Metabolism-Boosting Yoga

by Kathy Smith

Yoga has always been more than just a form of exercise for me. It also releases stress and gives me greater peace of mind. Of course, improved flexibility, range of motion, coordination, posture, concentration and circulation are amazing benefits, too!

This week, I asked my Facebook community to share their views on yoga. I was surprised when an overwhelming amount said they don’t practice this ancient art, because they don’t think it would help them lose weight.

So, today, let’s dig deeper into this issue. TRUE OR FALSE: Is yoga a powerful way to burn fat fast? 

Maybe you want a quick answer to the question, “Is yoga a good weight loss exercise?” Like many questions in life, the answer is it all depends. With weight loss and yoga, it depends on the style of yoga you’re doing. There are slow, fluid classes that are more about stretching, and there are other classes that are more about power, speed, and strength. All yoga is beneficial to your health, your mind and your overall well-being, but which style you choose will determine how many calories you’ll burn.

If you’re looking to lose weight with yoga, here are 3 reasons why it’s a good idea to start today:

1. “Vinyasa Flow” classes burn 3 times as many calories as traditional “Hatha” yoga!

Since you burn calories in your sleep, it’s safe to say that all yoga styles burn calories. To burn the most calories, find a yoga class that focuses on strength, fluidity, flow, or power. Typically, these classes will be called “Vinyasa Flow” or “Power Yoga” and you’ll definitely break a sweat in these classes because you’ll not only burn calories, but you’ll also increase your heart rate. You can burn up to 597 calories in a Vinyasa Flow class, compared to 189 calories in “Hatha” yoga, a style that’s more relaxing and focuses on flexibility.

Beyond having great weight-loss potential as an exercise, yoga offers an important mind-body connection that is just what you need when it comes to dropping the pounds.

2. To reduce your caloric intake throughout the day, take mindfulness off the mat and into your life.

Research shows that the mindfulness side of yoga has a strong correlation with weight loss. That’s because the mindfulness that you practice in yoga is carried into your daily life. Managing temptation through good decision-making is easier when you practice yoga, because you’ll learn balance, confidence, and relaxation so you can be fully present in each moment and make decisions that are beneficial to your health.

The stillness of being in the moment helps you make healthier decisions throughout the day, especially when you’re faced with a choice like, “Should I have a brownie or should I have some strawberries?”

Most yogis also find that their practice develops keen awareness because of the mind-body connection that is created through yoga. Awareness is exactly what you need for successful weight loss – both to be conscious of when you’re full and to completely appreciate healthy food choices and the positive effect they have on your body.

Toned, lean muscles have a flattering effect on every body and provide a self-esteem boost as you travel on your weight loss journey. Yoga is an excellent body-weight workout that develops the muscle mass you need to fire up your metabolism.

3. To burn more calories after class, perform strength-training poses.

Yoga helps develop strength without bulk. Some yoga poses require you to hold your own body weight while controlling your breath. While you’re bearing this weight you build muscle in your entire body…from your arms to your core to your calves! Because you’re focusing on your breath, you’re less likely to be aware of the effort it takes to create those lovely muscles. But this is exactly why yoga has so many devoted followers – the muscle definition that seems to magically appear. This increased muscle mass will also help you move more efficiently throughout the day, which helps burn extra calories!

Have I won you over yet? If it’s weight loss help you’re looking for, yoga provides it and then some! It will not only help you lose weight, it will also improve your balance, strength, coordination, flexibility, cardiovascular health and physical confidence. Give yoga a try with my Yoga Sculpt Workout!

Kathy

The latest blog from Kathy Smith is now posted!

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Step Up To Strong!

by Kathy Smith

Who says you can’t torch fat WHILE strength training? It’s time to dust off your step, because this throwback tool is no longer just used for aerobics. In fact, when used properly, the step is one of the most underutilized pieces of equipment that can transform your triceps, biceps, back and shoulders.

Not only can a traditional step routine pump up your heart rate and focus on your legs and “assets,” but try polishing your routine off by using your step as a workout bench, and adding in some upper-body toning moves.

With a little creativity, there are countless upper-body strengthening moves you can use with your step bench. 

Don’t miss the 4-minute upper body step workout video below! Pick up your weights, and let’s step it up!

Own your copy of Kathy Smith's Power Step Workout today!

Kathy

6 Weird Ways to Drop The Last 10 Lbs

by Kathy Smith

I am often asked about this dilemma: Why, after working out for months and months, altering their lifestyles and changing their diets, do many people get stuck on a “weight loss plateau.” Bringing us the question, “How the heck DO I lose those last ten pounds?”

