Toning Shoes

I've had a few people ask me about toning shoes, and whether or not they really work.
The American Council on Exercise published an article earlier this summer discussing a few key brands:

Will Toning Shoes Really Give You A Better Body?

To this, I will add - I love wearing Fit Flops and have also enjoyed a few pairs of Earth shoes. Whether or not these actually "tone" your muscles while you wear them, I do believe that they help to keep your body in a more supported neutral alignment. This can help to engage your glutes and eliminate joint and low back pain.

Have you tried any brands? What are your thoughts?

Have a HEALTHY day!
~Fit Britt

Hard CORE Pregnancy

Having many friends that are currently pregnant, as well as receiving a few personal questions, has lead to this post focusing on core exercises during pregnancy. Certainly, these exercises can be done by all individuals, and can be modified in order to make them more gentle or more challenging depending on your needs.

First up: Cat and Cow stretch
Make sure your knees are directly under your hips and wrists under shoulders.
Exhale as you drop your hips and chin, lifting up through your mid back (cat stretch) and inhale as you lift your head and hips, allowing your mid back to drop through (cow).

Next: Spinal Balance
Still kneeling, wrists and knees in line with shoulders and knees (respectively), shift your hips to create a flat back (no arch, no curl). Make sure to keep your belly button pulled into your spine as you go through the following motions.
Start by lifting one arm at a time, hold and balance.

You can also do one leg at a time (make sure both hips stay facing the ground - no need to lift the foot any higher than hip height).
When you are ready to add the two together, lift opposite arm, opposite leg. Try to minimize the arch through the lower back, keeping your body as straight as possible. Variation: Fire Hydrant
For lack of a better name, in this pose you'll be on all fours, lifting one leg out to the side. Continue to keep the stomach pulled in, no arch in the lower back, focus on balance and toning the outer thigh. You can continue lifting up and down, or hold at the top and pulse.

The stability ball is a great tool for strengthening the core, and hopefully reducing tension in the lower back.

Ball sit:

Easy enough, try to sit on the stability ball whenever you can! If you work at a desk, sit on the ball instead of in a chair. While watching tv, sit on the ball. Sorry, you won't be able to recline, but you'll be working your core, perfecting your posture and relieving back pain!

Adding a little movement will provide a greater challenge and help build better coordination and strength. My caution for the pregsters, make sure you don't challenge your balance so much that you are at risk of falling!
Ball roll:
Move your hips around in a circle, try going fast, slow, small circles, large circles, switch directions, etc.

Ball march
Only if your balance and coordination allow, sit up tall, engage the belly, and slowly lift one foot. Switch feet. Overtime, try and lift a little higher or hold a little longer.

Low back pain is caused by more than just "a weak core." Having muscular imbalances through your legs can also contribute. The ball bridge will help to open up the front of your hips and activate/strengthen your glutes and hamstrings.

Ball bridge:
Sit on the ball and roll out until your upper back and shoulders are resting on the ball. Place your hands on your hips and lower your hips toward the ground.

Then press the hips upward to create a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. You can keep moving (up, down, repeat), or you can practice holding at the top. Squeeze your glutes and remember to breathe!
Finally, a few variations on the crunch. While you probably don't want to lay on your back for extended periods of time during your pregnancy, you can continue to crunch on the stability ball!
Stability ball crunch
Start sitting on the ball, and roll down slightly until the ball is supporting your lower back. Make sure to keep your ankles in line under your knees. Lift with the abs, up and down. If you feel too much strain, walk your feet out a little more so that the ball rolls a little higher into your mid-back.

Stability ball crunch with twist

If balance allows, try adding a little twist with each crunch

Stability ball crunch with march

First start by just holding the crunched position. While keeping your upper body still, slowly try and lift one leg and switch. Over time, try to hold your leg up a little higher or possibly add a little crunch to the mix.

Have fun and make smart choices! Pregnancy is not the time to kick your workout into high gear, but rather focus on staying healthy, comfortable, and maintaining your previous fitness level.

Have a HEALTHY day!

