Blog Archives
Happy Memorial Day!
I hope your extended weekend has been filled with fun in the sun and good times with friends and family. Today, I offer my “wish list” for you on Memorial Day.
1) Take at least a moment to stop and remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice so that the rest of us could live in this wonderful land we call the United States of America.
2) Fit some fitness into your holiday fun. I’m excited to take a Zumba class at 10:30 this morning. Not only will it be the first Zumba class I’ve been able to squeeze into my schedule in months, it also ends early enough that the rest of the day awaits! (Click here if you need a few reminders on how to fit some fitness into your holiday fun.)
3) If you’re outside, don’t forget to apply and re-apply the sunscreen!
4) Whether you’re celebrating the holiday indoors or out, stay hydrated. If you plan to drink alcohol, make sure to designate a driver to ensure everyone gets home safely after the Memorial Day fun.
Wishing everyone a very Happy Memorial Day! Here’s to the summer ahead and all the chances we’ll have 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!
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!
Attention Beautiful Women Everywhere!
I’m not trying to alienate any of the guys who check in here at LauraLovesFitness (and are often kind enough to retweet or “like” my posts), but in honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I’d start off the week with a shout-out to all your fabulous females who somehow manage to do it all.
Love my mom!
I’m beyond proud of my mom who at 71-years-young has embraced a much healthier lifestyle during the past six months. Along with watching her diet, she’s moving more. In fact, we just got back from a lovely walk along the beach not far from my childhood home on Long Island. Her newfound focus on her health is an inspiration to me.
Then I think of my other friends who are moms who somehow fit fitness into their daily schedules. Whether it’s Lori Ann who’s on her elliptical before the sun comes up, Michele who makes a point of getting to one or two Zumba classes each week or Linda who toils away in the garden, they’re a constant reminder even to a fitness lover like me that if breaking a sweat is something that helps you keep an even keel to get through the craziness – it’s important to make that time for yourself.
So, I thought that was the perfect way to encourage women everywhere to take part in a really cool competition going on right now. Even though the official kick off happened a couple of weeks back, my contact tells me it’s not too late to get in the game.
As I’ve mentioned in past posts, Under Armour is my workout wear of choice. Now the brand has launched a social competition for female athletes called “What’s Beautiful.”
It’s a nine-week competition where women are asked to declare a goal and document their journey. As you’ll see at WhatsBeautiful.UA.com, that goal can be anything from running a 5K to helping kids get more involved in fitness. Document the journey and post anything that shows monumental effort.
At the end of three months, UA will pick 10 competitors that blew them away. Eventually, the finalists will be whittled down to three top winners who will win thousands of dollars in gear and be the new faces of the Under Armour brand.
Needless to say, this is something I’d love to be a part of. Unfortunately, based on my current full-time profession and other responsibilities, this will have to wait until the next go around. However, for those of you who think you can find the time to get in on the action, go for it! I’d love to say I know one of the winners and a new face of my favorite workout-wear brand.
Regardless of whether you enter the competition, always remember being active is one of the best ways to stay on track with your lifelong goals to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Allergies & Exercise
This is the time of year Mother Nature smiles down upon us with warmer temps and spring breezes. That makes it the perfect time to move your indoor fitness routine outside. If you’re just getting started on a workout program, adding some outdoor activity to your daily routine can be a great way to ease into a routine.
Unfortunately, if you’re like me and the thousands of other allergy sufferers around the country, the outdoor activity can trigger more than an endorphin rush. Instead, you can find yourself sneezing, coughing or wheezing and trying to find relief for those itchy eyes.
I don’t have to hear the numbers on the news to know the tree pollen count is off the charts. Since everything isn’t concrete and steel here in the Big Apple, the lovely breezes are doing a great job spreading pollen around from the trees in my neighborhood and nearby Central Park. I’ve continued my daily 30-block morning walk to the office, but I usually arrive with swollen, red eyes and the sensation that there is cotton stuck in my throat. So, I thought it was a good time to offer some of my allergy-season survival tips that help keep me in motion.
