Friday, October 24, 2014
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
WHAT ARE THE TOP 3 LESSONS YOU'VE LEARNED IN LIFE?
I WAS RECENTLY JUST ASKED THIS QUESTION ON A GROUP I JOINED ON LINKEDIN. I LOVED THIS QUESTION BECAUSE I HAD TO REALLY THINK ABOUT THIS [ SINCE I ONLY CAN PICK 3] I COULD'VE LISTED A TON SINCE THERE ARE MANY THINGS I'VE LEARNED THROUGHOUT MY LIFE. PICKING ONLY 3 WAS TRICKY AND I WANTED TO PICK THE RIGHT ONES. THE ONES THAT I PICKED ARE EXACTLY THE RIGHT ONES AND ARE MY TOP 3 LESSONS THAT I HAVE LEARNED IN MY LIFE! THEY ARE:
#1. Always be honest with yourself and others
#2. Accept failures as lessons and learn from them
#3. Don't change who you are to please others
What are your top 3 lessons?
Please feel free to put yours in the comment box below as I would love to hear them.
Hugs,Health,&Happiness :)
Bernadette
xo
#1. Always be honest with yourself and others
#2. Accept failures as lessons and learn from them
#3. Don't change who you are to please others
What are your top 3 lessons?
Please feel free to put yours in the comment box below as I would love to hear them.
Hugs,Health,&Happiness :)
Bernadette
xo
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Thumbtack profile- Personal Training with Bernadette
<a href="http://www.thumbtack.com/ny/kingston/fitness-classes-and-training/personal-trainer">Personal Training with Bernadette</a>
Monday, October 20, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
WANT TO LOSE FAT? THE TRUTH ABOUT SPOT REDUCING FAT!
If you're trying to lose fat then know this ---> You Can't do a bunch of tricep exercises & expect to get rid of those "bat wings" & you Can't get rid of that "spare tire" by doing a gazillion crunches either. Sure, you will make these muscles stronger,but you wont be able tosee them underneath the fat. Why? Because you can't spot reduce fat, that's why.
Resistance training will in fact burn calories and help you lose weight. Doing total body exercises, bodyweight exercises, and/or working all of the major muscle groups will burn even more because the more muscle you have the more you burn and fat will melt. If you add cardio , then you are on your way for sure! Do this regularly & you win the fight against fat. Finaly, eat healthy nutrient dense foods & stay hydrated!
Hugs&Health
Bernadette
xoxo
Resistance training will in fact burn calories and help you lose weight. Doing total body exercises, bodyweight exercises, and/or working all of the major muscle groups will burn even more because the more muscle you have the more you burn and fat will melt. If you add cardio , then you are on your way for sure! Do this regularly & you win the fight against fat. Finaly, eat healthy nutrient dense foods & stay hydrated!
Hugs&Health
Bernadette
xoxo
Monday, October 13, 2014
HOW TO PERFORM A DUMBBELL CHEST FLY ON A STABILITY BALL
1] Sit on the ball & roll out with your weights while allowing your back to naturally conform to the ball. Do not hold the weights up or anything just yet. Keep the weights down alongside your waist. Your elbows can be supported by the ball until it's time.
2] Position the ball on your upper back and the ball is still supporting your head & neck. Tuck chin slightly so the head doesn't roll backwards.
3] Stabilize your scapula [ shoulder blades ] by depressing them. In other words, put your shoulder blades into your back pocket. If you're still not getting it, then imagine that you have pulleys on the very bottom of each of your shoulder blades and there is a little guy pulling on them. Got it?!
4] Your elbows are still on the ball. Position you feet hip width with second toe pointing forward. Knees, hips, and shoulders should all be in one straight line. Ankles/heels are below the knees.
5] Draw your belly button inward toward your spine and contract your glutes [ your butt ]. Pretend that there is a little guy standing underneath your butt and his hands are on each butt cheek and he is pushing it up as high as it can go. The word "bridge" in the the title of the exercise, which means that you are to form a bridge. Belly button to the floor and hips to the ceiling while squeezing your butt like you are trying to crack a pistachio nut.
6] Raise the dumbbells up and above the shoulders keeping the elbows unlocked [ a slight bend]. You do not want to "lock out " your elbows. Now open up your arms nice and wide stopping just past your ribs and before you bring the weights back up, pinch your shoulder blades together, contract your glutes again, raise the butt up higher, draw the abdominals in again and squeeze your pecs together. You will also drive force through the heels of your feet.
* During the entire exercise & throughout all of the reps , you must keep the glutes contracted, hips high, belly drawn in, and shoulder blades down. Dont just do these things in the beginning of your set thinking that it will stick throughout. You will have to "reset" these things almost every repitition. So make sure that you do this. Reset your glutes, bring those hips up high, draw in that belly, and stabilize that scapula.
* Inhale through your nose as you open and exhale through your mouth as you close.
* If you are having a hard time getting your hips up high and you're kinda drooping- preceed this exercise with a release and stretch of the hips.
* If you feel it in your neck, make sure your tucking your chin and depressing your scapula.
* If you feel it in your low back, make sure your drawing in your abdominals. You can even preceed this with a childs pose stretch.
