A FREE MINI WORKOUT WITH ME!

Saturday, May 1st, 2010, 8 am

Oster School —  1855 Lencar Way, San Jose 95124

I’ve been asked to take part in the festivities at the Cambrian Relay for Life on Saturday, May 1st.  In case you’re not familiar with “Relay for Life”, it’s a 24-hour event in which teams take turns walking around a track throughout the night.  It’s a way to remember those who have lost their lives to cancer, as well as to honor those who are survivors–and of course, raise money to help fund research for a cure.

Throughout the 24-hour event there are various activities going on—-so, I guess you could say I’m one of the activities!  I’ll be doing a “Wake up your Workout” warm up and mini boot camp at 8 am.  I’ll try to rouse the ones who got to take a cat nap in their sleeping bags during the night, I suppose!

I’m donating my time and some $$ to to event in honor of three former clients of mine who are breast cancer survivors:

Yvonne M. ,  Sunny C., and Diana A.

and two very wonderful ladies who lost their battle with breast cancer

Barbara Podgorny and Nancy Stoney

So, what does this have to do with YOU?

There are a few ways you can participate in the Cambrian Relay for Life:

Organize a team to walk the event

Log on here for more info:

http://www.relayforlife.org/cambrianca

Donate to a team

One of my boot campers, Tina L., has registered a team for the event.  You can support her team by making a donation here:

Support Team Walk-a-Muck

Come out to the event

Enjoy my mini-boot camp at 8 am, and cruise by the various team tents/campsites. Many teams will be running mini-fundraisers by selling items at their  campsites.

After I put everyone through a workout, I’ll be doing a drawing at Team Walk-a-Muck’s campsite.  Come by their tent and register to win a certificate for 2 FREE weeks at a lifeSport boot camp in San Jose or Campbell.

Committed to your fitness success,

Becky

You’ll have to watch the video to learn what the “prize” is for getting your workout in.

As usual, my furry sidekick, Noah, makes a cameo appearance (several, actually) in the video.  It’s amazing how he always manages to get right in line with the camera when it’s rolling.  In fact, this time, I think he’s trying to show you some version of our “core rotation” exercise we often do with exercise bands.  Maybe we could call it a “canine core rotation”?

So, if you’re game to get a quick, cardio interval workout in over the weekend, I’ve created one for you.  You don’t need to think about what to do.  I’ve thought it out for you.

Below the video, you’ll find a written version of the  workout in the event you want to print it out for reference.

Here’s the workout in case you want a written version:

Jumping jacks  (45-90 seconds)

Push ups (15 repetitions)

Jump rope (45-90 seconds)

Back extensions (15 repetitions)

Jump squats  (45-90 seconds)

Dips  (45-90 seconds)

Please watch the video for instructions on how to increase or decrease the intensity of each exercise.

I’m looking forward to your comments .

Committed to your success,

Becky

We’ll hold an early morning fitness boot camp on the premises of The Fencing Center of San Jose, located at 110 Stockton Ave., 95126.  It’s right around the corner from the HP Pavillion (otherwise known as the “Sharks Arena”).    Camp will be held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 6:00-6:50 am, and will be taught by professional fitness trainer and lifeSport Fitness Coach,  Nichole Christoffersen.  Our inaugural camp starts on Monday, March 8th!

If you live or work near Downtown San Jose, here’s your chance to join the hottest, most results oriented workout in town!  Forget about long, boring cardio workouts on machines at the gym–let us get you moving and burning massive calories with body weight strength exercises, stair exercises, medicine ball drills and fun challenges that keep you moving and sweating.  We scale the workout so all fitness levels can participate.

Escape the cold and the rain by working out in a safe, lighted INDOOR environment this winter. We’ll then take you outside around Arena Green for some fresh air when the weather warms up and the sun shines in the morning!

Interested in being a charter member of the Downtown San Jose boot camp?  Log on to www.lifesportbootcamp.com and request a free one week trial.  Newcomers to lifeSport Fitness who complete a one week free trial at one of our other San Jose boot camp locations in February will be eligible for a 20% discount on March membership fees at the Downtown San Jose boot camp.

A much more effective and time-efficient approach to ordering your exercises is utilizing the alternating set format. Here you’ll perform one exercise, rest for a very short period of time, then perform another non-competing exercise, rest for a short period of time, and so forth. Alternating sets allow you to work different areas of your body when you would otherwise be resting with the straight set format. Plus, by working another area of your body with a non-competing exercise you allow your body to recover from the previous exercise(s). The result is improved training economy and density: more work accomplished in less time, the cornerstone of any sound fat loss program.

