What are you doing to ensure that you are getting in your exercise every day? Yes, I do mean every day. For our clients at VWP who are attending their workouts 2-3 times per week, congratulations! But, what are you doing the other days? It is important to be getting some form of exercise every day. It doesn’t have to be hour long workouts. It can be as little as 15 minutes.

Remember, as well, that not all your workouts need to be in a gym. There are plenty of ways to get in extra exercise by just putting some thought into your day. Where can you make life just a little more work and to a point, less efficient.

Some other ways to incorporate exercise into your daily life is:

Use stairs instead of elevator – such a little thing, but counts big time. In fact, do a couple of laps up and down the stairs before you get to your destination.

Finish lunch 10 minutes early and go for a walk – helps to stretch out the ole body and get a few calories burned. Get the heart rate up now…..

If you are not getting in your aerobic work, get up 15 minutes early and do a quick little workout: BW Squats, Push ups (against a counter if need be), Floor Bridges. Repeat 4 x and you are good to go!

“7 Ways to Maximize your Gym Workout”

• Monitor your rest periods. Use a stop watch or watch the clock at the gym. Most people will rest far too long as they head to the water cooler, chat with friends. Limit your rest periods to 30-45 seconds and be ready to start back onto your next exercise as soon as the watch denotes.



• Consolidate and pack your workout time. In other words, group exercises together into mini circuits. Combine 3-4 exercises together alternating upper body, lower body, core and complete 3-4 times through and then move onto the other circuits.
• When using mini circuits, use your core exercise as “active rest”. In other words, most times you won’t need much rest after the core exercise before you start back on the first exercise of that circuit.



• Don’t waste time on machines or isolation exercises. These burn very little calories resulting in little if any changes in weight loss or body composition. Least effective machines are leg extension/leg curl. Least effective exercise is standing bicep curls. Replace leg extensions with squats and lunges for quadriceps. Replace leg curl with romanian deadlifts for hamstrings. And, any rowing movements will effectively work your biceps and burn more calories to boot!



• Pick 3-5 complex exercises (total body exercises) combine with 2-3 core exercises and workout completed. Fast and quick. Big bang for your buck when it comes to weight loss and fat burning.
• Monitor your reps and weights. Don’t waste time doing 20-25 reps. This has little, if any effect on weight loss or fat burning. Pick a weight that you need to work hard at for 8-10 reps max.
• Keep your intensity high. Intensity high; volume low. Work out hard, work out short.

In a nutshell – increase your intensity; decrease your time. Combine exercises into circuits. Use complex exercises (totalbody). Stay off machine and away from isolation exercises.

Okay, there you have it. Some good hints to incorporate into both your gym workouts and time away from the gym. Spring is here (isn’t it?) and that means Summer, shorts, sleeveless shirts and bathing suits are not far behind. Better get hopping!

Till next time,
Narina

Xmas is a busy time for all of us. And, sometimes our fitness programs fall by the wayside as demands on our time and energy increase. Here is a quick workout you can do at home anytime. No weights are required, although if you have access to weights feel free to use.

Warm Up:
Leg Swings – 10 front/back and 10 side/side

Lateral Squats – 8 each side

T-Spine Rotations – 10

Workout: This should be done as a circuit with no rest between exercises. Complete the circut. Rest for 45 sec – 1 minute and repeat 3-4 times through. Pay attention to your form; don’t rush and get sloppy. Push ups can be done either on the floor or on a counter, but not from knees please.

The workout: Squats, Push Ups, Bridges, Alternating Rear Lunges, Prone Plank, Single Leg Deadlift, Side Plank

Squats – 15 reps


Push Ups – 10 reps

Floor Bridges – 2 feet or single leg – 10 reps

Alternating Rear Lunges – 10 each leg

Plank – 10 sec hold x 3 reps


Single Leg Romanian Deadlift


Side Isoabs (side plank) – 5 sec x 8 reps

Enjoy,
Narina

With the Olympics playing out in Vancouver, a lot of us are glued to our couches watching the amazing athletes perform their event. I am sure we can all appreciate how much dedication it takes to perform at that level. These athletes have all given up any sense of a normal life to train year after year for that one moment.

Along with a lot of you, I have been glued to the television when at home. With that in mind here is a workout you can do anytime you find yourself watching TV. It doesn’t have to be during the Olympics, but keep handy for even after the Olympics are over.

There are two versions to this workout.

Version #1 - Sitting and watching, you must get up during the commercials and move.
Version #2 – 20-30 minute workout. No sitting, but marching on the spot while the show is on and exercises while the commercials are on.

