Turn up the Intensity!

So... tell me the truth. Have you been treating your body and mind right by working out? Come on.. don't lie.. Good job! I knew you have. Just testing you. I know I have been super busy lately, have you? Today we are going to talk about using your precious time wisely and getting a little more out of your daily workout. When you are doing your workout how long is it taking you? Shouldn't be more than one hour max! Are you sweating and out of breath? Have a hard time talking to you workout buddy? Or are you on the treadmill, watching TV or reading a book or magazine? Yes. I am talking to you! If low intensity is what is going on most days, take that workout schedule and throw it in the trash! Starting now, you are going to turn up the intensity! It will make your workouts shorter and burn more calories overall! Ready? Let's get going....

Three tips for getting the most out of your sweat sessions:

1. Rest Less. Say you are doing chest presses, do your set and rest and talk to a friend for a bit then come back for the other set. You are WASTING time! Keep up the intensity by only resting 30-60 seconds between your sets if you need a break. Otherwise, rest your muscle group you just used (this case is chest) and do some jumping jacks or lunges or squats that focuses on a whole different muscle group. This keeps your intensity and heart rate elevated which blasts more fat calories! Plus, you will finish your workout much faster than you would with all that rest!!

2. Ramp up your resistance and cardio intensity. Ask yourself (and be truthful) if you're working out at a correct intensity to get the most benefit from your workout. Not sure if you are giving it 100%? For cardio, you can use an RPE scale. RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion and is rated 1-10 with 1 being so easy and 10 being very hard. Here is a chart for you to look at:

When you are doing interval workouts, you should have your high intensity at a 8,9, or 10 for a short amount of time, then for the "rest" part of the interval be around a 1,2, or 3. (more on interval training coming soon!) If you are out for a run or walk and are doing what is known as steady state cardio, your intensity should be around a 5 or 6. While doing resistance training your last reps should be hard! Say you are doing 12 reps of bicep curls. It should be getting very difficult toward the last 3 reps. You can still do them with good form, but if you can go over the 12 reps, then you weren't lifting hard enough! Your body tends to be lazy unless you really push it!

3. Finally, seek help from an experienced person, like a trainer or someone who really knows their stuff in the gym. I hate when I go to teach class and notice people sacrificing their time to be at the gym and not getting the most out of their workout or using improper form. If you are going to "work hard", make sure you are not hardly working!!



**And a side note.. research is showing it now takes an average of 8 weeks for a new habit, such as fitness, to stick! It the meantime, fake it till you make it!

Fall Bootcamp is Monday!

6 week fall bootcamp starts Monday, September 20th!  Be there!!  Check out the bootcamp page for more information!

Who wants to be the Biggest Loser??

The Biggest Loser competition is back and about to start!  Ready to shed some pounds and make a lifestyle change?  And just think, you still have time to complete your 2010 resolutions!  Winners based on the largest percentage of weight loss, so it is OK for men and women, heavy & kinda heavy, etc..  to compete against each other and it is beneficial for all!

Dates:
Tuesday, September 7th - December 7th (12 weeks)

$50.00 Entry fee due at first weigh-in.  Singles competition, so you only have yourself to rely on!  MANDATORY weigh-in on Tuesday, September 7th at 6:30pm in the health room, which is above the H.S. gym.  Must weigh-in at the same time as everyone else for the 1st, mid, and final weigh-in, unless emergency! 

Must be an "all natural" weight loss.  No HCG diets or anything like that.  You are on your honor system, as I am not going to do a pregnancy test! :)   

Email me at: fsquaredfitness@gmail.com to sign-up!  Show up on Sept. 7th and weigh in!  Lets get healthy!!

Running for $$

Just a little reminder, Join us Saturday, June 12 for The Run for Education. Information is available on the Run for Education page on the right side of this blog or just click here to download the registration form! Pre-register BEFORE June 1 and save money and guarantee a shirt if you are ordering one! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at: fsquaredfitness@gmail.com .  All the proceeds go toward a scholarship fund awarded to 1 or 2 graduating seniors (depending on the amount raised).  I hope you and your family join us to help raise as much money as we can!

Run For Education - June 12

Finally!  The Run for Education information is here!  Click on the Run for Education page on the right or click here to get more information!  Pre-register BEFORE June 1 and save money!!  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at: fsquaredfitness@gmail.com .

Wasteful Wednesday - 3/31

First off, I am sorry this post is late AND I missed last Wednesday!  Just flew right by me!  I am glad to report that last Wednesday, I was wasteful free!  But... this week I am not.  I had a hard week with produce.  Must be that time of the year because my produce has been starting to go bad FAST!  So this week it was basil, salad and tomatoes...  Darn it too, since tomato prices are getting up there!  And I do have to say, I am a bit of a salad snob, so if it starts to go bad and get little bits of slimy lettuce, it is gone!  Maybe some of you would have still eaten it but I couldn't do it!  And basil!  I love basil!  I just put it in the drawer and it got hidden by other stuff and I totally forgot about it until it was too late!  That makes me so mad!

On a different note, Amy Pavlock and I are teaching a "bootcamp" class Tuesday-Fridays for about 6 weeks and so far so good!  2 classes down and we have a lot of sore campers!  But they are enjoying it and say it is challenging, yet fun and motivating!  So that is good!  If you are interested, there still is time to join.  Just contact me and I can get you signed up.  There is a link on the blog telling you more about it or click here... 