There are several ways to perform alternating sets outlined below:

1.)   Supersets: Alternate between two different non-competing exercises (e.g. upper body and lower body such as push-ups and lunges). I really like this format and use it for my personal training customers in San Jose, as well as for many of my own workouts.

2.)   Trisets: Alternate between three different exercises (e.g. push, pull, and lower body such as push-ups, rows, and lunges).

3.)   Circuits: Alternate between four or more different exercises

Though supersets and trisets are excellent alternating set options, I believe circuit training is by the far the best option for time-crunched recreational exercisers who want to boost their metabolism and decrease body fat . That’s one reason why we  incorporate a strength/cardio circuit into about 90% of our monthly bootcamp workouts in San Jose and Los Gatos.  They incinerate calories, as well as develop lean muscle and cardiovascular endurance.

Here’s an example of a 6 station cardio/strength circuit:

Exercise#1- Jump rope

Exercise#2- Dips

Exercise#3- High knee jog in place

Exercise#4- Pull-ups  (if you don’t have a pull up bar, you can do an inverted row at home by putting a broomstick across two chairs)

Exercise#5- Fast lateral shuffle

Exercise#6:  Push ups

Exercise at each station for 1 minute, and take a 10-15 second recovery break between each station.  At the cardio stations (1, 3, and 5) you’ll go “all out” for one minute.  At the strength stations (2,4, and 6), perform sets of 8-12 repetitions of the exercise, and then take a brief rest.  Beginners might get in 2 sets, advanced folks might get in 4 sets during the 60 second time frame (due to less rest time).

Perform this circuit up to four times for an excellent fat burning workout.

The key to creating the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss is to perform each exercise with maximal intensity while separated by brief rest periods in order to accumulate a high volume of total body work in the shortest amount of time possible. Circuit training provides for the best of both worlds and is thus simply unmatched for simultaneously maximizing fat loss and lean muscle gain.

When you’re short on time (and who isn’t these days!), nothing beats a high intensity circuit training workout.

Committed to your success,

Becky

We’ve got you covered.

You’re cordially invited to “Freaky Fat Loss“, a boot camp style workout the morning of October 31st in Willow Glen.

Is there a catch to this freebie?  Yes, but just a small one.

We’re asking for a donation of canned goods in exchange for the free workout.

Our goal is to collect at least 150 pounds of food for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Here are the details:

Time: 10:00-11:15 am

Location:  1205 Pine Ave., San Jose  95125 (in the main hall of St. Francis Episcopal Church)

All registered participants will be entered into a raffle for some cool prizes!

We’ll award a prize for best costume!

Pre-registration is required.  After you register, you’ll be given additional details on what to bring to the workout.

If you’re looking for a great boot camp workout right before the “season of over-eating” begins, mark your calendar now!

Click HERE to register!

Come join the fun

For those of you at our Willow Glen FitCamp location or the evening Campbell boot camp—-you’re invited to join in the fun.  Set your alarms and come on out for an additional workout this week.

If you’re a visitor to our blog and want to get a guest pass to visit our special guest instructor, please send an email and I’ll get a guest pass out to you (bootcamp@lifesportfitness.net).

Have a great week!

Becky

Guess what, campers!!?? You’re going to get the opportunity to work out with celebrity trainer, Rocco Castellano, at our San Jose/Almaden boot camp location on Friday, August 14th at 6 am!  I’m opening up this special class to ALL lifeSport boot campers, not just those registered at the Almaden location.

Rocco is ready to give you a workout you'll never forget!

Rocco is a fitness colleague of mine that will be in San Jose for a few days (he’s training a Miss California pageant contestant here), so I asked him if he’d be willing to guest teach at one of my camps.  You can learn more about Rocco here:  www.askrocco.com

Now, I gotta warn you….. Rocco and I have different (WAY different) teaching styles.   Rocco looks and acts like his last name should be “Soprano”. He’s gonna put you through his all body weight, no-muscle-left-untouched workout saturated with Italian anecdote and irreverent candor–and probably a few swear words (considered yourself officially warned  ). Rocco is pretty hard core, but he’s also very entertaining. You don’t want to miss this workout!

Our Almaden boot camp location is :  1260 Branham Lane, San  Jose 95118.  Class is held from 6:00-6:50 am in the quad.  Don’t forget water and a mat! And don’t even THINK about being late. You don’t want to get on this guy’s bad side .

You can bring a guest. For FREE.  Just make sure they arrive early to fill out our usual camper paperwork.

See you on Friday, August 14th at 6:00 am (and not a second later!).

