You know the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex?

That’s me and the foam roller. It helps with everything, from sore hamstrings to a broken heart.

I tell everyone that it “hurts so good” – that is, if you like a little pain.

So I wouldn’t recommend it in every possible situation, but for me, it’s helped with the chronic IT band pain I used to have, word on the street is that it reduces the appearance of cellulite (I’m a believer!) and it’s like a free massage. So when I ask the Pilot for a back rub and he pretends to not hear me, I can foam roll instead

Here are some benefits of using a foam roller:

-Self myofascial release —> fancy way of saying “self massage” and enables soft tissue work. Many athletes accredit their fitness gains to soft tissue work. While using the foam roller, you use your body weight to apply pressure to sore spots and the eventual release can help restore or maintain full range of motion. When you have full range of motion, you aren’t forced to compensate by changing your normal movement patterns (which can cause muscular imbalance). This way, you’re less likely to become injured.

-Foam rolling helps to reduce fascia buildup, which makes us stiff. To read more about the benefits of thinning out fascia, this is a fantastic and thorough article.

-It’s easier to roll certain tight areas that are difficult to stretch in a static manner (like psoas and IT band). Static stretches also do not provide the compression that occurs while foam rolling- it’s similar to the release of a massage. This has worked WONDERS for my IT band, which can give us some issues if we do repetitive exercise (like running, spinning, walking/hiking, etc). It’s a difficult area to stretch and constant IT band rolling has helped reduce the knee pain I’ve experienced. One of my friends suffered from intense plantar fasciitis and foam rolling her calves helped immensely.

-It can help you de-stress and relax. If anything, it feels good! Of course the sore spots will be a little painful, but to me, always feel better after a foam rolling session. After a long day, I love rolling out my back, too.

*Heads up: if you’re currently injured or experiencing pain, check with a doc, Physical Therapist or Exercise Physiologist in your area before starting a foam rolling routine.

Here are some of my favorite ways to foam roll:

Tips:

Start to roll very slowly in long, sweeping motions.

When you find a tight spot, hold the foam roller on the spot for 30 seconds – 1 minute.

Continue to roll until you find the next tight spot, hold (30 seconds – 1 minute) and release.

Use your arms to support your body. If it’s too much, transfer more weight to your arms. If you want more, try lifting one leg (or one arm) to transfer more of your body weight to the roller.

See the blue Thera Roll in the above pics? It has ridges which helps penetrate the muscle a little deeper. It’s like the original foam roller’s angry cousin- and I love it.

OpenSky generously offered to send one to a lucky reader

Here’s how to enter:

-Follow me on OpenSky and leave a comment with your favorite way to sweat and/or any sore spots you’d like to foam roll

-Already follow me on OpenSky? Just leave a comment with your favorite way to sweat and/or any sore spots you’d like to foam roll

I’ll pick a winner from the comments tonight (5/23) at midnight EST.

Have a great day!

xoxo

Gina

I’m finally back home for good- lots of fun and running around today! Work, car shopping and a party at a friends’ house.

In between classes, I came back home to grab a sweet potato with almond butter,

and take a smoothie back with me.

(my #smoothieaday was mango, spinach, Sun Warrior, hemp seeds, almond milk and avocado)

Funny story: while I was eating my sweet potato, I noticed some of the almond butter was brown.. and quickly realized what it was.

Sometimes I pour chocolate chips into the almond butter jar and dig them out with a spoon. Guess I missed one

Went back to work for Zumba and training to teach a new-to-me class (bootcamp-style! I’m going to bust out my scary hat again haha), and the Pilot, Liv and I went to the car wash to get his car ready to trade in.

(someone loved looking at the fish)

I came home to feed L and put her to bed, and my bro and his girlfriend came over to stay with her as she slept so the Pilot and I could have a date night. Since the Pilot was at the car dealership wheeling and dealing, I went to a work party- one of our friends has a huge annual themed party and this year’s was Mediterranean.

There was a TON of incredible food (lamb kabobs on the grill, lots of drinks and appetizers) and I enjoyed a little bit of this and that, danced and hung out with the girls.

