Smoothies for Optimal Health

I never had a session of exercise, either biking, a long walk, hiking, yoga, weight lifting, or running — that I regretted.

Even though I might not have felt like doing it when I started, I never thought to myself, “I shouldn’t have gone for that bike ride” or “It was such a bad idea to take that yoga class!”

On the contrary, I felt much better after getting my body moving.  In fact, on the days that I had the faced the most challenges in getting started with my exercise, those were the days I felt the best post-exercise high.

It is a basic human need to exercise every day.  What you’ll discover once you make a commitment to exercise is that you’ll be more hungry for natural, whole foods.  That plate of pasta won’t be quite so appealing and the slice of pie will turn you off.  But that bowl of billowing fruit will call you with it’s siren song.  So earn your meals and your rewards with exercise.

Is it any wonder that hunger is widely recognized as a sign of health?  Lack of appetite is widely recognized as a sign of ill health.  And the best way to cultivate true hunger is to engage in vigorous exercise.

So make a commitment to get your body moving for 20-30 minutes every day.  Do it today!  Your body will thank you for it!

I read a fantastic article today that I just had to share excerpts with you.

Maybe, like so many women, you sometimes wonder why you should bother with strength training.  If you’re serious about ditching the flab and strutting a trim and slim bod, strength training is the only way. Why? Because strength training doesn’t just burn calories while you are exercising, it increases your muscle mass, which helps you burn more calories all day. What’s more, strength training gives you great curves, super posture, better bones, and even provides a lot of the same benefits as aerobic exercise.

Metabolism Magic

Strength training works because making muscles fires up your metabolism and keeps your body running at its fat-burning best. Every pound of muscle on your body burns between 30 and 50 calories a day — even when you’re sleeping. Every pound of fat burns only two to five calories. Women often blame their weight problems on sluggish metabolisms when what’s really to blame is their lack of muscle.

Consider this: If you gain 3 pounds of muscle and burn 40 additional calories per pound, you’ll burn 120 additional calories per day, or 3,600 calories per month. At that rate, those 3 pounds of muscle will burn off 12 pounds over the course of a year.

Read the full article here

The Pushup Challenge continued today.  I decided to give my body a good rest as I overdid it a bit last week :-)  Back to the challenge today with Day 2 of Week 1.  It felt good to be back at it after a three day rest.  Not sure when I’ll get Day 3 in but I’m sure I’ll squeeze it in somewhere.

Week 1, Day 2 saw me perform the following sets of pushups with 90 seconds rest between sets:

Set 1: 10 pushups
Set 2: 12 pushups
Set 3: 8 pushups
Set 4: 8 pushups
Set 5: max (at least 12 pushups)

The first set was my warmup set.  I think I may have to work in a few minutes of light cardio before I start my next scheduled workout as I could feel that my muscles weren’t quite warmed up for the first set.  As I mentioned one Day 1, I found the “rest” time much more challenging than the actual excercise so I decided to use the rest time to work other muscle groups.  As I felt my muscles needed warming up, my first rest period was 90 seconds of marching in place (I would have opted for jumping jacks but my honey-man has company tonight and they’re downstairs jamming while I’m upstairs sneaking in a workout).

The second rest period saw me doing some squats and the third rest period crunches.  My last rest period I actually took as a rest.  Not that I needed it but thought I’d save my energy to pump out my last set of pushups.  I managed 13 and could have squeezed out a few more but could hear the guests coming up the stairs to check on me so stopped before I was fatigued.

Day 3 will probably be on Friday or Saturday.  I know it sounds like quite an extended rest period but I do have a scheduled training session with my personal trainer on Thursday and we always do pushups so I need to schedule the challenge around his training sessions so that I don’t strain myself as I did last week.

Overall, it’s easy peasy so far.  I suspect Week 2 may be where I start to feel challenged.  Looking forward to it!

It’s Thursday!  That means I get to workout with my personal trainer, David Maughn.  Yay!

I love Dave and I trust him to help me achieve my fitness goals.  Week after week, I practically bounce to the gym because I’m excited to see how far I’ve progressed since our last session and how much further I can push myself than when I train alone.  It’s funny but knowing that he’s there to catch a weight should I start to struggle means that I won’t roll my eyes or tell him he’s crazy when he hands me a weight I think I can’t handle.  Because I trust him to know what I can and can’t handle and to be watching to make sure that my form is correct and that I don’t get sloppy when I get tired.

