Functional Wellness Practitioner and Fitness Trainer. Get to the root cause of Metabolic Chaos. Uncover HIDDEN stressors. Go Optimal or Go Home...But Never Go Home Suboptimal
I got home pretty late after spending a wonderful evening with my good friend Jeannette and her family. Went to bed 1:00am. Unfortunately and somewhat expected, it disrupted my day even after 7 hours of sleep. It was 11:15am and was feeling sleepy. Thus, what to do? was not about to waste my day.
What’s one the best ways to wake up the endorphins? Move Your Fanny! Thus, I stopped what I was doing and headed to gym for a 5K row. 25:04 minutes later, with a non-strenuous and steady pace, I was ready to go on, body was supplied with good and positive energy. By the way, you can get this feeling by just doing a few rounds of 30-60 seconds of burst exercises.
At 6pm, I went for a more intense workout 🙂
20 min AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) 10 Push Press (55 lbs) 10 GHD Sit Ups 10 Box Jumps (24 inches)
Completed 8 rounds + 11 reps.
Yes, heading to bed by 11:00pm. Rest the body parts, allow hormones do their work while I sleep, and wake up refreshed for a good Monday and week.
Friday afternoon, 4/29/16, I felt it was a good day for an easy 5K row. Dragged the rowing machine outside for fresh air, turned my pandora dance music station of phone on, placed water bottle next to me, and GO!
Set damper at 5.5 and focused on form (didn’t lean too forward or back, used full range of motion, kept your arms straight). Every 750m, I reversed grip (palm-up) to engage more of my biceps. Rowing with palm-up doesn’t provide the same power and that’s OK. It was a day to recovery muscles, not to break records :-). As long as arms are maintained next to the body, it’s totally fine to row with palms up. Completed 5K in 24:12 minutes.
Broccoli Casserole
Got home and got busy in the kitchen.
Had this 3 lbs bag of broccoli that was going to expire soon. It was time to do something with it. Made a delicious broccoli casserole.
Exercise ≠ Weight Loss Ticket. Yet, Exercise = World’s Best Drug?!?!
The notion that exercise is the ticket to the weight loss express still prevails. Unfortunately, looking at long-term studies, exercise does not drive weight as it ‘should’ (= as it is perceived or believed). Why is that? A few reasons…
People eat back their exercise. A little extra dish or drink because they have moved their fannies. We’ve been told to refuel, so eat away. That is true to elite athletes doing endurance sports. Chances are most people don’t need to do any of that. I certainly do not.
The concept of constrained energy expenditure is interesting. Recent research (http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)01577-8) looked at the impact amount of exercise has on total number of calories burned in a day. It suggests that the more exercise we do, the more our bodies slow down during down time. This might explains why people who hit the gym really hard are NOT seeing results they want. This might discourage people from exercising. The indirect benefits of exercise to diet and weight management is significant. That include blood sugar and insulin management, energy level, sleep, hormone balance, brain and digestive health. These benefits will in turn drive dietary changes more. Think about the overall health benefits thousands of people of join the gym every January and leave it a couple of months later are missing out because their driver is weight loss!
The notion that more muscles we have, more calories we burn. That is true but it seems highly overrated…isn’t a fair fight. World-renowned exercise physiologist Claude Bouchard went on record to say, “Skeletal muscle burns about 13 calories per kilogram of body weight over 24 hours when a person is at rest.″ In other words, Bouchard ascribes the resting metabolic requirement for 1 pound of muscle at less than 6 calories per day. He also states that, “Weight lifting has virtually no effect on resting metabolism.”.
Let’s say one gains 15 pounds of muscles while shedding 15 pounds of fat, one might be burning an extra 90 calories only or a couple of oreo cookies. So well, well…are there any benefits to increasing skeletal muscle percentage? You bet! I can address another day.
I say, let’s rebrand the role of exercise.From weight loss and management ticket to overall health management ticket. Understanding its indirect benefits to diet and weight management might help people building a long lasting relationship with it, making it part of their lifestyle forever!
