Workout Of The Week February 17th, 2011

W.O.W.

Warm up:
5 minutes of jogging

50 jacks
25 push ups
15 pull ups

Sprint on the treadmill for 3 minutes

50 burpees
25 renegade push ups - when you come up out of the push up reach out with one of your arms and lift the opposite leg (at the same time)
15 chin ups

Sprint on the treadmill for 3 minutes


50 fast feet and drop - do the fast feet with feet wide
25 decline push ups - put your feet on a high or low bench
15 tricep push ups (elbows stay close to your rib cage)



Sprint on treadmill for 3 minutes

Jog for 5 minutes

Stretch

Nutrition for January 24th, 2010

Here is a more typical day for me. I am going to post random days and you will notice some trends (Brie is one of them) and (some would say), crazy (hamburger with no bun, layered with a slice of ham, cheese and an egg - super protein, right?). My calories also fluctuate because I think it's good to have higher and lower days, it keeps your body from going into starvation mode.

Breakfast
3 scrambled eggs
3 pieces of Canadian bacon

Snack
1/2 slice of flat bread pizza (a pretty darn small piece)

Lunch
Sandwich thins
A very large portion of deli sliced pan-roasted turkey breast
About 1.5 ounces of Brie

Snack
About 2 ounces of cheddar cheese
A package of almonds (those 100 calorie packets that you can buy)

Dinner
1/2 cup of rice
6 ounces of lean beef

Total calories for the day: 1,708 Carb count: 77g Protein: 160g

Wonder what I eat?

Clients and class participants often ask me what I eat, especially when I am asking them to eat more protein (over and over again). So I have decided to occasionally (or maybe more) list what it is that I eat. So here it goes....

For Monday, January 17th, 2011

Breakfast
Sandwich thins with 2 slices of cheddar cheese

Snack
14 almonds (in snack packs) and 1 ounce of cheddar cheese

After workout
8 ounces of low fat chocolate milk

Snack
1 package almonds

Lunch
1 can of sardines in mustard sauce and 4 Milton Crispy Sea Salt crackers

Snack
1 ounce brie and 4 Milton crackers

Dinner
Small flour tortilla, 3 ounces of lean beef, 1/8 cup refried beans and 8 ounces of red wine

Total calories - 1,957
Carbs - 145g (high for me)
Protein - 115g (low for me)

I don't really care about how many grams of fat that I ingest, fat keeps you full longer, nor do I pay much attention to calorie intake. Also you'll notice that I graze all day long. There are rarely more then 3 hours between meals (or snacks). I normally would not eat crackers, sandwich thins and a tortilla all in the same day even though all of those items are fairly low in calories.

Tabata Interval

If you haven't tabata'd yet, you better!

Here's a great one:

Do each drill for 10 secs and repeat 8 times = 4 minutes.

#1 Wide squat hops with hands on head
#2 Squats (no hop)
#3 hold a deep squat

Your thighs will be on fire, I guarantee. I did it in my class tonight (and with several clients) and they totally hate me now. If your feeling brave you can follow it up with a 20 minute cycle interval workout - 20 secs hard, 10 secs recovery. I think you'll be sufficiently done. Literally.

High Carbs VS High Protein....Again

In order to fatten cattle quickly they are fed a diet high in refined, simple carbohydrates made up primarily of corn and grain bi-products. They are also kept in a pen to inhibit movement. That pretty much describes the majority of Americans.



You guys need to eat more friggin' protein if you want to get lean. Low fat, high carb diets don't work well. I'm not suggesting you should adhere to the Atkins Diet. I am suggesting that you plan meals around a solid source of protein. You'll get the carbohydrates you need, trust me. Also, don't worry so much about the fat. Notice that they don't feed the cattle a high fat diet in order to fatten them up. Don't drown yourself in fat but use it to cook and flavor foods. I also tell my clients to get rid of foods that aren't supposed to be non-fat. Those foods have all sorts of other crap in them to make them taste good.

Our bodies were designed to move so do it. The average working American sits for more then 12 hours a day. 12 hours! One hour of focused, intense exercise will help combat the negative affects of that sedentary lifestyle. Also try to add in more non-exercise activity. I know you've heard it a million times but take the darn stairs, walk the dog a little bit farther then you normally do, walk to anything that's within a mile or two. Seriously. It doesn't take that long.

So here it is again: Lower your simple carbohydrate intake, increase your protein intake and move your body. That's the magic formula. And it's not very magic.

Chicken "Bouillabaisse"

Here's a great cold weather meal that's super tasty.

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 medium fennel bulb
2 cans (14-16 ounces) Italian-style stewed tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
2 teaspoons bottled chopped garlic in oil
Salt and pepper

Cut the chicken into 3/4 inch cubes. Trim the fennel, halve lengthwise and cut into thin slices.

In a large nonreactive saucepan, combine the tomatoes with their juices, the fennel and 4 cups of water. Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 2 minutes.

Add the chicken and saffron threads to the soup, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is white but still moist in the center, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic in oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.


It freezes really well for an even quicker meal later.

W.O.W. December 13th, 2010

Workout of the Week 12/13/2010


What you will need: 1 set of medium and 1 set of heavy dumbbells

Start out with a warm up of jacks, high knee run, leaps and push ups.

With medium dumbbells perform walking lunges with a shoulder press. Press the dumbbells up as you drop down into the lunge so it's one smooth movement. Hold on to the dumbbells and perform 40 lunge jump (start in a lunge position jump up and switch feet in the air landing with the other leg forward - see above diagram). Rest briefly and repeat 2 more times.

With medium dumbbells perform an alternating reverse lunge with bicep curls for a total of 10 reps. Still holding the dumbbells perform 20 squat thrusts. Rest briefly and repeat two more times.

With one of the heavy dumbbells perform a tricep overhead extension (both hands are holding the dumbbell for 10 reps. With the dumbbell in both hands at your chest squat hop out and in (that's one) for a total of 20 reps. Rest briefly and repeat 2 more times.

With heavy dumbbells perform 20 deep squats with feet close together trying to touch the dumbbells to the floor. Immediately following perform traditional walking lunges for at least 20 steps. Rest and repeat two more times.

In plank position with hands on heavy dumbbells perform a row alternating sides, being careful not to rotate your body, for 10 repetitions. Keeping hands on the dumbbells perform 20 tuck hops in and out (in plank position hop in with both feet until your in a deep squat and then hop back). Rest and repeat two more times.

With one medium dumbbell perform Turkish Get-Ups, 3 sets of 5 reps per side. (See diagram below)

Stretch (please?).