Fredericksburg Fitness

1. Instead of guzzling a ton of water after your workout, try to focus more on hydrating beforehand. You might find you’ll have more energy and focus during your workout.

2. Lift some weights. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that working out with heavy weights even for as few as 3 to 6 repetitions increased exercisers’ sleeping metabolic rate—the number of calories burned overnight—by nearly 8%. That’s enough to lose about 5 pounds in a year, even if you did nothing else!—The Editors of Prevention.

3. Instead of focusing on the number of calories you’re eating, focus on the quality of calories. Get a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and proteins.

4. There is such thing as healthy fat. Eating fat does not necessarily make you fat. Monounsaturated fats are “good for you fats,” that come from nuts, olives, and avocadoes.

5. Diet soda IS bad for you. Diet soda may increase your risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms that includes high levels of belly fat, blood sugar, and cholesterol. People who consumed just one diet soda daily had a 34% higher risk of the syndrome than those who abstained, according to a University of Minnesota study of nearly 10,000 adults ages 45 to 64. – The Editors of Prevention

It’s February and the honeymoon is over. Those of you who set weight loss and/or fitness goals for the New Year are assuredly now realizing it might be more difficult and time consuming than you initially anticipated. Plain and simple: don’t give up.

First and foremost, ditch the notion of the “New Year Resolution.” Who can really keep up with those things, anyway? However, New Years’ Resolutions are a valuable introspection tool, showing us what goals we want to accomplish or ways we want to improve. Unfortunately, the ephemeral connotations of the “New Years’ Resolution” make them limited and generally pretty lame. So, forget it. Instead adjust your New Years’ Resolution into smaller, more digestible goals. Want to lose 60 pounds? Try losing five pounds in a month first. And then lose another five… and another… and another. Make your goals realistic and attainable, and you will avoid frustration.

Secondly, keep a level-headed perspective; just repeat this mantra, “it’s not that bad.” Exercise only requires 4-5 hours per week to be effective. For the record, that’s only 2.6% of your time. While we’re on percentages, also keep in mind that you do not need to eat squeaky-clean-healthy 100% of the time. Treat yourself once a week. Use your weekly treat to reward yourself for your hard work. These weekly treats will keep you sane and help you adhere to your program. You might have to cut back on a few cheeseburgers and blended coffee drinks, but you know what: it’s really not that bad.

Go forth and achieve your goals with good ol’ fashioned stick-to-it-ness. Just remember to set achievable goals (and then achieve them), it’s not that bad, and (one more) it’s good for you.

Here is Tasha Brown throwing down 10 real push-ups:

Tasha is down 8 inches since she started her bootcamp with Fredericksbuirg Fitness 6 weeks ago. The number one reason Tasha has seen such great results is because she motivates herself.  You have to remember that we can’t be with you every day. We’re not going to go to the grocery store with you; we’re not going to cook dinner for you; we’re not going to be by your side every day pushing you to work out. Not gonna happen. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to achieve your goal. We are here to help you as much as we possibly can (gladly).

Let Tasha inspire you to inspire yourself. Make healthy choices, and make us at Fredericksburg Fitness proud!

And hey, try to squeeze in a workout this weekend.

Several of you have asked about workouts you can do while on vacation or traveling (tis the season!) and my answer is simple: body weight. Some of the best exercises you can do only require your own body weight and a little bit of space: push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, hip bridges– all winners.

Body weight exercises are great when done in a circuit, this way you can kill two birds with one stone by keeping your heart rate up (cardio) while also getting in some strength training. This will also will abbreviate your workout, because who really wants to spend all their time working out when they’re on vacation?

Here’s an example of a good body weight circuit:

Squats: 1 minute

Push-ups: 1 minute

Plank: 1 minute

– 30 sec rest and repeat–

Walking Lunges–> drop down into push ups—> walking lunge back to start

–30 sec rest and repeat–

Squat Jumps: 5-10

Crossbody Mt. Climbers: 10-12 on each side

Side Plank: 15-30 sec

– 30 sec rest and repeat–

Single-leg Hip Extension (like a hip bridge with one leg): 12-15 on each leg

Close-Grip Push Ups: as many as you can

Bird-Dogs: 5-10 on each side, hold for 5 seconds

– 30 sec rest and repeat–

That’s about a 30-40 minute workout, which will train your cardiovascular system equally as well as your muscles (assuming you don’t dawdle around). Also, let’s not forget that fun activities like swimming, surfing, kayaking, and hiking are all great forms of exercise; try something new this summer!

If you want more good workout plans that you can do while traveling, I have some for you to check out on my website:

• Body Weight Exercises: Totally Legit
• Italia! (which documents my exercising while I was backpacking through Italy)
• Staying Fit While Traveling

When it comes down to it, a vacation is a vacation and you shouldn’t stress about anything, including exercise. This does not mean you shouldn’t exercise, this means that you should stick to something simple, something that you like, and try circuit training to abbreviate your workout time.

Congrats to our Fredericksburg Fitness contest winners!

Dana Brown: longest wall sit.

Paula Joseph:  longest hula hoop.

Lindsay Hession: longest jump rope

Congratulations to all three of you and keep up the hard work!

A quick note about the 4th of July…

First and foremost, we wish you a safe and happy holiday! Secondly, I wanted to remind you not to be too hard on yourselves. If you find yourself eating less healthy than you know should and/or working out less than you would have hoped, which is likely for most of us, don’t worry about it. No need to beat yourself up about it. Who cares? Just get right back on track afterwards! One unhealthy weekend in the grand scheme of things is not going ruin your weight loss or fitness goals. Just be consistent, stay motivated, and give yourself a break every once and awhile. Also, remember that most of “weekend weight” is water weight; eating foods high in carbohydrates and sodium cause your muscles to retain more water. So even if you gain one or two pounds, don’t worry too much about it, it’s mostly water weight. Remember: it’s all about getting back on track and staying consistent! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! And we are here to help you along every step of the way.

