First be sure and warm up!!
5 minutes of cardio, your choice.
20 squats
10 push ups
5 minutes of cardio again your choice
20 dips
10 lunges
5 minutes of cardio
30 plie squats
10 front and lateral shoulder raises
Cool down!
Stay in Shape this summer! Join my 30 day workout today!
Get your booty moving, it's time to kick it up a notch!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Fitness for your Holiday Travels
Travel Fitness: A Plan of Action to Keep You Active From ACE.
It is easy to let a vacation or business trip destroy your fitness schedule and eating habits, but why let something as rewarding as a vacation or as exciting as a business trip leave you feeling unhealthy upon return?
With a little research and proper planning, you can create an easy-to-follow plan to keep you fit and healthy no matter where you travel, and you can come home feeling more healthy and energized than when you left.
Nature’s Playground and Man’s Monuments
There is no excuse for not finding places to exercise when every city has a great staircase, stadium or tall buildings where you can master the stairs without a machine. If stairs aren’t your thing, cities have lots of places good for walking, running or even hiking. Ask the hotel concierge if there are parks or trails nearby; or if you have ventured to the mountains, ask for a map of local hiking trails.
It is also a good idea to ask the concierge for a map of the city to find out how many of your destinations are reachable by foot. (Walking will increase your fitness and decrease your taxi fares.)
Prior to departure on your trip, find out if your hotel has a workout facility and a pool, and remember to pack your bathing suit and workout clothes. If they don’t have a facility, they may be affiliated with a local gym where you can get a one-day pass for a small fee.
There are no limits to the exercise you can do while exploring new territory. Make the most of your trip, and get to know the city by foot.
Prepare for Power, No Excuses
If your hotel doesn’t offer fitness accommodations, bring along a jump rope and an exercise tube. They are both lightweight and easy to transport. Jumping rope is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise, and you can do it anywhere.
With the exercise tube and a prearranged plan to keep you motivated, you can keep your entire body toned and energized without entering a gym or stepping on a piece of exercise equipment. Numerous magazines and websites offer workout instructions for each body part.
And, of course, body-weight exercises such as push-ups and crunches require no equipment at all. The point is to find a workout routine that suits your needs and follow it. Plan a specific time each day or every other day to do your strengthening and cardiovascular routines (a good plan is to alternate days between the two).
Remember that the 20 to 60 minutes you spend working out each day is for you, and try to stay on schedule.
Have Fun
Be sure to enjoy yourself and make the most of the area to which you have traveled. Remember to bring comfortable shoes so that you can easily get a workout while using your feet as your main mode of transportation.
Whether your trip is for business or vacation, remember that you should have some time for yourself every day. Why not dedicate that time to improving your health and making yourself feel better?
Nutrition Road Tips
•Always drink plenty of water, particularly if you’re flying.
•Conjure up a healthy meal in your mind prior to entering a restaurant, and stick to your plan as closely as possible.
•Try to eat at least three times per day to keep you from feeling famished and overindulging at any one time.
•Pick up portable, healthy snacks at a local market so you won’t be caught hungry in front of the mini-bar.
•Go ahead and splurge on regional dishes or local cuisine, but balance your diet by choosing lower-calorie foods at other meals.
It is easy to let a vacation or business trip destroy your fitness schedule and eating habits, but why let something as rewarding as a vacation or as exciting as a business trip leave you feeling unhealthy upon return?
With a little research and proper planning, you can create an easy-to-follow plan to keep you fit and healthy no matter where you travel, and you can come home feeling more healthy and energized than when you left.
Nature’s Playground and Man’s Monuments
There is no excuse for not finding places to exercise when every city has a great staircase, stadium or tall buildings where you can master the stairs without a machine. If stairs aren’t your thing, cities have lots of places good for walking, running or even hiking. Ask the hotel concierge if there are parks or trails nearby; or if you have ventured to the mountains, ask for a map of local hiking trails.
It is also a good idea to ask the concierge for a map of the city to find out how many of your destinations are reachable by foot. (Walking will increase your fitness and decrease your taxi fares.)
