Lose that Last 5 Pounds

I was speaking to a large group of people this weekend and one thing I heard from a few attendees was that they were “stuck” trying to lose that last 5 pounds.

If this sounds like you and you need a little push to get the weight loss started again I have a few suggestions for you:

1. Write down your daily meal plan. Take a look to see if you’ve been sneaking a few “extras” in there subconsciously throughout the day. They can really add up over time…

2. I would also see if you can add just 10 more minutes to your workouts. I’m not asking you to put another hour or entire day in at the gym, but rather a few more minutes of high quality work.

3. Relax. Find a way to reduce inflammation and acidity in your body by destressing. You may take a nightly walk or even a yoga class to unwind. A lot of times when you’re stuck trying to lose weight it has to do with your body refusing to lose any more weight because of what is going on internally. Learn to breathe and relax.

I hope these 3 quick tips help and definitely let me know if you have any other suggestions or successes to share!

3 Progressive Ab Exercises

Today I want to safely guide you through 3 different exercises you can do to strengthen your abs and core before moving on to traditional crunches.

A good example of a level one exercise to master is the "plank." It's a powerful static exercise to engage your entire mid-section and tighten your waistline.

After you master the plank I would move onto an exercise called a "chop." This adds a little bit more of a dynamic movement where you're resisting rotation and as a result strengthening your core.

Once you master both of those you can try a more challenging traditional ab exercise called "reverse crunch" or leg lift.

Although I don't believe you need to do crunches or sit-ups to get great abs you should be more balanced through your core and lower back after mastering the previous 3 exercises and will now be more equipped to safely handle these types of crunching movements.

Don't Just Work Your Abs!

I know you want to work your mid-section to flatten your stomach, but did you know all those ab exercises can be bad for your back?

Every time you do a sit-up or crunch you are flexing your spine and potentially putting your back at risk. This doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t work you abs, but there is a right way to do it to stay safe.

One tip I like to give my clients is to choose an abdominal exercise to complete first and then immediately follow it up with a lower back exercise. That way there you will strengthen both the front and back of your mid-section and create a healthier and stronger core.

In my next post I'll show you 3 ab exercises to work your way up safely from beginner to advanced!

Bridging Workout for Your Glutes

In my last post I explained how to do a static bridge to strengthen your glutes and posterior chain muscles and today I want to give you a few variations on how to do that exercise:

Static Bridging:
• Hold for 30-60 seconds
• Rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1-2 more times

Dynamic Bridging:
• Lift your hips off the floor and then lower them to 1 inch above the floor completing 10-15 “up and down” repetitions
• Rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1-2 more times

Dynamic Ball Bridging:
• You can use the same form and technique as the static or dynamic bridge except you are keeping a stability ball under your shoulders and head while completing the exercise
• Complete either variation on the ball and then rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1-2 more times
• You can keep your arms by your sides, overhead, or folded across your chest

Enjoy the bridging workouts and feel free to add them to any warm-up or use them at the end of a workout when you’re exercising your ab and core muscles!

Exercise of the Week: The Bridge

The exercise called the “bridge” is a great posture to help realign your hips from sitting all day. It’s also fantastic for strengthening your glutes, lower back, and other posterior (back side) muscles. I often use this exercise as part of a dynamic warm-up to “wake up” the glutes and get them firing.

Here’s how to complete the bridge:
1. Lie flat on your back
2. Pull your feet into your hips
3. Lift your hips high off the ground into a full “hip extension”
4. Squeeze your glutes and hold for 30 – 60 seconds

Tips to remember:
1. Keep your feet, shoulders, and head flat on the floor
2. Make sure to keep your feet under your knees and not too far out in front of you
3. Breathe naturally throughout the exercise
4. Concentrate on squeezing your glutes together and lifting up
5. Start by keeping your arms by your sides stretched out straight – eventually you can fold your arms across your chest

This is an example of how to do a “static” bridge where you are not moving up and down. It’s the best way to start to activate your glutes and hip muscles. Once you advance up you can get into more dynamic bridging movements. In my next post, I’ll be back with a bridging workout you can do 1-2x a week!

30 Minutes a Day Keeps a Heart Attack Away

Did you know that just 30 minutes of exercise 3x a week can cut your risk of premature death by 60%?

Here are the study details:

After participants of this new study followed a walking, rowing, or jogging program for 3 months the Department of Cardiology in New Orleans were amazed at the results. Researchers from this study also believe that the exercise helped to decrease stress in participants with heart conditions, which in turn lowered their mortality risk significantly.

The researchers have noticed a connection that stress can quadruple your chances of an early death if you have a pre-existing heart condition. Personally, I think 30 minutes 3x a week is a fair trade of your time for the positive benefits you can get from exercise. Are you currently getting 30 minutes of exercise 3x per week? If so, what are you doing?

Source: The Department of Cardiology in New Orleans, American Journal of Medicine

The Most Effective Workplace Wellness Programs Do This

After studying about 38,000 participants researchers have found that employee wellness programs do work. It was discovered that employees were able to lower their cholesterol, decrease stress, improve absentee days, and increase their fitness levels through these programs.

The trick, through, is making sure they stick.

Here are the 3 most effective ways to make sure the program has the best chance of succeeding:
1. The exercise center must be on the workplace premises
2. The program must have strong company participation
3. Employees must have the ability to exercise during the work day

If your workplace has been thinking about developing a wellness program or looking to revamp an old one, I hope these tips allow you to make it more effective!

Read the full story here

Exercising Keeps Visceral Fat from Returning

After a year long study by exercise physiologists it was found that only those who continued exercising kept visceral fat from returning.

These results were tracked after participants went on a strict diet and lost an average of 24 pounds. They split the study participants into 3 groups of aerobic exercisers, resistance exercisers, and non-exercisers. After seeing great results in weight loss maintenance from the exercising group, the achievements of the non-exercisers were discouraging.

The group that did not exercise after losing the initial 24 pounds averaged a 33% increase in visceral fat within the next year. The point of the story is that exercise + diet is the key to long term success – not dieting alone.

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Human Studies

Michelle Obama Workout Video

Just last week Michelle Obama hula hooped for nearly a minute and a half on the White House lawn in order to raise awareness when it comes to keeping kids healthy.

She believes that if we spread the word about childhood obesity in the community and how to prevent it that we can make a significant difference in keeping the next generation healthy and fit.

If you didn't get to see the fun news clip of Michelle Obama (who is also an advocate of working out herself) you can check out the video below:

Reduce Diabetes Risks with 5 Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors

After some research into diabetics and longevity the World Diabetes Congress reported that the top 20% of those who followed the top 5 healthy lifestyle factors found that they had a 58 percent lower death rate than those in the bottom 40 percent.

That is a huge number when it comes to living a longer healthier life and so I thought it would be a benefit to everyone (diabetic or not) to follow these factors. So although there are many healthy behaviors to follow, the research narrowed it down to just these 5.

1. Physical activity
2. Not smoking
3. Higher healthy eating index
4. Moderate alcohol intake (1-2 drinks per week)
5. Maintaining weight or trying to lose weight in the past 12 months

"Among the healthy behaviors studied, regular, moderate to vigorous physical activity was most protective for those with diabetes," said Saydah, a senior scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta.

"Moderate to vigorous physical activity significantly reduced the risk of dying in both adults with and without diabetes, whereas moderate alcohol use, was only protective only in people with diabetes."

Source: Full article