holy guacamole – intense kettlebell-burpee workout [♥]

If you’re looking for a killer new way to work out – holy shit this is it. Simple, effective, and after doing it yesterday with a 20 minute stretch I’m still super sore.

I saw the workout description and was pretty sure it would be moderately easy, considering the max amount of burpees you’ll ever do is 15 (and only once). But no. If you’re looking for something pretty mindless where you can burn fat and incorporate leg training, this be it.

So grab a heavy kettlebell or dumbell and get swingin’. I used 15kgs and did the push-up in the burpee which amped it up tenfold. The video will explain, but you pretty much do 1 kettlebell swing and 1 burpee and then 2 swings 2 burpees etc until you get to 15. Then go back down to 1. Ouch.

It’s not as daunting as you may think, but it is hard. Even though it’s kinda addictive, make sure you always mix up the style of your super intense workouts to keep the body guessing and burning fat. Do one thing too often and it isn’t going to work after a while.

So Cassey, this Pilates instructor all over YouTube, is a beast and doing her videos actually got me into Pilates ages ago. She’s branched out though, and now does videos that incorporate HIIT (high intensity interval training) and weight training. If you have the time, I urge you to check her out (and no, Pilates ain’t just for the girls. Heaps of sportsmen do Pilates-inspired workouts because it’s just so amazing for strength and stability as well as isolation of those tiny muscles you never think of).

So go. GO and do this NOW. If you’re a beginner, drop the weight in the swing and drop the push-up. So, no excuses.

Good luck…

MUAHAHAHAHA

xxxo Faith

legs 11 (eleven day challenge for defined legs) [♥]

It’s all about legs (woo-hoo!) So many people want more defined & leaner-looking legs. Shapeliness can add the illusion of length, and strong pins will benefit every-day life too (not just in your gorgeous skater skirt – um, oh, right, or your super hot short-shorts, boys). You walk faster, lift heavier, and the joints around your knees & ankles are more protected).

Yep, legs are pretty amazing.

If you’re not a regular exerciser, implement small steps (like these challenges) throughout your day and build up as you go. You’ll see improvements in strength and tone, and because these exercises target the whole legs, they burn the most calories.

This is for those of you who don’t work out too much yet so keep that in mind. I’ll do an advanced one too. In the meantime, add weights if this is just tooooo easy. And if you don’t have legs? No problemo, there’s a core one coming & an upper body challenge.

Without further ado… (find technique below workout)

[♥] Days 1-5

+ Do calf raises whenever you brush your teeth – You brush your teeth twice a day, right? For two minutes? (Say yes!) So 4 minutes a day, at least, hopefully..

+ 15 wide full squats, increase by 5 each day (so day 5 will be 35 squats)

+ Hold your squat, pulse it out for 10, increase by 5 pulses each day (day 5 will be 30 pulses)

+ 15 wide plie squats, increase by 5 each day

+ Hold your plie squat, pulse it out for 10, increase by 5 pulses a day

 

[♥] Days 6-11

+ Calf raises whenever you brush your teeth (but don’t touch the ground – pulse it out the whole time)

+ 40 wide full squats and 40 pulses 

+ 40 wide plie squats and 40 pulses

+ 20 slow standing hamstring curls on each leg 

+ 20 slow standing side leg-lifts on each leg

 

How to?

Pulse an exercise

– this just means you don’t rest between repetitions
– hold the exercise in the most difficult phase (like the bottom of a squat, or the middle of a calf-raise) and move only a couple inches
– just remember the key here is to keep tension in the muscle, so as soon as you feel a release, you know you ain’t pulsing

Calf raises

– feet hip-width apart
– legs straight, body upright
– raise onto the balls of your feet as much as you can & lower

Squats

– feet a little wider than shoulders
– chest & chin up, abs tight
– stick your butt back like you’re sitting on a low chair (keep the weight in your heels)
– knees don’t go forward, butt goes back
– make the squat last for 4-5 seconds

squats: work your behind more by clenching your glutes to bring you up

Plie Squats

– keep feet wider than shoulders
– chest & chin up, abs tight, body upright
– activate your glutes to come up
– should last for 4-5 seconds

plie squats: the lower the better

Hamstring curls

– Stand with your supporting leg straight and strong and lift the working leg behind you (straight) as high as it can go
– hold onto something for support if you need to
– moving only the knee (by hinging it) slowly squeeze your hamstring (back of your thigh) to bring your foot into your butt
– resist on the way out, it works better (go slowwww)

