Feelin' Glovely

Tired of your hands burning after holding weights or a rope?

Getting callouses on your hands?

Invest in a pair of workout gloves! The brand I use is Harbinger.

Barbell Squat

Main Muscle Worked: Quadriceps
Other Muscles: Calves, Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower Back

For more information: http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/barbell-squat

Deadlift

It may look intimidating or scary for a beginner, but follow the simple guidelines and you'll have it down in no time!

Proper form is key - without this, you can get injured, mess up your back, and you won't be getting the full benefit of the workout or working your muscles properly.

How to do a deadlift:
The deadlift is a great exercise to help develop the hamstrings and the lower back. The exercise is done by pulling the weight off of the floor and then standing with your legs straight and your shoulders back. To keep pressure off of your spine and lower back muscles it is important to keep your back straight.

You really want to concentrate on sitting back as if sitting in a chair when you are deadlifting. You want to get a good grip on the bar and can also use some straps to ensure your grip on the bar.

Once you have a reverse grip on the bar (one hand over, one hand under) you want to drive the weight from your heels through your legs.

In the down position you want to have your thighs parallel to the floor. You should have your knees directly over your feet. Make sure your knees aren't past your toes or behind your heels. You want to keep your butt low to the ground in the downward position.

If you have too much weight on the bar for you to handle a tale tell sign is that your back will be rounded. Make sure this doesn't happen or injury can occur.

In the next portion of the movement it is very important to execute the movement with power. You want to use your glutes and quads and explode the weight off of the floor. You want to think of the movement more as a push than a pull movement. Your lower body muscles should be doing the work, not your arms and traps.

(http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/weik30.htm)

What Does BPA Mean?

BPA stands for bisphenol A. BPA is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1960s.

Bisphenol A is used primarily to make plastics. Polycarbonate plastic, which is clear and nearly shatter-proof, is used to make a variety of common products including baby and water bottles, sports equipment, medical and dental devices, dental fillings and sealants, eyeglass lenses, CDs and DVDs, and household electronics. Epoxy resins containing bisphenol A are used as coatings on the inside of almost all food and beverage cans.

If you've noticed the little arrows stamped on plastic items with numbers inside, the number to look for here is 7. Although not all plastics labeled "7" contain BPA, it's still a good identifier, as are the letters "PC."

Until other companies follow suit or the FDA changes its stance, there are several steps you can take to limit your exposure. And yes, one of those steps is to replace your beat-up polycarbonate water bottle and to stop using polycarbonate containers to hold food and beverages. If you'd rather not buy new containers, at least make sure yours aren't scratched and that you wash them by hand - extreme heat and degradation          increase the likelihood of BPA leaching out.

Here are some other steps you can take, courtesy of the Green Guide Institute:

• Use glass baby bottles or switch to polypropylene bottles that are labeled "5" on the bottom.

• Limit your intake of canned foods or buy from makers who don't use BPA in the lining. (Eden Foods claims to use an alternative)

• Buy soups and milk that are packaged in cardboard cartons that are lined with the safer materials of aluminum and polyethylene.

• Buy or can your own fruits and vegetables in glass jars.

• Try to find out if your favorite winemaker uses vats lined with epoxy resin -- such wines can contain six times the BPA of canned foods.

If BPA turns out to be harmless to humans, at least you can say you're doing your part for the Earth.

As seen in picture two, refillable bottles save the environment! So make the switch from plastic water bottles to refillable BPA-free bottles.

French Fries Are Not Only Unhealthy - They Are Dangerous!

TBHQ is a petroleum-based, butane-like (yes, that's lighter fluid!) ingredient used as a preservative.  It's been linked to asthma, hormone disruption, skin conditions, and in long-term animal studies to cancer and damage to DNA.

They taste amazing, but just think what you are putting in your body before you indulge.

For more: http://www.undergroundhealth.com/mcdonalds-reveals-17-foul-ingredients-in-their-french-fries-including-gmos/


Chicken Nuggets aren't much better: http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/whats-inside-chicken-nuggets-far-less-chicken-than-youd-think/

Step Up!

 There are plenty variations to do the step exercise on a platform at the gym.  I use the ones to the right that offer a low, medium, and high platform. Personally, being 5'3" and a half (I always add that extra half! Why can't I be 5'4"!), the high platform is too high for me.  My routine is starting on the low platform at a fast pace with 8 lb. dumbbells. Use whatever weight you feel comfortable with.

I start off with a jog on the low platform, quickly shifting my feet up and down, while keeping the weights straight, the same way my arms would be facing as if I were running.

Once I complete that for a minute, I move onto the medium platform.  This one I approach at a slower pace, for it is harder to step up onto. I start off with bicep curls as I reach the top, then I use my opposite leg to step down. I then use the opposite leg I used to step up, and perform the same exercise for 8 reps.

I go back to the shorter platform and do the same exercise as previously for 30 seconds.

Then I go to the medium one and do the same thing with my legs, but squat while bending my arms with the weights in hand, and lift the weights above my head holding them vertically, then come back down and repeat 8 times.

Back to the short one for 30 seconds.

Up to the medium, putting one arm up, the opposite to the side, like an "L" formation.

Short platform for 30 seconds.

Medium platform while performing what the girl below is doing. Notice how her weights are horizontal.

Low platform for 45 seconds.

If you don't have a watch or don't want to check your phone because it slows you down, no problem. You can approximate the time lengths for the low platform exercise.

This is a calorie-blasting workout and works various body parts!

Some prefer to have a barbell on their backs while doing the step-up, which is also a great exercise.
The reason I don't do that is because I prefer to do squats on the ground with the barbell against my back and deadlifts. If you're a beginner, don't try the barbell on your back while doing the step-up right away. it is more dangerous.