Body weight exercises

Upper body

Dips 12-20 (beginners 5-8)

Push ups 12-20 (beginners modified on knees 12-20)

Hand stands 15-30 sec hold (can start off next to a wall)

Pull ups 12-20 (buy a resistance band and you can start supported pull ups and move you way up to no resistant band)

Resistant band rows 12-20 (beginners 8-10 reps)

Up down planks 12-20 reps (rotate plank hold from extended arm to flexed arm (elbow form) beginners do 5-8 reps)

Pyramid push ups 12-20 reps (in the yoga position down ward dog do push ups. Beginners do 8-10 reps)

Ball throws 12-20 reps (any ball will work, practice doing over head throws to get mobility in shoulders and working triceps. Beginners 8-10 reps)

Standing Rhomboid Squeezes 12-15 reps( Bring your arms up to shoulder height, and bend at the elbow; squeeze you shoulder blades together, all while flexing and working against the motion that you are actually trying to complete. Do this right and you will get a great deal of burn in those muscles.)

Tip Toe Planks  12- 15 reps (Go into a plank position and press through the toes to move your upper body forward, over your forearms.

This is a great total body exercise.)

Lower body

Squats 12-20 reps (harder version would be to add a jump to the squats. Beginners do 8-10 reps)

Lunges 12-20 reps (harder version would be to add a twist or jump. Beginners do 8-10)

One footed calf raises 12-20 reps (beginners do 8-12 reps)

Wall sits 15-30 sec (make sure knees are in line with ankles and are at a 90 degree angle)

Kick backs 12-20 reps (on hands and kness and extend one leg out focusing on your butt. Beginners do 10-12 reps)

Leg raises 12-20 reps (be sure to keep your lower back on the ground! Beginners do 8-10 reps)

Ber-pees 12-20 reps (beginners do -10 reps)

Walking planks 12-20 reps (get into plank extend arm form and walk with hands and legs in plank form. Beginners do 6-8 reps)

Flutter kicks/scissor kicks 12-20 reps (harder add to this exercise is to hold with extended feet out about 5 inches off the ground and hold for 15-30 sec. beginners do 8-10 reps)

Side plank dips 12-20 reps (get in side plank form on your elbow and use hips to dip. Beginners do 5-10 reps)

At home cardio

Squat jumps 15-30 sec

Lunge jumps 15-30 sec

High knees 15-30 sec

Butt kicks 15-20 sec

Jumping jacks 15-30 sec

Karaokes 15-30 sec

One footed jumps 15-30 sec

High knees jumps 15-30 sec

Br-pees 15-30 sec

Jab, straight, hook, upper cut punch movements 15-30 sec

Side kicks 15-30 sec

Jog, push-up, crunch 30-60 sec (give 10 sec for each motion)

Stair jumps 15-30 sec

All of these exercises you can mix and put together yourself.

The cardio can be used as a good warm up and then going into a circuit which is three to four exercises for either upper body or lower body, repeat the circuit 2 to 3 times.

You may want to make small investments like a resistance band, pull up bar, and a box that can handle being jumped on.

These exercises can be done from home, the park, or at the gym.

With all these exercises you can modify them to be harder or easier.

 You can train upper body and lower body on different days, or you can do a full body exercise.

These exercises burn about 5-8 calories a minute. (this is an estimation)

Proteins aka building blocks of the body

Proteins are the building blocks of our bodies! Amino acids are the building blocks for the body. Protein is necessary for building and maintaining body tissue. These amino acids are classified as: indispensable, dispensable, and conditionally indispensable. We have 20 common amino acids that are vital to our bodies, making it so we can be healthy and live.

Indispensable are 9 amino acids that our bodies cannot manufacture these acids sufficiently or the quantity needed. These 9 amino acids are essential in a healthy diet and should not be left out! (Histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine)

Foods that are high in amino acids include: eggs, meat, soya beans and quinoa. Some of the other foods that have high levels of amino acids in them are: cheese, fish, milk, potatoes, soy, yogurt and turkey.

