Cooling Down!!

How many of you hit a workout hard, take a lap around the gym while you catch your breath, and then jump in the car to head home?  I will admit there are times I am guilty of that. Most of us don’t want to stay at the gym any longer than we have to. But not cooling down can end up causing you more issues in the end.

Avoid Dizziness

When you exercise, the heart works at a higher rate to pump blood throughout the body. Since most exercise includes the lower body, the blood will be pumped more to the lower area. If you stop suddenly, the blood pools in the extremities causing an insufficient amount of blood to get back to the brain. This causes dizziness.

Avoid Soreness and Recover Faster

After a shorter more intense workout, your body gets full of waste products (lactic acid) and toxins. Cooling down helps circulate oxygenated blood through your muscles, helping remove the waste. This will reduce the potential for DOMS (delayed onset muscles soreness) and help you recover faster.

How to Cool Down

-          Row! The rower is a great cool down tool because it is total body. Do 10 min at a slower pace

-          Jog/Walk/Bike/Jump rope. Again, 10 min at a slower pace.

-          Stretch – hit all major muscle groups

 

Enjoy Life - Workout!

Mandy

 

Tips to Get and Stay Fit

Mandy’s Top 5 Tips For Getting and Staying Fit

1)      Set a realistic goal. Realistic is the key word here. If you are 100 lbs over weight, then your goal should be to lose 25 lbs, not 100. If you shoot too high right away you will never feel like you are succeeding.  When goal setting think about the following subject and where you could improve.

-          Strength

-          Percent of body fat

-          Eating habits

-          Cardio health

-          General health (go get a physical)

2)      Surround yourself with friends and family that are supportive! If people around you don’t think you can succeed, that will rub off on you. If your friends are always trying to talk you in to cheating on your diet or skipping a workout to hang out, they are not good friends and need to work on their own issues.

3)      Focus equal attention to nutrition and diet. Some people say diet is more important, but I feel they complement each other. When you are eating healthy foods, you energy is higher and you feel better about working out. When you are working out, you want to keep your diet clean.

4)      Keep it exciting! Keep a list of all the things you enjoy doing. When you find yourself in a rut, look at the list and mix it up. If you get bored, it will be easier to skip a workout or start heading back down the road of excuses.

5)       Speaking of excuses, STOP!!! All excuses are bullshit and will only hold you back. Yes you can make time to be healthy. Yes you can afford to go walk in your neighborhood. And no you don’t have to sacrifice time with your family. Why? Everyone in your house should be active. Find things you can do together.

Enjoy Life - Workout!
Mandy

Home Workouts

Some people like working out at home. They have control over their schedule and they don’t have to make a special trip to get to the gym. I am going to give you a few works you can do easily from your home or office.

Step 1 – purchase a jump rope and a set of dumbbells from 5-20 lbs. depending on your ability. Make sure you get a good jump rope, not one that is an actual rope that you can barely swing around.

Step 2 – Purchase my 50 workouts you can do from home. Come on you can afford it. I just saved you $350 in a gym membership J. For $25 you can get 50 workouts. For $30 I will throw in a Brick Schick House t-shirt! I also tell you which days to workout, which days to rest and how to incorporate cardio.

Step 3 – Do the workouts at a high intensity. These are meant to be exercises that build muscle and burn fat. You won’t do that if you are taking your sweet time with them.

Step 4 – Get great results and feel good about yourself. I promise if you follow my program you WILL see results.

Here are a couple sample workouts.

1) Jump rope for 5 min as a warm-up

    As many rounds as possible in 10 min.
    5 push-ups
   10 DB push press
   15 sit-ups
   20 air squats

2) 3 rounds for time

    Run 400 meters (.25)

    15 DB Squat-Curl-Press

    15 Bench Dips                                                 

    15 Lunges (15 each leg)                                                                

Enjoy Life - Workout!
Mandy

 

Sprinting

Weight Loss

Studies show that sprinting burns fat 9 times faster than slower cardio. This can and should be done in intervals (a sprint followed by a walk or jog).  Sprinting also raises your metabolism, which allows you to also burn fat when your body is at rest.

Aerobic Endurance

Although sprinting is an anaerobic activity, it can also be effective at improving aerobic activity. As you improve, you will be able to work at a higher intensity for a longer amount of time. This means more calories burned!

Athletic Performance

Athletes who sprint will see an increase in speed, endurance, agility and overall strength!

Sprints don’t require any equipment and can be done anywhere. So there shouldn’t be any excuses J.

Here are a few sprint workouts:

1)      100 meter sprints

10 x with 30 rest between

2)      200 meter sprints

5 x with 45 sec rest between

3)      400 meter sprints

3 x with 1:30 min rest between

4)      30 sec sprint followed by 30 sec walk repeat for 20 min

 Enjoy Life – Workout!

Mandy

Are flip flops bad for your feet?

No more flip flops? L

I have to admit that I love my flippie floppies. Especially when I am on a boat.  But they are not always the best for you.

Reasons Flip Flops are bad for your feet.

1)      They don’t give you much arch support, which causes your foot to over-pronate (turn in) or to over-supinate (turn out). This can cause pain in the heel, arch, balls of the feet and even the toes.

2)      You end up gripping your toes to keep the darn things on.  Making your feet work that hard can cause soreness.

3)      No ankle support, which means you are more likely to sprain your ankle.

4)      It can cause hip and low back pain. Normally people with flip flops shorten their step. This isn’t good for full hip extension.  

Why you should wear flip flops.

1)      It’s hard to be in a bad mood when you are wearing flip flops J

You will have to make this very difficult decision for yourself.

Enjoy Life - Workout!

Mandy

Hamstring Basics

The Hamstring is made up of 3 muscles, the semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and the biceps femoris.

There lots of reasons we want strong hamstrings.  For athletes it helps with acceleration, deceleration, speed, and strength. For the rest of use, it helps prevent injuries, especially in the knees.  The hamstrings help absorb stress that is placed on the knee when walking, running, or doing everyday activities.

I have talked about this before, but don’t forget to stretch those hamstrings too.   Tight hamstrings cause the hip and pelvis to rotate back, which flattens the back and causes pain. This will also have an obvious impact on your posture.

The easiest fix is to focus on stretching out your hamstrings on a regular basis. Both dynamic stretching (Yoga, walking lunges, leg swings) and static stretching (sit and reach) with improve flexibility.

Here are a few exercises to strengthen your hamstrings!!!

SIngle Leg Touchdown = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GafJ9wVIMMA&feature=plcp

Ball Hamstring Culrs (more advanced) = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN7elkWOziw&feature=plcp

Lunges = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8fDeCpeJ3Y&feature=plcp

Bridge (beginner) = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBgH7OzAuII&feature=plcp

Jump Jump!!!

Want to get some definition in your legs? Or maybe you want to add strength and power. Well, take advice from Kris Kross and Jump Jump!

Jumping works all of the major muscle groups in the legs. Because it works so many different muscles, you will also be less likely to get injured during activity. It will help you add strength, power, speed and agility. It will also get that heart pumping to burn more calories.  

Another great thing is that you don’t need any equipment. You can do them in the comfort of your own home or yard. Here are a few of my favorites.

Jump Squat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbVigSc5KY0&feature=plcp

Jump Slit Squats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQk3J5iijTk&feature=plcp

Lateral Bench Jumps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU7g78IHY2Y&feature=plcp

Do each of these for 30 sec then rest 1 min and repeat. Do them at least twice a week.

Enjoy Life - Workout!

Mandy