Eat Dance Live

I've mentioned this a few times in a variety of different ways, but I have often gotten comments and questions about flexibility. The secret? Stretch. No really. Stretch. After every work out. It's super simple, it only takes about 5-10 minutes and you can do it wherever and whenever you want. At the gym? Sure! Watching TV? Of course (more on that later)! To me, stretching is one of the three legs of the perfect fitness stool (the other two being cardio and strength training). Stretching is great thing to do, especially after exercise, but it's definitely under-appreciated. (If you're interested, that is a picture of me on an OmGym last year... They're awesome, though it depresses me to see how tanned I am when I don't undergo a Canadian winter.) Here are only some of the things stretching and flexibility achieve: relaxes your muscles after your body has undergone a lot of stress and impact (under a lot of stress and trauma, your muscles shorten, which will pul...

On January 1st of 2011, I'll be celebrating my third year as a full-fledged dedicated gym-goer. While I had always been active growing up, it was never something I really put any thought into nor did on a regular basis. Like most girls, I adopted more of a gym "lifestyle" in my first year of my undergrad, which usually consisted in some form of cardio when I wasn't screaming at my friends to "lemmesleep lemmesleep lemmesleep" when they came pounding on my door for gym time at 7am on weekdays... we were crazy yes. Still, while it was fun and kept me in shape (sorta), it wasn't anything regular. On January 1, 2007, I committed to delve in Andrew's hardcore gym world by getting really psyched up to give the Body for Life 12 week program a shot with him. While he'd done it before, I decided I wanted to take my health in my own hands, and doing it with a partner was probably the best way to go at it. Three years later, and with fitness highs and lows ...

Monday 30 minutes of Body for Life style HIIT cardio on elliptical 10 minutes of hills on treadmill 5 minute stretch Tuesday 3x15 db press on stability ball 3x12 seated db press 3x15 db flyes on stability ball 3x15 lateral raises 3x15 bicep curls 3x15 bent over rows 3x15 tricep kickbacks 3x15 lat pulldowns Ab cycle on stability ball (4 exercises 4x12 + 20 stability ball roll outs) 5 minute 'sprint' on stationary bike 5 minute stretch Wednesday 30 minute endurance running on treadmill 10 minute hills on treadmill 5 minute stretch Thursday 10 minute cardio sprints on elliptical Ab routine on floor mat (4 exercises 4x12) 3z12 Barbell Squats 3x15 lying side leg raises 1.5 minute plank 3x12 lying side inner leg raises 3x12 calf raises on step 1 minte jump rope 5 minute stretch Friday 1 hour of kayaking! 2.5 mile walk Saturday 20 minutes of HIIT on treadmill 10 minutes of hills on treadmill

New Goal: Now that I can do a side/horizontal split, I want to be able to do a front split without needing my hands for support. I'm close, just not quite there yet because I still need the arm support. I work on it a little bit during each of my stretching sessions. Monday 1 + 10 minutes HIIT on the treadmill 10 minutes HIIT on the elliptical 10 minutes HIIT on stair climber 100 crunches (3 types of crunches) 5 minute stretch Tuesday 1.5 hours of ballet 3x12 straight leg lower ab exercise 3x12 crunches 3x12 bent over row 3x12 torso rotation machine 3x12 bent over two-arm row 1 minute plank 3x12 overhead tricep extension 10 minute stretch Wednesday 22 minutes of HIIT cardio on stationary bike 10 minute stretch Thursday Exercise ball ab cycle (4x12 of 2 ab exercises) 3x12 dumbbell flyes 3x12 shoulder shrugs 1 minute plank 3x12 chest press 3x12 side raises 3x12 balance ball ab exercise 3x12 bicep curl Friday 20 + 5 minutes of Body for Life style HIIT on elliptical 10 minute stretch 4...

So I realize I've totally been skimping on the dance and live part of my name (I already did note this earlier, but apparently, eating always takes a priority with me)... Though I still do believe that changing your diet changes your worldview, I don't believe any diet is complete without the proper amount of exercise/activity/workout or whatever you choose to call it. I think the most important thing for anyone who is seriously into working out  to know is to switch it up. Variety IS the spice of life! I see too many unfit girls on ellipticals every day for 45 minutes to 1 hour, and though they keep it at, nothing changes. Once you break the cycle of get on the machine get off the machine, you quickly notice that through excessive repetition our bodies go through workout fatigue: the results we get from doing the same thing every day drastically decrease as the days go on. I've personally found that I have to change whatever my workout routine is every 4-6 weeks, I both ge...