My workout this morning... in one word: awesome!

at 6:32 AM 0 comments

Our workout this morning (Daphne and I- partners in crime) was a HIIT workout with 40s on/10s off.
This simply means the exercise segment is 40 sec with 10 sec rest.  You can change the type of  each exercise but if you want to make it hard/harder, you need to stick with as many plyometrics as possible.
Our version is 46 min long.

1. box jumps

2. squat press

3. burpees (with or without pushups)

4. dips

5. jumps squats

6. wall balls

7. jump lunges

8. plank with opposite knee to elbow

9. power jacks (jump jacks holding light weights)

10. mountain climbers


If you want to make it easier, you can move the plyometric exercises to the bottom of the list because that way you will do them fewer times.  As it is, you will be doing box jumps 11 times.

Like I said, as awesome workout, a fusion of cardio and strength training.

Happy workout :)

An awesome interval workout

at 3:46 PM 0 comments

So I call this an accumulation workout.  It's a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout and as you may know all the exercise physiologists in the past few years have shown that high intensity workout for a short period of time is more efficient, burns more calories and not to mention more fun than getting on a treadmill or stair master.  This is the one I did with my workout partner Daphne.  The work period is 30 seconds, the rest is 6 seconds.  You have a lot of latitude in making this workout your own in that you can increase the work period or decrease it; same with the rest period depending on your fitness level.  I have tried to put in a few plyometric exercises here.  Again a recent study has shown that for bones to remain dense and strong we need to do plyometric exercises pretty much EVERY DAY!

Accumulation is basically the following regimen: you do the first exercise, then you do it again after the rest period and add the second one, then you repeat the first and second and add the third one.  So if you want to make it harder, add the hardest exercises to the top of the list!!

1. box jumps
2. squat press (or just squats with no weight if that is more comfortable for you)
3. burpees
4. dips
5. jump squats
6. wall balls
7. jump lunges
8. plank with knee to elbow crunches
9. power jack holding 3 lb weights
10. mountain climbers

If you have any knee or back issues simply modify each exercise.  HAVE FUN!

Good Food Gone Bad!

at 3:39 PM 1 comments

If you are trying to eat healthy, there are lots of food items out there that make healthy claims but in reality they are full of sugar and have no relation to the original food they claim to be. They're impostors. Perfect example?  Veggie chips!  If you want chip don't go to the bulk section of HEB or other grocery stores to get this type of food, save your time and money and just buy Lays or Doritos.  VERY rarely do veggie chips have any veggies at all.

My favorite example of a great food gone bad is sweet yogurt.  In a previous post I have discussed how to make yogurt.  It is a bacterial process so yogurt (the finished product) is sour NOT sweet.  Most sweet yogurt has tons of sugar or high fructose corn syrup.  If you want to sweeten your yogurt, add a little honey or if you want to go sugar free add a little splenda to it.  Chocolate yogurt is pudding aka junk food.  Go ahead eat the junk food just don't fool yourself into thinking that you're eating healthy, because you are not.

Perfect snack or small meal:
1/2 cup plain yogurt ( I like Greek because of its thickness)
a handful (only a handful) of almond slices
a few strawberries sliced

This is one of my favorite things to make for breakfast; high protein and good fats from almonds.

The habit that you need to get into is to read ingredient list and nutrition
facts.  Until next time, get off the couch and do some burpees :)

Simple Eggplant dish

at 3:32 PM 0 comments

So after a long hiatus I'm back... Today I want to share with you this simple recipe- it's a Persian recipe and has a very short list (which by the way you want to always have in foods; the longer the list of ingredients the lower the chances that it is healthy!!)

This is an eggplant dish and it takes only a few minutes to prepare:

1 eggplant
1 tbs minced garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 eggs
salt/pepper/paprika/cumin

Peel and cut the eggplant into small cubes and then saute it in a couple tablespoons of olive oil and garlic, at this point you can go ahead and mix in the diced tomatoes, the eggs. I typically add the spices at the very end and cover the dish let the whole thing simmer for about 15 minutes.

This is a delicious dish that you can have on top of your salad or by itself.

Remember: if you are trying to lose weight- YOU MUST CREATE A CALORIE DEFICIT-more on that later!

A fantastic high energy workout with cardio incorporated!

at 11:52 AM 0 comments

I know, I know, I haven't blogged in a few weeks... well OK maybe more than that.  Now that I'm done teaching for the semester I can blog more.  So going to the gym today was such a chore, I didn't want to do a long cardio: for me a long cardio is anything longer than an hour.  I knew I wanted to do burpees (or had to do them!) but didn't want to do a whole lot in a row so I came up with several circuits, each circuit has burpees but not all at the same time.  I call these circuits ten to one and you'll see why!

First circuit: shoulders: 10 reps shoulder press, then 10 reps bentover lateral raises, and then three burpees, yes just 3.  The second set is 9 shoulder presses, and 9 bentover lateral raises and then three burpees.  The third set is 8 and so on... all the way to one.  The only constant thing is the 3 burpees each time. Nice huh?

Second circuit: triceps: 10 triceps pulldowns, 10 dips, 3 burpees.... all the way to one.

Third circuit: biceps: 10 lateral curls, 10 hammer curls (half-supinated forearms), 3 burpees... yup all the way to one.

Fourth circuit: 10 bentover rows using a bar, 10 any other kind of back exercise (I used a pull-down rope) and three burpees... down to one.

At the end, I did 20 burpees, using one arm to go down, kick out but no pushup.  If this makes any sense.  This exercise is a great shoulder exercise and it is not any easier.

The bitter truth about sugar

at 4:15 AM 0 comments

A must-see lecture about sugar (the way we consume it!), so I am not talking about eating bananas, apples, sugar-snap peas... you get the idea.

As you know I am a big fan of Gary Taubes.  He is a science jounalist whose book, 'Good calories, Bad Calories' was phenomenal and very polarizing.  If you are not in the mood to read a  700-page book, then read his newest book, 'Why We Get Fat'.  Gary has given many talks at major universities around the country.  This is one of them.

http://youtu.be/bTUspjZG-wc

10 exercises- a great workout

at 10:05 AM 0 comments

The routine from Hell!  But it sizzles your body so go ahead and try it.

So, this routine is not mine but a friend and a workout maniac.  The only difference is that hers has
plyometrics in it and mine does not.  I did this today.  We did hers yesterday at the Y with a bunch of  plyometrics which killed me.  You can take this routine and put in your own exercises.  Here is how you do it.  There are 10 exercises.... you first do the first 2, then you start again from the beginning and you add 2 and 3.  Then you start from the beginning and you add 2, 3, and 4.  Every time you add one more exercise until you do the 10th.  The last round is all of them.  So you actually do the 10th exercise twice. 

1. Pullups  8 reps
2. chest press   85 pounds   15 reps
3. bicep curls  15 lbs    30 reps
4. bent over rows 20 lb  15 reps (two hand positions: palms facing in and palms facing out)
5. Shoulder press  15 lb   15 reps
6. lateral raises    15 lb   15 reps
7. triceps kickbacks  15 lbs  12 reps
8. skull crusher   20 lbs    40-50 reps
9. pushups on Bosu  20 reps
10. plank  1 minute

This will take anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour :)  happy lifting!