Standing side leg lifts

– Stand with supporting leg strong and lift the working leg directly out to the side of you (straight) as high as you can
– hold on for support if needed
– move ONLY the working leg (keep core tight) and squeeze it up, slowly resist it down
– go slow, don’t move with momentum

 

Ta-daaaa! I know I wrote like, 600 words… but once you get the technique down, it’s super easy and just keep doing this type of training (just increase the reps or hold some weights with your squats and calf raises) & add in different targeted exercises for a full-body routine.

And it only takes a little while each day (:

Questions? Answers! Just let me know.

Umm clench happy!

xxxo Faith

tight ass tuesdays – workout [♥]

Erh… I mean literally. Lesson time. And who doesn’t love an ed-U-cation (like that guy from Red Dog? Any takers? Just me? Mm.)

The group of muscles in your backside are the strongest and largest in your body (the largest is the Gluteus Maximus, the main booty muscle). What does this translate to? The more you work it, the more calories you burn. The more you build it, the more calories you’ll burn at rest from the increased muscle mass. Plus, who doesn’t like a nice behind?

So… the pretty picture you have before you is the gluteal muscle group. The gluteus maximus is the largest one. It’s also the one closest to the surface. We’ll need to work this big muscle to see massive results, but do more isolated exercises to shape & lift. Squats are great, but best paired with other exercises if it’s your boo-tay day.

The medius and minimus are more responsible for giving you the super tight & toned section of your upper butt/lower back, and when paired with some more lower back moves you can get those ‘Venus back dimples’. You’re also going to need to put some work into your hamstrings because they support the gluteals and add to the shape.

Butt days are by far my favourite workout days. The exercises are all pretty fun and you can feel how rock solid your butt is afterwards – and with continued practice (and pretty clean eating) you will see a change in shape – lifted & rounder & eeeeeverything you want.

So, this is a fun, SUPER HARD, power-in-numbers workout (it may seem daunting at first but it doesn’t take long and the results will amaze you 🙂 ) I’ll be making a workout video pretty soon for this so stay tuned! In the meantime though, blast some tunes and give it a bang… (use weights if you’ve got the technique down)

Wide-stance squats – 1 min

– feet a little more than shoulder-width apart and toes eveeeerr so slightly turned out

– stick your booty back and keep your chest out to come down into a deep squat like you’re sitting in a chair

– keep the weight in your heels as much as possible to target the right area

– keep your arms in front or on your waist

– clench your glutes and come up about 3/4 of the way (not all the way – just a warm-up, arrghh!)

** so, ideally you want your thighs parallel to the ground in a nice, deep squat to get the best effect. work towards this – everyone’s at their own level **

STAY IN SQUAT! No rest for you – pulse it out – 1 min

– yep, I said 1 minute. KEEP GOING

– to pulse, you go into the deepest squat you can, come up a few inches by clenching your booty and go back down. They’re pretty quick

– remember to keep your weight on your heels

** do some arm movements or lip sync to your music or whatever the hell you want to do to distract you **

That was just your warm up *muahaha* Split squat – 30 seconds each side AND THEN 30 SECONDS OF PULSING in the same position

– don’t hate me for this

– rest one of your feet on your lounge or bed or whatever and squat down with the supporting leg (so you’re kind of in lunge position with one leg elevated to the back)

– keep your working knee in line with the working toe

– weight should be in your heel/outside of your foot to target the right muscles

– keep the chest up – don’t die

DOWN ON THE GROUND! (yay!) Get on all fours like you’re coffee table. Leg lifts 1 min each side

– Shoulders directly above hands, hips in line with knees

– Raise your working leg straight and point the toes, pulse it up towards the ceiling by clenching

– It’s a small movement, only a couple inches, but keep everything super tight (core included)

