by lisagraham | April 23, 2010 | In Exercise | Comments Off
It’s not uncommon for new clients of mine to feel nauseous or light headed during their first workout. (I hate when it happens.) Sometimes it’s because they were trying to push themselves too hard, but often it’s because they didn’t prepare properly.
There are three essential things that help get anyone successfully through a workout, especially a newbie: [More]
by lisagraham | April 14, 2010 | In Exercise | Comments Off
Weight loss is a pretty simple principle. You have to burn more calories than you take in. In response, your body taps into its fat stores for fuel.
Two ways we accomplish this: 1) Eat a healthy diet within our calorie range, and 2) Add daily exercise.
Now, weight loss can happen with diet alone, but it is much more efficient to add exercise. Not only are you using up more calories by adding exercise to your day, but you are adding cardio and muscular fitness.
by lisagraham | January 29, 2010 | In Exercise | Comments Off
You only have a certain amount of time to exercise, right? Don’t you want to burn as many calories as you can? Don’t you want to strengthen your heart and lungs, and get more fit?
Then you’re going to have to make your exercise count!
I see people sitting on bikes reading magazines and strolling on treadmills like they’re taking a walk in the park. There’s no sweat on their brow, no heavy breathing. They’re not red in the face from exertion. In fact, they look pretty comfy.
by lisagraham | November 25, 2009 | In Food | Comments Off
I love Thanksgiving. It’s so restful for me because we go to my mom’s house for dinner. I don’t have to mega clean my house or cook a huge meal. She wants to make everything herself and is only “allowing” me to bring a dessert.
I get to go into the gym in the morning and have a kick-butt workout. (The goal is to burn at least 800 calories.) Then I can put my feet up and catch some of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV before we leave.
by lisagraham | September 11, 2009 | In Exercise | 1 Comment
This is a fun workout that targets cardio, hamstrings, glutes and quads. It is done on the treadmill so you can do it anytime regardless of the weather! It only takes 20 minutes, but it’s a high intensity workout. It’s great for when you have a short time to exercise, or want to follow your cardio with a leg weight workout.
Begin by setting the treadmill on a 5% incline and walk at a brisk pace for five minutes. On the sixth minute, slow the speed to 2.5 and do walking lunges. Take big steps and lunge deeply. Then follow this progression for the following minutes:
by lisagraham | September 2, 2009 | In Exercise | Comments Off
Today was a hectic day schooling the kids, shopping for groceries, and going in to work to train a client. I also had to take my boys to their evening activity, feed them dinner, walk the dogs, etc. It turned out to be a crazy day.
In between everything, I was able to squeeze in a one-hour workout. I wanted to burn the maximum amount of calories I could in that time while hitting cardio, legs, and abs.
by lisagraham | August 4, 2009 | In Mindset | Comments Off
Weight loss doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it isn’t. There are very basic principles that work. You may not like them, and you may not want to follow them, but they are simple and they are basic.
You don’t need fancy diets or fancy foods that cost lots of money. You can have them if you want them. But weight loss still comes down to basic principles.
by lisagraham | May 19, 2009 | In Exercise | Comments Off
Exercise is so good for you. (You probably already know that!) It reduces your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. It relieves stress and anxiety. It helps you become firmer and toner. It even helps you sleep better – and who doesn’t need that.
For me, I love how strong it makes me feel. I enjoy challenging myself with harder workouts to see my fitness level increase. What a great reward to be able to do something you couldn’t do before!
by lisagraham | April 30, 2009 | In Exercise | Comments Off
Are you in rut with your exercise? It’s easy to fall into a routine of doing the same things over and over. The exercises are comfortable and familiar, and you don’t have to really think about executing them.
To increase your fitness level and workout for better fat loss, you need to continue challenging your body. It’s good to throw in new exercises and do things that are different than what you’re used to.
by lisagraham | March 30, 2009 | In Exercise | Comments Off
I just got a Polar heart rate monitor and used it for the first time today. My model shows current heart rate and calories. It tracks how many minutes my exercise session is. It also provides a summary of my highest, lowest and average heart rate, as well as how many minutes during my session I stayed within my target heart rate zone.
Now, I have to admit that my husband set it up for me. I couldn’t figure out the manual, and the buttons, and all the settings. Thankfully he’s a whiz at it. When I got to the gym, I hoped I could remember the right buttons to push to get it started. I did!
by lisagraham | March 24, 2009 | In Exercise | Comments Off
The goal of every workout is to challenge our bodies so they can become stronger. Of course, also very high on the priority list is calorie burn. We’re all trying to lose or maintain our weight, so burning as many calories as we can during our workouts is supreme.
Usually, cardio workouts (swimming, cycling, jogging) burn more calories than weight training. But weight training absolutely cannot be skipped because of its great effect on lean muscle growth and metabolic rate.