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Laura’s New Fall Favorites
It’s hard to believe we’re on the brink of officially saying good bye to the summer of 2012. I thought it would be fun to welcome the fall with a new top 10 cardio playlist.
Not all of these songs are necessarily new, but they’re some of my most recent downloads and they keep me moving on the elliptical, pulling through my sprints on the rowing machine or pushing through a Tabata derby:
- “Give a Little More,” Maroon 5
- “New York City,” Paul van Dyk feat. Austin Leeds, Starkillers & Ashley Tomberlin
- “Gangnam Style,” PSY
- “The White Room,” Adam White, Andy Moor & Whiteroom
- “All I Ever Wanted,” The Mystery (Vocal Mix)
- “Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1),” Flo Rida
- “Unconditional Love,” Amurai feat. Melissa Loretta
- “Not Alone,” Gianluca Motta feat. Molly
- “Pound the Alarm,” Nicki Minaj
- “Too Close,” Alex Clare
I’m always looking for high-energy tunes for cardio, strength training, warming up or cooling down, so I’d love to hear what keeps your workouts fun! No matter what the season, having some good tunes to keep you moving is one of the best ways to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Simply Lovin’ These Outdoor Workouts!
Saturday Morning Central Park Warriors!
On this Workout Wednesday, I gladly share what I’d call my favorite workout in recent memory.
The fact that Mother Nature provided a picture-perfect morning for this kick butt CrossFit UWS group class in Central Park didn’t hurt. Here’s what Roberto Murichi cooked up for us to tackle:
- Active stretching: included walking lunges, reverse walking lunges and bear crawls.
- Warm up: Burpees Tabata followed by 50 meter walking lunge. Just a reminder on what constitutes a Tabata, the high-intensity training protocol features eight continuous intervals of 20 seconds of maximum intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest. Check out the clip below to see what a few of those 20 seconds of work looked like. Needless to say after we finished the burpees, adding those walking lunges provided one heck of a warm up!
- Workout: I really liked this AMRAP -“as many reps/rounds as possible” – combo. Our mission was to push out as many rounds as possible in a five-minute interval of the following exercises for a total of three rounds. We had one minute of glorious rest in between each round.
Round one
- 10 pistols: Another term for single-leg squats. We used the park benches as a start/end point for the exercise. As a regression, we could switch to “regular” squats as needed.
- 10 box jumps: We used the park benches for these, too. The regression was to do a step-up and step-down.
- 10 push ups
Round two
- 100 meter sprint
- 10 walk out push-ups
Round three
- 100 single-unders (jump rope)
- 25 situps
Just to further clarify the AMRAP concept: in round one, we’d bang out the 10 pistols, 10 box jumps and 10 push ups, then start over with the pistols again and keep repeating as many rounds of the three-exercise combo until we heard the blessed buzzer on Roberto’s iPad. After the five minutes were up, we had one minute to drink some water, stretch and catch our breath before moving on to rounds two and three featuring the different exercise combinations.
The endorphins generated by this killer workout kept me energized from the moment I banged out my last sit up right right through the last out at Yankee Stadium where I happily watched my beloved Bronx Bombers beat the Devil Rays. I’m already pumped to see what Roberto has in store for us next time around!
If you’re beyond the beginner level and looking to kick things up a notch, this kind of workout won’t let you down! Click here for more information about CrossFit UWS.
Remember, regardless of your fitness level, mixing up your exercise routine with different workouts and different venues is a great way to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Another Workout Wednesday – Beach Edition
Chilling out after a beach sprint Tabata
Still riding a high from my Montauk vacation, I thought I’d use this Workout Wednesday to remind everyone to soak up what’s left of summer by getting some exercise outside!
I know I’ve written a lot about my new obsession with Tabata training. Well, here’s another chapter in that love affair! (In case you forgot, the idea behind this four-minute high-intensity formula is eight continuous intervals of 20 seconds of maximum intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest.)
Here are two Tabatas I banged out four out of the five days during my recent beach getaway. There’s nothing particularly fancy about either of them. They just happened to be extra rewarding with the feel of the sun on my skin and the sand under my feet. Of course, let’s not forget the ultimate reward: being able to cool off in the ocean when the hard work was done!
- Plank Tabata: I got my mom to use my iPhone to capture me doing one. Enjoy!
