Fitness Tip of the Day: Something Different Saturday - Barre Workout

Ballet dancers have such incredibly fit bodies.  Their muscles are long and lean.  Pilates is great for core strength and a barre workout is great for the legs.

You don't have to have a ballet bar to do this workout, you can use a high backed chair instead.  There is no warm up or cool down provided.  

Couple of notes: 

--Do regular pushups (don't try to hook your legs on the chair), you could, however, place your feet on the seat of the chair--keep in mind this is much harder.

--When doing the ab work, sit on the chair and hold onto the sides of the chair.  Move your legs the same way as they do in the video.

--When they do the pull ups, do tricep dips instead.

--Lastly when they are laying on their backs, place your legs on the seat of the chair.

Ultimate 20 minute Barre Workout

Fitness Tip of the Day: Friday Facts and Findings -- How to Live to Be 100

Today's article was posted last week on facebook via IdeaFit.  The article is from MindBodyGreen.com and is written by cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn.  I don't know if I want to live to be 100, but if I do, I want to do so in the most healthy way that I can.

How to Live to be 100--a Cardiologist Explains

Surprisingly, one thing that I was only briefly mentioned was to laugh.  Laughing helps relieve physical tension and stress which thereby relaxes your entire body.  This decrease in stress hormones, along with an increase in immune cells and infection fighting antibodies, also helps to boost the immune system.  It triggers the release of endorphins (which are your body's natural feel good chemicals), and improves mood.  These are just a few of the health benefits to laughing.  Maybe I'll post a future article dedicated to this topic.

Are there any specific topics that you are interested in?  If so, add a comment here, or on my facebook page.

Fitness Tip of the Day: Thursday Total Body -- 40-Minute Full Body Workout from fitsugar

Today's workout comes from FitSugar and is a 40 minute full body workout.  You will need a set of weights 5-8 lbs.  If you don't have weights by now, I'd really suggest getting a pair--start with 5 lbs and go up from there when you are ready.

Another option is adjustable dumbbells.  You can change the total weight by adding or subtracting plates (pictured).  These can be adjusted from a starting weight of anywhere from 3-5 lbs to usually 10-25 lbs (per dumbbell).  These are more costly, but in the long run may save you money if you have to keep buying heavier weights.