Archive for category Abdominals

El Dia de San Valentin

Hey Hots and Fits!!


 

How are ya’ll doing? Big Valentine’s Day plans ? Nothing too romantic happening at this end. I know many people are going to hate me for saying this, but I absolutely do not get the point of Valentine’s Day. Its a highly commercialized holiday which encourages people to spend money. And besides, we do not need a calendar to celebrate love. We still love every day.

I was sent this interesting tale….Why Do We Celebrate Valentine’s Day?….so click on the link if you are interested.

 


On The Hot and Fit front I have thus far (in the last week) completed 3 of Insanity’s Max workouts. Because I am so in love with them, I thought I would post some reviews…

The main differences are the duration (60 minutes as opposed to the 40 minutes), the different drills during the warm up, and doing three different workout circuits as opposed to two (obviously cause its longer)


INSANITY MAX INTERVAL CIRCUIT

I did this workout twice this week. I was very nervous and scared and if it wasn’t for this lady who kept reassuring me that I would love it I would have probably postponed it some more.

The warm up started with the following drills:

  • Jog
  • Jumping Jacks – Arms Up
  • 123 Heisman
  • Jump Rope Side-to-Side
  • High Knees – Arms Out
  • Switch Kicks
  • Hit the Floor - Bend down at each side to touch the floor
  • Side-to-Side Floor Hops

First two sets are 4 minutes each, and the last set is 2 minutes

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Side-to-Side Floor Hops. You will be feelings your obliques. Oh yes.

 


Circuit #1

First circuit is 4 minutes, last two are 3 minutes, 30 seconds break in between.

  • Pedal/Power Lunges – sprint and do 4 lunges.
  • Ski Abs – Push Up Jacks – In and Out – Oblique Push Ups
  • Power Strike – punch twice left, twice right
  • Frog Jumps

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Power Strike

 


Circuit #2

First circuit is 4 minutes, last two are 3 minutes, 30 seconds break in between.

  • Hook Jumps – 4 hook punches high, 4 hook punches low, 4 high jumps. Switch sides.
  • High Knees with Elbow Twist – High Knees run with elbows moving from side to side.
  • High-Low Jab with Squat – Jump high and punch, squat down as you land and punch down.
  • Floor Switch Kicks – Kind of like a tricep dip position only you are kicking your feet up and down.

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Floor Switch Kicks

 


Circuit #3

First circuit is 4 minutes, last two are 3 minutes, 30 seconds break in between.

  • Side Suicide Jumps.
  • Squat Hooks – Squat and hook punch
  • Full Body Drill – run in place 8 times – walking push ups – 8 knee to elbow running in place.
  • Plank Punches - In a plank position, punch straight out, changing hands.

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Plank Punches. Abs, Shoulders, Arms…I cannot thing of something that was not burning.

 


There are also three “bonus” moves in between the sets, which last 30 – 50 seconds each.

 


INSANITY MAX PLYOMETRIC CIRCUIT

I did this workout yesterday. I don’t think I have ever done something that hard. I used to think my high school track workouts were tough. I am not too sure anymore…

The warm up started with the following drills:

  • Jog
  • Jumping Jacks – Arms Up
  • 123 Heisman
  • Jump Rope Side-to-Side
  • High Knees – Arms Out
  • Switch Kicks
  • Hit the Floor - Bend down at each side to touch the floor
  • Side-to-Side Floor Hops

First two sets are 4 minutes each, and the last set is 2 minutes


Circuit #1

First circuit is 4 minutes, last two are 3 minutes, 30 seconds break in between.

  • Switch Jumps
  • Squat Push Ups
  • Wide In – Out Abs
  • Power Jumps

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Squat Push Ups. Just when I thought I was starting to master normal push ups.

 


Circuit #2

First circuit is 4 minutes, last two are 3 minutes, 30 seconds break in between.

  • Pogo – standing on one foot, bend down to touch the floor then jump up using your arms
  • Power Push Ups – from Push Up position, jump up to bring finger to toes
  • Globe Twists
  • Level 3 Drills – 16 Push Ups, 16 Running in Place

 

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Pogo.


Circuit #3

This entire circuit lasts just over 6 minutes.

  • Side Push Ups – palms are in L shape
  • Kickstand Touch the Floor - similar to Pogo in a way
  • 8 Power Knees – 4 Diamond Jumps
  • Balance Push Ups

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Balance Push Ups. Total kick ass. I can’t even depict the feeling.

 

 

I have said this SO many times before – this program is a total kick ass. It is tough, it will make you so much stronger and it will make you that much leaner. Basically you get what you put in it (and I am not getting it 100% cause I am majorly slacking with my diet).

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Moving Stink Bomb

Hey Hots and Fits!

Sorry for being so annoyingly MIA in these last few days, but I was taking it easy and getting back on track. Nothing too interesting happened, so here is a list of my highlights thus far!

 

MONDAY

Did INSANITY’s Plyometric Cardio Circuit and Tracy Anderson’s Upper Body Workout.

