Tool Talk Thursday!

Well after an unplanned hiatus over spring break, Lighten Up Fitness is back and ready to inspire! So we'll dive right in with Tool Talk. Today's tool is the swiss ball.

So here's the scoop on why I love the swiss ball.

It's fantastic for improving core strength. All those stabilizer muscles get challenged to the max with a variety of different exercises. Try doing a crunch on the floor and then try it again on the ball, and you'll feel those deep muscles firing to keep you stabilized.

It's cheap. This is another piece of equipment you can pick up for your home gym for under $30.

It's a great multi-tasker. You can get a tough workout for you back, butt, abs, triceps, chest,  and back. Pretty much you name, you can tone it with the swiss ball.

It's useful for flexibility training. Not one that I use all the time in this area but the ball is quite effective in helping to stretch out the back, chest, abs, and obliques.

One thing to note is that you do want to get the correct size ball for your height.  Here are the sizing guidelines..

Height                                       Ball Size
4'8" - 5'5"                                 22 inches (55cm)
5'6" - 6'0"                                 26 inches (65cm)
over 6'0"                                   30 inches (75cm)

This coming week I'll have a few exercises on Move it Monday to make up for the past few weeks and be sure to look for the swiss ball!

Have a great day:)
Sarah    

Tool Talk Thursday! The chin up bar!

Happy Thursday everyone! I'm so sorry for the long hiatus. Life was crazy and now I've been down with the flu all week:( I'm heading to the walk-in clinic this morning to figure out if I have an ear infection as well. Honestly this year has been the year of bugs in the Bruneski household. I don't normally get hit by weird things so this has been quite humbling! Hopefully today's post will be coherent.

Our next tool of the trade that I encourage people to get is a chin up bar. For some reason this piece of metal is quite intimidating to the average female but most definitely has a lot of practical uses in the home gym. 

First of all there are a few different types of bars that you can purchase so let's go through them...

Up first, the door installed bar...

This is the type that I personally use at home. The main reason? I don't have standard doors in our house. These are great because they adjust well to wider or even narrower doors with ease. Very easy to install. Trust me, if I can do it so can you:) The flaw, it's always there so probably not something you'd put up between your dining room and kitchen door. These are best if you have a dedicated space to work out. Cost is approx: $30

Next is the portable bar. This is the one that's getting all the attention lately.

These are great because you can easily take them up or down, move them room to room or even bring them with you to a friends house. I have this one as well more for working with clients or using at bootcamps.  The only downside is if you don't have standard doors they aren't an option. There are a few companies that have extension pieces but check into that before purchasing. Cost is again around $30-$45.

Lastly is a wall mounted option.

This is great if you have a set aside workout area but honestly I would go with the other two first just to keep the integrity of your walls intact. The wall mount units when installed properly can also handle a heavier load then the door mount options.

So why do I love these? Well basically because they are so multi-functional. Besides chin ups and pull ups you can do ab work through hanging knee raises. You can also use the bar as an anchor for those wonderful resistance bands that I talked about a few weeks ago to perform exercises like lat pull downs, tricep press backs, chest flys etc... If you have the removable door mount pictured second you can also mount it lower in the door for further ab exercises as well as use it free standing on the floor for push-ups. 

Now many of you may already have a chin up bar at home but have been hesitant to use it and to this I say : Courage my Friends!  Pull out a stool for an assist and give it a go.  Use the stool or chair to help you bring your body weight up. Honestly getting a pull-up done is an upper body all over super blaster so don't discount this cost efficient piece of strength training equipment!

See you tomorrow!
Sarah

Tool Talk Thursday!

Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you're all finding yourselves nice and warm with this cold shot of weather:) So up until now I've told you about the few items that I believe are an absolute must for a home gym. From here on out we'll be exploring the various types of exercise equipment and the pros and cons of them.  So today we're focusing on...

Resistance Tubing



So what's the deal with these things? Pictured above are resistance tubes but you can also find resistance bands which are skinny and flat with no handles.

What's to like...

Resistance bands and tubes are great for home but even better for travelling. If you're going to be away for a few days, they add easily into your suitcase.

You can essentially do any exercise with tubes that you'd find at a gym or with dumbells.

They're cheap! Costing an average of about $20.

They're durable.

They are useful not only for strength training but also in flexibility training.

They offer a different resistance from dumbell training which leads to the supporting muscles working harder.

Some things to consider...

Because the resistance feels different from lifting a traditional dumbell it does take some getting used to. Take the time to learn how to use them properly. I also find that when using them, you really have to be aware of your wrist positioning. It seems much harder to keep proper alignment than it does with a dumbell.  You also need to check them regularly for wear and tear. This is more an issue with the bands over the tubes. Even a pinhole tear can cause them to snap which could lead to an injury.  But as long as you make sure to check them out, they are perfectly safe.

