The Healthy Bride

The brides wanted to bring their grooms to class, so Stephanie created a special workout for the couples. I think the brides showed their grooms how super tough they are! One groom had to leave class and all were impressed with the level of workout the brides were doing. It was great fun for the brides and a great workout for the grooms.

Do you workout with your groom or husband? If so, what do you do together and how do you keep it friendly and not competitive.

Here is the workout the couples did together:
Warmup: 5 mins stairs
Partner shuttle races:
a) shuttle run/burpees
b) lunges/sit-ups
c) side squats/superplanks
Wheelbarrow race
Crab walk race
Alphabet planks
Partner abs
Partner tricep dips
Partner squats w/ pushups
Partner plank w/ hamstring lift
3 sets 20 jump squats, 20 jump lunges, 15 pushups
Piggyback race

I am heading out today for a climb up Mount Rainier.  I try to climb the mountain once a year, and this year it looks like the weather and conditions will be perfect!  What timing!

Back here in the lowlands we have exciting happenings at The Healthy Bride.

First of all,

Jennifer,

Amanda

and Olivia 

are getting married this weekend!!!

All three joined The Healthy Bride workouts back in January.  They depart the program feeling  happy, glowing, healthy, and fit and, they look fabulous!  Each of them reported meeting the goals they set for back in January and all feel great.  I asked if their new-found healthy lifestyles will stay with them beyond the wedding and the reply was an overwhelming yes!

Best wishes to all of you on your wedding day!  We are thinking of you.

Event:

Free! Healthy Bride Bootcamp Workout and Lululemon Shopping Spree

Description

Brought to you by The Healthy Bride and Lululemon

What: Workout, Party and shopping spree
When: Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 9:15am
Where: Lululemon University Village
Start time: 9:15am (workout starts at 9:30am)
End: Workout ends at 10:45 am then the shopping party begins! We will have chair massage and post workout consult with a chiropractor.  Fuze Beverage will provide drinks and we will have healthy snacks!
How much: FREE!

What else you should know:
Bring water, dress for the weather (we will be outdoors), bring your friends, bridesmaids, moms, aunties, cousins….anyone looking for a great workout!

We will have post workout snacks and beverages at lululemon.

Healthy Bride Bootcamp classes begin in Seattle and Bellevue the week of
July 11, 2010.

RSVP: christi@healthy-bride.com or 206.755.9683

I just could not resist.  If you missed it, watch Bridal Bootcamp episode #1

Seems that all brides want to be a size 6 or 8.  True or false?

Warning!  There is lots of yelling and puking!

We are starting a new session of Bridal Bootcamp this week in Seattle and Bellevue.  There is still space to sign up if you are interested in joining us. 

Find all details here.

Do you, on occasion, feel the need for a pep talk?  One of my beloved clients was running lines in class the other day, and she said “Christi, I am in need of a major pep talk”.

She felt like her motivation had fallen off a cliff and that she was needing some coaching on how to avoid the junk food syndrome that she, on occasion, falls into. Her classmates and I immediately shifted into pep talk mode.

We asked her to reiterate all of the goals she had set at the start of the session.  She told us she was trying to be consistent with working out 4 times per week.  This is something that normally comes easy to her, but lately, she was only getting in the two classes we have together. One of her issues was not allowing herself to use weekend time as workout time.  I asked her about this and she said it was time she felt she needed to be spending with her fiance.  I asked her if she could get up an hour earlier, or better yet, get her fiance to join her in a workout once or twice over the weekend.  She said that she had not really thought of that, and that yes, she probably could talk him into joining her or at least giving her an hour of time for her to meet her goals.

The junk food syndrome is a tough one for all of us.  She said that she was regularly craving salty, crunchy foods and was giving in lately.  This bride has lost about 40 pounds over the past year, most of the weight came off on her own.  She was working out to home videos and watching what she ate – carefully.  My suggestion to her was to start keeping a record of what she was eating for a few days and get a good, complete picture of how much she really was eating.  I also suggested she use a program that allows her to track her workouts.  The group suggested that she drink more water, and to be very careful when shopping.

One subject of interest that came up re: shopping.  If you don’t buy the junk food, it’s a lot more likely that you won’t eat it.  Don’t sabotage yourself by thinking that you are only buying the “bad” food for others in your household.  If you won’t eat it, why are you buying it for anyone else in the house?  We suggested to this bride that she not buy foods she is trying to avoid.  Substitute something good for you like an apple with peanut butter (one of my favorite snacks), or a protein fruit smoothy for the pretzels.  Even popcorn is a better option than pretzels.

