Fit Tip

I am a true example of "summer lazy" since I have fallen behind on my blog posts!  Yes, that does imply that I've been vacationing, enjoying family and friends, but most of all, exercising and balancing fun/work/fitness along with the heat.

Please mind the heat!  I have taken my exercise sessions to 20 minute bouts and found a great sweat and the lovely high we feel from endorphins; those days that are just too exhausting to bang it out, I'm practicing yoga or Chi Quong.  I don't get that beautiful breathless sweat thing on, but I still am elated and set to move on to remainder of the day.

Continuing on with my Zen approach to fitting it all in, I purchased a Deepak Chopra meditation CD* from Amazon. My favorite and go-to affirmation is Fear.  This teaching emphasizes that we have only our self-doubt and egos to blame for failure; ego = edging God out.

This week make an effort to keep it all in check. Make time to honor your body by selecting healthy dining options, performing activities, and recovering/resting.


*Deepak Chopra The Soul of Healing Affirmations.

Fit Tip

This week add the Double Crunch to your workout "play-list."  I'm all about saving time and this move will hit both your upper and lower abs at the same time.

• Lie face up on the floor, legs fully extended.
• Place hands behind your head, finger tips touching, elbows out.
• Bend knees slightly and raise legs about six inches.  This is the start position.
• Slowly curl your upper body off the floor, lifting your shoulder blades and raising chest toward the ceiling.
• At the same time, bring your knees toward your torso, aiming knees to elbows and hold briefly.
• Slowly return to start keeping feet off the floor.

Remember that you can do all the ab work in the world and never have flat abs without sticking to clean eating.

Fit Tip

Found yourself busy stress eating lately?  Warmer weather can exacerbate negative emotions.
Next time you get a hankering for a giant frozen coffee menagerie when someone in the office (check-out line, commute, house) gets under your skin, take one second to check the calories.  Knowing exactly how many calories you are about to consume may stop you from heading toward the drive-through.
Check out Calorie King for a fairly comprehensive list of sneaky treats and (bonus!) the workout plan to negate those calories. 
Many outlets now offer nutrition information on their home pages so if all else fails, take a peak there.  If you are already in line, don't fret, just check for an alternative treat and place that order asap.

Realizing how many calories you're about to consume could me all the information you need to save time at the gym later!

Fit Tip

Don't do anything else once you have convinced yourself to go to the gym (park, home gym, streets).  Just get with it!  Make up your mind to do at least 15 minutes; you'll feel better.

Fit Tip

I'm again reminding folks to honor this weekend's holiday and make it your goal to engage in some healthy activities while having fun!  A great way to build strong muscles and core strength is through Yoga.  Search for a class at your gym, park, rec center, or grab a DVD and enjoy activating your mind, strengthening your core, and stretching out the seasons kinks.  A quick you tube search will land you on many examples of yoga sessions of all types and times.

Heroism ... is endurance for one moment more.George F. Kennan

Fit Tip

Great news for this Monday!  The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research has reported that 16 oz. of coffee consumed about an hour before a workout can help you lift more.  Caffeine blocks the signals of pain and fatigue that muscles send to the brain.

Say Hello to the office coffee maker before you jet to the gym at lunch or after work today!

Fit Tip

Nothing works better than your mind for providing a base for a bad, good, or great experience.  Remember to use your head when hitting your workout this week:  put together an encouraging mantra to repeat while you work.  Select words that illustrate how you want to perform, how you want to think of yourself, and as always, be specific.  Get yourself going and use this encouraging phrase at all the moments your really need it!

Fit Tip

I'm not really a big Cameron Diaz fan but she's been getting a lot of press lately due to her new book and the release of a new movie.  I came across this quote from her book "Cameron's Body Book" and clipped it out.

"Discipline isn't about denying yourself; its about giving to yourself.  It isn't about losing; its about gaining.  Everyday that I get up early..to go to the gym, even if its difficult and I'd rather stay in bed, I think about what I will gain from going and what I'll lose if I don't....Discipline is always a gain in the tally of life."

Shift your focus this week to gaining when you tackle choices and decisions.

Fit Tip

Vow this week to drink one more glass of water and eat one less sweet each day.  Don't enjoy a daily sugar rush?  Pick your guilty pleasure and drop it this week.  BTW, include fruit on your list of treats!

 

Back away from the Easter Basket!

Fit Tip

Take a moment at the end of this week to clean up your "space."  If you have a messy desk, cluttered closet, or maybe you live out of the car, spend a few minutes tidying up; you might find yourself cleaning up your diet as well!  When life is more organized, there is time to contemplate and prepare healthier food choices (and maybe that candy bar from 2013 won't be hiding under a stack of folders!).

Fit Tip

Scissor Kick

works hips, inner and outer thighs, upper and lower abs

 

 

Lie in a crunch position with hour hands behind your ears and shoulder blades elevated.

Raise legs off the floor six inches and open them to a "V."

Cross left leg over right, then right over left while maintain the crunch position.  This is one rep.

Repeat for two sets of 25 reps.

 

For an extra kick, try this move while lying in your bed before you get up tomorrow! One move, serious results!



Fit Tip

We all do it!  Sitting at your desk all day, shoulders hunched, head jutted forward, scowl on your face and there is a name for why you feel the way you do after only a short time at the office:  upper-crossed syndrome.  By creating this environment for your muscles, imbalances in the neck, chest, shoulders, and back are occurring.
Try at YTA just at your desk a couple of times throughout the day to work out that kink. 

• Stand with feet hip-width apart.  Keep abs tight and bend at the waist slightly.
• Lift arms in front and just to the sides of body at a 45 degree angle, keep thumbs up, and squeeze your shoulder blades together (Y)
• Move arms straight out to sides keeping thumbs up (T)
• Lower arms to sides of body with thumbs up, retracting and depressing shoulder blades (A)

Move at a slow pace and repeat for two sets of 10 reps.

Fit Tip

This week while lifting, when you reach failure point, put the weight down, rest for 10-20 seconds then pick up the exact weights and push out two or three more reps.  Rest-pause strategies will overload your muscle and potentially lead to more growth. Bring on swim suit season!

Fit Tip

Don't be stuck in a rut!  If you are like me, you often search and look and read and study trying to find the perfect solution to fitness questions only to waste so much quality time just muddling through a bunch of stuff.  Everyone has an opinion and a solution to our questions.

This week, try to use your own mind/body/self as motivation.  You know what you want and I'm certain you also know how to make it happen.  

Go get it!

Fit Tip

Cut down on the number of decisions you have to make every day and your willpower muscle will automatically get stronger.  Prioritize that list of things to do and focus on less than 6 chores for the entire day.

Fit Tip

"Debating whether or not to workout takes a lot of mental energy," says Charles Duhigg, the author of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. "But when it happens routinely, like taking a Spinning class every Tuesday and Thursday, and you don't have to think about it, it's not so taxing."
To start a new exercise habit, pick a time when you'll be able to workout consistently, like first thing in the morning. "Studies show that people who exercise regularly do it at the same hour every time," Duhigg says.
Also, build get-moving prompts into your day. If you go for a run right after waking up, "put your workout clothes near your bed, where you'll see them first thing," Duhigg suggests. Finally, give yourself a little reward every time you finish a workout. "  Make sure it's something you genuinely enjoy," Duhigg says. That will trick your brain into associating the rush of pleasure that comes from a treat, like a coffee after your morning run, with exercise.

Borrowed from Fitness, originally posted January 2013

New year, new Fit Year

Be SMART about planning your year.    Write down a plan of attack and as always, put it somewhere that will be visible regularly.  Plan your goals to be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant (or realistic!)
• Time bound