* If you have never done this exercise before, but aren't "new to exercise", practice just doing the bridge and holding form before adding weights. Also, start with a very light weight to road test it. Once you know you've got it, go ahead and go heavier.
* This is not just a chest exercise, but it's a core stabilizing exercise. If done correctly, you wont only feel this in your chest and arms, but you will feel alot in your butt.
Thank you for visiting my blog and having an interest in health & fitness!
Hugs&Health
Bernadette
xoxo
You Tube link for this exercise right here:
2] Position the ball on your upper back and the ball is still supporting your head & neck. Tuck chin slightly so the head doesn't roll backwards.
3] Stabilize your scapula [ shoulder blades ] by depressing them. In other words, put your shoulder blades into your back pocket. If you're still not getting it, then imagine that you have pulleys on the very bottom of each of your shoulder blades and there is a little guy pulling on them. Got it?!
4] Your elbows are still on the ball. Position you feet hip width with second toe pointing forward. Knees, hips, and shoulders should all be in one straight line. Ankles/heels are below the knees.
5] Draw your belly button inward toward your spine and contract your glutes [ your butt ]. Pretend that there is a little guy standing underneath your butt and his hands are on each butt cheek and he is pushing it up as high as it can go. The word "bridge" in the the title of the exercise, which means that you are to form a bridge. Belly button to the floor and hips to the ceiling while squeezing your butt like you are trying to crack a pistachio nut.
6] Raise the dumbbells up and above the shoulders keeping the elbows unlocked [ a slight bend]. You do not want to "lock out " your elbows. Now open up your arms nice and wide stopping just past your ribs and before you bring the weights back up, pinch your shoulder blades together, contract your glutes again, raise the butt up higher, draw the abdominals in again and squeeze your pecs together. You will also drive force through the heels of your feet.
* During the entire exercise & throughout all of the reps , you must keep the glutes contracted, hips high, belly drawn in, and shoulder blades down. Dont just do these things in the beginning of your set thinking that it will stick throughout. You will have to "reset" these things almost every repitition. So make sure that you do this. Reset your glutes, bring those hips up high, draw in that belly, and stabilize that scapula.
* Inhale through your nose as you open and exhale through your mouth as you close.
* If you are having a hard time getting your hips up high and you're kinda drooping- preceed this exercise with a release and stretch of the hips.
* If you feel it in your neck, make sure your tucking your chin and depressing your scapula.
* If you feel it in your low back, make sure your drawing in your abdominals. You can even preceed this with a childs pose stretch.
* If you have never done this exercise before, but aren't "new to exercise", practice just doing the bridge and holding form before adding weights. Also, start with a very light weight to road test it. Once you know you've got it, go ahead and go heavier.
* This is not just a chest exercise, but it's a core stabilizing exercise. If done correctly, you wont only feel this in your chest and arms, but you will feel alot in your butt.
Thank you for visiting my blog and having an interest in health & fitness!
Hugs&Health
Bernadette
xoxo
You Tube link for this exercise right here:
Saturday, October 11, 2014
BENEFITS OF FLEXIBILITY TRAINING
Muscle imbalances occur when some muscles become short or tight, and other muscles become long and weak. Imbalances are created when muscles surrounding a joint change in length. One muscle may become tight and it's opposing muscle becomes long and weak.
Flexibility training is a key component for all training programs. It is used for a variety of reasons including:
~ increasing joint range of motion
~ relieving joint stress
~ improving elasticity of muscles and connective tissue
WHY IS CORRECTIVE FLEXIBILITY SO IMPORTANT?
If you don't do your flexibility before activating the muscle, you will only strengthen the muscle within the ROM [range of motion ] you have [ which isn't optimal ]. Where you need to strengthen the muscle is within the ROM that you do not have [ which has been lost ]. If you don't strengthen the muscle through the ROM you lost, it isn't there, so you wont use it and it will stay weak and allow for reciprocal inhibition to occur.For example: An overactive hip flexor like the psoas will decrease gluteus maximus acitivity. This leads to synergistic dominace to also occur. An example of this is - Synergistically dominant hamstrings during hip extension while possessing weak or inhibited glutes. This will lead to compensation, further deconditioning, and potentially injury.
FLEXIBILITY TRAINING LIMITS THE CHANCES OF THE CUMULATIVE INJURY CYCLE TO TAKE EFFECT.
Muscular imbalance---> Synergistic dominance---> Altered neuromuscular control---> THIS LEADS TO altered reciprocal inhibition, arthrokinetic dysfunction, and tissue fatique.
Look At these Benefits of Flexibility Training:
--Increased ROM
--Decreased muscle stiffness
--Increases neuromuscular efficiency
--Decreases compensation patterns
--May help to increase: balance, coordination, strength, and power
--Decreased risk of injury
Don't underestimate the importance of flexibility training not only before and after a workout, but in your daily life as well. There is no reason to set yourself up for injury if you can prevent it- right?
Hugs&Health
Bernadette
Flexibility training is a key component for all training programs. It is used for a variety of reasons including:
~ increasing joint range of motion
~ relieving joint stress
~ improving elasticity of muscles and connective tissue
WHY IS CORRECTIVE FLEXIBILITY SO IMPORTANT?
