Tag Archives: strength

Swimming

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Swimming  :                         Swimming     

Swimming is not just for little kids! Anyone at any age can benefit from a swimming workout. Swimming gives your body a great workout without the  impacts of running. Swimming should not take the place of weight-bearing activities but it is a great thing to add to your routines.  Recent research has proven that swimming can help you live longer, who doesn’t want that?!. Water exercise can be great for people who are over weight or have arthritis.  Swimming is an awesome way to burn calories while you’re having fun .  Swimming works all the major muscle groups in your body, including your heart and lungs. Swimming workouts are not just about swimming laps. Most pools offer water aerobics, underwater spinning and much more.  Check out your local gyms that have pools, most of them will allow you to just have a pool membership. For some workouts check out beginner swimmer

Benefits:

  • weight loss
  • full body workout
  • helps with flexibility
  • great for people with arthritis
  • its fun
  • helps with recovery from certain injuries
  • stress relief
  • cardiovascular workout
  • fights disease

 

 

Vacation workouts

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Vacation workouts

We made it to Florida! It took us around 28 hours to drive here. We stopped in Philly and had dinner with my cousin then we drove all night. By the time we got here my whole body was sore!  We brought a foam roller and that was the first thing I did when we got in the room. After a good night sleep in a bed I hit the condo gym. The gym has everything I needed and the view of the ocean is great. I plan to use it everyday. Working out while away can be hard but if you make time you will feel great when you get home. I hate when I don’t workout while I’m away then I get home and go to the gym and I feel like I lost all my muscles. So I’m going to stick to my plan to hit the gym while I’m here .

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Todays workout :

  • Lat pull downs
  • cable row
  • walking lunges with 25 lbs in each hand
  • wide and close stance squats with 25 lbs
  • leg raises
  • decline sit ups
  • incline reverse crunch
  • biceps curls – drop set
  • tri extension- drop set
  • renegade row with 20 lbs
  • dip still failure

I did each move for 10-12 reps twice through. I did all the ab moves for 25 reps three to four times through.

Holiday Balance

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Holiday Balance :
Balance

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! The holidays can be very stressful , make sure you find some balance . It’s easy to forget about your workouts and eat all that candy. Definitely treat yourself but don’t over indulge. Try to add in some quick workouts at home. Doing any form of exercise can help you reduce your stress level. Add some planks or other ab moves when your watching tv. Do some squats or lunges while your food is cooking.  Get creative and get your workouts in! Remember to get 7-8 hours of sleep, drink lots of water, prepare healthy snacks for convenience and make sure you enjoy your time with family and friends! If you do over indulge just use those extra calories to fuel your workouts after the holidays. I hope everyone has a great Christmas . Happy holidays!!

Chocolate Protein French Toast

Chocolate Protein French Toast:  French toast

Best french toast ever! This recipe is super easy to make and can be topped with fruit, chocolate, jam ect. I topped mine with a chocolate protein spread and a small cut up piece of dark chocolate. I made the chocolate topping with muscle milk, chocolate hazelnut nut powder and almond milk. It was delicious. This is definitely a meal I will be making again.

Ingredients:

  • egg whites
  • bread: I used when pigs fly sourdough
  • protein powder

Topping:

  • almond milk
  • protein powder
  • hazelnut powder

For the french toast I added a half a scoop of vanilla protein powder to my egg whites. I let the bread soak it all up and then cooked it like regular french toast. While it was cooking I made the topping. I used half a scoop of vanilla protein powder, a table-spoon of hazelnut powder and enough almond milk to make the topping spreadable. When the toast was done I put the topping in between every layer and then poured the rest on top. I hope you enjoy!!

Giveaway

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Giveaway: 5 Olympic Bottles

I am having a giveaway! All you have to do to enter is like my photo on instagram- @swell_fitness. You will win a Core Power Fit kit.  Check out their website for recipes and to learn more about this awesome protein!

CP Brochure-1

Weightlifting & Women

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Lift Heavy

Weightlifting & Women :

Most women spend most of their time in the gym doing cardio. What you should be doing is getting stronger by lifting weights. I’m not talking about doing biceps curls and squats with a 5 pound weight, you need to lift heavy! You will NOT look like a man. Women do not have enough testosterone to build muscles like men. Instead you will get stronger and look more toned. When I lift I’m using heavy weights, 165 pound deadlifts, 135 pound squats, 100 pound push presses and I do not look like a man! Don’t be afraid to add some weight. Lifting weights has many benefits including  boosting your metabolism, increasing your bone density, hormonal regulation improves ( helps with cramps) just to name a few. Start by adding a strength training program two days a week. Once you start lifting you are going love it, don’t be afraid to try.

Benefits:

  • gain strength without bulking
  • lose body fat
  • decrease risk for diseases like diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease
  • increase bone density
  • improve balance
  • help fight depression
  • helps with cramps
  • improve activities of daily living
  • helps fight obesity
  • beat back pain

Here are a few really good compound movements to add to your strength training  workouts.  Lift heavy! You are stronger then you think.

