Just J.Faye

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The Fit 5: Balance Training

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It only seems fitting that I should post my next “The Fit 5” on 05.05.15. Really, it was pure coincidence, but the stars must be aligned today.

Today, on this day full of 5s, we’re going to learn about balance.

The Fit 5: Balance

Balance is important in many aspects -> balancing work and life, balancing healthy eating with a few indulgences, balancing running with cross training, balancing introvert time with social activities, balancing on one foot… it’s all important.

I’m better at some of these than others. I’m not going to say which ones.

For this post specifically I’m going to talk about balance training for you body – what it means, why it’s important, and how we can incorporate more of it in our lives.

Let’s kick it off with 5 Fit Facts about balance:

The Fit 5: Balance

Based on all of those facts, you can see why it is important to incorporate some balance training in your exercise routine. You can start out with something as simple as balancing on one leg for 30 seconds. Once you have that mastered try to master it on a half foam roll, then a wobble board, and eventually a bosu ball. This could take weeks (or months!) to progress through, but by progressing slowly and properly you will be increasing your neuromuscular efficiency and the strength in your stabilizer muscles.

Besides standing on one leg, here are some other balance exercises that you can add into your routine:

The Fit 5: Balance

You will notice that a lot of these exercises mention to “hold for a few seconds” before continuing with movement. This is where you are really going to challenge your balance. Make sure to engage your muscles and focus on stabilizing your body before moving on.

You can add 1 or 2 of these exercises before/during/after your normal strength training routine. You could also make an entire workout just focused on your balance by cycling through these in a circuit.

Don’t forget to check out the other The Fit 5 posts: shoulders, biceps, triceps, and chest!

Another way that you can train your balance today is by ditching the chips and dip veggies into your guac instead… while you enjoy a margarita – happy Cinco de Mayo!

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30-Minute Run + Strength Workout

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A couple of months ago I posted this 30-Minute Run and Strength Workout and today I decided to post something similar.

Maybe because I was feeling a lack of creativity or maybeeee because I wanted to give you a similar, but different option to run and work your little heart out.

I’ll let you form your own opinion of my motives. Whatever side you take, you should still continue to read and check out this workout. It’s a good one, just like the original.

30 Min Run + Strength Workout I love workouts that switch between cardio and strength training, because the variety really makes the workout fly by. Plus, it’s only 30 minutes, it works all your major muscle groups, it gives you a cardio workout, and the only equipment you need is a treadmill, a set of dumbbells, and a mat.

However, you could totally do this without equipment: run outside instead of on the treadmill, use your bodyweight instead of dumbbells, and lie on the grass instead of a mat.

And hey, if you enjoy it so much, there’s no need to stop! Repeat it one more time for an awesome workout in less than 60 minutes.

You wouldn’t need to warm up, cool down, and stretch twice, but you already knew that, didn’t you?

Here’s the plan:

30 Min Run + Strength Workout

Take the warm up run nice and easy. The warm up is truly about getting your body prepped for exercise. I usually start out walking at 3.5 mph and then increase by .5 -1.0 mph every minute until I’m running at my “easy” pace. Sometimes I’ll extend the warm up to 8 minutes, because it’s very enjoyable to me. There’s no need to start off sprinting. It’s not going to do your body any good.

After the warm up, interpret the “run” pieces however you like. Perhaps you want to keep it at an easy jog or maybe you want to speed walk. That’s great. Maybe you want to do it at your “tempo” or “marathon” pace. That’s cool too. Or maybe you are taking the day off from running, so you want to elliptical or bike or row instead. That’s legit.

Basically, do what you are in the mood for. Challenge yourself, make yourself work hard, increase your heart rate, but still make it enjoyable for you.

