Body Beats

Have you skipped several workouts these past couple of months? Have you over indulged a bit? Are you traveling to relatives homes and don’t know where you’re going to workout!?

Try this move by Laura Mak. It’s from her Glamorous Glutes workout which can be performed anywhere you’re Holiday travels take you.

Standing 45° Rear Leg Curl

Download this workout and try this move

NEW WORKOUT NOW AVAILABLE!

The Chest, Core & Conditioning Workout
by: Summer Montabone

Exercises on a stability ball help to improve balance, overall coordination and strengthen the core muscles, which can be the most difficult to develop. Summer has packed seven different exercises into this 30 minute downloadable routine using a stability ball. You’ll feel the burn mostly in your pectorals and core, but the superset combos make for a great quick moving, cardio pumping workout, too.
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Steal this move from fitness super star, Adela Garcia to tighten your triceps. This challenging move comes with an added bonus. You’re working your core to keep your body aligned and balanced through the entire exercise. So your midsection might also feel the burn.
This exercise is included in Adela’s Tricep workout , which can be performed anywhere you have space on the floor and dumbbells.

TRICEP PUSHUPS



Try this move with Adela >>

Plyometrics or ‘Plyo’ is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, generally performed by athletes for the purpose of improving performance in a specific sport. It is used to increase power or the force of muscular contractions, often with the goal of jumping higher, throwing faster, hitting harder or running faster. Plyometric exercises use explosive movements and require an extremely high degree of central nervous system involvement to develop muscular power…or the ability to generate a large amount of force quickly.

Some plyo movements include jump squats, box jumps, burpees, and push ups. (Not your basic push ups, though. These push ups are performed on boxes or on the floor where you push your body up with explosive power.) Everyone can benefit from having more power and strength and plyo exercises make for incredible strength and cardio workouts. So even if you’re not an athlete whose trying to jump higher or throw a faster ball, you can benefit from combining plyometrics with your regular workout regime.

• Be sure you have a good strength base and you are well-conditioned
• Always warm your up for at least 10-15 minutes before starting
• Start slowly with small jumps and gradually build up
• Land softly and on your entire foot to absorb shock
• Perform your plyo exercises on a soft or cushioned surfaces
• Allow yourself plenty of rest between sets
• Wear comfortable, supportive foot wear
• Do not add weights for plyo exercises, especially beginners

Want to try Plyometrics? Here are some workout routines that include some plyo exercises:

Jenny Hendershott’s Full Body All Out Workout
Sandra Wickham’s Fitness Routine Conditioning
Beth Horn’s Outdoor Fat Blasting Workout

New workout now available!

This high energy circuit workout of drills is specifically designed for those who are looking to learn or improve upon their fitness skills. But anyone looking for a good 30 minute workout to build strength and increase flexibility can reap the benefits, too. Canadian fitness star Sandra Wickham will coach you through nine drills to show you how anyone interested in getting started in fitness can do so with zero fitness, dance, or gymnastics experience. All you need for this workout is a step, a mat, and a wall.

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The government now includes muscle strengthening exercises in the new Physical Activity guidelines for ALL Americans from children to the elderly. Previously, adults were advised to do at least 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week. They did not include specific muscle-strengthening recommendations. Finally, the government is catching on. Strength training for older adults can be very powerful in reducing the signs and symptoms of numerous diseases and chronic conditions, such as arthritis and diabetes. The benefits seen by children who incorporate strength training into their physical activities include an increase in muscular strength, improvements in muscular endurance, body composition and sports performance.

The new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are the most comprehensive federal recommendations ever and the new gold standard. Here are some of the recommendations posted by USA Today:

• Adults should get at least 2½ hours of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, such as brisk walking, or 1¼ hours of a vigorous-intensity activity, such as jogging or swimming laps, or a combination of the two types, to get the most health benefits from exercise. These aerobic activities should be done in at least 10-minute bouts.

• To get even more health benefits, people should do five hours of moderate-intensity physical activity each week or 2½ hours of vigorous activity.

• Adults should do muscle-strengthening (resistance) activities at a moderate- or high-intensity level for all major muscle groups two or more days a week. This should include exercises for the chest, back, shoulders, upper legs, hips, abdomen and lower legs. The exercises can be done with free weights or machines, resistance bands, calisthenics that use body weight for resistance (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups), or carrying heavy loads or doing heavy gardening such as digging or hoeing.

• Children and adolescents should do an hour or more of moderate-intensity to vigorous aerobic physical activity each day. That should include vigorous activity at least three days a week, and it should include bone-strengthening activities such as running, jumping rope, skipping, playing hopscotch and muscle-strengthening activities such as tug of war, modified sit-ups and push-ups.

• Older Americans should follow the guidelines for other adults if they are able. If not, they should be as active as their physical condition allows. If they are at risk of falling, they should do exercises that improve balance.

Congratulations, Jen!!!

Check out more of Jen’s Ms. Fitness Olympia 2008 win below…
Photos
Muscular Development Interview

Should you eat 10,000 calories a day like Phelps or train 4 to 7 hours a day like Shawn Johnson? Of course not! These are the best athletes in the world, but there’s no reason why you can’t apply some of their training ethics to improve your own routine.

Here are my 6 tips to ‘Train Like an Olympian’!

1.) Set a goal – Olympic athletes train with a goal in mind….Olympic medals. Setting goals gives you a reason to push hard, eat healthy, and get your workout done. Set a goal and be specific. Create a plan to reach that goal and remind yourself of it every single day.

