Fab Fit Squad

So, my first week went well..and the second week is going well. I just need to complete my last long run 5 miles for the week.

Now you may want to know what one of my interval cycles looks like.

• 2 minute warm up
• 1 1/2 min sprint
• 30 sec rest
• 2 1/2 min sprint
• 1 1/2 min rest

Repeat 5 times (should take you 30 minutes.
This can easily be done on any piece of cardio equipment, I did this on an elliptical.

Now here’s the plan for my third week  — November 22.

Monday — intervals and strength
Tuesday — 3.5 miles
Wednesday — rest
Thursday — Turkey Trot (4miles)
Friday — rest
Saturday 6 miles

Today is our last big run before the race. We will be running 6.2 miles. The humidity is suppose to break or it will be a long, hot sweaty run. If you are in Boston and want to tag along meet us on the river. BTW have I told you that the race doesn’t allow headphones so we have been training without our ipods. I thought it would be hard, but not so much. You really get into a nice rhythm listening to your footsteps and your breathing its kind of meditative.

<a href=”http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ma/mid-cambridge/868124900372960214″ mce_href=”http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ma/mid-cambridge/868124900372960214″>Kim and Philip 6.2 miler</a><br/><a href=”http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/ma/mid-cambridge” mce_href=”http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/ma/mid-cambridge”>Find more Runs in Mid-cambridge, Massachusetts</a>

My husband and I met 15 years ago at a Falmouth Road Race race party. A mutual friend invited us and who knew 15 years later I would be sitting here married to Philip and planning to run the Falmouth road race.  Philip and I are not sentimental l people at all, but every year we have talked about running this race when we hit a milestone in our relationship. On August 9th it will be 15 years that we have been together. Needless to say I am a little SHOCKED at how fast time goes by and he is still the first person that I want to talk to when I get up in the morning and the last person I want to talk to when I go to bed. Enough sentimental stuff… So, we have been training for the road race since mid June, slowly building up our mileage.  We have 2 weeks to go and today is a milestone run, 5.5 miles.  In 2000 I ran the Tufts 10K and that was the last time I ran for more than 20 minutes on a treadmill. So today is our first LONG run. (more…)

Craig Ballantyne, Men’s Health Magazine Expert, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist created this amazing bodyweight workout that help you get bootylious. Through his Turbulence Training program, you’ll discover that strength training and interval training you will burn fat, and build muscle. To learn more Click Here!

I see it all the time in the gym, women who are flying through reps thinking that they are lifting. I ask all the time do you think you could lift a little heavier, and I get the same response, I don’t want to bulk up!

News Flash!

Unless you have some sort of hormonal imbalance of testosterone, it’s impossible for you to bulk up! It is possible for you to tone up and show some muscle definition.  Who doesn’t want that!  Plus, muscle:

• Burns FAT!!
• Strengthens your bones
• Takes up less space that fat, so you look leaner

So, you need to stop flying through your reps and increase your weights.  You ask? When do I know it’s time to increase my weights?  Well, when you get to the last 2-3 reps and you feel like you can do 10 more, then you need to increase your weight.  With that said, you should only increase when you can maintain proper form!!

So tell me, are you flying through your reps? Do you have any more questions, about weight training, I would to hear them? Just post a question below.  I plan on answering a question every Sunday.

My mom has always said to me “Patience is a virtue!” Well, I have no virtues, seriously, I try to have patience, but I don’t have much!

Over the years, I have gained more than I had in my youth, but I still wish I had more.  You know like the Buddhist monks who can sit for hours in silence.  I can’t go 5 minutes without freaking out.  Okay who am I kidding, I can’t go for more than 1 minute.

Now here is the true.  I go for 12 weeks dieting and working out to get ready for a show, this is where I show the most patience.  I can take the journey and wait and see what my results will be.  Now I will admit I do get a little antsy about 3 weeks out and want to quit, but when the end line is in site, I must keep going.