Bottom Line:

I have them and I particularly like them for working the back and shoulders, two areas that are difficult to target with body weight exercises alone. They're also fun to double up with a dumbell in various exercises.  So if you have no other resistance equipment in your home gym, these are a great first piece to start off with.

Have a great day and see you tomorrow for Foodie Friday!

Sarah

Move It Monday!

It's snowing! It's snowing! Okay so it probably won't stick but I LOVE the snow. It brings such a sense on serenity to the day, and seeing as it's so rare around here, you have to enjoy it while it lasts. I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to learn a fabulous exercise using our trusty chairs! Today's exercise is a multi-joint lower leg and cardio attack. For those of you who find the chair to challenging, you can substitute a stair or stool. So here we go....

Step up, High Knee, and Lunge Combo!

Take a step up with your right leg

 When you get to the top, drive your left knee up like pictured

 Step back down onto your left leg and immediately swing your right leg down into a reverse lunge

 This is your finish position. It will take a few times to get the rhythm but once you do you'll be flying:)

 From the lunge position swing that right leg back into a step up. Repeat this sequence 15 times on the Right leg and then repeat 15 times on the left.

Clear as mud? 

Son now, get your running shoes on, do the move of the day, have a quick stretch, relax with a cup of tea and watch the snow fall before it's too late:)

Sarah

Foodie Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! The sun is shining, it's a pro-d day and the kids are having quiet time. Life doesn't get much better. Today I'm sharing a recipe that just got tested this morning. It's been approved by the Bruneski kids so I'm sure it will be a hit in your home as well. These muffins are a perfect healthy snack and with the quinoa, they're protein filled. I love that the recipe makes just 12 so they won't go stale before they get gobbled up. This recipe comes from the Quinoa 365 The Everyday Superfood. I picked it up at Costco. I adapted is slightly so here you go!

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Ingredients

1/4 cup quinoa

1 cup of whole wheat flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup of brown sugar packed (I used sucarut)

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1/2 cup plain yogurt (of course greek for me!)

1 large egg

1 cup of mashed ripe banana about 2 medium

1 cup of frozen diced strawberries

The bakers

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place quinoa and water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off burner but keep pot on it with lid on for an additional 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add cooled quinoa to the mixture and stir until combined

In another bowl, combine oil and brown sugar. Mix in the yogurt, egg and vanilla.

Mash banana with a fork and add to wet mixture. Add the diced strawberries to the flour mixture. Pour into wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Place batter into lined muffin tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes. I gave it a few extra:)

Enjoy a fantastic snack!

Have a wonderful Sunny day!

Sarah



Move It Monday!

Well I'm sad to say that I was hit by a bug this past weekend and am just now getting around to posting this weeks Move It Monday article.  As promised though, the next few weeks will be focusing on exercises using your dining room or office chair.  So today we're going to start off with the Tricep Dip! There's no need to have a fancy dip station in order to get killer triceps. As long as you use proper form, you can get amazing results with just your own body weight and a chair.

So first things first. Always begin with your legs in towards your body as shown in the first picture. This is the easier option. Make sure that your butt and back are no more than an inch away from the seat of your chair.

Lower your body towards the ground while bending at the elbows. Make sure that your arms elbows are going straight back and not chicken winging to the sides:)  Stop when your upper arm is approximately parallel with the ground. If you can't make it that far, lower only as far as your ability to come back up. 

 As you progress, slowly start to walk your legs out until you can handle them fully extended like so... This is very challenging and if in the beginning you can only do a few, don't be discouraged just do your best and modify back down to the first position.

 Again when you lower you are almost to the ground with your upper arms parallel to the floor. 

So start with 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps and you'll have well defined triceps in no time flat!

Have a great night, and check back for tool talk thursday!

Sarah

Foodie Friday!

Good Evening all! I hope today has gone well for you. I just finished and passed my group fitness module through BCPRA so am pretty pumped about that! With Valentines approaching this coming week I thought I'd share and easy, healthy, and kid friendly recipe. I like this one because you are pretty much guaranteed to have the ingredients on hand. This recipe comes from a soup cookbook I picked up at Costco but I did make a few variations...

Carrot and Apple Soup

Ingredients:

2 lbs of carrots peeled and roughly chopped

3 stalks of celery chopped

1 large onion diced

3 apples cored and sliced

4 cups of vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp tomato paste

Juice of half a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot saute carrots, celery, and onion with a swirl of olive oil until onions are soft.

Add vegetable stock, two of the apples, bay leaf, and tomato paste.

Bring to a simmer and let simmer on low for 20 minutes until carrots and apples are completely cooked.

In the meantime place remaining apple slices into a skillet and add a tbsp or so of lemon juice over them. Heat until just soft and set aside.

Remove bay leaf and discard.

Puree the soup in batches. When soup is smooth, ladle into bowls and top with the warm apple slices.

Enjoy!

Sarah