Lower body:

  1. barbell/ dumbell squats
  2. deadlift
  3. lunges

Upper body:

  1. barbell bench press
  2. push ups
  3. pull ups- chin ups
  4. bent over row

Core:

  1. plank
  2. hanging leg raises
  3. L-sits

 

Plank it Out

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Plank it Out

Planks are one of my favorite moves. You can do them anywhere and you don’t need any equipment. Here are eight moves to add to your workouts. I like to do this routine at the end of my workout for an ab bonus. You can follow along to my video or grab your timers and do it on your own.

Do each move for 30 seconds with no rest in between. Repeat two to four times. For an even more advanced workout do each move for 60 seconds. Hope you like it!!

plankitout

 

Follow along:

Cardio-Blast

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Cardio-Blast  

 Tabata             IMG_5017

If you are like me and not in to running ( or any form of cardio) you should try tabata training. One of my favorite warm ups is tabata jump rope, I also like to end my workout with tabata double unders. Tabata training is high intensity interval training. Its 20 seconds of all out intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated eight times for a total of four minutes. Sounds easy? wait till you try it! Tabata workouts offer more benefits in less time. Tabata training will help you lose fat faster than regular jogging. Tabata training raises your metabolism and heart rate up in no time at all. Your metabolism will stay raised for a longer period of time which will help you burn more fat. If you are looking to improve your performance for sports , tabata training is a great way to do that.  If you are new to tabata training start with less rounds and build up to eight. You can put almost any exercise into a tabata training workout, so there’s no getting bored! Here are some great tabata workouts you can do instead of traditional running.

 

Tabata cardio:

20 secs of work- 10 sec rest for 8 rounds.

  • jump rope or double unders
  • mt climbers
  • burprees
  • squat jumps
  • high knees
  • sprinting
  • rowing

You can also use tabata training for strength training

Tabata strength:

  • pull ups
  • push ups
  • any ab move
  • squats

Cautions: tabata training is not for everyone. Make sure you are able to perform at high intensity before trying tabata training. 

 

Protein peanut butter cups

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Protein peanut butter cupsProtein peanut butter cups

Do you have a sweet tooth? One of my favorite candies are peanut butter cups, I could eat a ton of them! So I decided to make my own and add some protein to them, so I wont feel guilty when I eat too many. I made mine with powdered peanut butter but you can also use regular peanut butter. I also used vanilla muscle milk but I’m sure other flavors would taste good too. Once I get some marshmallow peanut butter (cellucor) protein I’m going to make them again. Let me know how yours come out!

ingredients: 

  • dark chocolate
  • peanut butter
  • protein powder

how to make:

  • line a cup cake pan with liners
  • melt chocolate. I melt mine in the microwave. Dont let it burn
  • add a half a scoop of protein into the melted chocolate, mix well. I used vanilla muscle milk
  • pour half the melted chocolate into the cup cake liners. Then put them in the freezer for 10 min
  • heat up your peanut butter so its a little warm. Add a half a scoop of protein and mix well.
  • take the chocolate out of freezer. Place a dollop of the peanut butter on top of the chocolate . You may need to flatten it out
  • pour the remaining melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter.
  • place them back into the freezer for 10 more min.
  • ENJOY

Bikini ready for the holidays!

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 Bikini-ready

Are you planning on traveling somewhere tropical for the holidays? Staying bikini ready through the holidays can be tough. I just booked a trip to Florida for New Years. We leave by car right after Christmas. I plan on bringing  plenty of water, protein shakes and healthy treats for the ride down. I’m already planning on doing some yoga move/stretches when we arrive . Sitting in the car for long periods cam make you sore.  Once we get there I’ll stay pretty active and luckily we are flying home. Here are some great tips to get you through the holidays and ready for your trip.

Tips:

  • make health/fitness a priority . Have a plan in place and stick to it. Plan your workouts for the week, pack your gym bag and have your shoes ready so you can workout whenever you have time. Stay active at least 4 days a week. Add some at home yoga for something a little extra.
  • bring healthy treats to your parties. Not sure if the parties you are going to will have healthy options? Bring one! Make a healthy appetizer that you can bring and if there’s nothing else healthy snack on your treat.
  • don’t skip meals. Skipping meals is never a good idea. Don’t miss a meal and then pig out later  because your so hungry. Plan ahead and make sure you have time to eat. Also remember to drink plenty of water
  • get lots of sleep.
  • plan your snacks. When traveling or on busy days plans your snacks the night before. That way when your hungry you already have a great healthy snack to keep you on track.
  • drink water with your alcohol. When you drink alcohol remember to drink lots of water. I like to have one alcohol drink followed by a glass of water. Having a glass of water in my hand makes it easier to not fill up on bad food and empty caloric drinks.

 

Jump start your holiday training with this killer workout.  You can add these moves to your routines or do them on their own. I like to do each move for 10-20 reps twice through.

Killer Butt:

  • squat- close stance
  • front lunge
  • glute bridge leg raise
  • squat- wide stance
  • side lunge
  • calf raises
  • jump squat
  • donkey kicks

Awesome Arms:

  • push ups
  • bent over row
  • dips
  • flys
  • triceps extension
  • plank
  • biceps curl
  • kettlebell swings
  • straight arm raises
  • burpess

Rockin’ Abs:

  • vertical leg raise crunch
  • deadlift
  • reverse crunch
  • bike abs
  • mason twist
  • side plank
  • plank rows
  • v-ups
  • plank knee to elbow
  • flutter kicks