- Beach Sprint Tabata. I know, I’m not a runner, but I actually motivated myself to use the beach as a distraction from an activity I normally don’t like to do. So, in true Tabata fashion, here’s how I worked it: For the 20-second max intensity portion of the interval, I simply ran as close to a sprint as possible while keeping good form on the uneven surface of the sand. Then for the 10-second “rest” period of the interval, I simply slowed to a walk. On the last two days of the trip, I managed to pull off a mini “Tabata Derby” by doing three sprint Tabatas in a row (with a minute of rest in between).
The kicker was that I got my “regular” elliptical and weight training workouts in at the fitness center each morning before 8:30. Then, usually just before or after lunch, I would use the beach for the Tabatas. Getting two workouts in on a day was another huge treat during my vacation!
Even if you’re not a beach lover, you can still do exercises like squats, lunges, side planks and crunches in a park or in your own backyard! Whatever the season, there are plenty of ways to take your favorite exercises to new places and find exciting ways to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Find Your Focus
Knock Out Distractions & Make Your Workouts Count!
Photo by Leslie Hassler
I’m proud to be a native New Yorker and absolutely love living in the Big Apple. However, one of my biggest pet peeves about living and working here is walking down the street and colliding with someone engrossed in texting or checking his or her smartphone. What’s even more annoying than dodging a shoulder shove on a crowded city street? Seeing people waste their energy on their smartphones when they should be focusing on their workout!
As we kick off another Workout Wednesday, I offer a simple but important tip: focus on making your workout count!
I love the fact that my iPhone carries all the tunes I need to keep moving. However, the same amazing device also gives me 24/7 access to texts, emails and yes, my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, training my body has included training my brain to ignore all the distractions a smartphone has to offer.
You’ve made the effort to exercise, so remember, this is your precious time to focus on getting healthier and stronger. In our time-crunched world, many of us are lucky to get those 30 recommended minutes of cardio in on a near-daily basis. If you only have 20 or 30 minutes to commit to that power walk or weight training circuit, you owe it to yourself to get everything you can out of each of those minutes. That means focusing on what you’re doing. The text can wait, and you don’t need to tweet every time you complete a set.
Of course, I realize some people really do have to be “on” all the time, like those who work in emergency services or in the medical field and who may be on call during a workout. I also understand parents may need to keep an eye out for an emergency text from a spouse, partner or babysitter. For the rest of us, however, is the world seriously going to end if it takes another 30 minutes to respond to an email with a well thought-out response?
Working in public relations, I’m acutely aware of the fact that my job has nothing to do with saving lives. My boss knows I’ll check my work email eventually after I leave the office, but not while I’m focusing on my form or my breathing during an elliptical session or push-up Tabata and especially not during my all-time favorite Club Strength class. If taking a group exercise class will keep you from checking that smartphone, then find one you like and take it a few times a week. That way, you can truly focus on doing your body and mind some serious good during those precious minutes.
You made the effort to get to the gym, the park or the hiking trail. You owe it to yourself to focus on making that effort count so you can have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!!
Give Tabatas a Try!
Some of my Tabata Favorites: Single-Leg Bicep Curl
As I sweat through these hot and hazy days of a New York City summer, I enjoy working out in the comfort of an air-conditioned gym. However, I realize there are many who take advantage of the season to get outside and get moving. Wherever you like to workout, Tabata training is the perfect way to get your heart pumping and muscles moving.
This high-intensity training protocol was founded by Japanese scientist Izumi Tabata in the 1990s. His studies showed his formula produced similar health benefits to traditional cardio workouts, but here’s the kicker: a Tabata can be completed in just four minutes.
The formula is simple: eight continuous intervals of 20 seconds of maximum intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest. Even better: you can create a “Tabata Derby” by adding consecutive four-minute intervals and work your way up to a 20-minute total Tabata workout. Another thing I love about this type of training is almost any exercise fits into a 4-minute Tabata. Here are some examples:
For fitness newbies or those getting back to working out: Start slowly! My very first Tabata was split into two exercises: front squats and push-ups. So, the first four 20-second rounds of work featured squats and then I shifted to push-ups for the last four rounds. Other ideas:
- Jump rope (can be done in or outside of the gym)
- Planks
- Chin-ups (can always be done at a playground or find a tree branch – a strong one, of course!)
- Front squat to overhead press
Side Plank
For the seasoned fitness enthusiasts:
- Jumping lunges
- Side lunge to overhead press
- Treadmill sprints (make sure to safely straddle the treadmill during the rest periods)
- Overhead medicine ball slam
Feeling at the top of your game:
- Stationary bike sprints
- Squat thrusts
- Mountain Climbers
- Burps
The Plank
- The Push-Up – All Images by Lauren Bachner
A few important notes before you jump into one or more Tabatas:
- You must warm up! Try five minutes at a slow/medium pace on an elliptical machine, stationary bike or take a light jog.
