Week #3 Fitness Challenge!

Happy Week 3 One and All!

I hope that this post finds you all well and that you guys are tackling those challenges! I am so excited to also announce that we are only about 3000 views away from 15,000 views! This blog is  something that is close to my heart and the fact that you all are taking such an interest in this as well as taking away information that will help you get closer to your goals is so amazing in my eyes. So, thank you. 

Anyways, back to your weekly challenge.  This week is more of a "workout" oriented challenge.  Its a great way of burning those little extra calories but it won't feel like you are "over doing" for any workouts that may happen that day or throw you off from a rest day that you may be enjoying. Remember, we need to start getting our gears into place because it is almost march! I know, I can't believe it either.  BUT this means that summer is coming and really isn't all that far away. So, by adding these challenges into your daily routine it will help you transition into a different mentality and help you get ready for summer quicker. OK! Our challenge looks a but something like this:

50 Squats (body weight)

40 Jumping Jacks

30 Russian Twists
(for beginner to moderate levels do 30 total, for more advanced levels complete 30 each side.)

20 Planks rows
(please review this: http://betterbodyfitnessnw.blogspot.com/2012/06/move-of-week-plank-row.html)

10 Star Jumps

Please complete this circuit 2 times during your day. You don't have to do this all at once if you do not have the time. You could do one set in the morning and the other after you get home from work, or during your lunch break, whenever.  That is the beauty of this challenge, it is quick and does not take long, so there is no reason not to do it!

Good Luck everyone and enjoy your week!

Committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe

Fitness Challenge #2: Bring it on!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I hope that the week has started off to a great start and that you all have only great things headed to you this week.  OK! So, it is the start of another week and therefore another 7 days worth of awesome health and fitness challenges.  This week, we are going to be doing a nutritional and an exercise challenge. 

For the nutrition part, I want you all to focus on making sure you are eating 5 to 6 meals each day and are spacing them out about every 3-4 hours.  This is very important when you are working at getting weight off or keeping it off because it lets your body know that, one, you are not starving it and therefore it does not have to store all of what you are eating to fat. Then secondly, it keeps your metabolism running at a higher rate so you will feel hungrier and your body will have to fuel that it needs to give you more energy to do the things you need to get done everyday, as well as, having increased energy to stay and be active.

Now, for the exercise challenge! It is a burpee week.  If you are unfamiliar with burpees, please review at this link: http://betterbodyfitnessnw.blogspot.com/2012/04/best-total-body-exercise.html
Here is the concept.  I will have you all start with 10 burpees on day 1.  Then, on day 2 you add 2 for a total of 12 and so on for a total of 7 days you continually add 2 reps.  (You will end at 22 on the last day of your burpees. 

Good Luck with your challenges this week everyone! I know that you will do a great job and remember that you can always ask us any questions via our comments or our email.  I hope that everyone has a great week of kicking butt!

Committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe

Let The Fitness Challenge Begin!

It is into the new year and we are already in February! Wow doesn't time move fast! Well, it is time for a check in.  How are you doing with all your health and fitness goals that you set for yourself this year? How are you feeling with your progress? No matter what your answers are, we all need to try something different, be held more accountable, and have that support system.  Well, look no further.  We are here for you all!

We started out with our own goals for the new year and this is what we are looking forward to starting with you all.  We are not only bring back our exercises of the week but we are going to call them Exercise of the month. So, once a month you will all get a new move to try out with progressions.  Also, something new that we want to try is to bring in weekly fitness challenges to help keep you motivated and going strong towards your health goals. 

Now, with these challenges some weeks it will be exercise focused but then other weeks nutrition will be a focus and then randomly there will be weeks with both! This way you are never bored, always working on your health, and constantly trying to improve your health, fitness, and build your mind and willpower!

This week our challenge is a two part one.  It needs to last for a full 7 days. The first part is a plank challenge.  You will do a max plank hold on day one, then on day two you need to try and beat it by a minimum of 5 seconds and continue that trend for the full 7 days. (If you need a reference on how to do a plank, please view this post again: http://betterbodyfitnessnw.blogspot.com/2012/05/exercise-move-of-week-core.html)

Part two is to eat no more then 3 servings of fruit in a day.  Try and fill the wanting for more servings with more veggies instead, they are lower in calories, more filling, and have less sugar. 

Let us know how you do!

Committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe

12 Days of Christmas Fitness Challenge

 

 

I apologize for not getting this posted to our blog earlier!

12 Days of Christmas Fitness Challenge
December 1^st: 1 minute plank
December 2^nd: 2 burpees
DECEMBER 3^RD: 3 spiderman push-ups
December 4^th: 4 bodyweight lunges each leg
December 5^th: 5 floor touch jumping jacks
December 6^th: 6 x-x-v crunches (3 moves = 1)
December 7^th: 7 pike to push-ups
December 8^th: 8 figure 8 abs
December 9^th: 9 bodyweight squats
December 10^th: 10 dips (using a bench or chair)
December 11^th:  11 supermans
December 12^th: 12 fire hydrant to donkey kick

Here is the game: December 1^st do 1 minute plank.  December 2^nd do 2 burpees + 1 minute plank.  December 3^rd do 3 spiderman push-ups, 2 burpees and 1 minute plank and so on through December 12^th. 

Remember: you don’t have to do them all at once-split them up throughout your day.  (if you need modifications to these exercises please ask!)

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

Workout Challenge Of The Week: The Squat Pyramid

O.k. you guys, here is the deal, every other week we will have a workout challenge posted for you guys to do during the week. This way you can get some extra calorie burning exercise in! They will be simple challenges that you can incorporate into day, maybe even at work.

So, for this week I want you all to do squats.  This is perfect because you can do them anywhere, even at your desk! But here is the twist, you will need to pick a number (that has to be 15 reps or higher) and then every day you must complete 5 more squats for 7 days straight.  So, you start with 15, then tomorrow 20, then 25, and so on.

If you aren't sure how to do a squat or if your form is correct please refer back to the Move Of The Week: The Squat.


Good luck this week you guys and remember that we are always here to help out. :)
Committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe

Eating Out Can Be Healthy: Just UseThese Little Tips

Hey everybody!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend and has been having a great week since.  With school starting back up and with summer coming to an end, we all will start to become busier and most likely may be going out for those quick “on- the –go” meals.  It is hard to always know what is healthy and what isn’t, even a salad can be over 1000 calories with dressings, cheeses, and other additives.

Looking for healthy choices doesn’t have to be hard and you can find healthier options even at the major chains restaurants.  If you know you will be out or just out and about you can visit this website to find the restaurant that is near you and look it up and they even have healthy meal choices and how to order it! Nothing could be easier to stay on track and be able to go out.

Go and visit: www.healthydiningfinder.comand try it out to see what you think. I find it a very helpful and hopefully you will too.

Remember that other good ideas are to get a take-out box and put half away so you are eating a proper portion too, order water and drink about 16 ounces before your meal (stay away from the pop and alcohol), and either don't eat the bread or chips that come to your table or just pull one serving aside for yourself . 

Committed to your health and fitness,
Justin and Angie LaPointe