These are some tips I wish someone would’ve shared with me in the beginning if you’re a newbie or even just in a season of struggle on your fitness journey.
Trust the process.
Even when the going gets tough, stay the course.
Consistency wins in the end.
Follow a fitness plan that you feel comfortable with even if it seems difficult, you still want to have fun doing it.
This isn’t a race so stop expecting miracles overnight.
Muscle has memory. So missing 1 workout will not affect your progress as much as you obsess over it potentially doing that.
Learn to enjoy what you eat and still include your favorite foods.
Turn whatever your goals may be into a lifestyle.
Stairmaster 101:
Fun fact the average 30 minute stairmaster sweat sesh burns an average of 180- 260 calories. The faster you go will of course burn more within this time frame. How many calories are you going to burn today?
Know your nutrition which accounts for 70-80% of the overall progress of your fitness journey. You can use a tracking app to help such as MyFitnessPal. This will help you keep your caloric intake and macros in check for the day. It’s smart to help you do this in the beginning. That way you understand the amounts and portions you should be consuming on a typical daily basis. Then overtime you can become more intuitive once you understand how to balance your nutrition.
Get ready to be your own motivation because nobody else can actually do that for you. Most people think motivation comes from outside sources such as the people around you in the gym, their idols, famous celebrities, their favorite influencers. You actually have to find the source of motivation from within yourself. The other factors are merely a source of inspiration. Make sure to have your own back through your journey, because nobody will have it quite like you.
Short sprints versus long distance running, which do you prefer?
Personally, I prefer quick sprints. To me it’s like ripping a bandaid off fast. 💨 You simply get the job done faster versus prolonging the experience. Which one is good for you depends on your preference and goals.
Quick sprints are great for building up your strength and muscle mass. You can also help your muscles to have that more “toned” look people are usually after at least when it comes to women. This type of running is great for shorter speeds and more power.
Long distance can help improve your overall exercise endurance, your cardiovascular system and increase respiratory endurance.
Which is best for weight loss you may ask?
Sprints. Because your body works harder during the exercise. Your body also will continue to work hard and burn afterwards too.
EPOC stands for the excess post exercise oxygen consumption. This refers to the post workout burn that you will experience on a greater level. This happens due to the fact that the high intensity level of sprinting allows your body to continually burn after you’re finished.
❤️ With that being said run your lil’ heart out.
Who wants to foam roll with me?!
Foam rolling is so good for getting out all of that unwanted muscle tension! A great way to eliminate or at least alleviate muscle soreness or any kinks in your body you’re experiencing is to foam roll after your hardcore sweat sesh.
Banded Bicep Curls
The non-stop pressure from a resistance band bicep curl attributes to your muscles being active the entire time. This means you end up working harder, especially provided that there’s a strong level of resistance from the band you’re using. Try using one that’s more challenging and feel the upper body burn.🔥
Let’s dance on the Bosu Ball shall we?! Ok maybe not exactly a dance. But we’re going to break it down. This move is called the Side to Side Bosu Ball Shuffle.
Place a Bosu Ball flat on the ground. Place one foot in the middle of the ball with the other foot shoulder width apart on the floor. Looking ahead bend both your hips & knees. Push off the balls of your feet. Use the leg that’s flat on the ground to propel you up and over to the other side of the Bosu ball. You’re going to do this from one side to the next. Going from left to right and then back right to left. This is an effective way to get that metabolism sky rocketed 🚀 as you’ll be out of breath in no time.
Get ready to make it to the top of your goals. Stay the course and don’t let anyone take you off track. Some people won’t want you to do better than them. And some will have an opinion about every little thing you do. But in the end you must do what helps fuel your passions to help keep the magic of your life alive.
Proper form with stiff leg deadlifts let’s taco about it ;)
Most people think you’re supposed to look in the mirror as you’re gliding down with the barbell. However that is incorrect. You’re suppose to keep your head and spine neutral (aka a flat back) looking downwards just as your body is headed in that direction.
Sure you can check your form once but then no need to continue looking at yourself as you’re performing this exercise. Just glide on down, stay neutral, stopping at your shins then head back up and bring your head to starting position as you do.
Ready to ace your fitness journey with flying colors?!
Here are some tips to help you stay on track when it comes to your daily regimen on the road to becoming more fit.
Remind yourself progress over perfection.
Drink water at least half your body in ounces.
Don’t go food shopping when you’re hungry.
