Plank Challenge

So I hope I'm not the only one who fell off the workout regiment a little and is struggling to find the motivation to get back after it. I loved the squat challenge and I felt like it was a commitment that I kept up with so I decided to start that challenge again but to also do it hand-in-hand with this Plank Challenge shown below for core strength. What are you guys doing to push yourself to get back into the swing of things?! I need suggestions!

100's Challenge

This past weekend while I was in Palm Beach, I asked my trainer to send me some workouts so I didn't slack off and one of them that she sent me was this 100's Circuit Challenge. When I first saw this challenge, the triple digits alone made my body hurt but I decided I should give it a try and although it was definitely tough I shocked myself with being able to get through it a lot easier than I had anticipated. I got through this in under 20 minutes, time yourself and see where you end up:

1) 100 Squats with Shoulder Press using 5lbs

 

2) 100 Deadlifts using a 45 lbs bar

3) 100 Sit-Ups

4) 100 Forward Walking Lunges

5) Wall Sit with Bicep Curls using 5 lb weights- this was the most difficult to get through the 100

 6) 100 Wide Mountain Climbers - get into a plank position and then bring your right knee to your right elbow and then do the same with the left side. This exercise obviously cannot be done at the speed as regular mountain climbers but still try to have a quick pace
 

 
 

Rise & Grind with Morning Sprints

With my goal of bringing more variety to my cardio routine as I said in my last fitness post, here is a morning cardio routine that I've done a couple days a week that takes less than 30 minutes. Something easily completed before work! Xo

TRX

As I said in my first fitness post, my fitness outlook and regimen changed March of 2012 when I met Meriah and started training with her. Even though I have changed a ton of my practices (including in the kitchen) if I had to pin point one thing in the gym that was a huge game changer for me, it would be TRX. I had never even seen one of these before and I would have never guessed that ropes with stirrups could be a complete body workout! I would attribute any definition that I have in my core, arms and back to TRX. TRX forces you to lift your own body weight and your form is essential. I could do countless posts with tons of exercises that you can do with TRX but here are 4 exercises to start you off.

So to start I think the most elementary in an Inclined Squat. Stand at an angle on your heels and drop your booty as if your sitting below chair level. Then pull yourself up with your arms and squeeze your glutes as you stand. For more of a challenge, try this but making it a squat jump.

 

 

The next one is the V, T, Y, I - The easiest way to describe this is that your body will be making each of these letters to count as 1 rep. Start with your feet flat on the ground (arms in front of you), still with your body at an diagonal angle and push your arms down towards your body outside of your thighs so that your arms form a downwards V.

 

This picture above is what I refer to as "start position" for VTYI

 

Then lean back into the starting slanted position and pull your body up by stretching your arms outwards on either side so that your body forms a T shape. 

Then lean back into starting position and raise your arms up and pull your body up so that your standing straight up and your arms form the shape of a Y

Lastly, return to starting position and then pull your body to a stand but have your arms positioned straight up in the air so that your body forms an I

 

The third and fourth exercises are for your core. The third exercise is a Reverse Crunch. Place your feet into the handles/stirrups and you raise your legs in the air so that your body is in a plank or wheelbarrow position. Then curl your knees into your chest while simultaneously tucking your chest and neck into your core and repeat 20x.

 

 

The 4th exercise is the Pike. Start with your feet in the handles again and resume the wheelbarrow position. Then keeping your legs straight, lift your butt into the air as high as possible. Once you reach as high as your body will let you, drop your legs back into wheel barrow position and repeat 20 times. A tip here for proper form is to lift your head so that your back doesn't round down too much.

If you don't see this in your gym, ask someone that works there because normally this is something that only trainers bring out for specific client training sessions. Give it a try and let me know what you think! You can't see it in these pictures but these ropes look like a hanging harness and it has to be attached to a high stabilized bar.  I will post more TRX workouts in the future because the options are ENDLESS and the results are amazing!

Meriah & Steph Collaboration Post: Deadlift Continuation

Meriah is in NYC for two weeks from Denmark so we met up this week to train together :) Last week when I posted about the 2 most elementary Deadlifts, she messaged me right away saying we should take this a step further and do a collaboration post with other deadlifts, because deadlifts are number one in her book! So we did just that :)

Like I mentioned in my first post, you can use a variation of weights to do your deadlifts, but the best in my opinion for the most basic deadlifts would be to use a barbell. In this case, we were working out at the gym in my building so we used a regular bar to demo.

To review the Romanian deadlift, slightly bend your knees and sit your hips back- keeping your back flat. Keep your hands positioned on the bar in alignment with your legs, shoulder width apart and go down to your shins and repeat.

