Blog Archives
Get Fit with 5-Minute Workouts
Got 15 minutes? How about 5?
Sure you do! You waste that amount of time creeping people’s facebooks. Well, I have good news! Steve Pfiester created a 4-week workout program for Designer Whey made up of simple fast and effective 5-minute workout segments.
Although we have a lot of people who jump right into an intense workout program without even blinking an eye, many people would rather ease their way into a program. Basic Training does just that – it builds in intensity and time each week. Plus, Basic Training is truly a basic program, meaning it’s built on simple exercises you can do at home.
Scared to commit?
Just give me 3 days!! This week’s workout is only three 5-minute workouts: Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. Below is the first 5-minute workout, Alpha. Complete the following exercises for 45 seconds on and 15 seconds off, counting each repetition as you go. Write your reps down on this Basic Training Tracking Sheet. Follow the video to get further direction.
- Push Ups
- Sit Ups
- Burpees
- Air Squats
- Jump Rope
ALPHA:
Get More
Learn More about Basic Training
Join Designer Whey’s Newsletter to get more tips and workouts
Get Recipes for Designer Whey Smoothies
Get Nutrition Tips with Dr. Melina
Shop Designer Whey products
Like this:
SPRING Into SPRING Workout
Gone are the wintry days when you could camoflauge your pasta bloat with an oversized, flannel onesie. Warm weather begs you to shed those layers. But first, shed some layers of fat with this plyometric (a.k.a. jump-training) workout, led by FitStudio’s own Steve Pfiester.
Instructions
Repeat each couplet three times.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH AND/OR FOLLOW STEVE THROUGH THIS WORKOUT
Like this:
So You’ve Gotten Out of Shape Again?
This blog is for all of you who have slipped away – the backslidden gym member, client, runner, athlete or dieter.
You’ve probably heard of the return of prodigal son. It’s a story of a son who, after making a ton of mistakes, comes home to his father’s open arms. The same way people backslide in life spiritually, people backslide in fitness. You may have once been that girl or guy who was doing all the right things. Then life happened, and it pulled you away from your ideal way of living. The question I ask is not how you got there, but what you are going to do about it now.
Definition of Backslide: 1.) Drop to a lower level, as in one’s morals or standards. 2.) Lapse into bad habits 3.) To revert to wrongdoing
You Can’t Hide Forever
I run into people all the time, who were once members of our gym, or did a boot camp, and the first thing they do is explain why we haven’t seen them. They begin vomiting excuses and beating themselves up for their weight gain, as if I am judging them for backsliding. Puhlease! If this is you, I will NEVER judge you for gaining weight or not going to the gym. I’m no better and I struggle just like anyone else. It’s not my job to judge, it’s my job to encourage you to return and embrace you when you come back.
Quit Beating Yourself Up
Most people have already beat themselves up for so long on their own – they don’t need other people to do it too. It’s a waste of time and energy on past decisions. People need to be received, encouraged, loved on and reminded that they succeeded once before, so they can do it again – and most people will be so excited to see you “back”, they will take you any way they can. This is especially true in positive environments like a gym or church. They are both in the healing business.
Stop Running
Unfortunately, it seems people will avoid the people and places they need the most during these times. Maybe it’s fear people will “remember when” they were more fit, but that is your own guilt haunting you – not their condemnation. You know good and well, they’d LOVE to see you back in the gym and support your decision to get back on track. The past is the past, and all that matters is what you are doing this very minute.
The fact of the matter is you know what’s best for you. You know when you were the happiest and healthiest. You even know what needs to be done to get back there. The only thing that maybe holding you back now is pride.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2
Maybe it’s time to suck it up, put your pride aside, and go back “home”. Whether that is a gym, trainer, workout program, running routine, or diet support group – NOW is the time. Don’t say “tomorrow”. Don’t say “next week or next month”. Don’t say “when my son/daughter is…”. Don’t say “when I can…”. NOW is the time. NOW is always the RIGHT time.
