Badass Fitness

Not sure about Bootcamp? These videos capture the 'burn'

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

Sore-Legs Wisdom: Switch it up or Get Stale!

Four days later, my legs are still sore. Deep into my quads. Every time I stand up, I am reminded of fast 400's and 100-meter sprints.

Yep, Sunday's Badass Boot Camp at the local track kicked my Badass. Which tells me it needed the jolt.

Thanks to many hours each week teaching cycling, TRX and IndoRow classes and training clients one-on-one, it had been a few months since my boot campers and I hit the track. Truth be told, it was too easy to fall into the comfort of running stadiums and doing short ramp sprints at FSU's Doak Campbell Stadium.

So we moved Badass Boot Camp back to the local high school track to mix things up. The result: Every single "recruit," and this Badass Drill Sergeant, was challenged in new ways. After the fourth 400-meter push (in which we aimed to finish in under 90 seconds), there were mutters of "Man, that's hard" and a few expletives. But we all powered through, even if it meant sucking a little wind in the last 100-meter sprint.

The Lesson: Mix it up! Try something new. Diversify your workouts, or risk getting stale. If you cycle every day, go running. If you always use the elliptical, get on the rower. If you just swim, add in a jog once a week.

Because as we were reminded after Sunday's track workout, no matter how strong you THINK you are, your muscles will get stronger and be challenged when you try something new.

To that end, I am about to follow my own advice and try something very new: Taekwondo.

Today is my first lesson at the Tallahassee Taekwondo Academy, which is run by a Sweat Therapy TRX devotee. I am a lot nervous, a lot excited, a little bit terrified, and certain this martial arts experiment will challenge my physically in all sorts of new ways.

Stay tuned for a report back next week on my first lesson. Until then, here's my challenge to you: What are YOU going to do to mix it up?

Badass Lessons from the Football Field

So my Gators lost to LSU on Saturday, and in a really painful last-minute, end-of-the-fourth-quarter-when-we-were-up-by-3 kinda way. Eff. Yeah, it sucked.

But even in loss, we Badasses have to find lessons. And as I watched the game, I kept thinking that many of the habits and strategies our favorite teams and players use each weekend are worth mimicking in the Badass Journey.

So as another week and another countdown to football gameday begins, consider:

Gridiron Badass 101:

1. Always warm up: On football game days, we "warm up" by tailgating. But the players are out there, throwing passes, running, jogging in place with high knees, etc. Warming up before a workout - whether it's a game-day workout or your typical morning routine - is key. All it takes is 5 minutes of light cardio - jogging, the elliptical, a brisk walk on the treadmill, a light pedal on the bike - to get the blood flowing to all those about-to-be-pumped muscles.

2. Know your enemy: The best teams know their enemies inside and out. They study game tapes, they get to know their signature plays and styles of offense and defense.

We Badasses need to know our enemies so that we can fend them off. Mine is candy and lack of sleep. Sometimes, it's chocolate - and my inability to sack it into oblivion. What's your enemy? Maybe it's that little voice that gives you all sorts of excuses for why you should not be working out today. (I'm so busy, I'm so tired, I'm so big anyway it's too late.) Maybe it's tailgate food and beer. Whatever it is, know it and devise a few "plays" to get past the enemy. Because once you do, the goal line (aka victory) is on the other side.

3. Make the stadium your gym: If you have a college or high school football stadium near you, then you have access to the best outdoor gym there is. The possibilities inside a football stadium are endless: Sprints, stadiums, pushups, tricep dips, step-ups, dropsies, cardio drills (mountain climbers, high knees, fast feet, side shuffles). I do them just about every weekend with my Badass Boot Camp "soldiers," and they'll tell you it's an hour of no-mercy Badass whoopin'.  All without a single dumbbell, Smith machine or leg press machine. If it's good enough for the players, it's good enough for us.

4. Fuel with a purpose: My friend's son just started as a top recruit for college basketball, and the first thing coaches did was put him on a 5,000-calorie-a-day regimen of healthy, whole foods and lots of protein - all to add about 15 pounds to his 6-foot-7 frame. Most of us don't need 5,000 calories a day (though that might be fun for a few days, right??!?), but we do need to pair exercise with a healthy eating routine. Results are 85 to 90 percent what we eat, not exercise, so fuel is key to a leaner, stronger Badass.