Today’s workout was fantastic!  I was a little sore though from my pushup challenge workout yesterday so I’ll have to rethink the days I do them so that it doesn’t interfere with my training sessions with Dave.  I could feel a pull across my chest on my left side when we were doing my second set of chest exercises today so we modified the rest of the routine to cut out chest exercises.  No point in risking an injury.  It’s too bad though - because I really love pushups and chest exercises!

Today’s routine was a full bodyweight circuit.  18 exercises!  I love the days where we do 18 different exercises.  Love the breakup in the routine.  I’ll post the workout today with a disclaimer: I’ve been working out with Dave for over a year so this routine is not for beginners.  If you’re interested in getting a routine that’s customized to your skill level, then be sure to visit Dave’s website to find out how to get in touch with him.  He’s online at http://www.davidmaughn.com

Deborah’s Customized Workout: December 4th, 2008

Bosu Push Ups: Balance a bar across the Bosu and perform your pushups.  Adding the bar (you can use one of the barbell bars minus the weights) increases the instability of the exercise, forcing you to engage your core more to maintain stability.  I managed to perform 25 pushups.

Dual Cable Row on the Bosu: Again, you’re engaging the core by standing on the bosu.  And by squatting (which of course I had to do!) you engage even more muscles. Total weight on cable 35 lbs (so 17.5 lbs each side).  I performed 20 rows.  Had a bit of Elvis Leg going on by the last three reps.  That usually means I’m forgetting to breathe. 

Bosu Crunches:  I have amazingly strong ab muscles.  Why?  I don’t know but Dave is always trying to find exercises that challenge me as I usually don’t feel my abs engage for a long time.  Crunches on the bosu is one of my faves as my abs get tired much earlier than any of the other exercises we’ve tried.  Mind you, I am getting better at them.  I don’t feel fatigued until later now and can go longer.  And if my honey-man gives me one for Christmas, Dave’s going to need to find another challenge.  Did 30 reps.  Didn’t feel them until 20.

Stability Ball Bench Press: Haven’t done these in a while.  We used to do them all the time until I started getting bored with them.  It’s probably been close to seven months since we’ve done this exercise.  I used to balk at the 20 lbs dumb bells.  Well now I can do 15 reps with 25 lbs dumb bells and it’s almost too easy-peasy.

Smith Machine Pull Ups: Probably the hardest exercise I do.  It’s still challenging even after months and months of pull ups.  We’re working towards my self-identified goal of being able to do unassisted chin-ups.  Some weeks, I’m not sure we’ll ever get there! LOL  On a good day, I can do 14 pull ups.  On a bad day, Dave starts assisting me around rep 7! 

Stability Ball Knee Tucks:  I hate this exercise.  Not because it’s hard but because I never feel it in my abs (and it’s an ab exercise!).  So we’ve replaced it with knee tucks on the Roman Chair.  Same movement but for some reason much harder. 

Platform Push Ups:  More push-ups.  This time off a step platform.  We do a bit of P90X type stuff, involving more than just the main muscle group.  I start with both hands on the platform, move the left hand off, move the right hand off, do my press-up, move my right hand onto the platform, move my left hand onto the platform and repeat 20 times!

Seated Torso Twists:  Grab a stability ball and hold it out in front of you while you twist to increase the challenge (and work your arms a bit too!).  My arms get tired long before my abs do.  And Dave gets tired of counting reps so we stop at 30. 

Seated Lat Pull Downs:  One of the few exercises I do on a machine.  This week we did close grip pull downs (palms facing me) with 60 lbs for 15 reps.  Needed a bit of help around after the 10th rep. 

Bench Step Ups:  I have a few alignment issues which have caused one glute to become much stronger than the other.  A few of the exercises we do are supposed to correct that problem.  My left glute doesn’t fire and my hamstring compensates which leads to pain at times in my left hip flexor.  So the past month, I’ve been focusing on being aware of what muscle groups are working when I do an exercise.  I need to lean forward before I step to make sure that I’m engaging my glute.  12 reps with two 15 lb dumb bells.

Reverse Hyperextentions with Bench:  I love this exercise because for some reason, I feel so graceful doing it.  I balance on a stability ball on a bench, gripping the front of the bench lightly to ensure stability.  Then I raise and lower my legs for the hyperextension.  Makes me feel oddly graceful and I’m pretty sure it’s because it reminds me of a warm up exercise we used to do in ballet class.  20 reps on this one.

