How to know if you need a new support network

Are you trying to achieve your fitness goals and not going anywhere?  Have you taken a look at who you are surrounding yourself with?  Sometimes to break through those plateaus you need to surround yourself with people who can help push you to the next levels.  Below are some tips if you need to ditch your old support group and some tips for finding a new group.

Signs you need a new support group

• Your support group guilt trips you to attending happy hour with them each week
• Your co-workers are always negative and tell you all their drama causing you to miss your lunch workout.
• They encourage you to skip the gym and discourage you from getting a trainer
• They always want to go to an un-healthy restaurants and encourage you to get the worst meal.

A lot of times these "friends" like you the way you are and are afraid for you to change and leave them in the dust.  So tell them you will still be the same person you are just making healthier choices for yourself and would appreciate a little support.  If they can't do that look for a new support group by following the tips below.

Finding a new support network

• Join a local gym class 
• Find a new friend at your local gym
• Find a "friend" from facebook who likes to workout and ask if you can join them
• Go to meetup.com and check out the local fitness classes
• Buy a groupon and go to a speciality class such as yoga, barre fitness to find a new workout buddy

So take a look at your network surrounding you are they pushing you to be a better person or are they de-railing your goals?  Only you can truly answer that. 

Are you a tea drinker?

Have you had your morning cup or 2, or 3 of green tea this morning?  Green tea has many benefits to the human body.  Besides providing a nice relaxation routine in the morning it can help boost your metabolism.  Green tea comes in many flavors so if plain green tea isn't doing it for you try mango infused, raspberry, blueberry, peach infused green tea instead.  Below are just some of the reasons we need to drink green tea.

• Powerful antioxidants 
• Possibly helps prevent cancer
• Helps maintain your weight
• Helps boost metabolism which can lead to weight loss
• Keeps cholesterol in check
• Helps keep your skin looking fresh and young
• Blood Pressure-stays in check
• Helps fight depression 

So the benefits are quite extraordinary for having a cup or 3 a day.  Now to get all the benefits most research says you may need up to 6 cups a day.  I would recommend consuming the 6 cups 2 at a time throughout the day and not all 6 at once, or you may have many trips to the nearest restroom.  Another great benefit of green tea it has zero calories so drink up!

Gratitude

Above picture from www.safiretraining.com 

Gratitude what does it mean exactly?  Well after looking it up the definition given was the quality of being thankful.  I would hope that people are grateful at all times of the year but over Thanksgiving it seems this is a topic we like to discuss.  I personally started a gratitude journal in September and every evening before I go to bed I write down 5 things I'm grateful for during that day.  It really helps you stay positive.  That even on a "bad" day you look back and realize it really wasn't as "bad" as you thought it was.   

So my goal for you write down the 10 things you are grateful for this past year.  I will include my top 10 list below as well so far in the year 2012.

1. My faith and finding a church that helps me grow as a person

1. Starting my own in-home personal training business

2. My family

3. My supportive boyfriend

4. Coaching basketball and being a role model to the next generation

5. Starting to become more involved in stopping the childhood obesity epidemic

6. Realizing everything does happen for a reason 

7. My friend asking me to be her maid of honor at her wedding

8. Going to Arizona this year

9. Outside church services in the summer

10. The privilege to be a teacher even if I chose to only do it for a short time before my real calling emerged. 

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes

Healthy Thanksgiving recipes where can a person find some?  My favorite website and magazines is called Clean Eating.  If you want a full out guide to what your healthy Thanksgiving meal should look like pick up the latest issue of Clean Eating magazine on news racks now.  That issue has Thanksgiving as well as Christmas meal planning ideas.  Even if you are just looking for a healthy side dish this magazine has it.

Here are some sample recipes you can find in the Nov./Dec. 2012 issue
-Rosemary Roasted Turkey with Porcini Pan Sauce
-Endive Bites
-Butter Leaf Salad
-Pumpkin & Pear Soup
-Spiced Brisket
-Sour Cream & Chive Mashed Potatoes
-Whole Wheat Dressing
-Maple Glazed Carrots
-Lemon Cranberry Sauce
-Individual Apple & Pecan Crumbles

Check out cleaneatingmag.com for a quick look check out the website for a quick glimpse in the magazine.

Living Room Workout!

The season is upon us and boy does it get busy.  How are you going to get your workout in with so little time?  Well you don't need to go to the gym you can just get a quick workout in right in your living room.  You can do 10 minutes at a time if you can't get a full 30 minutes in at once.  Below is a great circuit you can do in your living room without any equipment.  (unless you count your couch or a dining room chair)

Lemon Squeezers (minus the contraption she is in)

1. Push-ups- this can be done on the floor or as shown in the picture if your more advanced put your feet on the couch and perform your push-ups on a decline.  
2. Squats- Have your feet shoulder width apart and squat back with your hips, your weight should be in your heels.  Make sure your knees do not go past your toes.  
3. Up/Down Planks- Start in a low plank on your forearms.  Than proceed to push yourself up into a high plank arms extended straight up and go back down.  You should be on your toes or you can go to your knees.
4. Dips- Use your couch or a dining room chair.  Make sure your elbows go back.  If you have a bad shoulder be careful with this move.  Make sure you feel this in the back of your arms.  
5. Lemon Squeezers- Lying on back squeeze legs and upper body together landing on your sits bones than flatten your back, back to the ground.  Repeat.  To make more challenging do not let legs touch ground. 
6. Reverse Lunges- Step back into a 90 degree angle with front knee and back knee.  Make sure your knee doesn't go past your toe in the front.  
7. Shoulder Push-Ups- With your body in a v-up position hands and shoulder directly below each other.  You don't need to drop your head to touch the ground just a little movement.  

