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I'm sure you've heard the saying, "a calorie is a calorie," and that when weight loss is the goal, you can probably loose weight on a 1,200 calorie/day diet whether it is 1,200 Twinkie calories or apple calories. At this point, you might be thinking, "Cool! I'll go on the Twinkie diet!"   Our bodies are smarter than that though, and I say, thank goodness. I know - I'm no fun at all :-). Last week at the grocery one of my kiddos held up a box of Twinkies and had the audacity to ask me to purchase them. I nearly burst a vessel in my forehead trying to restrain myself from smashing the box with......
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Being that it is summer, and there are vacations, kids home from school, camps, a lot of running around in circles...sometimes a workout is hard to knock out, even when intentions are high. When that happens, I have a 30-minute, total body workout that requires very little equipment, yet will leave you dripping in sweat. Wanna hear it? Here it is... You'll need:  a set of 10 or 12lb wts (lighter if you like), a resistance tube 5-10 minute warm up @ 40-50% max heart rate Set 1: 10-14 Burpees (also called pop squats) 3-way lunges w/ dumbbells: Start with weaker leg leading. Take one lunge forwa......
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Stumbled upon a few deals I'd like to pass along: 20% off planners! For all of you planners out there (you know who you are, planning each workout weeks in advance), get a head start on school year planning at MomAgenda. MomAgenda is offering 20% off small School Year books (use code: schoolyearsmom) Visit MomAgenda.com, offer expires 7.31.2011 *P.S. I LOVE MomAgenda planners. Seriously, love them - totally created by moms, for moms. Enough said. EatingWell magazine has a new book out: EatingWell 500-calorie Dinners for $22.45 (10% off the regular price). While you are planning workouts in you......
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Check out this video if you are unfamiliar with trigger point therapy... TPR Therapy, Ironman competitor Have you ever wished you could afford a personal masseuse? One who could come to your home, preferably daily, to help relieve you of the knots and muscle tightness that inevitably occur from daily workouts and, well, being a mom? In search of a solution to my IT band issues, I tried a chiropractor (not money well spent), stretching, massage therapy (therapist too gentle to release deep tissue), and my O.D. The O.D. provided the most valuable information: without proper biomechanics, the bod......
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The mysterious " fat burning zone " continues to confuse many gym-goers. The theory goes something like this: working out in a "zone" of intensity that is less intense for at least 20 minutes will burn more fat calories than calories from carbohydrate. Is this true? Yes and no, but mostly no. You actually burn more calories from fat right now, sitting still, reading this post, than you do on the treadmill. That is because in the resting state, the body burns a higher percentage of fat calories. As you crank up the exercise intensity, you burn a little less fat per calorie. However, it really c......
Apr

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Recent email question: “What are you talking about when you say, ‘zip it up’?” – Brenda

Let me preface this by saying, I have no idea who Brenda is or where she has heard me say, “zip it up.” I tell clients to “zip it up,” all the time…perhaps word is getting around. I dunno, but to answer Brenda’s question, “Zip it up” means to draw in the lower abdominal muscles, as if you are zipping up a pair of pants. Try it.See what I mean?

Now, knowing this little trick, whenever you are standing, driving a car, cooking dinner, or, gee, I don’t know, working out, simply “zip it up.” Keeping the abdominal muscles engaged throughout the day serves several purposes:

1) It brings awareness to your body’s energy center, or your Chi. Sadly, it took me awhile to realize this is what Chi Running means. Quick to learn most things, but obviously not Chi. When the body is in a proper state of balance, Chi apparently flows.

2) Engaging the lower abdominal muscles also gives added power to, well, just about anything you do. Are you a sprinter? Chances are, you draw much of your force from your core. When you brace yourself to catch a running toddler…same thing -  you engage the abdominals to stabilize the spine, brace the skeleton for the impact and distribute the force, then keep them engaged as you pick the toddler up (or, at least, you should.) Power lifters, cyclists, rock climbers, NFL football players, yada yada…they all use their core. Alas, they are “zipping it up.”

Give it a try tomorrow and let me know what you think!

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