Exercise

A Workout Just Isn’t Enough

This entry was posted in Exercise Health Lifestyle on by (updated on )

  I know a lot of you workout, and that’s AWESOME!  Keep it UP!  But, is it enough to stay healthy and maintain our weight loss efforts?  Because we are literally sitting ourselves to death, due to the comforts & conveniences of our current society.     Time to Grab a Friend, GO OUTSIDE, Take A WALK, and ENJOY SOME NATURE!  Join me for a FREE 7 Day Walking Challenge.  For Details, CLICK HERE!   We have become sooo lazy here in the US.  Other countries are way more active in general than we are, but we sit down any chance we get.  What’s up with that?  I find myself hunched over in a seated position way more than I would like to admit, too!  But, I can do something about that and so can YOU!   I know that some of us have jobs that require us to sit in front […]

Motivation Isn’t a Feeling, Stop Waiting For It!

This entry was posted in Exercise Goals Mindset Self-Empowerment on by

 

Ever sit around waiting for that feeling of motivation to wash over you so that you’ll stop procrastinating and get started on a goal or project?  It happens to all of us, at one time or another.

 

I’ll start off by saying that motivation isn’t a feeling at all.  In fact, Google, defines it as, “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.”  As you can see, feelings aren’t mentioned once.  But, don’t worry, I’ve got some steps for you to follow.

 

Watch the Video below to learn two reasons you’re feeling unmotivated and what to do about it.

 

“The Secret To Getting Ahead Is Getting Started!” – Unknown

 

The Motivation Plan

 

Identify Your WHY —-> TAKE CONSISTENT ACTION —-> Feel Motivated —-> Gain Momentum —-> See Results —-> Feel Motivated to Take MORE ACTION —-> Rinse & Repeat.

 

The most important step of making the above process work for you is to identify your WHY. Without it, you’ll be lost and stuck.  For any behavior change to occur, this step has to be identified. This has to be important to you and connected to your core values, or it will be hard to take action, when you don’t feel like it or when the process gets tough.

 

Let me know in the comments below, how you stay motivated and on track to reach your goals.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Tommie

 

P.S.  Are you feeling frustrated because you’re eating healthy and all the right foods to lose weight, but still aren’t fitting into those skinny jeans? Join my FREE 3 Week Mindful Eating Challenge —-> http://bit.ly/1RI5NV3 to see if you could be eating too much of a GOOD THANG because one of these key nutritional strategies are missing in your daily routine! Give #HabitBasedEating a try.

How to Make a Full Body Workout Routine

This entry was posted in Exercise Fitness Workouts on by (updated on )

  You’ve just signed up for your brand new gym membership & you’re excited to get started on your fitness goals, and then you walk in on your first day and see a gym floor full of equipment, and you have no idea where to start.  It can feel very overwhelming!     You may’ve even watched a few You-Tube videos and kinda know what your doing, but once on the spot, it seems kind of confusing.  All you know is that you want to work on your Abs, and lose some weight.  So what do you do?  Head to the cardio room and do the treadmill for 30 minutes and then do some crunches or use the Ab machine?   Even though you just want to work on your Abs, doing only crunches will not get you a six pack…sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  The more […]

Is This Important Part of Your Workout Missing?

This entry was posted in Exercise Fitness Workouts on by

 

You’ve rushed around to make it to the gym after waking up late, and now you only have 30 minutes to get everything done on your workout routine, so you say to yourself, “I’m going to skip the warm-up and stretch portion, and just get to the good stuff.  I’ll do it tomorrow.”  But tomorrow comes, and the same scenario happens, and before you know it, you’re either really stiff or injured.

 

I can’t stress enough the importance of the Dynamic Warm Up before you jump into your cardio or strength training routine.  I myself skipped this portion of my workout for awhile because I was pressed for time.  Believe me, I regretted doing that when I was injured and not able to workout very hard for many months.  I learned my lesson the hard way, but now you don’t have to!

 

What is a Dynamic Warm Up?

 

The word “Dynamic” just means that you are stretching as you move.  It usually involves engaging more than 1 muscle group at a time and different parts of the body have to work together synergistically to complete the movement.  It has recently been found that this is more beneficial for people to do this while warming up instead of static stretching, which is just holding a stretch for 10-30 seconds.

 

How Does It Help Me?

 

  • Warms up the nervous system and activates a lot of the muscles that you will use together later in your workout, which can improve your strength, power, and performance.
  • Increases the range of motion of the major joints & muscles, which prevents injury and stiffness.  You will be able to move around in your workout with a little more ease.
  • Improves your body awareness and where it’s at in space, which helps with the balance and coordination of your movements
  • It JUST FEELS GOOD.  Don’t feel like working out one day?  Go through your dynamic warm up to get some extra movement & stretching in.

 

How Do I Do It?

 

I filmed a very simple 5 minute Dynamic Warm Up that you can give a try at your next workout.  At my gym, we also incorporate some foam rolling exercises and stretches, as well, but this video keeps it very simple and basic.

 

 

Dynamic Warm Up Exercises

1. Knee Tucks x 10 Ea Side
2. Arm Circles 5x Forwards – 5x Backwards on Ea Arm
3. Reverse Arm Circles Both Arms x 10
4. Alternating Leg Kicks x 10 Ea Side
5. Alternating Reverse Lunges or Step Backs x 10 Ea Side
6. T-Spine Rotation (Kneeling or Runner’s Stretch) x 10 Ea Side
7. Sumo Squats x 10
8. Lateral Lunges x 10 Ea Side
9. High Knees – 30 Seconds
10. Butt Kickers – 30 Seconds
11. Swivel Hips Side to Side – 30 Seconds
12. 20 Jumping Jacks

 

So what do you think?  Could you give yourself 5-10 extra minutes at your next workout to run through these?  This is one part of my workout that I won’t skip anymore after I got injured from neglecting this in my routine.

 

Let me know how it goes & how you feel.  What’s your favorite stretch or exercise is to do in your Warm Up?

 

Thanks for Stopping By,

Tommie

 

P.S.  Are you getting my weekly coaching Emails on all things Fitness, Nutrition, & Mindset?  If not, join the party HERE & receive your FREE Gift!

 

Should I Get a Fitbit Activity Tracker?

This entry was posted in Exercise Goals on by (updated on )

I wrote a blog about what I think is one of the first skills to acquire along your health and fitness journey, or any goal for that matter.  If you have the time, you can read it HERE. I feel very strongly that awareness (w/out judgement) is the best skill to have.  Without it, we aren’t really aware of the choices, behaviors, or habits we are choosing or not choosing to engage in. The BEST way to increase our Awareness (w/out judgement) is through Self-Monitoring. Because as we say in the fitness field, “What gets Measured….Gets Managed!” I can tell you from my own personal experience that self-monitoring was one of the ways I reached my fat loss goals a couple of years ago.  I was tracking my habits I was working on, doing weekly weigh-ins & circumference measurements, progress pics every 6 weeks, and measuring my body fat percentage every 8-10 weeks […]