Tone and Tighten

Real Fitness For Real People

Archives for June 2014

Weekly workout plan – 5 of the best quick exercises you’ll find!

Got social media?? Pinterest, Google +, Facebook, and Twitter!




Is your week as crazy as mine?!

Holidays, birthdays, family reunions, vacations, etc, etc! Summer always seems to turn the “crazy life” meter up to a whole new level in our family and this week is certainly no exception! If you’re anything like me you’re really wondering when you’re going to have a little time for yourself to get your workout on. Well wonder no more! Tone and Tighten has you covered! This week’s “Weekly Workout Plan” is dedicated to getting a good sweat and a good shred and doing it in a hurry! 15 minutes or less is all you’ll need to get in these amazing workouts. Get in, get your exercise on, and get out so you can get on with your day! Check them out:















Good luck this week everyone!
Remember to take the time to workout this week. Among other things it can be a great stress reliever and help maintain your cool when life starts coming at you fast!

Share the love – Pin it up!!


Questions or comments? Leave them in a comment below or email me at
ToneandTightenFitness@gmail.com



Make it happen,


Jared


Facebook Google Plus Instagram

 

Pinterest Twitter YouTube Image Map


By Jared Beckstrand

To view the rest of this post, be sure to head over to www.tone-and-tighten.com.

Have a great day!

Jared

10 Best Yoga Poses Everyone Should Be Doing – Increase strength and flexibility with these essential poses!

Be sure to follow on Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, and Facebook for more workouts and fitness ideas!





When looking for a killer workout that combines strength with flexibility one needs not look any further than yoga. I have been to classes before where I walked out of there feeling like I had just spent an hour working out in the gym! Yoga poses and positions are a wonderful way to improve mobility in joints and strength in major muscle groups. In fact a lot of the poses are so good that I recommend them to my patients to do in the physical therapy clinic while rehabbing from an injury. From low back pain to IT band symptoms – chances are there is a yoga pose to help you out. Today I am sharing my top 10 yoga poses that I feel everyone should be doing. Get loose and limber, toned and tightened right here:



1. Child’s pose: one of my go-to’s for low back pain. Sit comfortably on your heels with your arms stretched out in front of you. Tuck you chin into your chest until a comfortable stretch is felt throughout your entire spine.

2. Pigeon pose: My personal favorite IT band and piriformis (that muscle that gets tight and painful in the back of your hip) stretch. Get down on all fours and cross one leg in front of the other. Lean down and back a little until a comfortable stretch is felt in your backside.

3. Downward facing dog: Great stretch for the back, hamstrings, and calf; also great strength for the shoulders/upper body. Start down on all fours. Push your hips up towards the ceiling

4. King cobra: Great exercise to increase spine mobility, especially stretching further into extension (a position that we typically don’t get into that much). Lay on your stomach. Push up onto your hands as high as you can with your hips still in contact with the ground until a good stretch is felt. 


5. Cat camel: Another common exercise in my PT clinic

for increasing overall spine mobility. Get down on all fours starting with your spine in a neutral position. Tuck your chin into your chest and arch your back up toward the ceiling (this is the “angry cat” part of this pose). Next keep your elbows extended while dropping your chest/stomach down towards the floor and looking up straight ahead (this is the “camel” part of the pose”.

6. Bridge: I typically go to a bridge exercise in sets and reps for back and butt strengthening. However- the longer you hold it the more fatiguing it becomes. Lay on your back with your knees bent. Use your butt and back to push your hips towards the ceiling and hold. Your glutes should be contracted to hold your hips up off the ground. 

7. Seated twist: A personal favorite of mine  that I’m sure to do on the first tee block before teeing off. Sit on the ground with your legs out straight. Bend your left leg and put your left foot on the outside of your right knee. Rotate your trunk and put your right elbow to the outside of your left knee and push gently until you get a good stretch throughout your spine. 

8. Wide legged standing forward bend: Great way to work on your hamstring flexibility. Stand with your feet a little wider than your hips. Keep your legs straight and bend forward at your hips, reaching towards the ground until a stretch is felt in the back of your legs. 

9. Plank pose: Probably my favorite core strengthening

exercise. Few exercises work all the muscles of your abdominal wall and core the way that a plank does.  Lay down on your stomach with your elbows tucked under you. Now push up so just your toes and forearms are in contact with the floor. Keep your back straight and your stomach tight. 

10. Thread the needle: Another common stretch seen in my clinic. A great pose to losen up the hips and back. Lay on your back with both knees bent. Cross your right ankle over your left knee. Grasp with both hands around your left hamstring and pull your left knee up towards your left shoulder until a comfortable stretch is felt in your right hip.


Like it? Pin it!!



Looking for an amazing yoga workout to hone your new pose skills? Let Jillian take you through this amazing 
“Yoga Meltdown Workout”




As always, comments and questions are welcome either below or email me at ToneandTightenFitness@gmail.com


Make it happen,


Jared


Facebook Google Plus Instagram Pinterest Twitter YouTube Image Map




By Jared Beckstrand

To view the rest of this post, be sure to head over to www.tone-and-tighten.com.

Have a great day!

Jared

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Be Lifting Weights – Fitness FAQ





Burn more fat, build more muscle, and improve your body self image… Just to name a few!

I think it’s safe to say that most of us out there have different goals in going to the gym. For some of us, it’s all about dropping 5–15 pounds. For others, we may want to put on 5 inches around our legs, but, or biceps. The bottom line is that most of us work out for a reason, and not enough of us understand the benefits of a regular weights routine as part of our weekly regimen. Well today I am here to squash that. Let me introduce you to my “Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Be Lifting Weights” to try to convince you to give the treadmill and elliptical a break every now and then!



