Week #5: Fitness Challenge

Happy Monday everyone!!!

Hopefully you all had a great weekend and got outside now that the weather seems to be getting warmer and a little more sunny... depends on where you are I guess. 

OK, down to business.  Here's the deal with this week's challenge.  During the times that we are watching TV and all those annoying commercials come on, which for some reason we all decide to sit and wait and watch all of it.  Instead, lets have fun and make it a fun activity/ game time.  How many sit-ups can you do during that car ad? How long can you do fast feet during that preview? etc. 

So for however long or how many shows you decide to watch this week, you will do an exercise for each commercial that you have come on.  Now, you will want to keep it simple but effective and somewhat challenging.  Some recommendations are:

• Cardio based: High knee runs/Jogging in place, Burpees, Jumping Jacks, skaters, Mt. Climbers, Fast Feet, Tuck Jumps, "Jumping Rope" (pretend that you are), etc.
• Strength: Push-ups, Sit-ups, Lunges (in place), squats, Plank hold, etc.

Hopefully, those exercises will help people fill their TV time with fun times and exercise to help burn off those  unwanted pounds and calories.  Remember, there needs to be a caloric deficit for there to be weight loss and with spring around the corner there is no better time then now.  We all have times were we are more into or less into our health and fitness goals.  But that time for being into them 100% is now and Better Body Fitness NW is here to help support that. 

Good Luck this week! We know you all can do it!

Committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe

Move Of The Week: The Commando Push up

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope that you all had fun with the squat challenge! It is differently difficult as the week goes on but you can really see how easy it is to slip into your daily routine and hopefully you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Anyways, on to the new MOVE OF THE WEEK! I must admit that I am actually very excited to share this one with you because it is a more difficult move to do but it is great for your upper body, your abs (yay!) and even your legs. This move is called the Commando Push-up. Now, I know what you are thinking... "that move even sounds cool!" And you would be correct! Not only does it sounds cool but it is a very cool exercise to do. Ok, now lets get serious.

So here is how you do it:

You are going to start off in a push up position, bring your chest all the way to the ground (or as low as you can go with good form), lift your hands off the ground briefly to make sure you are all the way on the floor, then put your hands back and press yourself up. Now, back in to the up phase of the push up position bring your right knee to your right elbow, then your left knee to your left elbow. And repeat. (Please review the picture for reference) 

A modification to this for beginners would be to do the push ups from your knees and then come up to a plank and bring your knees to your elbows. 

Enjoy the new move and I hope that you all have a great time trying it out in your workout routine! Talk to you soon and remember you can always contact us if you ever have any questions. 

Committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe

Great Total Body exercise and ab toner!

We all are rushing around these days finding time to work out hard to come by or we feel too tried to workout. BUT there really is no excuse for not working out if your workout only take 20 minutes or less. This is done by combining exercises that work large muscle groups. As mentioned earlier, one of the best is the Burpee but surely there are other exercises that can have the same affect? Well, there are. The Inchworm is another great total body exercise that will work all the major muscle groups and help tone and strengthen your core.

The inchworm is done by starting out on your feet standing. Then you bend forward at the hips with your legs straight, as best you can, and place your hands on the floor in front of your feet, engage your core and slowly walk your hands out till you are in a push up or plank position. (Now, if you are wanting to make this move more advanced add a push up, refer to number 4 on the diagram.) Pause for a second in the plank position, make sure the hips and back are in line with with floor and that they are not sinking. Then walk your hands back towards your feet keeping your core engaged still. Then repeat this move 10-15 times.

Try to insert this exercise into your workout routine to add some spice and to make it more challenging. Hope that you all have a wonderful week!

Committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe

Move Of The Week: The Plank Row

We are on our third exercise already! How exciting!  It looks like you all are enjoying the  Move Of The Week as much as we are. Anyways, to the point of the matter, the new move for this week is called the Plank Row.  Now, the reason this exercise is so great is because you are exercising and engaging your back muscles, your core and even your legs by holding plank. In addition to this, the move will also work on your core and arm stability because at one point you are only holding yourself up with one arm!

