Strickland Fitness

Congratulations!!!! You have made it half way thru the October Challenge! How are you feeling?  I have gotten some great responses from some challengers. Keep the comments coming, keep up the hard work, and look forward to a great 2 weeks towards your goals. Let’s send the end of this week into overdrive!!

When completed, put a check in the box for October 16^th. Great job!!!

 

The Workout:

 

Warm-up

Do series 1 all the way thru with no rest. Follow it with 3 minutes medium pace on any cardio apparatus. Rest to recovery and repeat series 1.

Do series 2 all the way thru with no rest. Follow it with 3 minutes medium pace on any cardio apparatus. Rest to recovery and repeat series 2.

Cool-down

 

Series 1

Lat Pull Down – Use a weight you can do 12-15 times. Pull the weight down to the front of your chin, not behind your head. As you are pulling the weight down, try and pull your shoulder blades into your back pocket throughout the movement. This ensures you are using your lats and not only your arms. Be sure to try and keep your back straight. Don’t lean back.

Lunges – Hold dumbbells in your hand (5-20 pounds) and step forward into a lunge (both knees bent at 90 degrees) and then step back. Step forward with the other leg. Keep your back straight. Alternate legs for 16 total repetitions, 8 on each side.

Dumbbell Press – Lay on your back on a bench.  Using dumbbells that you can press 12-15 times, start with the dumbbells at your shoulders, elbows bent at 90 degrees and your palms facing out. Press the dumbbells straight up like you are doing a bench press. Use your muscles to lower the weight and then press again.

Isolated ab crunches – 25 times

 

Series 2

Row – On a row machine, use a weight you can do 12-15 times. Be sure when you pull, you are squeezing your shoulder blades together to start the movement. Then continue pulling the bar towards your stomach with your arms.

Squat to Military Press – With medium weighted dumbbells (12-15 reps), start with the dumbbells at your shoulders, palms facing toward you.  Lower yourself into a squat keeping the dumbbells at your shoulders. Stand up immediately pressing the weight above your head while turning your palms away from you. Keep your back straight!! As you go back down into the squat, return the dumbbells to your shoulders, palms facing you.

Pelvic Lifts – Lying on your back with both feet on the ground and your legs bent at 45 degrees, press through your feet on the floor raising your pelvis off the ground. You should raise it until you have a straight line from your head to the tip of your bent knees. Lower your pelvis to the ground and then raise again. Concentrate on activating the gluts while going through the motion. You can add intensity to this by extending 1 leg out to straight while holding your pelvis up. The next step would be to raise and lower your pelvis with 1 leg while the other leg is in. Do 15 lifts.

Plank – Until exhaustion or up to 1 minute.

 

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Some Important Tips

Tips, statistics, dos and don’ts on nutrition and fitness People who keep a food journal tend to lose weight – Why? Because you become aware of what you are putting into your body. When asked how many calories a day do you consume? The answer is usually 500-800 less than the actual amount. I have many clients who lose their first couple of pounds just by starting a food journal. This doesn’t mean you have to do it forever. Once you become aware of your tendencies and make the appropriate changes, the journal has done the trick. Preparation is the key – In this fast paced world, the time to sit down and eat a healthy meal seems non-existent. We are always after the quick fix because it’s quick. Well we all know that a quick meal is usually not a healthy one. Our blood sugar is low because we haven’t eaten in awhile and we need that energy boost. That energy boost generally comes in the form of sugar and fat. It tastes good and it’s accessible. However, the results are not as desired! Why do we treat our nutrition this way but not our jobs or hobbies. If you are to lead an upcoming meeting at work, how do you go into it? Most people will do some research on the topic, prepare some handouts, or write down some issues to be covered. That is preparing for something important. Well what if you looked at your nutrition that way. If you felt each meal was important, you might prepare for it a little better. If you have a busy Monday, be ready for it. Don’t go to work empty handed telling yourself you will grab something for lunch….it probably will not be very healthy. Bring your healthy lunch to work with you that you have already prepared Sunday night. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day – If you eat dinner at 7 o’clock, wake at 6, and then not eat until lunch time (believe me, a lot of people do that), that is 17 hours that your body has gone without an energy source. What are you teaching your body? I’ll tell you…hang on to all my fat (stored energy) because I am going to need it. If you don’t feed your body, your body will store everything you give it for later use. Breakfast will kick start your metabolism (along with cardio and exercise of course) and start your day off with an energy boost and not energy deprivation. If you say, “but I’m not hungry in the morning,” start with something small and easily digestible. Work your way up to a good nutritious meal. Not a lot of time in the morning you’re thinking. A good breakfast can be ready in 5 minutes. How important is it to you? Eat about 5 small meals throughout the day – Eating small amounts throughout the day will help regulate your metabolism and give your body a constant dose of energy, vitamins and minerals. You will never feel that quick fix urge or blood sugar drop (crash). Remember, a crash in blood sugar (energy) most always results in an unhealthy choice. Not enough time for an actual meal? Have some unsalted almonds handy. A handful will give you the energy needed to make to the next meal and it is a good source of healthy fat. Yes, you do need a bit of good fat in your food. Fat helps your body absorb all the vitamins and minerals the rest of your food is providing. Other examples of good fat are flaxseed and olive oil, nuts, and avocado.  

