The Muscle Group We Hate the Most: Abs

Does this picture make you cringe?  I always hear people say they hate sit ups and they hate working out their stomachs in general.  I'm not saying it's my favorite thing to do ever (eating ice cream would rank much higher than ab exercises believe me) BUT I know they are important and honestly after a hard ab workout I feel more "worked out" than when I am working out any other muscle group.

Lately I have been hooked on Bodyrock.tv.  I love the intensity of the workouts and that it shows you exactly what to do and how long to do it.  (It also isn't a bad thing that they all have awesome accents) Anyways CHECK IT OUT and get to working those abs.  

Here is what I've been doing!

Bodyrock Ab Routine

If Bodyrock is a little too intense for you at least decide to put in a good 12-15 minutes of ab work a day.  I mean if your abs are strong and healthy you have less back pain, you are burning more calories even at rest AND you have more confidence without that extra bulge a few ab exercises a week could help tame.

Here is a list of links to some of my favorite ab exercise routines.

Abs 1
Abs 2
Abs 3 (Stability Ball workout)
Abs 4

So click on one of these and get fitter.  You can't improve your health or your body if you don't put the effort in.  So get motivated and get your fitness on!!!

(Also a little tip that helps to keep my stomach flat...Whenever I am working out another muscle group or even just sitting at my desk at work, I try to keep my abs engaged meaning they are tight.  I use every workout as an ab workout too simply because I tighten my core up while exercising!! Try it!)

Xoxo,

I'm Up in the Gym Just Workin' on My Fitness...

Week one of my fitness plan is FINISHED! Just 5 more weeks to go!  Only one problem... My sweet tooth is kicking in and Fall&Football is upon us, meaning that all kinds of pumpkin-ny carbo loaded goodness is going to surround me! Gotta' keep strong.



Here are a couple tips I use to stay strong during food coma season:

1. Eat a snack before you go.  Don't change your eating habits to fit football parties.  If you don't starve yourself before you go to a party you are less likely to over indulge.
2. Carry a drink with you.  If you nurse a glass of sweet tea or water for an hour or so you are less likely to shove every football shaped thing you see in your mouth. 
3. There are always so many things to try at these parties, dips and other concoctions from heaven.  Let yourself have baby servings of the things you want to try and it will all add up to a regular person sized portion.

Today I am going to explain my arms fitness routine and give you a more in depth look at what I do.  I have already seen some good results from this workout and only have to do it 2 times a week for about 6 minutes!

Picture linked to the original site

So here it is.  I do this twice a week after cardio or whenever I have time to do it that day.  Grab the heaviest weights you can handle to do these exercises with for 6 minutes straight.

I use 5 lb. weights and am working up to heavier weights. (You will not bulk up when you do this, you will only get toned muscle and less jiggle :) )

I get set up and use my phones timer. I do every exercise and then move straight into the next one, then the next, etc...you get the picture.

Also, I don't have an exercise ball. If you do GREAT...USE IT. If you don't you can be  poor  resourceful like me and use pillows or a stool with a pillow on it. Just to get your body into the same position as the picture.

Beyond those exercises I also add 2 more exercises and do both of them for a minute as well: (sorry for the picture quality)

Regular bicep curls






(Make sure you kind of angle your arms out like in the picture. Also if you squeeze your weights when you curl, your shoulders get a harder work out as well!)

















Then repeat this for one minute.











Tricep Weighted Dips

(This one you want to just kind of make little pulses behind your head, small is good.  You are going to want to kill me after you do this for
one minute BUT if you are on the war path against chicken wing arms this is your exercise.)

Doing these exercises for one minute a piece works me harder and motivates me more than doing reps. So try it out for 6 minutes twice a week and see the results and reap the benefits!

Happy sweating!

-Nikki

Fitness... The Saga Continues

Growing up I was a really active kid. Always in a sport or doing some kind of activity.  I know this was what led me to be an active adult.  Of course I have those slacker moments where I want to hit snooze the 30 extra minutes or life gets busy. But I always swing back around.  I am wanting to drop around 15 pounds the LBS. That seems like a huge goal to me but I am ready to quit doing maintenance and make some upgrades, if you know what I mean! I have set up a 6 week fitness routine that I am going to try and follow as closely as possible (there are times when your schedule and your rockin' bod schedule dont mesh).  That schedule goes a little something like this:

• Monday: Arms -Sexy Toned Arms in 6 weeks workout. (if you click on the workout it will link you to the page where this workout is found.) & 30 minutes of heart pounding cardio + evening walk with hubs :)
• Tuesday: Legs- Tame Those Thighs (this website has all kinds of great workouts!)  + 10 clamshells and 20 pilates froggers & 30 minutes of cardio + Yoga class
• Wednesday: Core- Body Rock Amazing Abs Workout- (this video is gonna have you sweating and breathing hard I promise! BUT it's only 12 minutes long) + Cardio 30 minutes 
• Thursday: Repeat Monday's workout + 30 min. cardio + Yoga class
• Friday: Repeat Tuesday's workout + 30 min cardio
• Saturday: Repeat Wednesday's workout or choose another workout off of BODYROCK.tv or use this the One Song Workout, it's pretty fun! + 30 minute cardio
• Sunday: REST and enjoy it!

So I am going to do this for 6 weeks straight, take my measurements again ( I took them before I started my exercise program) and hope for the best results!

(Also I wrote 30 minute Cardio each day, below is a list of some of my favorite heart pumping activities)

Cardio!!

-Elliptical

-Bike

-Speed Walk (I am SURE I look like a weirdo!)

-Swim

-Jump-rope

-Wii Just Dance (again pretty sure I look like a crazy person)
-Exercise classes!! (They have some pretty good ones out there, yoga, pilates, Zumba...and you can find them at your community center or local churches i.e. you DON'T have to join a gym)

Exercise and eating healthy do more than just make your clothes fit better, they make you FEEL better! Good luck and happy sweating!