Glute Stability Ball Curls & Kicks:  Another exercise on the stability ball.  Lying on my back with my heels on the ball and raised into a reverse plank (so lifting my glutes off the ground).  Curl the ball in and out for a count of 15, maintaining raised position and then doing 5 kicks / leg lifts off the ball.  Repeat three times. 

Front / Back Travelling Lunges:  With two 15 lb dumb bells.  Travel forward for 12 and back for 12.  For some reason, going backwards is much more physically demanding though my form is better.  Go figure!

One-legged Travelling Good Mornings:  Another exercise designed to correct the issue with my left glute.  It’s actually one that I searched out on Google and mentioned to Dave.  We added it to my routine. 

Roman Chair Lift:  No knee tucks this time, straight leg lifts.  Much much more challenging.  I can usually squeeze out 15 but I really have to work at them. 

I guess that makes 15 exercises but I know we modified the routine due to the tightness I was feeling in my chest.  Already looking forward to next week.  Can’t wait to see what Dave throws at me then!

I know I said I was going to be starting the challenge on Friday but I’m just so eager to get started that I decided to start today.  In my initial test, I pumped out 20 pushups.  I wasn’t at the point of muscle failure when I stopped but was starting to feel a pull in my right shoulder (I had bumped up my weights at the gym yesterday and was feeling it) so I stopped.

20 pushups put me either at Week 1, level 3 or I could have started at Week 3, level 2 as know I could have squeezed out a few more reps had I not been worried about my shoulder.  I decided to start with Week 1 simply for the fact that 20 was the amount I was able to complete yesterday… no cheating

Week 1, Level 3: 
Today I am challenged to complete 5 sets of pushups with a 60 second rest in between as follows

Set 1: 10 pushups
Set 2: 12 pushups
Set 3: 7 pushups
Set 4: 7 pushups
Set 5: max (at least 9 pushups)

The challenge was relatively easy.  I didn’t really start to feel it until the 5th set where I managed to squeeze out 10 pushups!  I concentrated on my form.  I noticed that my left hand tends to turn in a slight bit when I’m in pushup form.  I’ll have to keep an eye on that and concentrate on proper alignment.  I also focused on keeping my core tight and concentrated on what muscles were being challenged.  By the 5th set, I could feel the muscles in my back engaging and in my chest so I knew fatigue was starting to set it.  I could also sense that I wasn’t dipping as deep as I lowered myself to the ground and had to mentally remind myself to bend my elbows (my trainer Dave will be happy to know that I hear his voice as I do so!). 

My heart rate did increase as I performed each set which is another sign of fatigue.  While I did rest for 60 seconds between each set, I thought that a really ineffective use of my time.  I think I will do some jumping jacks or marching in place or even squats between sets on Day 2.  It’s hard to just sit around and do nothing.  LOL

It’s been about 15 minutes since I completed the sets and I can feel a bit of fatigue in my upper tricep - almost where it meets my arm pit.  I think it’s called the long head.  I always get confused as to which of the three tricep muscles that is but it is the one that I know needs the most work so I’m happy that I feel fatigue there right now.  I may not be so happy tomorrow when I’m training with Dave and he wonders why I can’t pump out as many pushups as I normally do but for now, I’m happy to be targetting a muscle group that needs a bit more support.

My shoulders feel great.  Completely recovered from yesterday.  And my biceps already feel stronger!  Chest isn’t fatigued at all but I’m sure that will come. 

Tomorrow I work out with my trainer and will most likely be doing more pushups though I should probaby tell him about the challenge and let him know that I did 45 today!  He may give me a rest day on pushups tomorrow.  We’ll see what happens.

The buzz about this program is building steadily.  I just committed to the challenge and did my evaluation test.  Pumped out 20 good form pushups (guess I should have skipped my chest routine at the gym today to have increased my results).  I sent the challenge on to my honey-man who said he had no time to do the test - as he headed out the door for a smoke break. 

You can follow the challenge as well at http://hundredpushups.com 
Connect with me here and let me know how you’re doing. 

According to the results, if I had pumped out one more pushup, I could have skipped to week three.  Good thing I quit when I did :-)  I want to experience the full program.  I’m setting aside three days a week for the program.  You’re to give yourself a rest day between days of the program so I won’t be starting Day 1 for a few days yet.  I’ll give it a go on Friday. 

