Workout Routines
In the Workout Routines section you will find cutting-edge workouts that you can print out and use, designed by yours truly and other experts in the fitness industry!
So read on, leave your questions/comments, and apply what you learn to your own fitness routine! To get the most out of the advice within these articles, schedule a free, no-commitment training session and consultation with me and together we’ll put these concepts into action!
4 Exercises to Increase Your Vertical Jump
Anyone who plays basketball, volleyball, or other sports that require vertical leaping is almost certainly interested in increasing the height of their vertical jump. After all, dunking, spiking, and general dominance in these sports depends heavily on how high off the ground you’re able to get. Many people attribute the ability to jump high to genetics, and while genetics can be partially responsible for gifted athletes who can seemingly fly through the air with little effort, every athlete can significantly increase their vertical “hops” through a proper workout routine.
A common myth in the fitness industry is that calf strength is the primary factor determining one’s jumping power, but this is not true. The vast majority of the power of a jump is generated in the thighs (hamstrings in particular) and hips (gluteus maximus in particular), thus creating a training regimen that focuses primarily on improving the strength of these muscle groups makes the most sense. Continue Reading 4 Exercises to Increase Your Vertical Jump »
April’s Recipes, Workouts and Q & A Wrap-Up
Below you will find a list of all of the recipes and Q & A sessions from this past month’s newsletters. If you’d like to get these types of articles delivered to your email on a regular basis, please sign up for the Fit Facts Newsletter (and get a free e-report in the process!). Continue Reading April’s Recipes, Workouts and Q & A Wrap-Up »
3 Killer Exercises for the Core
The core has become somewhat of a “trendy” term in the fitness industry lately, but with good reason. The core is critically-important to the health of your body. In addition to being the foundation from which all bodily movement takes place, the core is also responsible for maintaining correct posture, which helps to avoid many of the painful postural disorders we often experience later in life if we don’t pay attention to our core strength. Finally, a strong core can help prevent acute injuries such as inguinal hernias, slipped discs, etc.
It’s important to note that the core is NOT just another term for “abs.” The abdominal muscles—the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, internal obliques and external obliques—make up only part of the core. The muscles of the lower/mid back—the multifidus, erector spinae, latissimus dorsi and a bunch of other smaller muscles—as well as the pelvic floor muscles and diaphragm, all make up what is referred to as the “core.” Continue Reading 3 Killer Exercises for the Core »
5 Butt-Blasting Ways to Tighten and Tone Your Butt
The butt is one of those areas that many women hate on their own bodies and envy on others’. Whether they feel theirs is too flabby, too flat, or even too large, the desire for a tight, toned rear end is pretty much a universal sentiment among the female population, only surpassed by the mystery of how to actually get one’s rear into such shape! I’ve had a lot of experience helping women improve the look of their rear ends and wanted to share my top 5 secrets tricks with you so that you too can achieve optimal results in your own efforts.
The bottom line is it that all comes down to two main principles, which, if you’ve been reading my blog, may sound pretty familiar to you. One, flab is caused by excess fat and the only way to reduce flab is to reduce overall body fat through appropriate nutrition and a quality exercise program. Two, the firmness and shapeliness of a well-developed butt are due to having muscle in the area, which means you need to blast your glutes with high intensity! Continue Reading 5 Butt-Blasting Ways to Tighten and Tone Your Butt »
Movement-Based Training vs. Split Training, Which is Better?
I tend to put gym goers into two camps when it comes to resistance training. One camp is made up of the “strategists,” those who plan out their workouts and have a fitness goal in mind, while the other camp is made up of the “from the hip-sters,” those who have no real goal other than to fill up the hour-long workout with any exercise they can think of. In general, men tend to form the “strategists” camp while women tend to form the “from the hip-sters” camp. This is completely understandable—there are tons of resources for guys to share resistance training knowledge with one another and it is widely-accepted that resistance training is “what guys do” in the gym—most guys want to be muscular and know that resistance training is the best way to accomplish this.
On the other hand, many women tend to associate resistance training with “bulkiness” and an intimidating atmosphere, and likely have visions of steroid-pumped female bodybuilders running through their minds when they think of it. Continue Reading Movement-Based Training vs. Split Training, Which is Better? »
Your Guide to Eliminating “Flabby Arm Syndrome”
“Flabby Arm Syndrome” (or FAS for short) is a condition that affects many women. Ok… so maybe there is no medical term known as FAS, but I think we can all agree that toning up the arms is a major priority that most women share when it comes it improving their body composition.
Flabby arms are caused by a combination of a lack of muscle tissue and an abundance of body fat in the area. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense—unlike our legs, which we use to move around on and hold our bodyweight up every day, our arms don’t get used much at all unless we consciously work them out using resistance. Additionally, most women’s bodies prefer to deposit fat in the back of the arms over many other areas of their body, and unless we are on a nutrition plan that is controlling body fat levels, we are going to see a significant amount of body fat deposited in that area. Continue Reading Your Guide to Eliminating “Flabby Arm Syndrome” »
How to Build Up the Strength to Perform a Proper Push-Up
When lifting weights, it’s easy to devise a plan to work towards a specific lifting goal, because in order to get there all you have to do is use a lesser weight that you can handle and gradually increase the weight over time till you reach the goal weight. It’s a little more tricky when you are performing bodyweight exercises—you can’t exactly hack off some of your limbs to make yourself lighter, so you really don’t have anything to “work up from.” Thus, without the proper progression plan it can be impossible to meet certain goals. For instance, if you can’t perform a single push-up, how are you going to train yourself to reach a goal of say, 10 push-ups?
Most people would simply attempt to do the push-ups with horrible form. Unfortunately, this doesn’t lead to increased strength, nor an eventual ability to perform the exercise correctly; on the contrary, it tends to instill bad habits that have to be “unlearned” in the future before the proper form can be used. Continue Reading How to Build Up the Strength to Perform a Proper Push-Up »
Protected: Bootcamp Alternative Workout Guide
7 Exercises you can Perform on a Trip
Working out while on a trip can be more of a hassle than it’s worth often. Between trying to find a gym near the hotel you’re staying at, to finding time to actually GO workout, to paying an arm and a leg for a 2-3 day pass, the costs can quickly add up and outweigh the benefits. Hence why the majority of people give up on working out while on a trip altogether.
What you need is an easy-to-follow, “take with you anywhere” workout regimen that doesn’t take very long to do and can be performed on even the busiest of trips. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find one of these types of workouts on your own, so I’ve done the work for you an outlined 7 of the most effective bodyweight exercises that I use with my bootcamp clients, that you can perform as an intense training circuit in the comfort and convenience of your own hotel room! The entire workout shouldn’t take more than 15-20 minutes to complete, will work your entire body and the intensity can be adjusted up or down depending on your level of fitness. Continue Reading 7 Exercises you can Perform on a Trip »
The Top 4 Post-Pregnancy Exercises
Having a baby is very often the end of the road as far as fitness goes for many women. The weight gained and hormonal changes experienced during pregnancy as well as the significantly-reduced free time after the baby is born does not create a motivational environment that encourages a consistent, dedicated fitness regimen. In addition to the weight gained, women typically lose a measurable amount of strength (particularly in the core area) from what they had prior to the pregnancy. These are all unfortunate circumstances because it doesn’t have to be this way!
Each of the four exercises outlined below are beneficial for restoring strength in key areas and getting into the right mindset to advance your fitness regimen in the near future. They will improve your posture and give you more energy to keep up with your new child. The best part is, these can be done easily in the comfort of your own home and no equipment is needed! Continue Reading The Top 4 Post-Pregnancy Exercises »