If you don't do your flexibility before activating the muscle, you will only strengthen the muscle within the ROM [range of motion ] you have [ which isn't optimal ]. Where you need to strengthen the muscle is within the ROM that you do not have [ which has been lost ]. If you don't strengthen the muscle through the ROM you lost, it isn't there, so you wont use it and it will stay weak and allow for reciprocal inhibition to occur.For example: An overactive hip flexor like the psoas will decrease gluteus maximus acitivity. This leads to synergistic dominace to also occur. An example of this is - Synergistically dominant hamstrings during hip extension while possessing weak or inhibited glutes. This will lead to compensation, further deconditioning, and potentially injury.
FLEXIBILITY TRAINING LIMITS THE CHANCES OF THE CUMULATIVE INJURY CYCLE TO TAKE EFFECT.
Muscular imbalance---> Synergistic dominance---> Altered neuromuscular control---> THIS LEADS TO altered reciprocal inhibition, arthrokinetic dysfunction, and tissue fatique.
Look At these Benefits of Flexibility Training:
--Increased ROM
--Decreased muscle stiffness
--Increases neuromuscular efficiency
--Decreases compensation patterns
--May help to increase: balance, coordination, strength, and power
--Decreased risk of injury
Don't underestimate the importance of flexibility training not only before and after a workout, but in your daily life as well. There is no reason to set yourself up for injury if you can prevent it- right?
Hugs&Health
Bernadette
Sunday, October 5, 2014
BENEFITS OF USING RESISTANCE BANDS
BENEFITS OF USING RESITANCE BANDS
Free weights have momentum and is controlled by gravity. This limit's the amount of speed that you can move a particular weight. The bands do not have momentum. By not having momentum, you can actually add speed to the exercise you are doing. You can however, add dumbbells to the bands by holding them at the same time as with a band/DB bicep curl. You can add speed as well as more load by uisng the combo technique.
EXERCISE TID BITS
Dumbbell tricep kickback vs. cable tricep kickback:
With the dumbbell, you don't have constant tension throughout the full range of motion [ROM]. Because of this there isn't any " emphasis" on the actual tricep muscle. Only at about the 1/2 way point of the movement does the tricep get involved, but the gravity of the dumbbell on the eccentric [lowering the weight] forces the tension to basically disappear. With the cable, you will have tension on the eccentric as well as the isometric [ at the curl/the top] and concentric [ as you are raising the weight up].
Cable tricep kickback vs. bands:
With the bands, the further it gets stretched the heavier it gets. This means more fibers of the tricep are getting fired and recruited. Using the bands doing a ballistic movement works well as you can do the movement fast while always maintaining tension. This cannot be done with the cable because there is momentum. So as far as cable and dumbbbell vs. bands go - you can't go for speed while using the cable or dumbbells because they are both controlled by gravity. Using the bands in this case is probably more effective to fire up the fast twitch muscle fibers.
Conclusion:
In the case of a bicep curl, tricep kickback or any other exercise, dumbbells, cable, or bands can be used and will be effective. If you want to put "emphasis" on the muscle you are working, the cable will be better than the free weight. If it's speed you want to recruit the fast twitch type 2 fibers, the band will be best. Again, you can combine the bands with the dumbbells to add volume and speed to the exercise.
Hugs&Health
Bernadette
Free weights have momentum and is controlled by gravity. This limit's the amount of speed that you can move a particular weight. The bands do not have momentum. By not having momentum, you can actually add speed to the exercise you are doing. You can however, add dumbbells to the bands by holding them at the same time as with a band/DB bicep curl. You can add speed as well as more load by uisng the combo technique.
EXERCISE TID BITS
Dumbbell tricep kickback vs. cable tricep kickback:
With the dumbbell, you don't have constant tension throughout the full range of motion [ROM]. Because of this there isn't any " emphasis" on the actual tricep muscle. Only at about the 1/2 way point of the movement does the tricep get involved, but the gravity of the dumbbell on the eccentric [lowering the weight] forces the tension to basically disappear. With the cable, you will have tension on the eccentric as well as the isometric [ at the curl/the top] and concentric [ as you are raising the weight up].
Cable tricep kickback vs. bands:
With the bands, the further it gets stretched the heavier it gets. This means more fibers of the tricep are getting fired and recruited. Using the bands doing a ballistic movement works well as you can do the movement fast while always maintaining tension. This cannot be done with the cable because there is momentum. So as far as cable and dumbbbell vs. bands go - you can't go for speed while using the cable or dumbbells because they are both controlled by gravity. Using the bands in this case is probably more effective to fire up the fast twitch muscle fibers.
Conclusion:
In the case of a bicep curl, tricep kickback or any other exercise, dumbbells, cable, or bands can be used and will be effective. If you want to put "emphasis" on the muscle you are working, the cable will be better than the free weight. If it's speed you want to recruit the fast twitch type 2 fibers, the band will be best. Again, you can combine the bands with the dumbbells to add volume and speed to the exercise.
Hugs&Health
Bernadette
Saturday, October 4, 2014
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