Prior to departure on your trip, find out if your hotel has a workout facility and a pool, and remember to pack your bathing suit and workout clothes. If they don’t have a facility, they may be affiliated with a local gym where you can get a one-day pass for a small fee.
There are no limits to the exercise you can do while exploring new territory. Make the most of your trip, and get to know the city by foot.
Prepare for Power, No Excuses
If your hotel doesn’t offer fitness accommodations, bring along a jump rope and an exercise tube. They are both lightweight and easy to transport. Jumping rope is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise, and you can do it anywhere.
With the exercise tube and a prearranged plan to keep you motivated, you can keep your entire body toned and energized without entering a gym or stepping on a piece of exercise equipment. Numerous magazines and websites offer workout instructions for each body part.
And, of course, body-weight exercises such as push-ups and crunches require no equipment at all. The point is to find a workout routine that suits your needs and follow it. Plan a specific time each day or every other day to do your strengthening and cardiovascular routines (a good plan is to alternate days between the two).
Remember that the 20 to 60 minutes you spend working out each day is for you, and try to stay on schedule.
Have Fun
Be sure to enjoy yourself and make the most of the area to which you have traveled. Remember to bring comfortable shoes so that you can easily get a workout while using your feet as your main mode of transportation.
Whether your trip is for business or vacation, remember that you should have some time for yourself every day. Why not dedicate that time to improving your health and making yourself feel better?
Nutrition Road Tips
•Always drink plenty of water, particularly if you’re flying.
•Conjure up a healthy meal in your mind prior to entering a restaurant, and stick to your plan as closely as possible.
•Try to eat at least three times per day to keep you from feeling famished and overindulging at any one time.
•Pick up portable, healthy snacks at a local market so you won’t be caught hungry in front of the mini-bar.
•Go ahead and splurge on regional dishes or local cuisine, but balance your diet by choosing lower-calorie foods at other meals.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Reduce Holiday Stress from WebMD
Tips for Reducing Holiday Stress
This season, shorten your list of holiday to-dos and relax your inner Martha.
By Charlotte Libov
WebMD the Magazine - FeatureReviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD
Denise McVey knows holiday stress all too well. To be sure, she loves the holidays: going caroling, shopping, buying cards, enjoying the first snow, and, most of all, loving the look of delight on her toddler’s face on Christmas morning. But as the days until the holidays dwindle and the lines at the mall get longer, McVey is so beset by season-induced stress that, when the New Year rolls around, she’s spent. “Colds, flu, you name it, every year I get it; I’ve had shingles eight times,” says the 40-year-old owner of a creative agency in Boonton, N.J.
Why do many people feel so much more stress at this time of year? We tend to blame worsening traffic, crowded malls, and incessant commercials pushing holiday consumption, but a key culprit is our own memories, according to Ronald Nathan, PhD, clinical professor at Albany Medical College in New York. “When we think about the holidays, we dwell on the past and what went wrong, or we romanticize it and make it impossible to re-create,” he says.
He counsels people to carefully examine their thoughts and expectations, and not drive themselves crazy finding “the perfect gift” or planning “the perfect party.” “Instead,” he says, “lower your expectations, and overestimate -- rather than underestimate -- your time.”
Stress and the immune system
Easing up on yourself over the holidays is important because the connection between stress and illness is real, says Simon A. Rego, PsyD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and associate director of psychology training at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y.
“The controversy that stress causes disease is pretty much over. We’re now teasing out how stress does it,” he says. In fact, a new study explains how stress may weaken the immune system. Each cell contains a tiny “clock” called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell divides. To counter this effect, the body also produces an enzyme, telomerase, which protects the cell and prevents further shortening by adding more DNA to the end of the telomere.
So far, so good -- but under stress, the body pumps out cortisol, a hormone that suppresses this protective enzyme. The study found that people under chronic stress have shorter telomeres, which, researchers say, means they are more vulnerable to a host of ailments.