- If you do more than one Tabata – you must rest for 60 seconds before moving on to the next exercise.
- While the idea is to push out as many reps as possible in the 20-second work period, you shouldn’t sacrifice good form. Better to do “perfect” push-ups on your knees with your stomach drawn-in and glutes squeezed nice and tight than risk injuring your lower back with sloppy reps.
- Don’t forget to cool down and stretch when you’re done!
- There are lots of apps out there to help you keep track of the work / rest intervals. I use UltraTimerHD on my iPhone. For non-iPhone users, one of my fitness friends really likes the Time for Tabata app.
One of my favorite, no-heavy-thinking, under-60-minute workouts at the moment:
- Warm up (includes SMR on my calves, TFL and lats)
- 30-minute elliptical
- 20-minute Tabata Derby (example: Front squats, side planks, push-ups and single-leg bicep curls – alternating legs)
- Cool down (includes more SMR)
If you have a favorite Tabata training combo, I’d definitely love to hear about it!
I’ll be forever grateful to fitness guru Roberto Murichi for introducing me to the Tabata. Trust me, if you’re looking to add some spice to your normal routine, Tabata training a great way to help you have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Time for New Kicks!
As we kick off another work week, I realize we’re more than half-way through July. Which means I am almost a month overdue on updating one of my most important fitness tools: my sneakers!
Like many women, I love shoes. I love them even more when I find a great pair at one of the discount shoe paradises that have popped up all over the country. There is one type of shoe, however, that I will gladly pay full price for if I have to, and that would be my sneakers. Why? Because wearing the proper footwear while you workout is one of the easiest ways to protect yourself from exercise-related injuries.
Here’s a little trivia that may come in handy if you’re ever on Jeopardy! and land a “Daily Double” in “The Foot” category: there are 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles and tendons in each foot. That means there are 370 places vulnerable to injury in your feet alone. Now consider that improper foot support can lead to compensations made by your knees and hips, and you are putting your body at risk for a world of hurt.
So, what’s the best footwear? It depends on your foot type. If you have a high arch, you need sneakers with good shock absorption. If your feet are flat and/or “roll” inward or outward, you need a sneaker with stability. An “average” foot needs a shoe with both cushioning and stability.
I don’t know your foot type, but I can tell you what works for me. Since my fitness routine includes elliptical training, rowing, and strength training classes, Tabatas and Zumba, cross trainers keep me well-grounded and stable. I started wearing New Balance cross trainers five years ago. I currently have the 1011s, but it turns out, they’ve already moved on to the 1012s. I get a new pair every six months, and if I put it off for too long, I actually notice pain and discomfort in my knees while I’m on the elliptical or while doing squats and lunges.
As you repeat readers may remember, I’m not a runner. However, my fitness friends who do pound the pavement only lace up in running sneakers. When I played tennis back in high school (which seems like ages ago!), I had sneakers specifically for tennis practice and matches. Many basketball players like high tops for the extra ankle stability. If there’s one sport you play often, it’s a good idea to get a pair of sneakers specifically for that activity, and also have a more “universal” pair, like cross trainers, for days when you mix up your routine.
I look at it this way: I have far too many purses in my closet and most guys have more gadgets than they’ll probably ever need. So why wouldn’t you spend the money to have at least one good pair of sneakers to protect you from getting hurt while you’re working so hard to stay healthy?
In the end, wearing the proper footwear is one of the easiest ways to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Mental Health Monday
‘Tis the Season to Find Your Happy Place!
As we kick off yet another work week, I’m doing all I can to hold on to the feeling of calm I managed to capture by extending the 4th of July into a mini-vacation.
I hope someday someone will be able to put a scientific rationale behind that old saying “time flies when you’re having fun.” Until that happens, I offer an important reminder about a crucial component to keeping your health and fitness routine in check: don’t underestimate the importance of taking care of your mind.
With the dog days of summer upon us, there’s no time like the present to take a look at your schedule and figure out how to pencil in some time to re-charge and re-boot. For me, it meant extending the holiday into a few extra days away from the office and escaping to one of my favorite places on the planet: Jones Beach.
