Monday Workout

February 27, 2012 By Sheila Leave a Comment

Monday Workout ~ We are joining the 600 Rep revolution
Today ~ In this order ~
50 Jumping Jacks
50 Right Leg Lunges ~ with sandbag or weights
50 Jumping Jacks
50 Squats ~ with sandbag or weights
50 Jumping Jacks
50 Left Leg Lunges ~ with sandbag of weights
50 Jumping Jacks
50 Squats ~ with sandbag or weights
25 Ab Crunches
25 V-Ab Crunches to the right
25 V-Ab Crunches to the left
25 Bicycle Ab Crunches
25 Ab Crunches
25 V-Ab Crunches to the right
25 V-Ab Crunches to the left
25 Bicycle Ab Crunches

There ya go.. now let me know how it goes for you today.

Do this workout every Monday

Filed Under: exercise, exercise at home, exercises, Fitness, fitness tips Tagged With: daily workouts, exercises, fitness tips, monday workouts, workouts

Bench Dips

October 6, 2011 By Sheila 10 Comments

From LOSING IT! With Jillian Michaels
Thursday, October 06, 2011

Get Benched!

I know I’d normally yell at you for sitting down, but sitting isn’t always so bad. For example, if you’re interested in working your triceps with bench dips, by all means pull up a chair. Get ready to get some strong, toned arms.

Stand with your back to a sturdy bench or chair. Bend your legs and place your palms on the front edge of the bench, your fingers pointing forward. Walk your feet out in front of you until most of your body weight is resting on your arms.

Keeping your elbows tucked in at your sides, inhale, bend your arms, and slowly lower your body until your upper arms are parallel with the floor. Your hips should drop straight down toward the floor. Hold for a beat, then exhale and straighten your arms back up to the starting position, and repeat.

Be careful not to lower your body too far or lean forward or away from the bench. You’ll overstress your shoulders.

Filed Under: exercise, exercise at home, exercises, Fitness, fitness tips, jillian michaels Tagged With: bench dips

Get a Better Butt ~

July 28, 2011 By Sheila 2 Comments

From LOSING IT! With Jillian Michaels
Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Secret to a Better Butt

The gluteals — your butt muscles — are the largest and strongest muscles in the body. Their function is hip extension, or driving the upper legs backward. I cannot overstate how important it is to make sure these muscles are getting their workout. Activities that engage this muscle group include walking, running, jumping, and climbing. Lunges, leg lifts, and squats are all great for exercising the glutes. Here’s the lowdown on some of my favorite squats.

Traditional squat (good if you’re a newbie): Stand with your feet hip-width apart, with your weight on your heels. Keep your abs tight and your shoulders squarely over your hips. Sit back and down as if you were going to sit on a bench. Keep your back straight. Then stand up, straightening your legs, and repeat.

Sumo squat (good if you’re a little more advanced): Place your feet as wide apart as you can and point your toes outward. Lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold for a beat, then exhale and press back up to the starting position. Repeat. This squat modification places a greater emphasis on the inner and outer thigh muscles.

One-legged squat (good if you’re a hard-core exerciser): Stand with your weight balanced on your right leg. Lift your left foot an inch or so off the ground. Keep your head up, and don’t lean forward; abs stay tight, and the right heel stays on the ground. Don’t let the knee extend over the toe. Slowly lower yourself as far as you can comfortably go. Exhale and stand up straight, still balancing on the right leg. Continue for a full set on the right leg, then switch to the left leg and repeat. This modification requires tremendous balance and allows you to strengthen each leg.

Filed Under: Fitness, fitness tips, jillian michaels, squats Tagged With: better butt, fitness tips

Sunday Fitness ~ One Leg Squat

July 24, 2011 By Sheila Leave a Comment

Time to try something new! Today’s Exercise to add to your routine.

One Leg Squat

One-leg squats work to strengthen the feet, legs glutes and improve overall balance. This exercise also protects against ankle sprain, shinsplints and Achilles strain. Here’s how to do it:

Life one leg and try to keep it straight. Keeping your torso upright, slowly squat down. Rise back up. Start with eight to 12 and work your way up to 20. If one-leg is too much of a challenge, start with double-legged squats.

Filed Under: exercises, fitnes tips, Fitness, squats Tagged With: one leg squat

It’s Getting Hot Outside ~

July 21, 2011 By Sheila Leave a Comment

5 Tips for Beating the Heat

Summer is in full swing and the mercury is rising. When you’re exercising or playing outdoors, it’s important that you take care to keep yourself cool. My fitness plan is tough enough — you don’t need to add heatstroke to the equation! Follow these tips to make sure you stay safe in hot or humid weather.Time it right. The hottest part of the day usually falls between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Do your workout early in the morning or in the evening, when the sun isn’t directly overhead and the temperature is a little cooler.