This is Putney, the only German Shepherd I’ve trusted in 24 years.

I was bit by one –on my face and it punctured my cheek- when I was little, so I’ve been afraid ever since. Putney was a sweet old man and I didn’t feel freaked out by him at all. He laid on my feet for a portion of the evening

Since the Pilot and I forgot how long the car-buying process is, he ended up missing the party, but got some sweet new wheels.

Time to crash.

See ya in the morning!

xoxo

Gina

Last chance to enter the Family page giveaway! I extended it an additional day <3

Something to talk about: Do you have any quirky snacks that you love? The almond butter/chocolate chip method is popular over here and I also love grabbing slices of deli turkey or chicken, putting mustard and greens in the middle and rolling it up.

Today’s tip: Add some “om” time into your Sunday. Even if it’s just a 20-minute podcast (or a few minutes of stretching and deep breathing), it will help start your week on a relaxed, focused and peaceful note.

A glass of wine and jammies = pretty much the best way to cap off a Monday night. Or any night, really.

When are you too old to wear the PINK collection? Actually, don’t answer that.

Some other highlights from the day:

-The Schweaty May workout

Mom came over in the afternoon to hang out with Livi and told me to go run errands or workout. Since Liv and I had already done a couple of errands in the morning morning, I was excited to work out during the day instead of at night.

The workout was indeed very schweaty and it was nice to go through the entire thing without stopping to write (I test every workout before posting them, minus the ones I created while preg) Have you tried it yet?

-#smoothieaday: Green-a-colada! I skipped the banana because I’ve been kind of meh about them lately – used 1/2 avocado instead

So refreshing and naturally sweet from the pineapple.

-Visiting my great-grandmother, Livi’s great-great-grandmother (tatarabuela). She said that Livi wanted some frijoles and tortillas- soon she’ll get to experience the joy that is nana’s cooking.

-My own little Mexi meal with the Pilot at home, which cooked away in the slow cooker for most of the day.

When we went to Kelly and Shooter’s house for Cinco de Mayo, Kelly made some seriously awesome chicken taco meat. I asked her what she did and made my own little version:

-Put two chicken breasts in the slow cooker with 4 garlic cloves (whole) and enough veggie broth to go halfway up the sides of each

-Topped with 1/2 t cumin, 1/2 t oregano, 1/4 t cayenne, sea salt and pepper

-Cooked on high for 4 hours and then removed half the juice, shredded the chicken with a fork

and added 1/2 can each of organic diced tomatoes and black beans

(froze the rest of the tomatoes and saved the rest of the black beans for tomorrow’s lunch salad)

-Adjusted the seasonings as necessary

We enjoyed the taco meat with corn tortillas, greens, salsa, avocado and queso (for the Pilot). I was going to make rice and beans but skipped it- all we really wanted were the tacos anyway.

I’m not sure what we’re up to today –definitely a grocery haul- but I’m going to try and choreograph a new Zumba song for tomorrow. I did two new ones on Saturday, so I’m slowly starting to revamp my playlist.. if I don’t have at least one new song each week, I hate all of my music.

Hope you’re having a lovely morning so far <3

See ya later with a Family post!

xoxo

Gina

Today’s workout jam:

This is what happens when you leave food on your plate over here. You go upstairs, and come back to find this.

(See the crazy in her eyes? After I took the picture, she forgot she was busted and continued to eat the skin like it was NBD)

It’s a lesson the Pilot has learned twice now. Last time it was his plate of very spicy Thai coconut curry chicken. Bella was sucking up the broth when we came back downstairs.

The rest of our dinners:

(Chicken topped with lots of Trader Joe’s Italian dressing, veg, sweet potato)

3 noteworthy things happened yesterday:

-I took Livi swimming for the first time. She LOVED it. Kicked her little feet and just hung out- I can tell we’re going to be swimming a lot this summer!

-The Pilot’s car died.

We were planning on trading it in to get an SUV and probably should have done it when we first talked about it instead of waiting. Now, it has to happen. Silver lining: road trips

-I thought Fred the fish had died as well.

