Core muscles are the muscles that make up the abdomen and support the spinal cord; rectus abdominus (your abs), transverse abdominus (muscles keeping your core together), obliques and erector spinae (muscles supporting the spinal cord).
It is important to strengthen the core muscles because:-
- core stabilizes the spinal cord and protects internal organs
- provides power, posture, agility and stability
- ability to withhold bowel and bladder control
- important role in pregnancy
- used for everyday activities such as walking, sitting, standing, etc.
A strong core also prevents injuries and degenerative diseases such as arthritis of joints, herniated disc and lower back pain injuries.
5 Exercises You Can do at Home:-
1. Plank - Keeping your torso straight and body straight with no bending, you are on your forarms and toes, and your head should be straight while you look at the floor. Tighten abdominal area and hold for as many seconds as you can. You can start with 10 seconds and eventually work your way up to 60 seconds. Take slow controls breaths.
2. Bicycle Crunch - Lying flat on your back, put your hands beside your head. Bring knees up to about 45 degree angle and slowly go through bicycle pedal motion. Bring your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee. Breathing should be consistent. Repeat 15-20 times.
3. Vertical Leg Crunch - Lying flat on your back, extend legs up towards ceiling with knees slightly bent. With your hands beside your head, raise yourself up until your shoulder blades are off the floor, keep your chin up towards the ceiling, and contract your abs. Lift your torso towards your knees, then lower again to start position. Repeat 15-20 times.
4. Reverse Crunch - Lying on your back with knees bent and hands on the floor. Bring your knees up towards your chest until they are at 90 degree angle. Contract your abs and slowly lift hips off the floor. Lower knees again to start position. Repeat 15-20 reps.
5. Back Extension - Lying face down on the floor, and your arms straight down beside you on the floor, inhale and lift your chest and arms off the floor. Hold for a second and lower chest to the floor again. Keep feet on the floor throughout exercise. Repeat 15-20 reps.
These are just a few simple exercises you can do at home. So take time everyday to work on keeping your core strong, and preventing any injuries or dejenerative disease.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Supersetting Your Workouts
Supersetting your weight workouts is a very simple concept - doing 2 (or more in the case of giant supersets) exercises back to back with no rest between sets. Its an excellent way to build muscle and burn fat at the same time.
Supersets are beneficial because:-
- lactic acid is produced quicker in the muscles, and this helps boost growth hormone levels in your body
- they are time efficient. With less rests between sets you get through your workout faster
- you increase your strength and develop faster
Different Types of Superset Workouts:-
Giant Supersets - you target one body part, but instead of doing 2 exercises back to back, you do 3 or more. They are usually very intense so should not be done too often. e.g. a dumbbell bicep curl, followed by a bicep cable curl, followed by a bicep concentration curl.
Antagonistic Supersets - you target directly opposing muscle groups and do one exercise of each. e.g. a leg extension (working your quadriceps) followed directly by a leg curl (working your hamstrings)
Single Body Part Supersets - doing 2 exercises targeting the same body part. e.g. a flat bench chest press followed by an incline chest fly exercise.
Pre-exhaust Supersets - doing an isolation exercise to pre-exhaust the targeted muscle group followed by a compound exercise where you work the targeted muscle with help from other muscles. e.g. a leg extension (targeting yoru quadriceps) followed by a squat (you use your quadriceps and hamstrings to perform this exercise).
So if you are currently doing a weights program (that is not a superset program) and would like to build muscle and change it up try doing a superset program.
This was my giant superset program I did yesterday for my arms.
- Dumbbell bicep curls (10 reps) + bicep cable curls (10 reps) + bicep curls with tubing (10 reps) 1 minute rest
- Tricep rope pushdowns (10 reps) + tricep overhead extensions (10 reps) + dips (10 reps) 1 minute rest
- Dumbbell bicep curls (heavier weight, 10 reps) + bicep concentration curls (10 reps) + hammer curl (10 reps) 1 minute rest
- Tricep kickback (10 reps) + skull crushes (10 reps) + dips (10 reps) 1 minute rest
DO 3 SETS OF EACH SUPERSET
- Abdominal crunches on stability ball 4 x 20 reps + lower back extension on stability ball 4 x 20 reps
My arms feel great today!! They are tight but have a week to recover as I do one muscle group a day when I work out next time I do arms will be next week.
Try it and let me know how it goes! Robyn I know you will be on it!