One of the big changes for the FSU Seminoles this year has been in what the players eat - whole, organic foods that are tailored for each player's needs. A 300-pound lineman doesn't need the same daily diet that a 185-pound running back needs, so know what your Badass needs to be its best. And eat the processed junk sparingly. Because if football players ate the way we tailgate, the scoreboard probably wouldn't be so pretty.

5. Hydrate: This lesson is brought to you by the Gainesville university that brought you Gatorade. When players are dehydrated, they cramp up and either collapse in a muscle spasm or limp off the field like a shot deer. And the coaches promptly pump them with water, Gatorade, electrolytes. We're not suiting up for ESPN Game Day, but we need to hydrate, too, or our performance will suffer. So drink up. (I prefer coconut water.)

6. Never give up, even when it feels like you're losing: There are days when we just don't feel like staying on the Badass path, right? The alarm goes off and it seems too early. Happy Hour seems like more fun than a Happy Hour cycling class. Pizza seems more tantalizing than grilled salmon with spinach. And it's OK to give in sometimes, but never think that one wayward step makes you a game-day loser. We all fall, and we all can get right back up and keep working toward a win - whether the "win" is a 5K personal best or a 5-pound weight loss. Next time you feel like throwing in the towel, remember how many times your team came from behind to win.

7. Always have the goal line in sight: Players know exactly where they're going: Over the 1-yard line and into touchdown territory. We have to know where we're going, too. We have to keep in sight our reasons for doing all these exercises and making all these healthy meals. The goal is what drives football players, and it has to be what drives us.

Coming Wednesday: Abs-olutely Essentials.

 

Hump-Day Humor for the Badass Army

The Badass Journey isn't easy. Sure, all those 5ks and squats and pushups and cycling classes make us stronger and leaner. But they also leave us sore, tired and sweaty.

And the oatmeal and egg whites and fruits and vegetables make us healthier, but sometimes we just want a cookie topped with ice cream, right? Fo' sho.

One of my training clients' friends learned the meaning of "sore" this past weekend, when she came with my client to my Badass Boot Camp for the first time. As I type, this Badass Boot Camp virgin is still feeling the burn from all of those ramp sprints, pushups, and trips up and down the stairs of Doak Campbell Stadium.

She e-mailed my training client to explain just how sore she is ("I was asked yesterday if I had blisters on my feet because I was walking so funny due to extreme overworking of my calves on Saturday," she wrote.) My client, funny Badass that she is, replied with a Top 10 List of things she has discovered during her own Badass Journey.

I'm sharing it as we embark on Hump Day, hoping that you Badasses will put it on your fridge or near your computer at work. If anything, it will remind you that you are not alone.

Top 10 Badass Journey Wisdoms
 
1. I threw up after my first work out and proceeded to lay on the floor still and silent for at least 45 minutes.
2. One night I was so sore and tired, that I actually ate dinner in the bathtub.
3. My vagina is on its second life from the cycling bikes and I've had bruises in weird places from the resista-bands.
4. I've eaten so much spinach, flaxseed, almonds and fiber cereal that I feel like a squirrel.
5. I had to buy WIDE trail running shoes to accomodate my bunions.
6. Once it took me over an hour to get out of bed to go work out.
7. I was in Publix in the produce section and smelled something horrible and just figured it was the vegetables, but then I realized it was me after a workout.
8. My shoulders are getting wider by the minute - now all I need is a Speedo tan to be like my swimming days.
9. I've been hungry for a good ten weeks now.
 
And the final and most important one . . .
 
10. I've pretty much accepted that my body only likes to lose .1 lb a week, as clearly shown through the past four weeks.

Coming Friday: Is that fitness "must-buy" worth your dough? 
 

For buffer legs and a metabolism punch, hit the track

If you do just about anything enough times, it gets easier. Even when "anything" is running up and down the 80-plus steep steps at a college football stadium.

So it's actually a good thing that football season is alive and kicking - because it gives me an excuse to push my Badass Boot Camp recruits in new ways. This weekend, while the Florida State Seminoles prepared for their afternoon game, this Badass and her soldiers moved our Badasses to the local high school track.

We hadn't been there in several months, and it was time. The weather was warm but gorgeous, and we kicked our butts for a good hour - speed drills, pushups, step-ups, burpees, etc.