- Take note of the time: Pollen counts tend to be highest between 5 am and 10 am. Unfortunately, that’s when many people enjoy their get-the-day-started jog, bike ride or walk. If you can move the activity to a time that’s not so pollen-heavy, great. If not, hopefully some of the following tips will help.
- Wear sunglasses: You can create at least a minimal barrier for your eyes by wearing sunglasses (or even goggles) if you plan to exercise outdoors for a long period of time. Using eye drops before you head outside can help, too.
- Don’t forget your meds: I got allergy shots for several years when I was a kid. They helped make my acute reactions less severe over time, but I still battle through hay fever season every year. Today there are so many over-the-counter and prescription allergy medicines that can offer relief. (Important note: I don’t like to take a lot of medicine, but as far as I’m concerned, I’d rather take something for a few months that will keep me from scratching my eyes out!) Talk to your doctor about what treatments might work best to alleviate your symptoms. To prevent the onset of those symptoms, it helps to take your medication an hour before your outdoor workout. If you get out of bed and head outdoors immediately, ask your doctor if you can take your medication before bed so it’s in your system when you head outside.
- Clean up: Get out of those sweaty and pollen-infused clothes, take a shower and wash your hair as soon as possible following an outdoor workout. The longer that pollen lingers, the more severe your reaction can be. (You also don’t want to spread the pollen around your home by sitting on the couch or lying on your bed.)
Probably the best advice I can offer is this: listen to your body. If you’re trying to get your heart rate up outdoors but all you’re feeling is misery, be smart. Stop. Head indoors, shower and re-group. Maybe that’s the day you turn to an air-conditioned group exercise class or pop in a Zumba DVD in at home to help you have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Small Group Training
On this Workout Wednesday, I thought I’d tell you about a new adventure I just started to add a little variety to my own routine.
Every Monday and Wednesday night for the next eight weeks, you can find me at New York Sports Club getting my butt kicked in a small group training class called called UXF, short for “Ultimate Fitness Experience.” Six of us signed up for the one-hour class led by my friend and personal trainer extraordinaire Roberto Murichi. One class down and I can’t wait to go back for more! Along with getting a killer workout, I’m also using this class to expand my knowledge as a personal trainer by learning from someone who’s been in the industry for the past decade.
A “Basic” Butt-Kicking Exercise!
The Push-Up
After a warm up that included eight rounds of bicycle crunches, squats and push ups – performing as many reps as possible in 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest – Roberto set up five stations for us to rotate through as a circuit. The exercises ranged from using ropes to lifting with kettlebells. We worked at each station for 60-seconds straight, then moved on to the next. (There was one rest station. Each of us breathed a serious sigh of relief when it was our turn to move to that spot!)
After several rounds, it was easy to see how this class offers a killer combination of strength training and cardio. As we move forward, the exercises will change, and the number of rounds will increase. Roberto will “score” each of us at an upcoming class and he’ll do the same thing when we wrap at the end of April. I can’t wait to see how my numbers compare!
Photos by Lauren Bachner
Along with the intense exercises and Roberto’s expertise as a motivational fitness instructor, there’s something else I love about this class: the small group dynamic.There’s some sort of instant bond that seems to develop when you get a half-dozen people together who are at different stages of training. One of my small group classmates has been working with Roberto in one-on-one sessions for the past two months. His wife also signed up for the class, but in her case, it marks the first time she’s stepped foot inside the gym during the same time frame.
While each of us may be starting at a different fitness level, we all share similar goals of improving our strength, endurance and agility. The bottom line is we’re all looking to do what we can to be physically fit.
I look forward to spending the next eight weeks sweating it out with my new classmates and encouraging each other to get through those seemingly never-ending circuits. Whether you sign up for a small group training class; take the same Zumba classes every week; join a running club or workout with a personal trainer, it’s nice to have fitness friends to help you on your journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Fitness & Friendships
Events can often remind us of the many gifts in our lives. That’s exactly what Saturday’s girls’ night out did for me.