Supersets are beneficial because:-
- lactic acid is produced quicker in the muscles, and this helps boost growth hormone levels in your body
- they are time efficient. With less rests between sets you get through your workout faster
- you increase your strength and develop faster
Different Types of Superset Workouts:-
Giant Supersets - you target one body part, but instead of doing 2 exercises back to back, you do 3 or more. They are usually very intense so should not be done too often. e.g. a dumbbell bicep curl, followed by a bicep cable curl, followed by a bicep concentration curl.
Antagonistic Supersets - you target directly opposing muscle groups and do one exercise of each. e.g. a leg extension (working your quadriceps) followed directly by a leg curl (working your hamstrings)
Single Body Part Supersets - doing 2 exercises targeting the same body part. e.g. a flat bench chest press followed by an incline chest fly exercise.
Pre-exhaust Supersets - doing an isolation exercise to pre-exhaust the targeted muscle group followed by a compound exercise where you work the targeted muscle with help from other muscles. e.g. a leg extension (targeting yoru quadriceps) followed by a squat (you use your quadriceps and hamstrings to perform this exercise).
So if you are currently doing a weights program (that is not a superset program) and would like to build muscle and change it up try doing a superset program.
This was my giant superset program I did yesterday for my arms.
- Dumbbell bicep curls (10 reps) + bicep cable curls (10 reps) + bicep curls with tubing (10 reps) 1 minute rest
- Tricep rope pushdowns (10 reps) + tricep overhead extensions (10 reps) + dips (10 reps) 1 minute rest
- Dumbbell bicep curls (heavier weight, 10 reps) + bicep concentration curls (10 reps) + hammer curl (10 reps) 1 minute rest
- Tricep kickback (10 reps) + skull crushes (10 reps) + dips (10 reps) 1 minute rest
DO 3 SETS OF EACH SUPERSET
- Abdominal crunches on stability ball 4 x 20 reps + lower back extension on stability ball 4 x 20 reps
My arms feel great today!! They are tight but have a week to recover as I do one muscle group a day when I work out next time I do arms will be next week.
Try it and let me know how it goes! Robyn I know you will be on it!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Balancing the Inside of Your Body
One of the best ways to improve your overall health is to balance the inside of your body by alkalizing yourself.
Alkalizing is the balancing of an over-acidic body, which is a major cause of disease and disorders associated with the body. Our bodies become over-acidic because of the types of foods we eat and liquids we drink; meats, organ meats such as liver, fish, fowl, beans, most grains, coffee, distilled water, most fermented foods and aged cheese, eggs, wine, sour cream, yogurt with active cultures, digestive enzymes, etc. I am not saying cut this list out altogether, but simply monitor the amount of each of these foods you eat / drink.
If you experience any of the following, a simple shift in the amount of acidic foods you eat will reduce or get rid of these symtoms:-
Lack of energy
Tendency to be depressed and moody
High risk of diseases and infections
Headaches
Disrupt in blood pressure and high cholesterol
Weight gain, obesity
Ulcers
Dull damaged hair and dry skin
Cramps and spasms
Alkaline foods to help balance the pH in your body include; most fruits and vegetables, mostly - bananas, CHOCOLATE (oh happy days), mineral water, orange juice, potatoes, spinach, watermelon, dandelion greens, mineral supplements, mostly - calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium.
NOTE: citrus fruits have an acid pH before they are consumed but usually leave an alkaline residue in the body once they have been metabolized in the body.
Be sure to pay attention to what you eat on a daily basis and ingest foods that will balance the pH of your body and result in better health overall. Hope you find this helpful.
Alkalizing is the balancing of an over-acidic body, which is a major cause of disease and disorders associated with the body. Our bodies become over-acidic because of the types of foods we eat and liquids we drink; meats, organ meats such as liver, fish, fowl, beans, most grains, coffee, distilled water, most fermented foods and aged cheese, eggs, wine, sour cream, yogurt with active cultures, digestive enzymes, etc. I am not saying cut this list out altogether, but simply monitor the amount of each of these foods you eat / drink.
If you experience any of the following, a simple shift in the amount of acidic foods you eat will reduce or get rid of these symtoms:-
Lack of energy
Tendency to be depressed and moody
High risk of diseases and infections
Headaches
Disrupt in blood pressure and high cholesterol
Weight gain, obesity
Ulcers
Dull damaged hair and dry skin
Cramps and spasms
Alkaline foods to help balance the pH in your body include; most fruits and vegetables, mostly - bananas, CHOCOLATE (oh happy days), mineral water, orange juice, potatoes, spinach, watermelon, dandelion greens, mineral supplements, mostly - calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium.
