"The Secret to a Flat Stomach"

I constantly have people asking me how to get rid of their belly. It’s the case of the dreadful muffin top. Now I’m no nutritionist, but I’m guessing because I have an amazing set of washboard abs that people assume I know. Okay, I’m kidding about the abs. Without telling people what to eat, I tell them to look at what they are currently eating. A flat stomach is all about how you eat. Easier said than done, otherwise everyone would look like me. Kidding again!

Rather then changing your diet completely--because we all know that usually ends in disaster--make a list of what you normally eat. Chances are you're eating pretty much the same thing all the time. It's normal for people to go to the same restaurants and buy the same food at the market because it’s familiar to them. Try this: write down all of your favorite foods. Once you have compiled that list, figure out which ones are the most fattening and remove only one thing, for a week. Again, it's not that easy. I remember when I did this a few years back. I removed Oreo cookies from my diet. I can honestly say I was having dreams of eating them by the seventh day. Notice how I said to choose one food item. I never recommend people removing more than they can handle. Dieting isn’t easy. After a week, look at the list again and remove a second item. Eventually you will slowly figure out what foods work for you and what foods don’t.

With that, here is one of my favorite abdominal exercises:

1. Lie face up on your mat and place your hands behind your head, lightly supporting it with your fingers.

2. Bring the knees in to the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the floor without pulling on the neck.

3. Rotate to the left, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee as you straighten the other leg.

4. Switch sides, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee.

Continue alternating sides in a 'pedaling' motion for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.

Check out the show I'm currently hosting, Fitness Fads!

"The Secret to a Flat Stomach"

I constantly have people asking me how to get rid of their belly. It’s the case of the dreadful muffin top. Now I’m no nutritionist, but I’m guessing because I have an amazing set of washboard abs that people assume I know. Okay, I’m kidding about the abs. Without telling people what to eat, I tell them to look at what they are currently eating. A flat stomach is all about how you eat. Easier said than done, otherwise everyone would look like me. Kidding again!

Rather then changing your diet completely--because we all know that usually ends in disaster--make a list of what you normally eat. Chances are you're eating pretty much the same thing all the time. It's normal for people to go to the same restaurants and buy the same food at the market because it’s familiar to them. Try this: write down all of your favorite foods. Once you have compiled that list, figure out which ones are the most fattening and remove only one thing, for a week. Again, it's not that easy. I remember when I did this a few years back. I removed Oreo cookies from my diet. I can honestly say I was having dreams of eating them by the seventh day. Notice how I said to choose one food item. I never recommend people removing more than they can handle. Dieting isn’t easy. After a week, look at the list again and remove a second item. Eventually you will slowly figure out what foods work for you and what foods don’t.

With that, here is one of my favorite abdominal exercises:

1. Lie face up on your mat and place your hands behind your head, lightly supporting it with your fingers.

2. Bring the knees in to the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the floor without pulling on the neck.

3. Rotate to the left, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee as you straighten the other leg.

4. Switch sides, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee.

Continue alternating sides in a 'pedaling' motion for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.

What music gets your heart pumping?

When it comes to getting a good workout, music is everything. Whether you're pumping iron in the gym, running for hours on a treadmill, or dancing around in your favorite cardio class, you are more than likely jamming along to your favorite tunes. It's a great way to motivate your workout and to make it enjoyable. There's nothing better than taking a spin class to some kick ass music. I think one of the reasons my classes do so well is because of the music selections. When people hear a familiar song, it excites them.

According to LifeMojo, here are few benefits to  adding music to your workout: 

• Music diverts a person's attention during repetitive exercises, so feelings of fatigue, exhaustion and boredom are minimized.
• Music can reduce the factors contributing to pain, tension, anxiety and discomfort.
• Music can act as a stimulant which can increase your performance. Respiration and cardiac rate is increased with the help of music. This can help intensify your workout.
• The body movement to the rhythm of music increases levels of output.
• The rhythmic qualities can follow the physical skills and can improve motor skills.
• Physical strength can also be attributed to music. Sedative music decreases muscular potential training ability. Fast stimulating music can increase muscle tension.
• It promotes a positive mood and avoids any kind of negative thoughts.

To sum it up, music makes working out fun!

Could you be overtraining?

I saw a friend the other day who couldn't believe how skinny I've gotten. Now that comment might make a lady happy, but for a man it sucks. Looking big and strong is what I'm trying to achieve. I admit that I find myself tired. Knowing when enough is enough is very important. For me, it's a balance between cardiovascular training and muscle endurance training. My problem is I'm only doing about two days of muscle strength training but seven hours of cardio. I know it sounds insane. That's what happens when you teach seven Zumba classes a week! As an instructor I too need to make sure I don't overtrain.

Overtraining is a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. If there is not sufficient recovery time between workouts, progress is stifled. Overtraining is often thought of as absolute, or a black and white phenomenon.  Someone that exercises often or an athlete may be slightly overtrained and will still achieve progress, just not as much as if they didn't overtrain,  which will result in an increased resting heart rate, slower recovery, irritability and depression, weight loss and decreased appetite. Sadly I think i'm experiencing all of the above. 

Here is an article I found useful, 9 reasons to skip your workout...sometimes

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Looking to tone up your ass?

This weekend I spent 10 hours at a workshop for group exercise training. My god there are a lot of exercises to remember!  I realized about halfway through that I couldn't possible remember all of the different exercises they were demonstrating, so I decided to rely on common sense. Sure enough the exercises started sticking. I realized how important it is to understand our bodies in more ways then just knowing what style of jeans best complement our ass, but instead actually knowing what muscles you should workout that could assist in helping your ass look even better.  

Did you know, the human body has more than 650 muscles, which make up half of a person's body weight? It's important to know a little anatomy and physiology.

There are many people who are new to working out that don't have a clue. And because of that they're not doing an effective workout because they are working out the wrong muscle groups or stretching inappropriately. 

For example, knowing the difference between an eccentric and concentric muscle contraction may be the most important fact to know when it comes to resistance training. The eccentric muscle contraction is the movement going down, or lengthening of the targeted muscle. For example, an eccentric contraction would be the “down” movement when doing  biceps curls.The concentric movement is the shortening of the muscle, or the “up” movement.

Now,  just that little bit of information I just gave you might just help you next time you pick up a pair of dumbbells. I also encourage my class participants to talk to a personal trainer if they have questions. I bet you didn't know that some gyms offer one free training session with a trainer. My advice is to suck as much information out of them as possible! Bring a notepad to write on or pull out a recording device. Anything you can do to improve your workout.

And remember this, research shows that resistance exercise is effective at any age. And the biological changes that occur in muscles when you lift weights ought to convince you that this type of activity is beneficial for a lifetime. No matter how old you are or how sedentary you might be, it's never too late!

Check out this crazy workout suit that is designed to create resistance to your entire body.