**************

Now, on to your weekend workout…

This weekend, I’d like ALL campers from ALL locations to get in a basic High Intensity Cardio Interval workout.  You can use a machine at your gym, you can bike, swim or run.  It will take you less than 25 minutes, start to finish.   The mode you choose doesn’t matter as much to me as your INTENSITY during your intervals.  Get it done!

After a 3-5 minute warm up, do your activity for another 2-3  minutes as a steady, moderate pace. From there, crank it up into interval training with this pattern:

45 seconds HARD

45 seconds RECOVERY (easier level, but not “cool down” level)

Beginners should complete 4-6 intervals.  Advanced folks should aim for 7-10 intervals.

Don’t forget to cool down, drink water and stretch after your workout.

Have a great weekend!

Becky

I’ve uploaded a weekend workout for you.  This workout combines short bursts of high intensity cardio work with some full body strength exercises.  When you’re short on time, this is a great workout format.

After a good warm up, perform the cardio intervals for 60-120 seconds at a high intensity (how long you go depends on your fitness level).  Perform 15 repetitions of the strength moves, or as many as you can up to fifteen. Complete the circuit 3-5 times.

The video is only 2 1/2 minutes long, but in case you can’t wait for it to load, here it is in writing:

Jump Rope

“Spiderman” push ups (Beginners:  do these on your knees)

Fast lateral shuffles

Bulgarian Split Squats (15 on each side)

“Quick feet”

Inverted row** (Beginners:  bend your knees)

**If you can’t set this up at home, do triceps dips. Dips work different muscles, but it’s something you can do at  home with no equipment.

If you need some visual aides (and you want to see how “Noah the Wonder Dog” gets into nearly every dang frame of the video) here ya go………….

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruVfHcBXuoc[/youtube]

Don’t forget to cool down, stretch, and drink water after your workout.

A special challenge to anyone who is currently enrolled in an August boot camp:  The first two campers to post a comment here that they have completed the workout win a Prograde Craver! .  In your comment, tell me how  many rounds you did and how long it took you.  Cravers delivered to camp next week .

Have  great weekend!

Becky

I hope you all have a Happy 4th of July weekend.  I also hope you got some great workouts in over the last week while we’ve been on a boot camp break!

In the event you’ve got a busy weekend planned, I decided to create a quick, high intensity workout you could squeeze into your weekend.  We’ve got lots of “newbies” signed up for July boot camps, so I decided that it would help to have a visual aide for this workout since you new folks may not be familiar with all the exercises I list below.

Below you’ll find a short video of all the exercises in the workout, complete with advanced options.  And, as in my last video, my dog managed to get in a cameo appearance again.  I put him in the house when I started the video, but he managed to sneak outside.  He probably wanted to show off his “summer cut”.

Here is your weekend “Firecracker” workout:

After a warm up of 5 or  6 minutes, perform each exercise listed for 45 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of rest.  Perform the circuit 3 times through.

Jumping jacks

Walking lunges

Squats

High Knee run

Burpees

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LAcW3i-5SY[/youtube]

There is one “typo” in the video. It suggests you do the circuit 5 times.  It should say “3 times”.  There’s nothing wrong with doing the circuit 5 times…..but I think you’ll be done in 3 rounds .

Happy 4th of July!

Leave me a comment below and let me know how the workout goes for you.

Committed to your success,

Becky

A special welcome to Nancy B., Leslie, Nancy S. and Emma at our boot camp in Campbell!

We had a big turn out yesterday at the Campbell boot camp for our free body fat testing service, and I’ve got campers from the Willow Glen “boomer” boot camp reserving spots for testing next week.

Once you’ve gotten your results, what do you do with them?   I suggest you write out a goal you’d like to achieve in 10-12 weeks. Make sure your goal is measurable.  For example, measuring whether you’ve become more “toned” will be hard! But re-measuring your waist or hips, or how many push ups you can do is more concrete. Be specific.  

Once your goal is set, write down what you will do to achieve it.  Again, be specific. Instead of writing “I’ll eat better” or “I’ll exercise more” try defining, very specifically, what that means for you.  What, exactly will you change in your eating habits? What exactly, will you do outside of camp for additional exercise?

It might seem tedious to write all this stuff down, but research shows time and again that what gets measured gets managed.  If your goals are written down and you post them where you can see them, they’re at the top of your mind more often.  You’re more likely to maintain focus.

In fact, our theme for the month at the Willow Glen “boomer” boot camp is “FOCUS”, with the intent being to focus on what you DO want.  Not on what you DON’T want.

What you focus on gets done!

Jackie and I have goal sheets in our boot camp box at all classes.  Please feel free to ask for one if you’d like to use one to help you get the results you want from camp.

Committed to your success,

Becky