Tag Archives: body

One Arm Plank Shoulder Circles

Posted on by
Reply

It’s time to get your core and shoulders working with this Home Exercise of the Week!  In the video you’ll notice that this exercise has a really long name! (obviously at the time of filming it I couldn’t think of anything better)  So instead I have shortened it to One Arm Plank Shoulder Circles.

I’m going to be honest with you and say this exercise is hard!  That being said there are modifications to make it easier until you get stronger.

The plank part of the exercise is isometric which means the joint angle and muscle length doesn’t change during contraction.  This is really going to work your core!  The shoulder circle part of the exercise works your deltoids and in particular, your posterior deltoid and upper back muscles.

Let’s take a look at the key points to remember when doing One Arm Plank Shoulder Circles.

  • keep your feet wide to stabilize yourself during the movement
  • keep your body straight throughout (no butts sticking up!)
  • pull your belly button in towards your spine to keep your abdominal muscles flexed
  • raise one arm out to the side keeping it in line with your upper body
  • move your arm in small circles at an even, medium pace (this is going to burn!)
  • start by doing forward circles for 10 to 20 seconds or for 15 to 20 repetitions then go backwards for the same amount of time or reps
  • breath deeply and evenly throughout the exercise

As I mentioned earlier, there is a way to make the exercise easier if you are having trouble.  To do this, put your knees on the floor instead of being on your toes.  Keep in mind though that you still need to keep your body straight with this modification so no bending at the waist.

So there you have One Arm Plank Shoulder Circles!  If you have progressed to the point where this exercise is starting to get easy, try holding on to a dumbbell when doing the shoulder circles.  This will step up the intensity and maybe even cause you to utter some profanity while doing it!

5 Squat Hold

Posted on by
Reply

This weeks Home Exercise of the Week is a variation of the regular body weight squat.  The 5 Squat Hold is an exercise that I like to add in to my training sessions and boot camps from time to time so people have another reason to curse and swear at me!  I can just picture it now…sweaty people groaning, complaining, and wondering why they ever decided to do this. 😉

All kidding aside, the 5 Squat Hold is effective.  You will be sculpting and strengthening your quads, hamstrings, and glutes.  On top of all that, the hold part of the exercise will increase your muscular endurance.  The benefits far outweigh the temporary pain and discomfort.

With any exercise, strict form is top priority.  Some key points to remember when doing the 5 Squat Hold:

  • Have your feet shoulder width apart with your toes pointed out slightly
  • Squat down like you’re going to sit in a chair keeping your knees in line or behind your toes
  • Stay as upright as possible.  There is a tendency when squatting to lean over too much.  Try to avoid this as doing so can hurt your lower back.  To stay upright, stick your chest out, keep your head looking forward, and arch your back up slightly.
  • Come down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.  If you can’t go down that far at first just do what you can and over time you will be able to go lower
  • As you are coming up out of the squat make sure that you are pushing up through your heels.  If you push up through your toes, a lot of stress will be placed on your knees.  We don’t want that!  Pushing through the heel will put more of the strain on the working muscles

In the video, I said to hold for 5 seconds.  That is a good time to start off with but if you want more of a challenge take each hold to 10 seconds.  1 set of this exercise would be 5 squats with a 5 – 10 second hold for 3 – 4 times through giving you 15 to 20 repetitions of squats total.  To get a shoulder workout at the same time, hold your arms in front of you at shoulder height throughout the exercise and they will be burning too!

So there you have the 5 Squat Hold.  Fire up your legs and let me know how you do!

Recognizing and Busting Through a Fitness Plateau

Posted on by
Reply

“I’ve been working hard over the last few months.  I think I’ve been eating pretty good.  I had great results at the beginning of my routine and was super motivated but now the results have stopped and I feel unmotivated, burnt out, and frustrated!”

Do any of these statements sound familiar?  If so, then chances are you have hit the inevitable fitness plateau.

Over the past 10 years of personal training and helping people achieve their fitness goals, I have seen this happen time and time again and have even experienced it myself.  It happens to everyone and with this post, I want to help you recognize the signs of a fitness plateau and how to bust through it and get you back on your way to feeling great and progressing towards your fitness goals.

First of all, let’s look at the signs that you have hit a plateau.  The most obvious sign is the inability to progress at one’s goals whether it is weight loss, weight gain, strength gains or muscle growth.  Another sign is lack of motivation and fatigue which are psychological responses resulting from your inability to progress and to a lesser degree from over training.

So how do you get past this plateau and back on track to reaching your goals?

