THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE: may 14th.
so we’ve done the upper ab crunches, now let’s work on the lower abs. THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE is to do 100 lower ab crunches a day. lay flat on your back with your knees up and feet flat on the ground. place your hands at your sides with palms facing down. slowly raise your knees towards your chest as you point your toes down. if possible, slightly raise your pelvis off the ground before lowering your toes back to the ground. quickly tap your toes to the ground and repeat the movement 100 times!!
eatRIGHTnow: Spinach Lasagna
last night, after we ran hills, we decided to take on a new spinach lasagna recipe. we invited a friend over and started cooking. this recipe takes a little time… about 30 minutes to prep and then about an hour to cook. but it was well worth the wait. it was delicious and i’m definitely looking forward to leftovers for lunch!
we’ve posted the recipe on our eatRIGHTnow blog here.
thinkRIGHTnow.
morgan walker and my brother in law, will.
i had a special guest on a hill run this week and in my tabatas class on tuesday. it was my brother-in-law will walker, who is preparing himself to go to afghanistan as part of his military duty. i have known will since he was about twelve and have seen him grow from a boy to a man. we are all proud of his commitment to our country and to the risks he is willing to take to ensure our freedom.
i have to admit, i spend a lot of time thinking (hey, i run a lot!) many times, i am trying to solve problems in my head, or look for ways to simplify things in my life, my client’s lives or the world in general. it is one reason i am so adamant about “livingRIGHTnow,” and the fact that we need to re-evaluate our health, the way we eat and produce food, and the way we treat our planet. i think that this way of living will ensure not only long term health on the individual level, but also (more…)
Soak Up the Sun.
as i stood there looking into the lake of brown water, surrounded by friends and clients who i had once coaxed into running their first mile, their first 5k and even their first triathlon, i was facing something that i had not faced in a while.
uncertainty.
as you guys know, i took on soak up the sun – my first triathlon – last saturday and i honestly didn’t know if i would complete the swimming portion. i had always thought i was a decent swimmer until a few weeks ago when action scotta and i went to the ymca to swim laps. it was then that i realized the difference between swimming for fun and swimming for sport. when I finished the “lesson,” i realized that i had a long way to go before i was a “real” swimmer.
later that day, i was running with a new client who wants to become a runner. in that moment, i had to appreciate how brave people are when they take on something new… like running. i usually have a laid back approach, tell them everything will be fine and then lead them down the road for their first attempt at a mile. as someone who has run countless 5k’s and has burned through more shoes than i can count, this is an easy thing to do and say. but as i stood on that pier waiting to make what could’ve been my last attempt at anything, i felt fear and humbled. fear for the swim. humbled by the seven other clients and friends by my side who were attempting their first triathlon as well.
and just like them, i set my fear aside and dove in.
i’m proud to announce that we all survived and we all met our individual goals. we faced our fears and we came out as better and stronger people ready for the next challenge!
* special thanks to bill shearer and mississippi heat, the soak up the sun volunteers, action mark, action scotta (hello, first place winner!), action meredith, morgan, cesar, jeffrey, jonathan (another winner!) and barbara. let’s do it again next year!
One Week Until the Keys…
we told you guys that we registered for the keys 100 back in december but we haven’t spoken of it much since. truthfully, we’ve been so occupied with the blues marathon, the rouge orleans, warrior dash training and our first triathlon (soak up the sun) since the first of the year that the month of may seemed far away. well, here it is… may 9th. in one week, our action jackson team will board a flight to fort lauderdale and we will begin our 100 mile journey from key largo to key west. we are hoping that our training runs in the recent temps of almost 90 degrees will have us well conditioned for the race that we hope to complete in 15 hours.
this trip became more of a reality this morning when i opened my email to find our latest action jackson banner in my inbox. our banners ALWAYS make me laugh (thanks, wade!!) we hope that you guys enjoy them too. as always, you can follow our race day (may 19th) progress on our facebook page and on twitter. we will be live posting from the road!
THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE: may 7th.
THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE: fuel your workouts! it’s going to be hot this week but we still expect you to be out there running, biking and staying active. make sure you properly fuel your exercise this week by staying properly hydrated (drink at least half your body weight in ounces each day), and eating plenty of healthy foods before and after your workouts. remember, food is fuel and the more wholesome the food the more power it will give you to push through your workouts. you should also eat something within an hour after your workout to help rebuild muscle and to help your body properly recover.
Tabatas.
yesterday, i gave a short demonstration on tabatas for the WebMD MPB Wellness Fair. if you were there, i hope you enjoyed the demo, and as promised, here is a summary of what tabatas are, why you should do them, and how they are to be done. Enjoy!
* tabatas are a protocol of high intensity interval training developed by a japanese scientist in the 1990′s. yes, his name was dr. tabata.
* dr. tabata was able to prove that olympic-caliber athletes could develop stronger VO2 max (maximum oxygen usage) as well as improve their anaerobic capacity by doing short bursts of exercise with a 2:1 ratio of effort to rest. he further found that just doing eight of these cycles three times a week was the equivalent of doing over five hours of regular cardio training.
* previous studies found that not only do these rounds of intervals improve cardio efficiency, but they also were shown to burn fat better during the post workout phase as well as decrease insulin resistance and improve glucose tolerance. this means that doing tabatas is a viable way to decrease your chances of developing type-2 diabetes.
* you can pick any type of exercise (running on the treadmill, using the elliptical, lifting weights, jump training, etc.) and do it or a combination of moves eight times for 20 seconds with a 10 second rest in between each 20 second burst of energy. after you do this, take a two minute rest and then repeat. start out doing one to two rounds of eight per week, three times per week and then gradually increase until you can do five rounds of eight, three times per week. always focus on being very intense in your efforts to maximize your results.
if you are interested in a group class, join us on tuesdays at 5:15pm at butterfly yoga for tabatas. the drop in fee is $10 per class or 6 classes for $50. and we promise you will sweat!
THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE: april 30th.
it’s getting to be that time of year where temps are reaching almost 90 degrees daily… which means we’ll be peeling off the layers and showing some skin! so let’s work on our abs, shall we? THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE is to do 100 upper ab crunches each day. lay flat on your back, feet flat and knees up with your hands behind your head. without bending your neck and while cradling your head with your hands, raise your shoulders and head about 2-3 inches off the ground. hold for one second and then ease back down. you should feel this directly below your sternum and if your neck starts bending or you feel like you are pulling yourself up with your hands, you should rest and then start again. you can break these up into 15-25 rep increments but do at least 100 each day this week!
Can’t Be Bored.
meredith and i spent several years in and around nyc where we had many great opportunities and found ourselves in some pretty incredible situations. at any given time, we could’ve been found at a fashion presentation at the ritz, watching the mets from a corporate suite or dining at some of the best restaurants in the world. in new york, there is always something to do 24/7, 365 days a week.
but home is home so we made the big move back and planned to do something different. at first, there was concern that we might be bored with the southern life. we knew for certain that we wanted to be active and if we couldn’t find it, we were prepared to make it happen. but that hasn’t really been a problem because there is plenty to do here. anyone who tells you different, hasn’t really looked that hard.
take last week, for example. (more…)
Free for 8.
who wants a free early morning workout class?
scotta brady of butterfly yoga and terry sullivan of liveRIGHTnow will be holding a joint tabata/yoga class next thursday, may 3rd from 6 to 7AM at butterfly yoga studio. this class will be 30 minutes of high intensity cardio and plyometrics followed by a steady flow of yoga for a great recovery.
the first class will be limited to EIGHT PEOPLE ONLY and you must email meredithwsullivan@gmail.com to save your spot. we promise it will be a great way to start the day!
