is in RED.

Circuit 1

Exercise 1 – Push Ups

Exercise 2 – Hip Extension Hold (Hold for 30s)

Circuit 2

Exercise 1 – Burpees

Exercise 2 – Side Plank (make sure you switch sides every time you come back to this) (Hold for 30s, switching sides each round)

Circuit 3

Exercise 1 – Mountain Climbers, 10 each leg

Exercise 2 – Wall Sits (Hold for 30s)

Circuit 4

Exercise 1 – Jump Squats (or Squats)

Exercise 2 – Plank (Hold for 30s)

Until next time…Cheers!

So I did the 5…4…3…2…1…Blast Off workout yesterday. Did you do yours? I like to set goals for myself when doing timed workouts. Then I like to set the goal of beating my times, number of rounds, etc…when I do this workout again. My goal when doing this workout was to complete the numbers of rounds equal to the number of minutes of work per round (since I had never done this one before). So in the 5 minute round my goal was to complete 5 rounds in 5 minutes and so on. Guess that means I would only need to do 1 Burpee in the 1 minute round right? LOL  I’ll say my goal for that one will be 15 Burpees…by the way, I hate Burpees, just like you all…LOL  Here are my results, in case you were wondering:

Set #1 – 5 complete rounds in 5 minutes

Set #2 – 3 complete rounds plus the Single Leg Squats Reaches on the 4th round in 4 minutes

Set #3 – 4 complete rounds in 3 minutes

Set #2 – 2 complete rounds plus the Jump Squats of the 3rd round in 2 minutes

Set #1 – 15 burpees in 1 minute

The next time you do timed workouts, try to set a goal of what you would like to accomplish and then push yourself to meet or exceed that goal. You’ll be amazed at the workout you will get as well as the results that will follow.

Off to breakfast…I’m a sweaty mess right now so this should be fun. Until next

Here’s today’s workout: (Think I’ll crank out this workout myself before heading off to breakfast.)

5…4…3…2…1…Blast Off

You will need a watch/timer for this one.

Set #1: 5 minutes – do as many rounds as possible in 5 minutes, with minimal rest

5 – Alternating Reverse Lunges, ea side

7 – Down Dog Push Ups – get in Downward Dog position. Bend elbows to do a push up while staying in Down Dog position.

9 – Get Up Sit Ups

1 min rest

Set #2: 4 minutes – do as many rounds as possible in 4 minutes, with minimal rest

5 – Single Leg Squats w/ Reach, ea leg

10 – Cross-Body Mountain Climbers, ea side

15 – Bicycle Crunches, ea side

1 min rest

Set #3: 3 minutes – do as many rounds as possible in 3 minutes, with minimal rest

6 – Step Ups, ea leg (if you don’t have a step, do alternating side lunges, 6 ea side)

6 – Dips (off the step or a chair)

1 min rest

Set #4: 2 minutes – do as many rounds as possible in 2 minutes, with minimal rest

5 – Jump Squats

5 – Suicide Plank, ea direction

5 – Seated Knee Pull-Ins

1 min rest

Set #5: 1 minute – do as many as possible in 1 minute, with minimal rest

Burpees

1 min rest

Bonus Blast Off -

30 – Side Plank with Hip Raise, ea side (Get in side plank position and tap hip to floor for the number of reps. Repeat on other side)

30 – Supermans

30 – Hip Extensions (pelvic thrusts)

Committed to YOUR success,

Angela

As you know, we are getting ready to head out on our Florida/Bahamas vacation. So much to do and so little time to do it in. I’ve never been on a cruise and we are taking a mini one (2 nights and 3 days) to the Bahamas this weekend. We’ll be in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando the rest of the week. Everyone tells me the food is INCREDIBLE on a cruise and that we are sure to gain weight while on it…yikes! I’m curious to find out if this is true so I’ll be weighing myself tomorrow morning and then again the following Friday morning to see if this is in fact true. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Ok, here’s today’s workout:

Crazy Eights - Perform the following 8 exercises, for 8 reps EACH, for 8 rounds. Rest as needed.

8 – Alternating Lunges, each leg

8 – Seated Knee Pull-Ins (Sit on your bum with your hands on the floor behind you. Balance on your tailbone/bum as you pull your knees into your chest)

8 – Burpees

8 – Spiderman Push Ups

8 – Spiderman Climbs, each side

8 – Jump Squats

8 – Tricep Push Ups

8 – Get Up Sit Ups

Catch you guys tomorrow. God Bless!