Would you like to learn more and techniques how to apply all this? Tired of procrastinating? YOUR health is the only one you got! Reach out and let’s get started.
Four Tabatas = Energy Boost = Moving Fanny Works!
It was one of those days. I went to the gym not really certain whether I should have gone. My body and mind were feeling a little tired and it was my forth day in a row working out. I considered going because it was a tabata of movements I feel very comfortable with and there was not heavy lifting involved. Otherwise, it would NOT have been a good idea. Tired body during technical lifts can lead to injury instantaneously and in the long term.
A Special Loving Reminder
Four minutes into the routine and I was reminded why I love to move my fanny and encourage everyone to do the same and become a personal trainer as well. Total workout lasted 18 minutes. I was sweating like if I had just left a shower and fully energetic.
Full Mixed Tabata* •Box Jumps (20 inches) •GHD Sit Ups
– Rest 2 Mins –
Full Mixed Tabata* •Lunge Steps •Kettlebell Swings (35 lbs)
*Tabata is a time interval of 20 secs of work followed by 10 secs of rest, for 8 rounds (4 total mins). The mixed Tabata alternates movements, with the same interval. A full mixed Tabata is alternating movements for 8 rounds EACH (8 total min).
Soon after the tabatas, Bianca and I did 3 rounds of 10 reps of 4 different core movements. Hello to abs.
Jen Widerstrom, Biggest Loser Trainer and IDLife investor…
…shares a few training tips for those considering a race like Tough Mudder. Completing any portion of the race is a win, she says. I could not agree more. IDLife makes high / clean quality products and evidence base individualized nutrition that no other supplement company offers in the market. Ingredients your body will absorb. Take the FREE HIPAA Compliant Assessment at www.BeFabBeYou.idlife.com.
Jen’s 28-Day Challenge
Jen has also developed 28-Day Challenges for IDLife. Not only i endorse IDLife products, but also take IDNutrition daily, have done the Performance Challenge, and have products such as Pre and Post Workout, Hydrate, and Shake handy. Excellent products supporting exercise routines. For those looking to shed weight, Lean is the product. Last but not least, try Whey and Vegan shake protein powders in your smoothies.
I didn’t notice how sore my upper body was until I started to stretch before the workout. Ouch! To help out, two of the 1x Rep Max movements were upper body. Had not done 1x RM done in a while.
If you’re in the gym lifting moderate to heavy weights often and muscles aren’t building up as they ‘should’, I encourage you to look into your nutrition, sleep & rest, and timing. Reach out for a few tips to help you understand what, how, and when.
Quick 5:15min workout:
15-12-09 reps of Burpees Wall Ball Shots (14 lbs)
Then…all mostly shoulder RMs. It was a good test for my shoulders. They felt OK. 15 mins to find 1xRM Squat Clean (max at 95 lbs) 15 mins to find 1xRM Bench Press (max at 95 lbs) 15 mins to find 1xRM OHS or Overhead Squat (max at 75 lbs)
Moved my fanny with several movements, including front squats, and got a pretty good sweat within minutes. Completed the workout in 17:13 minutes. Considering that I was fasting and without food for 21 hours, timing wasn’t bad.
50 Calorie Row 40 Front Squats (75 lbs) 30 Toes To Ring 20 Push Jerks (75 lbs) 30 Pull Ups – My sensitive skin on hands didn’t resist the pull-ups. The last 6 reps were a little bloody 🙁
For a quick cash-out, Bruna and I did 3 rounds of 20 sit-ups passing 14lbs ball to each other. Keeping core awake!
The front squat is great to lower body including muscles such as gastrocnemius, gluteus maximus, and especially quads. Back squat requires more core for stabilization, hips, and spinal erectors. If back squat is performed with bad technique, the movement will be blamed for lower back pain. That is because a person might use lean forward and compromise back. When performing front squat, it is hard to lean forward without losing power or dropping bar weight on the floor. Thus, in general, front squat promotes better or proper back squat technique.
