Can Shoulder Stand Save You Too?

January 22, 2014 | Shayna Robinson, MSPT, PhD

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Snowy Exercise

Think the snow will slow down your exercise? You could be right–but only in the best way possible! Snowshoeing burns about 45 percent more calories than walking or running when done at the same pace and on the same type of terrain.

Don’t have snow shoes? No worries–just walking or running in your regular shoes with clips or without will produce about a 30 percent higher calorie burn. Plus the cold weather challenges your body to maintain an internal homeostasis, further burning calories.

Don’t use a snowy day as an exercise to skip your workout. Use it as a training tool and best yourself next time the street is clear :)

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Love Your Abs

Valentines day is about love first and foremost, and if you are single like me, you may want to nix the singles parties and head to the gym for your fix. I feel great about my body everyday, don’t stress out about what I eat (or drink!) and just work hard to feel good, no matter what shape or size. We’re all different and our bodies are meant to look unique. That said, here are my favorite ab exercises, so you can feel great in a bikini, and maybe, just maybe, the rest will fall into place.

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The Metabolic Workout

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By Shayna Robinson, MSPT, PhD

Want to rev your metabolic rate?
Try jump squat thrusts, and add a plank knee twist between the thrusts and jumps. Do 10x and you’ll be on your way to all over weight loss and muscle tone.

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Metabolic training is a way to burn cals quickly and shred muscles so you see definition. It works by increasing your metabolic rate–the rate at which your body burns cals at rest. It’s made up of 3 components in your exercise;

1) Metabolic Training Uses Large Muscle Groups

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You’re Not Dreaming, Toned Abs

Planks are a great way to get toned abs fast. Try hanging out in a plank position for 2 minutes and you’ll understand why… It’s near impossible–well, not quite, but it will feel like it! These two planks are my favorite because they give an extra boost of gravity pushing down on you. Anytime you elevate your feet, your abs have to work harder to support your body. Make sure you maintain a straight spine, keep hips in line with shoulders and round out your upper body by pressing through your shoulder blades. Tucking your chin and looking towards your belly button helps to engage every muscle in your body.

 

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Focus: ACL Injury Prevention

An estimated 70% of ACL injuries do not involve contact, and may be from a simple misstep. How can you help avoid these injuries and stay off the sidelines?

 

Athletes who have suffered an ACL injury are at increased risk of developing arthritis later on in life, even if they have surgery for the injury. It

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Exercise Less, Lose Weight

Chatarunga dude. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles get it done.

For a long time now, I’ve been touting the benefits of the weight loss trick “slow and steady wins the race.” Most of the time, in fact, I recommend doing no more than 20-30min of physical activity daily as a way to win the weight loss game. In short bursts of exercise–20-30min–you expend just enough to offset your daily intake by on average 300 calories. The odds are that you won’t increase the calories in your diet. You won’t even notice they are missing. If you expend more calories in one session of exercise, you may notice and feel fatigued and are therefore more prone to eating more calories to compensate from feeling tired.

The NYTimes this morning has a write up about a recent study published by the University of Copenhagen.

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Holiday Prep

There are three optimum times of year to start getting fit: January–the start of the new year, April–start of the summer season, September–prep for holidays. This time of year is my favorite; the leaves are turning, the air is cool and crisp, there’s a new sense of starting fresh (think going-back-to-school) and we’re all getting prepped to see friends and family for holidays. I love to do comprehensive routines that tone and re-shape your body from all the fun eating and drinking you’ve been doing all summer long. I’m not one to fore-go a good party, so I have to get back to the core exercises my body knows and loves. Here are three great exercises to do every day to shape and tone your body in prep for the holidays. Combine it with cardio 5x per week and you body will stay stunning–even after the pumpkin pie.

Spiderman Pushup: x10 each leg

 

 

 

 

 

Split Lunges: x10 each leg

 

 

 

 

 

Lean-To Twists: x10 each direction

 

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Want this body? Eat This Food.

As I was thinking about the weekend, the first thing that pops to mind is the bachelorette party and that little dress I have to wear this weekend. To make my body look great I always follow this diet secret:

Watermelon. This week I ate an entire watermelon (which made up for 2-3 midweek meals from tues-thurs). I simply followed a clean diet (protein, veggies and light whole carbs) and then substitute 2-3 of my meals with watermelon. Usually my lunch and afternoon snack. It slims you down quickly because it’s mostly water and simple carbs packed into the fiber of the fruit. This means it regulates your blood sugar and metabolism really efficiently and the water and antioxidants protect against free radicals, aiding in reducing inflammation and making your skin look luminous.

Sweet, juicy watermelon is actually packed with some of the most important antioxidants in nature. Watermelon is an excellent source of vitamin C and a very good source of vitamin A, notably through its concentration of beta-carotene. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene. These powerful antioxidants travel through the body neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals are substances in the body that can cause a great deal of damage. They are able to oxidize cholesterol, making it stick to blood vessel walls, where it can lead to heart attack or stroke. They can add to the severity of asthma attacks by causing airways to clamp down and close. They can increase the inflammation that occurs in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis and cause most of the joint damage that occurs in these conditions, and they can damage cells lining the colon, turning them into cancer cells. Fortunately, vitamin C and beta-carotene are very good at getting rid of these harmful molecules and can therefore prevent the damage they would otherwise cause. As a matter of fact, high intakes of vitamin C and beta-carotene have been shown in a number of scientific studies to reduce the risk of heart disease, reduce the airway spasm that occurs in asthma, reduce the risk of colon cancer, and alleviate some of the symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.A cup of watermelon provides 21% of the daily value for vitamin C, and, through its carotenoids, 17% of the DV for vitamin A.

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CORE Check: Day 4

Grrrrr. Getting frustrated my abs are no better. And I am 4 days in. Maybe I will have to drag this puppy out to 7 days instead of 5. Boo.

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