Workouts for the Bum

The bum is one of the hardest areas for me to work. For this reason, I have been a little more focused on working it our over the past few weeks. There are plenty of online workouts and video workouts that are geared solely towards our hind regions, we have even talked about a few of them before. Thank goodness, there is enough new material coming out that a girl never needs to worry about getting bored of working her derriere! These are some of the workouts I have been using recently to work my hind.

​Brazilian Butt Workout

I found out about this workout about a week ago. It seemed interesting and came highly recommended by the blogger reviewing it. This girl is pretty fit, so I figured it would not hurt to give it ago. ​The workout is filled with squats, plie squats, kicks, circles, jumps, lifts, and about four different kinds of lunges. Yes, it is a leg and bum workout!

Prepare to be here for the long haul when you are doing this workout. Each set took me between 15 and 18 minutes. By the third exercise I was dripping with sweat, it is an intense workouts, but worth it. The entire workout burned about 350 calories. Pretty spiffy! ​

Blogilates What Makes You Bootyful Butt Challenge ​

We have brought up Blogilates before. Although I do more yoga than Pilates, no one in their right mind would say Pilates does not work your core and everywhere else, or that Cassey Ho is not one of the best instructors ever. For that reason, I wanted to add the Blogilates Butt Challenge to this bum workout. It is a great five minute challenge that will get your upper thighs and bum burning in no time. The workout is super simple and would be great to do after any other workout for a massive booty boot camp. I am pretty sure I died during this three-minute butt lift sequence.

​30 Day Butt Lift Workouts

Ok, I am doing this. BeFit has created an intense and awesome ​30-day workout routine specifically created for our bums. The fitness regimen comes with a calendar and daily workout videos. These workouts are intense, but short enough that it can be done in addition to your usual workout. I will be starting this workout on Monday, just in case you would like to do it along with me. Once the month has passed and the workout is complete, I will give a second review. There may or may not be before and afters... I am still deciding.

The Importance of Stretching

This week we will be having a bit of a stretching theme with some stretches coming in the next few days. Before we get into great stretches, I thought it would be good to explain why stretching is so important. There are plenty of reasons that stretching is good for your body, especially as you age. ​The truth is, stretching is just as vital for our bodies as exercise is. If you are feeling tight, sore muscles after your workout, it is most likely due to a lack of stretching. Stretching both before and after a workout will help keep muscles healthy and decrease the risk of fatigue, injury, and pain associated with working out.

Pre-Workout

If you are feeling sore after your workout, chances are you are not stretching enough before or after. ​Sore muscles can be a sign of soft tissue tears and high-than-usual amounts of lactic acid. Stretching will decrease the risk of tears and reduce amounts of lactic acid in soft tissue.

When we complete dynamic stretching before our workout, we are loosening muscles, tendons, and joints. These guys need to be loose because the sudden and intense movements we put our bodies through can cause tearing and stretching of muscles and tendons. Joints get quite a beating with almost any form of exercise. When we stretch our muscles, we release synovial fluid to our joints. This fluid helps keep joints lubricated throughout our workout and decreases contact stress on the larger knee, hip, and shoulder joints.

Besides the usual reduced risks of tears, stress fractures, and ​joint pain, stretching will also increase blood supply and nutrient flow to our muscles. Getting more oxygen to our muscles while we workout will only do good. Extra oxygen will help muscles respond faster and increase stamina. The increase of flexibility will give you greater range of motion during your workout as well. This means you will be able to push your body farther, workout for longer, and feel less pain. Yes, please!

Post Workout

Stretching after a workout is as important for our flexibility and posture as stretching beforehand is for our muscle health and injury reduction. Bulky, tight muscles are the last thing anyone wants from their sweat sessions, but that is exactly what a lack of post-workout stretching will bring. When we do static stretches after our workout, we are increasing out flexibility, range of motion, and encouraging proper posture.

So many things we do in modern life do harm to our posture. Working on computers for long amounts of time, sitting in car, even certain forms of exercise will pull on tight muscles and bring joints out of alignment. When we stretch, we are reducing our muscles' tightness and reducing improper strain on joints. 