Shoulder Push-ups

*Do 3-4 sets or as many as you can do in 30 minutes-  15 reps of each.  

This will help you keep that rocking body over the holiday rush!

Check out more videos at www.safiretraining.com 

Get your Booty in tip top shape!

How do you work those glutes and get them ready for the winter?  Wait, what the winter, yes I do mean the winter.  We get to where jeans and leggings and you need to get those glutes in tip top shape. Below is a workout you can do to keep those glutes in tip top shape or to work on getting those glutes in better shape.  You can also check out my youtube channel for more information on how to perform these specific exercises. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1lojHiJuAc&feature=plcp

Do the following exercises 2-3 sets and 10-15 reps 

1. Curtsey Lunge w/Knee lift- Step behind in lunge position and bring knee up and out to side of body. Keep alternating legs. 

2. Plie Squats w/calf raises- Step feet out wider than shoulder width apart and squat down as you stand up raise up onto toes to get the calves involved. 

3. Walking Lunges- Take a step forward and lunge so your knee is hovering over the ground, make sure the knee doesn't go past the toe and you should have a 90 degree knee bend in both legs.

4. Split Leg Lunges- Put one leg on a couch or stability ball if your balance is strong.  Lunge down so your front leg is bent in a 90 degree and push back up using your glutes.  Make sure you sit down rather than push your knee out wider than your toe. 

5.  Stability Ball hamstring curls- Lying on back, butt lifted in air, abs tucked in tight.  Squeeze heels back to meet butt and push ball back away from body.  As you are doing this your heels are on the ball and than the bottom of your feet are, keep exchanging this position. 

6. Donkey Kicks- On all 4's take one knee into chest and kick it straight back out behind you and lift as high as possible to the sky.  Keep repeating on 1 leg than switch to other side. 

The importance of what you eat a life lesson learned

Today I went to get my resting metabolic rate measured expecting it to be great with no issues.  After all I workout and eat better than the average person.  Well boy was I in for a surprise.  My calorie burn was within the average by 20 calories which is rare for someone who works out 5-6 days a week.  We than looked at the percentage of calories I was burning from fat and it was 19% the average person burns 50% and you want to burn around 75% or higher.  So a whopping 19% is not good at all.

So now I am logging all of my foods and changed the percentage of carbs, fats and proteins I am eating.  If you chart your own you should only be getting 100grams of carbohydrates when on websites it will allow for close to 300 which is much more than the body can process I learned today.  So I thought if my body is this out of whack on my metabolism and I am in the average weight and body fat percentage.  This is a major issue that can be affecting millions of americans and we don't even know it.

So my advice for you would be find someone who can measure your metabolic rate at rest so you do know how many calories you should be eating and of what percentage you should be eating of carbs, proteins and fats.  I was under eating and thought I was eating plenty of food throughout the day. So get your nutrition in check to help change that metabolism it can take months but stick with it, it can be done.  I will be doing it myself right along with you!

Creative Cardio Workout Plans

How many people like to trudge away on the treadmill to get their cardio workout in 3-5 times a week?  The answer, not many. I myself enjoy the treadmill but know I am not the majority on this one.  So what can you do to get your heart rate up to burn those calories without being on the treadmill for hours on end?  Here are some options:

Option 1: Cardio Lifting
*Don't be scared by the title

1. Squats with a shoulder press
2. Step-ups onto a bench with a bicep curl
3. Lunge w/woodchopper
4. SB-V-up pass thrus
5. Up-Down Planks
6. Dips w/toe reach
7. Chest press to a crunch
8. Deadlift to a row

*Repeat above exercises 1 time if you are a beginner, 2 times intermediate and 3-4 for advanced, you want to do 10-15 reps of each exercise

Option 2: Cardio Mix-Ups
*Note this workout is best when the gym is not to busy

1.On cardio equipment of your choice 2 minutes at the top speed you can handle
2. Get off and perform 20 squats
3. On another piece of cardio equipment of your choice 2 minutes at the top speed you can handle
4. Get off and perform 20 lunges
5. Back to 1st cardio equipment 2 minutes at the top speed you can handle
6. Get off and perform 15 jump squats (regular squats if you cannot do jump squats)
7. Side step-ups to bench w/shoulder press- 10 a side
8. Cable Woodchoppers- 10 a side
9. Pull-ups or assisted pull-ups- 15
10. Split Jumps (regular lunges if you cannot do split jumps)- 14

*Repeat above exercises 1 time if you are a beginner, 2 times intermediate and 3-4 for advanced

***Note above workouts are to be performed after a 5-10 minute warm-up and should include a 5-10 minute cool down to get your heart rate back down.

If you don't know what some of the workouts are google the names and it should pop up or check out my website for videos on some of the exercises.  www.safiretraining.com