Step by Step

In the last post, I talked about making healthier choices and gave some suggestions on how to do that. But, you still may need to find the motivation to make these changes.

Here is a suggestion: purchase and use a pedometer. Pedometers are sold almost every where now and are often times given away at health fairs and even in adult happy meals. (If you absolutely have to eat at McDonald's you might as well get a pedometer while you are there.) Some are pretty simple and just tell you how many steps you have taken. But you can also buy pedometers that tell you how many miles you have walked and how many calories you have burned.

It has been said that walking 10,000 steps per day helps to meet the Surgeon General's requirement of getting 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day. This is a great goal to set for yourself. Put your pedometer on when you get up in the morning and wear it all day. At the end of the day, record how many steps you have taken. Expectant mamas can use this as a goal too.

Need more motivation? Promise yourself a trip to the spa after a week of walking 10,000 steps per day. Or you will buy yourself those wonderful red shoes you have been lusting after if you meet your goal at least 25 days out of the month. You will see that you will start to push yourself to meet the goal. It will motivate you to get up and take a walk during your lunch break, to walk to the store instead of driving and to take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Now, I will warn you: if you are not currently active, it is a good idea to work up to 10,000 steps per day. For example, start off with 4000 steps as a goal for the first week. Once you have reached that goal on a consistent basis, you can increase it. It is good to have short term goals on the way to your long-term goal.

Ok, let's get to steppin!

News and Events at The Hot Mama Fitness Studio

I just wanted to take a minute to let you know about the exciting events that we have planned at The Hot Mama Fitness Studio.

We will be offering the following workshops:
-Partner Yoga-March 14, 4:30-6:00 pm
-Child and Infant CPR-March 15, 1:00-5:00 pm
-Pre-Natal Partner Yoga by Candlelight-March 20, 7:00 pm
-Belly Dance for Birth Preparation Workshop-March 21, 12:00 pm
-Women's Wellness Workshop:Strong Bodies, Strong Minds. Where are you on your to do list?-April 4, 1:00 pm

You can find details on our website: http://www.hotmamafitnessstudio.com/workshops.php

We have started classes in Capitol Hill for moms that live and work on that side of town: http://www.hotmamafitnessstudio.com/capitol_hill.php

And last but definitely not least, please save the dates for our Mother's and Father's Day events:
Celebrate Mother's Day the Hot Mama Way! May 2, 2009
Celebrate Father's Day at The Hot Mama Fitness Studio June 19-21, 2009

Hope to see you there!

Finding time for exercise

Being a personal trainer gives me the opportunity to speak with many women about fitness. When I ask women why they are not more active, most of the time they reply, "I don't have time!"

However, the choices that you make during the course of your day can help you to become more active. If you alter your behavior and thinking just a little bit, you will be able to squeeze more physical activity into your life and become healthier because of it.

Here are three healthy choices that can help you to squeeze a little more activity into your day:

1) Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. You can burn a lot of calories this way. Take a break once an hour during the day to take a walk on the stairs.
2) When taking the bus or metro to and from work, get off a stop or two early and walk the rest of the way. If you drive, park far away from the building and walk the rest of the way. (This also applies to trips to the mall or grocery store.)
3) Schedule exercise time into your Blackberry like you would any other appointment. And be sure not to cancel!

These small changes to your thinking will help you to get more exercise during the day-even on days when you can not make it to the gym. And you are still keeping it simple!

Preparing your Abs for "The Main Event": Labor and Delivery

The single most important exercise you can do (ever) is the plank. Every client that I have, no matter what age or condition, does some variation of this exercise. It is the best exercise to strengthen the abdominal muscles. Everyone wants to focus on crunches, but crunches are not that important. They are also not good to do if you have diastasis recti (the separation of the abs that sometimes occurs during pregnancy). When you think of your abdominal muscles, you are probably thinking about the muscles that you associate with having a six-pack. The plank strengthens the layer of abdominal muscles underneath those that are responsible for giving you good posture, protecting your internal organs, controling incontinence, pushing out a baby, giving you good balance, etc.

To do the plank:

1) Start on all fours with your forearms on the floor, elbows directly under the shoulders.
2) Engage your abs. This means to act as though you are pulling your belly button in towards your spine.
3) Extend one leg all the way out and then the other. This can be a very difficult position to hold. Feel free to bring both knees to the ground without changing any other body position-keeping your shoulders above your elbows. If your back starts to hurt, this is normal. That will go away with time. Bring your knees to the floor.
4) Hold for as long as you can. Take a break and repeat one or two more times.

**Make sure you are breathing the entire time!

Set a goal to hold the position for 30 seconds. After you have mastered that, work your way up to 45 seconds and then 60 seconds.

This is a great exercise! If you don't make time for any other exercise during the day, make time for this one. It will only take about 5 minutes out of your day (max).

The full version looks like this:



But this is something to work towards. Don't worry about doing that now.

(pictures courtesy of babyfit.com and all-about-abs.com)

F-KIS (Fitness-Keep It Simple)

F-KIS (Fitness-Keep It Simple)-I have decided to dedicate this blog to keeping fitness simple during your pregnancy and afterwards for the next few weeks.

Pregnancy is an exciting time, and you know that you should keep up with your fitness routine. But with all the sleepless nights, doctor's appointments and trips to the furniture store, it seems like it is hard to find the time. This blog will give you a few, important exercises that can be done in your own home to make your pregnancy, labor and delivery a little easier.

Finding time (and energy) for exercise after having the baby is no piece of cake either. This blog will also highlight exercises that you can sneak in while your baby is napping and exercises that you can do together.

Join our team for the March for Babies

The Hot Mama Fitness Studio has started a team to walk in the March of Dimes March for Babies.

Our team has joined thousands of compassionate teams across the country that support March for Babies. Won′t you please help us in this worthy cause? Join us in the walk that helps all moms and babies.


The money we raise for March for Babies will help:


...support all-important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects

...educate women on things they can do to increase their chances of having a healthy baby

...provide comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care

...push for newborn screening and health insurance for all pregnant women and children.

Please click on the icon on the side of this blog or go to the link below to join our team or donate to our team. We will be having fun fundraisers at The Studio to raise money for the March.

Thanks for your support!

http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?SeId=630300&si=

Exercise During Pregnancy Benefits Mother and Child

This is a very interesting article about the benefits of pre-natal exercise on both mom and the baby.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025261.html