My first day will have me completing five sets of pushups with a 60 second rest in between.  I should be able to pump out approximately 45 pushups which is what I currently do at the gym with my trainer so I’m not anticipating any problems.  Mind you, Thursday is my training day so unless there’s some fatigued carried over, I’ll be good to start on Friday.

Looking forward to documenting my progress for you. 

I just realized that I’ve been back at the gym full time for an entire year.  I’ll confess that I’ve been a gym rat for most of my adult life.  I’ve had a gym membership since I was sixteen years old and, except for a five year hiatus when I first moved in with my honey, I’ve pretty much been a regular gym goer.  Anyway, I started back at the gym a year ago and celebrated my year anniversary with a fitness test. 

So I had my fitness test and ranked above average (yay me!) and of course made a few a few more new friends among the staff (those of you who have known me a long time will remember that some of my best friends owned a gym!).  One instructor even told me that I had a lot of knowledge about fitness and nutrition.  D’oh!  Guess with all those years of working out, hanging with fit and healthy people and reading anything and everything about the subject — something stuck!

When I first started learning about fitness and health, I was surprised by the amount of contradictory information you had to wade through to get to the truth.  So here are some of my favorite myths that I’ve busted by doing a little research and talking to the right people.

1. You can turn a pot belly into a six-pack just by doing crunches.  I’ll admit I’ve watched my fair share of late-night commericals and have even purchased a few fitness videos for my collection.  One thing I never bought into though is those commercials that guarantee miracles with rollers, chairs, crunchers, and various other contraptions.  They all promise a Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston six-pack in just minutes a day.  Let’s get something straight.  If you’re starting to look more and more like Homer Simpson as the years fly by, it’s going to take more than rocking back and forth a few minutes in a modified lawn chair every day to see any results.  No matter how ripped your ab muscles are, if they’re covered in inches of fat, no one’s ever going to be able to appreciate them.

2. You can lose weight just by dieting.  This one’s my favorite.  It’s technically true.  If you don’t eat or eat less, you will lose weight—initially.  But after you’ve lost your water weight and dropped a few pounds, you will plateau as your body readjusts its metabolism to survive on fewer calories — making it even more difficult to lose weight!  There are no quick fixes when it comes to weight loss.  If you really want to move the needle on the bathroom scale in a meaningful way, it’s going to take diet and exercise.

3. If you don’t exercise every day, you might as well not exercise at all.  While some form of daily exercise is ideal, studies have shown tremendous benefits even with as little exercise as a 30-minute brisk walk three times a week.  Don’t think you have to be sweating it out to the Oldies every day of the week.  I exercise daily but when I started, I started with three 30-minute sessions.  You’ll find that once your body gets used to exercising it will crave more of it!

There are more but those are just my top three favorites.  Now I better lace up my sneakers and head outdoors for a run in the rain!  See you soon!

I love yoga!  Whenever I need to take a mini-break in my day or need to recover from a hard workout at the gym, I’ll pop a yoga DVD into the player and stretch and breath the stress away.  If I’m pressed for time, I’ll surf over to YouTube and do a quick ten minute session with a few of my favorite instructors.  One of the videos I refer to often is Rainbeau Mars’ Yoga Workout.  Give it a try next time you need a change of pace in your day.

Adidas Women Rainbeau Mars Yoga Workout Part 1

My cousin is good friends with Trish Status of Stratusphere Yoga.  She just let me know about their Fall Open House.  If you’re in the Toronto area on September 27th, be sure to stop by! 

We are having an OPEN HOUSE at the yoga studio and we want you to come!
 
The Village at Vaughan Mills is having a FALL SIDEWALK SALE from 1-5 with lots of fun stuff
• Inflatable bouncer rides for the kids
• We’re doing free massages, and yoga demos
• Plus, there will be all kinds of deals from the stores in the plaza - all furniture decor (Urban Barn, Leon’s, La-Z-Boy, Casalife)

And after the stores close, we’re going to hold FREE yoga classes:
 
1. Yoga for Guys Who Like Fries: An all guys class. don’t have to worry if you don’t know what you’re doing, prep level, I promise you you’ll get a good work out class
2. Basic Yoga: A basic level class, just get a good sweat for an hour
3. Storytime with Trish: While you do the class, leave the kids with me and we’re going to read a yoga book and do some fun poses
 
www.stratusphereyoga.com
905-760-YOGA