Try this one on for size:

Warmup

• One 400 (once around the track) at a jog pace
• 30 seconds of running in place, high knees
• 10 burpees
• 30 seconds of shuffles back and forth, in a squat position
• 30 seconds of running in place, high knees

Track Time

• Two 400s at a fast, 5k speed: The goal is to finish within 90 seconds. Your heart will, guaranteed, be pumping as you round that last curve
• One minute "rest" walking the track
• Four 100s at sprint pace, with 30-second "rests" walking the track in between each 100

Strength Circuit 1

• 10 regular pushups
• No rest
• 10 close-grip pushups: Move your hands in close, keeping the elbows close to your sides. You should feel this in the triceps.
• Stand up and do running in place with high knees for 30 seconds
• 10 frog pushups: Place your hands in a regular pushup position. Bend both knees, bringing the feet up under your torso like a frog. Now slowly go down and push up, feeling this in your arms and shoulders.
• No rest
• 10 pike pushups: Get into a pike position, butt straight up in the air and weight right over your shoulders as you go down and push back up. You should feel this in your shoulders.
• Stand up and do running in place with high knees for 30 seconds.
• Repeat this circuit two more times, for a total of three.

Strength Circuit 2 (on stadium bleachers/stairs or a bench) 

• Dropsies, 15 on each side: Plant the right foot on the bench and the left leg back off the bench. Slowly lower down, feeling the weight come through the right side as you squeeze back up, the left leg staying back. Switch after 15 reps and do the left side. (Pictured, at right) 
• Step-ups, 15 on each side: Plant the right foot on the bench and the left foot on the ground (or the stadium step below). Lift up, weight coming through the right glutes and quads as you lift the left knee up. Lower the left leg back down, tapping the toe on the ground and then coming right back up. After 15 reps, switch and do 15 reps on the other side.
• Tricep dips, 25 reps
• No rest in between these sets.
• Repeat two more times, for a total of three
• Do two sets of 25 calf raises

Abs Circuit

• Knee pull-ins, two sets of 20
• Knee pull-ins with knees pointed toward the left (working the right obliques), one set of 10
• Knee pull-ins with knees pointed toward the right (working the left obliques), one set of 10
• Crunches with knees at 90 degrees, 20 reps
• Crunches with knees tilted toward the left (working the right obliques), one set of 20
• Crunches with knees tilted toward the right (working the left obliques), one set of 20

Coming Wednesday: The right way to row indoors...

This Boot Camp will...Rock. Your. Badass!

Just when I think the Badass Army can't get any more Badass, it does.

Tuesday night I had eight Badasses come out to the local high school track for our first-ever Track Boot Camp, and when I got there I was, frankly, all wound up. Work stress, old-car-with-a-broken-A/C stress, family stress -- it was all rolled up and sitting right on my shoulders.

But all it took was an hour with these 'soldiers' from the Badass Army, and I had the inspiration and energy I needed to get through the rest of the week. Whenever I doubt what it is I am meant to do in this life I've been blessed with, my Badasses remind me that I am headed down the right Badass path toward a full-time career (some day) in fitness.

I pushed them hard, and they never gave in. Oh, they huffed and puffed and I spotted a few grimaces. But they kept working. Awesome. THAT is how Badasses DO!

I know all of you out there reading this are just as Badass, even if you aren't out there at Badass Boot Camp! So as you head into the weekend, try on this ass-kickin' track and strength workout for size:

Badass Kickin' Track Boot Camp

Warmup

1. Jog 2 laps around the track, or 800 m

2. Skip-run forward for 50 m, then jog for 50 m

3. Jog backward for 50 m, then turn around and jog forward for 50 m

4. Karaoke run for 50 m, then jog forward for 50 m

Repeat 2, 3, and 4 once more

Track Segment

1. Run a 400, or one lap, at 5K pace. The goal: Finish it within 90 seconds, or cloe to it. This isn't an all-out sprint because you need to get all the way around the track. But it's fast, and you should be winded when you're done.

2. Rest for 2 minutes, walking fast around the track.

3. Run another 400, at the 5K pace.

4. Run a 100-m sprint, as fast as you can. Rest for one minute.

5. Run another 100-m sprint. Rest for one minute.

6. Repeat the track circuit one more time ( So 2 more 400m at 5K pace, and 2 more 100 m sprints)

Strength/Abs Segment

1. Do 25 regular pushups. Rest 20 seconds

2. Do 25 triceps pushups: Hands close together, with fingers turned toward each other in a diamond shape. Rest 20 seconds.

3. 40 squatting side steps with resistance band: Place a small resistance band around your ankles. Squat, and stay low. Step to the right until the band is taut. This is your starting point. Now step further to the right, feeling the resistance. Step 20 times to the right, then back 20 times to the left.

