alicia – Page 18 – Alicia Bell IFBB Pro and Online Coach

Try This Push Up Burpee Heisman Circuit - Train It Right

Warm Up for 5 minutes (easy jog, brisk walk or on any machine of choice)
Push hard for 30 seconds of the circuit
Recover for 10 seconds
Repeat 8x
Cool down 5 minutes
Stretch 5 minutes. Hold each stretch for a minimum of 30 seconds

For more tips and workouts follow me on twitter @trainitright

Why do you get sore the day after your workout? What causes you to feel stiff and and unable to walk up the stairs? No, you are not injured. The soreness that you are feeling is called DOMS and stands for delayed onset muscle soreness. It can be mild to severe and everyone can be effected by it. Do not be afraid to exercise when you feel it because the more you move the quicker it will go away. Muscle soreness is most commonly felt when you begin a new workout program, change your current routine, or increase the intensityof your workouts. DOMS is caused by microscopic tears in the muscle which creates build up of lactic acid in the muscles causing them to become stiff and tight.

There are lots of methods that you can use to reduce the discomfortof DOMS. People often use static stretching, massage, cardio, epsom salts, or ice baths. You can prevent DOMS from being so severe by doing a proper dynamic warm-up rather than jumping into your workout cold. Make sure to always start with light cardio for 5-10 minutes before your workout. Prior to exercise use a foam roller to roll out your muscles. It is also recommended to cool down with light cardio followed by static stretching. A stretch should be held for a minimum of 30 seconds. Make sure to alter workout intensities each day in order to allow for proper recovery.

Follow Alicia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/trainitright

Got An Exercise Ball? Try This Workout

Working out is challenging. Sometimes getting to the gym can be challenging, and if we workout on our own we don’t get that extra push that a personal trainer or an exercise class would give us. Do you have an old dusty exercise ball that you have had sitting around for months but havent touched? If you have an exercise ball at home here is a free DVD that you can follow. There are beginner, intermediate and advanced options for all of the exercises. This video was shot with Zenzation/Pur Athletics some time ago. It was a learning experience. Go check it out! #trainitright

Check out the Heart Not Hype Campaign from 2Xu. You could win a trip to California!

3 Steps To Help You Grocery Shop

Take grocery shopping into your own hands. The following three steps will help you to properly navigate your way through the grocery store in order to support your healthy lifestyle, avoid diet sabotage, and impress your family or the significant other in your life. Carry these tips in this article before you make your next trip to the grocery store and remember to never go grocery shopping if you are hungry.

STEP 1: THE SHOPPING LIST

Before heading to the grocery store prepare a comprehensive weekly shopping list. I recommend sitting down on a Sunday to plan out your main meals for the week, from there you can create a shopping list of all the ingredients/items you will need to make your healthy meals. You can do this on a scrap paper, in a notebook, iphone or blackberry.

Having a list will help you stay focused in the grocery store and avoid picking up “temptation items” that can be detrimental to your healthy, clean eating diet. Lastly, remember to stick to the main rule: IF IT’S NOT ON THE LIST KEEP IT OUT OF THE CART! That meals not even an extra candy bar at the counter. Sticking to the list also helps you stay within your budget.

STEP 2: THE GROCERY STORE

For the majority of your food items you will only need to stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. Processed foods and foods that contain sugar and startch are what is normally found in the aisles. Along the perimeter is where the fruits, veggies, meats, dairy, and whole grains can be found. You can venture into the aisles for food items like flax seeds, oatmeal, cooking oils, spices, or whole grains.

STEP 3: READING LABELS

Reading food labels can be very confusing and most people don’t really know what to look for. Avoid foods with: Trans fats, long ingredient lists with lots of artificial ingredients and added chemicals, unhealthy additional sugars such as sucrose, glucose, sugar, maltodextrin, corn syrup etc. Do not believe everything you read because occasionally food labels make claims to trick you into thinking they are the healthy choice when they truly aren’t. Watch out for statements that include claims like “no added sugar”, “contains real fruit”, “all natural”, “fat free”, “low carb”, “high protein”. Be aware and investigate these claims by checking nutrition labels and ingredient lists. These claims are made in order to deceive people into buying it so don’t fall into their trickery so always double check.

Follow Alicia on twitter.

Hey guys! As most of you know I am an official Global Ambassador for Footmark Bags!

They are having a sale on the contender bag amongst other sales! Check it out!

