At Home Beach Body Workout

Ladies: At Home Beach Body Workout

Summer is soon upon us so that means it's time to break out the swimsuits. Although fitness is a lifestyle, it's never too late to start preparing for pool season. A common misconception is that you can target certain areas of your body to burn fat from. This unfortunately isn't true but what you can do is tone certain areas so when you shed that body fat, your muscles will come shining through. Women tend to want to focus specifically on cardio but they really should incorporate weights. Women have different types of hormones compared to men so you will not instantly become "manly" or "buff" by lifting weights. Cardio is great but it burns calories primarily while you are performing the exercise. As your body gets used to a cardio exercise, you have to perform that exercise longer to recieve the same initial effect. Thus you're on the treadmill forever to try and burn the same amount of calories as you once did. It's also extremely boring!

Weight training tears muscle. As the muscle rebuilds, it's requiring energy and burning calories throughout the day (and night). With weights, you simply use heavier weights once your body gets to used to your current routine. So you never have to increase the amount of time needed to exercise like you do with cardio. So try to mix in weights or any sort of high intensity training (HIT) with your cardio ladies. You'll shed fat and gain tone all at once. A beneficial tendency for women is to focus on leg routines. This is actually beneficial because the leg muscles are among the largest in the body. By tearing that muscle you are forcing the body to repair large quantities of tissue and thus burning large amounts of calories. There are "bonus" leg exercises included below to help shape your butt and thighs.

Below are some exercises and a sample routine that gives you a fast, total body workout. It hits the upper body, lower body and abs. Start out slow and learn the form for each exercise. Once you have the routine down, you can increase the pace of the exercises and shorten your rest period between repetitions. This should also allow you to build up a good sweat and get your heart pumping like a cardio or HIT session. I also outline a "superset" routine which combines two exercises into one merged set of movements. All the exercises can be performed at home with or without a set of dumbbells. There is one exercise that uses a resistance band but it can be done without it as well.

Beach Body Workout Example

Clear out some space in an area with a soft surface as we will be lying on the ground (or use a yoga mat in the garage). If you have a set of dumbbells or kettlebells, have them handy. You could also use a chair (i.e. folding chair) and a resistance band if you have them. If you lack these items, the routine will still work. All exercises are numbered and there are video examples of the exercise at the bottom of the page. Please review these videos before attempting the exercise if you're not familiar with them.

Alternating Ab Crunch *** Perform for three sets of 10-20 reps Front Plank *** Perform for three sets and hold for at least 30 seconds each set Chair Squats *** If you do not have a chair, you can simply squat but make sure not to go too low. Just act as if you are going to sit. *** You can optionally do these with dumbbells in your hand. *** Perform for three sets of 10-15 reps Reverse Lunges *** You can optionally do these with dumbbells in your hand. *** Perform for three sets of 10-15 reps Push-Up (knees) *** Perform for three sets and hold for at least 30 seconds each set Military Press *** If you lack dumbbells, you can place anything heavy in your hands (i.e. books, firewood, etc) or perform more reps with no weights at all (you will feel it eventually). *** Perform for three sets of 8-12 reps (or 20+ reps for little to no weight in hand) Bonus: You can add the bonus exercises to the routine to make it more intense. After military presses, perform 10 Donkey Kicks per leg and then knock out 10+ side lunges for extra leg and butt toning. INTENSITY TIP: If the above routine becomes easy, move to doing 4 sets per exercise while increasing any dumbbell weight. You can also decrease the amount of time you rest in between exercises to amp up the intensity. INTENSITY TIP: You could also alternately perform the exercises in a "circuit". For example: Lie flat on the floor and knock out 10 reps of alternating ab crunches first. Stand up, check your form and then perform 10 chair squats. Get on your knees, then knock out 10 push-ups. While still on the floor, go into a plank position and hold for 30 seconds. Stand up, grab a couple dumbbells and start 10 reverse lunges. After the last lunge, place your feet shoulder width apart and perform 15 military presses. Take a quick break, drink some water and then hit it again! Each "circuit" will represet a set. You can increase sets, increase weights used during the set or time yourself and try to finish the circuit quicker to increase the degree of difficulty. INTENSITY TIP: You can insert the bonus exercises into your circuit. You can start the circuit with side lunges and then move onto the ab crunches. After you finish the plank portion of the circuit, while still on the floor, add 10 Donkey Kicks per leg.

Superset Example

Use all the tips from the previous example but here make sure you're familiar with the exercises and have good form. This is similar to the "circuit" style workout outlined in the intesity tip above.

