It’s all about being fit, feeling strong and leading a healthy, authentic life!

What exercise will get you there the fastest?

My personal opinion is the bicep curl that brings the fork to your lips

BUT, if I had to choose only ONE physical exercise to do the rest of my life?

It would be a Squat or a Lunge.

If you’ve spent any time with me personal training or in our Strategic Boot Camp program, or our newly begun Lean Out Lakeland, you have experienced this exercise in every workout session in some form or another with me.

I have three quotes I use a lot:

“The Squat is King!”

“Squats and Lunges are a girl’s (and guy’s) best friend.

“The squat and deadlift are the only two exercises you need to build a beautiful body.”

And I mean it.

These exercises use more muscle groups under a heavy load than any other weight bearing exercise known to man,

This, in turn, affects your hormones (growth, testosterone, etc.) in a great way that helps you lose fat and build muscle.

Many university research studies have been done that show the inclusion of squats into a training program increases upper body muscularity and strength even though those joint movements were not specifically targeted when performing the squat.

Pretty amazing.

Squats are the basis of building a lean and strong body. Get away from the long, boring cardio session and add some into your workouts for 2 weeks. You will see a major difference in your physique.

Squats can simply be done with your body weight if you’re a beginner. In fact, I suggest you support yourself by holding onto a wall or a rail to support your weight as you lower yourself slowly to a position that remains comfortable, reaching back with your rear as if you were going to sit in a chair. You may even choose to lower yourself into a chair to begin your squat training.

My suggestion is that you utilize any free-weight object such as a dumbbell, kettlebell, sandbag, milk jug, suitcase, or even your family pet. It’s important that your body follow a natural biomechanically correct path.

Avoid the machines. Make your body function the way it was designed. You’ll end up working harder and getting better results.

Go for it!

A while ago, while studying for my Wellcoaching certification, I ran across an article called The Making of a Corporate Athlete. The basic premise was that sustained high achievement demands physical and emotional strength as well as a sharp intellect. To bring mind, body, and spirit to peak condition, executives need to learn what world-class athletes already know: recovering energy is as important as expending it.

Interestingly enough, the article applied the principles of High Intensity Interval Training that I use to physically train my clients to the executive work day.

It recommended that after periods of intense focus on a singular task, you take a short break, get up and walk around, hydrate, or eat something of nutritional value, fueling yourself for the next intentional focused task. The research showed that it is a simple and easy way to increase work efficiency and decrease stress levels!

I love simple!

Exercise is extremely beneficial to our productivity at work as it increases the blood and therefore oxygen flow to our brains, and releases those ‘feel good hormones,’ endorphins, keeping us in a good mood.

Here are some simple, practical ways that we can introduce more physical activity into our work life.

Choose one or two that you can incorporate seamlessly.

1. Use your legs!- walk or bike to work. Many of us actually live relatively close to our jobs. Sometimes the traffic is so bad, that it would actually be a quicker commute to use your own horse power, be it cycling or walking. Be sure to wear appropriate shoes. You can stash a spare pair at the office.

2. Stair climbing – take the stairs instead of the elevator. Stair climbing burns significantly more calories than jogging at a moderate pace for half of the time.

3. Replace your chair with a physioball – This is one of my favorite tips for my executive clients! Using a ball as your “chair” forces you to work the core, thereby improving balance, tone and burning calories!

4. Schedule a walk over lunch- Many of my most successful clients schedule a 10 minute brisk walk during a coffee or lunch break every day. (Sometimes two) Take it outside and get your 15 minutes of sun to build some Vitamin D reserves! Consider walking to the sandwich bar, but remember to pick something healthy, or if you bring lunch with you, walk to the local park and eat it there.

5. Start a lunch-time exercise group – try to get other co-workers involved, having a regular routine, and the support from your friends, will help you to stick with your exercise program. You’ll be surprised how many “takers” you’ll have in January! I have a few clients in town that work for a large corporation and they meet to “do stairs”.

6. Personal delivery service – rather than sending an email, deliver messages, or discuss issues, in person with your co-workers. The additional exercise will really add up over the course of a week.