We are continuing maximum calorie burning with intervals today. Your body should be ready for all intense workouts! Here is the kicker…. Instead of just resting while our heart rates are coming down, we are going to work. Once you hit your maximum heart rate, do controlled push-ups while your heart rate comes down. Only do up to a minute of push-ups (or knee push-ups) if you haven’t reached your minimum in that time. After a minute, full rest until your minimum heart rate is reached. At the next rest period (after reaching your max heart rate again), do controlled isolated ab crunches. Again, only for up to a minute if you haven’t reached your minimum heart rate. Continue alternating between push-ups and crunches for a full 25-30 minutes of intervals. Remember, your work to reaching your maximum heart rate should be very intense. After completing this workout, put a check n the box for Oct. 13^th. Great Job!!!!

 

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Alright, we hit the arms pretty good and now we will hit the legs and core. This workout is for all the Octoberfesters out there! Let’s start the weekend out right! Everyone do the same workout. When you are done, put a check in the box for October 10^th. Sunday is a rest day. Use it to rest the body and prepare for next week. We will be going to the next level!! Great work!!

The Workout

Do each exercise once without rest. After the series, rest for 2 minutes and then repeat 3-4 times resting 2 minutes between each series.

 

10 minutes warm up

10 stationary lunges on each side (do all 10 on one side and then switch)

15 isolated ab crunches

12 body squats

Plank for as long as possible up to 1 minute

10 side lunges on each side (alternate sides)

Plank with alternating limb raises for as long as possible up to 1 minute

10 sumo squats

10 minutes cool down

 

Stationary Lunge – start with your back leg and front leg bent at 90 degrees. Rise straight up and then lower until your knee is a few inches from the ground. Keep the motion slow and controlled. Be sure to keep your back straight at all times!

Isolated crunches – use the abs to pull your shoulder blades off the ground.

Body Squats – Pretend you are going to sit in a chair with your knees bending no more than 90 degrees. Keep the back straight and control the exercise with your hips. Hips should go straight back as you are squatting. Knees should not go forward. Slow and controlled.

Plank – Keep your whole body in a straight line. Keep the abs tight.

Side lunges – start standing tall with your hands above your head. Take a big step to the side making sure both feet remain facing forward. The knee to the side you are stepping to should bend and the other leg should be straight. Bring your hands to the foot of your bent leg. Push off back to the starting position.

Plank with limb raises – Do a plank and without rotating your pelvis at all, raise one limb off the ground. Hold for a few seconds and then replace. Raise another limb. Continue through all your limbs.

Sumo Squats – Using a medium weight, start with a wide stance and your feet angled slightly outward. Holding the weight between your legs, lower your butt straight down until the weight touches the floor or you feel your upper body start to come forward. Return to starting position. Keep your back straight the whole time. Slow and controlled.

 

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!  

 

I did Challenge #6 today and it was awesome. My arms were burning, my heart was pumping, and I was sweating! Did you have the same experience? I always keep my workouts intense…no matter what it is I’m doing. When you hit the gym, hit it hard. You really will only get out of what you put in. Always keep your goals in mind!!

The Challenge for today is to rest your arms and hit the intervals hard. We will be doing one workout over the weekend along with a day of rest. I have a feeling everyone is feeling the intensity so let’s raise those heart rates a little. Beginners do workout A and the more advanced do workout B. If you need a reminder on how intervals work, read this: http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/12/15/interval-training/. Go for it!!! Once you have done your intervals, put a check mark in the box for Oct. 9^th. Great job!

 

Workout A:

10 minutes warm up

20-30 minutes intervals with your low heart rate being 50% of your max and your high heart rate being 80%

10 minutes cool down

Workout B:

10 minutes warm up

20-30 minutes intervals with your low heart rate being 60% of your max and your high heart rate being 85%

10 minutes cool down

 

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!