Jessica left our workout feeling much better and when I checked in with her a couple of days later, she said that she was feeling more motivated and that she thought she was over her slump.  She told me that having the group to talk to really helped, and that being held accountable to the group was a great motivation boost.

When you are feeling in a slump with your health and fitness goals, share your concerns and find a supportive group to help you through.  We all have cycles of ups and downs.  It’s just part of life and we all do get through them – but it sure helps to have a little support from our friends.

Killer workout on the stairs with a rainbow over the city.  What an amazing evening!

Jog 1/2 mile

Stair “suicides”  – we started with 5 pushups at bottom of the stairs, then ran to the first “landing” went back to the bottom and did 6 pushups. Continue this cycle working up to 15 pushups at the bottom and working toward the top of the stairs, turning back at each landing.  Once we were at the top of the stairs, we then worked back down the stair landings until we reached 15 pushups at the bottom.

Circuit:

10 Burpees

20 Lawn Mower pulls each direction

30 jump ups (two feet)

40 bicycles

50 crunches

60 lunges

3 x through with one set of stairs between

Next circuit:

15 biceps curls

15 triceps dips

3 x through

1/2 mile jog cool down

Bellevue Brides lucked out with only a few sprinkles for our hour and a half session.  By midway point we were shielding our eyes from the orb in the sky.  The girls were strong and energetic tonight.

Here’s our circuit:

Dynamic stretching and movements warm up the body temperature and the joints.

Warm up Jog 1/2 mile Lap

Circuit : 20 Reps each Movement/ 2 Sets

Chair Squat with Shoulder Raise using Resistance Band

Reverse Lunge with Bicep Curl using Resistance Band

Side Lunge with Lateral Raise using 3lb dumbell

Sumo Squat with Tricep Extension using 8 lb Medicine Ball

Reverse Lunge with Knee Lift/Chop using 10 lb Medicine Ball

Plyo-Squat

1/2 Mile Lap

Circuit : 20 Reps each Movement/ 2 Sets

Dead Lift with Hammer Curls using 3 lb dumbells

Static Squat with Concentration Bicep Curl using Resistance Band

Reverse Lunge with Wide “W” Bicep Curl using Resistance Band

Chair Pose with Tricep Extension Using Resistance Band

Surrenders while holding 10 lb Medicine Ball over head

Cresents:  deep deep static lunge with a tricep straight arm pulse using resistance band

1/2 Mile Lap

Back and Abdominal Circuit 10 reps each movement/ 3 sets

Table Top Crunch: On all 4’s, extend right leg behind you parallel to the ground and left arm in front of you.  Crunch motion bringing your right knee in towards your left elbow.  Crunch for 10 then bring the elevated arm and leg out to either side, hold for 5 counts and switch sides.

Supermans 3 sets of 10 seconds

Lying Leg Crunch: Center, Right Oblique, Left Oblique (Legs are left laying flat on the mat)

Standard Crunch for 10 then bring back to 45* angle and rotate upper body in a circular motion for 10 counts then reverse direction for another 10 for a complete set.

And there we are!

Cheers,

Your Favorite Secret Weapon

We are nearing the end of our session.  The workouts are getting tough!

5 sets of lines, shuttle runs

4 sets sprints up hill

“Filthy Fifty”, 50 reps (500 total) of the following:

Reverse lunge to straight leg touch

Push-up walkouts (push-up, walk two steps, push-up)

Mountain climbers (100)

Squat abductors

Jumping jacks (100)

1-arm side pushups

Side plank dips

Wall sit w/ one-leg pulse

2 minutes varied planks

Circuit 2x through, 1 minute stations:

Side lunge w/ straight arm pull (band)

Sumo squat w/ one leg side crunch w/ 5 lb ball

Squat lat pull (band)

Kettle bell swing

Rotating squat w/ 8lb dumbbell (like woodchopper, reaching low, twist to high)

Reverse lunge w/ straight arm tricep pull down (band)

Jump squats w/ rotating side touch

We are a bit behind on publishing our workouts. Sorry about that! Here is the whole week in one shot, starting with Stephanie’s workout.

The brides told me this was a GREAT Workout!!