*Thank you Rich Chaffin for inspiring my blog today. As always, scripture has the ability to hit home in more ways than one.
Subscribe to my blog for more tips and encouragement. 
Like this:
Hips Don’t Lie
Shakira’s song, “Hips Don’t Lie” has a whole new meaning when it comes to dieting. It does seem every time I over-eat it go straight to my hips and with hip hugging jeans filling my closet, this could be a problem.
I don’t remember my hips being such an issue in the past but, then again, I didn’t realize how low “low-rise” jeans had gotten until I tried on an old pair of jeans that zipped up to my belly button. I remember wearing cropped shirts with jeans and never worrying about my “love handles”. Now I know why – they were covered up! With hip hugging jeans still being the trend I’m afraid we will be seeing a lot more of these dreaded love handles whether we like it or not.
You know what I’m talking about. Our youth today wear their hip huggers proudly even if they have too much hips to hug. Of course there are ways to still be stylish and hide the hips but the real answer is to lose the overflow.
1.) Diet – You have to reduce your calories if you want to reduce your hips. Diet is honestly 80% of the work. If you don’t know how many calories you are taking in, then you are guessing your way around things and guesses don’t always work.
2.) Cardio – The more calories you can burn, the better. Melt fat off your body with a treadmill or elliptical cross trainer, or high-intensity aerobics classes.
3.) Functional Training – The more functional training (boot camp, plyometric, multi-movement exercises) the more calories you’ll burn, the more you’ll sculpt your entire physique and the more you are working stabilization muscles around the joints too. This helps you tone ALL your muscle and not just the isolated muscle bellies – like your biceps.
4.) Train your Patience - The #1 thing you can work on is learning to be patient. If you do the above 3 things, you WILL get results. Sometimes, if we carry fat in an isolated area (like the hips, butt or belly), they are often the last to go – BUT they WILL go!! Be patient and know eventually your hips will show your success. And if they don’t – then remember, “Hips Don’t Lie” – they will tell on you in a heartbeat! So, if they are still too big, so is your caloric intake.
DO BCX BOOT CAMP ONLINE At FitStudio.com FREE! www.FitStudio.com. Get 6 workouts a day for 4 weeks – including video demonstrations and daily emails and encouragement. Do BCx just for fun occasionally or do the entire 4-week program and track your progress and connect with other online BCxers in the BCx Forum. Find us on twitter too at www.twitter.com/DoBCx
10 Super Simple Tips to Cut Calories Comfortably
Say THAT 5 times fast!! “10 Super Simple Tips to Cut Calories Comfortably, 10 Super Simple Tips to Cut Calories Comfortably, 10 Super Simple Tip…” Sorry, couldn’t resist! Sounds like a tongue twister – hard to say! But there’s nothing hard about applying these tips! They’re truly Super Simple!
You’ve heard the saying “don’t sweat the small stuff” Well, that shouldn’t apply to calories if you are working your butt off to burn them. Small stuff adds up QUICK!
As I was pouring my coffee this morning, I started to read the back of the label to my powdered flavored coffee creamer. It’s only 35 calories per serving and I convince myself that I don’t use much since I don’t like my coffee that sweet. However, I realized I went through one in about a week and a half so I did the math. 35 calories times 60 servings for the whole container equaled a WHOPPING 2,100 calories!! That’s nearly 2/3 a pound I COULD have LOST, not EATEN!
So I continued to really make it sink in by finding out how many calories that would be for the year if I had one every other week. 54,600 CALORIES!! That’s 15.6LBS from 35 calorie coffee creamer. So I instantly decided I like my coffee black. haha Not really, but you bet your bottom I’m going to be using a LOT less of it!!
Here are 10 ways to cut calories without feeling deprived:
1.) First, ask yourself if you REALLY MUST have that one food item. If it’s not something you absolutely love and look forward to, cut it out completely.
