Workout Wednesday: New Year's Fat Blaster

Happy New Year all! SOOO I've been looking forward to the New Year with great anticipation! This marks a new chapter in married life for Micah and I as he has completed his biotechnology degree and I plan to start working on a degree in nutrition. :-) Call me a nut, but I actually enjoyed college for the most part. I've always secretly wanted to be a fitness model...lol, and today I'm the model for all of the pics in this workout. (Just a little 411 for those of you who've never met me in person.) A little tangent before I go into the tutorial for the workout: I'm so thankful that I've had people to spend Christmas and New Year's with. There are many people who spent both these holidays alone, and I realize how blessed I am to have wonderful friends and family to spend both of these days with!
Today's workout consists of the tabata method, and will knock out those problems areas, and count as a little cardio. So set your timers, and push through this one. It's tough, but it's over with in only 12 minutes if you push through it.

 Knee-ups:

Jump Rope: hop as quickly as possible. Focus on small skips. If you don't have a rope, pretend you do.

Reverse Crunches: Use your muscles, not momentum. Your lift at the top won't be a large movement at first.

 Side Traveling Squats: Beginners, don't squat as low, and use a chair. Squat halfway, then reach right leg to the side. Stay low and bring left foot in same direction. Squat down lower, then stand halfway. Continue in the same direction, but during the next round, travel the opposite way. Use your best judgement on squat depth.

Glute Bridges: Heels must be pressed into the floor with feet about hip-width apart. Squeeze your glutes and pause at the top.

Dolphin - Shoulder Plank: Squeeze your shoulder blades through the movement. If you have weak shoulders, swap this for another shoulder exercise.

 Oh and last but not least, here's the cute little graphic. If you like this workout, feel free to pin it!

 Some advice: During squats, you know your limits and what is safe for your knees, so you know how low you can go. Use your glutes, it takes stress off your knees. You should be squeezing your glutes during bridges also. During jump rope, keep your knees slightly bent, and really pull your lower abs in during reverse crunches, and dolphin planks.

Enjoy this one, it's tough!

Disclaimer: Although I'm a fitness professional, not all workouts are suitable for everyone. Please consult your doctor before beginning any exercise/fitness regimen.

More Core...Than You Originally Thought

So, It's midweek. Usually, This is my day of the week where I really blast my core, which involves a lot of integrative exercises, using multiple muscle groups. Usually there is some type of ridiculous balance exercise involved. But I promise my entire body feels more toned once I get the training for this group out of the way! Some people love training abs...I used to, but now I enjoy training legs more, so to keep it fun, many times I train abs and glutes together. You might be thinking...really, isn't that time-consuming, it's really not. Besides, by training this way, I ensure good posture and balance on both sides of my body. Which helps prevent injury. Besides, glutes are part of your core too, this often overlooked muscle group can cause severe back pain in people who don't train properly. The other muscles people don't think of: lower abs. If you don't train them, forget a six pack. their connected to your upper abs and your obliques, and inner thighs. Think planks with any kind of leg movement. One thing to be mindful of, pun intended, is to put your mind into the muscle. Knowledge is power, so think about contracting the muscle you want to work during the exercise. I promise you'll get better results.

I usually train straight-set/ consecutive sets for 2 weeks, then superset for 2 weeks, and then circuit or HIIT for 2 weeks. Depending on whether or not I'm looking for strength or long lines. This is what a sample core workout looks like for me. I've trained this way for awhile and it works.

Warm-up: 1min.   marching knee lifts

3x 12-20 hip lifts

3x 12-15 side reach throughs  (each side) with top leg lifted. This can be done from plank position

3x 3-8 plank straddles each side (This one should not be rushed through.) You can even try this move on hands and knees.

 3x 12-20 reverse crunches

 Try this routine. You'll be breaking a sweat and on your way to stronger core in no time! Think of your core as a belt which goes all the way around when you choose your exercises, and you'll be much more functionally fit!