Archives for September 2010

09/30

TRX time!

So it’s time for another round of Inner Strength Bootcamp! Which means there’s another round of TRX Bootcamp in the mix. For those of you that are joining us, (and those of you that just want one for yourself) I’m posting my afflilate link so you can check ’em out and get one today. And if you use the link, you get something special in return. Just sayin’.

p.s. my affiliate link takes you to their website, but it tells them that I sent you there. then they pat me on the back. it’s nice.
Don’t know what the TRX is? Well you should, because I never shut up about it. But just in case, here’s a quick video. AND I’M IN IT! If you care at all…
The TRX is a sweet exercise tool that fits in a little bag and can be hooked up to anything overhead that will hold your weight. If you travel a lot, it fits over a hotel room door. It can also go over tree branches or garage beams if you’re at home. So no excuses for not being to work out! And it’s WAY fun, much better than stupid, smelly, sweaty gym machines.
Make Your Body Your Machine!
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Filed Under: affiliate link, Fitness Anywhere, TRX
09/28

Book Buzz – I’ma read.


Sooo, I got a little Amazon-happy last week and ordered 5 books… Why would I order so many at once? Because I’ve been flying out of town every weekend. And I’m a flying scaredy cat, so I need distractions. And my wish-list has been growing. And ALL of them were under $10!

What did I get? Weeeeell, let me tell ya:

Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
Committed ‘A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage’
The sort-of-sequel to Eat,Pray,Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Instructions for Living Someone Else’s Life
by hilarious author, Mil Millington
and One Fifth Avenue
by Candace Bushnell
SCORE. I’m happy. And reading. Like, right now so I’m gonna put the computer away. I’ll let you all know how they turn out!!!
Photograph: Janis Christie. Photograph: Getty Images
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Filed Under: Book Buzz, reading
09/24

Tango Friday

I’ve seen a few dog posts this week and Tango got a bit jealous that he hasn’t had his own post… so I’m putting up the cutest shots of his (taken with my iPhone in moments of “aww, look at him”). Mostly of him sleeping, others of him waking up while I’m trying to catch him sleeping.

Enjoy:

This is him with his buddy, Zeke.
Laying with me on the floor.

Sleeping against the wall. Comfy.
“Mom let me in the bed! SCORE (don’t tell Dad).”

Head out of the kennel. Driving across country is tough.
“Mom likes laying in the sun. Me too.”
“I’m helping.”
Ear over the head. Tongue out of the mouth. SEXY BEAST.

“I’m trying to sleep and you’re taking photos? Again?”

Happy Friday everybody! Enjoy the weekend! I’m off to Michigan to teach another awesome group of trainers how to use the TRX! See you Monday!
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Filed Under: Friday, sleeping photos, Tango, TRX
09/23

Employment!

Conrad is once again employed! Yessss. My hubs got laid off in San Diego earlier this year. Bummer, but it helped make our decision to move to KY easier! (We’d been thinking about it prior…) He’s been busy making tables for our home (photos to come) and friends lately, but now he’s back to the daily grind, happily. Congrats, hubs!

Photo by 927 Photography. And yes, I will wear these photos from my engagement and wedding shoot OUT. Because they’re amazing. And because we never look like this when we take photos of ourselves. ; )
Happy Thursday everybody!
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Filed Under: Conrad, employment
09/22

Appreciate the little things…

“So when I took my jeans out of the dryer this week, I was able to put them on without having to hop around the entire bedroom. ” SCORE.
Remember that if you’ve started a new training/weight-loss program, keep in mind the little things, not just the number on the scale. For instance:
  • How your clothes might fit differently…
  • How you might have a bit more energy than you used to have…
  • How your skin might be clearer from eating more natural foods (if you’ve changed your eating habits)…
  • How you’re able to sleep a little better at night…
  • How you feel good about yourself because you’re doing something for YOU.
The quote above is what one of my clients told me this week! Victory. We’ve been training together for about 3 weeks now (this is the 4th), 3 days a week. She’s following food guidelines, she’s doing cardio on her own 3 days a week when we don’t meet, she’s listening to what I tell her, and she’s seeing RESULTS.
Try not to obsess over the scale. Weighing yourself every day isn’t going to make you feel any better about things. You might lose a pound one day and have it right back the next. (heck, you could lose a pound during a bowel movement… gross, I know. but it’s possible) And if you’re not 500lbs to begin with, you won’t be dropping a ton of weight at the beginning (like they do on The Biggest Loser) so don’t get freaked out if you only lose a pound a week, or every other week. That’s good! That’s progress. And you’re not gaining, so appreciate it!
The client I mentioned at the top hasn’t looked at a scale since we’ve started training. We’re going to do a 5 week assessment and see where we are then. So if you’re in the same boat, be patient. And appreciate the little positives that are happening to you because of the hard work you’re doing!
*image via this website
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Filed Under: Little things, personal training, scale, weight-loss
09/21

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the 2 FREE personal training sessions is…

BRENTHALS!
(either for himself, for his wife’s sake… or for his wife) YAY and congrats!
please e-mail me so we can get you/her started: fitwithflash@gmail.com
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09/20

My blog needs MY photos.

This post has NO photo today because I was in Beckley, West Virginia (teaching a TRX course) this weekend and it was absolutely GORGEOUS there, and I can’t find any photos online to do it justice.