While I rock Liv before bed, we’ll feed Fred and watch him swim around as we rock.. except last night, he was in the back of the tank in the faux grass, floating. Right as I started to picture the Pilot flushing him to fishy heaven, he started darting frantically around the tank. I fed him and he kept swimming around per usual. I guess he was sleeping? As of right now, Fred is 9 days old, which I think is about 90 in carnie goldfish years.

Yesterday morning, I did a little TurboFire workout: 25 minute HIIT and 10 minute Abs DVD.

It was my first time doing the abs DVD and I am SORE today. My abs are still very weak, so it felt nice to give them a good workout. I loved the combo of moves Chalene put together, but was kind of bummed with the lack of lower leg lifts and planks (which are much more functional than crunches). We did a lot of crunches and it helped me to remember some of my old forgotten favorites.

Here are 10 different types of crunches if you’d like to add a little zing in your abs routine:

Remember, the best way to get awesome abs is with a consistent cardio routine (varying intensities) and clean eating. You really use your abs all day (picking up things from the floor, putting dishes away, bending over, holding your body upright and stable), so there’s no really to go crazy with an ab routine if you’re doing your cardio and eating well. When I first got into fitness, I did abs almost everyday for at least a half hour because I wanted a six pack. It doesn’t really work that way.

How often, if at all, do you work out your abs? Remember to work your entire core, especially your lower back, for more effective training.

Need some ideas? Check out the ab burners on the fitness page- quick and fiery- and this reader’s request about fab abs.

Have a great day, friends <3

xoxo

Gina

Happy Sunday! How’s your weekend going?

Here’s what we’ve been up to over here:

-I had a little photoshoot- should be able to say what it was for later this week

-We went on our first real date in almost 4 months.

First time wearing TALL shoes in forever:

I usually stick to flats because I’m clumsy.

Livi went to bed at 7 per usual, and Kyle came over to hang out while she slept. I didn’t take my camera with me so I could fully enjoy the night with the Pilot, but we had an awesome sushi dinner at Ra. Sashimi, spicy salmon roll, lobster roll, the hot mess (fried rice topped with crab, pepper, cilantro and jalapeno!!!)), salad, soup and an amazing cucumberita.

-A Bikram and smoothie date with my friend Marisa.

A little pre-yoga toast with almond butter and strawberries:

I wore my heart rate monitor because I’ve been wondering for a while how many calories Bikram really burns. The online sources say up to 1000 for the 90-minute class, and I believed it had to be a pretty high number since I work hard and can feel my elevated heart rate throughout the practice.

The verdict:

Much lower than I expected, and the same amount I’d probably burn leisurely walking around the mall for 90 minutes.

My heart rate monitor is based on my age, weight and fitness level, so calorie burn will vary from person to person.

The reason why I feel like I’m working so hard during Bikram is because of the heat. The body is constantly attempting to cool down, and every time I’m on my stomach, I can feel my heart pounding. I’ve always considered it to be a type of interval training because you hold the challenging poses and rest in between, but when I felt like my heart rate was sky high, I looked down at my Polar and saw it was 102-105ish (about the same as if I were walking). Crazy, huh? I wouldn’t consider Bikram to be a cardio workout because my heart rate never reached my target range (60-75% of my maximum heart rate: 220 – my age) and now consider it to be a low key interval form of strength training. However, there are benefits of practicing Bikram (and other forms of yoga) that a heart rate monitor would never be able to measure.

Bikram yoga is frequently touted as a major calorie burner, but Bikram’s main purpose of the practice (like many other types of yoga) is health, not calorie burn. Bikram is supposed to help with spinal alignment, flexibility, improving blood circulation and detoxification. I always feel like a million bucks after practicing, enjoy the extra stretching and chance to clear my mind. It’s more of a mental workout than anything else and I LOVE the heat.

For the time commitment, I think it’s definitely worth practicing if it’s something you enjoy. Go for health and wellbeing- consider the calorie burn as a bonus. If you’re not a fan of Bikram, there are SO many yogas options- you just have to find the best choice for you. I also love vinyasa and anusara.

Do you train with your heart rate monitor? Have you ever been surprised by your calorie burn?

We’re off to a graduation party!