Ok, the exercise cues:

  • Squat to Side Kick: Stand with feet hip distance apart, toes facing forward. Lower down into a squat until thighs are parallel to the floor, making sure to keep your knees behind your toes. As you rise up kick your right foot out to the side. Lower back to a squat. Continue and alternate legs.
  • Push-Up to Side Plank: Start in a plank position with hands directly below your shoulders and your body in a straight line from head to heels. Lower down into a push-up. As your raise your body back up, rotate your body to the right side so that you are in a side plank with your right arm extended in the air. Return to plank position. Continue and alternate sides.
  • Heel Touches: Lie on your back on top of a mat with your knees bent and your arms along your sides. Raise your shoulder blades and neck off of the mat. Reach your right arm to your right heel then your left arm to your left heel. This is one rep. Continue.
  • Lunges with Biceps Curls: With a set of dumbbells, stand with your feet facing forward and take a step forward with your left foot. Lower into a lunge, making sure that your left knee does not go past your left toe. Both knees should be just around a 90-degree angle. As your rise up, curl the dumbbells up to shoulder level keeping your elbows at your sides. Lower back down into a lunge while also lowering the dumbbells. Complete all reps then switch sides.
  • Triceps Extensions with Calf Raises: Stand holding a pair of dumbbells. Lift the dumbbells up overhead. Keeping your biceps close to your ears lower the dumbbells back until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. This is starting position. Keeping your forearms still raise the dumbbells back up over your head. While you do this also rise up onto your toes. Lower your heels and the dumbbells down to starting position. Continue.
  • Side Plank with Hip Dips: Start in forearm side plank on your right side with your right elbow directly below your shoulder and your body in a straight line from left shoulder to your feet. Using your side obliques, lower your hip down then raise it back up. Your upper body should remain still. This is one rep. Complete all reps then switch to your left side.
  • Sumo Squat with Shoulder Press: Holding a pair of dumbbells, stand with your feet slight wider than hip distance apart, toes pointing out to the side. Put your dumbbells at shoulder level and lower into a squat. As your rise, press your dumbbells up overhead until your arms are fully extended. Lower back down to a squat while also lowering your arms to shoulder level. This is one rep.
  • Bent-Over Rows: With a dumbbell in your left hand, kneel over the side of a bench with your right arm and right knee on the bench and a straight back. Raise the dumbbell up to your side until it reaches your ribs. Lower back down until arm is fully extended. Complete all reps then switch to the opposite side.
  • Leg Lifts: Lie on your back on top of a mat. Raise your legs straight up in the air. Slowly lower your legs back down until your heels are 1-inch away from the ground. Continue and make sure to keep you arms and shoulder blades flat on the mat.

And there you have it – another fantastic run and strength workout in 30-minutes.

Don’t forget to stretch!!

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Plank-Less Ab Workout

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I had a request to post a plank-less ab workout. So, here it is!

Plank-Less Ab Workout

My aunt Linda has been doing a “Just J.Faye Challenge”. Since the beginning of April she has been doing a Just J.Faye workout everyday. This was totally her idea to do and it made me super happy when she told me. So far she has done the burpee run, superset tabata clover, jumping jack circuit, 5-4-3-2-1 variety speed, stair workout, fartlek run, 20-minute plyo tabata, and the 10-10-10 lower body workout. She has also been posting comments about her experience with the workout. How fun is that?! You are welcome to do the same 🙂

A week or so ago she got tendonitis in her shoulders and is required to lay off on the shoulder/upper body exercises for the next few weeks. Major bummer. Although there are still a lot of things you can do with a shoulder injury, it still puts a damper on things.

Planks are not one of those things you can do with a shoulder injury. Technically, you probably can, you just shouldn’t. Heal first. Plank later.

Since a lot of my workouts include planks – because I love them! – she asked if I could put together an ab workout that avoided them. My response: of course!

This workout is a bodyweight, plank-less ab routine. All you need is a mat and the willingness to feel your abs burn.

This is what we’ll do:

Plank-Less Ab Workout

This mix of ab exercises hit your front and lower abs as well as your obliques. I know that “plank-less” sounds similar to “painless”, but I guarantee you that this will not be painless. You should really feel your abs burning. This is good pain that is making your body stronger!