To start, get down on the floor in a plank/ push up position. Your core is tight (belly button is drawn into the spine), shoulders are active and your hips are level.  Now, slowly lift one hand off the ground and bring it to your shoulder to tap it and then slowly bring it back down.  You can also do this from a kneeling position if you are a beginner, progress to being on your toes, and then finally being on your toes, adding a pair of dumbbells to help add resistance is the final progression.  The final product of what this move should look like is in the picture below.

For some, this may be a new move, or for others they are advancing this exercise to make it more challenging.  Either way, you need to start the plank row in your regime at lower repetitions to get a good gage of how you are doing with it based on how your form looks and how your body responds to it. So, starting with about 10 reps total (5 on each side) and progress your reps from there.

Hope that you guys enjoy this exercise as much as we do and good luck with this week’s new move. Let us know what you think about it  and how you did! Have a great weeke eveeryone.

Committed to your health and fitness,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

Move Of The Week: The Push-up

This week we are going to focus on the push up. The reason why it is the Move Of The Week is because it is one of the few moments that you can do anywhere, modify to meet the level of every person regardless what level they are at, and lastly, it is one of the most functional movements that you can do. 

The muscles that are being worked when you do a push up are the chest muscles, the triceps (the back of the arm), and the core muscles (which start at the belly button and wrap around to the back) and even your legs work because if you are on your toes then you are having to engage the muscles in your legs to keep them straight! So, what does a proper form push up look like and how is it done? Well, let us scan below to our image:

·         Notice that his shoulders are active to avoid him from sinking and to keep him up, his core is tight which keeps his butt level and his back straight.

·         Note you don’t have to come down to touch the floor like the drawing does but it is an option for people that have a lot of experience with push-ups, are advanced and would like to challenge themselves to make it harder. Then try bringing your chest all the way to the ground and pushing up from there.

·         Also, you can do this move from your knees, work up to your toes, and then work up to chest to ground push-ups.  That is a great progression for beginners.

That is one of the best things with this move, you can do it anywhere, anyone at any level (beginning, intermediate, advanced) can all do it and you can even mix it up by adding unstable surfaces, making incline or decline, adding weight, even moving your arms closer to your chest or further away can make it harder or easier, and the list can go on!

Try to incorporate this move this week in your work outs. Whether you are going to try to work this exercise for the first time or if you are going to try one of the more advanced moves, make sure to keep your form. That is the most important part, as soon as it starts to break, then take a break and rest.

Good luck this week you guys and I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!

Committed to your health and fitness,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

Exercise Move Of The Week: Plank

People are always wanting to improve the look and strength of their abs. But what most people need to think about is their cores on a whole, the back and abs. Together they are a powerful team and can help with proper form and technique, support the back from injury, and get those rockin' abs that everyone wants.  A great way to improve the core is by doing a plank. This move is great because it is also a total body move because it engages the core, legs and shoulders... so everything! Talk abut being able to burn some calories.  How do you do this spectacular move?  Below you can see a fella that is in a plank position.  His elbows are directly underneath his shoulders, his core is tight, back is level with his hips and lastly, his legs are active.

Now, for people that have not done this move before you can start on your toes on go to your knees to work on your strength or start on your knees and work up. Either way, the goal is to stay in the plank for as long as you can with good form.

For those of you that have done plank a lot and need something to spice up their planks here is something to try at home or the next time you are at the gym, a stability ball plank. here is a great example of a plank on a stability ball.

Notice that the only that that has changed is the addition of the ball. Otherwise, her elbows are still beneath her shoulders, core is tight, back is straight, and her legs are working to keep her up. One of the other great reasons this is such a great move to do is because is also works those little muscles all over your body that help you balance and be stable. 

And there you have it. Two awesome way to tone up your core, create strength and stability in your whole body, and burn more calories then you would doing sit ups.  Have a great week everyone!

As always, committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe