Archive for January, 2010

Squeezing in a workout

Anything that is important to us is worth making time for.  Whether it be family, friends, work or exercise.  I am constantly reminded by clients of how hard exercise is to fit into their day.

I am a fan of circuits.

What is a circuit?  Circuits have become popular over the last few years in the strength and conditioning world.  They have been around for decades.  The benefit is to do intense exercise in a short amount of time.  Thus the popularity in mainstream fitness is their ability to fit exercise into a busy schedule.

How do they work?  Circuits can take many forms.  In a nutshell, group of exercises done one after another with little to no rest between exercises.  The Hip To Be Fit am and pm routine (www.hiptobefit.com) is set up in a circuit.

For example, instead of doing two or three sets of the squat to press exercise, you would do squat to press, squat turn and press, push ups and rows one after the other. This is done with little to no rest between exercises. You can also add cardio such as stationary bike, elliptical, rowing machine or just plane jumping jacks with each round.

If you are going to do more than one set you would repeat the circuit (all four exercises and cardio exercise), after a one to two minute break.

Circuits are good for strength, strength endurance, balance, Proprioception and tailored the correct way…cardiovascular enhancement.   They are a great way to get several exercises in during a single workout session.  For those of you concerned about getting exercise into an already overwhelming schedule they are a great “tweak”  to your exercise program.

For more information on circuits, their benefits or those involved in the Hip To Be Fit program go to www.hiptobefit.com

Thanks For Playing!

John

On The Right Path

One of the secrets for goal free living according to Stephen Shapiro is to trust that you are never lost.  He writes, “There are no right or wrong decisions is life, just decisions.  And there are no failures in life, only opportunities for growth.  Taking a detour is not bad.  Every seemingly wrong turn is a chance to learn and have new experiences.”

I use to bring this up often when I worked with the women’s basketball team at Ohio University.  I would ask the girls “what if you never made a wrong decision?” This took fear out of the equation and made them play more relaxed. This brought a whole new insight to how they played the game.

Clients have tried different types of weight loss or fitness programs to reach their goals faster.  Many of these programs have failed.  This does not mean that they can not take something away from the experience.

At the very least they now know what doesn’t work.

What decisions have you made recently concerning your health and fitness?  Are you doing something daily to reach your fitness goals?

Sometimes it is just a matter of taking action.  As mentioned above, it is just a decision.  If it turns out to be a detour then it was an opportunity for growth.

My most successful clients are decision makers.  In other words, they take action.

I am not saying you should blindly go into any type of exercise routine.  Find one that makes sense for your lifestyle and goals and simply make a decision to do it.

It may be a road less traveled, but in the long run, you will be heading somewhere.

If your health is important to you, then it will be an easy decision to make.  You can always decide if it was a “right” one or “good” one after you’ve taken the first step.

Good luck on your fitness path.  Make your decision today…and know there are only right paths if you truly know where you are going.

Thanks for playing!

John

Exercising in the Snow!

Who says you cant exercise when there is snow on the ground?  I’m actually not talking about “being” in the snow.  Last night with 4 plus inches of snow on the ground and no end to the white stuff in sight, I decided to do a quick circuit in the comforts of my living room.  Yes, the National championship game was on tv, and a comfortable 71 degrees in the room.  Let it snow…let it snow…let it snow!

As you will see me mention often the circuit had the following characteristics:

• a squat movement-in this case lunges forward, side and rotational
• a push movement-pushup rotation exercise
• a pull movement-one arm rows
• a rotation movement-med ball twists

And as a bonus measure, I did multiple plane jumping jacks at the end of each round of the circuit.

Here’s how it looked.  10 reps each of the above exercises, one after the other without rest, followed by 1 minute of a chosen jumping jack.  I then rested for 45 seconds to 1 minute and repeated 4 rounds.  Then on to 3 plane flexibility exercises and in just under 30 minutes I got in daily exercise and watched the game at the same time.

…Who said you can’t exercise in the snow?

Thanks for playing!

JP

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