10. You will be smarter: Weight lifting actually stimulates the mind, improves clarity, and gives you a heightened mental alertness. It can also boost clarity later in the day!


9. Your clothes will fit better: one pound of fat actually takes up 18% more room than one pound of muscle. Furthermore, a strong muscle is a tight muscle. You’ll start to fill out your clothes in all the right places and make them looser in areas you’d rather not “fill out”.


8. You will build stronger bones: Bone growth is actually stimulated in direct proportion to the amount of stress placed on the bone. Regular weight training increases bone density, thereby decreasing risk for fracture and osteoporosis. Weight training / resisted exercise is truly a lifelong activity!

7. You will get into shape faster:  A word about circuit training – if you don’t know what it is you need to read this now. If you’re short on time there is simply NO more effective way than circuit strength training. Circuit training has actually been found to increase your heart rate to similar levels as more-common cardio equipment. The result is you get a great cardio workout combined with a killer shred from the weights! 

6. You will be less stressed (and handle it better when it comes): It’s actually been proven scientifically that fitter people have lower levels of stress hormone than their less-fit counterparts. The release of endorphins that comes with exercises has been proven to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. The next time you’re feeling stressed or worried about something don’t hide under the bed or rock in the corner… go throw something heavy around!!

5. You will be more productive: It’s been proven that on days where you workout you’re actually about 15% more productive! Think of it! You can fly through projects at work, school, home, etc if you take a little “me time” first and throw weights around.

4. Your heart will be healthier: Researchers have found that those who participate in regular total body weight exercises were able to decrease their dialstolic blood pressure. And seeing as how heart disease is the #1 killer in the world, this one resonates true for everyone of us reading this!

3. You will be more functional: Muscle=movement. The stronger the muscles that support joints the more functional the movement becomes. This is a phenomenon I encounter daily in the physical therapy clinic. In my opinion one of the most important things that I do everyday is instruct patients in proper exercises to target specific muscle groups to help movement become more functional. It’s astounding how people can feel better immediately with strengthening exercises.

2. You will burn more calories: The harder your muscles work, the more fuel is required. Your body uses calories as fuel for moving muscles. Working out with weights for specific muscle groups burns more calories during the workout, but it also increases your basal metabolic rate – basically you burn more calories at rest! This metabolic increase has been shown to stay for up to a day after lifting.

1. You actually lose more fat: weight training actually burns fat AND builds muscle simultaneously. It’s actually been proven that cardio combined with weight training will toast more fat than cardio alone. With more muscle mass comes a higher metabolism to feed those strong muscles; all of the sudden you’re burning even more calories while at rest! When combined with a nutritious, low-cal and high protein diet you will actually burn more fat than with just cardio workouts. Best bonus ever!


So what’s the bottom line? Well, if you haven’t realized it by now…

You need to be strength training.

Take your results to a level you never thought possible by picking up, pushing, pulling, squatting, lifting, and curling some weights!

Pin Me!!




Not sure where to start? Here are some of my favorite weight routines:













Questions or comments? Leave them below or email me at ToneandTightenFitness@gmail.com




Make it happen,



Jared



Facebook Google Plus Instagram Pinterest Twitter YouTube Image Map




By Jared Beckstrand

To view the rest of this post, be sure to head over to www.tone-and-tighten.com.

Have a great day!

Jared

Fitness Motivation – Gym Inspiration – One Step Closer

Are you on Instagram? Tone and Tighten is! Follow here for more great fitness ideas!





Fitness is not a sprint to the finish – it’s one step at a time towards a lifelong goal.

In the world of personal fitness, there is no quick fix. There is no one-and-done that will immediately make you stronger or thinner or healthier. Many people get discouraged by “not seeing any results” and they think their hard work is all for naught. This is a discouraging factor for many and the reason why most give up. I believe that more people would see the success they’re after if they could just keep this one simple principle in mind – 

One step in the right direction is one step closer to your goal.

The truth is you won’t get there overnight. It may take weeks or month or even years of steady, consistent work to start to see results and for others to start to notice results in you. The key principle to remember is “am I closer to my goal today than I was yesterday?” If you can answer “yes” to this question at the end of the day then you have taken a step in the right direction. If you’re facing your goal and advancing towards it then you are actively pursuing it. Take that step today. Help yourself to advance…

ONE STEP CLOSER.



Looking for more great “Fitness Motivation”? Here are some more of my favorites:

https://tone-and-tighten.com/2013/09/fitness-motivation-sacrifice.html
https://tone-and-tighten.com/2013/09/fitness-motivation-push-your-limits-to-realize-your-potential.html

Inspired? Share the love with a Pin:


Make it happen,



Jared



 

Facebook Google Plus Instagram Pinterest Twitter YouTube Image Map


By Jared Beckstrand

To view the rest of this post, be sure to head over to www.tone-and-tighten.com.

Have a great day!

Jared

Awesome Gym Leg Workout! – Great series of circuit exercises to increase strength

Got social media?? Pinterest, Google +, Facebook, and Twitter!
 

 

Because you can’t spell “Legendary” without “Leg Day”
 
Looking for an amazing leg day in the gym? Today I’m sharing one of my favorite routines as the newest edition of our “What I Worked Wednesday” series. In response to multiple viewer emails enquiring what I do personally to workout I started this series so you could follow along. This was my leg day from a few days ago – I’m still having some trouble getting around today! Check it out…

…

Read More »