Understand your food portions & macro goals.
The best way to get closer to your goal is to start and stop talking about starting after indulging in that next cookie.
Have an accountability partner or trainer.
Identify a list of your strengths and weaknesses.
Work extra on what you need to, but also build out a well balanced plan of action when it comes to your training regimen.
Once you’ve kept up consistent habits for 6 months you’re in more of a maintenance stage. This is of course when you’ve hit your approximate goal weight and or body type look.
Ask yourself if the decision you’re making now (whether it be to eat something you know you shouldn’t be & not in moderation or skipping the gym) is going to help or hinder your overall goals.
Never give up on yourself, no matter how hard your journey may feel at the time. Feeling confident in your own skin is going to far outweigh the way that slice of cake may taste right now.
Feeling sore, stressed, or stiff? Let’s practice stretching. 🙆♀️ This will help relax tight and tense muscles which often go hand in hand with stress.
Frequent stretching will help prevent your muscles from getting tight and allowing you to have better overall posture.
Stretch with me 🤗
How strong are you mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally?
How high is the level of your emotional intelligence?
How empowered do you feel while training or do you completely lack motivation?
When you start to ask yourself these types of questions you’ll start to realize how much work you have to do on yourself. All it takes is a choice to want more for yourself. Allow your life to fit into place like a puzzle so you can take inspired action to live a life that’s aligned with you.
Single Arm Dumbbell Rows will help you create that sexy summer back so you’re looking good in your swimsuit. This one in particular is popular to grow the back muscles.
For proper form do the following:
To get good range of motion in order to do this you can touch your chest with a dumbbell at the top of the rep. Do this in order to keep track of when you’ve completed a good rep, and in order to determine when you’ve reached failure.
Don’t move your whole body around like a whale in the ocean. This will only take away from the benefits of this exercise and increase your risk of injury. Your arm and that part of your back is the only part that will remain moving the rest of the body should be stabilized.
When choosing a dumbbell, make sure to choose the best weight for you, that will allow you to complete 10 to 15 reps per set.
You can also use straps to help strengthen your grip if you need extra support with that.
A good rep will include lifting the weight up, afterwards bringing it back down in a slow and controlled motion.
Hope these tips helped bring you some clarity on how to better perform one of my favorite back exercises.
Happy Lifting 💪🏽
Perception is all yours. Everyone sees life through their very own way. Your fitness journey is uniquely what you choose to make it.
We each have different definitions of beauty, our own aesthetic goals, how we want to shape our body and future.
My wish for you is that you choose to look in the mirror and see all of the beauty in your reflection. Choose to be a diamond in the rough, uniquely you. Instead of blending in, remember you were born to stand out.
Lunge it out. You can easily step it out while you’re working from home, at the gym, on vacation and simply want to raise your metabolism with some moves to raise your heart rate and burn some extra calories. Simple and effective.
Evidence based benefits of including deadlifts into your training regimen.
It helps to reduce lower back pain.
Engages and activates your core.
Helps burn fat while boosting your metabolism.
Activates your hip flexors.
Improves your bone mineral density.
These are just a few reasons to include deadlifts into your training program. So with that being said grab a barbell, and let’s lift.
Boost your backside with this secret sauce the stairmaster. It’s the best kind of burn. Your body including your buns will be on fire. 🔥 It’s a great way to get your cardio in, while building the booty aka glute gains.
Stay true to your roots. Just like the plants of this earth that grow from the bottom up, you know that saying we started from the bottom now we’re here. Us humans are quite similar. We start small and the bigger we grow the more our mind blossoms into a powerhouse of knowledge, our bodies are built to become strong, our heart and soul is influenced by our beliefs and life experiences.
The more we rise up against our fears the braver we become. There is no shortcut to evolving into the best version of yourself, so stop trying to find the easy button, there isn’t one.
Learn to fall in love with the process. Change is inevitable. But the quality of the life you choose for yourself is up to you. Learn to fall in love with every ounce of your life down to the little daily choices that lead to better habits that lead to taking massive action. You do that and you gain the keys to a healthier, happier more grateful way of experiencing your gift of life. Because after all it is a gift, in case you forgot the likelihood of you being born was 400 trillion to 1. It’s time to start acting like the miracle you are.
Put on your poker face and get serious about your goals. Figure out what you want most in this life and go after it at all costs. Figure out what’s stopping you from getting the dream body then design a game plan to get you looking and feeling exactly as you’ve always dreamed of. It’s game on, time for action.
