Home Training for Legs

Dear Jessy,

I have always been rather pear shaped and cannot seem to get rid of the fat in my lower body. I am a mother of two. Sometimes it is very difficult to make it to the gym to train. Can you please suggest some options to workout at home to really target my lower body?

Thanks,

J.W.

Dear J.W.

The lower body is the first place that I accumulate fat when I relax my diet and training routine as well.It is a common concern for many women. Unfortunately, legs typically respond better to more strenuous training. They are a large muscle group; therefore they require more energy to move.

Assuming you are already consuming a clean diet consisting of 5 - 6 small meals a day, try and train legs at least twice a week. It is a good idea to invest in a set of dumbbellsor to fill a milk jug with water or even little pebbles, which can range from 10 - 20 lbs.

Home Training For Legs:

Basic Squat:

Stand in front of a chair or bench with your feet shoulder width apart and weight in each hand, down at your sides. Bend your knees as though you are sitting on the chair, keeping your weight on your heels. When your legs are parallel with the seat of the chair (but not sitting), slowly rise to your original standing position. Perform 3 sets of 15 - 20 repetitions.

Advanced Squat:

Same as above but incorporate a jump at the top of the motion.

Basic Plie Squat:

Take a wide stance with your toes pointing outward. Holding one dumbbell with both hands between your legs, standing upright, slowly bend your knees in the direction of your toes until your knees are 90 degrees. Slowly return to the starting position. Perform 3 sets of 15 - 20 repetitions.

Advanced Plie Squat:

Same as above, only alternate squatting with toes pointed out and then toes pointed front for a double squat for each rep.

Basic Lunge:

With weight in each hand by your side, take a giant step forward with your right leg so your thigh becomes parallel with the floor (no knees going beyond the toe). Pushing backward of the same leg, return to your starting position. Repeat with the left leg. Perform 3 sets of 15 - 20 repetitions, with one rep being the right and then the left leg.

Advanced Lunge:

Stand with dumbbells grasped to sides. Extend one leg back on forefoot. Lower body on other leg by flexing knee and hip of front leg until knee of rear leg is almost in contact with floor. Return to original standing position by extending the hip and knee of the forward leg. Repeat with the left leg.

Wall Sit:

With your back touching the wall, move your feet away from the wall so that the wall is supporting you. Bend your knees so that the legs form a 90 degree angle. Hold as long as you can. Repeat 3 times.

Advanced Wall Sit:

Same as above, only hold a weight in your lap. You may even super set with jump squats. A 5 - 8 lb. medicine ball is perfect for this.

Calf Raises:

Position your toes and balls of feet on a block with arches and heels extending off and resting on the floor. Raise your heels by extending ankles as high as possible. Lower heels by bendingyour ankles until your calves are stretched. Perform 3 sets of 20 - 30 repetitions.

Dumbbell Calf Raises:

Same as above except this time add one dumbbell in each hand and hold at your side.

*Cardio:

For maximum results, perform 30 - 40 minutes of medium intensity cardio at home as well. Choose an activity such as speed walking, jogging, hiking, biking, roller-blading, soccer or tennis. Jumping rope or an exercise video are also great options. Even mowing the lawn with a push mower and cleaning house can be effective cardio. Just be sure to get your heart rate up enough to reach your fat burning zone.

Fail to Plan & You've Planned to Fail

Easy Tips for Change

In today's world we are always rushing, which leaves little time to eat a regular meal. Here are a few helpfulideas, such as planning, how often to eat, etc., to help you on your way to a healthier lifestyle!

Your alarm goes off at 6 AM every weekday morning. You hit the shower, quickly dry your hair and get dressed before making a mad dash for the door. Once again you have no time for breakfast and at your 8 AM meeting the donuts and danishes begin to beckon until you finally cave in. Sound familiar?

Always Rushing

Morning comes and you are lucky to grab a cup of coffee, lunch time consists of fast food while catching up on emails, and by late afternoon you find yourself snacking on sugary snacks and empty calories from the vending machine.

Finally, at dinner, you opt for a quick bowl of cereal or a frozen dinner before positioning yourself in front of the TV to finally unwind. Sadly, as you reflect on your day, remembering the foods you ate, you rationalize that you only had about 3 meals and you never really pigged out, so it could have been worse.

News flash! Your diet stinks! You are destroying your metabolism and sabotaging much needed energy. After a day like that, with such poor food choices, you can forget about staying motivated to work out. You are setting yourself up to fail if you do not learn to plan ahead.

Planning Ahead

Any time you do something profound in life, to really create change, you make a plan. You don't go into a business presentation to land the biggest deal of your career without planning. If you move from city to city, generally, you have a plan.

We plan weddings and vacations, so why not plan your meals to make healthy changes? Designate a day to do your grocery shopping for the week. It may take 15 - 20 minutes to plan a menu and up to an hour at the grocery store, but make time and make it a routine.