Here are the exercises and should be performed in the order listed and each exercise is performed for the entire length of one commercial. If several commercials in a row, go onto the next exercise in the list.

Squats – body weight.

Clam Shells

Wall Sits - against wall, down to 90 degrees

Plank – prone (isoabs)
Plank – side 1/2 on one side; 1/2 on the other

Split Squats - 1/2 on one side; 1/2 on the other

Push Ups - either against counter, wall or on floor

If you run out of steam and can’t complete the exercise for the entire commercial, you must keep moving. Either jumping jacks, mountain climbers or squat jumps can be done until that commercial is over. Remember, if you have never done some of these exercises, be careful. There should be no pain with any of these. Maintain good form throughout.

Try this out and let me know how it goes. If you have suggestions for other combinations, send them along.

Enjoy,
Narina

We have all survived the last couple of days of hot Victoria weather. It is time for a little R & R for your trainers. While the gym is closed, there is still opportunity to exercise and keep fit. For some of you that have been training quite hard with little break, this is a good time to lower the intensity of the weight training regime. You can participate in some other “fun” activities – hiking, biking, swimming. You can also look in the local rec centres and possibly take a couple of fun classes – badminton, yoga, pilates.

For those of you that don’t want to deal with the muscle soreness from returning to the gym after a two week layoff, some sample workouts are here for you.

The best way to be successful at keeping with your program is to start now and set an appointment for yourself for 2-3 days each week for your workout. Just like you have an appointment at the studio, set an appointment for yourself at home. Pick times that you know you will be able to do. Try to pick a time first thing in the morning if you are not working, before the day gets started and other committments get in the way. You can do these as timed bodyweight exercises or you may use dumbbells if you have them. Even a bleach bottle will work.

Workout #1:
Squats, push ups, chops; lunges, superman; deadlifts; pushups, isoabs, floor bridges.

Peform this as a circuit. 10-12 reps on each exercise. Isoabs 3-5 second hold for 8 reps. Floor bridges a 5 second hold for 5 reps. Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times thru.

Workout #2:
Squats, bridges, cobra, pushups, isoabs, split squats, floor crunches, reverse lunges

Perform this as a circuit. 10-12 reps of each exercise. Iosabs 10 second hold for 3 reps.
Remember floor crunches – On back with knees bent. Hands at your side. Just walk your fingers toward your toes. Keep chin tucked. Do not lead with your chin. It is a very short movement, so you shouldn’t be coming up off the floor with your shoulders too much, if at all.
Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times thru.

Workout #3:
Squats, pushups, forward lunges, bw renegade rows, bicycles.

This is more of a cardio workout. No weights are used. We want to go in a 50/10 cycle; meaning 50 seconds work and 10 seconds rest. eg Do squats for 50 seconds, rest 10 seconds, pushups for 50 seconds, rest 10 seconds and so on until done. Rest 30 seconds at end and repeat for 5 times thru.

Exercise Descriptions:
Renegade rows – In push up position on floor. Row toward hip with one arm and return to the floor. Alternate side to side for 50 seconds. Keep hips low and square. Try not to rock side to side.

Bicycles: On your back; hands at your ears (not behind your head!). With feet off floor and knees bent, alternate elbow to opposite knee as you draw your leg in. As with crunches, do not come up into a sitting position.

Good luck with your workouts. Try to get in at least 1-2 workouts a week. This will go a long way to ensuring you are not too sore after your first workouts back after closure.

If you have any questions with this workout, you can reach me at:

victoriawellnessprofessionals@gmail.com or leave a comment to this blog.

Till next time,
Narina

“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

Hello to All on a Monday morning:

You’ll be shocked at how much work you can get done using this
5-Minute Workout featuring the “Big 5 Fat Burning Circuit” guide.

Here are the rules:

- Spend 30 seconds on each exercise (set a timer if possible)

- Do as many reps as you can in 30 seconds. If you can’t go anymore,
just hold the exercise at the halfway point.

- Do not rest between exercises.

- Keep going till 5 minutes is up.

- Count your total reps and try to beat it in the future!

1) Bodyweight Squat
2) Kneeling OR Close-grip OR Decline Pushups
3) Reverse Lunges OR 1-Leg Hip Extensions
4) Spiderman Climb OR Mountain Climbers
5) Jumping Jacks

Print that out and do your workout anywhere you want!

For more of the “Big 5 Fat Burning Workouts”, get the full program
here for less than the price of lunch at Subway:

http://vicwellpro.turbulence.hop.clickbank.net/?page=0508

Have fun,
Narina