Great Health & Fitness Christmas Gifts

It's that time of year again and time to think about gifts for your friends and family members.

If you are looking for health and fitness for gifts this Christmas, some of the following might be just what you are after.

LORNA JANE DIARY 2013  

I saw this on the Lorna Jane website and went into one of the stores to take a look. This Diary is great! It offers little hints in relation to health and fitness and has a page per day for the entire year! If you have trouble staying organised, I would recommend this Diary for sure.  I even thought about buying one for myself! :)



GYMBOSS TIMER

The Gymboss Interval Timer is one of the best things I have ever bought. It's perfect for all kinds of Interval Training. I use it for Tabata Training on a regular basis (usually incorporating my speed rope). I also use it when running (it beeps at me when I need to rest and beeps again when I need a reminder to move my ass!)

It can also be used as a Stopwatch and Countdown Timer. It's great for Crossfit WOD's, HIIT and more. It's small, and can be well secured to your waistband. It only needs one AAA Battery. I've had mine for a couple of years and the battery life is incredible!

Oh, and it comes in a range of cool colours. Of course, mine is Hot Pink :)

                                                                     

    

PEDOMETER

Ok, this is not your every day Pedometer, this is the Fitbit One Wireless Activity & Sleep Tracker. It tracks calories burned, steps taken and distance walked or run! It also tracks your sleep cycle!

You can sync all of the data to your computer where you will receive an insight into your health and habits. Cool huh? I'd be interested to see how well (or badly) I sleep each night. As a shift worker, it might be incredibly insightful :)

Fitbit shows you graphs, tools and charts which provide you with information to help understand your health and fitness. OMG! The more I read about this, the more I want one! I love cute techy stuff :)



IT STARTS WITH FOOD

This Book is very informative. So many people these days suffer from food allergies in one way or another. This book assists you with learning what types of foods are bothering you and helps you to relieve those symptoms. I followed their principles religiously for over three weeks with amazing results.



I'd been suffering from digestive issues for some time. It helped me to establish what was causing these problems. As a result, I have a much better idea of the foods I should be eating and the foods I should be avoiding.

Note, this is NOT a diet book! It encourages you to eat REAL food, not the stuff that is made to LOOK like food, ie packaged, processed crap!



JAMIE'S 15 MINUTE MEALS

I don't know about you, but I LOVE watching Jamie Oliver's show on TV. I have his 30 Minute Meals Book, it's pretty awesome. And I do like to cook (I like to eat even more). Jamie's 15 Minute Meals would be a great addition to anyone's cookbook collection.

VIBRAM FIVE FINGERS

I so want to try these, they look kinda embarrassing, but everyone I've spoken to swears that they are so comfortable to wear......

DEMON BELLS KETTLEBELL

OMG! Are these the coolest Kettlebells ever? I own one Kettlebell but I so WANT one of these. Nasty in a Artsy way. Love it!

So these are my recommendations for Christmas. Ok, let's be honest here, this is MY Christmas Wish List, all except the Gymboss Timer and "It Starts With Food", I already have both.

:)

Burpees - An exercise I Love to Hate

What is it about Burpees that makes most active people break out into a cold sweat? Burpees are one of the best fat burners out there! So why do we avoid them like the plague?

Burpees are a popular exercise within the Crossfit Community (of which I will totally advocate)  and also with Elite Military Forces for obvious reasons! Burpees can be performed anywhere; in your lounge room, bedroom, hotel room, on the balcony, in the bathroom..... no excuses!

THE BENEFITS OF A BURPEE
Burpees are the ultimate full body exercise!  When performed correctly, they burn fat, increase your heart rate, increase your strength and conditioning, and most of all, they are FREE - No equipment required! Your own body weight is all you need. But, beware, they are HARD!

THE ANATOMY OF A BURPEE

THE SQUAT  
Squat down and place your hands on the floor beside your feet.




THE THRUST
Using a powerful Hip Extension, thrust your feet back into a full plank position

THE PUSHUP

Drop down so that your chest and hips both touch the floor (Crossfit Burpee). Or you can do a regular pushup. You can omit the pushup if you are a raw beginner.



THE FORWARD JUMP
Jump your feet forward so you are in the squat position again.


THE VERTICAL JUMP
Jump up vertically as high as you can. Give a loud clap at the top, arms fully extended. Also known as giving yourself a much deserved round of applause.

This is just ONE rep! Continue performing reps as fast as possible without sacrificing form. Aim for 12 - 15 reps per 30 seconds.