About a half-dozen of my gal pals carried my birthday celebration into the weekend by treating me to pitchers of sangria – which did include lots of “healthy” fresh fruit – and Cuban cuisine. Afterward, we took the party to “Culture Club” for more than two hours of dancing to tunes from the shoulder-pad-and-big-hair-filled 1980s. (It seemed only fitting that “Physical” by Olivia Newton-John welcomed this fitness blogger as I walked through the doors!) My calculations on the Internet show I burned roughly 715 calories during those 120 booty-shaking minutes on the dance floor. However, I couldn’t figure out how to add up the extra calories we must have burned thanks to the laughter we shared over still knowing the words to almost all of the “old” songs. (Which included everything from “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” by Dead or Alive to “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins.)
As the fun night continued into early Sunday morning, I couldn’t help but think of how lucky I am to have such special people in my life. Some of these amazing women have been my friends since childhood. Some I met during the past decade. Yet, they all have one thing in common: they always have my back. They’ve supported my decisions, regardless of whether they’d do the same thing if presented with the same situation. They’ve encouraged me to pursue my dreams in the fitness industry and get this blog started. As an only child, I consider these women, along with a few others who couldn’t make it to this particular outing, my extended family.
I tell you all of this as a reminder to turn to your support network – family or friends – to help you tackle the challenges in your life. For many people, deciding to embrace a healthier lifestyle can be an uphill battle. If you’re one of them, lean on your friends. Lots of guys go to the gym together to spot each other while weight lifting and push each other to get those last reps in. We gals can do the same thing. Ask a friend to join a gym with you or sign up for Zumba or other group exercise classes at a local community center. If the gym isn’t your thing, make a date to meet a few times each week at a for a brisk walk or run. Knowing you’d be breaking a “date” by skipping a workout with your buddy can be a good motivator to stick with the plan for the day.
Whether it’s a Saturday night dance party or a mid-week walk in the park, don’t forget to lean on your friends to help you stay on track with your plans to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Birthday Reflections
What a difference a year makes!
As the celebration of my 38th birthday winds down, I can’t help but sit here and think about the plans I made on this very same date last year.
It was February 9th, 2011 when I made the phone call to reserve my spot for the National Academy of Sports Medicine‘s certified personal trainer exam. I started studying immediately following a weekend of birthday fun. Three months later – May 21st, 2011 to be exact – I passed the exam. These days when I’m not busy with my full-time production job or writing posts for this blog, I brush up on my studies to create exercise programs for my personal training clients.
While I’ve thought about becoming a personal trainer since finishing my days at Northwestern University, there’s a whole other aspect of fitness I never expected to fall in love with in my 30’s. As a lifetime lover of dance and exercise, I’m not sure why I didn’t give Zumba Fitness® a try until November of 2011, but I guess that old expression really is true: better late than never. It only took one demo class to get me hooked, and a just last month, I became a licensed Zumba instructor. Now, I’m trying to figure out how to fit some practice and choreography time into my schedule along with my full-time job, personal training, blogging and the rest of life’s everyday hustle and bustle so I can actually start teaching Zumba in the spring.
For me, this is just the latest move in the you-can’t-plan-everything-in-your-life playbook. Even when you set a course, make a plan and list your goals – something may come along to throw things off course. And that something can be the best thing you never planned for.
Some birthday love at work
I’m excited about the start of a new year in my life. Like everyone else, there are trials and tribulations I’ve dealt with this past year that I’m happy to leave in the past. There are other challenges I’m struggling with today and will continue to grapple with tomorrow. But just like in years past, exercise will remain one of the few constants that can help keep my head on straight even on my most stressful days and lowest times.
So, I end this work week another year older. I’m not sure if that makes me another year wiser, but I am looking forward to discovering what lies ahead in the next 365 days and all the new opportunities to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Don’t Skip the Workout Today!
I hope you all enjoyed a great weekend filled with football-championship fun!
It may not be a national holiday, but Super Bowl Sunday is an American tradition right up there with turkey on Thanksgiving and apple pie. In fact, I know plenty of non-football fans who look forward to this day. Why? Because the Big Game offers the perfect excuse to get together with friends and family and indulge in many of the foods most of us try and avoid on a regular basis.
Even I go a bit overboard on Super Bowl Sunday. Which is the main reason I’m on a mission this Monday to squeeze in a post-Super Bowl workout to burn some calories. (I’m pretty sure getting up off the couch to dance to some of Madonna’s half-time show club tunes didn’t do the trick.)