2.) If you REALLY love it, don’t cut it OUT, cut it BACK. I love my coffee. Personally, I’d rather cut something else out of my diet to make room for it – but I do plan to use a little less creamer and be more aware how many calories I’m actually getting per day from it. Read the rest of this entry
Like this:
The Fat Burning Zone Lies
I just received a facebook message question about their “target heart rate”. I believe this is one of the most deceiving fitness principles so I’m going to attempt to explain exactly what the “target heart rate” is and the truth (more like a lie) behind the “fat burning zone”.
Learning Your Maximum Heart Rate
You may have heard the term, Maximum Heart Rate, but most people have no clue what that is. We see stickers on treadmills saying “65% of your maximum heat rate”, but that’s basically a foreign language to most people. Here’s the answer: your maximum heart rate is always 220 minus your age.
My Maximum Heart Rate is: 220 – my age (_____) = ___________
The Fat-Burning Zone
The quote unquote Fat Burning Zone is 65-75% of your maximum heart rate. This is the zone where your body burns a higher percentage of calories from fat. This is where I start getting mad and here’s why. Stay with me. We need to work through this math so you can follow me here. Trust me – it will be worth it! Read the rest of this entry
Like this:
Fitness: The Need for More than Motivation
I recently did a survey on facebook asking “What do you need most: Motivation or Education?” The answer was Motivation – hands down.
This speaks very loudly to me. As a girl who loves to motivate and encourage people to chase their fitness dreams and make it through each day, it made me wonder what I can do to help. Are my blogs and posts helpful? Do I make a difference? Can I encourage these people any more than I already try to do? What can people, like myself, do to motivate America? (Yes, I’m still working on world peace too) ha!
Well, one thing it does tells me is people know what they need to do. I know I write a lot of tips and educational blogs to help people “get” fitness, but the results of this survey tells me people already know they need to eat less and workout more. However, everyone overanalyzes things, searches for quick fixes, and waits for people to just ‘tell them what to do’, all to avoid the inevitable – actually WORK. Read the rest of this entry
You Can’t Hit High, If You Aim Low – Rethink Your Fitness Goals
“A person may aim high and hit low, but he never hits high if he aims low.”
Do you think Aimee Mullins (pictured left) aimed low? It’s obvious she set her sites high and it paid off. She easily could have slipped into depression and allowed her disability to define her. Instead she defined herself and has been named as one of Esquire’s “Women We Love,” one of Jane magazine’s “10 Gutsiest Women,” one of Sports Illustrated’s “Coolest Girls in Sport,” and was celebrated as the “Hottest Muse” in Rolling Stone’s annual Hot List.
As I read the “aim high” quote, one of my grandmother’s favorite quotes in her handwritten book of quotes, stories & scriptures she gave me on my wedding day, I was inspired and perplexed all at once. How dangerous is it to aim low? It sets you up for failure, slows success, sabotages true happiness, causes depression, suppresses hopes and dreams, and literally causes people to be physically unhealthy – especially when their dreams are to BE healthy. So, why do so many people choose to aim low at all? In the fitness world, I think this answer is easy: Read the rest of this entry
Q&A: Staying Focused on Weight Loss
Q. Can you give me some tips on how to stay focused on losing weight?
A. Sure! This is actually much easier than you think. Since weight loss is determined by calories in vs. calories out, the way to stay focused on losing weight is to stay focused on your calorie intake. Here are a few tips.
Before you can focus on a calorie, you have to understand how each calorie affects you. It takes 3,500 calories to lose one pound of fat. This means if you are currently maintaining your weight, and were to decrease your caloric intake by 1,000 calories a day, you would lose a pound every 3 ½ days. If you want to lose 2lbs a week, then simply take your goal and divide it by 2 and you will have an idea of how many weeks it should take you to reach your goal. For instance, if I wanted to lose 20lbs (20 divided by 2), it will take approximately Read the rest of this entry