  

The next that Meriah is doing is the Wide Grip Deadlift. This is an easy modification and pretty self explanatory. Grip the bar as wide as you can and do the same Romanian Deadlift motion as the first exercise. This grip is for your upper back and it allows you to go deeper into the dead lift.

 

The third deadlift we featured is the Sumo Deadlift with High Pull. For this exercise Meriah used the kettlebell. Stand in a wide stance with your feet turned out at an angle. Have a close together grip with your arms inside of your knees. Pull the weight up so that your arms form a V underneath your chin and your elbows are pointed in the air.

 

The last exercise is the Single Leg Deadlift. This exercise is done with dumbbells. Start standing with the weights by your side. Lean forward, holding the weights in front of you and simultaneously lifting 1 leg backwards in the air. Start by doing 10 on the first leg and then switch to the other & do the same.

 

Let us know if you guys have any follow up questions! :) - Steph and Meriah

Deadlifts

The 30 day squat challenge that I posted is everywhere and social media has really taken off with showing the amazing results. An update/next step to that would be a dead lift challenge. There is a debate as to whether squats or dead lifts are better but honestly they both make for amazing results and I think they should be done in tandem. There is no way I would know what a dead lift was if it wasn't for having a trainer. Deadlifts are most known for targeting and lifting your glutes/butt/ass/cheeks but this exercise actually strengthens 6 other areas: hamstrings, upper back, lower back, shoulders, quads, and abs. There are two major types of dead lifts that I do- regular Deadlifts and Romanian Deadlifts. If you don't already do these you should try to incorporate them in every workout you do.

For Regular dead lifts or "stiff leg deadlifts" you can use a dumbbell or separate hand weights. When women are doing high reps with weights, they're limited with how much they can increase the weight but deadlifts are definitely an exercise where you can challenge yourself and really increase the weight. In these pictures I only used 20 lb weights for higher reps but when I use a dumbbell I lift a lot more.

 

Staring in a standing position hold the weights, lean forward and have the weights follow your legs down to your shins while keeping your legs as straight as possible. Then lift back up, squeezing your glutes and repeat for the appropriate amount of reps to the weight you are lifting

Looking at this picture, my knees should honestly be less bent but my legs were so tight when I did this and I should have stretched out more before working out 

For Romanian Deadlifts, start in the same starting position but as you start to bring the weight down to your shins, bend your knees. For this type of deadlift, you should be going closer to the floor and stick your butt out more. Once again continue this for as many reps relative to the weight you are lifting

 

Both exercises are really simple but the results are unreal. For me, having bad knees - deadlifts are less painful than squats but like I said before you should really be doing both instead of one over the other

30 Day Squat Challenge

In preparation for an upcoming Miami trip, I decided to try a 30 Day Squat Challenge. Doing little challenges and setting goals helps me stay on track and hold me accountable. At first I was gliding by thinking this was going to be a cake walk. I wanted to challenge myself further so I decided I would do the squat challenge with weights. Then- I hit Day 17 with 150 squats and I hated myself. Days 17-21 were rough and then I found myself becoming stronger and today marks Day 29! My second to last day - have you guys done any similar challenges? I'd love to try them out so please share them. This challenge is great because it offers break days for your body to recover. I'm not sure my bod looks like the picture below yet HA, but it every bit helps

Meriah's #1 Cardio Recommendation

 

Ain't that the truth. 

First things first, if you're serious about getting into shape, I strongly recommend buying a Heart Rate monitor. It tells you how much you're burning, and if you're peaking in your fat-burning zone, especially important during those cardio-focused workouts. There are all different types, but the best ones come with a wrist-watch and chest strap. Most even come with a software program so you can log your results. Its almost like having a trainer. You could use it throughout the day, like pushing yourself to get your heart rate up during a mid-day walk…. But if you're just starting out, you can go with a basic version, because they can get a little pricy. I recommend the Polar brand.
Now, as far as the best cardio machines, of course they're not the easiest, but that's what makes them so powerful, and helps you make the most of your time.

My #1 Pick:

Indoor Rowing Machine (Concept II Rower)

In addition to attaining a high level of fitness, rowing is an intense calorie-burner!
Indoor rowing primarily focuses on your cardio, with a good workout consisting of a moderate, steady 20 minutes (although a great goal is 2000 m, under 10 minutes).
But once again, *interval training* will maximize your results - because rowing also works many muscle groups throughout the entire body "anaerobically", giving you more bounce per ounce.
And - Bonus: Unlike high impact exercises, like running, which can damage your knees, rowing isn't so rough on your joints :)

How to Include the Rower in Your Fitness Routine:

On weight lifting days, I like to use the rower as a warm-up if I don't feel like running. Five minutes on the clock, or 1000 m (or 1 km), and Im ready to go do some damage.
The rower can be used in your circuit training, where you jump on for a quick 200 m, or a 45 second blast, then hop off and go for a set of push ups or KB swings.
Something fun I tried yesterday was doing a mini-triathalon, because I need to get my cardio back up. So I started with: 2 km on the treadmill, then 2 km on the rower, and finished with 5 km on the bike. Followed it up with some TRX suspension training - I haven't had such a great workout in a long time!