I also got two of her DVDs, The Tracy Anderson Method – Mat Workout and Dance Cardio Workout. I haven’t tried it yet so I cannot review. Looks very tranquil from what I’d seen thus far. Oh, and Gwyneth Paltrow appears at the end of the DVD. I can’t stand her.

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TUESDAY

Woke up for yet another INSANITY sesh, this time it was Cardio Power and Resistance. Warm up was okay, but once the actual workout started, and I got into those Power Jacks, something went wrong I believe because I was overcome by a huge pain in my lower back. I have always suffered from this pain. Used to be in immense pain when I did track and field in high school. I still managed to pull through, but canceled my Yoga sesh with Women’s Health because I did not want to push it.

 

 

WEDNESDAY

Went for Plyometric Cardio Circuit which is an awesome INSANITY workout, then headed to the grocery store and found some Pitted Prunes from San Jose, CA! Wow, all the way to the EU! it was the highlight of my day. Came home, and did The Fitnessista’s Winter Shape Up challenge.

I am doing it, guys. I did her Summer Shape Up and got amazing results, so I have faith in the woman. Go to her site to this the whole plan, you can start any time, but here is what I did:

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THURSDAY

Back pain not going away anywhere, I was determined to head out for a run. However, the reason I have not been running has been the snow. Well, snow slightly disappeared, but the temperatures went down by about 10 degrees centigrade that it was about -15C at night. Which means black ice.

I was however, in a true Hot and Fit fashion, determined to TRY. And to be honest, I did not think it would be that bad. Well, I started running, with my awesome running gear I was not feeling the cold at all. But my feet were feeling the ice. I was kind of skating occasionally. It was not longer amusing after 2 KM when I hit the floor. My right arm has been hurting quite a bit since. Irresponsible and careless, but I completed 4.5 KM.

In the afternoon I did INSANITY’s Cardio Recovery. Again, my assumptions were wrong. I honestly thought this was going to be a fairly easy workout. But when is INSANITY ever easy? Shaun T mentions its not cardio, its recovery. But he works your muscles really well. I could feel my quadriceps the day after like never before.

In the evening I found myself presented with three cakes:

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Semolina, poppy seeds and chocolate.

Lets just say that I had too much and it was not good. But my home dwellers will not stop putting junk every where. It is very hard to eat properly when you have an over variety of food and a lot of it is junk. The cakes are one thing. There is a whole crazier fiesta going on in the pantry.

I am very blessed, I know. But I do wish I could just keep my diet simple stupid.

FRIDAY

I have not done P90X in a while so decided I’d do that for recovery purposes. Kenpo X was on my list on preferences. Now, I do not know whether it is the effects of the Cardio Recovery or simply Kenpo X, but I felt my abs SO much during this workout, especially my obliques. I actually still feel it now.

After all the Friday afternoon errands I came home and did The Fitnessista’s circuit again. For the record, I repeated it three times cause my back is still hurting, and I am modifying the burpees and back extensions.

 

WEEKEND PLANS

So here I have it all. Now the plan for Saturday is to do nothing, then take my car to the service for the hundredth time, watch Avatar, and in between squeeze in a workout.

Oh and I am using

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To relieve my back pain. But it stinks. SO BAD! My home dwellers are considering kicking me out. Also, I cannot put it on at work because I know I will get fired for being a moving stink bomb. Besides, I do not feel it is that effective.

In some TWITTER news – you can follow Shaun T here. I am already following him! And if you wanna follow me then you can do so here. Come on, I am just as cool!

Anyhoo, hope you all have an amazing Saturday!! I might take today off working out but I have a lot to do around the casa so I will consider it a workout.

Sig

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Brazilian Festives + Food Diaries

Hey hey gorgeous friends!!!

 

How are you? I haven’t posted for two days – feels like a long time. I have just been very busy with the sister’s birthday (she is very special) and all the festives. Today we actually went to an awesome Brazilian restaurant that operates on the “eat as much as you can ” basis. I am not a fan of these sort of…arrangements…but I do love this restaurant.

 

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I only had the vegetarian buffet because I am not a huge fan of meat (as I previously stated). Trust me, there was so much food in the buffet. Here is my first plate:

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Sushi, orange lentils, all colors of raw peppers, baby eggs, cucumbers, mushrooms salads, grilled zucchinis….

Obviously, I went back for some more mushroom salads, veggies, sushi (I ate tons, I love it with Ginger) and so on.

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These baby eggs were very interesting. Did you know that when I was a kid I hated egg whites and would only eat the yolk. Now its the opposite: I cant stand the yolk and will only eat the egg whites.

 

We had a really good time. I love my family so much and always have a blast when its just my siblings, my padres and me!

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This morning, I thought I would take it easy and did Core Cardio and Balance to start with. I honestly thought I was going to get a very easy workout. Heck, Shaun kept mentioning how this is “recovery” and how we should not push ourselves too hard.

Guys, here are my stats, for your judgment:

Duration: 39 minutes
Average HR: 160 BPM
Max HR: 196 BPM
Calories: 360

I am quite ridiculous…honestly when has INSANITY ever been easy?? But this workout was AWESOME. How many times have I mentioned that I LOVE INSANITY ?

