Trainerkristinw's Blog

It's the great pumpkin workout, Charlie Brown!

Walking lunges with weight overhead

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Candy can be quite spooooky but we decided to bust sugar in the butt! With an 8-10 pound pumpkin we used this squash to squash fat and calories!

Russian Twist with the pumpkins

“I’ll just work out later.”

It’s a common phrase heard around the lunch table. You can eat whatever you want as long as you go to the gym later, right? Wrong.

This is actually a very backwards way at looking at your nutrition. The truth is that you can’t out train a bad diet. It’s true that by working out you’re helping your body burn extra calories that were consumed throughout the day in order to speed up weight loss, but by eating right to begin with, you’re going to get faster and better results.

Start thinking about your nutrition as 80 percent of the battle.

Running on the treadmill will not reverse the fact you just had a burrito the size of an infant. When you go to the gas station, you only fill up your car with the amount it needs to get to a full tank, right? You would never sit there squeezing the pump with gas overflowing down your car. Your body is the exact same way. Eat what you need to “fuel up” and save the rest for later.

In reality, losing weight is a math equation. If everything about losing weight confuses you, I want you to walk away with one thought: eat a little less, move a little more.

That’s it, that’s the big secret to weight loss.

Creating a deficit of calories will in fact make your body drop those stubborn pounds. One pound is 3,500 calories. How do you burn 3,500 calories? Again, eat less and move more.

Everyday, consume a little less calories than you have been and work out. That will ensure that you are taking in fewer calories and burning an extra 500 calories a day. Multiply that by seven and you have a pound a week.

It’s the best start.

I’m competing Friday at Masters Nationals for synchronized swimming.

I’m terrified.

All through high school, my team and I were lucky to be quite competitive and got to see most of the country. I’m positive this is where my love for working out stemmed from. If you lined up most synchronized swimmers you’d find one thing in common, great legs! In honor of my favorite sport, I have put together a list of my favorite leg exercises, none of which require a gym membership.

Single leg bridge: Lie on your back with one leg bent and the other straight, slowly lift your hips in line with your knee, and lower them back to the floor. Do this for about one minute and switch legs. Your buns will burn!
Single leg lunge: My all time favorite exercise that will keep you sore for days! (In a good way) Standing with your back a foot or two in front of a bench, chair, or couch, rest one leg on the surface behind you, rest your hand son your hips and lunge down slowly and back up again. Remember to have a wide enough stance so when you lunge down, your knee doesn’t go over your foot. What I always tell my clients is, when you do a lunge always think of your body going straight down, never hunching over or coming forward. Everything from the hips bones up is straight and tight. Perform about 20 repetitions on each leg, repeat 3 times.
Step-up: standing in front of a step, stair, or bench, place one foot on the surface and using only that one leg’s power, step up. As you get better and stronger, instead of stepping all the way back down; just lightly tap a toe on the ground below. This gets the best spot, right where your thigh ends, and the behind begins! Perform about 20 repetitions on each leg, repeat 3 times.
Wall sit: Now this will really hit the tops of your thighs, the quadriceps. Stand against a wall with your feet out about a foot or two, lean back so everything from you hips to head is back against the wall and bend your legs so your knees are directly over your feet, hold as long as you can.
Plie squat: Standing with your feet a little bit wider than shoulder width, turn your toes to a 45 degree angle. Slowly squat down and back up again, repeat 15-20 times. To make it more challenging, for every three squats, squat down and jump back up.
Squat jump: last but certainly not the least, this mixes cardio with strength training and is a total killer! Squat down and using your heels to press through the groud, leap up as high as you can. The goal is to get higher and higher and deeper in the squat. Do this for about 45-60 seconds.
These are just some of the great leg and butt toning exercises I do with my team as well as with my clients. It proves you don’t need heavy weights or gadgets to train your body, use your own body weight and get creative! Have fun!

one arm push up

I’m an advocate for home workouts. As someone who works from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. most days, it’s hard to convince myself to get to the gym after a long day.  Not to mention the fact that it’s free to work out at home! Most times, I workout in my living room and can confidently say I can do pretty much the same thing as I can do in a gym. The great thing about working out in your home is you can watch you most guilty pleasure at the same time! Just kidding, but that is an added bonus. You only need a few key things, some free weights, a stable surface to rest your leg on (see last week’s article), some resistance bands, and a medicine ball. In honor of the medicine ball, here is a great home workout using one 8-12 lb ball.

Weighted crunches: Lay on your back, legs up at 12 o’clock, hold the medicine ball in your hands and press up trying to reach the ball to the tips of your toes. Do this for 30-50 seconds.

One arm push-up: Perform a push up with one hand up on the medicine ball while the other is on the floor. Right away you’ll feel only one side of your chest performing the exercise, do 12-15 reps and switch sides.

Weighted one leg lunge: Performing the one leg lunge (one leg up on a surface behind you), lunge down and lift the medicine ball over your head as you go down. This will add extra weight as you lunge down, right away you’ll feel your heart rate start to go up. Do 12-15 reps and switch sides.

Squat jump and throw: Perform a squat, as you squat down, jump up as high as you can using all of your power. After you get used to this motion, add the medicine ball and toss the ball up as you jump, and catch it on the way back down.

Walking lunges: Walking in a straight line, lunge down and hold for a second; stand back up and repeat. The whole time, make sure to have the medicine ball in your hands above your head. Doing this will add weight to your lunge and raise your heart rate. Be sure to squeeze your stomach nice a tight, doing this will help prevent a back injury.

Russian Twist

Medicine balls are fabulous, they don’t cost very much and because you can hold them so comfortably, you have a wide range of motion and variety of exercises that can tone your whole body.

Check out my latest article for sacmidtown.com!

http://www.sacmidtown.com/2010/10/midtown-trainer-killer-legs/

Today I’m starting a evening class of boot camp, and i’m so excited! We basically do a circuit style of training but this workout is so fun I just love getting other people involved in it. I’m really excited as well because my mom will be coming which makes me so happy. I’ll post pics and updates tomorrow!