I’m about to go off, so if you’re easily offended or you want me to be politically correct, then I suggest that you don’t read this.  Or you can read it, cry and then grab some tissue…but just don’t ask me for any because I’m not going to give it to you.  This is my “fat loss tough love”. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you…

“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice” ~ Wayne Dyer

I’ve heard all the excuses before.  I can’t eliminate them because that’s up to you.  We have had individuals of all backgrounds, shapes and sizes become successful, simply because they believed and lived the fact that they know they can.  And they refused to be limited by not having the time, or it’s too hard, or I’m too old, or any other of the million of excuses that I’ve heard. Everyone has their own way of dealing with excuses.  I know clients that can have candy and junk food in their home and only have 4 pieces a week.  If I keep candy and junk in my home, I will eat 4 pieces per minute, especially when I’m stressed or PMSing.  That’s just me.  For this reason, I keep it out of the house.

So if you can’t keep something in the house, then for the ‘Love of Pete’ freakin’ fix that and take it out of the house.  DUH!… Big, deep breath (in with the good air, out with the bad)… and so we continue to the next biggest excuse…

“I’m too old to work out”

Shut up, Shut up…just freakin’ SHUT UP.  I have a woman in her 70′s and many 60+ year olds in my baseball league that can run circles around many 20-year olds.  I have 50+ year olds in my classes that could probably do back flips if I asked them to. Heck, I have a lady in her 50‘s, a personal training client, who will give me more reps because I corrected her form…and then ask for more despite having a bad back. These people rock out the workouts and ask “is that all you have?” If you think you’re too old, then start.  Age is just a number! You’re not too old, you’re just lazy.  NEXT excuse….

“I’m not in shape to work out”

OMG….really? You DO realize that you just called yourself an idiot.  DUH! That’s why you’re not in shape…because you’re not working out.  And you’re not working out because you’re not in shape.  And you’re not in shape because…. get the picture??  As Bill Engvall would say “Here’s your sign”!

This brings to mind the following quote by Albert Einstein:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

When I started, my lazy fat butt was exhausted after the WARM UP.   That’s my fault.  I was lazy and sat around all day, playing on the computer or watching TV.  We all have to start somewhere.  You just have to start.  Who says you have to be an Olympic athlete to start working out?  If you’re a human, you can start exercising. NEXT.

“I never see a difference when I work out”

That’s because you’re coming into the gym and doing nothing but “vanity” exercises or exercises that you like because they are easy or spending as much, if not more time, socializing than actually getting the workout done.   Or you come to class and stop doing the exercises when my back is turned. If you knock out some crunches and bicep curls, your body isn’t going to change.  And don’t even get me started with cardio that is slow enough to watch “The Price is Right” with a smile.  Don’t be ridiculous.  Have you seen the “Curls, Crunches and Cardio Fat Loss Program”?  I didn’t think so.  And if you did, it’s a scam.  I’m not against curls… they are actually fun.  But prioritize people.  Which brings me to my next point…

“Exercise is hard work and I get tired”

Really? I mean really?? Hmmm, that’s weird.  Because like… every time I go outside and look up… WOW, there it is… a blue sky. No kidding Sherlock.  Exercise for fat loss is hard work.  That’s partly why America and Canada are overweight.  Guess what? Being overweight is hard too…it’s hard on your body; it’s hard on your joints; it’s hard on your health; it’s hard on the healthcare system; it’s hard on the taxpayers. Believe it or not, our healthcare here in Canada is NOT free…we pay for it with our taxes! So like I said, exercise for fat loss is hard work but we’re lazy.  I know that lunges, push-ups, chin-ups, rows, squats, burpees, deadlifts, presses, etc…SUCK.   Yes I said it…they SUCK!! I won’t sugar-coat that.  But c’mon man!  DUH!!  You just have to get off your lazy butt and do them.  Oh no!  You may sweat… the horror!!  Idiot. Moving on…

“I eat like a bird, but I can’t seem to lose weight”

Oh really??  You eat like a bird, eh?  You eat a couple of worms every day?  Hmmm, talk about weird.  How about, “no you don’t Einstein”.  Birds don’t “check in” on Facebook to “Wally’s All-You-Can-Eat (Hog Bar) of Southern Comfort Food” restaurant.  Birds don’t eat cake every other day because someone in their office got promoted or found a way out.  Birds don’t drink 8 beers back-to-back and if they did, I want to see the damn birds fly after that.  It’s a pain in the butt, but you gotta log your calories for 3-4 days and see how many calories you’re really bringing in.  I can help you with that or you can go to www.fitday.com – it’s free.  You may think you’re bringing in 1400 calories, but you might be consuming 2600 calories.  And yes, it can be that drastic.  Logging your food can be an eye-opener. Moving on…

“I’m Tired”

You’re lazy.  Just sayin…NEXT.

