This weekend:
You never know what you may find on the other side.
Now that you are motivated here is a workout round up of what is floating around this week:
Tone it up: Under the Sea workout
Meals and Moves: Calling all recruits
A couple FitFluential Ladies:
Lindsay’s: Friday flow
Tina Reale: For the Love of Supersets
I think this quote Hillary from Nutrition Nut on the Run posted on her site fits this time of year perfectly.
Be proud of your story, where you have been and where you’ve yet to go.
This year is winding up, be proud of all you accomplished and look forward to a New Year with many more. P.S.- not skipping over the holidays, there is a gift idea below.
With that in mind, my story has included gaining and loosing weight throughout my life, as well as working as a personal trainer in my late teens. Oh yes, I have been a gym rat my whole life. Sometimes I look it, sometimes I don’t. 
So, I’m always looking for new workouts to avoid getting bored.
This book by Women’s Health Magazine is a goldmine of information.
There are great variations to the standard strength training exercises, great pictures with good form, and a whole bunch of workout programs.
The programs are great. Sometimes (or most of the time), there are those days where you want a great workout, but you don’t want to think. These programs are perfect, and you can perform most at home.
It’s a great holiday gift for under $20 for yourself (wink, wink), or your loved one. I found it on amazon, check it out at my “I want” page.
One of the keys to my mental sanity is working out. My husband knows. If I miss too many sweat sessions I suddenly find myself wearing my mean girl pants. And I’m a NY Italian. Enough said.
There are so many great things you can do to keep your body and heart in shape. With the expansive internet you can find a variety of workouts you can do at home or in a gym. But how do you know if they are good, or safe for your body?
I see so many people in the physical therapy clinic with injuries from a one time incident at the gym or in a class. Or, the injury occurs from the repetition of performing a workout that wasn’t so great for their body over and over again. It’s somewhat of a catch 22, you need ( yes need) to workout, but you don’t want to over do it, or perform exercises wrong.
I’m going to add another component of Body Tips, and have a workout review and add in a playlist.
Here are two Glute routines. One is for the gals by Women’s Health Magazine and one for the guys from Men’s Fitness.
Up first is the Women’s cause the model shows much better form, and actually I would recommend this one for both genders over the Men’s Fitness but I’ll get to that.
It’s quick and dirty, targets the main muscle groups of the Lower Extremity in 20 minutes, or 7 exercises, plus you will definitely get your heart rate up on this one. Nice bang for your buck. This routine is for the advanced exerciser. This risk of performing some of these moves if you aren’t strong enough yet, there is potential injury to the knees or low back. So if you are a beginner stay tuned, I will review one soon.
If you are an intermediate, you can perform these exercises without the dumbbells. This routine also has a video for extra instruction. This lower extremity strengthener would be good to supplement a running program to prevent any knee injuries.
Ok, the Men’s. Exercise one of this routine has potential for back injury if you arch through the back to bridge up. I would substitute that one with exercise 7 from the gals, which will reduce your likelihood of injuring your back. Exercise 2 of the Men’s form could be improved, the knee is way over the foot. A good exercise though. Keep the knee more perpendicular to the foot by taking a larger step back. You might need to use a lighter weight then you would think. Exercise 3 from the men is ok, just make sure not to arch the back with this one.
Here is a 30 minute play list from Rockmyrun.com, The Sun Run. Great motivating mix that I actually do listen to on my morning runs. The length of this playlist should be perfect for the 20 minute glut routine.
I am having a cliche’ title week. Sigh, sometimes I fall prey to mainstream cheesiness. What can I say? Except Sundays are great days to strength train. Before we start the muscle burn I will answer two common questions regarding strength training:
1. Why should I strength train?
Research states starting at the age of 25 we steadily loose muscle mass. Yes, 25 folks. Now at this young tender age the percentage of muscle mass loss is very small. But, as we grow older into the wise decades of 70s, 80s and 90s the percentage loss rapidly increases each decade exponentially.
Research also states one of the biggest preventative ways to slow down this rapid decrease of muscle strength is to perform resistive training. let me put this in other words. You want to strength train so when you are 75 rocking on your front porch, kicking back having a margarita on a Tuesday afternoon. Your leg muscles will continue to be strong enough to assist you in standing up from that chair without pain, or you will not be dependent on another person to help you. Strengthening for this age group also prevents falls which can lead to fractures and all kinds of other issues.
You say yeah, yeah, yeah, but I’m in my golden years how does strengthening benefit me now? Resistive training will also help to prevent injuries, and pain or help to reverse an painful issue currently occurring. There are a lot of postural syndromes occurring in the work force and mom force these days from sustained positions and repetitive motions. Just like the hip flexor stretches I showed you help to reverse a sitting position. Strengthening will help to maintain an improved postural position, or just help to decrease the wear and tear on your joints by maintaining proper alignment- in a nutshell. For specific issues you should be evaluated by your Physician or if you are in a state with Direct Access, a Physical Therapist.
2. Where do I start?
Form, Form, Form. Ironically, I do see a lot of gym rats in my clinic from over exercising or strength training with poor form. If you have never strength trained before it is a good investment to see a personal trainer. The will help to get you started safely. make sure they have their certifications though! ACE, NSCA (this is what I have), ACSM are good certifications. Always go with the philosophy if it hurts don’t do it. I am not talking about muscle soreness here (nice try), I am talking about sharp, shooting or joint pain.