Have a great 4th!

-Fredericksburg Fitness Team-

Fredericksburg Fitness Studio Grand Opening! This Saturday (June 26th), From 12-2pm.

B 101.5 will be broadcasting LIVE from the studio!

So come to the studio THIS SATURDAY for a chance to win a bunch of awesome stuff like…

• Free Bootcamps
• Free personal training sessions
• 15% off group fitness classes
• Kings Dominion Season Passes

Not to mention that everyone that shows up will receive a FREE Fredericksburg Fitness water bottle. Yeah, that’s right, zero dollars.

This is going to be a really fun event, and we would really appreciate your support. Even if you’re not interested in getting free stuff and winning awesome prizes (which is bizarre, but fine), then you should still come to check out one of the select few certified hula-hoop instructors, Tina Bauch, who will be doing hooping demos.

So remember: that’s this Saturday 12pm-2pm at the Fredericksburg Fitness Studio, which is located at:

198 Tyler Von Way

Fredericksburg, VA 22405

You can see the studio from route 1, just look for our Fredericksburg Fitness logo and a large group of people having the best day of their lives.

We will see you all there!

-The Fredericksburg Fitness Team-

From now on, we will be using the blog to clear up any confusion about bootcamp dates and/or times, set-up future bootcamps, and answer any questions you might have for us. This is also a great space for you all to talk with each other about things such as meeting up for make-up bootcamps or getting together to workout on your own.

Here’s some tips about how to use the blog.

Groups
We encourage you all to join, interact, and even create groups on the site. There are already three groups created: one for the Spotswood Ladies, one for the Sorority Ladies, and one for general questions and answers. To join these groups, click on the tab that says “groups” in the upper right hand corner, and then click the “join” button next to your desired group– that’s it!

Once you’re a member of a group, you can click on the group name on the right hand side and post on the home page of the group, or go to “forum” and create a new discussion thread.

To create a new group, again just go to the “groups” tab in the upper right hand corner, and then click the “create a group” button next to the title “Groups Directory.”

Forums
You can also create new forum topics by clicking on “forums” and then clicking the “new topic” button next to the Groups Forum Directory. Again, this is a great way to keep in touch with your fellow Fredericksburg Fitness members.

One last thing…
Make sure to check the blog every week for updates. There will be a new post every week with top secret, exclusive, totally awesome fitness and nutrition tips!

This is a much more effective system than having to send out individual emails, so we really encourage (and appreciate) you to use the new group and forum functions.

Thank You and Stay Strong,
-The Fredericksburg Fitness Team-

Some of you have had some problems registering. Here are some things to take note of:

1.) In the bottom field where it says “Fredericksburg Fitness,” please fill in your full name.

2.) Make sure you go to your email after registering to confirm your account.

3.) If you have any question or problems, please contact me, Allison Crerie, at abcrerie@gmail.com. I can go into the site and manually add you as user, so if you’re having a lot of trouble email me this information:

– Your first and last name
– What you want as a username
– The email address you actually use

I will create a password for you, which will be sent to you in an email and then you can later change.

Again, email me (not Jennifer), at abcrerie@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for more updates about how to use our new blogging system!

1.) The Diet
a. Eat every 2-3 hours for a total of five mini-meals a day. And you shouldn’t be eating anything after 7:00 PM.
b. Stick with small portions of low-starch veggies (spinach, broccoli), lean protein (wild salmon, skinless chicken breast, roasted turkey, fish) and nuts (handful of raw almonds per day). Low-calorie protein shakes are a time-saving alternative to meals. Shaklee makes a great meal replacement line of protein shakes called “Cinch”.
c. What to avoid: Be warned—there’s a lot of sacrifice here.
i. Alcohol
ii. Soda/Juice
iii. Coffee
iv. Bread or starchy carbs(rice, pasta, corn, potatoes)
v. Bloat-inducing dairy
vi. Saturated/trans fats
vii. Sweets/Candy
viii. Fruit (Exception: ½ cup fruit at breakfast)
d. In essence this diet is all about detox because it eliminates all sources of sugar.
2.) The Workout
a. Boot Camp—2-3 days per week
b. Cardio—45 minutes 3 days per week
c. Strength Training—1 hour 2-3 days per week
3.) The Mind Set (How to Stick w/ the Program)
a. Look In the Mirror: it may sound silly, but remind yourself as you begin to see results that you are in it for the entire 6 weeks, don’t give up!
b. Go Hard or Go Home: the more rigid you are in the beginning the quicker you’ll see results. That will motivate you to stick with it.
c. Eat before you eat: a low-fat, high-protein snack such as scrambled egg whites or ¼ cup nuts before a party will help prevent overeating.
d. Stock your Fridge: here’s an idea—keep sliced smoked salmon, romaine lettuce leaves, olives and capers around to make rollups in a pinch. You can eat 5-6 of them as a meal without worrying about overdoing it on calories.
e. Drink Responsibly: sip seltzer w/ lime instead of empty calorie alcohol. You can reward yourself with your favorite alcoholic beverage AFTER the 6 weeks.
f. Make Time for yourself: Try waking up an hour earlier than usual to get in your cardio, or maybe workout during your lunch break. After all you will now be eating 5 mini-meals per day so you shouldn’t need a 1 hour lunch break.
g. Stay Positive! Everyone is here at boot camp because they want to lose weight, build/tone muscle and live a healthier, happier life. Every day you have choices. Follow the program and be good to yourself. Consistently good choices in food and exercise will yield great results. I wish you the best!