Eat Simple Carbs After Your Workout
One of the biggest lessons I've learned on my quest to be "40 and Fit" is to make food work
for me rather than
against me. What? I can eat a donut and still lose weight? What you talkin bout Willis??
Okay, maybe not a donut. But eating simple carbs (sugar) immediately after your workout is the one time it won't work against you. After a workout your muscles are craving fast digesting carbs. They help muscles recover from exercise, reduce soreness and promote muscle growth. A donut may not be your best choice. But trail mix with nuts, raisins and chocolate satisfies your sweet & salty cravings and is packed with protein and healthy fats. And you won't feel like you're depriving yourself.
Check out this
revised food pyramid (just for us ladies) from Muscle & Fitness Hers, for foods that will help you burn fat, get lean, AND lose weight. Now that's what I'm talking about!
Stretching: Warm Up vs. Cool Down
Exercise is great for improving muscular strength, muscular & cardio endurance. It can also make the muscles tight. You should always start exercise with a 5 minute warm-up and stretch and finish with a cool down (to lower the heart rate) and stretch.
But all stretching is not created equal. Dynamic (or ballistic) stretching (a bouncing, short duration motion) during your warm-up helps pump blood to the muscles, preparing them for more strenuous exercise. Static stretching (holding a static position) is designed to increase flexibility, reduce the risk of injury and reduce DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Static stretching can tire out the muscles and reduce muscular strength, so save the longer stretches for after your workout when your muscles are warm and can gain the most flexibility. For increased flexibility, hold your static stretches for at least 15 – 30 seconds.
My Current Workout: Les Mills PUMP
If you follow my Facebook and Twitter posts, you know I'm always switching up my workouts, or better yet "cross-training". My current program is the newest Beachbody release, Les Mills PUMP (the home version of Body Pump taught in 14,000 gyms around the world). I've never done Body Pump, so when I tried PUMP I didn't know what to expect. All I can say is BOOM! These trainers know how to fatigue a muscle and get results!
PUMP is based on the training principle "The Rep Effect", using light weight and a high number of repetitions to fatigue the muscles - performing between 70 and 100 repetitions per body part. When you feel the burn in your muscles, you know your burning stored fat and incinerating
any hope of celluite. What I love about this training technique is it increases lean muscle mass, resulting in a leaner and smaller body.
Now I consider myself at an advanced level of fitness. But I admit, the first time I did a PUMP workout, I couldn't finish the reps without taking a break. I was immediately humbled, and respect the trainers more and more with every workout. The training consists of a 6 day a week schedule - 3 days of PUMP (barbell workouts with weighted plates) and 2-3 days flexibilty training, ab work and moderate cardio. I bought the deluxe workout DVDs that include Combat (martial arts kickboxing), Sports Attack and Step, so I do those on my cardio days. I'm a TurboKick instructor (and fanatic!), so I prefer Turbo over Combat, but Step gets my utmost respect! All I can say is AWESOME lower body workout!
If you're looking for a fitness program that will help you gain lean muscle, reduce body fat and get your body "bikini ready" by spring (which is only 49 days away!), I highly recommend Les Mills PUMP. You WON'T be disappointed!
The program costs $165 and includes a barbell, 2 sets of weighted plates - 5 and 10 pounds, 7 workouts (ranging from 20 mins to 55 minutes) and a nutrition guide. Well worth the investment!
To order Les Mills PUMP, visit
www.JiggleFreeZone.com.
What's Holding You Back From Success?
There always seems to be plenty of reasons why you can’t do the things you want to do – "I don’t have time," "I don’t have the money," "I don’t know how." And the truth is, there will always be those reasons. But that’s when you have to make a decision. You must decide how bad you want it – whatever "it" is for you, whether it’s getting out of debt and being financially independent, making more money, helping more people, or simply having more fun – and what you’re willing to do to get it. You have a choice every day to either settle for your "reasons" or to rise above and do whatever it takes to accomplish your goals.
On Monday, January 30 from 9:00 to 10 p.m. CT, you will have the unique opportunity to hear from a few people who have chosen to put their reasons, excuses, and circumstances aside and press on to achieve their goals. These are people who have used Dani Johnson’s training to annihilate their debt, explode their income, and begin to live the life they have always desired.
On this Monday Night Strategy Call, you will discover:
-
What is holding you back from success
-
How to make more money so you can accomplish what is important to you
-
The secret to paying off all your debt without increasing your income
-
How to persist in the face of adversity
-
The incredible power of inspiration
To Join the Conference:
Dial in # 916-414-0605
Confence ID 192263#
Backup # 619-684-9024