Armed with my sunscreen, an umbrella, a beach blanket, a chair and plenty of water and healthy snacks, I claimed a small piece of waterfront property for myself and tuned out the world by listening to the most soothing sound I know. I captured 60-seconds worth of that sound on my iPhone so I could sneak a listen whenever the world gets a bit overwhelming. I’m sharing it here in the hopes of helping others do the same:
I admit, I didn’t use these precious beach days as an excuse to be a total slug. Instead, I used the sun-soaked backdrop as a different venue for my workouts. I traded my 30-minute elliptical session for 50-minute power walks and followed those steps with plank, squat and/or push-up Tabatas on the sand. (Other no-gym-equipment-required exercises for beach Tabatas include burpees, squat thrusts or mountain climbers.) After breaking a sweat, I was more than happy to cool off in the crisp Atlantic Ocean.
I realize a true getaway may not be in the cards for everyone this summer. However, whatever time you can take for yourself – whether it’s an afternoon, morning or evening of tuning out – do it! Whatever you do, make sure you totally disconnect at some point during the week. I mean get off the iPhone or Blackberry, don’t worry about uploading a photo to Facebook or tweeting about the healthy snack you just ate. Just chill! Use the longer days as a reason to enjoy some time outside in the evening with family or friends. Take a walk, have dinner out on your deck or bring a picnic to the park.
So, while I’m constantly motivating people to move more, I’m now challenging you to find a way to slow down a bit. Then let me know how you sneak some down time into your schedule. If we don’t take advantage of these “lazy days of summer,” we may miss the perfect opportunity to make mental health breaks part of our everyday journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
A Little Motivation
As we kick off another Workout Wednesday, I’d like to thank my fellow St.Mary’s High School Gaels for providing the inspiration for today’s post.
Jennifer recently posed the following question on my LauraLovesFitness Facebook page (which prompted a “like” from Susan):
What are your tips to get motivated? I know that everyone says they are busy and have very little time to work out; I am in that club. I have a full time job, children etc. I know exactly what I need to do to get fit, I have a physical therapy degree. The pounds are not so slowly creeping up on me but I have no motivation. Help!
Kids or no kids, all of us juggle so many daily tasks and activities. Add the time we spend here online to write and/or read blogs; check/send email; post status updates; “like” our friends status updates and create clever tweets, and it’s no wonder we feel we have zero time to do anything “good” for ourselves. Well, guess what? We HAVE to make time because no one else is going to do it for us.
So, where do I get my motivation to move amidst the madness? While we can come up with a hundred reasons not to exercise, my list for why I stick with it is pretty short and sweet:
- Regular physical activity provides countless benefits which include controlling weight; fighting a variety of health conditions ranging from heart disease to arthritis and promoting sleep.
- Stress-busting power! After a 12-hour shoot day or edit session with an intense client, nothing clears my head like breaking a sweat. That doesn’t mean you have to bust your butt in a 90-minute boot-camp class. Spending 15 minutes on a treadmill (which Jennifer admits she has in her home) or taking a brisk walk around the neighborhood can channel negative energy to a much healthier focus.
- Endorphins and Energy! You’ve heard of the “runners’ high.” Well, I don’t run, but the mood-elevating endorphin rush I get from Tabata training or a Club Strength class is probably the biggest reason why I keep moving. Exercise also boosts your overall energy levels more effectively than pumping your body full of crash-inducing caffeine or sugar-fixes. For all you parents, adding some exercise to your life could be just what you need to keep up with your kids!
Along with my motivators, here are a couple of other things to keep in mind:
- Don’t tackle exercise with an all-or-nothing voracity: If the idea of spending an entire hour exercising overwhelms you, simply scale it back. Start with 15 or 20 minutes and build on that. Once you start feeling the positive effects from the activity, you’ll want to spend more time doing what makes you feel good!
- Don’t compare yourself to others: Until I win the lottery and can hire my own personal trainer to kick my butt five days a week and pay a chef to take the guesswork out of making healthy meals that actually taste good, I remind myself everyday that in my reality, I’m doing the best I can to take care of myself. So, while I may never have legs like Cameron Diaz, I do have a strong heart, strong spirit and strong desire to fit my workouts into even the most hectic weeks so I can get that rush where I feel like I’m on top of the world – even for just a little while.
If all else fails, remember this: exercise CAN be fun! The key is finding what that fun is for you: running, boxing, Zumba or even meeting a friend for a daily brisk walk with hand weights. Don’t be afraid to experiment and mix things up. Even if you never define exercise as more than a “necessary evil,” you can still make a program work on your terms so you can have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
A Fitness-Filled Weekend
It’s probably safe to say most of us wonder where our weekends go. This one, however, flew by particularly fast for me as it was one filled with plenty of fitness fun – both physical and mental.
