Hello Dear One!

How is ALL??

Hopefully life is not too topsy turvy right now and that some semblance of order exists in your world.

I’ve been talking daily on Facebook live at 3:30pm EST about some points on how to make weight loss and working out at home easier, and this topic came into my brain.

If you’re making a point to make the most of your time at home, and while working out there – these might be some useful tweaks to incorporate.

I’ll divide this into 3 sections based on how you might wish to be working out.

STRAIGHT UP CARDIO:

Just some basics here.

Walking and running are probably the main options at this moment with a lack of facilities and the equipment they offer being available.

Please know that walking is a GREAT fat burning exercise.

So if nothing else, DO THAT.

An hour at a time – 3 to 5 times a week.

AND if you wish to up the ante at all, simply add intervals of jogging or running (or sprinting) into your walking session.

The harder your work interval the shorter it should be, and the longer your recovery should be (sprinting 30 seconds on, 1 minute off walking), and the opposite is also true (jogging 2 mins on, 1 minute off walking).

***USE YOUR DISCRETION WITH WORK AND REST PHASES.  The goal is to recover enough to be able to challenge yourself again, not fully recover between each interval.

Aim to have a longer warm up and cool down phase when doing intervals as well.

BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES:

The options for these workouts are online are endless currently.

Ways to amp things up:
– lift more of your body – ex: push ups
– move more of it – ex: burpees
– add JUMPING – ex. jumping jacks/jump squats
– HOLD a position (ex: static lunge) before doing your repetitions
– or PULSE before, during or at the end of your repetitions (plie squats).

(Here’s a blogpost with a tired and true bodyweight workout I made ages ago and still love and use to this day.)

STRENGTH TRAINING:

If you do have access to weights, know that the bigger the movement and the more of you that you use, the more challenging the exercise will become.

The biggest movers that will make you the STRONGEST the FASTEST (and expend the most energy in the process) are:

– squats
– deadlifts/lunges
– push ups
– pull ups

And there are endless variations on these exercises, but the more of you you move or lift – the greater the expenditure of energy.

AND the more explosive you make any move (dumbbell snatches or push presses) the higher octane it becomes.

Like my beloved KETTLEBELLS!

That tool is DESIGNED to have a cardiovascular component as well as being a strength training tool (= 2 birds one stone).

So that’s it!

Use this if it’s useful. 

Don’t if it overcomplicates things.

And if you desire for more guidance, instruction, or training please know that virtual personal training sessions are available, as well as fuller body programs.

Hope everyone is taking care of themselves, staying safe, and staying focused on what feeds you and make your inner world a better place to be.

 

To getting you clearer on how the body works, and how to make it work for you.  

xox, M