7. Make an exercise schedule – plan for your physical activity just as you would any other appointment during the day. Don’t allow interruptions to change your plans. If you exercise after work, plan ahead the night before by packing your gym clothes. If you wait until morning, you’ll be REALLY lucky if you can find both socks and shoes, your favorite workout shorts AND your water bottle. It pays to be ready the night before. Do all you can to minimize excuses!

8. Join a Boot Camp Class (Or Lean Out Lakeland if you live in Central Florida) where you will have a group of people expecting you, holding you accountable and providing you support and planned workouts and hopefully solid nutritional guidance.

What will YOU choose to seamlessly integrate more exercise into your work day and become a more productive and healthy Corporate Athlete?

Are you desperate to lose fat?

Have joined the ranks of the insanely bored, yet focused cardio worshippers?

Do you feel guilty if you have not spent your hour a day rocking the elliptical machine?

Is your whole workout ruined if someone beat you to the only functioning, coveted
“revolving stair case” ? (Otherwise known as the death mill)

If so, then allow me to be sac-religious for a moment:

“Endurance Exercise is NOT a necessity for fat loss.”

Yes, I said it.

If you don’t like doing endurance work, stop doing it!

You can lose fat rapidly either WITH it or WITHOUT it!

You choose.

Exercising is about being healthy. And we all know that if we don’t like something, the chances of us continuing to do it after the novelty has worn off, is nil, and we NEED to continue doing it for our health’s sake.

Don’t you have anything you’d like to spend those extra hours doing besides ‘penance’ for eating an extra cookie at the office Christmas party? (We’ll talk about your unhealthy relationship with food at a later date.)

Now, I realize there is a place for endurance work. You may be training for a distance challenge, or possibly even really ENJOY the exercise itself. But this indeed would be a rarity. Most of us just either want to get in shape, or stay that way.

So, how can we lose fat rapidly without doing copious amounts of cardio?

Simple: Incorporate a nutritionally dense eating style and learn to implement anaerobic exercise. (The kind that leaves you gasping for breath!)

It’s not a single answer. You can’t lose your fat and keep your muscle without making changes in your diet, AND building some sweat equity working with weights.

So, here’s the bottom line:

Get a plan, a strategy together to make these two things happen in your life.

1. Eat a nutrient rich diet with 90% of your foods coming from plants. (Soups and Salads are a GREAT way to get this accomplished.)

2. Learn to perform High Intensity Interval Training.

If you are new to the concept of eating clean, and eating for nutritional excellence, I’d like to introduce you to Dr. Joel Fuhrman who is providing an important catalyst for a much needed paradigm shift in our approach to healthcare and weight loss.

Purchase any of his books, or even his audio book, Eat for Health (my personal favorite) as a gift for yourself for Christmas and spend the holidays becoming educated in what it will take to implement the most effective weight loss and disease prevention and reversal method ever.

But beware of the side effects!

Incorporating a Nutrient Dense Eating Style may cause unintentional reversal of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, arthritis, IBS, wrinkling skin, allergies and many other annoying and life threatening issues.

As for Learning to perform High Intensity Interval Training, let’s start very simply:

As applies to any exercise prescription, please check with your doctor to be sure this will be a safe activity for you. I know very few doctors who wouldn’t want their clients to walk…so don’t use this as an excuse to delay beginning your wellness journey.

Lace up your tennis shoes, grab a watch with a second hand and walk out your front door.

Step One: Walk for 5 minutes just to warm up your joints. Easy does it.

Step Two: Walk as fast as you can (and I do mean fast) for 1 full minute.

Step Three: Walk slowly to recover for 2 full minutes.

That’s Round One.

Repeat Step Two and Three 4 more times for a total of 15 minutes of Interval Training.

Step Four: Walk for 5 minutes to cool down.

That’s it.

Now, for those of you who are much more advanced and accomplished. Implement this same protocol, but utilize a more strenuous approach:

Jumproping (Fast Jumping 1 minute/Slow jumping 2 minutes)

Treadmill running (Sprint speed 1 minute/Jogging speed 2 minutes)

Cycling: (Fast and difficult gear for 1 minute/Slower and easier gear for 2 minutes.)

