Quick Summer Sprint Workout

This is an example of my days this summer:  Take 10 and 13 year olds to junior golf.  Go home, pick up 7 year old and drop at swim club for swim practice.  Run to store to buy randomly, because I didn't have time to make a list.  Pick up other boys from golf, run 10 year old to tennis practice.  Hang around until 7 year old practice is over, and then run 13 year old to literature class at school.  Go back to swim club to get 10 year old from tennis.  Go home, eat random lunch, go back to school to pick up 13 year old from literature class.....You get the picture!  When do you have time to workout?  Here is a quick, easy sprint workout that you can do on your street, or one street over from you so no one you know will see you.

1.  Start by jogging 5 minutes to your final destination as your warm up.  Stretch hamstrings thoroughly now that they are warm.
2.  Pace off a nice 50 yard dash for your self.  Like, from the ugly mailbox house to the Japanese Maple you love three houses down.
3.  On your mark, get set...GO!  Run really fast, but not your fastest sprint from ugly mailbox to Japanese Maple as a first attempt.  This should last for at least 30 seconds.  If not, you need to push your marker out to the blue recycle bin one more house down.  Turn around and walk back to start.  If you are wearing your heart rate monitor, your first attempt will probably not send you into your AT or Anaerobic Threshold.
4.  When you get to the end, turn around and walk back to the start, catching your breath for the next sprint.  Wait about 2-3 minutes between sprints.  Stretch your hammies again!  Keep moving around!
5.  Start your second sprint the same way, this time, push yourself almost to your limit for least 30 seconds.
6.  Repeat 6-8 more times, however, these last sets should be at an ALL OUT SPRINT - Yes, 6-8 more times.
7.  Walk on your jello legs back to your house under the cover of darkness to avoid being recognized!

There are many benefits to a Sprint Workout, including boosting your metabolism higher for many hours after this workout.  This means you will burn more calories than you normally would.  This type of interval training, can be more effective in the fat burning process for some people than regular, steady pace training, that we have all logged many hours doing on our treadmills and elliptical trainers.  This workout can also be effectively done on a stationary bike, elliptical trainer or swimming pool for those of you who can't run due to knee issues.

Good luck!

Kale Salad with Chicken - Recipe for Success!

Yummm!  This was lunch today.  Kale leaves massaged with olive oil, tomatoes, orange peppers, walnuts and chicken.  If you have never had a salad made strictly with kale, it is really easy to prepare.  Trim the leaves off of the hard stems, discarding the stems.  Chop the leaves to bite size and lightly coat with olive oil.  Take your just washed hands, and literally massage the olive oil into the kale leaves.  This process will soften the leaves without salting or steaming.  I usually let this set for a while to give the kale a chance to soften.  I added the veggies, walnuts and chicken last and drizzled with an additional spicy avocado vinaigrette.  This quick salad covers all of my bases for a complete meal:
1.  Clean carbohydrate - kale, peppers and tomatoes
2.  Lean protein - 5 oz diced chicken breast
3.  Olive oil and walnuts - healthy Omega-3 Fats

A recipe for success!

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Eat Good Food!

As a personal trainer, I spend a lot of time discussing food choices to assist those clients trying to lose weight.  I can't follow people around, looking in the their cupboards and refrigerators, but I can give some basic guidelines that most experts would agree are the basis for clean, healthy eating.  My hero, Dr. Oz, discusses many of the same principals on his show.  Most health and fitness industry experts would agree that in order to lose and maintain a healthy body weight, 75% of your effort should be focused on your diet, while the remaining 25% is efforts of your workout.  This means, you just can't just "work yourself out" to skinny and healthy!