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Laura@LauraForteFitness.comCan you believe that next week is Thanksgiving?!
Thanksgiving is a day to gather with friends and family while enjoying each other’s company and a great meal.
It doesn’t have to be all about football and eating way too much!
Here are some tips to have a great time and enjoy your favorite holiday dishes without going overboard. [Read more…]
Sometimes we all need a little inspiration to get our behinds to the gym. If you just do Monday right.. well then your odds of eating clean and exercising improve drastically for the rest of the week!
Plus.. whatever you keep in your kitchen and your fridge.. well that’s what you’ll be eating. So toss out the junk, fill it with healthy choices, and get motivated with the quotes below!
Here are some of my go-to favorites that I look at if I’m struggling with wanting to eat a brownie or thinking of excuses why I shouldn’t go to the gym.
Feel free to pin them to your favorite Pinterest board to motivate you later. Enjoy!
”When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.”
“The hardest step for a runner is the first one out the front door.”
“Make a change because you love your body. Not because you hate it.”
“The magic ‘PILL’ is sweat and intensity.”
Run BETTER with good music! This is my friend Marcie and me during the Gasparilla half marathon last year.
Tell me if you can relate.
I have the same music playlist running for weeks at a time. At first, it totally pumps me up on a run, or during a hard workout.
But after time, the songs that used to get me really FIRED UP tend to get super boring and I find myself keep hitting “next song”.
There’s nothing better than a really good song to push me through those last few reps or sprint on a HIIT workout!!
So, I thought I’d share a few songs on my current playlist.
In fact, if you have Spotify (a smartphone app – even better than Pandora), you can download my entire playlist for FREE! [Read more…]
Relax. Unwind. Refresh.
You are counting down the days for a much anticipated vacation. You are SO excited for a trip away, getting to see old friends, new places… but one thought pops into your head. You start to stress about coming back with unwanted pounds.
I have clients all the time tell me they are finally feeling energetic, have a great routine going, and are excited about leaving town for a few days.. but scared about breaking the good thing they have going with their fitness routine.
Here are 9 tips to help you stay the course while on vacation!
1. Make a Plan
Know how many days you are leaving and plan your workouts ahead of time! Know you have a full day of travel? Make that your rest day. The day after you don’t start until 9 AM? That will be a 6 AM cardio day. Whenever clients leave town, they know exactly what workouts they will be doing and which days. They when they come back, they jump right back into their routine!
Not motivated to exercise alone? Look for 5K’s in the city you are traveling to and sign up! One of our Bay View Boot Camp members, Jaime, is going to Chicago this weekend and while she is there, is already signed up for a 5k! :) Not a runner, but love golf? Research the country’s top courses. Headed to the beach? Ask around for recommendations on surfing lessons or ocean kayak rentals. Not only is this a great way to see and do more than the typical vacationer, you are burning calories and staying active.
2. Be Active Each Day
Some vacation destinations, such as theme parks, museums and large metropolitan cities, require you to be on your feet and walking all day long. Take advantage of this opportunity to sight-see and get exercise all at once. If you are going to a more relaxed destination, take walks along the beach, head down to the hotel gym, or sign up for something you’ve never done before. Many cruises offer classes such as yoga and dancing which are great ways to learn something new while burning some calories. Make it a family affair and get the kids involved!
“As I get older, my metabolism keeps getting slower!!”
“Man – I used to be able to eat anything.. now I can’t even get away with a bite of cake!”
Sound familiar? As we age, it is crucial to keep our metabolism at a good rate. The rate of your metabolism depends on the amount of calories you eat, calories burned exercising, and your genetic make-up. Age does seem to cause a slowdown in metabolism.. BUT I have good news!
Regular exercise can thwart this slowdown.
In fact – here are 7 different ways to boost your metabolism.
1. Build Lean Muscle
Lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat while the body is at rest. When you strength train, your body breaks down muscle tissue to repair it even stronger. This can rev up your metabolism for up to 72 hours.
2. Afterburn Effect
You can actually TORCH calories and spike up your metabolism after an intense metabolic workout. Here’s how: increase the intensity (try interval training), add weights, and push yourself! I wrote a blog post JUST on this topic.. you can read it HERE.
3. Interval Training
Interval training, where you mix up high intensity with easy effort moves, stimulates fat-burning in the body. Interval training boosts endurance, burns more calories, and causes you to work harder without spending a lot of time at the high intensity. A type of interval training that is trending in the top gyms and one of our boot camp favorites is called tabatas. Here’s how to do it: 20 seconds of exercise (HARD!), 10 seconds of rest, 20 seconds of exercise (HARD!) for 4 minutes. Give it a try with jump squats! :) [Read more…]