I promise you, regular Burpee workouts will provide you with immediate positive results. I've currently set myself a challenge of performing 100 x Burpees per day. I WILL increase this as I increase my fitness!


To monitor your results, you can time your reps, e.g. how long to perform 100 x Burpees or count how many Burpees you can perform in 30 seconds etc. Keep a record and check your progress.

GREAT BURPEE CHALLENGES

100 x BURPEES
How fast can you perform 100 x Burpees? Keep a record. Can you improve on your last time?

30 SECOND CHALLENGE
How many Burpees can you perform in 30 seconds? Again, keep a record.

DESCENDING BURPEE LADDER
Start with 10 x reps, followed by 9 x reps etc until you reach 1 x rep. Record how long this took you. Try and improve.

NOTE:
Burpees were named as such by an American Physiologist Royal Huddleston Burpee, he earned a PHD in Applied Physiology at Columbia University in 1940 and created the "Burpee" exercise as part of his PHD thesis as a quick and simple way to assess fitness.

Personally, I think the guy was MAD!

:)

My Home Gym - Updated!

My Home Gym is always changing. As a shift worker, I find it increasingly difficult to commit to regular classes/sessions at a gym etc. Working out at home is easier and convenient. At least it means I have no excuse for NOT working out!

- Kettlebell - I've had "Brutus" for a few months now and really enjoy my workouts with him! Brutus is 8 kg which is a decent weight for beginners/intermediates. Suitable for swings, shoulder presses, snatches etc. But I will need to upgrade to a heavier one soon.

- Tennis Ball. A great tool for loosening up my Piriformis Muscle which is an ongoing problem for me. Rolling around on the tennis ball on the floor is incredibly painful sometimes but releases the knots in my Gluteals.



- Sandbag. I am loving my sandbag, especially if I can't make it to the gym for weight training. This is ideal for those home workouts. Fill with sand, kitty litter or gravel for a great full body workout. Suitable for squats, lunges etc. My plan is to tuck the empty bag into my backpack, jump on my bicycle, ride to the beach and fill my sandbag for a workout on the beach. Bring on the sunny weather!


- Foam Roller. Wow, I love my foam roller. It is an amazing tool for a warm up, a cool down and anything in between. It gets into all of the muscles and can hurt like hell! But I still swear by it for recovery. It's one of the best tools I have ever discovered!

- Medicine Ball. Awesome for planks, push ups and throwing against a wall. A Medicine Ball can do wonders for your core.

- Skipping Rope. I LOVE my skipping rope even more so now that I have a massive terrace to work out on. I love being outside in the sun and jumping my way to health! I'm quite proficient now at Double Unders! (passing the rope beneath your feet twice between ground contact).


- Fit Ball. I had a Fit Ball in the past but haven't had one for a while. I recently won one in a competition and can't wait to make use of it!

- Chin Up Bar. I recently bought my second chin up bar and have it set up in the doorway of the spare bedroom. I still have a LOT of work to do to be able to perform true chin ups let along pull ups, but at least I now have a chance to practice!

- Power Bands. One of the best items that can be packed away for travel. I use mine to assist with pull ups. Since injuring my collar bone and shoulder in a biking accident, these guys are helping me to increase my upper body strength. 

-Yoga Mat. Vital for my Yoga practice and stretches. I also love my mat for head-stand practice (I have a sensitive scull!)

There are still some items I would love to add to my home gym, a Box so I can perform Box Jumps, Elevated Lunges etc among others. I have an awesome outdoor space (a massive terrace which is unusual for a city apartment) that I love making use of in the summer months!

Speaking of which, I so CANNOT WAIT for summer! BRING IT ON!!

Tough Mudder 2012

OMG! I cannot believe it's almost April and I haven't posted in ages! Well, here's my news!

I am taking part in Tough Mudder (Melbourne) on Saturday, four days from now. I managed to blackmail, beg, brainwash ....... some guys I work with to join my "Team"! TOUGH MUDDY VIRGINS! We were a team of seven, now six, as one guy had to go Overseas for work!

Our first training session was "interesting". I took the guys through a Bootcamp style workout followed by a jog of the Tan, they were keen but made every excuse under the sun for future sessions, so I left them to take care of there own training! Did I push too hard? Probably!

Me? I took part in an introductory Crossfit session, and fell in love with this way of training. I am easily bored and Crossfit gives me a bunch of variety. I've been wanting to learn more about power lifting etc for ages!

As for my running? A disaster. My knees hurt so much. I attempted the C25K for about 4 weeks and found my knees were not recovering in time for my next session. So walking was the way to go for me.