Here are the exercise cues:

  • Crunches: Lie on your back on top of a mat with your knees bent and your hands behind your ears with your elbows straight out. Keeping your neck straight, engage your core and raise your shoulder blades up off of the mat. Lower back down. Continue.
  • Russian Twists: Sit on a mat with your knees bent, your torso at a 45-degree angle to the mat, and your fists in front of you. Twist your torso to one side, then twist to the other. This is one rep. Continue and make sure to keep from twisting your legs. To progress: hold a weight in your hands and/or raise your feet a few inches off of the ground.
  • Leg Lifts: Lie on your back on top of a mat. Raise your legs straight up in the air. Slowly lower your legs back down until your heels are 1-inch away from the ground. Continue and make sure to keep you arms and shoulder blades flat on the mat. You should feel this in your lower abs.
  • V-Ups: Lie on your back on top of a mat with your arms outstretched overhead. While you raise your legs straight up in the air, simultaneously raise your arms up to reach your toes. Lower arms and legs back down until they are 1-inch away from the ground. Continue.
  • Heel Touches: Lie on your back on top of a mat with your knees bent and your arms along your sides. Raise your shoulder blades and neck off of the mat. Reach your right arm to your right heel then your left arm to your left heel, focusing on your obliques. This is one rep. Continue.
  • Flutter Kicks: Lie on your back on the top of a mat with your arms along your sides. Raise your legs up about 6 inches off of the ground. As one leg kicks up the other should go down, like a scissors. Continue by making small, rapid movements. Kicking up your right leg then kicking up your left leg is one rep.
  • Toe Touches: Lie on your back on top of a mat. Raise your legs straight up in the air with your knees slightly bent. Reach your arms up to touch your toes, making sure to use your core to raise your shoulder blades off of the mat. Lower back down to the mat. Continue.
  • Bicycle Crunches: Lie on your back on top of a mat. Raise your knees up to about a 45-degree angle. With your arms behind your ears and your elbows straight out, raise your shoulder blades and neck off of the mat. Reach your right elbow towards the left knee, then twist to reach your left elbow towards your right knee. This is one rep. Continue.
  • Windshield Wipers: Lie on your back on top of a mat with your arms out to your sides. Raise your legs straight up in the air with your knees slightly bent. Lower legs to one side until your thigh hits the floor. Raise back up and then lower to the opposite side. This is one rep. Continue and make sure to keep you arms and shoulder blades flat on the mat.

Throughout all of these exercises please, please, please be careful of your lower back and neck, especially if you are prone to injury. Do not strain them! When you are lying on your back be sure to keep your tailbone and back flat to the mat. When you are lifting your shoulder blades and/or neck off of the mat, make sure to keep your head in alignment and your neck straight. If you are feeling pain in either of those areas, stop. Then re-assess your form. This is not the good pain that I mentioned earlier!

This ab workout would be great to add after a cardio session; however, it’s a great stand alone workout as well.

Linda, I hope you enjoy this. Keep up the awesome work and heal quickly!

Everyone else, I hope you enjoy this too! If you are looking for any specific type of workout, feel free to leave a comment in this post or email me (justjfaye @ gmail . com).

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10-10-10 Lower Body Workout

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How much are you loving this springy, sunshiney weather over the last few days?! I’m obsessed with being outside right now and hit two spring milestones this week: first run in shorts and first time sitting out on my balcony. Amazing.

Speaking of shorts… I put together a lower body workout. Let’s get some super strong and toned legs!

10 10 10 Lower Body Workout

We are going to do 10 lower body exercises for 10 reps each and we’re going to do that 10 times; hence the “10-10-10”.

Let’s do the math. 10 reps x 10 sets = 100 reps per exercise. 100 reps x 10 exercises = 1000 reps total. Ummm… yeah, that is a lot of reps!

It’s going to be hard. Your legs are going to burn and they are going to hate you.

BUT THEN they will love you. Over time you’re legs are going to get stronger and more toned and there is absolutely nothing bad about that.

Here’s what we’re going to do:

10 10 10 Lower Body Workout

It looks fun, doesn’t it?

Throughout this workout it’ll be imperative to keep proper form. On the squats and lunges, watch your knees. Make sure that stay in line with your ankles and make sure they do not extend past your toes. I realize that by the time you’ve already complete 50 squats you’re going to be tired, but improper form risks injury and nobody has time for that.

Summertime is reserved for running around in shorts, hanging out on the lake, and sitting out on patios. So focus on your form.

After doing this lower body workout a couple of times you may want to start progressing a few of the exercises. Feel free to hold weights for extra resistance during the squats, donkey kicks, lunges, calf raises, and glute bridges. It’ll mean more burning, but it’ll also mean more muscle. #worthit

Feel free to shoot out any questions in the comments! Happy squatting!