Dress for the weather. Your body cools itself in part by perspiring. You’ll help the process if you wear lightweight, somewhat loose-fitting clothing that allows the sweat to evaporate from your skin. Choose lighter colors because they won’t absorb as much heat from the sun, and consider a hat or a visor to keep the sun out of your eyes.

Wear sunscreen. The last thing you want is a sunburn — it’ll keep your skin from cooling off and sap precious fluids. Choose a sunscreen free of oxybenzone, a chemical that has been linked to hormone disruption. Use Skin Deep, the Environmental Working Group’s cosmetics database, to see if your sunscreen is safe, and apply it at least 30 minutes before you head outside.

Drink lots of water. Sweating can dehydrate you very quickly, so it’s important to keep drinking water. Drink 4 to 8 ounces every 15 minutes while you work out. If you exercise for more than an hour, you may need a sports drink or a snack to replace the salt and other electrolytes you lose as you sweat.

Watch your heart rate. In reaction to heat, your body increases blood flow to your skin in an effort to cool you off. The result is less blood for your muscles and an elevated heart rate. If you’re not used to working out in the heat, you might find that you’ll reach your target heart rate with less intense exercise than usual. Take it slow at first, and gradually increase your intensity.

JILLIAN’S TIP OF THE DAY

Know the Warning Signs

What can happen if you get too dehydrated or exert yourself in the heat too long? Here are some possibilities, from the least to the most severe:

Heat cramps — muscle pain or spasms
Heat exhaustion — a state of elevated body temperature that’s a precursor to heatstroke
Heatstroke — a life-threatening condition in which your body temperature rises above 106°F

If you experience muscle cramping, dizziness, fast and shallow breathing, cold and clammy skin, or nausea or vomiting, get out of the heat immediately and get some water. Heat-related illnesses are no joke, so don’t take any chances!

~ Note ~

I just love all the great tips I get from Jillian Michaels newsletters. If you want them sent straight to your inbox you can either subscribe to my RSS Feed or to her newsletters. I get her newsletter and many others here.

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Exercise Bites ~

July 10, 2011 By Sheila Leave a Comment

With as much as I blog fitness and talk about exercising and what I am doing when and how it might seem like I totally love to workout. NOT!! With all I deal with on a day to day basis exercising is something that I have to fight to find time to do and am not always looking forward to it.

But, once I set my mind to it and start, I actually have a hard time stopping and am bummed out and upset when I have to end my workout to get ready for work or whatever else might be pulling me away that day.

Reason being ~ When one is working out it starts a natural high happening in the body. Chemicals called endorphins produce what is called a “runner’s high”. Exercise floods the brain with endorphins which help to relieve pain, enhance mood and relieve stress. ~ Seriously!!

Ever notice how pumped you feel after a workout? Do you feel good, mood is better, head is clearer and you are energized. Well that is why! Or even after a good workout or a good yoga routine you even can feel relaxed. Strange… but an amazing feeling!

If you can make time for yourself to workout every day, even if only for 30 minutes you will start to see changes in mood and confidence. When you are working out you are getting stronger and getting stronger will make you more confident and make your body love you even more! Combines with a good diet you will see your body change over time and that is just one more reason to keep up with exercise.

So, yes exercise bites…. But in the end when you are strong, confident and doing the body good you will be happy you didn’t just sit on that couch watching tv

So get off that couch/chair and join me for a 90 Day Challenge. Combine fitness with healthy eating and ViSalus and make today the first day of the rest of your life.

Filed Under: exercise, exercise at home, exercises, feel sexy, fitnes tips, Fitness, visalus

A Closer Look at the Obliques

March 11, 2011 By Sheila Leave a Comment

From LOSING IT! With Jillian Michaels

Spring is just weeks away. Sorry kids, that means no more hiding behind those bulky sweaters and big coats. Pretty soon you’ll see slim-fitting and midriff-baring fashions everywhere you look — and you’ll probably want to show off your great abs or slender torso too. So many people believe that they have to aim for chiseled six- or eight-pack abdominals. To achieve this ideal physique, a lot of people devote a big chunk of their workout time to crunches and basic abdominal exercises. Unfortunately, this type of blanket-approach to abs training isn’t very effective.

Keep in mind, your abdominals are actually comprised of three major muscles: the rectus abdominis, the obliques, and the transverse abdominis. Each muscle has its own function and thus specific ways to target it. They are divided into external and internal muscle groups, and reside on both sides of your midsection. Both sets of obliques have the same two main functions: torso lateral flexion, which is bending the upper half of your body side to side, and torso rotation, which is twisting your upper body away from your torso. The obliques are used in any movement in which your torso bends laterally or twists.

Besides helping you get a sleek, defined look, oblique exercises play an important role in core strengthening and preventing lower back injuries. If you want to target your obliques, try exercises like the Oblique Side Crunch or Standing Oblique Crunches with Leg Raise.