Dispensable amino acids is a little confusing because, they are the five amino acids that the body can synthesize but, it must come from other amino acids that are supplied from the diet. So they don’t have to be consumed everyday but you would like to include these amino acids in your diet. (alanine, aspartic acid, asparagine, clutamic acid, and serine)

Conditionally indispensable amino acids are the remaining 6 amino acids that the body needs. These amino acids are like dispensable because they are synthesized in the body, but also must be obtained from the diet. These amino acids use other enzymes to help convert the amino acids from the diet into synthesized amino acids. (argineine, cysteine, glutamine, glycine, proline, and tyrosine)

Functions of proteins

Protein is the primary tissue building of every cell in the body. Protein makes up the muscles of our bodies, organs, brain, nerves, skin, hair, and nails. Protein even plays a role in our regulatory systems like producing enzymes, hormones, and blood plasma. The main function of protein is to repair worn out, wasted, or damaged tissue and re builds new strong tissue. Protein is needed to help meet growth needs and maintain tissue though out life.

Other important functions of protein are: water and pH balance, metabolism and transportation, the body defense system, and the energy system.

Food sources of protein: Meat, poultry, beans/legumes, nuts, dairy products, sea food, guavas, avocados, asparagus, cauliflower, dates, broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, sweet corn, egg whites, apricots, tangerine, coconut, bananas, blueberries, tofu, mango, figs, and apples.

Recommended daily allowance is 10%-35%

1 gram = 4 k cal protein

How to calculate the intake for protein

Say your daily calories needed are 2200 kcal

1)      2200 kcal X 0.10 = 220 kcal a day

2)      2200 kcal X 0.35 = 770 kcal a day

3)      So your range of protein calories is between 220 and 770 kcal a day.

4)      220 kcal / 4 kcal = 55 g of protein per day

5)      770 kcal / 4 kcal = 192.5 g of protein per day

6)      So your range of grams of protein is between 55-192.5 grams a day

To calculate the recommended dietary allowance relative to ideal body weight

Based on recommended dietary allowance of 0.8 g protein/kg body weight per day (you will use this in number 3)

1)      Covert weight in pounds to weight in kg (2.2 lbs = 1 kg)

2)      Example: 123 / 2.2 = 55.9 kg

3)      55.9 g X 0.8 g/kg = 44.7 g of protein a day (minimum)

 

 

Lower back Stabilization

Who is sick of back pain?! Well there are some exercises and movements you can do to help. Lumbar stabilization is a form of exercise that is designed to strengthen back muscles to support the spine and help prevent back pain! When doing these exercises be aware off joints and using your core to support your body. The goals of these exercises are to: 1) Reduce back pain 2) have control of your body 3) heal soft tissue 4) increase mobility.

***Always talk to your doctor before trying these exercises if you have had back injuries in the past. If your body isn’t ready to move, this could hurt your body more!

Do you know what your neutral spine is? This may not be pain free, but you need to see what your body looks like. Find where you have good posture and that is considered neutral spine. It may not feel good at first, but it’s important to show your body that you’re able to get into that position. When you find your neutral spine position it will help decrease tension, allows discs and vertebrae to be balanced, improves posture, and provides functional stability.

So here are the exercises to practice and improve that spine!!!

 

 

 

 

Another form to help decompress your spine would be laying on your back and rest your legs on a couch, chair, bed, whatever as long as your legs are 90 degrees and your back is rested on the floor. You can put a towel under your neck to help support your head while doing this exercise. Spread your arms out extending away from your body with your shoulders rested on the floor. You should be relaxing and feeling the tension leave your back. You can lay there for 5-20 minutes.  I usually fall asleep when doing this and wake up with a nice relaxed back.

There are many other forms of exercises for back stabilization. There are many yoga poses and dynamic stretching that is also good for back stability. Also strengthening the core is very important because it causes the core to support our body instead of our back. (core muscles are much stronger then back muscles.)

How to calculate your calorie intake

This might be intense at first…if you’re not a math person you can skip the math and look at the websites below to help you with finding calorie intake.

Fats: ______g X 9  = _______Kcal

Protein: ______g X 4 = _______Kcal

Carbohydrates: _______g X 4 = ________Kcal

Percentages:

(Kcal total from fat, protein, or carbohydrates/total Kcal) X 100 = ________% Kcal recommended for daily intake of nutrient.

Total kcal comes from the food label. It’s the total calorie number.

All up all the numbers at the end of the day and then divide the out one of your totals from carbs, fats, and protein. You would then multiply it by 100 and this will give you your percentage of your total calories from the day.