Enjoy your day <3

xoxo

Gina

Something to think:

I’ve gotten a few requests about giving relationship tips,

dealing with deployments,

how the Pilot and I keep from fighting,

stuff of the like.

My only real relationship tips are: you’re a team, don’t nitpick the little things that don’t really matter, and do something everyday to show the other person you love them.

As far as deployments go, it’s something we’re forced to deal with, so I could either choose to be miserable or make the most out of the situation. Keeping myself busy seemed to help the most, as well as creating little goals or events to look forward to along the way. Exercise was a great distraction, too. Even though I tried my best, there were still the moments when I drank copious amounts of wine with the girls, or that one time I cried in a bush.

As far as “never fighting,” goes, we argue every now and again.

Like when I’m asking him when he’ll be done with his girlfriend

and come home for the night.

Yes, I nag my husband about when he’ll be home from work. When the Pilot says “be home in an hour,” I just tag a couple of extra hours onto that. He’s swamped, works his @ss off, does an insanely challenging, and dangerous job (teaching students how to fly), but I still miss him in those couple of hours after I get home from work, or Livi is in bed and he’s not home yet.

However, this week has been really awesome. We’ve been able to spend some quality time and actually enjoy dinner.. at the same time… together. He took a couple days of leave since the air show was over and could use a little break, so when I got home from work yesterday, the 3 of us headed to Blanco.

Chips, salsa, guac

tacos

great conversation, no technology distractions, and a sweet little mini chimi to keep us company

Back home from dinner before the sun was down

and the rest of the evening to enjoy. Refreshing change from the usual rat race over here!

This morning, I made an eggrito

(tortilla fail. Heating for 30 seconds is the magic number- 25 leads to cracks and a hot sauce-egg mess)

and am going to take Liv to the zoo.

Hope you have a very happy Friday!

xoxo

Gina

Today’s tip: Add in some variation to your usual plank!

-Body saw

-Side plank hip drop

-Plank with alternating knees

-Plank with hip drop

-Up down planks

*Remember, planks are more effective when held for 10 seconds and followed by 3 seconds of rest than trying to hold it for anything longer than a minute. This keeps the emphasis entirely on your core, instead of allowing form to suffer to hold for a long time and using other muscles to pick up the slack. Try comparing a 1-minute plank to a 10 sec on, 3 sec rest plank, repeated 5 more times (for a minute of planking total). Do you feel the difference?

What a crazy day <3

Tax fun.

(I use the word “fun” loosely. Haha)

Egg-rito.

Conference call.

Turbo.

(will post a review on this DVD tomorrow! ahsdhakwe073749hnekdnU(!)#&HN.)

First day using cloth diapers (for Liv).

Avoiding researching computers. The Pilot said I’m getting a new one this weekend because mine is on life support.

He says that every weekend, and I’m like, “nahh, it’s working fine.” (Big purchases scare me.)

And then he says, “You have a blue cord and a black cord, you unplug one and it dies. You blog for your job, and that’s what you’re using.”

The Mac-PC debate runs around in my head, makes my brain hurt –I seriously can’t decide- and I keep on using Pinkie. She’s a survivor.

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Since we’re starting to get into “bikini season,” I’ve been getting quite a few questions on quick and easy ways to lose weight, get in shape, change up eating, etc. It’s definitely understandable to want to get in the best possible shape before vacation and pool parties begin, so I can see why it’s desirable to make it happen as quickly and effectively as possible.

Magazines and online resources try to pimp off of these ideas, and promote quick-fixes like:

-Juice cleanses

-Detoxes

-Insane workout plans

-Deprivation tactics (these get me a little riled up. If you’re hungry, eat!!!)

and I recently came across this article:

Scariest Fitness Trends

It basically discusses some of the trends in the fitness world, many of which are a fast ticket to injury city.

Here are some of the tips to take away from the article:

-Do the types of exercises that are suitable for your body and activity level. If you’re just getting into fitness, there’s no reason to be powerlifting or doing sprints around the track. Take it slow and build up your abilities. Anything NEW that you do will promote results- remember change creates change.