Health effects of stress
How to reduce the wear, tear, and misery that holiday stress can inflict? When your holiday to-do list stretches longer than Santa Claus’s beard, eliminate whatever is unnecessary. Doing so may reduce your risk of:
-Heart disease, including heart attacks
-Skin conditions, including psoriasis and shingles
-Digestive disorder flare-ups, such as symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease
-Immune disorders, including flare-ups of multiple sclerosis and lupus
-Anxiety, depression, and insomnia
-Worsening pain, if you already have a pain disorder such as arthritis, back pain, and muscle spasms
As for McVey, she’s paring down her holiday expectations. “I’m planning to take a day off, head into Manhattan, and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere.”
This season, shorten your list of holiday to-dos and relax your inner Martha.
By Charlotte Libov
WebMD the Magazine - FeatureReviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD
Denise McVey knows holiday stress all too well. To be sure, she loves the holidays: going caroling, shopping, buying cards, enjoying the first snow, and, most of all, loving the look of delight on her toddler’s face on Christmas morning. But as the days until the holidays dwindle and the lines at the mall get longer, McVey is so beset by season-induced stress that, when the New Year rolls around, she’s spent. “Colds, flu, you name it, every year I get it; I’ve had shingles eight times,” says the 40-year-old owner of a creative agency in Boonton, N.J.
Why do many people feel so much more stress at this time of year? We tend to blame worsening traffic, crowded malls, and incessant commercials pushing holiday consumption, but a key culprit is our own memories, according to Ronald Nathan, PhD, clinical professor at Albany Medical College in New York. “When we think about the holidays, we dwell on the past and what went wrong, or we romanticize it and make it impossible to re-create,” he says.
He counsels people to carefully examine their thoughts and expectations, and not drive themselves crazy finding “the perfect gift” or planning “the perfect party.” “Instead,” he says, “lower your expectations, and overestimate -- rather than underestimate -- your time.”
Stress and the immune system
Easing up on yourself over the holidays is important because the connection between stress and illness is real, says Simon A. Rego, PsyD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and associate director of psychology training at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y.
“The controversy that stress causes disease is pretty much over. We’re now teasing out how stress does it,” he says. In fact, a new study explains how stress may weaken the immune system. Each cell contains a tiny “clock” called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell divides. To counter this effect, the body also produces an enzyme, telomerase, which protects the cell and prevents further shortening by adding more DNA to the end of the telomere.
So far, so good -- but under stress, the body pumps out cortisol, a hormone that suppresses this protective enzyme. The study found that people under chronic stress have shorter telomeres, which, researchers say, means they are more vulnerable to a host of ailments.
Health effects of stress
How to reduce the wear, tear, and misery that holiday stress can inflict? When your holiday to-do list stretches longer than Santa Claus’s beard, eliminate whatever is unnecessary. Doing so may reduce your risk of:
-Heart disease, including heart attacks
-Skin conditions, including psoriasis and shingles
-Digestive disorder flare-ups, such as symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease
-Immune disorders, including flare-ups of multiple sclerosis and lupus
-Anxiety, depression, and insomnia
-Worsening pain, if you already have a pain disorder such as arthritis, back pain, and muscle spasms
As for McVey, she’s paring down her holiday expectations. “I’m planning to take a day off, head into Manhattan, and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere.”
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Exercise helps the mind!!!!
Cardiovascular Fitness May Sharpen Mind
Study Shows Link Between Healthy Body and Academic Success
By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACCNov. 30, 2009 --
A healthy body may be the first step to achieving a healthy mind and appetite for learning.
A large new study links cardiovascular fitness in early adulthood to increased intelligence, better performance on cognitive tests, and higher educational achievement later in life.
Researchers say the results suggest that promoting physical and cardiovascular fitness as a public health strategy could maximize educational achievement as well as prevent disease at the societal level.
"We believe the present results provide scientific support for educational policies to maintain or increase physical education in school curricula as a means to stem the growing trend toward a sedentary lifestyle, which is accompanied by an increased risk for diseases and perhaps intellectual and academic underachievement," write researchers Maria Aberg and colleagues of the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study followed more than 1 million men born in 1950 through 1976 who were enlisted for military service in Sweden at age 18. The sample included 3,147 twin pairs, of which 1,432 were identical.
Physical fitness and intelligence were assessed at the time of conscription and linked to national databases on school achievement and socioeconomic status later in life.
