Dec
5th

Take as long as you need.
Do as many variations as you want.
At the end, you must have done at least 400 burpees… or more.
Time yourself so you can try beat it next time!

Here are my 400 Burpees!

Nov
9th

If you didn’t know me well, you would think I was super unhealthy.

1. I don’t go a restaurant to eat a salad. Ordering a salad at a restaurant is seriously the biggest waste of money ever. I can make a cheaper, yummier and healthier salad at home in 5 minutes.
2. I can’t stand chicken breast… and white meat. I don’t care if it’s the #1 protein for most people, but I’d never force myself to eat something I don’t like.
3. I never hold back when I go out. What’s the fun in that? Poutine, duck confit, lobster grilled cheese, Grey Goose … keep it coming!!
4. Dessert? Yes, please.
5. I talk a lot about junk food online. But would you rather have me talk about salad? You don’t make friends with salad.

On the contrary, I eat clean and healthy 75% of the time, especially during the work week and when I’m home. Most of my meals and snacks consist of REAL foods that grew on trees or from the ground. I usually pack my own lunch, I eat tons of protein, good carbs and healthy fats and I somewhat watch my calorie intake. I do indulge in some processed foods during the week, but I watch my portions.

I eat A LOT though, and my boyfriend definitely knows! I’m constantly snacking on something or complaining that I’m craving for something really bad (and he better get it for me or someone is going to get hurt)… even “clean” foods mean calories but I workout hard enough during the week to keep the weight off (I rarely workout on weekends).  Some of my friends told me that they THOUGHT they worked out hard… until they worked out with me.

You know that saying, WORK HARD, PLAY HARDER? I apply it to all aspects of my life, including health and fitness. Stay disciplined during the week by eating fairly clean and pushing yourself SUPER hard at the gym and then have plenty guilt-free fun when you go out!

YOU? If you can’t commit to as much exercise as I do, eat less during the week and omit the fairly from the clean. If you want to give up, remind yourself how good it feels to be able to go out and indulge, guilt-free. You know how crappy I would feel if I’m eating a garden salad and drinking water, while all my friends are eating steaks and drinking Caesars? That would’ve resulted in me, ordering a steak for myself after 3 minutes of watching them eat theirs— even though I knew I didn’t push myself at the gym that week… and feel even worse, afterwards.

BUT what if you did have a little too much fun? Don’t beat yourself up over it! Just push yourself a little harder next time you go to the gym and stay committed! Or get fat.

It’s your choice. What do you want more?

Nov
7th

I remembering reading about this a couple years ago but the video just popped up on my Twitter feed again:

What do you think?

Can you imagine if this happened here and the chaos that would ensue?

Obesity rates in Japan: 5%
Obesity rates in US: 35%

“Illegal” is the wrong word and “fat” isn’t right either so I will use obese.

I think most people are taking this the wrong way because this is no way discriminating against fat people, but an attempt to tackle the obesity epidemic, and obesity means more medical problems, which also means higher medical bills, sometimes to the expense of tax-payers. Of course, there can be a better way to measure “how obese you are” because even fit people come in all shapes and sizes, especially in a multicultural country like ours, but a similar concept needs to be put in place.

Fat tax? More incentives for the healthy? It’s hard to say what it is, but something has to be done.

A survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that the average waist size for Caucasian American men was 39 inches, a full inch lower than the 40-inch threshold established by the International Diabetes Federation. American women did not fare as well, with an average waist size of 36.5 inches, about two inches above their threshold of 34.6 inches. The differences in thresholds reflected variations in height and body type from Japanese men and women.

Being obese is no way to live— it’s disgusting, it’s unhealthy and the chances of medical conditions, like diabetes increase greatly. Wouldn’t that make you want to get healthy? Obese people with medical conditions already have that as an incentive to get healthy, but most of them are still eating fried chicken in front of their TV’s. WHY? Hey, guess what? There is NO EXCUSE. Fat people are just lazy.

Well, except for the small percentage of the population that has genetics and conditions that DO prevent them from losing and keeping weight off, but that percentage is small, and I bet you whiners aren’t in that percent. #OccupyFatTax

“Getting healthy” doesn’t mean spending hours in the gym everyday, or eating salads every meal. It means taking 20-freaking-minutes out of your day to do a quick and intense workout. It means cutting out processed foods and using the hundreds of fresh and REAL ingredients out there to make your meals instead.  It may mean eating less if you can’t fit in longer workouts (but by no means starving yourself).

How hard is it to avoid eating fast food for dinner every night, and just throw some ingredients in a slow cooker before you head out and have it ready to eat when you get home from work? Wow, you are making such a HUGE sacrifice. *insert eye roll here*

It is EASY and there are so many resources out there, so people just need to get off their lazy asses and educate themselves. 35″ waist for women? That’s an XL in pant sizes, which seems fair— XXL’s and XXXL’s should not even exist.

Do you want to feel better? Do you want to live longer? Do you want the possibility of seeing your grandson get married (and divorced)? Do you want to see your mom more than you see your doctor? MAKE THOSE SACRIFICES.

There is nothing we cannot live down, rise above, and overcome.

The only problem I see with this is:

What about the skinny?!

Just because you are skinny, with a small waistline, does NOT mean you’re healthy. Should we be taxing the skinny too? Let’s save that for another entry…

Oct
28th

Check out my Top 10 Exercises Pt. 1 and Top 10 Exercises Pt. 2.