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life

My friend and Photographer, Katherine Kerr, had a question that many of you have, whist with a little twist. “How do I find time to go to the gym?” I’ll use this analogy to emphasize the necessity of having a Personal Trainer and not just any trainer. You really need an educated, knowledgeable trainer to help you get there.

Kat, formally a varsity athlete, a martial artist and dancer moved into the work world, and far from her team and training masters. Now, trying to balance her career and love for fitness, she asked me her pertinent question about finding time for the gym. While this is a prevalent question for trainers, keep in mind this question was coming from a person who was still training Capoeira five times a week, grabbing conditioning and yoga classes, time permitting, and jogging for fun. This is where the familiar complaint of balancing work and health takes it twist. Kat just wanted a few extra days to build strength balance her other fitness activities.

In the words of Confucius, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. You can probably see where this story is going. Herein, I told her ‘Kat, have you ever thought about being a trainer, because your life is what we do as a profession.’ She did, of course, need some fine tuning to take her fitness aptitude and turn it into an informed career. But don’t get excited and think I’m in any way suggesting that you become a trainer. The purpose of this story goes to show just how dedicated to health and fitness the life of a Personal Trainer is.

There are two points I want to make. First, with a good trainer you can find direction to balance your goals and what you like to do for exercise. Second, get a good trainer. They will be the driving force, organization and motivation behind your success.

I used Kat as an example of someone I took on to help train to be a trainer because she was already eating, living and breathing fitness. She spent her non-work hours conditioning and eating like a health guru and herein, I saw a bit of myself. Not all, but a bit. Myself, an Olympic qualifier, track and field participant and coach (including my plethora of hard earned certificates therein), Bachelor of Science major with a focus in Kinesiology and I was living the life of a trainer before I officially became a trainer. This also goes to show that even trainers need trainers. As I was a more advanced and qualified fitness professional at that stage of my training career when I met Kat, the solution seemed obvious. If Kat wants to live and breathe fitness similar to when she was on her university Rugby team and training martial arts she needs to be paid to be in a gym.

Personal Training is not for everyone but getting a good trainer is the key element to success. I can’t stress this enough. Even Jackie Chan has a teacher, and if you’re not one of us, already living the disciplined life of no sugar, no alcohol, no white bread/rice, 6 day a week balanced fitness regime like my prototype here, with the mental calorie in calorie out counter and know how to exercise with form… then you need a good trainer. If you don’t also already have a periodization exercise plan catered to the functional output, balancing and grouping muscle groups from big to small, and I could go on, then you need the guidance of a trainer. If you’re not already doing a week of interval training to combat a weekend in Vegas then you need a trainer.

The pressure of being a trainer is intense as you cannot only talk the talk you have to walk the walk. This can be as simple as being able to demonstrate exercise for a particular muscle group to as complicated as being a walking business card; the physical embodiment of what a fit person should look like. But let’s break this down a little, there is a reason trainers can keep up the image of being trainers. We love it! You don’t in anyway need to have the intense lifestyle Kat had when I met her. You need to leave all the worrying to the experts and know that those of us who can help you meet your goals no matter how big or how small are already living the dream, working, studying and practicing.

All you need to know is the time you’re ready for us!

5 Ways To Get Fit

Regularly changing your workout routine is a must if you hope to continue your weight loss or to increase your fitness level. This can be done by having a properly structured fitness program. The program should continually evolve to account for your progress and not to mention keep you interested in going to the gym.

Follow these tips to help increase your fitness:

1. You don’t always need to swap each exercise for new ones. If you like lat pull downs, by all means, keep doing it. Just try switching between eight to ten repetitions at your maximum capacity to as many as fifteen or twenty repetitions at a lighter weight to increase muscular endurance, strength or overall fitness.

2. Don’t be afraid to try something completely new, like kettlebells, balance boards or a TRX suspension training. If you are unsure of how to use the equipment don’t be afraid to ask a trainer, gym attendant or a friend.

3. Changing the number of days you workout or the types of workouts you perform on certain days. For example, many perform whole-body routines, which should be completed at least twice weekly. You could try a split routine that targets half your body during each of two alternating workouts. By utilizing a split, you can perform twice as many exercises per body part during your sessions.

4. Workout routines can be sport specific or activity specific as well. After all you don’t use the same muscles in the same ways in tennis as you do in cycling. Research the movements of your activity and incorporate beneficial exercises accordingly.