NOTE: citrus fruits have an acid pH before they are consumed but usually leave an alkaline residue in the body once they have been metabolized in the body.
Be sure to pay attention to what you eat on a daily basis and ingest foods that will balance the pH of your body and result in better health overall. Hope you find this helpful.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Run For Your Life
Running is one of the most effective forms of exercise, with many benefits. Those that run on a regular basis, whether they enjoy it or not, can tell you that it eventually becomes an addiction. After a while it becomes a part of your lifestyle, and you cannot live without it!!
Some of the many benefits of running include:-
- Weight loss
- Improved cardiovascular health
- Improved bone health
- Improved mood and brain function
- Better co-ordination
- Slows down the aging process
- Great "runner's high" feeling.
My first long distance run was a 10k run with minimal walk breaks in between which lead me to hate running for months and a knee injury. But knowing it would be beneficial for me, I taught myself how to run properly from scratch, starting with an 8 week beginners program and eventually running a marathon. And now I am a run addict! I do periodically take breaks (3 months give or take) from long distance running and focus on speed running, which not only adds variety for me, but my speed has improved 100 fold! So if you would like to learn more about how to start running send me a message.
Running on its own is great, but if you are looking to really improve your running skills you also need to focus on the following:
- Strength training for runners - follow a safe and effective strength training program designed to strengthen your muscles and improve running performance
- Yoga for runners - its very easy to get tight muscles from running so its important to have a great flexibility program that will help keep muscles from tightening
- Meal plan for runners - many runners make the mistake of eating poorly because they think they will burn off the calories. Wrong thinking! Eating the right amount of food, and the right types of food will fuel your body for better performance.
- Avoid injury - common injuries such as knee injuries, tight IT (illiotibial) bands, ankle injuries should never go unchecked. Visit your sports medicine clinic for a check up at least once a year (twice a year if you train for long distances such as 1/2 marathon and up).
NOTE - very important to make sure you have the right running shoes for your type of feet!!
So get out there and enjoy the benefits of running!!! You can do it.
Special mention to my friend Giselle who is training for a 56k marathon!!!! A 42k marathon is challenging enough, let alone a 56k, but Giselle is going the extra mile. Many hours of training are put into preparing for such a run so well done. All who know her are very very proud!!
And also happy to hear that my friend Nyarai is continuing to progress with her running by increasing the time on a regular basis!!
Please all fele free to share some of your running experiences. And if you live in Toronto and need a running buddy I am happy to link up!
On that note its time to get my speed training done!!
Some of the many benefits of running include:-
- Weight loss
- Improved cardiovascular health
- Improved bone health
- Improved mood and brain function
- Better co-ordination
- Slows down the aging process
- Great "runner's high" feeling.
My first long distance run was a 10k run with minimal walk breaks in between which lead me to hate running for months and a knee injury. But knowing it would be beneficial for me, I taught myself how to run properly from scratch, starting with an 8 week beginners program and eventually running a marathon. And now I am a run addict! I do periodically take breaks (3 months give or take) from long distance running and focus on speed running, which not only adds variety for me, but my speed has improved 100 fold! So if you would like to learn more about how to start running send me a message.
Running on its own is great, but if you are looking to really improve your running skills you also need to focus on the following:
- Strength training for runners - follow a safe and effective strength training program designed to strengthen your muscles and improve running performance
- Yoga for runners - its very easy to get tight muscles from running so its important to have a great flexibility program that will help keep muscles from tightening
- Meal plan for runners - many runners make the mistake of eating poorly because they think they will burn off the calories. Wrong thinking! Eating the right amount of food, and the right types of food will fuel your body for better performance.
- Avoid injury - common injuries such as knee injuries, tight IT (illiotibial) bands, ankle injuries should never go unchecked. Visit your sports medicine clinic for a check up at least once a year (twice a year if you train for long distances such as 1/2 marathon and up).
NOTE - very important to make sure you have the right running shoes for your type of feet!!
So get out there and enjoy the benefits of running!!! You can do it.
Special mention to my friend Giselle who is training for a 56k marathon!!!! A 42k marathon is challenging enough, let alone a 56k, but Giselle is going the extra mile. Many hours of training are put into preparing for such a run so well done. All who know her are very very proud!!
And also happy to hear that my friend Nyarai is continuing to progress with her running by increasing the time on a regular basis!!
Please all fele free to share some of your running experiences. And if you live in Toronto and need a running buddy I am happy to link up!