-If you’re going to marathon train for fat loss only, I say skip it. Training for a marathon is crazytown –awesome crazytown if it’s something you enjoy!- and there’s no point in putting yourself through that and risking injury if you’re not ready for it, strictly for fat loss. I noticed that when I ran more, I actually held onto fat. I burned muscle (and injured myself) overtraining, and ate a lot more than if I would have exercised moderately. It is very possible to burn fat while marathon training, but if you’re not an experienced runner and its something you’d like to build up to, make top fitness a priority first.

-Avoid fitness plans that are too extreme. I always tell my clients to pick a plan that they would be comfortable following for the rest of their life. If it involves too many activities or too much of a time commitment, it’s not worth it.

-Don’t push yourself past fatigue without taking a rest. When you continue to push through, your body fires up less muscle fibers for each additional rep.

As far as detoxes and juice fasts go, there is a way to do them effectively, but I don’t recommend them for weight loss. I’m a fan of solid foods, so a juice fast wouldn’t work for me –but know many people who swear by them- but think detoxes are a good way to eliminate sugar cravings and focus on pure, whole foods. Women’s Health has a great one, but I’d recommend doing a doc-supervised detox if it’s something you’re interested in. When my homeopathic doc put me on a detox last year (10 day, 20 day, end review), I was also taking a lot of supplements for nutrient insurance.

Any new fitness trends (good or bad) that you’ve seen?

What do you think about juice fasts and detoxes? Any healthy versions you’ve encountered? I really like the Women’s Health detox and recommend it to those who are interested in trying one out.

I’m actually hankering for a green juice after writing this post

Have a great day <3

xoxo

Gina

Lovely afternoon jam:

We enjoyed last night’s taco dinner sans the usual background music of the TV.

Our satellite provider was having some issues, so we turned the TV off for the night. I can’t believe how peaceful it was without it.. but I will be excited to catch up on Giuliana and Bill later today

Work yesterday was an easier day for me –which is nice because today is going to be intense!- and we had a TRX workshop. I don’t teach TRX, so it was fun to learn more about using the suspension trainers in a functional way and some new tricks. They’re a great option for at-home workouts, too.

Some eats:

an oat bake

(I’d share the recipe but it tasted like death and sadness. I ate it anyway since time was of the essence)

Quinoa-lentil salad (greens topped with this red and green salad), Larabar, apple

and I also made a batch of egg salad.

Hard-boiled eggs, mayo, Dijon, dill, paprika, garlic, chopped onion, celery, salt and pepper

Mom left some of the eggs we colored over here, and I had to laugh as I cracked them open to make the salad.

Kyle’s work of art:

complete with a ponytail.

Today is a little bit of a marathon so I’ve gotta run and get my snacks, meals, music and clothes together, but I wanted to ask ya’ll about body comp testing. Have you ever had yours taken?

Checking body fat percentage is a much more effective way to measure progress than weight, because it’s possible to gain weight and actually be “shrinking” as muscle is more dense than fat. I haven’t had mine checked since we lived in Valdosta, and thought it would be fun to get it done at work today so I have an idea of where I’m at. I’m to the point where I feel like I’m ready to start working towards decreasing my body fat percentage and building lean muscle back, so it will be good to know what my starting point is and get it checked again in a few months.

My favorite method is the bod pod, but at work, I’m pretty sure they use calipers. I guess we’ll find out and I’ll let ya know how it goes!

Hope you have a wonderful day and I’ll see you later <3

xoxo

Gina

Today’s tip:

If you haven’t seen these yet, I love Zuzana’s ZWOW workouts:

They’re short –less than 20 minutes- and will make you SWEAT. My only recommendation is to avoid doing them on consecutive days, since they spike the heart rate up extremely fast- it’s a good idea to alternate workout intensities.

Totally called it.

The Pilot woke up, saw that the birds were still failing miserably at their nest attempts, so he built them a nest platform.

Cribs, bird-style:

He did a good deed, and I think it’s for our benefit, too… I would be traumatized if the baby birds fell out and crashed onto the porch.

While he was outside building, Livi and I were inside making a baby meal to take over to a friend’s house.