After that I did INSANITY’s Cardio Abs which was quite good; its short (about 17 minutes) and there are no crunches involved. The first 3 minutes or so are brutal.

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All this workout talk brings me to another issue. I workout quite a lot (at least 45 minutes every day) and I burn quite a bit of calories (I’d imagine at least 350). I tend to make healthy choices, heck, I claim to be Hot and Fit, but especially in this season I have my ups and downs. I don’t find much help from the fact that my house is surrounded by crap. My homedwellers have so much junk. I have stacks of Twix, Kit Kats, Chocolate bars and Cini Minis downstairs. They also like to encourage me to eat these things.

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So, you get the point. I have not been eating very healthy in the past couple of weeks. I do work out a lot, but I truly believe that 75% of how we look comes from our diet. We are what we eat. So, I need to clean up the junk. ASAP.

I have decided to keep a sort of food dairy, where I would write what I put in my mouth. Everything. Not counting calories or anything, cause I hate doing that, but just knowing what I am feeding my body with. I tried this before, it worked beautifully.

IMG 7022

The plan is to write everything in here. The plan. Whether that will happen remains a mystery.

Right. Its Harry Potter time for me. I was supposed to go see Avatar today but my friends ditched at the last minute so we are seeing it tomorrow.

Have a fab weekend. Or better say, rest of the weekend!

Sig

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Get Hot and Fit: ChaLEAN Extreme

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So, I have had this sitting around for quite some time now.

15 workouts on 6 DVDs.

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ChaLEAN (the instructor’s name is Chalene) is divided into three phases (information taken from the official Beachbody website):


PHASE 1: BURN

You start lifting weights to jump-start your metabolism and break down those “extra” reserves of fat. In these moderate training workouts, you’ll work your upper body then lower body, and learn how “Lean Phasing” will help you see major results every 30 days!


PHASE 2: PUSH

Chalene shows you how to lift heavy—beyond your comfort zone—so you build the muscle you need to burn fat. Chalene makes it easier than it sounds with incredibly fast results.


PHASE 3: LEAN

Here is where you really bring it home with new routines and dynamic moves that literally melt the fat off your body. You will be blown away with jaw-dropping results and rewarded with a brand-new body!

 


If you owe the deluxe DVDs, you also get:


EXTREME CARDIO

During each phase, Chalene ignites your metabolism with super-intense cardio and strength-training routines, and then rejuvenates and lengthens your hard-working muscles with an invigorating flexibility workout.


POWER CORE

Shrink, tighten, and tone your tummy with two targeted ab routines for a rock-hard midsection!


 

I have to let you know in advance that I have just read the program manual, skimmed briefly through the DVDs and did the first workout of phase 1. As time goes by, I will do more and be able to give your better reviews.


Anyhoo….

PHASE 1 – BURN CIRCUIT 1

Was just over 35 minutes long, and included a good warm up as well as a good cool down in my opinion. Chalene has 4 other people with her in the Imagestudio, one of them using bands, another one using lighter dumbbells, so you could follow whichever suits you best.

She really explains everything. She is also very nice. But fitness wise, she really tells you what you need to know in terms of reps and weights, which I like. I notice Tony does that too, and I think its very important. This really enables you to get the maximum results without forcing an injury on your body

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So, what’s The Hot? Quick, much quicker than P90X’s 50-60 minutes workouts. Chalene really explains a lot, so what you are doing actually starts to make sense. Variety is key too, you wouldn’t get bored, actually time went by very quickly. Also, you work your whole body. Every single muscle. The Spit? I am a cardio whore, and this isn’t a cardio workout. Yes, there are some DVDs that focus merely on Cardio. But most of this is mainly toning. Which is not a problem as long as that is your goal. This is why I did INSANITY in the morning and then this. So I get a bit of both.Sig

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Get Hot and Fit: Insanity’s Cardio Power & Resistance

I think that thus far this is my favourite workout. Although you must know I am only on week one (sort of, I take some days off…)

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I like how the workout combines both kick-ass cardio and some strength training. And no equipment is involved.

The Hot at the moment is my favourite move which is inverted “V” pushups. You do those by starting out like you are doing a normal push-up on an incline, but instead, walk your hands closer to your feet until your body looks like an upside down V. Do the push-ups from there. And I get a whole new sense of appreciation towards Tricep Dips. Yes, I will be feeling my triceps tomorrow. Oh, and of course, the last sequence involved 3 repeats of 8 squats 8 pushups. Wow. Just wow. The Spit is that I did this 3 hours after breakfast and I still wanted to vomit occasionally. It’s that hard. And we also must consider the fact that I am a morning exerciser. My body is used to work out on an empty stomach.

Also, I do have to pause occasionally to lengthen the break. Shaun T keeps mentioning how important it is to let your heart recover. It takes me longer than 30 seconds. Man, even the stretch session has me dripping!

 

Anyhoo, I am off to shop but I am really wanna know what have you done this weekend!

Peace out for now!

Sig

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