311/365 Pilates: a Core Exercise

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Once upon a day in November I wrote about Pilates. Here is a core exercise from Pilates you can mix into your abdominals routine.

1. Start by laying down on your back. Press your lower back into the floor by tucking your tailbone under you. Extend your legs and arms straight up. Lift your shoulders off the floor.
2. Lower your legs down to about 45 degrees while making a circle with your arms. Start with arms straight out, over your head, and around to your sides.
3. Finish the move by tucking your knees in and touching your hands to your ankles.

In health,

Lauren

309/365 Strengthen Your Core with Good Form

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Lots of people have asked me about exercises for your core. While there are tons of exercises out there, the most important thing that I've found is that good form usually means that you will also be working your abs.

Our trunk keeps us balanced. Raise your arms up by your sides so that they are parallel to the floor. Now, keep your arms straight and quickly clap your hands together. Bring them back out. Did your core move? Did you lean back a little when you clapped and lean forward when you brought your arms out? Do it again but this time focus on not moving your trunk at all.

Ta da! You just did an ab exercise! Though this doesn't target your abs directly like a crunch would, it is a functional way to work your body. Take this focus on keeping your trunk steady into any exercise you do. Whether it's curls, rows, shoulder presses, lunges, whatever, make sure that your trunk is locked in place. It'll allow you to better target the muscle you are working on and strengthen your abs.

When you think about the muscle you are using to contract, you work harder. You will feel greater intensity in that muscle even if it's the same amount of weight you've been picking up and putting down.

In health,

Lauren

301/365 Turbo Fire: Kickboxing + Dancing = Cardio Fun

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Poor Kelby has heard me talk about Turbo Fire for the last couple months. It's a DVD set by Beach Body that I've been wanting to try and considering to purchase. Finally I was actually able to try one of the DVDs thanks to a gym member. Today's 10K Training assignment was to do 60 min of cross training; hello Turbo Fire!

The gym member Erin advised me to take the Fire 30 class because it had the "New to Class" tutorial. Needless to say, I was a little lost when I did Fire 45 (I wanted to get closer to the target 60 min), a 45 min class you do later in the schedule when you already know Chalene's routine. Still, after a few repetitions of her combos I did get the hang of it and really had a fun time. The music is hot and makes you want to move. Chalene is super pumped, smiling, and able to motivate you throughout the whole thing. It is a fun mix of kickboxing and dancing. I didn't realize how much I was sweating, how red my face was getting, and how hard my heart was pumping until it was over.

After my 10K, I've decided to switch gears and get Turbo Fire for my next exercise regiment.

In health,

Lauren

299/365 Spinal Balance, 2 Variations

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Balance is super important for daily living especially as we get older. I like throwing in this Spinal Balance exercise at the end of my workout for one final burn in my shoulders and core.

The first example is your standard Spinal Balance.
1. Start with your knees under your hips and hands under your shoulders.

sorry for the crazy bottom image!

2. Extend your right arm forward and your left leg back behind you. Try to reach forward and up as much as possible without dropping your form. You will get the most benefit from any core exercise by keeping your core engaged and locked while doing whatever else with your appendages. From here you can squeeze elbow to knee and extend again or simply switch sides.

The second example is a challenging variation. You'll feel it in your hips and it will burn your shoulders and core even more.

1. Start in your Spinal Balance

2. Once you've held your extended arm and leg comfortably, rotate everything 90 degrees. Your right leg will now point to the right wall and your left arm will point to the left wall. Hold this position for 3-5 deep breaths.

3. Repeat on the other side.

In health,

Lauren

284/365 Spring Workout: Legs, Shoulders, and Core

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Truth be told, my workouts for these Wednesdays of legs, shoulders, and core changed from week to week. This was mostly due to me being dissatisfied with what I made and introducing sprint intervals to my treadmill routines. This is the workout I enjoyed the most:

Wednesdays
Deadlifts
Squats on Smith Machine
Lateral Flys
Y-Press-Down (illustration to come tomorrow)
Bicycles
Figure 4 Abs
V-Sits

I repeated the legs exercises 3x12, shoulder exercises 2x10, and core exercises 2x25. You of course should listen to your body and decide how many sets and reps you do should you decide to try out my spring workout.

In health,

Lauren

246/365 Kettlebell Toss for Hamstrings

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Kettlebells are a super fun way to switch up your free weight routine. Since kettlebells are weighted on one side with the handle on the other, you lengthen your lever (your arm) to make exercises a little more challenging. Plus, kettlebell moves often involve you throwing the weight or gripping it in a way you can't easily do with dumbbells. Here is a fun exercise for your hamstrings, core, shoulders, and eye-hand coordination.



I tried drawing a paint image of it but, it just wasn't working out. Basically, you want to make sure the power is coming from your hips, your arms are doing minimal work but they are still obviously involved with the move. Keep your core tight while doing this move to maintain balance and control of your center. To skip his instruction (quite helpful for all the pointers on alignment and how the motion works), fast forward to 1:58.

In health,

Lauren