CONGRATULATIONS!!

The winner of the Body By Vi protein is Dusty Perez, who is a mama of 2 little boys!  Congratulations Dusty!  Looking forward to your feedback and how the product is working for you!!

Tomorrow I will be posting some info on certain supplements (have had quite a few questions lately about supps), and will also post another 'challenge' workout!  Did anybody try the 300 yet?!

Not seeing Results?-Myth Busters

I read a great article in Experience magazine the other day called 'Classic Weight-Room Mistakes'.  It was such a great article I'd love to share some of the points with you!

Myth #1: Using the same amount of weight and number of repititions each workout.
-Try mixing up your weight.  Throw in heavier weight training with lower reps or have less rest periods between each set.

Myth #2: Not tracking your workouts.
-Keep progress of your workouts and the amount of weight you're doing with your exercises.  This will help you vary your workouts.

Myth #3: You can focus on certain trouble spots such as abs or thighs:
-There is no such thing as 'spot reduction'.  Lunges, squats, presses, pull-ups, etc will help build a balanced physique. 

Myth #4:  Doing the same workouts you did in high school. 
-It's important to vary your workouts and put new exercises into your routine.  Varying workouts will help get you to your goals quicker.

Myth #5: Sticking with High Reps and Low weight to Tone:
-I hear this one all the time:  "I do 20 reps with low weight".  Grab some heavier weights and incorporate them into your routine.  You'll look leaner over time...

Myth #6: Focusing on Intensity before Form:
-Proper form is imperative before adding intensity to the exercise.  Proper form will help prevent injury and also target the proper muscle and engage that muscle more than rushing through an exercise. 

Also remember to up your protein intake to help develop that lean muscle!!!!

Getting to the 'CORE'...

Let me start off by saying no matter how much core work you do, that lean sexy stomach first and foremost comes from DIET, then Cardio, and then not only core exercises, but total body exercises.  With that being said, I would be lying if I said I didn't love feeling that burn in my stomach when doing core, and I always love to try new things.  I have sooooo many core exercises in my brain, that it was hard for me to organize it all.  So I've narrowed it down to what I've been doing lately, and also some of my all time favorite moves...

1. While on a free motion resistance machine, put the arms on the lowest setting, wtih an ankle strap as the attachment.  Doing a side plank, strap your top foot in, and pull your elbow to your knee simultaneously.  The weight should be somewhat light, since you're shooting for 20 reps. Switch sides.

(This is a free motion machine)










2.  I was shown this one a couple weeks ago, and I've loved it ever since.  It looks odd and you will look funny doing it, but it's effective!
On this particular machine of precor cardio equipment, start by putting your HANDS on the foot pedals.  Start pedaling up and down (it's a bit hard to get it going at first, but once you do it gets easier).
Keep moving the pedals with your hands for 30 seconds-1minute.  You will absolutely feel this in your obliques (and also your shoulders).

3.  Hanging Leg Raises!  These are extremely effective and also challenging:

Note: The less your body swings when you raise your legs, the more activated your core will be










4.  Weighted Alligator crawls:
With a 25 lb Plate on a towel, put your toes in the holes of the plate, and start walking with your hands, dragging the weight behind you....Go til burnout....(You will LOVE these;)).

5. ABC's! 
On a stability ball, start in a plank position on your elbows, hands together.  Start tracing your ABC's, all the way to Z.  You will hit alot of different angles 'writing' all the letters.

6. Bicycle v-ups:
These are your typical bicycle crunches, but instead of bending the legs, keep them straight the entire time, lifting them up and down (kind of like scissor kicks with a bicycle crunch)

7. Fetal crunches:
These are pretty self explanatory from the picture, and I use pretty heavy weight!
Try to touch your elbows to your knees each rep.  Reps of 20-25

8. Medicine ball mountain climbers:
Hands on a weighted medicine ball, and then proceed to do mountain climbers for 30 seconds-1 minute.  This will hit your core and also raise your heartrate. 

Here's a good start to some of my favorite core exercises!!  But trust me there will be more to come over the months!!!  Have fun trying some new things, and if there are any questions or suggestions please let me know!!

BODY BY VI GIVEAWAY!!!

Body by Vi:  Heard of it?  You can read all about this phenomenon that is spreading like wild fire!
Just check out the link below:
www.mattcade.bodybyvi.com OR
www.stephaniegaeta.bodybyvi.com

I'm feeling super generous, so I'm going to be giving away ONE HUGE bag of Body By Vi shake mix!!!  Yay! I will also send a few new smoothie recipes along with the package:).  (I LOVE giving things away that help people and their health!)

So how do you enter?  Same as last time!  (It's hard to get creative over the internet:/)....
Just share my page, and make sure you let me know you shared it!!!  I would love to meet new people and expand my blog to others who may have questions about nutrition or working out!

The entries will run until Sunday night, with a winner announced next Tuesday. 

So who wants to start taking the 90 day challenge with me?? 
Here are just a few people who have tried Body By Vi and found success in 90 days:

  This is Blake who added 20 lbs of lean muscle in 90 days...

This is Amanda, a mommy who lost 40.5lbs in 90 days!!!  (What an inspiration!)

 This is another mom who took the 90 day challenge:

A mom of four!!

Good luck to everyone!
P.S. Core workout blog to be posted tomorrow night!!!

THE SKINNY ON BODY FAT

Let me again re-iterate that I am by no means an expert, just sharing the little knowledge that I have on this topic....

There are MANY forms of body fat testing these days.  I'll touch on 3 or 4, and give my opinions on which ones I think are good and which ones are OK.