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The Fit 5: Chest

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It’s time for another round of The Fit Five! This time we are going to learn about the chest muscle group, which you may refer to as your “pecs” or maybe even your “pectoralis major” and “pectoralis minor”. Whatever you want to call this muscle group, we are going to learn about it.

The Fit 5 Chest

First, let’s clear up a myth for the ladies: Strength training that targets chest muscles will not make your boobs bigger. Also, it will not make your boobs smaller. However, building chest muscles (underneath your boobs) could add a natural lift. So that’s a bonus.

Now, here are some non-myths, also known as facts:

The Fit 5 Chest

It’s good to learn this type of stuff, don’t you think?

Experiment time: Stand up with your arms extended straight out from your sides so that you look like a human “t”. Now move your arms forward so that they are extended straight out in front of you. Clap your hands together. That movement was horizontal adduction of the shoulder and contracting your chest muscles helped make that happen.

The clap was just for fun, because learning is fun.

The next time you do a push up or bench press, think about that movement and contracting those pectoral muscles.

Speaking of push ups and bench presses, below are 5 chest exercises.

The Fit 5 Chest

These are all basic exercises that can be adapted to your needs. Here are some examples:

  • Stagger your hands for the push ups.
  • Place your feet on a stability ball or a bench while doing push ups.
  • Perform the bench press, pullover, and fly while lying on a stability ball rather than a bench.
  • Use a barbell or a smith machine rather than dumbbells for the bench press.
  • Put the bench at an incline while performing the bench press or the flies.
  • Utilize a cable machine and do standing flies.

Those are just a few of the many ways you could adapt these exercises. You can also adjust the acute variables (resistance, tempo, rest, etc) in order to work the muscles differently.

Don’t forget to add in some shoulder, biceps, and triceps exercises for a great upper body workout!

I hope you are enjoying these Fit Five posts and are learning some new things. I personally gain a lot from writing them.

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10-Minute Bodyweight Pyramid Workout

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A 10-minute bodyweight pyramid workout!

Bodyweight Pyramid Workout

You guys, this is a fun one. We are going to work really hard and these 10 minutes are going to fly by. This is a high-intensity workout consisting of three moves: burpees, squats, and push-ups. That’s it, just those three. No equipment necessary.

By the time we are finished we will have completed 50 burpees, 50 squats, and 50 push-ups in just 10 short, heart-pumping, sweaty minutes. Afterwards, we will reap all the benefits of high-intensity exercise, like increased calorie burn, increased aerobic and anaerobic fitness, and boosted metabolism.

GREAT. This is what is going to happen -> We are going to do a round of burpees, squats, and push-ups, 2 reps each. Then in increments of 2 we are going to work up to 10 reps of each. This is the tip of the pyramid – more than halfway done! Then we are going to work back down to 2 reps of each and give ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done.

Bodyweight Pyramid Workout

A few cues:

  • BURPEES: Begin in a standing position. Lower down into a squat, place your hands on the ground in front of you, and quickly kick your feet back into the push up position. Lower your body to the floor, raise back up, and return your feet back to the squat position as quickly as possible. Immediately jump up as high as you can.
  • SQUATS: Begin in a standing position. Lower your body by pushing your hips back until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Make sure to keep your back straight and your knees behind your toes. Raise your body back to standing position, pushing through your heels, and engaging your glutes.
  • PUSH-UPS: Begin in push-up (plank) position. Keeping your body in a straight line with your core engaged, slowly lower your body while bending your elbows to 90 degrees. Push your body back up to starting position.

This cycle of burpees, squats, and push-ups is really working our whole body: lower body, upper body, core, and cardio. And if you think about it burpees are basically squats and push-ups combined in one move with some jumps in it. Sooo… a pretty great combination of moves going on here.

I recommend doing this 10-minute bodyweight pyramid workout 1-2 per week. It would be great to do after a 30- or 45-minute session of steady state cardio or after a strength training routine. However, this would be just as effective to do as a stand-alone workout for days when you are in a time crunch.

If you really love burpees (who doesn’t?!), make sure to check out this burpee run!

 

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