On that note its time to get my speed training done!!
Friday, August 6, 2010
No Gym??...No Problem!!
Think you need to go to the gym to get a great workout...think again!! There's lots you can do in the comfort of your own home, in the park, etc. And all you need really is your body!
Body weight exercise is a form of strength training used to develop muscular strength and endurance where the only resistence to movement is your body weight.
Benefits of bodyweight training include; it costs nothing, its an easy way to build strength, an effective way to lose weight, and muscles gain fliexibility as a result of bodyweight training.
Examples of bodyweight exercises (which if you are not familiar with you can google or youtube) include:-
Lunges
Squats
Most abdominal exercises
Dips
Push ups
Burpees
This was my leg workout yesterday which I did at the gym because I was already there, but can be done at home, or anywhere.
4 sets of 15 reps per leg reverse lunges
4 sets of deep squats (only if your knees can handle it)
4 sets of walking lunges (104 lunges in total)
4 sets of 15 hamtring curls with with stability ball
4 x 15 per leg side step ups on a bench
4 x 20 per side butt kickbacks (Jane Fonda style)
4 x 20 reps calf raises
Today my legs and buns feel nice and tight!! I also ran for an hour on the treadmill, but again it can be done outside.
The moral of this post - YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THE EXCUSE OF NOT BEING ABLE TO WORKOUT BECAUSE YOU DO NOT BELONG TO A GYM.
Body weight exercise is a form of strength training used to develop muscular strength and endurance where the only resistence to movement is your body weight.
Benefits of bodyweight training include; it costs nothing, its an easy way to build strength, an effective way to lose weight, and muscles gain fliexibility as a result of bodyweight training.
Examples of bodyweight exercises (which if you are not familiar with you can google or youtube) include:-
Lunges
Squats
Most abdominal exercises
Dips
Push ups
Burpees
This was my leg workout yesterday which I did at the gym because I was already there, but can be done at home, or anywhere.
4 sets of 15 reps per leg reverse lunges
4 sets of deep squats (only if your knees can handle it)
4 sets of walking lunges (104 lunges in total)
4 sets of 15 hamtring curls with with stability ball
4 x 15 per leg side step ups on a bench
4 x 20 per side butt kickbacks (Jane Fonda style)
4 x 20 reps calf raises
Today my legs and buns feel nice and tight!! I also ran for an hour on the treadmill, but again it can be done outside.
The moral of this post - YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THE EXCUSE OF NOT BEING ABLE TO WORKOUT BECAUSE YOU DO NOT BELONG TO A GYM.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Bizz about the Buzz
My dear friends Robyn and Nyarai, this blog is because of the two of you so thanks for the inspiration.
A couple of days ago Robyn and I decided its best we motivate each other to get our workouts done, and we are both doing a fine job of it!! Robyn is going to the beach in a few days...I WISH I was going - wishing thinking is reason enough for me - and its been fun working out with Robyn in mind!!
Nyarai, who is now running (further and further as the days go by) let me know that Robyn emailed her a very encouraging email to keep at it which she really liked. NOTHING NICER THAN SUPPORT FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO KEEP YOU GOING!!
Hence this blog; created to help support friends and family who are currently exercising or want to get started. I hope this will serve as a kick in the butt!! Please feel free to share your fitness goals and tips, what works for you and what does not so others can learn and get ideas.
Remember there is nothing easy about working out or making healthier food choices, but someone's got to do it, and that someone is all of us who want to look AND feel "the business"!! No pain - no gain, but believe me when you gain, the pain is so much sweeter!!
So share the buzz about your fitness!!
A couple of days ago Robyn and I decided its best we motivate each other to get our workouts done, and we are both doing a fine job of it!! Robyn is going to the beach in a few days...I WISH I was going - wishing thinking is reason enough for me - and its been fun working out with Robyn in mind!!
Nyarai, who is now running (further and further as the days go by) let me know that Robyn emailed her a very encouraging email to keep at it which she really liked. NOTHING NICER THAN SUPPORT FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO KEEP YOU GOING!!
Hence this blog; created to help support friends and family who are currently exercising or want to get started. I hope this will serve as a kick in the butt!! Please feel free to share your fitness goals and tips, what works for you and what does not so others can learn and get ideas.
Remember there is nothing easy about working out or making healthier food choices, but someone's got to do it, and that someone is all of us who want to look AND feel "the business"!! No pain - no gain, but believe me when you gain, the pain is so much sweeter!!
So share the buzz about your fitness!!
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