Front Plank into Donkey Kicks *** Get on the floor and perform a plank for 30 seconds. Go to your knees and perform 10+ Donkey Kicks per leg. *** Complete three sets Knee Push-Ups into Military Press *** Get on the floor and do 10+ knee push-ups. While still on the floor, stay on your knees but immediately raise your back up straight. Grab a couple dumbbells and perform 10+ military presses. (You could do the push-ups with dumbbells in hand to make this easier) *** Perform for three sets Chair Squats into Side Lunges *** Stand feet should width apart with dumbbells in hand if you have them. Perform 10+ Chair squats. Once done, immediately go into doing 10+ side lunges. *** Perform for three sets Side Steps into Ab Crunch *** Stand shoulder width apart with your knees slighty bent. If you have a resistance closed loop band, place this around your lower leg above the ankles. If you have a standard resistance band with handles, step on the resistance band with both feet and stretch the band with your hands up near your shoulders with your elbows bent and tucked in near your body. Be sure to take small, quick steps if you're using the standard band w/ handles. If you have no band, you can still perform this exercise, just take larger, more exaggerated steps to almost semi-squat when you shuffle across. *** Start performing side steps for about 10 repetitions. Immediately stop, lie on your back and do 5-10 reps of alternating ab crunches. Stand back up, setup your band again and then shuffle back the way you came doing side steps. *** Perform for three sets

Exercises (w/ links to YouTube video examples)

Main Routine

1 - Alternating Ab Crunch Click For Video Example 2 - Front Plank Click For Video Example 3 - Chair Squats Click For Video Example 4 - Reverse Lunges Click For Video Example 5 - Push-Up (knees) Click For Video Example 6 - Military Press Click For Video Example

Bonus - Leg Exercises

7 - Donkey Kicks (Glute Raises) Click For Video Example 8 - Side Lunges Click For Video Example 9 - Resistance Band Side Step (Can do without band) Click For Video Example

For more exercises, please visit an earlier post: Home Dumbbell Workout Exercises


See you in Padre!!!

Sweet Potato Soup

Nutrition: Sweet Potato Soup

Recipe 2 large sweet potatoes 2 lbs diced chicken * 1 cup chopped sweet onion 1 cup chopped celery 1/2 cup carrots 2 tbsp chopped garlic 1 cup Enchilada Sauce ** 7-8 cups Chicken Broth *** Creole Seasoning ****

Substitution Items * Substitute w/ 1 cup fried hard tofu or 1 additional sweet potato for vegetarian version ** Double this for the vegetarian version (veggie broth is a lil bland). *** Substitute Vegetable Broth for a vegetarian version **** You can substitute sea salt and pepper w/ maybe some paprika

Directions Wash and cut up the chicken into small chunks, place in a bowl, season and put in fridge while you cube potatoes *** Obviously skip this step for the veggie version Scrub the sweet potatoes (or peel them) and cut into cube chunks Heat a large soup pot w/ some extra virgin olive oil Add carrots, celery and onion. Cook for five minutes. Now add the garlic, enchilada sauce and a couple tbsp of your seasoning to the pot and stir well. Let cook for a minute or so. Add the Broth now, stir and raise the heat to high. Cover the pot. Once boiling, remove the cover and add in your chicken and sweet potatoes. Lower the heat to a mild simmer and leave the cover off. Stir the soup every 5-10 minutes and season to taste. Cook until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked thoroughly. (It was approx 15-20 minutes for me) Enjoy.

Review Sweet potatoes contain a good amount of fiber, complex carbs, calcium, iron and vitamins A and C. They're only about 100 calories per cup. The soup came out spicy due to the fact that I used Creole seasoning and a spicier enchilada sauce. For a mild soup, use salt and pepper along with a green enchilada sauce. The recipe as stands fills a large crock-pot and serves about 5 people.

Kale Shake

Nutrition: Kale Shake

Recipe A bunch of Kale *** Or any greens of your choice, the darker the better (i.e. mustard greens, spinach, bok choy, etc) Apple Juice *** Also can use any 100% juice of your choice Almond Milk (unsweetened, plain) *** This can be left out or replaced w/ any non-dairy milk of your choice (i.e. soy, rice, coconut, coconut water, etc) Fruit *** I use honeydew, cantaloupe or mango chunks A good blender Optional: Add honey or peeled ginger Optional: Add Ground flaxseed, protein, etc

Directions Grab a stalk of Kale. While washing it, pull the leaves of the stem. Drop into the blender. *** These directions are based on a 7-8 cup blender. Repeat previous step until the blender is about full. Do not press the kale down, let it sit loosely. Drop in 3-4 large chunks of the fruit of your choice. *** About 1/2 to 1 full cup of your fav fruit. Place about 1 cup of Apple Juice into the blender. *** Double this and skip step# 5 if you choose to not use any type of non-dairy milk. Place about 1 cup of Almond Milk into the blender. Cover blender top & start blending slowly. Gradually increase speed every 5-10 seconds until you are using your highest, most powerful setting. We want to completely break down the kale into a smooth mixture. *** If your mixture is still grainy on its highest setting, you need a better blender. Pop open the blender & pour. Enjoy!

Review This is a great way to get your greens, especially if you're not big into vegetables in general. You can tweak the balance of the recipe to make the shake as sweet as you need it. Dark greens are good for your immune system, they contain anti-oxidant & anti-inflammatory properties and lots of other good stuff. Optional ingredients can allow you to get your protein or omega-3s into this shake as well. My blender is good but not strong enough to totally blend my leafy greens into a smooth mix but I don't mind a bit of grit. It's kind of like the difference between no pulp & some pulp orange juice. I like pear juice & almond milk but others usually do not use milk & go with straight juice. Tips: *** If you have animals, they may like the stems if you don't want to waste them. *** If you make a large amount, you may want to do a small blend upon refill as the shake will settle a bit. *** The shake may have a semi-strong vegetable smell when you crack open the blender but generally the drink itself in a glass smells good.