*Note, that a lot of these are more advanced exercises so ease yourself into it, especially if you are a gym newbie. Remember: FORM, NEUTRAL SPINE AND TAKE IT SLOW.

Inefficient form but I couldn't find a better image.

1. Double-Unders
   I’ve been obsessed with perfecting my double-unders since summer and I’m can finally say that I’m pretty good at them! The only thing that stops me is when my hair sometimes whips the rope or my shin splints. They are one of my main forms of cardio right now and it’s a great workout— they make regular skipping seem like it’s for pussies.
2. Ab Roll-Outs
   You know that old school wheel-thing you may have at your gym that barely anyone uses? Well, it’s the most underestimated piece of equipment ever! This exercise will leave your abs feeling SORE the next day, but do make sure you already have a strong core before attempting to do this exercise. If you don’t have an ab wheel, you can substitute it with barbells, stability balls, etc. This is another one of those controversial exercises but as long as you focus on form, don’t over do it and slowly ease yourself into it, you will be fine.
   
3. Biking
   I use to hate cardio at the gym but now I always look  forward to it because I only do it once a week… and it’s on a bike! You would think I’d be sick of my “favorite” bike at the gym after logging hundreds of miles on it, but my cardio session is 20-30 stress-free minutes of HIIT (well, 10-12 minutes of this), tabatas, steep hills… my bike time is totally my “me” time. It’s probably the only time in my day when I’m not thinking about shit I need to do…at all.

   

4. Overhead Kettlebell Swing
   I can’t tell you how much I love kettlebells. It’s one of the best full-body exercises when done right, and makes an insane circuit, when you put a bunch of different kettlebell exercises together and do them back-to-back. The overhead swing is one of my “must-do” exercises, but if you’ve never swung a kettlebell before, start with the basic 2-arm swing.
5. Wall Balls
   I effing hate these but I effing love them! This is a full-body exercise where you are holding a heavy medicine ball, squat, explode upwards, throwing the wall at least 10ft up against the wall and catch it while going back down into squat position. To make it more effective, squats should be below parallel.
6. Push Up Row
   When my friends and I want to “die,” we always add push-up rows to our circuits with heavy weights… but we will die with strong arms, shoulders, back and core.
7. Pistol Squats
   I always thought I had a strong lower body, until one day I attempted to do a pistol squat a.k.a. a one-legged-squat and I couldn’t even get down to 45 degrees! This is why I practice these a couple times a week now, hoping to reach my goal of weighted, ass-to-grass pistol squats. I will get there.
8. Overhead Squat
   Strength, wide range of motion, works your core,  stabilize your lumbar region and basically just a great full body exercise.
9. Pull-Ups
   Everyone’s fitness goal (if they haven’t reached it yet) is probably to be able to a pull-up. The first time I did mine, I almost let go of the bar because I was so shocked. Did I just do one?! Best feeling ever.
10. Rowing
    I can’t say this is my “favorite” exercise, but it works. When I first started rowing, I LOVED it. I wanted to row everyday… and then it got more torturous as I tried to beat my old times. It takes me a lot of will-power to really push myself on the rower, but I do it anyway because it makes me feel great after.

    

Oct
19th

Great article! Had to repost here. Click here to read the full article.

• Make farmers walks a regular part of your program. They build your traps, core and grip while developing tremendous total body strength and stability. If you don’t own farmers walk implements simply grab the heaviest dumbbells you can and walk around the gym with them until your grip gives out. Do this for 2-3 sets at the end of your workout.
• If your knees bother you when squatting try doing 2-4 sets of glute ham raises first. I’ve seen this help out quite a bit with clients who had knee issues but still wanted to squat.
• If you’re too weak to do glute hams properly you can flex at the hip, thus shortening the lever arm which will make them easier.
• Forward and backward sled dragging before squats is another good idea for the beat up or older lifter. That warms up the knee and gets a little pump in the muscles.
• Another good pre squat ritual is doing terminal knee extensions with a band. Everyone could benefit from doing this before squat workouts, not just older or beat up lifters. Do 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps.
• When doing any type of rowing or chin up variation think about driving back with the elbows instead of simply pulling with the biceps.
• If you need to bring up your calves try doing single leg calf raises followed by single leg hopping in place. Do 10-15 reps on the calf raise with a heavy weight and then immediately hop on that leg until you can’t get off the ground anymore. Rest and repeat for 3-5 sets.
• Beginners can train their core by simply squatting, deadlifting and overhead pressing. That will be enough for them. Advanced guys who want to bring up their squats and deads need more ab work, though. Lots more. The worlds strongest lifters do quite a bit of loaded abdominal work. Some of the best choices are Power Wheel rollouts, partial range Turkish get ups, Janda sit ups, decline sit ups, hanging knee/leg raises, suitcase deadlifts, 1 arm farmers walks, Pallof presses, anti rotation cable exercises and full contact twists.
• When doing rotational core work be sure to rotate from the hips and not just your lower back. Rotating from the lumbar spine can be dangerous and lead to injury. Always brace and get the hips involved.
• If you have shoulder issues do all of your rowing exercises with a weight that allows you to hold a peak contraction for a second or two. That will ensure that the load isn’t so heavy that it could lead to more potential injuries.

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