The results showed that cardiovascular fitness, but not muscular strength, was associated with cognitive performance on many different measures.
For example, higher scores on measures of cardiovascular fitness were linked to higher scores on intelligence and academic achievement.
When researchers looked at twins, they found that environmental factors rather than genetics appeared to play the largest role in these associations. Non-shared environmental influences accounted for 80% or more of differences in academic achievement, whereas genetics accounted for less than 15% of these differences.
In addition, cardiovascular fitness changes between age 15 and 18 predicted cognitive performance at age 18, and cardiovascular fitness at age 18 predicted academic achievement and socioeconomic status later in life.
Researchers say many previous studies have linked physical fitness with cognitive performance in animals and humans but most have focused on young children or adults. Few studies have looked at the effect of physical and cardiovascular fitness on academic achievement in young adulthood, a critical period for cognitive development.
Study Shows Link Between Healthy Body and Academic Success
By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACCNov. 30, 2009 --
A healthy body may be the first step to achieving a healthy mind and appetite for learning.
A large new study links cardiovascular fitness in early adulthood to increased intelligence, better performance on cognitive tests, and higher educational achievement later in life.
Researchers say the results suggest that promoting physical and cardiovascular fitness as a public health strategy could maximize educational achievement as well as prevent disease at the societal level.
"We believe the present results provide scientific support for educational policies to maintain or increase physical education in school curricula as a means to stem the growing trend toward a sedentary lifestyle, which is accompanied by an increased risk for diseases and perhaps intellectual and academic underachievement," write researchers Maria Aberg and colleagues of the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study followed more than 1 million men born in 1950 through 1976 who were enlisted for military service in Sweden at age 18. The sample included 3,147 twin pairs, of which 1,432 were identical.
Physical fitness and intelligence were assessed at the time of conscription and linked to national databases on school achievement and socioeconomic status later in life.
The results showed that cardiovascular fitness, but not muscular strength, was associated with cognitive performance on many different measures.
For example, higher scores on measures of cardiovascular fitness were linked to higher scores on intelligence and academic achievement.
When researchers looked at twins, they found that environmental factors rather than genetics appeared to play the largest role in these associations. Non-shared environmental influences accounted for 80% or more of differences in academic achievement, whereas genetics accounted for less than 15% of these differences.
In addition, cardiovascular fitness changes between age 15 and 18 predicted cognitive performance at age 18, and cardiovascular fitness at age 18 predicted academic achievement and socioeconomic status later in life.
Researchers say many previous studies have linked physical fitness with cognitive performance in animals and humans but most have focused on young children or adults. Few studies have looked at the effect of physical and cardiovascular fitness on academic achievement in young adulthood, a critical period for cognitive development.
Oh my what a busy busy weekend!!!
11 days until Christmas yikes...are you done shopping and preparing for relatives? If not save some time and try some online shopping!!! Online shopping is fast and easy and best of all saves you a trip out into the germ world! Right now we want to be healthy and the best way is to wash your hands and stay away from people that are ill. Workout at home and feel great! Here we go, are you ready?
10 minute warm up
step ups (bench, stairs) 30
20 push ups
30 jacks
20 lunges (walking and add some bicep curls)
10 minutes cardio (jump rope,TM, eliptical 2F, 2B,1F, 1B, 2F, 1B. or bike set intensity high
20 jump squats
20 up downs
20 push ups
200 crunches
Repeat cardio sequence
stretch
11 days until Christmas yikes...are you done shopping and preparing for relatives? If not save some time and try some online shopping!!! Online shopping is fast and easy and best of all saves you a trip out into the germ world! Right now we want to be healthy and the best way is to wash your hands and stay away from people that are ill. Workout at home and feel great! Here we go, are you ready?
10 minute warm up
step ups (bench, stairs) 30
20 push ups
30 jacks
20 lunges (walking and add some bicep curls)
10 minutes cardio (jump rope,TM, eliptical 2F, 2B,1F, 1B, 2F, 1B. or bike set intensity high
20 jump squats
20 up downs
20 push ups
200 crunches
Repeat cardio sequence
stretch
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