Fitness Archives - Page 2 of 3

Fitness Tuesday – Simply Fit Board

January 31, 2017

Happy Fitness Tuesday! Since the shows inception I have been hooked on Shark Tank. One of my teachers from graduate school was an advisor to Daymond John for the show. Fun fact for everyone just because someone agrees to a deal on the show doesn’t mean the deal actually goes through after taping has finished. That is why when you see some of the updates you don’t always see a lot of your favorite deals. Anyways I always am interested with all the different fitness items that come on the show and if that actually do work. I recently purchased the Simply Fit Board which Lori Greiner said was a hero product. I thought if the creatures of this product which are a mother and daughter and if I am not mistaken the mother is in her 70’s could do it then why couldn’t I? Let me just tell you it is harder than it looks. I also didn’t know that there were more things to do on the board than just the simple twist. For the first few days I just did the simple twist for about 20 minutes at a time and honestly I could feel it working. I tried both on my wood floors and on my carpet and it was easier to do it on the carpet. I also tried it wearing sneakers and socks and then no socks. If you can do it with sneakers it is much better for you, but without socks is okay too. If you do it with socks good luck not slipping off the board. I personally ordered mine from Amazon, but they are stocked also in Bed Bath and Beyond across the country. I think that if you do not have the time to go to the gym that this is the product for you. I’m not saying that it will give you six pack abs, but it will help you with the dreaded muffin top that everyone tries to avoid. This is the final Tuesday of January 2017 so let’s make it a good one!

Click here to buy it on Amazon

Fitness Tuesday – Stairs or Stairmaster?

January 24, 2017

Happy Fitness Tuesday everyone! Since I started working out years ago especially these past 7 ½ months when I have been working out more than I ever have in my life one of the machines I rarely used in the gym was the stairmaster. My mom always told me she was taking the stairs at her office building just like Cary Grant :-). If you don’t know who that is please google him right now! Anyways so I thought I’d do my own experiment deciding between the actual stairs vs the stairmaster. I did the stairmaster twice a week for 2 weeks for about 20 minutes or and then after that I took one week off then for 2 weeks I used the actual stairs twice a week for about 20 minutes as well. While on the stairmaster it was helpful that there was a tv in front of me, but I noticed that I was actually climbing more flights of stairs then I realized. On a stairmaster the stairs are all pretty average height and distance from each other vs say my buildings stairs where they are a bit larger than normal. When I took the stairs in my building (Don’t worry I didn’t too many) I felt more out of breathe and just overall more exhausted after doing them. I also didn’t do as many as I did when I was in the gym, but I did notice a change in my legs and other places more so after I was using the actual stairs vs when I was using the stairmaster. I also noticed that I was more concerned about my form while using the actual stairs vs when I was on the stairmaster. After doing all of this I decided that I prefer doing the actual stairs even if I wasn’t doing as my flights of stairs in my actual stairwell to my building I just feel like I am getting a better work out by doing that vs the stairmaster. Have any of you noticed this as well? Comment in the comments section below and let me know!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Fitness Tuesday – The Perfect Sock

January 17, 2017

Happy Fitness Tuesday everyone! Now I love my KB socks from Costco more than the next person, but when it came to working out I realized that I needed to get a more supportive sock. I tried at first to double up my KB socks because I am going to be honest I didn’t want to have to buy all new socks. However, when I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon back in the spring of 2014 I was told by multiple people who ran a lot and also worked out way more than I have ever still to this day recommended that I get something different. Now some socks I have learned even though they say prevent blisters doesn’t mean you still won’t get one. If you get a sock and you hate it don’t write off the company automatically. For example I am obsessed with are the Fitsok CF2 cushion low cut sock and I swear to you it is honestly the greatest pair of socks I have ever owned. Now I have tried other types of socks from the same company and I wasn’t that thrilled with them when it came to working out. This style of Fitsoks are not too thick that your shoes then stretch out, but aren’t too thin that you get blisters every time you work out and wear them. I bought my first pair of these back when I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon and personally now my entire sock drawer is only them. They are also great for during the winter when you are walking around in those winter booties and want a thicker sock and also want to prevent potential blisters. These are truly my go to all year round socks for any activity. I will say that I still do have some of my KB socks left that I just wear around my apartment from time to time, but only for when I am at home. They sell the Fitsoks on Amazon in a 3 pack and you can also find them at your local running stores. Hope everyone has a great rest of their Tuesday! <3

Here is the Link for them on Amazon

Fitness Tuesday: Vitamins

January 10, 2017

Happy Fitness Tuesday! Now anyone that knows me knows that my Mom is a licensed nurse, but doesn’t practice anymore. My brother and I have been known to call her the pez dispenser of vitamin C. She always has some on her and she takes it every single day multiple times a day. Something that people don’t realize is certain vitamins you can take as much as you want of with no true effect on you. For example Vitamin C you can take ideally as much as you want and whatever your body doesn’t utilize you will just go to the bathroom. I personally take 2 to 3,000 MG of vitamin C everyday. On top of this I also take a Vitamin D3 pill. I started taking this pill after I moved to New York. Growing up in Florida and then going to school in Arizona where I was always tan 365 days out of the year I didn’t need it. Depending on the time of the year determines how much I take of my Vitamin D pill, but we are all a little deficient in Vitamin D so it doesn’t hurt to take one small pill of it daily. On top of all of that I take a Magnesium pill everyday. This is highly suggested for all of you who work out frequently. This helps with your muscles and just in general. After I took this one cross training class for the first time I was so sore for about a week it hurt to even sit down on a chair. My Mom and brother then said to go and get some Magnesium pills and it will help with my muscles. Sure enough it helped overnight. Now everyone is different and some people don’t like taking vitamins, but as I have gotten older I have learned that whether I liked it or not I had to take them. I know that it is important to take care of your body and the sooner your start the better. I purchase a lot of my vitamins from Amazon and the brands that I like are Nature Made and Nature’s Bounty. You can also get a lot of these vitamins in bulk at Costco! Hope everyone has a great day <3

Fitness Tuesday – To Stretch Or Not To Stretch?

January 3, 2017

Happy New Year everyone and happy first fitness Tuesday of 2017!! I am finally recovering from this weekend and getting back into the swing of things. I started January 1st with a 90 minute SoulCycle class and when you hear people say it is hard that is an understatement even for me who does spinning at least 4 times a week. When I used to do spinning I would always leave before the stretch part because I would just want to get out of the class and shower. Even when I was younger I would always just do the bare minimum of stretching not until I played JV basketball in High School did I start to take it more seriously. I didn’t want to injure myself because I wasn’t stretching properly, but with spinning didn’t think that I needed to stretch more than I normally did. One thing that I have learned since starting to work out more is that stretching is more important than you think. Even if you don’t really stretch fully before any type of workout after you should always stretch every muscle you have. There are times I would think oh I don’t need to stretch out my arms because I barely did any arm work, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t use your arms in a way you didn’t realize. As I have previously stated a foam roller is great for stretching, but you can use anything in your house. I personally use a towel to stretch out my legs by using wrapping it around my feet and holding either end of the towel and then pointing and flexing my toes in the process. It may sound silly, but think about all the stretches you did in your middle school PE classes and do those today. They are more helpful than you think and they will prevent you from getting stiff muscles and possibly hurting yourself in the long run. Hope everyone had a great weekend and for those of you in New York City are staying dry on the cold rainy day. <3

Fitness Tuesday – Stress Unloading Apps

December 13, 2016

Happy Fitness Tuesday! With the holiday season upon us we all know that this is the most stressful time of the year. Whether it be you are stressed at work and trying to get all your projects done before the end of the year or stressed out in your personal life we all have our moments. According to Self Magazine there are a few apps out there that are supposed to relieve you from some of your daily stresses. I tested some of them out myself and here is what I found. The first app is called “OMG I Can Meditate!” and its free on IOS or Android. Essentially you are moving your finger across the screen with a black blob and when you lose focus then it alerts you that you have lost focus. For me this was relaxing for a little while until my thumb started to hurt, but some doctors would say that the pain in my thumb is from all the typing and texting that I do. If you are one of those workaholics you need to try the “Totally Tabata” app that is free as well for IOS or Androids. This helps you sneak in a quick workout while you are in at work and it’s interval training which is also good for your body because you don’t want to A put too much stress on it when you don’t work out often and B it is good to do something different in each work out. The final suggestion that I believe works wonders is mindless gaming. I know that sometimes people who do this can get heavily addicted and forget where they are, but if you have maybe one to two games on your phone and you set a stopwatch to play for say an hour a day it really helps you just clear your mind of everything else around you and destress. I never understood this before until recently and now even on the days that I am not working I do it to just clear my head. I also tried it with putting my phone on airplane mode, but some of the games require internet access so if it does put your phone on sleep mode so you can fully engross in the game that you are playing. My personal favorite game is 1010 it is truly addicting. If you are interested in seeing what other options that Self Magazine suggests to destress this holiday season check out their website here. Hope everyone has a great Tuesday! <3

Image taken from google

Fitness Tuesday in honor of Stella’s Birthday!!

December 6, 2016

Happy Fitness Tuesday! Today is a very special day for me because it my sweet puppy Stella’s first birthday!! It is crazy to me to think that a year ago on my birthday I put down a deposit for her and now she is already a year old. So today in honor of her birthday I want to talk about fitness with your animal. Now I love to give Stella treats and of course she loves them too, but we also want our pets to be healthy and have tons of energy. I have noticed that for her even after a two hour walk she still is full of energy, but then eventually sleeps. I personally do not go running with Stella everyday, but I have been taking her for casual jogs in Central Park at least once a week since. Thankfully (knock on wood) it hasn’t snowed yet so I am taking full advantage of it. If you are fortunate enough to have a pool anywhere near you and for us New Yorkers an indoor pool take your dog for an occasional swim. All of my family pets have all loved to swim not just because we were in Miami, but because it is great exercise for them. Even though I have seen videos of it and I find it entertaining I have heard that putting a dog on a treadmill isn’t the best idea especially if you turn up the speed on it. Just like Taylor Swift did in the Apple commercial a dog can seriously hurt themselves and fall down. Hope you all have a great Tuesday and again Happy Birthday to my sweet puppy Stella! If you don’t follow her already please follow her on instagram: @ HowStellaGotHerWoofBack

Fitness Tuesday- Bagels & Squats

November 29, 2016

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Can not believe that November is almost over and it’s now officially Holiday Season! As I have previously posted one of my favorite new workouts that I go to at least once a week is Fhitting Room. I love that every time I go it is something different. Even if you do the same exercise again like the rowing machine they always find a way to change it up. Now since Fhitting room is currently only in New York I found a video posted by Bagels & Squats that shows 12 different ways to work out your arms without the use of any weights! As I was watching the video I said to my mom sitting next to me that these were all workouts I did in my Fhitting Room classes. Then low and behold at the end of the video it says that the exercises were provided by Emily Cook Harris an instructor at The Fhitting Room. The video was posted by Self Magazine as well. If you go to Bagels & Squats facebook page here the video was posted on June 6th of this year. Hope everyone has a great day and did a lot of good shopping yesterday on Cyber Monday. Some of the sites are even continuing their sales today so if you didn’t snag an item that you forgot yesterday check and see if they are still offering Cyber Monday sales on the site. <3

Here is the link to the Facebook Page for Bagels & Squats

Fitness Tuesday – Pre Thanksgiving Work Out

November 22, 2016

Happy Fitness Tuesday everyone! I am running around crazy right now because I am heading back to Florida today with my sweet puppy Stella and I’m super excited to get to some warm weather ASAP! So as many of you are already preparing yourselves for eating way too much food on Thursday there are some workouts that can help you prepare for the feast I am sure all of you are about to have. One of the things that I do on every flight I have is stretch. Whether it be twisting my back or if you are sitting in the bulkhead sit I always stretch my legs out. I am also one of those people that stretches my quads while I am waiting for the restroom. The worst thing you can do especially on a plane is just not move at all. Prior to your meal this week I suggest that if you are somewhere that is warm take a nice walk. I am most definitely taking Stella on a nice walk around my neighborhood because first off it’s warm outside and if you can get a nice tan while you are walking why not and also its an easy way to burn some calories before you consume them all at your Thanksgiving meal. Also a lot of cities have Turkey Trots which is usually a 5k the day of Turkey day. Now if you are like me and don’t want to leave your mom or dad home cooking by themselves then the walk around the block is a great way to get some work out in before your meal. I hope everyone who is traveling today travels safe and stays warm if you are staying in the cold. Hopefully I come back from Miami with a nice tan 🙂 <3

Fitness Tuesday – Meditation

November 15, 2016

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Thanksgiving is a little over a week away and I am already mentally preparing myself for how much food I will be eating over the holiday. I am also prepping for the stress of travelling. Personally, I am an anxious flyer and I used to be able to sleep on planes all the time when I was younger, but now I can maybe sleep max 5 minutes on the flight. Something that everyone has told me to do and has recently popped up in pop culture is medication. Even recently on Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kendall Jenner did this to help with her airplane anxiety. I know what you are all thinking right now. You picture someone sitting cross legged with their palms facing up on their knees, eyes closed, saying “ohmmmmmmm,” but that isn’t what you have to do. Every person, I have noticed, meditates differently. Oddly enough, in my high school we had yoga as an option for physical education. Both of the yoga teachers also were teachers in our school and one of them was my physics teacher senior year. He started every class with a 5 minute meditation in order for us to clear our minds. We would sit our chairs back straight and hands by our sides like they were dangling and simply focused on our breathing. That not only helped me everyday relax before the start of class, but it also especially helped me before any exam. Recently, I have been trying to figure out new ways to help me calm down and deal with everything that I have going on in my life. Sometimes I take my yoga mat to my roof and I lay it out and rest my back against the wall and just close my eyes and focus on my breathing. One thing that I highly recommend if you are meditating, is to not bring your phone or anything-turn off all electronic devices. Disconnecting from all devices and all social media for a little while is very helpful in this process. You can cross your legs, sit up tall with your legs out or even lay down- whatever works for you. Some people think if you lay down it looks like you are sleeping, but I don’t believe that. I believe that if you take even 5 minutes everyday whether it be when you wake up or at night just to clear your mind of everything it helps you re-energize and get ready for the next day. I hope you all enjoyed today’s fitness tuesday post. Namaste! <3

(Image taken from google)