So tell me about your patience? Do you have any? Are you like me and have patience in doses?

Today is my friend Diana’s wedding.  In fact, I should be getting dressed right now, but wanted to share a few thoughts.

Just because I am going to a speical event, doesn’t mean I need to throw away my diet.  I just need to plan.  I think about what do I really want to splurge on, do I want cake, bacon wrapped scallops or a few glasses of wine.

Know that you will be going to an event and want to enjoy yourself, so make concession during the week.  This way you can still enjoy a healthy lifestyle without feeling awkward at social events.

This weekend is action packed!!!

It’s recycling day here in Cambridge, now what does that mean?  It’s Cambridge’s way of keeping old paint, fluorescent light bulbs, etc from going in with the rest of your trash! As you can imagine my husband has been all hopped up for weeks!! He even scheduled it in his calendar. So, we are going to gather up all our hazardous stuff and head to the armory.

Next I’m heading to the gym to get in my 60 min of cardio and 30 min of routine practice.  Head to the grocery store. Cook something for a party we are going to tonight.  Are you exhausted yet!! I am and my day is just beginning.

I’m sure there are plenty of days you have where you are not sure where you are going to find time for yourself.  Well this is how I’m going to do it.  I looked at my day and decided that I needed to crave out some times for myself and not feel guility.  Can you do that? Out of a 24 hour day, I’ll give 8 hours to sleep, can you find at least 1 hour during the 16 hours that remain on a given Saturday or Sunday to do something for yourself?

So, I’m 4 weeks out from my show.  What does that mean? Crunch time!! So I’m up to 60 minutes of cardio.  How many of you are cardio queens, you know who you are.. you can stay on a piece of cardio for more than 60 minutes and not have it feel like sheer torture.  How many of you don’t even do cardio or maybe for 20 -30 minutes, but you are reading People magazine or a book and not breaking a sweat.

For me I hope from machine to machine to break it up.  I know how important cardio is, but I HATE it!!!

With that said, I’m not doing intervals…

Please start slow, trust me it will come and its just as effective.

This can be done on any piece of cardio equipment or on an outdoor track.
Start with a 5 min warm-up

Week 1:  sprint for 30 sec then rest for 90 sec do 5-6 sets
Week 2:  decrease the rest period by 30 sec do 6-7 sets
Week 3:  now sprint 30 sec and rest for 30 sec do 7-8 sets
Week 4:  stay the same but increase the number of sets to 8-9 sets

Do this 2-3 times/week and let me know how feel.  For those of you who feel the same way about cardio as I do, you will find this definitely keeps you moving!

The only thing you need is some good tunes on your pod!  Personally I’m trapped in the 80′s!

We’ve all done it! You know look in the mirror and pick ourselves apart poking and prodding certain bodyparts and questioning why is (insert the body part) so flat or why  doesn’t my (insert the body part) look like the women I saw on the cover of the latest fitness magazines?

One simple answer, MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!!
If we don’t exercise on a regular basis, we will lose about ½ of pound of muscle/year.  You will lose on average 15 pounds of muscle and gain 45 pounds of fat, that’s a 60 pound change in your body from the age 20-60!

Holy (insert your expletive) !!!

So what can you do?

Step 1:  Strength Train at least 20 minutes 2-3x/week
 No ladies you will not bulk up, by strength training
Don’t know where to start?
Have a gym membership take a muscle sculpting class
Hire a personal trainer for a 30-minute session to show you the works
No gym membership, send me an email and we discuss some steps

Step 2:  Cardio at least 20 minutes 2-3xs/week
This doesn’t mean you are reading the latest chic lit book or celebrity gossip magazine you are moving it!  You should break a sweat!

Step 3:  Nutrition:  Eat Right
Just because you are working out, doesn’t give you a license to snap on the feedbag!  Sure, you will be a little more ravenous, but our goal is drop some pounds!  So please follow a sensible eating plan.  We will take more about that in another post.