“I don’t have time”

You watch 2 episodes of “The Family Guy” and 2 Reality TV shows.  That’s 2 hours.  Invest in a DVR and record them. Or use Rogers on Demand if you are with Rogers. Your TV time is now approx. 72 minutes.  That leaves approx. 48 minutes.  If you do it right, you can knock out a solid workout AND intervals in that time.  Don’t  go into the gym and do “cardio” and some tricep pushdowns.  Be smart.  Don’t know where to start?  Come to class and I’ll handle that for you. Or you can look back through my blog and find a ton of workouts with little to no equipment, that take no more than 30 mins to complete. Moving on…

“I eat healthy”

You’re eating too much crap and you know it.  To eliminate junk, you gotta change your environment.  That means you may have to skip hanging out with your corporate friends after work Friday night.  No big deal there.  All y’all do is whine and complain about how much your job sucks.  You don’t need that negativity anyway.  That alone will probably have an impact on your waistline.  Yeah, so you gotta eat more fruits and vegetables.  Is that fun?  Hell no.  Is it effective? Hell YES! Everybody is doing what’s “fun” and that’s why America and Canada are overweight and lazy.  It’s “cool” and “hip” to brag about the 20 vodka shots you took on Facebook as your status.  So you saved yourself from being an idiot and opted for some fruit and water.  Congratulations. Your waistline will thank you…moving on…

Whining about your job and eating this is a stupid idea

 “Healthy eating is too bland”

Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t realize food was supposed to entertain your a$$.   I remember the first time I ate a salad, I was hoping one of the pieces of lettuce would hop up and pretend he’s Jackie Chan and start a kung fu match with my fork.  That would have been awesome.  Healthy doesn’t have to be boring you big baby.  That’s what spices and herbs are for.  Zucchini is stupid.  Zucchini cut up into “french fry” shape sprinkled with Cumin and pepper and then baked for 20 minutes at 375 degress is pretty freakin awesome.   There… fixed.  Moving on…

“Healthy eating is too expensive”

You’re right.  Donuts and pastries are cheap compared to fruit.  But be sure to open a savings account so that you can pay the $1500 hospital bill or for the monthly insulin prescriptions.  I think your local credit union may have a “Hey, Check it Out!, I’m an Idiot” savings plan.  Ask your representative for details.  Oh wait, I have an idea.  Buy some freakin’ fruit for your sweet tooth and avoid that hassle all together. NEXT…

“I eat junk food because I have to keep it in the house for the kids”

You’ve got to be freakin kidding me…www.what-a-load-of-crap.com comes to mind (I have no idea if that exists, so I wouldn’t try it).  Can I see the rule book where it says you have to keep Cheetos and Lucky Charms in the pantry or you’ll be reported for child abuse?  I can’t seem to find it.  Oh yeah, that’s right.  It’s next to page “Whatever”.  Your kids will be fine without Lucky Charms or Cheetos in their lives.  I promise.  It’s ok to give them fruit or vegetables.  They will get over it.  If you still want to keep it around for a treat, that’s cool.  Hide it with a combination lock and tell your spouse, friend, etc., the code.  If you really want it bad enough, you’ll have to do the work to get the code… just sayin’.

I think I covered it all, but I’m sure you can think of new excuses.  And to that, I say find ways to kick those excuses to the curb and quit this whole, “Woe is me” crap.  Knock it off with excuses and get it done.  And quit making it so complicated:

Exercise.  Stick to a nutrition plan.

It’s just not that hard people.

Climbing down from my soapbox rant,

Angela

Let’s jump into today’s post on the importance of supplementation…

Did you know that approximately one out of every two adults will be diagnosed with cancer sometime during their life, and that simple lifestyle choices–such as proper diet and exercise–can help prevent 60 – 90% of many major diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes?

If you’re at all concerned about your health or the health of someone you love, I strongly encourage you to read ‘Why the Proven Benefits of Nutritional Supplementation Are So Important Today’. This is one of the most helpful and eye-opening brochures I’ve read. I’m sure you’ll feel the same. Just click the image below to access the brochure.

Until next time…God Bless!

Ahhh, what a great message today’s motivation sends! Read it, enjoy it and take it to heart. It’s a perfect way to view eating and exercise!!

Let me know what you think of it.

Today’s quote: “The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want the most for what you want now. “ ~Zig Ziglar

A full-time thing

If you quit before the work is completed, the work you’ve done is wasted. Honour the time and effort you’ve already put into it by finishing what you started.

If you plant a seed, and water it just for a few days, and then stop, you might as well have never planted it. Remember to direct your focus again and again toward those things you’re committed to completing.

Being inspired for a few minutes or for a day or two feels good. Being inspired for a lifetime is what actually achieves good and valuable results.

Remind yourself what a truly extraordinary opportunity you have by virtue of being you. Then remind yourself again, and again, on every day, in each new situation.

Feel the exquisite joy and purposeful power of being alive. Then commit yourself to staying connected to that feeling.

Don’t settle for just a few moments here and there of brilliance and inspiration and true richness. Make life’s richness a full-time thing.

Copyright ©2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All rights reserved for greatday.com

Until next time…God Bless!