All it takes to fuel the better version of yourself is the decision to embark on the relentless pursuit to become greater than you could’ve ever imagined. The commitment to never give up on that goal in order for you to taste the extraordinary life that was meant for you to experience.
Do you choose to wake up and walk a path that leads to the road of success, or hit snooze on your dreams once again while others chase them.
We all have the same 24 hours the question is what will you do with yours today?
Stop waiting for tomorrow or Monday to start. Allow the burning desire within your soul to evolve and step into the higher version you were always destined to become.
Squat with what you’ve got.
If you don’t have access to a gym and want to get a convenient little lift in no stress.
There are many items you can use to squat with around your home, or when you’re out to improvise instead of using a dumbbell, barbell or squat rack machine.
For starters pictured here I’m using a weighted sugar skull decoration. You can choose to use something heavier, this was simply a warm up for me so I opted for something lighter that was laying around. If you want a more challenging lift you can use a gallon water jug. Make it fun and mix things up.
The Horizontal Leg Press machine is an efficient way to help build strength in your legs. It focuses more on the quads due to the fact that you’re straight instead of on an angle. You can do single leg exercises or duos on this one.
Tips for the Leg Press:
Keep in mind to not let your lower back arch which can put unnecessary pressure on your lower vertebrae this could lead to a possible injury. Sit up tall in the seat with your hips pressed back into the back pad.
Don’t lock out your knees, especially when you reach the top of the rep. Lower back down in the movement just before your knee has a chance to extend that far. This way you can avoid knee damage.
For a rule of thumb as you get stronger keep the rep and set range the same, yet you can increase the weight load to keep it more challenging. Then as you get more advanced you can mix up both. Try starting with 3 or 4 sets of 10 reps if you’re a newbie. If you’re a seasoned gym goer then rep it out until failure which will help maximize your results.
So you’re ready to take your fitness game to the next level?
Here are some things you need to do. Start visualizing the way you want to look on a daily basis. Start a vision board with your goal body in mind and things that will help you get there. Start being super intentional with how you’re going to get there by mapping out a plan to help you get from where you are currently to where you want to be.
Physically, mentally and spiritually do things that are going to fuel your success. Forget fast food, plan out meals when going to restaurants or have an idea of healthy options ahead of time, prep many of your meals for throughout your work week. If you work from home find quick simply healthy options to whip up. Continuously stay on top of your goals always staying one step ahead so you remain on track to reach them.
Cues Forest Gump…Run Forest Run.
Sprints are good for ya. They will leave you feeling refreshed, will help you lean out, and lead to overall better health. This move can help you burn calories quick, especially with some quick sprints. It can help you have improvements in your bloods sugar levels and cardiovascular health. Start running if you know what’s good for ya.
Feel good from the inside out. There are plenty of ways to get healthy no matter what your current reality looks like.
It’s important to remember mind over matter. Don’t give in to when that little voice tells you not to do your workout, or to binge eat until you feel sick.
Learn to live life doing things that feel good to your mind, body, and soul. ♥️
Take care of your body you only get one. Treat it like a temple, train like an animal and watch how the results you desire follow. Consistency is the name of the game. How consistent are you with following a recipe for success to design the body you want? Really think about it and if your plan is not it, it’s time to start crafting one.
Time to lunge it out. Lunges primarily work the gluteus maximus, hamstrings, quadriceps and calves.
Lunges take more coordination than squats do. When doing a lunge the front foot takes more load, so the muscle activation is different. This is meant for those that want to strengthen and sculpt their bodies while enhancing their athletic performance with more challenging exercises.
Hope you’re having a magical weekend, I know I am! If you’re going out enjoying brunch and dinner with friends just remember to opt for healthier foods. When you get them make sure they’re in smaller or normal portions. Also keep in mind not to be too hard on yourself live a little but eat moderately healthy 80% of the times and enjoy this incredible gift of life. Being too hard on yourself is never fun. Live a little and let your inner glow shine.
Pop a squat to make your glutes look hot.
Different kinds of squats you can do:
Squat
Goblet squat
Overhead squat
Pistol squat
Barbell hack squat
Narrow squat
Squat jacks
Bulgarian split squat
Jump squat
Sumo squat
Plie squat
The list goes on but you get the picture. You have a lot of options to choose from. So pick your favorite and let’s see how low you can go.