2.) Build a support group – The world’s top athletes have trainers, nutritionists, sports therapists, friends and family members who all know their goals, support them in their goals, and celebrate with them after their goals have been reached. Build a network of people around you who will support you!

3.) Eat with a purpose – Athletes look at food as fuel for their bodies. Junk in, equals junk out. Their meals consist of fresh fruits, vegetable, lean proteins, and whole grains. If they need more energy, they’ll consume more complex carbs. If they need to build more muscle, they’ll add more protein. Athletes know how to adjust their diet in order to make their bodies do what they need them to do. You can apply these same principles to your own diet to reach the goals you’ve set for yourself.

4.) Train every day – Olympic athletes train like machines, every single day. But so can you! You may not be training for 3 hours when you wake up, but you could train for a 1/2 hour. If you’re not training, you’re not burning calories or building strength and endurance and sporadic exercising could lead to injury.

5.) Avoid over training – Be in tune with your body and know when to rest. Resting allows your body time to recover and keeps you from getting burnt out.

6.) Match your interest – Athletes have a passion for what they do. If you don’t enjoy your training routine, you probably won’t stick with it. Instead of picking a workout that popular or training at the same time that your friends are training, pick a time and intensity that fits your lifestyle and your level of fitness. What you do for yourself in order to reach your goals may be completely different from your friends’.

We’d like to give MyBodyBeats members the opportunity to motivate others and prove that training like an athlete with MyBodyBeats.com downloadable workouts really works!

All you have to do is submit your story about your own personal fitness journey and why you train with MyBodyBeats.com and include two photos of yourself. Your team here at MyBodyBeats.com will review your submissions and post the most inspiring stories and photos on our large main feature banner on our home page! We’ll also post stories and photos on our blog.

So what are you waiting for?!? You could be the reason someone takes that first step towards their goals! (Talk about self motivation!)

For details click here and scroll >>

There are so many different ways to burn calories, but it’s hard to estimate just how many calories you’re actually burning. There are 3,500 calories in one pound of body weight, so if you’re trying to drop pounds, you’ve gotta be burning more calories than you’re consuming. The safest way is to burn 500 calories or cut back your calorie intake by 500 calories every day. (I suggest a combo of both.)
Here, I’ve broken down different ways you can burn hundreds of calories to help you reach your 500 calories burned a day. It’s important to know how many calories you’re sweating off during your workout activity, because overestimating the amount burned could lead to zero weight loss.

Amy, a client of Summer Montabone, CSCS, at Summer’s Fitness 24/7 in North Canton, OH, has transformed her body into a lean, mean, fat fighting machine! Way to go Amy!
For more on what’s happening at Summer’s Fitness 24/7, click here.

Not in the North Canton, OH area to train with Summer personally? No problem! Download Summer’s fat burning, muscle toning workouts here , at MyBodyBeats.com!

Step-Up Surprise Cardio Workout by Summer Montabone
Long, Lean, & Shapely Legs by Summer Montabone

The newest sensation from Nintendo , the highly anticipated Wii Fit , is being released this week. This game uses a motion-sensing balancing board to give players a real workout. The idea is to make physical fitness fun and easily available to the whole family. I’ve enjoyed the other games in the Wii suite, like boxing and bowling, and have had a blast! And if played long enough…it really does get my heart rate up.

But the Wii Fit is different. The wireless accessory basically is a floor-based game controller, a balancing board similar to a step platform used in aerobics. It senses your weight and movement as you step on it and uses that data to control on screen games and exercises designed to improve your balance, posture and fitness. You can enter a target date on a calendar and it will help make sure you stay on track to meet your goal. You’ll even have the luxury of a virtual personal trainer who can react to what you’re doing and provide advice.

A great tool…yes, but here’s a heads up you want to be aware of before putting your kids on the game. For some reason, Nintendo thinks it’s motivating to call the player ‘fat’ or a ‘couch potato’ based on the bmi measurements it takes when you step on the controller, even when the player is clearly not. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my eight year old daughter being called ‘fat’ by Nintendo. Hum…..hopefully they’ll tweak their motivational messages with the next version.

Squats and lunges pretty much work the same muscles and both are among the most important leg exercises for anyone to perform in order to achieve optimum results with your legs…..whether you’re a seasoned pro, beginner, male or female. So why should you be doing both? I received an email this morning asking this question. Here’s why both are a must:

Sleeping Beauty knew what she needed to do in order to achieve her fitness goals…..SLEEP! We all know that getting enough sleep is super important. But new research tells us that if we don’t get the zzz’s we need, we could put ourselves at risk for sleep apnea, stress, decreased sex drive, and now we find out that it could make us gain weight!

Sleep is not a sign of weakness, as that first to work and last to leave co-worker of yours tries to make you believe. It’s the rest your body and mind needs to reset, restore, and keep your hormones at the optimum performance level.

Check out the rest of this blog to learn about the studies and tips to be sure you good the rest you need.

The 20th Anniversary of the Arnold Classic is this weekend! (If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you’re out of luck.) This is, by far, the biggest sporting expo and sports competition event of the year.

The Arnold weekend has become an event for the entire family. Over the course of 20 years it has grown to host a variety of competitions from bodybuilding, boxing, fencing, 5K race, gymnastics, and much, much more.

With so many athletes under one roof, it’s hard not to be motivated in whatever sport or recreational activity you do. Looking at the Arnold Expo website, I came across this inspiring story from Briana Tindall, a Pro Figure athlete competing this weekend and I wanted to share: