NO ONE STOPS THE SHOW

Okay this weekend's storm was suprisingly alot of fun. I will admit that it did eff up my nephew's birthday celebration but we still had fun. We spent the day at his hip hop class , ate some McDonald's (yes I even had one McNugget), and we put together his lego miner set. Afterwards we headed to his house for a very fun dinner and we chowed down on some yummy cake and ice cream...it wasn't quite the bowling party we planned for but he still had a great time!!

Afterwards my sister and I drove in that white blizzardy mess and when I got home I couldn't drive my damm car in the gargage ...it was stuck in the snow . Oh well. So I went to bed and guess what I woke up to.....My car trapped in about 2 feet of snow thanks to Mr Snow Plow....arrggghhh.

I had an ish load of errands to run yesterday and I couldn't wait for my landlord to shovel so I saw the shovel and went to work. Man I was working up a sweat in that bitch. In a hour and half I was out of breath, drenched in sweat, and with the help of my neighbors dug my car out and cleared the path of snow in the garage.

I didn't have time for the gym but judging from how exhausted I was I knew I burned some serious calories. Just how much I wasn't sure, but I wasnt worried about hitting the gym because I knew I did a job.

So this morning I ventured to the internet and typed in calories and shoveling via my favorite search engine (google) and I came across this.

This fitness website FITDAY has a calorie calculator for different activities. Simply type your info and VIOLA...you have the amount of calories burned.

According to my stats I burned 560 calories (more or less) in 2 hours.

Click here and check it out.

Fitness is everywhere people seize the day and be active.

WORKOUTS TO GO

Shout out to Samantha Dorfner for introducing me to Excercise TV.


People we are truly in the information age and there are tons of vehicles to get your daily dosage of excerise medicine. If you are loking for a killer ab try the Pilates Ab routine with Nicole Stewart. First off I would like to know what pills she is taking because homegirl was peppy during the entire routine. You could really tell she was head cheerleader . She keeps the energy and pace going in this nonstop ab workout that will leave you feeling the burn.

Try it out..IT'S FREE!!! Or if you would like to carry it with you on your IPOD download it for $1.99..not too bad right???

WORK IT OUT!!!

9 to 5's can wreek havoc on your health. There's the mental stress dealing with demading deadlines and annoying office politics, tempting high calorie snacks to munch on, and if that was not enough you are killing your back,neck, and shoulders with poor body posture.

Well my friend Sam showed me this website that lists some exercises you can do from your seat.

Here are a few of the workouts:


Shoulder Rolls

Roll the shoulders down and back, starting with small circles and working up to larger circles. Do 10 circles backwards and then repeat forward circles.





Dynamic Neck Stretch
Reach the left arm down and away from the body as you drop the head to the right, stretching the neck. Place the right hand on the head and gently press your head into the hand, then release and stretch. Continue to contract the neck and press the head into the head, then stretch for 10 reps then switch sides.




Back Stretch
Contract the abs as you tip forward from the hips, bringing the hands down to the floor. Relax the head down and reach with your fingertips to stretch the back. Hold for 30 seconds.





To see the full list of stretches click here

TO THE SIDE...TO THE SIDE

One of my favorite exercises is the Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise. I love seeing my muscles flex with each lift. Your body does the movement via shoulder abduction and scapular rotation. The muscles at work are the middle deltoid and supraspinatus (shoulder), upper trapezius and rhomboids (shoulder girdle), and the brachialis and branchioradialis (elbow joint muscles).

Here's how to do it:

Grasp dumbbells in front of thighs. Bend over at hips slightly with knees bent.

1. With elbows slightly bent, raise upper arms to sides until elbows are shoulder height. Maintain elbows' height above or equal to wrists. Lower and repeat.


2. Keeps your weight anywhere between (10 to 30 degree away from your body). Do not use the side of your body to create momentum.

THE LOVE BELOW

Hey peeps!! Try this exercise to control your love handles

It's called the Push Pull with Rotation

AREA of Concentration - Hip and trunk rotators, pectoralis major (chest), and rhomboids (back muscle)

HOW TO DO IT

It's basically like you are about to punch someone in the stomach or in my case throat...lol. Maintain good posture and have a wide stance (kinda like how those mall kids who play that dance game.)

Stand between two cable stacks holding one handle in each hand with the cables set at waist height. Turn to your left so that your left arm is extended and your right hand is holding the handle at your chest. Your left foot should be staggered forward with your right leg back. Pull with your left hand as you push with your right hand, attempting to rotate the shoulders as far as possible. Repeat on the other side by simply turning the other direction, so that you will now be pulling/pushing with the opposite arms.

Click here to see it done. Enjoy!!

BEND AND FLEX

That number one stunna right there is dancehall queen Shisha. She blew away the competition at the 2007 European chamionships with her on point regaee moves and her amazing flexible body. Homegirl is one of my idols and I wish I could move like her. Now don't get me wrong I have rhythm but I for damm sure am not that flexible!!!

One of the most important aspects of physical fitness and the most undervalued is flexibility. One of the major reasons people (ie ME) sleep on flexbility is:

1) No one can see how flexible you are.

2) You have to be reasonable flexible to do some of the exercises and if you can't well you will just get frustuated and not do it

3) People look at stretching, yoga, or pilates as time consuming, boring, and uncomfortable.

However, there are so many benefits to infusing flexibililty into your routine. I am going to use a yoga CD my friend Sam gave me to jumpstart my routine.

Yoga is a great way to increase your flexibility.

Yoga uses positions that interact with various joints of the body including those joints you neve really use with your usual workout routine

1. It increases lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons – and the well-researched yoga positions exercise the different tendons and ligaments of the body.


2. It detoxifies you. Yoga gently stretches muscles and joints as well as massages the various organs, and it ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. Which helps flush out the toxins


3. Yoga tones your muscles – Muscles that have become flaccid, weak or slothy are stimulated repeatedly to shed excess flab with these intense poses.

So get down on the floor and do the upward dog with NO APOLOGIES ;)

And if you were curious on how my girl Shisha gets down look click here at check her out. She is bad especially at 1:30...FIYAAA!!!

TRI TRI AGAIN

Sexy triceps are a must have. Sleek and sculpted triceps give your body a Greek Goddess look that will turn heads.

If you are looking to tone and lose the loose skin you have two options: quick and easy (brachioplasty) or slow steady (tricep exercises)


Brachioplasty is a surgical option for anyone with loose upper arm skin.

This procedure is more common for people who have lossed a lot of weight and are left with saggy skin. If you have an extra $5000 to spend and you don’t mind the nasty surgical scar from your armpit to your elbow then be my guest and go under the knife.

However, if you do not have that much skin to tone or you rather get the results the good ol fashioned way here a few excercies that will give you the look you want.

Tricep Pushdowns

1) Stand straight, legs slightly bent, and face the cable machine.
2) Grab the handle, make sure your palms are facing down, and keep your elbows at a 90 angle
3) When your elbows are in a locked position slowly pull the weight down until your arms are straight
4) Slowly let the weight back up

To tone your muscles do 3 sets between 12-15 reps

Dips

Here's how you do them:
1) Position your hands shoulder width apart on a secured bench or stable chair.
2) Move your booty in front of the bench with your legs bent and feet placed about hip width apart on the floor.
3) Straighten out your arms and keep a little bend in your elbows in order to always keep tension on your triceps and off your elbow joints.
4) Now slowly bend at your elbows and lower your upper body down towards the floor until your arms are at about a 90 degree angle. Be sure to keep your back close to the bench.
5) Once you reach the bottom of the movement, slowly press off with your hands, and push yourself straight back up to the starting position.

Do three sets of 10

Remember my friends…slow and steady wins the race!!!

To read more about brachioplasty click here

BIRTHDAY SEX

It’s my birthday..it’s my birthday!!! Okay enough of that self congratulatory stuff..lol. The best thing about birthdays isn’t the presents but the awesome birthday sex you have that morning, noon, and night.