With B2C President Brent Brookbush & “Classmates” the “Intro to Functional Anatomy” Workshop
Mother Nature graced us with one of the most magnificent weekends in recent memory filled here in New York City. Since I wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine as early as possible on Saturday, I got my butt to the gym before 9 am and put my new love of Tabata training to good use. If you’re looking to make the most of an hour at the gym, here’s what I got accomplished in that time Saturday morning:
- 5 minute self-myofascial release (SMR) with the foam roller and static stretches for my calves, TFL and latissimus dorsi.
- 20-minute”Tabata Derby”: Using my UltraTimerHD app (as recommended by my friend and fitness pro Roberto Murichi), I completed four sets of Tabatas featuring the following exercises: squats, push-ups, sit-ups and planks. Thanks to the app, I simply pressed start and knew exactly when to work for 20 seconds, rest for 10 and continue. Once the first four-minute Tabata was completed, the app also allowed for the crucial 60-second “rest” period before moving on to the next exercise.
- 1000-meter rowing “sprint.” This took me about 10 minutes. Not my best time ever, but I had just finished the Tabata Derby, so I gave myself a bit of a break.
- 20-minute interval elliptical training. (The last five minutes were more of a cardio cool down.)
- 5 minutes SMR and stretching, mirroring what I did at the start of the workout.
Sunday’s “workout” lasted much longer – a little more than eight hours to be exact – but it was a totally different experience. I spent the day at the Sports Club/LA on New York’s Upper East Side for a B2C Fitness workshop entitled “Functional Anatomy 1: Intro to Human Movement Science.” The class was taught by my friend and B2C President Brent Brookbush.
Not only did taking the workshop help me gather some of the needed CEC’s (Continued Education Credits) I need to maintain my personal training certification with the National Academy of Sports Medicine, but it also offered an amazing refresher on anatomical terminology and the interactive function of joints, muscles, fascia and the nervous system as it relates to human movement.
The course was filled with fun anecdotes and interactive activities, and it was also great to meet other personal trainers and fitness professionals with different levels of experience in the industry. Any of my readers who happen to be fellow fitness pros and need some CEC’s (or just want to brush-up on everything from planes of motion to movement analysis), I’d recommend taking any of Brent’s workshops in a heartbeat.
While the physical and mental workouts may make for a groggier Monday than usual, I’m happy to be armed with refreshed energy and knowledge to continue on the quest to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Tabata Tunes
We made it to another Workout Wednesday!
This week, I’d actually like to address something I’ve overlooked in my past posts about Tabata training. I’m grateful my friend and true fitness pro Amy for pointing out a very crucial component when it comes to this type of high intensity training.
The Rings: One of My Favorite Tabata Stations!
While you can do multiple sets of Tabatas to create killer 20-minute workouts, I forgot to mention that you need to rest for one minute between each four-minute Tabata round to allow for short recovery. (As a refresher, in a Tabata, you push out as many reps as possible of a certain exercise in 20 seconds, follow with 10 seconds of rest and continue until the four minutes are up.)
As Amy reminded me, taking a “big break” of one minute before moving from let’s say a squat-thrust Tabata to a push-up Tabata allows the heart rate to fluctuate between recovery and full exertion. Believe it or not, it’s also a way to make sure by the end of that fourth set, you almost feel like you can’t make that last 20-second work period and your muscles will be shaking and trembling. This is a surefire way to push your body hard, but not to failure!
If you have an iPhone or iPad , there’s a great fitness app that my UXF instructor Roberto introduced me to. It’s called Ultratimer. It does cost $1.99, but as I’ve become “addicted” to Tabatas lately, it’s great to have a tool that alerts me when to work and when to rest. Ultratimer features bells and buzzers and you can listen to your music and still hear all the signals. Click here to check it out.
So, what songs keep me motivated for these workouts? Here are some of my favorite Tabata tunes that come in just over or under the four-minute mark. (I think you’ll find they’re an interesting mix of music genres.)
- “Four Minutes,” Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake (How appropriate, right?)
- “Looks That Kill,” Motley Crue
- “Firestarter,” The Prodigy
- “The Fire,” The Roots featuring John Legend
- “This is How a Heart Breaks,” Rob Thomas
- “Where Have You Been?” Rihanna
- “You Walk Away (Edit),” TyDi featuring Audrey Gallagher
- “Points of Authority,” Linkin Park
- “Time of My Life,” 3 Doors Down
- “Get Better,” KMC featuring Sandy
- “Rebel Yell,” Billy Idol
- “Point of No Return,” DJ Encore
At the end of the day, whether it’s Tabatas, time on a treadmill or taking a Zumba class, finding the workout that works for you is the key to staying on track with all your efforts to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
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