So how will I survive Tough Mudder? I might not. But, you know what, I'll be happy to say:

 I've had a go, I did my best, I had some fun...... and see where I end up at the end of the day.

Wish me (and my team) lots of luck
:)

Oh and if anyone wants to come to Phillip Island on Saturday to support the TOUGH MUDDY VIRGINS, spectators can sign up online for $15 or $40 on the day. Bands, food and drinks available!

More info available here:

http://toughmudder.com.au/events/melbourne/

October Challenge - Sober October

Another month down and now we are in October! Where has the year gone?

This month my challenge will be to cut alcohol COMPLETELY for the entire month! OMG! Can I do it? I sure hope so. I think that I have been drinking far too much recently. I admit that I really look forward to days off work, mainly because it means I can have a drink! Does this make me an alcoholic? I sure hope not.

My poison of choice is generally Vodka. I like my vodka with a squeeze of lime and plain old soda. Not too bad you would think, no sugary additives etc. Except that I tend to have far too many of these.

So here goes, Dry October, Oc-Sober, Sob-Tober or whatever name it will go by....... wish me luck :(

September Challenge - Pedal Power!

Woops! We are almost half way through the month already. Time gets away doesn't it? Anyway, for the month of September I have been more physically and time challenged than ever.

In July I realised that my car Registration was due ($650 +) and was slightly short of cash! So I decided to wait another month before paying registration. So for the entire month of August I took to riding my bicycle everywhere.

I have an awesome Mountain Bike, but the last time I rode it was in the Great Victoria Bike Ride a couple of years ago. I had the worst back pain and had to pull out half way through. As I a result, I came to hate that bike! It's been in storage ever since. Then my brother got hold of a great bike from a work-mate who was going to throw it in the trash! I ended up inheriting this bike by default. I took to riding this bike (a freebie compared to my $1,000 plus bike) everywhere and came to love it!

So, without a car, I rode my bike to the Supermarket (small shops only) to the Post Office, to meet my Personal Trainer and everywhere else. Before I knew it, this bike riding became a habit! So, after realising that I can certainly live without a car, I sold it last month! (There was a tear in my eye when it drove out the garage, I'd had that little bomb of a car for 17 years! It served me well.)

Maybe this month isn't really a challenge, but it does mean more discipline. Keep an eye on the weather, ensure that the shopping list is not too big (or heavy) be sure to carry bike lights, check the tyres, carry a bike lock and more.

This also means no spur of the moment road trips :( and no big grocery shopping trips. No trips to Ikea or Bunnings, well I can still do this but have to think hard about what I do and don't need!

The upside of this is, more cash (insurance plus rego for one year was in excess of $1,000, add car servicing, petrol, Roadside Assist, parking costs etc, hardly worth spending the cash) I am loving getting out in the fresh air (albeit fresh city air) the additional exercise and sunshine!

August Challenge - Basic Gymnastics Moves

One thing I remember so vividly from my childhood was how much I LOVED gymnastics. I was lucky enough to be at a school where you could take elective classes such as Art, Sport etc. My choice EVERY term was Gymnastics. We had an awesome teacher (Jacko) and it was so much fun!

Sadly at the age of about 13 we moved towns, which meant a new school, and NO gymnastics. So I basically gave it up!

Fast forward almost 30 years (yes, I am approaching my 43rd birthday later this year). I have discovered Gold Medal Bodies! They are set to release their F1 Program which includes basic gymnastic floor skills.

So I have been following along and I cannot believe I can already do the following:

Tripod (Basic Headstand)
Tripod Extensions (Bent knee then Straddle, not so good at the Pike)
Cartwheel
Crow
Handstand (against a wall at this stage)

Little did I realise how heavily the Abdominals are incorporated in ALL of these moves. I have very weak Abs, of course I am working on strengthening them. Yeah, clearly I have forgotten so much from my previous training!

I am still pleasantly surprised that I can do ANY of these moves. I began only a week ago. I could immediately do the cartwheel, but the Tripod Headstand truly surprised me! I can do the Bent Knee, almost do the Pike, the Straddle was attempted and was successful only once! And I can even do the Crow (I have the bruises on my arms to prove it!)

Originally the wall was my crutch for the Tripod, I can now do this without the wall!

My challenge this month obviously is to continue improving with each of these moves. I have to say, I am so excited about this. It has been so much fun so far (and extremely challenging!)

And I am truly looking forward to the release of F1 in the near future!