I tend to get asked a lot by friends and strangers alike what I do for my personal workouts. I love sharing information with everyone, but I have also learned that most people will never take action on the advice I give them. A prime example of this occurred yesterday in between church services.
While in the ladies restroom, I was approached and asked how long my workouts typically take and how often do I exercise. Well, my workouts will range from 30-45 minutes and I exercise 5-6 days a week. I then asked her what her routine was like. She proceeded to give me a number of excuses as to why she had stopped working out recently but she was ready to get started again. She usually just jumps on an elliptical trainer for an hour, 3 times a week at the local high school gym on her way home from work. She also told me that she used to use the machines but then developed tennis elbow and had to stop.
She could have developed her tennis elbow from using the machines since I don’t think you can get it filing papers and answering phones every day, but I could be wrong. I am not a doctor by trade. She seemed to be surprised to hear that the machines could have caused her injury and I’m quite sure she didn’t believe what I had to say after that due to the look on her face. Here’s what I told her:
Machines are useful in certain situations. Maybe you need to work on one muscle to strengthen it after an injury, you’re only interested in asthetics rather than function or you are too lazy to do some real physique changing exercise. Machines only work one muscle a a time. Doing these same movements every day with weight can cause the same overuse injuries you find in cashiers or tennis players. Most machines are designed for one body type and although they are adjustable, they are rarely a good fit. Most people really have no idea how to adjust them correctly and are afraid to ask gym staff how to use the equipment properly. Also, all machine exercises are done sitting or lying down. Not good for burning fat.
I like to train muscle movements. Most movements in life do not occur from a seated position as all exercises are performed when using machines. We are usually on our feet when we lift something off the ground. We are standing when we lift something over our heads to put it away. We use a large number of muscles and more than one muscle group when we do a variety of things throughout the day.
Functional exercises will better enable you to squat without back pain, grab things out of a higher cabinet without hurting your shoulders and take groceries out of the trunk of the car without throwing your back out. All important movements for day to day function.
Another benefit to using functional movements when training rather than isolation machines is the higher caloric burn you get while exercising this way.
Your workouts become more effective and more time efficient which means less time spent at the gym. Most people are busy and when using isolation machines you will spend more time in the gym trying to hit every individual muscle instead of hitting all of them in as little as 6 exercises.
So, although helpful in some cases, exercise machines are not always best for getting fit and lean fast. For a free workout using only the best fat burning exercises fill out the form located at the top right side of this blog.
www.InspirationFitnessCamp.com presents the Gasser Fat Loss Circuit performed by Winfield Indiana’s women only boot camp. This is a great workout you can do at home using a dumbbell and a stair step. For the running portion you can substitute running in place for 1 minute. You can get your children involved by letting them use smaller weights. I suggest using a 15 lb. dumbbell as seen in the video. Rest as needed at the end of the circuit. Complete as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Partner Workouts are great for fat loss. My boot camp ladies had some fun today with our 20 minute shuttle run circuit. Each team tried to do as many rounds as they could. It was a lot of fun. Not much talking during this workout. It’s a tough workout. Give it a try.
I just got back yesterday from my Russian Kettlebell Challenge and can now call myself an RKC Instructor. It was the hardest thing I have accomplished besides giving birth to four daughters!
I was pushed to the limits mentally and physically. There was a lot of sweat and tears. Thank the Lord there was no blood, in fact my hands look wonderful. Some of my teammates had some nasty looking tears and blisters. Yikes!
I am proud that I was able to accomplish this as it wasn’t easy. I learned so much and was overwhelmed with the amount of information that was condensed in those three days, but because you were actually doing all the drills yourself, you amazingly retain a lot of what you learn.
I have a great respect for all RKC’s and my teammates that cheered me on during the grad workout. Thank you.
I am winding down after a very eventful day! Here was my travel log:
Make sure everyone is fed so we can get out the door at 11am.
Husband decides at 10:30 that the van needs to be vacuumed.
Wait impatiently on the couch while the hands on the clock move to 11:03am. Finally, sending the girls outside to yell at him to get a move on.
11:15am wait biting tongue rather hard while husband finishes his lunch.
11:25 am we are finally on the road.
Get to the airport at 12:30 – made good time. Check in and husband decides we all need snacks and we take the airport train to the international terminal.
It is now 1:00 pm and I am stressing as I watch my young daughters try to eat their giant soft serve cones the size of basketballs.
1:10 pm – I give hubby “the look” and we proceed to take the airport train back to my terminal.