Remember these tips when you go for your next session, and let me know how it works for you.

In my next post, Ill get into my 2nd favorite cardio machine, a killer for burning some serious calories, while sculpting sexy legs, and a tight lifted butt… can you guess what it is?


 

Ankle Weight Circuit for Home

Just like the last workout I posted, I am always looking for quick simple circuits especially ones that you can do in your tiny NYC apartment if you can't make it to the gym. So that's literally what this post is about - an ankle weight circuit done in my apartment ha. I used ten pound ankle weights- even putting on one, it's amazing what a difference it feels like carrying that extra weight around. Here are 6 ankle weight exercises that I would split into 2 circuits (3exercises in each)

Circuit 1- do 20 V-ups which essentially is a crunch but your legs and arms never touch the ground. Crunch like the top picture and then extend your legs and body out and repeat 20 times

 

30 Glute Kickbacks - (15 per leg) on all fours, take one leg and tuck your knee to your chest and then extend it  up in the air

 

 For the last part of the first circuit do 40 Side Lying Hip Abduction Raises (20 per leg) - rest on your side and open your leg up and down falling 3 inches short of the floor.

 

Repeat this whole circuit 3 times

For the second circuit, start with 40 high knees (20 per leg)

Then do 40 Crabwalks (20 per each leading leg) - get down into a mid squat position and keeping your knees bent, take a side step- continue to side step for 20 paces and then return 20 paces with with opposite foot leading.

For the last exercise of the 2nd circuit, lie on your back and do 20 leg raises so that your butt is off the floor and your legs lift up and down.

 

Repeat this circuit 3 times. Let me know what you guys think of this workout and ignore the fact that the ankle weights make it look like I'm wearing those furry muk-luks that Snooki and Jwoww wear ha

Get Your Circuit On

Those that know me really well, know I've always made time for the gym and fitness. To be honest, I've always struggled with my weight and had to put a huge effort in the gym to maintain as well as watch what I eat. I saw my first nutritionist when I was a junior in high school and I have had trainers throughout my whole life. It's no secret that rent/life in New York City is anything but cheap and people are forced to pick and choose where to spend and save their money. Having a trainer is a huge financial commitment but I am a firm believer that it's a great investment. I met my last trainer a year ago at NYSC and she changed my outlook on fitness and my workout approach completely. Like many New Yorkers, I struggle to find the time while juggling work and a social life. Meriah trained me in a way that I was able to workout for a shorter amount of time with less cardio and more weights. Most girls get in the gym and immediately hop on the treadmill (this was me for yearssss) but weight-loss results happen much quicker when you're lifting or doing floor exercises. I was of the mindset that I just wanted to be skinny but after a few months in of training with Meriah, I started to get definition in my arms and back and it definitely changed my view and fitness goals.

We would do 30 minute circuit training sessions and the results happened fairly quickly (but not overnight). Circuit training is great because you take 3 different exercises ex: pull ups, push ups, and kettlebell swings - and do each exercise for 20 reps and then do the whole circuit 3 times. You should be working so fast that the cardio is included. A typical workout should have 3-5 different circuits which means you do between 9-15 different exercises. Circuit training also allows you to plan your workouts prior to going into the gym so that if you're training by yourself you can be purpose driven. When I workout by myself I always write workouts down on the notepad in my phone so I have a routine that I'm following and I don't give myself an excuse to leave.

Summary of the story is, if you're struggling the way I have with making time for working out before or after work, I seriously recommend adjusting your finances to invest in a trainer. It's a guarantee that they will push you harder than yourself and not only that but having someone else depend on you to be on time and for their finances really holds you accountable to get your @$$ to the gym and do it consistently. It's important when finding your trainer that you can find a certain synergy. Since I met Meriah last March, I have probably only missed a handful of days at the gym. She gave me exercises that I could do in a hotel room when traveling for work and taught me the power of giving your body natural energy from working out when you feel run down and exhausted (so much of it is mind over matter).

To bring the story to current day- Meriah ended up moving to Costa Rica for the last 3 months where she participated in 2 amazing Yoga training programs. She is moving to Denmark on Sunday but will occasionally be guest blogging about health and fitness on my blog :) Meriah set me up with my current trainer who I am also really lucky to have! Her name is Nadine and she is actually training to run in the Olympics for Haiti.

 

Here are some of the results I've had - cut me a break on the picture quality and my hair, it was taken at 6am!

 

Here is an awesome picture of Meriah showing off her yoga strength in Costa Rica