~ Fit Britt

It Watches Every Movement... and Lack Thereof

Sooooo, I broke down and bought an Exerspy. I've mentioned it before (mostly talked about the previous brand called the BodyBugg). This is the device that you wear all day and night on your arm, and it measures your caloric burn, your number of steps, your amount of physical activity (breaking it down into both moderate and vigorous), and even your sleep efficiency.
IT IS SO GREAT!
You can sync it to the computer throughout the day and it is most helpful if you log your food intake as well. It will show you your caloric deficit (or gain) each day, and at the end of the week there will be no surprises when you step on the scale!
It can be used no matter your goal: weight loss, weight maintenance, muscle gain, etc.

I find it helpful to sync around dinner time so I can see how many calories I can still eat and what I still need to burn for the rest of the day. It lets me know if I need to go for an after dinner walk (or something more intense), and if I'm allowed to have dessert and still stay on track.

This post may become long, as I start to add some pictures and descriptions from the website, so I'll mention a few more things first:

- There are a few similar devices out there... the BodyBugg, the GoWearFit, etc. They are all relatively the same, but I can say that the ExerSpy is created by the maker of the BodyBugg, with added features and efficiency (according to a webinar I participated in with the creator). The ExerSpy is the only one I can personally speak of and walk you through the process, but I have friends that have utilized the other brands as well.

- If you live near me, I would be more than happy to let you borrow mine for a week to learn more about your metabolism and get an idea for your daily nutrition and activity plan.

- I have to say, I always thought I'd just want to wear it for a few days and get an idea of what's going on... but now that I've passed it along for another to borrow, I miss it! I want to know how many calories I burned in an intense spin class! I want to know if I am continuing to stay on track with my goal.

- I won't hide the cost from you. The Exerspy is $220.00, additionally you need to have a $10/month membership to the DotFit website in order to sync your device and follow your progress. (I can give you a 14 day free trial to the site.) You can either pay for it all up front, or you can purchase the ExerSpy for $99 and then pay $20/month for the next year to cover the remaining cost for your ExerSpy as well as an annual membership. (You can also pay for your membership month to month if you aren't sure you want to commit to a full year)

- If you are interested in making a purchase, please contact me. It appears you can only purchase through DotFit (believe me, I tried to find one on eBay, etc.) and I have a DotFit account, so I can help set you up. Also, at no additional cost to you, I make a small profit off of everything I sell through my site and would certainly appreciate your support :)

So let's look at the details:

This first picture shows how many calories I burned in a day. You can see my goal was 2093 calories, but I actually burned 2465, woohoo! You can also see many periods of low activity and one big peak when I went to a cycling class.

You can also zoom in and see calories by the minute, and if you block a time period off, you can see how many calories were burned during your exercise, etc. During my cycling class, I burned 227 calories.

Then, if you click on "physical activity" you can get a good idea of how many minutes you've been active each day, as well as if you have had any moments of more vigorous activity. (During my cycling class I performed 34 minutes of moderate activity and 24 minutes of vigorous)

You can also monitor how many steps you have taken each day... with the goal being 10,000 steps a day. You can see that I only walked 5,201 steps... which isn't as many as I should get, but since my workout was a cycling class, this number is a little more understandable.

You can also measure your sleep efficiency. In one of the webinars, the company said that 85% or higher is a good efficiency. Mine certainly varies from night to night, but on the particular night showcased here, I was 93% efficient in my sleep, hurray!

In addition to the feedback given directly through linking the ExerSpy, you can log your food and compare the amount of calories in to the calories out to make sure that you stay on track with your daily caloric goals. This first picture shows a day that I ate pretty close to my goal, but then I performed more physical activity than my goal, thus having a greater caloric debt which would put me on the fast track to weight loss. (My caloric deficit was 938 calories. If I maintained this every day, I would lose close to 2 lbs in one week)

And because we all have them, I will share with you a day where my caloric expenditure was WAY over my plan. I consumed 2727 calories when I was only supposed to consume 1568. Fortunately for me, I had also exceeded my activity needs for the day, and still managed to have a daily caloric deficit of 247 calories.

You can see how this information could be helpful regardless of whether your goal is to lose, maintain, or gain weight. For me, it is helpful to see the visual balance... if I eat too much, then I have to do more physical activity to stay on track.

I think it's clear to say, I'm a big fan!

Let me know if you have any questions :)

Have a HEALTHY day!

~ Fit Britt