New Skill Saturday: Elbow Carts
On Saturdays, I practice skills instead of focusing on strength or calorie burn. My goal is to attempt one new skill each week. This week, I was inspired by the show Bring It on Lifetime Network. In the last episode I watched on YouTube, the dancers had to perform an elbow cartwheel. I thought it looked cool and doable for me, so here’s my first attempt. I’ll post an update when I can land on my feet. How about you? What new skill would you like to try? SylviaAs an athlete for over 17 years and a broke single mom for most of that time, I created this site to…
4 Simple Rules to Post-pregnancy Fat Loss
Pregnancy puts a woman’s body through some incredible changes to bring life into the world. As a woman’s waistline expands, it’s normal for her to get self-conscious about her figure and worry she may never return to her prepregnancy build. After delivering her child, she can be left with extra fat, loose skin, or both. But, if you’re an expecting mother reading this, don’t let that psych you out. Every year, plenty of women reclaim their prepregnancy figures (and sometimes a fitter body) through following tried-and-true principles, which I’ve condensed into the rule below, the same rules I followed to get a fitter body after having my son. Rule 1.…
Not Ready for a Public Gym? No Problem.
Believe it or not, you don’t have to join a gym to get in shape and stay that way. Before I joined a gym, I exercised in my living room every day for five years. I never wanted membership at a public gym. I can be myself at home and even goof around, which makes for a more enjoyable workout. I also tend to train harder in privacy (grunting and ugly faces of strain are allowed). At a gym, since it’s a public place, some people, like myself, find it uncomfortable, and time doesn’t necessarily make this go away. Thankfully, public gym membership is optional for many goals. If you…
This Month’s Like – Strength Wars
On weekdays I listen to podcasts from professional coaches, like Mike Boyle on my Experts & Motivators page. On weekends, I watch an hour or so of fitness videos from random athletes and professionals. One weekend while watching Kai Green — or some other athlete, among the recommended videos was a battle between a calisthenics athlete and a power-lifter in a series called “Strength Wars”. Well, considering I’ve been backing away from 100% bodybuilding to focus on calisthenics, I had to watch the video. Strength Wars takes athletes with different training specialties and pits them against each other in a sort of strength obstacle course. What I like is that most…
Butt Bible Review
Quick and dirty takeaways: Great routines that really target the glutes, so you don’t need to worry about overtraining your legs. The order of exercises is excellent. You’ll get a good warm-up and then get into the workout. Your butt will be sore the next day. I recommend doing this workout at least two days apart from your leg day to avoid any overtraining or training through soreness. I purchased The Butt Bible DVD set by Pauline Nordin in 2013. Pauline is a great role model for women who want a top-level physique. She speaks the truth about other training techniques during the video. I especially like her comment about yoga butts, and…
P90X Review
I followed the full 90 days of P90X back in 2007. Quick and dirty review: To the best of my knowledge, this is the best home workout DVD series for your whole body. Below is how I came to that conclusion. The program is considerate of varying fitness goals and offers specific training regimens for each goal. Different nutritional needs are considered also. The program provides a guide with many food options, including sample meals. The program considers training cycles! They know what they are doing for sure. Each fitness goal has its own set of training cycles. Anyone who knows what they are doing when it comes to fitness instruction…