4. Do 1, 2, and 3 for two more circuits.

5. 25 forward stepping lunges: Step the right foot forward and drop into a lunge, making sure the knee doesn't come over the right toes. Come up, and step and lunge with the left. That's one rep. Repeat 24 times. Rest 20 to 30 seconds.

6. 25 curtsy lunges: Step the right foot forward and over to the left, and drop into a curtsy. You should feel the squeeze in your right glute/thigh. Push back up off that right foot. Now step the left foot forward and over to the right, and drop into a curtsy. That's one rep. Repeat 24 times. Rest 20 to 30 seconds.

7. Abs:

• Do 25 V-crunches: Sit on a bench or the ground, your hands at your side for support. Keeping the feet side by side, extend the legs until you feel your lower abs engage. Pull them back in, and extend out.

  

• Do 25 regular crunches.
• Do 25 crunches with legs up and bent at 90 degrees.
• Do 15 crunches with the left leg at 90 degrees and the right leg out straight.
• Do 15 crunches with the right leg at 90 degrees and the left leg out straight.

Coming next week: A whole lotta Badass stuff!

How to be a Frugal (Badass) Organic

The Badass Foodie recently lent me Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism, and with each chapter I vowed more fervently to avoid as much as possible non-organic fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy. (And have you read Omnivore's Dilemma? That's enough to make you just want to give up on the U.S. food supply altogether! Corn becomes a four-letter word...)

See, the pesticides and chemicals used to mass produce all those veggies and berries -- and to preserve them for longer shipping and storage times before they hit the grocery store -- are messing with our Badasses in bad ways. Some studies suggest the pesticides increase the risk of diabetes and slow our metabolism. And who knows what kind of cancer-makers lurk in those pesticides? No thanks.

Oh, and let's not forget the hormones pumped into cows and chickens to fatten them up fast before they end up in those frozen meat cases. They disrupt the natural rhythms of our bodies and intended hormonal cycles in real scary ways. Little wonder that girls these days are shopping in the feminine hygiene aisle of CVS before they even graduate to middle school.

So let's all just eat organic everything, right? Not likely. There are good intentions, and then there are realities. Such as: It would be totally Badass to fill our grocery carts each week with nothing but organic foods. But the organic berries, the free-trade organic coffee and the grass-fed beef can get expensive when you ring them all up.

So what's a frugal Badass to do? Well, the Badass Journey is all about strategizing, prioritizing, and making the best choices for a fitter, healthier you. So when it comes to organic, those of us on a budget (which is probably most of us) must prioritize.

Some organics are simply worth the extra cost. Others, not as much. So buy accordingly.

Environmental Working Group (EWG) has analyzed conventionally-grown, non-organic produce to measure pesticide residue levels. Based on the results of almost 43,000 tests, EWG estimated that we could reduce our pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent if we avoid the foods with the highest pesticides and eat non-organic versions of the least contaminated foods.

EWG came up with "The Dirty Dozen," the pesticide-laden foods that we should always eat organic. I love this list. Consider it a guide on where to invest your limited organics budget.

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Bell peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce 
10. Imported grapes 
11. Carrots
12. Pears

Then there is EWG's "The Clean 15," the list of things you're safer buying non-organic (and washing off carefully before eating, of course) if money dictates:

1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Sweet corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mangoes
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet peas
8. Kiwis
9. Cabbage 
10. Eggplant 
11. Papaya 
12. Watermelon
13. Broccoli
14. Tomatoes
15. Sweet potatoes 

Jillian Michaels also recommend always buying organic meat, dairy and eggs, as they are loaded with hormones and antibiotics that belong nowhere in our Badass bodies.

I have a few tips myself, and I'll sign off today by leaving them with you. The weekend is here, so happy organic bargain hunting! 