But you do not have to shell out your hard earned dough to get strong and protect your joints. You can start with water bottles and cheap resistive bands, or even use your own body weight to start. There are a ton of U tube videos out there. Some are better than others. Make sure the video you are following is made by some one with a License or Certification. This will help to prevent injury.
Back it up
Enough talk, show me the money. Here is a progression of an excellent back, glutes, and hamstring strengthener. Try the first picture, if you have no pain, and it is super easy then you can try the next. If you have pain don’t do it! You can modify these strengtheners by how long you hold them, or by how many repetitions you perform. They are great for protecting your back if you sit for work, or help to prevent knee issues if you are a runner.
Lie on your back with your feet away from your hips, and directly under your knees. Keeping your stomach engaged push through your feet and lift your hips up. Keep your knees pointing forward (AKA don’t let them go in or way out to the side).
Hold for 5 seconds and lower slowly. If this is too easy extend a leg so it is even with the other knee, hold, and push through the foot on the ground. On this one make sure to keep your hips even. What I mean is, if you were to set a plate on your stomach, it should not fall off to the side. A good place to start with these are 3 rounds of 10-12.
So I’ve been thinking with all the great food blogs out there how do I find my niche? What can I bring to the table that’s different? Then I had a “duh!!” moment and decided- hey I can use my 8 plus years of education and over a decade of experience on the body!
So, now I’d like to formally introduce “Body Tips“. Some days you will receive a refueling recipe for the nourishing the body, or you will either receive a preventative wellness, or a general rehabilitation (rehab) tip for aches and pains. Other days like today you will get both! We will see how this goes. So if you have any feed back or suggestions please let me know.
I’m going to still through in the music bits here and there since this is just naturally ingrained into our lives.
Now onto the Body Tip and a delicious healthy sweet snack for today.
Body Tips:
What’s Better- Yoga or Pilates??
I’ve been getting this question for years. It doesn’t matter if I’m a Personal Trainer, Massage Therapist or Physical Therapist, I’ve been asked in all scenarios. And I’ve been doing both for years. My answer- drum roll….
Neither. Or at times Both.
It depends on your body, and goals.
Yoga 
has been around for centuries, and even the Americanized versions are wonderful. There are many types: slow and rejuvenating, hot, or strengthening, and of course meditative. I can highlight the differences in future blogs. You should research a class before you hop in so you know what you are getting into. Yoga is perfect for you if you are “tight”. However word of caution, there are a lot of classes that do not provide individual instruction. So, if you are tight and it is uncomfortable to stretch a tight area, you will move through and unconsciously stretch areas of the body that do not need to stretch because you will naturally avoid pain. (Whoa, that’s mind boggling thought) So use mirrors, and really listen to the teacher’s instruction. And always follow the philosophy if it’s painful don’t do it. I actually see a good number of people in pain at the physical therapy clinic from a yoga injury.
Downward dog- sorry couldn’t resist!
Pilates
has many forms and versions as well. There are the mat classes, or classes using the reformer or one on one sessions using the reformer, Cadillac or chair. Pilates is wonderful for strengthening and stabilization of your joints. Good for loosey goosey people like me. The one downfall is to get really good instruction it usually comes at a high price. I guess you get what you pay for here. Some videos for mat pilates are great, some not so good. Either at home or in a class, just be careful not to overdo.
Then of course there is the hybrid combo of yoga and pilates, which I find awkward
and forced at times. So what is your goal- to relax and unwind your mind and muscles, or lengthen while strengthening? Answering this question will help you decide- yoga or pilates for today? Yes, it’s not always I’m a yogi. Well I guess you are always a yogi, but this is a whole other conversation. Anyways, this is where you can follow the philosophy of living life in moderation. I am a student of both, switching it up week by week depending on what my body needs. If you swing the pendulum too far to either side you can end up in trouble.
Ok, time to refuel!
Chick Bars
This bars are from chicks to chicks, and as a bonus males enjoy as well! These are super easy to whip up, and are a great post workout snack. They are naturally a perfect blend of carbs and protein. It is also a great sweet craving filler without the excess sugar and fat. You can substitute for days when you just want cookie dough and not feel guilty (plus no raw eggs!!). @#4% What? Hold the phone.
Yes, I admit when I first viewed the recipe on Chocolate Covered Katie my original thought was, yeah I bet that’s a good healthy snack but could never replace the cookie dough attacks. Whoa, was I pleasantly surprised. I liked it so much I couldn’t decide between just keeping it in it’s “dough” form, or baking. So I did both . This time I modified and went a sweet almond/cinnamon route because I wanted a low sugar snack, but next time I am going to try the chocolate chips. The amazing thing with this recipe is there is so much you can do with it the options are endless. You can add applesauce, bananas, peanut butter and peanut butter chips. It’s up to you and how calorie dense or healthy you want to make it. PS still working on the pics….. It’s a large learning curve for me, apparently.
Chick Bars
2 Cans Garbanzo (chick peas) rinsed and drained
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp sugar free vanilla syrup
If it is too thick you can add in splash of almond milk.
If you want to make into bars set oven at 350. Then, throw everything in a food processor and start blending. Scrape out of the processor and put in a bowl and enjoy if you just want the dough. Or, place into a small 9×9 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. If you decide to bake only half like I did cut the baking time down to 20-25. Let cool for as long as you can keep your hands away . Enjoy after yoga or pilates!