(wrote all of the ingredients out with my chicken scratch)

They’re Paleo, and while I was kind of nervous to make something they might like, it was easy to find Paleo-friendly recipes in my usual rotation. (Random: whenever I think of the word “Paleo,” I say it in my head like “Rufio” from the movie Hook. “Paleo! Paleo! Paleooooooooooo!”)

Massaged kale salad

Turkey burgers with baked sweet potatoes

The burgers were grilled by the Pilot, featuring one of my all-time favorite ingredients:

plus an apple crisp.

We made extra extra of everything so that dinner would be ready for the Pilot to take with him to work –he flew late- and I enjoyed a Pilot-grilled feast even when he wasn’t home

The apple crisps turned out really well, and it was my first time baking with xylitol.

The size of the crystals in the bag was alarming, but it baked nicely and had a mild, sweet flavor. I love my xylitol gum (Spry!) but make sure to keep everything xlyitol in extra ziploc bags so a certain food thief can’t get into it… it’s extremely dangerous for dogs to consume.

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Today I thought it would be fun to talk about motivation and ways to fill the silence during group fitness classes.

#1: Wear loud clothing.

(I walked down the stairs and the Pilot said “Now that’s just ridiculous.” haha)

I think we’ve all been there: you’re in a class and the energy is crazy, everyone is into it and excited and then… womp womp. It disappears into oblivion.

As an instructor, it SUCKS when this happens. You can feel it happening, and it’s really hard to bring it back up. Sometimes it’s the instructor, the music, technical difficulties, size/energy of the class- many factors can cause energy drainage.

Here are some of the ways I keep energy up and the class flowing:

1) Motivate. Remind them that they’re doing a great job and that before they know it, they’ll be eating lunch or in the car driving home. The class is temporary, the results are not.

2) Make up for what’s lacking. Not many students? Make it a point to learn their names during class so you can personalize what you’re saying. “Great form, Sarah! Keep it up” “John, I know you can pedal faster than that,” etc.

3) Appropriate volume. Sometimes yelling is necessary –in Zumba, yelling is a lot of fun- but there are times when silence is golden, like at the end of a very heavy climb in spin, let the loud music do the talking.

4) Focus on form and educate. Whenever I feel like I don’t have anything to say, I give form cues. “Make sure your shoulders are back and down away from your ears, abs are tight, focus on your breathing and exhale as you come up” … It’s a great way to motivate and also help participants practice body awareness. Educating is a great idea, too, by making sure everyone knows what muscle their working and the benefits of what they’re doing.

As far as bringing the energy back up as a participant, I love to yell or clap it out in certain classes, focus on bringing my own positive energy and just having fun with it, or very rarely, leaving. Sometimes it’s worth it to ditch out of a class if you think you’ll enjoy your own workout or another class more.

Have you ever experienced an energy slump during a fitness class? What happened? Have you ever left a class before it was over? I’ll never forget when “Hey There, Delilah” started playing in spin class. Those two should never be in the same sentence together.

I always love when instructors are extra motivational at the end of a workout, when the going gets tough and it’s easy to slack to the finish line. Chalene is a rock star at this.. she makes me finish the DVDs almost every time, even when I know what she’s going to say next

Hope you have a happy Tuesday!

See ya later

xoxo

Gina

Head’s up: My new favorite smoothie cups are on promo at OpenSky, if you’d like to check them out

Hey guys! IT’S FRIDAY <3 Thank goodness, ehh?

All I’ve got for ya is half a breakfast:

Someone is going through a growth spurt, and things have been a little cray over here. She discovered a new octave in her repertoire and the first time she did it, I couldn’t help but laugh because she sounded like a tiny opera star. The best? When she stopped shrieking, she smiled at me because I was smiling. Funny girl

So today I thought it would be fun to talk about something near and dear to my heart: workout form. In my confessions of a personal trainer post, I mentioned that I’d love to be able to talk to other gym-goers about form without being a weirdo, because there are quite a few workout moves that are easy to complete with less-than-fab form. I was guilty of it myself for at least a year, until I hired a personal trainer to help me out.