I had a great time playing in a volleyball tournament, dancing, catching up with friends, and appreciating the ocean view Fort Walton Beach, FL offers. I left Atlanta on Thursday evening and went straight to AJ’s, in Destin at midnight. Said hello to friends and hit the dance floor until they were about to kick me out at 3:30am. I spent so many hours staring at the ocean, met a few great people, spotted dolphins, and drunk a few margaritas. Yes, I make alcohol consumptions exceptions when I go to this spot. Yesterday, I left the beach just on time to catch the gym. Tough and yet awesome! Literally, body was craving a good workout. Check out memories made.
As far as food goes, I cooked and brought my food. I cooked broccoli, cauliflower, squash, chicken, hard boil eggs, and red cabbage. Also brought walnuts, pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, chia seeds gel, and hemp seeds. I also brought greens, cocktail of food/herb powders, coconut milk, avocado, beets, and green apples for smoothies.
Got my Brazilian girl Bruna to join me and got a 3rd mini workout in on 4/19/16. This vibrant young lady is also from Brazil. Sh is a pre-med student and has been working / studying hard. It was fun to move our fannies together. How did you move you fanny?
Workout #1:completed in 12:55 min & 1:41 min
3x Chest To Bar Pull Ups (assisted with band) 50x Clean and Jerks (75 lbs)
*EMOM until C&J reps are complete. That is, at every top of minute, complete 3 CTB Pull ups and use remaining of minute to do as many C&J. Keep 3x + until 50 reps C&J. Some rounds I got as few as 3 C&J 🙁
Cash Out: 30 Alternating DB Snatches (30 lbs) done in 1:41 min.
Workout #2:completed in 15:32 min
50x-40x-30x-20x-10x (total 150 reps of each movement)
Double Unders & GHD sit-ups
This was almost 2 minutes slower than Friday’s. Performing this routine after have done one workout made a huge difference. Decided not to go for a 3rd. This time, found a Brazilian ‘victim’ to join me 🙂
Generally, I take day 4 off. I was feeling good and routine was basic, no weight lifting, so I got the good basic movements in. I must say, by mid round 4, row started to wear me out though. How did you move your fanny?
5 Rounds (completed in 16:57 min)
20 Calorie Row 10 GHD Sit Ups 30 Double Unders
Post workout, quick cash-outs:
400 meter run, 10 burpees
5 rounds of 10 GHD sit ups – wrapped 100 reps for the day 🙂
I don’t have my own video on this but here is what GHD sit-ups are about and how to do a GHD sip-up properly.
Prowler push killed my good intentions of doing a short routine post workout.
How did you move your fanny? The prowler, the killer, showed me no-no, as usual. Pushing a sled fires up the glutes, hamstrings, calves and quads. Lots of big muscles. Wonder why leaves me and most people sucking air and grasping for anything that resembles life support afterwards 🙂
15 min AMRAP (Teams of 2) 20 DB Thrusters (25 lbs) – 10x person 40m Prowler Push (140 & down to 120 lbs total weight). Each person pushed 20m 20 KBS (35 lbs) – 10x person 40m Prowler Push (as a above)
Cash-out 15 minutes later:
Tabata Plank. By round 4, abs started to get on fire.
Elisabether and I were short by 30m prowler to complete 4 rounds. We did first round with 140 lbs and dropped it to 120 lbs. Although, I was DONE DONE after this short 15 minute workout, energy burst showed up shortly after. It always reminds me why I LOVE to exercise.
I will be getting a good night of sleep tonight! Cheers everyone.
Moving Fanny on Mother’s Day?
Are You Tracking Your Strength?
Got my Brazilian girl Bruna to join me and got a 3rd mini workout in on 4/19/16. This vibrant young lady is also from Brazil. Sh is a pre-med student and has been working / studying hard. It was fun to move our fannies together. How did you move you fanny?