With some help from a great website called CalorieKing, I put together a rundown of how some of America’s favorite Super Bowl foods score on the calorie counter. Considering many or all of these items may have been on your game day menu, I’ll let you add them up based on what you did or didn’t eat and factor in how many pieces, slices or serving sizes you enjoyed.
- Doritos’ Tortilla Chips, Cool Ranch Flavored (12 chips) = 140 calories
- Lays’ Potato Chips, Sour Cream & Onion Flavored (17 chips) = 160 calories
- 5 Pigs-in-a-Blanket = 470 calories
- 5-wing serving of hot wings = Anywhere from 300 to 597 calories (depending on the sauce and dip they’re served with)
- 1 Slice of Cheese Pizza = 240 calories
- 1 Slice of Pepperoni Pizza = 298 calories
- 1 Slice of Papa John’s “The Works” Pizza = 330 calories
- Bowl of Chili = Calories range from 300 – 600 based on the recipe. (e.g. cheese v. no-cheese)
- 1 Light Beer (12 oz) = 96 calories
- 1 Regular Beer or Ale (12 oz) = 150 calories
- 1 Regular Soda (12oz) = 140 calories
If this list didn’t give you enough of a reason to want to get up off that chair and start and go for a run or find the next Zumba® class in your area, maybe this great article from Friday’s Washington Post will give you an extra push to break a sweat.
Whether or not you cared about which team won, I hope you enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday! If that included going a bit overboard with the food and drink, no doubt you had your fun – which means there’s no time like today to get back on track with your plans to be fit and feel fabulous!
Don’t Forget to Rest!
Don't Forget to Rest! Photo by Leslie Hassler
It seems like yesterday I was looking forward to wrapping up 2011 with some down time and here we are cranking away at the near mid-month mark of January 2012! For those of you who’ve kicked your fitness resolutions in the butt by pounding the pavement or hitting the gym every single day since the New Year started, let me first be the first to offer a big, congratulatory pat on the back. Now I want you to take a day off!
You might be saying, “but Laura, you’re on Twitter, you know it’s #Workout Wednesday!” I didn’t say you have to make today your off-day, but you do need a minimum of one rest day during the week.
A rest day allows the body to recover from the stress of exercise and presents an opportunity for muscular repair and recovery of the central nervous system. Pushing your body day after day at the same group exercise class or on the same weight training circuit or along the same 5-mile route is one of the quickest paths to burning out on your routine. This can be especially true for anyone who’s new to a workout routine or just coming back after a lengthy hiatus.
The possibility of a mental meltdown aside, continuously pushing the body to the limit puts you at risk for overtraining. The following are some of the symptoms to look out for to determine if you’re overdoing it:
- Fatigue
- Increased resting heart rate
- Increased resting blood pressure
- Slower recovery after exercise
- Overuse or stress-related injuries (e.g. stress fractures, tennis elbow and runner’s knee)
- Insomnia
- Irritability or moodiness
- Disinterest in sex
- Amenorrhea (when a woman stops getting her monthly period)
- Increased numbers of colds / sore throats (shows decreased immunity)
- Decreased appetite
From what I learned through my NASM and AFAA studies, a good training frequency for the fitness newbie or anyone returning after a hiatus is three resistance workouts each week. This allows you to work your muscle groups with 48 hours of recovery in between. Cardio can be done on the in-between days or even on the same day. Even more seasoned athletes should give a muscle group a 48-hour rest period before pushing it to the limit again. Another good rule of thumb is to mix up your routine with cross training. Although I’m excited to take as many Zumba® classes as possible to continue my teaching prep, I’ll be sure to spread the classes out throughout the week. The same should be applied to your favorite cardio kickbox class or your favorite at-home DVD workout.
For those of you who can’t fathom even one day without any activity, turn your run into a long, leisurely walk or substitute your favorite cardio class with an extra-long session of stretching. In fact, the good news about flexibility training is that it can be done every single day of the week!
The bottom line is to remember taking a rest day doesn’t mean you’re being lazy. Rest is an important component of any fitness routine because it gives your body the energy to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
lauralovesfitness 