Sex is a great workout and it’s the perfect complimentary exercise you can add to your routine. Not only does sex burn energy, it also helps improve circulation. The deep breathing and increased heart rate helps increase the flow of blood to your entire body. It then supplies oxygen, hormones, and nutrients to the brain and other organs. The rate by which waste deposits are removed from your body system is increased, which results in weight loss,prevention of fatigue, and illness. You can burn up to 150 calories in 30 minutes of pure unaldulterated fun!!!

So put down your video cameras ........

Have some fun and enjoy that special glow of love. Have fun peeps!!!

JUST KEEP SWIMMING,SWIMMING,SWIMMING

So yesterday as per usual my friend and I (Samantha) went swimming at the Rutherford YMCA. (Side bar Sam is my gangster azz boss who is beyond kind to give up her Tuesday and Thursday evenings to teach me how to swim for my charity triathalon). We were there for an hour and a half and when I came home I ate and knocked the hell out. Needless to say the very next morning I was still tired as hell and I didn’t want to get up (neither did Sam…lol). Then I got to thinking… (Side bar – You have to figure me because I am kind of slow) that when you swim you must burn like mad calories!!! Ok…you can say DUH. I won’t get mad.

I have an ignorant gym brain and I think that if you’re not in the gym then it’s not a workout and if you’re having fun then you’re definetly not burning any calories. Well that is a big fat wrong on my part (yes I don’t know everything and I am learning everyday) Swimming is an awesome workout.

Here are some of the benefits:
1) Improves your capacity- When you swim you are using your arms, legs, and lungs at the same time which in the long run improves your aerobic capacity

2) Strenghtens your heart – Swimming helps build your heart muscle which in turn allows it to pump blood at a faster rate

3) Building Muscle – Water is nature’s dumbbell. You have to try 12 times harder to move your body in water than on land which makes your body parts more powerful over time.

4) It’s safe –Swimming is one of the safest and cusioned forms of exercise. If you suffer from joint pain or if you are an athlete recovering from an injury. Swimming is a great way to rehabilate.

I checked out this website (click here) and if I put in my weight and the time I swam it calculates the amount of calories you burn (which was 430…no wonder I was tired) !! So now that it is warming up go outside, put on your googles, and to my sistas not on vacation put on your swim caps with No Apologies.


P.S. If you would like to donate to my charity (Team in Training) click here.

Team in Training is the sports charity division of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They raise millions of dollars each year ($60 million to be exact) for blood cancer research, education, and providing care to patients. If you are interested in joining Team in Trainin click here. They have a ton of events (bike rides, walks, hiking, marathons, and triathalons) all around the country. It’s for an awesome cause and you get to workout too so everybody wins!!!

Get The Dimples Out Of Your Booty!

We all have that one nagging flaw that is a bitch to get rid of. For me it would be my arch enemy, the dimples in my left butt cheek…Ughhh!!! They have really come down a lot since I started training and with time they will go away. It just irks me to no end that they still linger around. Mind you one of my BFF’s (Kindra) has the world’s most perfect azz. It’s round with not one dimple in sight and she doesn’t really workout… I can’t stand her!! But life is about playing the hand that you are dealt. I found doing leg lifts after my workout helps firm my butt and minimizes my dimples.

Starting Position
Position yourself on all floors on a even surface (or a slightly inclined one for a challenge).

Ending Position
Lift your right leg as high as possible and flex your foot. The longer your range of motion the tighter you booty will get. Repeat this on the other leg.

Perform the exerice at a good pace. Do not go too fast because your body will not get the full benefit.

I do 10 reps (3 sets) . Do not take a break in between sets. Do it straight through.

Exercise of the Week: Knee Raises

Ladies this is for the lower abs which you know is the hardest section to tone. Knee raises can be done at any gym that has a chin-up bar or other bar that supports your weight and from which you can safely hang without falling and injuring yourself. Chin-up bars are also available for home use--they're sold at many stores that carry sporting goods and gym equipment.


See below an example of me showing you how it's done. Enjoy!


Starting Position:

Ending Position:

I do three sets of 10 with a 10 second breaks in between.

Get those abs ready ladies, with no excuses and definitely No Apologies!

For more detailed information on knee raises, check this link.