1:25 pm – I proceed through security and wait for my flight.
4:10 pm – I arrive in the Twin Cities and proceed to baggage claim. I wait and wait and wait and wait for my luggage. I am the only person left staring at the conveyor belt.
4:45 pm – I decide to wander over to the conveyor belts in the international side of the baggage claim area. There sits my bag – all alone – feeling much like I did – forlone and forgotten.
4:48 pm – check in to the airport shuttle and told will be 10 minutes before my shuttle arrives. Go stand outside and wait.
5:00 pm – a woman comes outside and starts yelling for Angela Ramos. I answer and she tells me I’m on the wrong side of the building and my shuttle is waiting.
5:05 pm – I get on the shuttle on my way to the hotel. Driver gets lost when we reach St. Paul, I receive a phone call from my friends wondering where I am cause they are starving (so am I!).
5: 35 pm – finally reach hotel.
The rest of the evening went okay, but dang, all that craziness makes me wonder why people would want to travel every week for a living! Or maybe these things just happen to me!
It has finally arrived! I am hopping on a plane today and traveling to St. Paul, MN.
I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown. I am now ready to realize another goal for the year. I trained hard for this weekend and I know it will pay off.
When I return I will be start some kettlebell boot camps as well as fitness camps for kids. So many new things starting up that I am absolutely excited about!
It is so important to set goals for yourself. Not just fitness goals, but also goals for your family, spiritual, school year, career, financial and educational. I make sure to always review my goals every day at least once but I attempt to read it three times a day. Make a list of your goals and don’t be afraid to dream BIG. Then, take action! When you have a goal you are working toward you have focus and a purpose. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.
Awesome! That’s my response to the new regulation set by New York City. The Gotham’s Board of Health voted a second time to require calorie counts on the menus of restaurants with more than 15 locations nationwide, which effectively means chains and fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, etc. The calorie counts have to be the same size as the wording on the menus.
The subway trains are also posting advertising for the next 3 months advising people that they should eat at least 2,000 calories a day. Unfortunately, saying that EVERYONE needs to eat 2,000 calories a day is not a great recommendation. Someone who is sedentary and overweight will probably not need that may calories a day. Calorie requirements are a very individual thing depending on your activity level, the amount of muscle you carry and how much body fat you have.
I do believe this is a step in the right direction for the general public, but it will not, on its own, end the obesity crisis in our country.
This is pretty simplistic in its explanation but for most to lose weight you need to:
1. Move more
2. Eat whole foods and eliminate all processed junk
3. Eat less calories but enough that helps you maintain the muscle you have gained
4. Strength train
Most adults try to complicate simple things, make excuses for everything and do nothing to change for the better.
America has a tough battle ahead to stop obesity in this country.
This weekend was a doozy. My band performed 3 times in two days. Whew! It was a blast. Sherri and I are now officially the first females to ever perform at a Promise Keepers event. I have to say it was a little unnerving to be in front of an all male audience, but most of them (with the exception of maybe 2 or 3 men) were members of our own church so it wasn’t too bad.
I have been slowly getting nervous with my RKC certification coming up this week. I am flying out on Thursday, getting my butt kicked Friday through Sunday and then flying home Monday. I was originally going to fly home right after the certification, but I think I will be wiped and might not make it to my flight on time.
The next phase of my boot camps start tomorrow and I’m jazzed to be throwing a Freaky Fat Loss Halloween Extravaganza this month. If it goes well, I will try one every year. We will be working out with pumpkins the entire time with some bodyweight exercises thrown in. I’m requiring everyone where a costume and bring 2 food items for the Winfield food pantry. The Chamber of Commerce is providing some things for my goodie bags that I will be handing out to all particpants. I’m excited! It’s going to be a blast!
With only 9 weeks left until Thanksgiving, many people become filled with dread as they think about those extra pounds they always put on during the holiday season.
I actually believe holiday weight gain begins now before the holiday season officially starts.
The weather is getting cooler. We are spending more time indoors. Halloween candy is on sale. We start using the oven more to create our fall comfort foods and we are less physically active.
Now is the time to take action. Establish the daily habit of moving before the shorter, colder days set in.
It doesn’t take much to get the whole family out in the evening for a quick walk around the block.
It’s still cool enough to play a game of tag outside with the kids.
Just do one thing together a day.
It’s not hard. It won’t kill you. In fact, you’ll have a lot of fun!
I receive a phone call from my friends wondering where I am cause they are starving (so am I!).