Have a great day and a great weekend!  Get out and do something that raises your heart rate and makes you sweat!!  It is good for you! :)

Spring Bootcamp has arrived....and golf too!

Amy Pavlock and I, have teamed up to bring you a great fat blasting "Bootcamp" to get you in shape for summer fun!  Amy, is new to the area and has 10 years experience as a Mixed Martial Arts school owner and head instructor and holds National and World Championship titles.  She has also trained National Champion athletes.
We are making the bootcamp program available to you 4 days a week to help you achieve maximum results.  No more excuses!  So, get off your butt and check out the details.  Click the link on the right that says Co-Ed Spring Bootcamp to get all the information!  Email us if you have any questions or want to register! fsquaredfitness@gmail.com

ALSO, I am going to be running a Golf Conditioning Program on Wednesdays, starting March 31 for 4 weeks.  It is a great opportunity for you to get your body into a more flexible, functional golfing machine!  Click on the link on the right that says Golf Conditioning Program to learn more about the details.  Don't wait!  You will regret it after that first round of the season!

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -Mahatma Gandhi

I just got an email with this video link attached to it. I love Jamie Oliver, (also known as the Naked Chef) so I decided to watch it. I am so glad I did as it was very inspiring. If you have children, are grandparents, aunts, uncles or family of any sort, or just love children, you need to take 20 minutes to watch this video. But, then WE NEED to respond. As adults, it is our responsibility to teach our kids; our future, the proper way to stay alive. Because if we don't, the next generation is going to be way worse off than the generation we are in now.

As Gandhi said: "You need to be the change you wish to see in the world".

Lower Body Blast

Ready for a lower body workout that will test your muscles? Remember, the majority of your large muscles are located in your lower body and working them really burns some major calories! Plus, working these muscles in a functional way, will help you in daily activities like squatting to pick something heavy up, any lifting and twisting action, pulling weeds (hello hamstrings!), even just getting out of a chair. So lets get going!

AFTER WARMING UP (see warm-up post):


1. Wall Squat - 12-15 reps - 2 sets --- Grab a large Swiss ball, (also known as an exercise ball, stability ball, etc.) and place it between you and a sturdy wall. Place it on the lower part of your back. Feet shoulder width apart, hands straight out in front of you, or if you want a little bit more of a workout, grab some dumbbells and hold them to your side. Make sure the dumbbells are on the heavier side like 10 lbs or more. Squat down making sure your knees are not over your toes, with weight on your heels of your feet.



2. Standing Calf Raises - 20 reps- 2 sets --- Grab a set of heavier dumbbells and stand tall. If you have a platform that you can stand on and let your heels hang off of that would be even better to use. Raise up onto your toes as far as you can go and lower down as far as you can off the platform edge or if you are on the ground, back to the ground. Continue to lift and lower and you will feel a burn in your calves!



3. Alternating Legs, Reverse Lunge - 15 each leg - 2 sets --- Stand with feet together and take one step backward with one of your legs and drop down into a lunge. Make sure your front knee is over your ankle and not your toes. You should feel your muscles in your front leg working. Your back leg is there just so you don't fall over! Use the front leg to stand up and bring that back leg back into standing position. Reverse legs and repeat on the other side.

4. Hamstring Roll Outs - 12-15 reps - 2 sets --- Grab a stability ball and lie on your back on a mat. Make sure the ball is also on the mat so it doesn't slip out from under you. Place the stability ball under your heels (heels on the top of the stability ball with legs stretched out). Lift your pelvis off the floor and hold up. Tighten your hamstrings, and roll the ball toward your butt. Roll back out without lowering your hips. Continue to do this for 12-15 reps.

5. Adductor Squeeze - 15 reps with hold - 2 sets --- Keep that stability ball! Lying on your back, put the stability ball between your legs between your knees and ankles and squeeze to hold in place. Lift your legs up trying to keep your legs as straight as you can. Squeeze the ball and release. Don't let the ball drop!! Repeat for 15 reps, and after 15 hold in a squeeze for 10 seconds.

Remember, this is not a full body workout, just a short lower routine. In a different post, I will add some upper body exercises that we can add to these to make it a full body workout. And there are a bazillion different exercises you can do if you are focusing on lower body... Do some research on the links I provided on the home page (ACE, IDEA, Oxygen, etc.). They are loaded with information and details on how to do the moves properly! Now get going!!

Warm-up that body!

Make sure and do a warm-up first! We have to get the blood flowing to these lower body muscles and get them warm so you don't pull anything. Some examples of a warm-up are:

*Controlled high-knees ~ 30 seconds
-Like you are in a high knee march. This warms up the hip flexors, core, knees.
*Controlled heels to butt, also known as butt kickers ~ 30 seconds
-Try to hit your heels to your butt area with out stressing your knee. Warms up your hamstrings, and quads.
*Jumping Jacks or Modified Jacks (dont jump off floor and one leg "jacks" at a time)
- Full body warm-up
*Repeat above for a total of two times. Then do a little bit of dynamic stretching:

-Roll upper body down to touch toes and roll back up into a back bend. Repeat a few times.
-Stand tall with feet a bit wider than shoulder width. Slowly lunge to one side and then the other. This is a fluid, controlled movement. Repeat 3 or 4 times and feel the stretch down the inside of your legs. Hold to one side and stretch, and move to the other side. and hold.
-Stop in the middle roll up slowly again to standing position.