What A Girl Eats

General Workout

The "Do Anywhere" workout

Winter Workout

I get a lot of questions about good excercises.  So, to start out I suggest this website.  It has great visuals to show you how to do the stretches and various exercises.   I will try to add a new excercise or stretch on a monthly basis.

Here we go!

Elevated Push-Up
      Works chest, arms, upper back, and core

Put your knees on a chair and your hands on the floor.  Inhale as you lower your upper body toward the floor.  Exhale and push back up. Repeat.

The X
     Works back

Lie facedown on the floor with your legs and arms extended.  Life right arm and left leg several inches off floor.  Hold for two counts, then continue alternating sides.

Oblique Crunch
     Works abs and thighs

Lie on right side with legs extended.  Lift legs several inches off the floor while crunching your upper body up.  Try a few on each side, then switch and continue alternating.

Chair Squat
     Works legs and butt

Sit with feet shoulder-width apart, arms extended in front of you just over knees.  Exhale as you push through your heels to stand up.  Slowly sit down and repeat.

Front cross Squat
     Works legs and butt

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, hands on hips.  Step right foot 6 inches out to the right and - keeping upper body facing forward, chest high, and shoulders down - cross left leg behind and slightly to right of right foot and lower into a lunge.  Step left foot out to left and repeat to other side to complete 1 rep.  Do 3-5 sets of 12 to 18 reps.  When you become more comfortable with the move, hop from side to side.

*Vogue Press
     Strengthens shoulders, triceps, and upper back

Stand with feet hip-width apart, kees slightly bent, and ohld a 5-10 pound dumbbell overhead with one hand on each end.  Bend right arm, drawing your elbow toward your side, as you reach your left arm over our head (the dumbbell will be vertical)  Straighten your arms to return to the starting position, then repeat on the opposite side to complete 1 rep.

Perfect for traveling, crowded gyms, and home, this 30-minute routine guarantees results.

Your Mission

In a rush?  Check cardio and strength training off your to-do list in 30 min flat - no machines necessary.  Here is an effective routine that requries nothing more than a jump rope and a dumb-bell.  Skipping rope blasts calories faster than walking or jogging does, but because it can be challenging, you sometimes need to take frequent breaks.  This workout puts those rest periods to good use with simple but super-effective sculpting moves that strengthen your upper and lower body and keep the intensity elevated.  The result:  a minute-maximizing plan that leves no muscle unworked.  Using a weighted jumping rope adds an extra "oomph" to this workout.

How it works

Warm up with easy cardio:  Dance around your house, march in place, climb up and down a staircase - anything that raises your heart rate will do.  Then follow this plan.  The Vogue Press is described in the workouts above.  Cool down by walking for a few minutes, then stretch.

YOUR WORKOUT PLAN

*What 'Rate of Percceived Exertion' (RPE) means

The rate or perceived exertion is used to gauge your intensity in cardio workouts.  Her's what the numbers mean.
RPE 1-2:   Very easy; you can converse with no effort
RPE 3:       Easy; you can converse with almost no effort
RPE 4:      Moderately easy' you can converse comfortably with little effort
RPE 5:      Moderate; conversation requires some effort
RPE 6:      Moderately hard; conversation requires quite a bit of effort
RPE 7:      Difficult; conversation requires a lot of effort
RPE 8:      Very difficult; conversation requires maximum effort
RPE 9-10: Peak effort; no-talking zone

Depending on what part of the world you live in, you might see some of that white stuff falling from the sky that we all like to call, SNOW. With that being said, along with snow comes the possibility of ice.

Snow and ice are dangerous when traveling, and together can be a deadly combination to those venturing out and about. Those diehard gym rats who will travel no matter what the weather is like will more than likely be one of the few at the gym during snowy/icy days.

So what do you do on those snowy/icy days? Sit in front of the television and eat a bag of potato chips? I sure hope not. Even though the weather outside isn't the greatest, that doesn't mean that you can't get a good workout in at home.

This article will give you some tips and pointers on how you can make your snowed in days work for you and allow you to still get in a good workout.

Tip & Pointers

Grab Your Shovel!

I know... We all hate to go outside and shovel. The thought of going out to shovel snow ranks up there with watching paint dry. However, it doesn't have to be that way if you truly want to get a good workout in. Shoveling snow can burn you on average anywhere from 300-500 calories per hour (that doesn't mean shoveling for 10 minutes and then standing there admiring your work for the other 50 minutes).

If you are no longer a spring chicken or you have health issues, make sure to check with your doctor first to make sure you are able to safely shovel snow.

For those of you who can shovel with no issues, feel free to help out your neighbors, especially around the holidays. Do the sidewalks all the way down your street, or help your next-door neighbor shovel out their driveway. Those extra burned calories add up.

Say it takes you 1 hour to do your driveway, and then you help your neighbor do his/her driveway for an hour. That means you burned anywhere from 600-1000 calories just from shoveling. Doesn't sound so bad after all, right?

Walk It Off:


Even though the weather outside is frightful (ok, let's not breakout into the song "Let It Snow"), you can still take a nice walk outside. Bundle up with layers and make sure you are fully covered so you don't get to cold. Make sure you wear shoes with good tread so you have good traction. If it is icy outside, you can still go for a walk; you just need to be extra careful.

If you have snowshoes, take your walk off-road. If you have access to woods around where you live, you can take a nice walk through the woods and check out the beautiful winter scenery.

If you don't have access to the woods, take a nice walk through your entire neighborhoods back yards and wave to all your neighbors as they watch you through their windows (ok, this is a joke... please do not do this). But seriously, if you have snowshoes, your walk is endless and you can pretty much go wherever you wish.

 

Cold Weather Actually Burns More Calories:


The nice thing about being outside when the weather is cold is that you burn more calories. Who would have thought that you could literally stand still in the winter outside and burn calories. Want to know why? Sure you do!

Your body is programmed to maintain a temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.0 degrees Celsius. With that being said, your core temperature drops when you are outside. Therefore, your body needs to exert energy to bring the temperature back up (this can be in the form of shivering) which burns calories. I'm not saying that by standing outside you will lose 10 pounds, but you WILL burn a small amount of calories simply by standing out in the cold.

Do I recommend this for weight loss? No. How boring is that! But it is a fun fact to make you think about how the body burns calories to exert energy, which increases the body's core temperature. There's your fun fact of the day!