5. Finally remember to change your gym routine at least every four to six weeks and if you are unsure how to do this try getting a certified personal trainer to help you.

Follow Alicia on Twitter

Your Sleep Patterns May Be Preventing You From Weight Loss

Did you know that your sleep patterns can effect weight loss and can even cause weight gain? Lack of sleep may increase your appetite, effect your metabolism, and cause weight gain. Follow these steps for sleep and nutrition to help you with your weight loss battles.

1) Try to get six to eight hours of sleep a night. Less than this has been linked to a slower metabolism and weight gain.

2) If you are restless and need better sleep eat foods high in tryptophan at night. Tryptophan acts as a natural sedative and is used in your body to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter best known for calming your body and making you sleepy. Foods like this cause what we know as (the itis) and include turkey, lentals and whole grains. Eat these with a carbohydrate source such as brown rice, broccoli, milk or honey. This works because in order for tryptophan to be used, it has to make its way to the brain. When you eat carbs, insulin is released, which transports competing amino acids into your muscle tissue and it then leaves tryptophan alone, so it can make its way to your brain.

3) Don’t drink caffeinated beverages late in the day because it will effect your sleep pattern and ability to fall asleep at night.

4) Don’t drink a lot of liquid late at night. This will cause interrupted sleep to use the bathroom.

5) Give tea a try. Chamomile tea is a natural sedative and can help you fall asleep at night.all asleep with ease.

So the next time you are having problems losing weight make sure to check your diet because it could be causing irregular sleeping patterns and in turn your ability to lose weight.

Follow Alicia on twitter

How To Eat

Everyone is attracted to something different in a partner. On average women want a man that is not too skinny and not too big. We all want someone who is healthy and takes care of their body not just in the gym but at home with food choices. A perfect mate isn’t 100 pounds and definitely isn’t a 300 pound muscular superhero. There is a balance.

Remember to lose or gain weight you must eat more. Most people only eat two to three big meals a day. Male or female youneed to eat more often to be healthy and have the body that you want. However, it is important that you make your food clean and healthy for both healthy weight loss and weight gain.

Follow these ten tips for successful clean eating for your perfect body:

1. Eat five to six small meals a day. If you eat less your body may be a risk for malnutrition, diabetes or it can even cause weight gain in the form of fat storage.

2. Never skip a meal. When you skip a meal your body goes into starvation mode and tends to store fat in unwanted places. If you eat frequently (i.e five to six small meals) your body stays constant and does not go into starvation mode and store fat.

3. Combine lean protein and complex carbs every meal. Make sure to include dark green veggies in every meal as well. Remember that variety is the spice of life and having variety at each meal is very important.

4. Avoid sugars and processed foods, refined sugars, and white breads. The best way to do this is try and shop along the outside aisles of a grocery store and avoid the middle (and the candy store). Alcohol is also included in the avoidances. A lot of alcohols are high in sugar and calories especially if you mix them so make sure to always avoid cola’s and juices.

5. Drink plenty of water. On average you should be drinking at least two litres a day or 8 glasses of water. However, if you are active or out in the sun for long periods of time you should be drinking even more.

6. Take a daily vitamin. It helps with nutrient absorption and that will help you digest your clean diet properly.

7. Avoid fried foods and saturated fats. These are high in trans fat and will cause you to gain weight and store fat instead of build lean muscle.

8. Take a daily dose of Omega 3. There are many health benefits of omega 3 fatty acids. They can boost heart health and lower triglycerides. Omega 3’s also help with rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and many more.

9. Prepare your meals beforehand. Try making your meals on Sunday night for the rest of the week. If you fail to plan you have planned to fail. Make sure that you have lots of tupperware on hand for your meals, label them for the different days and refrigerate them until you need them.

10. When choosing a protein make sure to chose a lean meat such as chicken, turkey, fish or lean ground beef. If there is excess fat on your cut of meat simply cut it off. Avoid seasonings for your meat that contain sodium and cook with olive oil or coconut oil instead of using fattening butter.

These ten tips if followed properly will guarantee success in your search for the perfect diet for the perfect body that women want. However, it will only be successful if you are exercising regularly. So hit that gym, plan your meals and eat a variety of clean planned and prepared meals.

3 Steps To Help You Grocery Shop

5 Ways To Get Fit

How To Eat

TRAIN IT RIGHT NEWSLETTER