You get the idea. Anything that will bring your heart rate up will suffice.

I will post other HIIT workout ideas utilizing weights and cardio throughout the holiday season. Stay tuned.

Spend your holiday season getting prepared for a Fit and Fabulous 2010. Read, practice eating with nutrient density in mind and practice some HIIT.

If you live in Lakeland, Florida and you’re looking for some guidance in holistic dramatic fat loss utilizing the principles I mention here, you will want to check out this opportunity:

Here’s the Website with all the information you need to participate in the premiere weight loss and educational event in Lakeland, Florida.

Lean Out Lakeland

Beginning January 18th, 100 Lakeland individuals will be participating in a Team Weight Loss Contest geared to educate and empower their health and wellness. We have a few places left.

Are you ready to change? We’re here to help you make the permanent lifestyle change you know you need. Stop the endless treadmill cycle. Get it done! Lose the fat and improve your health!

It’s time for your own personal Wellness Revolution.

It’s a delicate balance.

It starts from the minute we’re born.

Life requires one balancing act after another!

Babies must learn to sit, pull up, crawl and walk. Balance.

Children learn to ride a bike, play a sport, play active games on the playground. Balance.

Things adults take for granted, the basic functional movements: reaching into the cupboard, bending down to tie a toddler’s shoe, getting in and out of the car, climbing the stairs, putting your pants on. It all requires balance.

Balance skills are not only an integral component of healthy aging, they are absolutely essential to maintain the quality and safety of our lives. The CDC cites accidental falls as the leading cause of death and injury among older adults. A full 30% of adults over age 65 in the United States experience a fall every year. This is unacceptable and can be reversed through excellent nutrition and exercise. Age should never become the sole excuse for restricting movement!

So how is YOUR balance? Here’s a quick test to find out.

Stand up, close your eyes, place one foot in front of the other, heel to toe and imagine (just imagine…don’t do it.) you’re going to walk forward on a straight line. (The basic inebriation test.) Remember, don’t actually move, just hold still, close your eyes and maintain your balance for 30 seconds.

How’d you do?

If you were able to maintain for those 30 seconds, your balance is pretty good! If you were wobbly the second you closed your eyes, or even before, then your balance is poor.

No worries. Balance is something that can be improved, and we SHOULD work to improve it.

Once again, you don’t have to be a member of a gym to workout. There are many easy and enjoyable exercises that can help maintain balance and stability and can be done while you brush your teeth in the morning.

One of the most basic balancing exercises is to practice balancing on one foot. Lift one leg slightly, hold for several seconds, and then change legs. Feel free to hold the back of a chair if you need some help starting out. As this becomes easier, then challenge yourself by lifting your leg higher, extending it out the the side or by reaching up and down with your arms while balancing. Then challenge yourself even further by closing your eyes and repeating these movements. You WILL notice a difference if you simply invest 5 minutes a day in balance challenges.

After you’ve mastered some of the basic balance exercises, you can proceed with some more serious balance training tools/toys. If you’re a gym member, most of these will be provided in your gym. If you’re not a gym member, these balance-training tools are just a click away on your computer, or at your favorite local discount or sporting goods store. Some of these items are pricier than others, and as I’ve said before, equipment isn’t essential-it just takes you to the next level.

Stability ball ($10-$30)

Simply by sitting, lying or leaning on this ball to perform your exercises helps improve balance. One of my favorite tips for my office worker clients is to swap their chair for a ball. Builds that core strength and sharpens balance skills.

Versa Discs ($20-$30)

These little inflatable discs pack quite a punch to your exercise routine. You can sit, kneel or stand on these inflatable discs to increase the intensity of whatever exercise you are doing. Try placing one under each foot while doing bicep curls, or under both hands while doing pushups.

BOSU ball ($100)

BOSU balls are versatile. You can use this to perform a wide variety of exercises that help improve your core strength and balance. The BOSU ball usually comes packaged with exercise helps and sometimes even a video to help. One of my favorite exercises utilizing the BOSU is to hold a moderately heavy set of dumbbells and then perform a squat to an overhead press!

Start NOW. Improvements come quickly.