1.)  Underwater weighing (this form tends to be pretty accurate!).  This is where you are totally immersed in water...densities of bone and muscles are higher than water, and fat is less dense than water. So a person with more bone and muscle will weight more in water than a person with less bone and muscle, meaning they have a higher body density and lower percentage of body fat. (www.new-fitness.com)

2.)  Calipers (pinchers).  Not a huge fan of this one.  This will give you a 'round about guesstimate, but there are more accurate forms out there.  But at least it gives you an idea of where you're at.
Normally you are pinched in 3-7 areas, then there is a certain formulation used to calculate your bf.
"Generally speaking, skinfold measurements are easy to do, inexpensive and the method is portable. Overall, results, can be very subjective as precision ultimately depends on the skill of the technician and the site measured. The quality of the calipers is also a factor; they should be accurately calibrated and have a constant specified pressure. Inexpensive models sold for home use are usually less accurate than those used by an accredited caliper technician. The more obese the subject, the more difficult to "pinch" the skinfold correctly, requiring even more skill to obtain an accurate measurement."  (www.new-fitness.com)

3.) BOD POD (Air Displacement) - Based on the same principle as underwater weighing, the BOD POD uses computerized sensors to measure how much air is displaced while a person sits for 20 seconds in a capsule. It uses a calculation to determine body density, then estimated body fat.

4.)  New machines called the "inbody" are now becoming more available at doctor's offices and gyms now to test body fat.  It's basically a scale you stand on, type in all your info, and it calculates lean body mass, water weight, and body fat.  You need to be about 3 hours fasted and have little to no water for this test....





A question I get asked alot...."What's your body fat percentage?"....
My answer:  "I'm not built like you, you're not built like me...."

EVERYONE holds body fat differently.  Some hold in their arms, some in their booty, some in their thighs, etc...Some even hold more fat on their internal organs than they do under the skin!!  (I recently found this out).  And let's face it, women naturally are more prone to carry more body fat than men.

What's a healthy body fat percentage for women?
In GENERAL (from research I've done on the internet and talking to MANY trainers over the years),
a healthy body fat in women can range from 18-25%

I'm going to break it down a little further on statistics I found:

Classification	Women (% fat)
Essential Fat	10-12%
Athletes	14-20%
Fitness	21-24%
Acceptable	25-30%

Again, these are general numbers, but it's always good to get your body fat tested to know where you are at and if you want to improve that number.

Hope this helps a little!  I've been getting asked this question alot so thought I'd touch on the subject!!

M.I.A.......

So these next few weeks I will be pretty much MIA.....
The next few days I'll be finishing up some nutrition stuff for a few people, and then it'll be pretty limited how often I will be on the computer.
These last weeks are pretty tough, and need to just get through them:/....

(this picture is exactly what I feel like!)

In the mean time, here is a WORKOUT CHALLENGE:
Here's a nice little workout for  you, called the 300. 

Ready?
1 mile warm up at 2% incline (at least jogging)
300 push-ups (you OBVIOUSLY WILL NEED TO HIT YOUR KNEES FOR THIS)
300 sit-ups
300 squats

Yes it is tough, but it is doable.  Take rests when you need to.

I also was taken through a PHENOMENAL glute workout last week that buried me into the ground that I'll be posting in the next few weeks...

The winner of the challenge Nikki Savage received her package yesterday!  She won a gym bag, a pair of yoga pants, workout gloves, and a sample of protein:).  Enjoy Nikki!

In the next few weeks, I'd love to hear from everyone what their "stubborn" area is...back of arms? Legs? Stomach? Booty? Maybe even your back?  Let me know and I'll try to post some tips and tricks that may help!

Blessings! 

TRX suspension training

Especially for people who don't have access to a gym, this is a great little piece of equipment that has the possibility of hundreds of exercises!!
TRX is all body weight training, with exercises from beginner, intermediate to advanced.
I personally love the TRX for core work.
Instead of posting exercises and naming them (they wouldn't make much sense), I'm going to put some youtube links below (cut and paste them in the URL) and some pics so you can see some demos of what you can do on it!
You can hang this up pretty much anywhere, and the straps are very easy to adjust.
(I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to give one as a prize in another contest some time!)

Have any of you used TRX?  What do you think??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtKSYFlpoTM (these are more advanced moves)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mjkrTIsOq4 (Intermediate...the pendulum swings are Great!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Qu438f__0 (Basic exercises)

FEAR OF FAILURE

I have a fear of failure.  I always have.  It's not something I'm proud of...actually I'm very embarrassed about it.  But I think one of the ways to get over my fear and move forward is to talk about it.

Last week I was doing my usual practicing standing on the ball, and for the first time in a very long time, I fell...I fell HARD.  However, I got right back up and tried again.  That didn't scare me.
Here's what does scare me...not being in good enough shape for my next show.  This time around with the diet has been VERY difficult for me, and every time I veer off track, instead of getting right back up and getting on the "ball" per-say, I beat myself up.  And I'm not doing any good doing that.  I need to learn to if I "fall", get right back up and keep on kicking.  No one can do it for me.  It's just me.  And realize I'm not perfect (trust me, far from it), and I need to stop striving for "perfection".....NO SUCH THING.  I need to continue to pray and hand it over to God.  Whenever I hand it over, things just seem to fall into place:).  My personal goal this week: if I fall, just get right back up....No one said it was an easy road.

Think I'm going to incorporate some more tire work this week!  Tire flips, drags, jumps, hammer swings....so much you can do with a tire:0).