Here are a few ways to get the most out of these workout moves:

1) The abdominal crunch. First off, I think crunches are kinda silly because they’re not very functional. When in real life do you find yourself doing a crunch-type movement? Sit-up type movements, yes, but tiny crunches? Notsomuch. Planks are more functional.

Anyway, here’s a form check for the crunch:

Source

This guy has great form:

-elbows out to the side. Make sure that you’re not trying to smash your face with your elbows- try to keep them in line with your ears

-chin is lifted, keeping the spine in alignment. This will give you a fuller range of motion

-feet flat on the floor in front of you. (You can also crunch with your toes lifted, weight on your heels, to challenge stability a little more)

-bellybutton tucked in towards your spine. The goal is to bring the abs in, not push them out- keep your core tight.

-inhale as you lower your shoulders to the floor, exhale as you crunch up.

Take it up a notch: try combining a crunch with a reverse crunch at the same time, or my personal fave, frog crunches

2. The deadlift.

Source

This is a great exercise for legs (mostly hams) and lower back- one of my faves.

Some tips:

-Keep your back flat (don’t let the spine round)

-Shoulders back and down

-Knees are slightly bent and hip-width apart (feet directly under each hip bone)

-Bring the barbell or dumbbells just below your knees, and keep your back flat as you rise back up. Imagine that you’re folding your body in half, and your hips are the hinges. Keep your spine exactly in line and make sure it stays flat as you perform the movement- think of a book opening and closing.

-What the above picture is doing incorrectly: looking forward. When you raise your head up to look at yourself, you’re compromising the alignment of your spine. As you hinge forward, your gaze should actually be on the floor in front of you.

-Abs tight!

Take it up a notch: complete the deadlift movement with legs steady in a deep plie squat (thighs almost parallel to the floor, toes turned out). WHEW!

3. Assisted pull-up

Source

Some common mistakes:

-Letting your body dangle as you hold onto the handless- make sure to keep some tension and resistance

-Too much weight = too easy. This machine is a counterweight, so the higher it’s set, the easier it will be. To start off, choose a weight around 30 lbs less than you weigh and go from there- it should be challenging to pull yourself up!

Tips:

-Pull yourself up so that the handles are just in line with your chin, and exhale as you rise

-Keep shoulders down and back- they don’t go up with your body when you pull up

-Abs tight

-Pretend that you are squeezing a lemon with your shoulder blades as you pull up

Take it up a notch: try doing 10 full pull-ups, and 10 tiny pulses at the top. Or, holding the top position for 10 seconds after completing your reps.

4. Squat

Source

This one is a doozy, because I’ll often see people squatting with the weight in their toes and knees jutting forward, which can lead to injury.

Here are some squat tips:

-Pretend that there’s a chair behind you (like in the pic above). If it helps, put a chair behind you or stand in front of the weight bench, and lightly tap it with your booty as you squat down.

-Weight in your heels- you should be able to lift your toes off the floor when you’re in a full squat position.

-Feet hip width apart.

-Ideally, try to get your thighs almost parallel to the floor. If you have knee considerations, tiny squats are fine with proper form

-Chest stays lifted- try to keep it from collapsing onto your legs by keeping your core engaged

-A ball squat is another great option, especially for those just learning proper form or with knee considerations:

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Take it up a notch: play with tempo. Slow squats, fast squats and pulsing squats will make your biscuits burn

5. Cable tricep pressdown

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Some tips:

-Stand up straight- it’s tempting to lean forward

-Abs engaged

-Keeping your elbows glued to your sides, straighten your arms and press down

-Bend your arms, keeping the elbows glued to your sides, to raise the bar or rope up to a 90* angle (no higher) <— this will maintain higher resistance

Take it up a notch: change the type of handle you typically use. If you usually roll with a V-rope, try a straight bar. Also, make sure to think about squeeeeeezing your triceps as you press down

Are there any workout moves you’ve avoided because you aren’t quite sure of form? Deadlifts scared me for a long time.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry and avoid risking injury. If you have questions about particular exercises, don’t hesitate to ask a local trainer for tips! If they’re nice, they should be more than happy to help you out

I’ll be back later with a Family post!

Make today amazing <3

xoxo

Gina