*Sigh* It’s time that I break down and finally get a good camera so I can take my OWN photos without having to find some online or steal (with credit given) from others.
I’ve been wanting to get a good camera and start learning to shoot for some time now, especially since some of my good friends are insanely good photographers (i.e. Shelby, Ben, Jason, Troy). And since it seems every good, successful blog has beautiful photos. So now, I’ve got the urge to keep up with the the Joneses. Dangit.
So, Blogworld… who’s got good camera advice? I want something that’s NOT $10,000 and not so complicated to operate that I need a degree in photography to do so. If I can find something good soon, you will all be thanked by wonderful photos! And maybe some photos of exercises, and workout tips, and things such as this that I’ve been wanting to do since I started this blog (but haven’t done because it would have looked like POO with my old digital camera, that’s broken).
Gratzi!
p.s. It’s THE LAST DAY to enter the FREE personal training GIVEAWAY! Winner’s drawn tomorrow morning! Leave a comment to enter!
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Filed Under: blog, camera, photos
09/16

Know Your Number – HR Training Zones


Sooo, now that you’ve got a HR (heart rate) monitor (or do you?), you need to do 2 things.

1) Check yourself out because I bet you look as cool as that dude up there!
2) Find out where you should be training. To figure it out, here are the steps:
There are a bunch… bear with me. It doesn’t take that long. Grab a pencil and a calculator!

1) Find your maximum heart rate (220-age).
I’m 26 years old. 220-26= 194.
(There’s another method which is 206.9 – (.67 x age) but we’re going with 220-age for this)
2) Find your resting heart rate (find your pulse in the a.m. right when you wake up, before you get out of bed, or after you’ve been resting or immobile for a while. Count the beats for 1 minute)
My resting heart rate = 65 (beats per minute)
Using the Karvonen Formula we’ll find my training zones (% of max HR and HR reserve).
1) Max HR – Resting HR = HR Reserve
194-65= 129
2) HR Reserve x Low Training zone(65%) + Resting HR = Low End of Training Zone
129 x .65 + 65 =149 Beats per minute
3) HR Reserve x High Training zone (85%) + Resting HR = High End of Training Zone
129 x .85 = 65 = 175 Beats per minute
*If you don’t want to go through all the calulations manually, plug in your age and Resting HR at this website and it’ll do it for you!
SOOOO, what the heck does all that mean? It means that I need to stay in my training zone of 65%-85% of my max HR if I want to challenge myself appropriately.
Therefore, my HR needs to be between 149 and 175 (beats per minute) for me to improve. If it’s lower, I need to step it up, if it’s higher, I need to back it down.
To determine what training zone is best for you, determine where you are physically (e.g. beginner, regular exerciser, or athlete), then determine what kind of workout you’ll be doing (e.g. low intensity, high intensity).
Low Intensity – %60-%70 of Max HR
Medium – %70-%80 of Max HR
High – %80-%90 of Max HR
If you’re just beginning, you may want to use %55-%65 of your Max HR until you feel comfortable enough to step it up. This will keep you from over doing it (keeling over).
This article from The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) shows you everything you need to know about training with your heart rate monitor.
Happy Training!
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Filed Under: ACSM, Fitness, heart rate monitor, Karvonen Formula, training zones
09/15

Know Your Number

Not that number. Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about your heart rate!

Knowing what your heart rate is while training can be very helpful!

A) It lets you know if you’re working too hard, or not hard enough.
B) It tells you if you’re within your training zone or not.
C) The good ones will tell you how many calories you’re burning! SCORE.
Investing in a heart rate monitor is smart. They range in price from around $50 all the way up to $400. Now, you don’t necessarily need to buy one that costs the same as your car payment. I have the one above, the Polar FT7 and I love it. (Found it at REI for $109!) It tells you the time, has a stopwatch for your workout, tells you your max heart rate, training zone, and of course, your current heart rate. You can even register it with the Polar website to track all your workouts. You set it up with all your stats: age, height, weight, gender, etc. Then you go!
Look for other Polar Heart Rate Monitors at their website.
You don’t NEED a heart rate monitor, but if you’re getting ready to start a big program (i.e. training for an upcoming race, starting a workout program, beginning with a personal trainer) it’s a good idea to have this on hand to know how you’re doing, keep yourself in the right training zone, track your progress, and keep yourself safe while working out. (I’ll talk about training zones in the next post! )
Last night, on the way home from teaching bootcamp, I stopped in the park for a quick run. I didn’t want to take too much time so I ran the loop at the local park. Wearing the heart rate monitor I saw that my warm up, 2.1 mile run, and cool down took 24 minutes and I burned 300 calories. Not bad considering that took less time than watching a re-run of Friends (which I might have been doing instead of stopping by the park).
So if you’re thinking about your workout and wondering if you’re doing enough, grab a heart rate monitor and check it out. Questions? Send ’em my way.

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Filed Under: calories, heart rate monitor, Know Your Number, Polar
09/14

Giveaway!

FREE PERSONAL TRAINING!

Who wants to win 2 FREE Personal Training Sessions with me!? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Well you should, because they would normally cost you $130. AND you’ll learn great things that you can do on your own! AND you can ask me questions! I’ll answer them! : )

All you have to do is leave a comment below or email me at fitwithflash@gmail.com and tell me why you need/want these sessions. No need to write a book, just give me a couple sentences.
Contestants need to live in or around Louisville (sorry everybody else!) and must have the availability to complete these within two weeks. Make sure you leave me your email or other way to contact you! Entries must be received by midnight on Monday, September 20. Announced on Tuesday! Good luck!
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Filed Under: free, give away, Louisville, personal training
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