Balance training is good for people of every age, so get the family involved. Everyone from your preschooler to grandparents can benefit and, because it is so fun, they may not even recognize they are exercising!

Google “balance exercises” to learn more exercises to do to keep your routine fresh. Take a Yoga Class.

While your friends are aging and becoming restricted to life in a chair that has to lift them to their feet, you’ll be thankful that you can leap out of bed, dress yourself with ease, tie your running shoes, and get out to compete in your seasonal triathlon through your 90’s. Keep taking the stairs and working to keep your body finely tuned by adding balance exercises to your daily active lifestyle.

You’ve got to be kidding!

I’m not much of a TV watcher. Besides nightly re-runs of “King of Queens” and an occasional ever-perplexing episode of “Lost”, I really have no idea what’s going on out there in TV land. Truthfully, I’m really not interested. I want to experience my own life, not get caught up in someone else’s drama.

Last week however, the TV really did catch my attention. I was making my bed between Boot Camps (you know, as neat as my hubby is, in our 25 years of marriage, I think he’s made it twice) and turned on the TV to try to catch up on the news.

While putting my favorite terry-covered body pillow on the bed, I heard the most blatant deception I have ever experienced in a commercial:

“There is nothing wrong with High Fructose Corn Syrup. It comes from corn and can actually be good for you.”

I nearly tripped on a slipper and passed out.

No wonder we are all confused in America! We’re getting
bombarded on every side with conflicting information.

How about these claims:

1. “Cheerios can help lower your cholesterol”

You’ve got to be kidding. Eating processed grains can actually make your cholesterol rise! Cheerios only has 1 gram of soluble fiber per serving. Ditch the box! Eat the oatmeal, not the highy processed cereal made from oats. Yes, oatmeal is GREAT for you…but the kind God would recognize.

2. “Milk does a body good”

You’ve got to be kidding. Check this link out for some very interesting ideas on milk consumption.

The Milk Letter

Our bodies are not equipped to digest conventional milk. Many of us are intolerant and have no idea that many of our health issues are tied in with pasteurized milk consumption. Did you know that a calf will die after 30 days of drinking pasteurized milk?

If you have to drink milk, organic is a must and raw is a much better choice. My suggestion is to try Lite Almond Milk that has no sugar added.

Commercials are responsible for one thing: Selling us their product. Deception that is duping the public into believing that they’re living a healthy lifestyle is rampant. Sharpen your Baloney detector! Be an informed consumer.

Now, about that High Fructose Corn Syrup.

“There is nothing wrong with High Fructose Corn Syrup. It comes from corn and can actually be good for you.”

You’ve got to be kidding!

The latest stats say that new cases of diabetes have increased by 90% in the last 10 years. That means that diabetes or pre-diabetes will now strike 1 in every 4 Americans!

Scientists have clearly linked, time and time again, the use of HFCS to the epidemics (yes, epidemics) of obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome in America.

But despite all of the hard scientific evidence, the industry persists in claiming these findings are untrue. They feel that HFCS is the same as sugar.

Am I the only one, or does this remind you a bit of the tobacco companies fervent denial of the link between lung cancer and smoking?

Here’s a great video for you to put in your arsenal:

High Fructose Corn Syrup Deception

So, how much High Fructose Corn Syrup is in YOUR diet?
Start reading the labels of the products you have in your home right now. You’ll be shocked to see that it can be found in every type of processed, pre-packaged food that you can think of.

Trying to lose body fat? Check out this research done by Dr. Elizabeth Parks from the UT Southwestern Medical Center.

“Our study shows for the first time the surprising speed with which humans make body fat from fructose. Once you start the process of fat synthesis from fructose, it’s hard to slow it down. The bottom line of this study is that fructose very quickly gets made into fat in your body.”

Trying to improve your overall health? It’s really quite simple. To lose weight and decrease the risk of developing cancer, diabetes, heart disease and many other life-altering illnesses, drink pure water, (distilled is best….but not from the plastic jug), stop drinking soda and processed fruit juices and eat whole foods.

And by all means, refine your baloney detector!

Now, go shut the TV off, will ya?

Enjoying the journey,

Whitney Cabrera BSN, RN