Warmup: run for 10 mins

Tabata: 8 rounds, :20 on :10 rest of ea
Burpees
One leg bent-over hops
Mountain climbers
Side crunches
Side lunges

4 rounds, :30 on :10 rest of ea
High knees, hit the deck
Raise lift and lower crunch
Jump tux
Side dips

3 rounds of:
10 reptile pushups
20 one jump fwd, two hops back
20 angels (snow angel position- crunch and touch right hand to left toe, then left to right)

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From Stacie:
Here’s what we did last night in a light misting of Bellevue precipitation.

Dynamic Stretching – Warm Up

Hill Sprints for 8 minutes
3 sets of 20 Push Ups – I asked the group to do as many as they could military first. Everyone saw tremendous growth here.
Abdominals
5 minute run at 60-70% of individual energy level (difficult to hold a conversation at 60-70%)

Circuit 1
Squat Chop
Stand with your feet hip-distance apart and your arms at your sides. Squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keeping your arms straight, bring them forward and up until your upper arms are in line with your ears. Return to standing, then lift your right knee to hip height as you sweep your arms down across your body until the back of your left hand is outside your right knee. 15 Reps.

Rock n Roll
Get in plank position with your forearms flat on the floor and your palms down. Keeping your hands in place and using your feet as the pivot point, twist your body to the left as far as possible without losing your balance. Repeat to the right. 16 per side. Total of 32 Reps

Lunge Reach and Twist
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your arms at your sides. Lunge forward with your left leg so your right knee is nearly touching the floor and your left thigh is parallel to the floor. Bending forward, try to touch the floor on either side of your left foot. Push off your left foot; using that momentum, shift your weight to your right foot and swing your left leg behind you. As you sink backward into a lunge, rotate your torso 45 degrees to the right. Return to standing. 8 Reps per side.

Plank Crawl
Get in plank position with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart. Holding that position, lift your right knee to the outside of your right elbow. Return to plank position, repeat on the other side. That’s one rep. 16 per side, 32 total reps

Grand Plie Jump
Stand with your legs wide apart, toes turned out and arms at your sides. Squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor and you’re low enough to touch it with your fingertips. Immediately jump up as high as you can, keeping your legs wide and extending your arms straight overhead. That’s one rep. 15 reps. Rest for a 10 count. Repeat.

Another 5 minute run. Pushing harder to surpass distance in the 5 minutes at the beginning warm up. Everyone was suprized and energized with their pace.

Circuit 2
Repeat Circuit 1 and go right into Circuit 2

Body Weight Squat

Tricep Push Up
Get in plank position with your hands shoulder-width apart. Lower your chest toward the floor while keeping your upper arms parallel to your sides and your elbows pointing straight back. Push back up to start. To modify, lower your knees to the ground. There’s no shame in girl pushups! 10 reps

Flamingo Reach and Press
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your arms at your sides. Bend your left knee, lifting your foot behind you. Squat down and raise your right arm out to the side to shoulder height, then reach your left hand down across your body, touching the floor outside your right toes. Stand up as you lift your left hand toward the ceiling, lower your right arm to your side, and raise your left thigh to hip level in front of you. Lower your left leg and repeat on the other side. 15 reps per side.

Bicept Curl with Resistance Band

Star Pass

Another set of abdominals/crunches

Static Stretches!

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Christi’s Workout of the week:

Deck of Cards:
round 1:
Get yourself a deck of shuffled cards. Very simple…black equals pushups…red equals squats. Face cards are worth 15, the Ace is 1, and all other cards are face value. Turn over a card….it’s the 9 of spades….do 9 pushups. Immediately turn over the next card….it’s the Queen of diamonds…do 10 squats. Jokers are 50!

round 2:
Take out all face cards and red cards over 5. Black are burpees, red are sprints (50 yards), jokers are a 1/4 mile jog.

round 3:
we jogged 1/2 mile, then did 10 assisted pull ups each, 30 triceps dips and abs. Abs: 30 bicycles, 30 crunch, 20 reverse crunch.

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Stacie:

Warm up with dynamic stretches and then run a light jog around the park 1/2 mile.

I have taken 18 of our favorite (and not so favorite exercises) from our series so far, and written them each on their own index card.

The basket is placed with the index cards at one end of the park, while our group is on the other end of the park. One person sprints to get an exercise, while the group does a base move of Jumping Jacks. The index cards are folded so there’s no cherry picking. Everyone gets to go once so you cannot always send the fastest runner. While the group is doing the selected exercise the next runner goes to get another card.

An hour and a half of constant movement. I LOVE IT!