Example:

2136 total calories from the day and for carbs I had 851 total calories for the day. You then divide 851/2136=0.4 (I rounded up) then we multiply the 0.4 X 100= 40%

So if you’re trying to lose weight cutting back 100-200 calories a day will help. 1 pound of fat = 3500 kcals. So buy cutting out those calories will help you lose weight. Most people cut carbohydrates (bad simple and refined carbs)

Daily recommendations for intake of Fats, Carbohydrates, and Protein

Fat: 20%-35%

Carbohydrates: 45%-65%

Protein: 10%-35%

You can go onto www.choosemyplate.gov and make sure your getting your correct amount nutrients needed daily.

If you click this link below, this gives you your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). This is the amount of calories you burn in one day. On the site they call TDEE maintenance.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

This website also a Carb, Protein, and Fat calculator which is pretty awesome and can help you figure out how much to take in daily.

Here is an example of looking at foods and calorie and macro-nutrients.

Vegetable Calories and Macro-Nutrients

Vegetable	Serving	Calories	Kilojoules	Carbs (g)	Protein (g)	Fat (g)
Asparagus	raw, 4 medium spears, 2oz	11	48	2.2	1.3	0.1
Beans, Kidney	boiled, 1/2 cup, 3oz	108	451	19.4	7.2	0.4
Brocolli	1 cup chopped, 3oz	35	146	5.6	2.4	0.3
Cabbage	1 cup shredded, 5oz	41	172	9.8	2.1	0.1
Carrots	1 cup chopped	52	219	12.3	1.3	0.3
Cauliflower	1 cup chopped, 3.5oz	23	95	4.1	1.8	0.4
Celery	1 cup chopped, 3.5oz	14	58	3.6	0.7	0.2
Corn (kernels)	1/2 cup kernels, 3.5oz	354	1479	82.3	10.8	4.3
Corn on cob	1 large ear, 5.5oz	140	588	33.3	4.7	1.1
Cucumber	1/2 cup slices (with skin), 2oz	7	28	1.3	0.3	0.1
Lentils	1/2 cup boiled, 3.5oz	115	480	19.9	8.9	0.4
Lettuce (iceberg)	1 cup shredded, 1.9oz	8	35	1.7	0.5	0.1
Mushrooms	1/2 cup pieces, 2.5oz	20	83	3.8	1.4	0.4
Onion	1/2 cup chopped, 3oz	36	150	8.6	0.8	0.1
Peas	1/4 cup, 1.5oz	36	151	6.7	2.3	0.1
Peppers (bell or sweet)	1 cup sliced, 3.2oz	18	77	4.2	0.8	0.2
Potatoes	1 potato, baked with skin, 7oz	255	1065	58.1	7.0	0.4
Pumpkin	1/2 cup mashed, 4oz	23	95	5.6	0.8	0.1
Spinach	1/2 cup, 3oz	20	82	3.2	2.6	0.3
Sweet potato	1 cup, baked, with skin, 7oz	180	752	41.4	4.0	0.4
Tomato	1 tomato, raw, 2.2oz	11	47	2.4	0.6	0.1

http://icantseeyou.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/03/vegetable-calor.html

If you have the time, check out this website below. This site has a huge list and gives energy levels of food.

http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/info/books-phds/books/foodfacts/html/data/data2a.html

This blog post is for those who want to keep track of their nutrition. I would recommend trying it out one day. Take a picture of everything you eat and try out the formulas to see if you’re staying in your calorie level. It always good to see how much food you need to take in and make sure your getting all the right amount of nutrients. There are programs and apps that can track your meals for you. Nutrition is a huge impact of overall health and abs.  But try to touch base and track your nutrition so you can map out all the bad foods and start replacing with good macronutrient foods. If you have medical issues or medication, always talk to your doctor about dieting and weight loss. Also talking to a professional nutritionist will help with mapping out a diet plan.

Also, track your sodium intake. We tend to have too much sodium in our diets. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended reducing sodium intake to no more than 2,300 milligrams per day. However, those with hypertension, over the age of 51, or who are African American, should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day. This recommendation includes over half of all Americans. Sodium is important because it is necessary for water balance within cells, and is involved in proper functioning of never impulses and muscles. The website below is a great resource and information on sodium and the human body.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09354.html

I hope you found this blog informational. It’s a little hard at first but, this is the first step look at your diet and make sure your getting exercise, sleep, lowering stress, and drink water.