Make a shopping list that includes healthy breakfast options such as quick cooking oats, corn tortillas for breakfast tacos, and Ezekiel bread with natural peanut butter. Load up on protein like eggs, which you can hard boil for easy packing, fat-free string cheese, fat-free cottage cheese, nuts and a good low-calorie, low-sugar protein powder.

Do not become a slave to calorie counting, but be aware of portion control. When eating 5 - 6 times a day, instead of your usual 2 or 3, you will likely be able to resist the urge to binge. However, we are all only human, so that means in times of stress or fatigue, when we are in need of a pick me up, you must be prepared with healthy options on hand.

Eating for optimum health is like a marathon, you have to set a pace and stick with it to reach your goal. Slack off too much and you will never get there. Make it a sprint by going too hardcore and you will burn out before you reach the finish line.

Day By Day

Take it day by day, and make fixing your eating habits a priority. The benefits you will experience will touch other areas of your life, perhaps motivating you to maintain your exercise routine or at the very least, encourage you to get out and enjoy your friends and family more.

Article by Jessy Hamawi, Club Fitness Nutritionist and Personal Trainer

Science Behind the Biggest Loser TV Show

I’m hooked on “The Biggest Loser” TV show. Maybe because I get to watch lives being transformed and new behaviors shaped or because I feel gratified that these changes are a result of improvements in nutrition and exercise, areas in which I have expertise in, rather than the promise of a fad diet, magic pills or surgery as a solution. But I was always so curious about what goes on behind the scenes. So you can imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to learn from the dietitian and the medical physician for the show at a conference held in Chicago last year.

First off, they both admitted upfront that one of the reasons the people lose so much weight consistently is because of their new environment. All the barriers that usually exist to behavior change (job/life stresses, family and friends, lack of time, lack of knowledge about what to do) have been removed. Their new job is to exercise, learn about good nutrition habits, and practice them every day. This is one of the keys that contributed to their success. They get enough time in the new environment that once they leave they have enough knowledge and motivation to keep it going. Essentially, they transform their lifestyle. 

Biggest Loser Diet

·      45-30-25: Modified 45% of calories from carbohydrates (mostly fruits, vegetables and some whole grains), 30% of calories from protein, and 25% of calories from healthy fats or oils (seeds, nuts, avocado, olive oil)

·        Whole foods, elemental ingredients

·     4-3-2-1: daily 4 cups minimum of fruits and vegetables, 3 servings of healthy proteins (e.g. fish, skinless chicken breast, 93% lean ground turkey), 2 servings of whole grains, and 1 serving of healthy fat.

·         Aim to have 1 serving of fish daily.

·         1 optional treat per day.

·      Cereals must contain a minimum 5 grams of fiber per serving and less than 5 grams of sugar per serving. This limits the cereals to certain oatmeals, bran cereals, or other high fiber cereals on the market.

·      Goal of 7 calories per pound of body weight for daily caloric intake. This is recalculated after significant weight loss.

Participants are provided with calorie counting resources and a food and exercise diary which they must maintain daily. This helps to raise awareness of past behaviors and develops an understanding for calorie balancethrough diet and exercise.

Their diets are analyzed daily by the show’s nutritionist. The nutritionist reported a 70% adherence to the diet. The nutritionist also reported as a result of the diet, the contestants experience decreased risk for diabetes because the measure that is used to diagnose diabetes decreases from “at risk” to a healthy range.

Biggest Loser Exercise

·         A goal of 7 hours per week of exercise

·          Incorporate weight training, coaching, teamwork, and competition

What a Typical Week at the Ranch Consist of 

Before getting started, participants undergo extensive medical tests, including a physical, stress test, DEXA (to measure accurately percent body fat and lean mass), and “Bod Pod” (to measure resting metabolic rate). Participants also undergo psychological evaluation and the support network at home is briefed on the program so they know what to expect when the person returns home.

All participants get a full nutrition consult, including a week of food journals review. They discuss any GI symptoms they are having as well as eating schedules and cooking and shopping strategies.

Common Denominators

In 3 seasons, they found many common characteristics, including:

·         No idea of the number of calories they need or what they actually consume

·         Most skip breakfast and snacks and let a long time go between meals

·         Most consume very little fruits and vegetables

·         Most are not getting enough protein, and what they do get is high in saturated fat

·         Most get very little whole grains

·         Most have too much refined flour and sugar

·         Little planning of meals, mostly on-the-go eating and dining out

·         Most were meeting their daily caloric needs through beverages alone (e.g. caloric sodas,  juices and fruit punch)

·         Many consume very little water

·         Nearly all reported limited to no exercise

·         Nearly all prioritize everything and everyone else in their life ahead of their own health

I found that list to be insightful. It is easy to see why they are struggling with their weight when you look at behaviors they have in common. The goal of the Biggest Loser, just like any other actual weight loss program, to restructure that lifestyle and get them on the path to better health and wellness.

Article by Jessy Hamawi, Club Fitness Nutritionist and Personal Trainer