The Controversy

There is a new(ish) rift in the health and fitness world where some still say stretching after a workout will decrease muscle soreness, others disagree. New research is showing that post workout stretching may make no difference to sore muscles at all. Scientists believe that this is because the muscle has already had stress and been torn or stretched; by stretching after a workout, we are not undoing any of the damage that has already been done.

No matter which side of the fence you rest on, both still agree that stretching before a workout will decrease stress tears, fractures, and joint pain; while stretching after a workout will increase flexibility and good posture. Both sides also agree that stretching before and after a workout will increase range of motion- something important for any athlete. ​

Run Disney

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This week, we are taking a break from Meat Free Mondays to talk about something new at Disney World's Marathon Weekend. Next January, Disney will have two more new races during the Marathon Weekend. ​This also means the race will expand from three races in four days to five races and five days!

Usually, The Disney Marathon takes place during early January with a 5K, half marathon, marathon, and the Goofy Challenge . The Goofy Challenge is running both the marathon and half marathon for a total of 39.3 miles in four days. Each race has their own finisher medals and finish line party. Now, Disney has added a 10K race (6.2 miles) through EPCOT's World's Showcase. They have also created a whole new Dopey Challenge that is a total of 48.6 miles... Pretty Dopey. This race inlcudes the 10K, half marathon, marathon, and the family 5K challenge.

The marathon weekend will still have a Pasta Party in EPCOT, along with all the usual family events, expo's, and bonuses you can pay a little extra for- run retreat tent anyone? ​

If you are interested in running anything during the marathon weekend, I would highly recommend ​getting registered soon since this one sells out. If registered before June 18th, prices will range from $95 for the 10K to $495 for the Dopey Challenge. After that, prices increase by about $15 every few months.

Women's Health Workout Review: Body you Want in the Time you Have

The April issue of Women's Health Magazine has one of my favorite fitness idea compilations ever. Everyone is super busy these days, so they decided to make a few workouts that can be done in twenty minutes or less. Sounds perfect!

Last week we reviewed the Fast-Track interval workout, which I loved! This week we will be talking about the other two, shorter workout routines. ​These workouts are comprised of the twelve minute Cardio Burn and the fifteen minute Build Strength, Fry Fat. After the Fast-Track workout last week, I have been super excited to try the next treadmill workout and a workout that promises the fat to melt away.

Cardio Burn

This workout is the shortest of the three at only twelve minutes long. Don't let that fool you though, it is hefty. Jens Bangsbo (PhD) says that people who did this interval training sequence for 20-30 minutes were able to shave almost a minute off their 5K run times! This is due to the third level of interval training that keeps your heart rate higher for longer. ​

The workout uses the 30-20-10 plan to get our hearts going and fats burning. The 30-20-10 plan is 30 seconds of slow jogging, 20 seconds of moderate running, and 10 seconds of sprinting. The 30-20-10 routine is done five times followed by a one minute rest and five more. ​

I did the workout on the treadmill and goodness did the time go by. The entire workout, plus warm-up, took 15 minutes. I loved it. The intervals did seem a bit short, but maybe that is part of the appeal. Once you get up to sprinting speed, you have about five seconds before bringing it back down. This was my least favorite part, but it would not stop me from doing the workout again. ​

The workout burnt 145 calories in 15 minutes. Pretty good!

Build Strength, Fry Fat

​Next up on our list is the workout I was most excited to do. Fat is one of the hardest things for me (and most women) to loose. Since this workout promises I will burn fat and gain muscle, I am in. The workout uses sequences that alternate working the upper and lower body for greater results seen faster. There are six exercises that are each done for thirty seconds without breaks between. Women's Health recommends completing three to four circuits, taking a one minute break between each.

Maybe I was too excited about this workout and expected it to be more than it was. I ended up only doing three reps because I was so bored midway through. Everything seemed a bit repetitive and not very engaging. There was one exercise that I enjoyed in this and will be incorporating in other workouts. The push-up position row was fun and something that worked my abs and shoulders since you alternate doing rows with weights in plank position. After three sets I burned 93 calories in 12 minutes with 8 pound weights. Not as good as what I would hope for, but not bad either.