NO REST! Same position, Bent Leg Lifts 1 min each side

– Bend at the knee so your leg is in a right angle and the working knee is in line with the working hip

– Flex your foot and pulse towards the ceiling by clenching your boo-tayyyy (pretend you’re trying to step on your ceiling)

– add weights (lock a dumbbell in the crease of your working knee) and make it pop

** Feel this in your hamstring? Good! You should feel the hamstring and the glutes **

STAY WHERE YOU ARE! Fire hydrants 30 secs each side + 30 secs pulses

– starting in your coffee table position, lift your working leg just as it is (a right angle) as if, um, well, you’re a dog peeing on a fire hydrant

– your knee and hips shouldn’t move, you’re lifting only with the glute and outer thigh

– AAAAAAAAAAAAAAND PULSE IT FOR 30 SECONDS! Change sides.

Aaaaand stretch.

Yay! Do this workout (10 mins) every day if you like, depending on your current training or incorporate it into your strength days and you’ll see major results from a combo of compound (big) movements and isolated (small) movements.

Questions..? Answers!

Train Happy,

xxxo Faith

building muscle – fat/muscle myth [♥]

Myth-busting time! So, I noticed all my other posts have been total essays. Sorry about this, I tend to get carried away 😉 So what about the ol’ ‘I don’t have a high body fat percentage’ and so I can’t build muscle’ complaint? Hmm..

1. Don’t complain too openly about your low body fat percentage or your inability to put on weight, because a lot of people are going to hate you (haters gon’ hate)

2. You don’t need fat to build muscle – you need good nutrition and a suitable weights program. Read on, grasshopper…

Can fat turn to muscle?

No, scientifically speaking. The reason many people think it can is because a lot of people build muscle underneath a layer of fat and end up looking “bigger” and “fuller” but they’re not “shredded” or “defined” (which is SHRN).

Another theory is that people who do have a higher percentage of fat eat more, have a higher appetite and thus carry more of the nutrients naturally in their body to build and repair muscle tissue. A low-cal diet can often restrict certain nutrients.

So what do I eat then if I can’t eat like Homer Simpson?!

Well, do you reaaaallyy want to look like him anyway? Sexy. Don’t eat more, eat right. You have no idea how many times I hear ‘yeh I’m just going to smash 10 cheeseburgers then hit the gym’. Pleeeeease don’t do this – it won’t work and it’s so unsustainable. Best thing to do is have carby pre-gym snack (like a banana and greek yoghurt with honey) and then smash out your reps with the heaviest you can lift and afterwards, have a balanced meal of carbs/protein (fish & starchy potatoes, chicken & rice with vegetables, hell – even low-fat chocolate milk if you feel it).

You’ll find that if you’re diet is right, you can eat a lot of it (who ever heard of restricting vegetables, which are great for repairing muscle tissue by the bye). Obviously don’t go Furious Pete OTT with your portions though.

be mindful that johnny bravo is either a) freakishly disposed to build only massive amounts of upper body muscle or b) using steroids

Then why does my friend build muscle more easily?

It depends so much on so many different factors: your body type/composition (do you build muscle easily? do you build fat easily? do you find it hard to put on weight? where are your main fat deposits? how tall are you?), your gender, cultural and racial factors such as your background, your diet, your exercise plan, your genes etc. If you really have this as your main goal (muscle building), I suggest you go and find yourself a personal trainer who specialises in this and also get yourself a good dietician because it’s not really as easy as 1, 2, 3 to get Arnie’d up.

My advice to those of you in pursuit of your better body & health, is not to sweat the small stuff. Eat well and train crazy and you’ll get there, I promise 🙂 There are so many of those little body issues that bother us, which is fair enough as the media promotes a lot of this insecurity, but it’s unnecessary and you’re great as you are. *inspirational*

Also – just to serve as clarification – muscle can not turn into fat. Muscle can diminish from under-use and it is either replaced by fat or appears “flabbier” because there’s not that hard muscle to give it a toned look. Muscle diminishes pretty quickly though, so use it or lose it!

Questions? Feel free to ask!

Train Happy,

Faith xxxo