  1. Rest!  Sometimes your body just needs a break.  You’ve been working hard for months day in and day out and this can wear your mind and body down after a while.  Try taking a week off of your routine to refresh your mind and body.  This doesn’t mean just sit around on the couch all week eating junk food!  Do something different.  Going for walks, a swim, and yoga are a few examples of active resting that will keep you moving but are much less stressful on your mind and body.  When you start back in to a more rigorous routine, you will be refreshed and ready to get back on track.
  2. Change up your routine.  If you have been doing the same workouts with the same weights and repetitions for the last 6 to 8 weeks then your body has most likely adapted to the stress you are putting on it.  The human body is very good at adapting to the stresses it is exposed to so by changing what you are doing, your body will have to change to adapt to these new stresses.  It doesn’t have to be complicated either.  You can change the number of reps and the amount of weight you are doing.  You can try adding some plyometrics in to your routine which are explosive movements that usually involve jumping.  You can also choose a different exercise for the muscle group you are working or even split your workouts to an upper/lower body split if you are doing full body workouts.  The possibilities are endless and if you aren’t sure what to do then seek out some advice and tips from a fitness professional.
  3. Check your eating habits.  If you have been on a strict low calorie diet for a while now, your body might be in starvation mode where it believes it needs to store the food you’ve eaten as body fat in order to function and give you the energy you need.  You can trick your body back in to fat burning mode by adding one high calorie cheat day during the week.  Doing this will kind of reset your metabolism and tell your body that it’s ok to burn the food you’re eating for energy.  On the other hand though, you might just be eating too many high calorie and processed sugary foods during the week which will stop your weight loss as well.  A good rule of thumb is to eat small meals every few hours that are packed with protein.  This will help you build some muscle which in turn will increase your metabolism and you’ll be burning more calories throughout the day.
  4. Keep your workout time to an hour or less.  The purpose of any workout routine is to challenge your body enough to stimulate change.  You don’t need to annihilate your muscles!  When you put your muscles through intense exercise for a prolonged period of time, your body goes in to a state of catabolism which is muscle breakdown.  This usually happens after an hour and a half of training and if this is done consistently it will result in over-training.  Over-training leads to muscle weakness, fatigue and lack of motivation, a weakened immune system and an overall lack of results.  Studies have shown that the growth assisting hormones the body releases during exercise peak within 30 minutes and decline shortly after.  So try to keep your workout time around 45 minutes to an hour and never more than 1 hour and 15 minutes.
  5. Proper rest between workouts.  In the beginning of your new workout routine you are highly motivated and you want to do whatever it takes to get to your goal.  This is great but sometimes people have a tendency to do too much, thinking this will get them to their goal faster.  Your body needs time to rest and recover between workouts so make sure you are giving your body that much needed rest otherwise you’ll be getting in to the over-training situation again.  If you are doing full body resistance workouts you should try to have at least a day of rest in between each workout.  A couple of full body workouts back to back once in a while is ok but if you are doing that all the time it will have a negative effect on you over time.  If you enjoy resistance training and would like to do it more often then try splitting up the muscle groups.  You could do an upper body workout one day and then a lower body workout the next day for example.
  6. Sleep. The 5 steps mentioned previously will definitely help you break through your fitness plateau but sleep is a big factor in your progress as well!  Your body regenerates and repairs muscle tissue the fastest when you are sleeping so it is important that you are getting plenty of sleep each night.  You should strive to get 7 or 8 hours of good quality sleep each night to ensure that your body is properly rested.  The amount of sleep you get has a direct effect on your energy levels as well as your training performance which is very important when it comes to seeing results.  I struggle with getting enough sleep myself sometimes and it’s easy to get caught up in things but you have to try and do whatever it takes to get that much needed sleep.  Your body will thank you for it!

So there you have 6 steps to help you bust through your fitness plateau and I want to mention one final thought on the subject to help you reach your goals.  Above all else, your mindset is the biggest factor pushing you forward or holding you back.  Be persistent and determined, have a clear goal in mind and hold on to that at all times, don’t let the inevitable setbacks and plateaus stop you, listen to your body and pay attention to your emotions, choose to be happy now instead of waiting for your results to be happy, relax, have fun, enjoy the journey and know that by taking care of your mind, body, and spirit you will be rewarded for your efforts!

Presence

Posted on by
1

A healthy, vibrant, and energetic being is our natural state.  Feeding ourselves healthy food and taking care of our bodies through exercise plays a big part in maintaining that natural state of being and it helps tremendously.  Above these two and the most important factor to maintaining our natural state is Presence.  So what is “Presence” anyway?

The best way to explain it is to describe the feeling I get when I’m “Present” or in the “Zone” as I like to call it.

When I’m in the “Zone”, I feel energized, enthusiastic, and confident about what I want to do.  There is no resistance of any kind – physical, mental, or emotional.  I have a powerful urge and feeling of motivation to move forward with focus.  I have no fear, no doubt, and do things without hesitation.  I have complete faith and trust that things are unfolding the way they are supposed to and that I will get to where I want to go.  I have enormous appreciation and enjoyment for whatever I’m doing at the moment no matter what it is.

So your next question might be, “Well how do I get to that state of mind?”.

There are many ways to condition yourself to this state of mind and it does get easier with practice.  First and foremost, try to let go of controlling every uncontrollable situation in your life.  A feeling of trust and belief will bring what you want to you.  It’s inevitable that things come in to your life that can be viewed as a bad thing but what really matters is that you don’t let these things stop you from getting to your goal and what you have envisioned for yourself.

Next, try to not complain about anything in your life.  There are two ways of complaining.  One is vocally to anyone who will listen and the other is internally with your thoughts.  Try not complaining for a week and see how much things around you change.  It takes practice but with time it gets easier and you will then be more in the habit of only talking about the good things going on around you.

Finally, take care of yourself and your body.  You have to start appreciating yourself and believing that you are worthy.  A feeling of unworthiness comes from years of negative thoughts and it’s actually a state that a lot of people are conditioned in to.  This can come through childhood exposure to the beliefs of adults around them, through exposure to negative television programs, and listening to negative complaints from people around them to name a few.  The list goes on but basically we’ve all had certain beliefs growing up that don’t necessarily help or serve us.

So how do you alleviate these feelings of unworthiness and negativity?  Yoga and meditation can help to release these negative emotions.  Saying positive affirmations to keep focused on how we want our life to be helps tremendously as well.  A belief is basically just a thought we keep saying to ourselves over and over again so affirmations can be very effective in reconditioning our thought patterns.  Exercising to strengthen our body and mind is a great starting point also as this will build up confidence and focus and  it will build a strong connection between your mind and your body.  I like to do a combination of all of these things to bring balance and when I do this, I enter my “Zone”.  There’s nothing like it and when you are in the present moment, you will know.

Let your feelings be your guide.  Follow those thoughts that make you feel good and you’ll soon find yourself in the “Zone” and on your way back to that healthy, vibrant, and energetic being that you naturally are!