Frugal Organic, 101

• Shop the sales, and stock up on non-perishables when the sales are on: So what if it will take you 2 months to get through eight pounds of organic coffee. Take advantage of the sale!
• Buy and plan menus according to the seasons: Don't plan a blueberry salad six months after the peak of the season unless you want to pay a hefty price. That holds true for non-organic produce as much as for organic.
• Join a co-op: Many cities and towns have them. Tallahassee has New Leaf Market here in Tallahassee, and by becoming an "owner" you save money. They also always have a long list of sale and special items, from meat and dairy to produce and vitamins.
• Shop the bulk bins: Grains, flour, dried fruit and trail mixes cost less from the bins because you're not paying for packaging. (FYI for the Tallahassee Badasses, the Lake Ella Publix just added a larger bulk bins section in the Greenwise area...)
• Bulk up your recipes with more beans and lentils, less meat: If the chili recipe calls for 2 pounds of ground beef, buy one pound of grass-fed and add extra veggies and beans.
• Don't discount the warehouse discounters: The Sam's Club here in Tallahassee is in many ways the symbol of the American excess and unhealthy gorging that makes me cringe. But they do have big bags of organic spinach and a few other organic items that are a far better bargain than I can get at the grocery store or even the co-op. And they continue to add to their organic inventory, so I just try to close my eyes as I walk past the 5-pound bag of powdered sugar donuts.
• Find coupons: Stonyfield Farms and others like Kashi offer coupons, special offers and free samples. So become a coupon hunter!

Coming next week: The real-life story of how a Badass runner was born, and a creamy, healthy chicken salad that's perfect for sunny spring days!

Another week, another Boot Camp!

I love Saturdays! Why? Because it's Badass Fitness Boot Camp day, and the group that turns out every week keeps growing, and they keep getting stronger.

And as you can see from this picture from Saturday's boot camp, spring is coming and the weather is awesome for an outdoor sweat session!

Many of you Badasses live too far away to attend, but you're eager to do your own boot camp workouts. So I'm giving you the routine we did this weekend, to be used at any college or high school stadium near you. Doak Campbell is 85 steps from bottom to top, so if your stadium is smaller, add in a stadium or two.

And above all: Have fun! We definitely did on Saturday. And I know this was a challenge, because several Badass boot campers told me Sunday that they felt the burn. As Carla said, "Everything about my legs is sore, from top to bottom."

Warmup

• Jog around the stadium once, equivalent to a quarter mile.
• 30 seconds of high knees, running in place
• Drop down, do 30 seconds of mountain climbers
• Jump back up, do 30 seconds of high knees
• Do 20 squat jumping jacks.
• Do 30 seconds of high knees, running in place

Stadiums, First Drill

• Start at the bottom and go all the way to the top step/bleacher, as fast as you can. On the way back to the bottom, squat sideways to come down, leading with the right leg and then switching to the left leg halfway down.
• Repeat two more times, for a total of three stadiums.

Strength, First Drill

• Tricep pushups, 25: Hands are close together, elbows close to your side, as you lower into a pushup. 
• High knees, running in place, 30 seconds
• Tricep dips, 25 (shown at right) 
• High knees, running in place, 30 seconds
• Regular pushups, 25: Hands are shoulder width apart
• High knees, running in place, 30 seconds

Stadiums, Second Drill

• Run from bottom to top, as fast as you can, and make your way quickly back down. I came down sideways, turning around midway to even out my leg work.

 

Strength, Second Drill

• One-legged squat dips, 25 each side: Right foot on the bench, left foot behind you at 45 degrees, lower your body into a squat 25 times. The weight is coming out of the right foot. Switch to the left side, left foot planted on the bench, 25 times.(Pictured below right)   
• Plie squats, 25 each side: Start with the left foot on a lower stadium bench, and the right foot on the next bench up. Point the toes outward and lower into a plie squat 25 times, feeling the burn in your right quad and glute. Now turn around, left foot on the higher bench and do 25 plie squats.
• Step-ups, 25 each side:

Stadiums, Third Drill

• Run from bottom to top, as fast as you can, and make your way quickly back down.

Strength, Third Drill

• Box jumps, up about 20 steps: Start at the bottom and jump up onto the next stadium step, landing as lightly as you can and lowering into a squat. Keep jumping, and use your arms for momentum. (Pictured at right)

or

• Step up 20 stadium steps, alternating legs and lifting the opposite legs as you squeeze your glutes. (There's Carla, below left)

 

 

 

 

 

Abs

• 25 regular crunches: Both feet planted on the floor near your butt. Squeeze up, keeping your head in your hands and elbows back
• 25 right-leg crunches: Keep left foot on the floor and extend right leg out at 45 degrees. Crunch up, slightly raising right leg as you squeeze up.
• 25 left-leg crunches: Return right foot to the floor and extend left leg. Crunch up, slightly raising left leg as your squeeze up.
  25 regular crunches
• 25 right-leg crunches
• 25 left-leg crunches.

Now: Enjoy a well-earned stretch! And I'll see all of you Tallahassee Badasses at the Doak, 11 a.m. this coming Saturday!

Coming tomorrow: Badass Foodie says eat more butter...almond butter!