Shred your legs with this forgotten training tool

It seems that only elite athletes and exercise masechists use this tool regularly and enjoy it. The benefits are numerous and include being cheap, accessible, and efficient. What more could you want out of a training device. What’s great about them is you can actually find many of them for free so while owning one is great, owning multiple is awesome. What is this great tool?

Hills!

They come in all shapes and sizes. They are found in most neighborhoods around the world. If you ask any Kenyan or Ethiopian runner they will most definitely speak with both respect and admiration for their favorite training hill. Hills aren’t just for runners though. We use hills all the time to straight lateral speed and explosiveness in young athletes. We also use the incline to challenge our members to build their gluts and hamstrings doing lunges and broad jumps up the iconic Laurel St Hill that our studio resides on. No other tool is will force your heart to beat faster, legs to shake with exhaustion, get results as quick as finding a big steep hill and owning it!

Toned in 20! Day 1

Hey guys! So excited for #tonedin20! Check our Facebook page every day for the next 20 days for a workout of the day!  

Post a selfie doing the exercises of the day each day to win a prize at the end! 

Each workout will be a little bit different, but they will all target your arms, abs, butt, and legs to get you bikini (or swim trunk) ready!

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 

10 exercises.....

:45 per exercise/:15 break in between

x2

1. Mountain Climbers!  

Focus on maintaining your tempo throughout the whole :45. Keep your core tight and keep your shoulders square over your hands. 

2. Plank with hip extensions

Focus on maintaining your pelvic tilt- so no sagging in your low back and no arching when you lift your leg!  This exercise is meant to work your booty and your core! 

3. Squats

Focus on keeping your weight on your heels, chest up tall, tight core!

4. Sumo Squats

Wide stance, toes turned out, chest up tall, shoulders back, tight core: working your inner thighs and booty!

5. Reverse sit-ups

Slowly lower yourself back into a reverse sit-up until you feel like you're as far as you can pull yourself back up, keeping your elbows wide! *for more support, have a partner hold your feet!

6. Bicycle Crunches

Keep your elbows wide and chin up so you don't pull on your neck!

7.  Ab Wipers

Maintain your pelvic tilt, slowly lower your legs to either side, pausing in the middle *to increase difficulty, perform with straight legs

8.  Thrusters 

REALLY focus on making sure your back doesn't sag on the jump out, keep your core tight, and shoulders over your hands!

9. Hydrant Kicks

Pelvic tilt, "PEE ON THE HYDRANT", "KICK THE HYDRANT" ;)

10. Glute pulses

Make sure your hands are shoulder width, and focusing on glute contraction NOT using your low back :)

Setting Personal Records on the Reg

During the month of August, Lisa and I have chosen to work on ourselves from the inside out. We started by creating goals then we created a plan to achieve it. Our plan includes a list of potential obstacles and/or challenges we expect to encounter along the way. Then we developed a plan to tackle these issues when they arise. The goals we set follow the traditional S.M.A.R.T. goal format. I am looking to achieve a new P.R. at the Long Beach Half Marathon in October. This goal follows the S.M.A.R.T. format because it is:

Specific

Measureable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

Martin F. started with a vague goal, we talked and came up with a S.M.A.R.T. goal. Now he is on his second short-term goal and has set a new long-term goal; running the Long Beach Half Marathon. 

S.M.A.R.T. goals have been used for a long time by businesses to help asses employees and to drive productivity. These 5 characteristics of a goal allow us to pass judgment on our ability to achieve the goal whether we do or don't. The S.M.A.R.T. goal must have an empirical value, a number. Your final goal might not be a S.M.A.R.T. goal, it might be vague in nature. One of the most common goals I hear as a trainer is "to lose weight." Another one is to be stronger or more fit. These are great goals, but the problem is that they aren't measurable nor specific. These goals need a number value, like losing 20 pounds, running a sub-6:00 mile, or dead lifting 300 lbs. Only then can we make a proper goal achievement plan.

  When I have a client who wants to lose 40+ pounds, I will break their goal into more compact short-term goals, like losing 15 pounds

Goals shouldn't be overly ambitious or lengthy, otherwise they can lead to failure or can be unrewarding because they take too long to achieve. When I have a client who wants to lose 40+ pounds, I will break their goal into more compact short-term goals, like losing 15 pounds. These are more manageable because they have less obstacles, simply due to the shorter amount of time it will take to achieve said goal. Also, short-term goals allow us to create evaluations that will help designing our goal-achievement plans or making adjustments.

Ken has been one of my most dedicated clients ever. While his goal might be quite zealous, Ken always sets an achievement plan, stays focused day by day, and always achieves.          

                   @Glide_tc 

My last tip about goal-attaining is to stay focused and persistent. All achievements, especially in fitness and in health, take time and effort. Don't expect that because you make all these changes to your lifestyle that you will change immediately. Specifically, the physical changes take time to become visible. That is because the psychological change must be made first. Once you have a made up your mind on a goal you want to achieve, make a goal-achievement plan, assess the plan, then execute the plan.