Most people become locked in to their everyday routine, the one they used to lose weight and improve their cardiovascular health. But as their bodies have changed they’ve become more efficient, so the routine that once seemed like a killer now burns fewer calories. At best, this level of activity helps to maintain current weight and fitness levels, but does nothing to move us off the “ten-pounds-to-go” plateau.

Losing those last stubborn pounds simply requires an increase in your exercise intensity a couple days a week—one that enables you to reach and maintain 80-85 percent of your maximum heart rate. When you reach that level, your metabolism gets an additional boost; moreover, the benefits of that boost last longer, so you burn more calories and fat at rest, not just during the workout. While the idea of working out harder, faster or longer than you’ve become used to may be daunting, the process itself can actually be pleasurable once you start to see the pounds drop.

Ready to melt away even more pounds? Here are 6 tips to to slide down the scale:

• Lift heavier weights. By simply using a heavier dumbbell, you nudge your body to move the needle. Lifting heavier weights raises your hormone levels, which allows your body to burn fat longer after your workout is complete. And I promise…adding a few extra pounds to your strength training routine won’t make you bulk up.

• Switch up the time or place you workout. By changing simple elements of your routine, it will make your workout feel fresh again. So instead of hitting the gym after work, try rearranging your schedule to workout before your morning shower. This change is stimulating, and can give you motivation to push yourself a little harder.

• Don’t Be A Stress Mess. When your body is stressed, your adrenal glands pump out extra cortisol, which causes an imbalance in your natural hormone rhythms. Extra cortisol triggers your body to hold on to fat and hinder you from reaching your weight loss goals. While nobody has a completely stress-free life, it’s important to reduce your stress to reign in cortisol.
• Add avocado to your day. The simple three-letter word “fat” may make you steer clear, but adding healthy fats (found in avocados, nuts, salmon, and coconut oil) can actually help your body shed pounds. And as a bonus, they’re packed with omega-3s, which help your body fight inflammation.

• Be a weekend warrior. A shocking study found that even dieters consume an extra 420 calories on the weekend. Although it may not seem like a lot, adding a few hundred extra goodies can stall your weight loss goals.

• Add other simple ways to burn more calories to your daily routine, like using an ankle cuff resistance band at your desk. Yes, sitting is the new smoking, so add some movement to your desk routine to keep your body in motion.

Remember, the greatest benefits of fitness has little to do with thinner thighs and tighter tummies. Those are just the bonuses. The true gifts that come from a healthy lifestyle are much more profound. The exercises below can improve mental and emotional health, mood, vitality, energy, happiness, and lifespan!

Kathy

3 AT-HOME MASSAGES FOR INSTANT CALM

by Kathy Smith

3 AT-HOME MASSAGES FOR INSTANT CALM

You don’t have to check into a spa to unwind. For serenity now, try one of these 3 at-home massage methods.

1. Check The Stick, But Keep The Ball

Lacrosse balls are becoming the go-to tool for easing muscle tension after a workout, which is why so many fitness trainers love them. They’re perfect for easing out muscle knots or pressing into and stretching muscles  to help reduce inflammation and promote healing. Try this: Place the ball against a wall between your shoulder blades and roll your body back and forth and in circles over it. You control the pressure pushing against the ball. Whether you like a hurts-so-good sensation or more gentle pressure, your muscles will thank you.

The coolest new gadget I found at this year’s IDEA convention was theTiger Ball…a ball massage on a rope. Now, you don’t have to worry about the ball slipping! It’s perfect for busting out knots, trigger poitns, and sore muscles in the back, shoulders, legs, and other spots that want deep pressure.

2. Make The Beastie Your Bestie

This 3” ball, called the “Beastie” has firm but flexible bumps gets into nooks and crannies where you didn’t even know muscles were hiding. Try this for a mid-day relaxation break: Place the Beastie on  your wall and move your back up, down, and around on top of it. Ahh…instant calm.

3. Smooth on the oil, smooth off the tension

Oil massage is considered a preventive in ayurvedic medicine. It is designed to tone the skin, smooth the muscles, stimulate circulation of blood and the lymphatic system, leaving your body feeling wonderfully sleek and alive. Sesame seed oil, olive oil, almond oil, or coconut oil may be used. If you’re buying a prepared massage oil, make sure it has one of these oils as the main ingredient. When I have time, I like to blend sesame and almond oil and add a bit of essential oil such as frankincense, lavender, or eucalyptus for a “scent”-sational massage.

Start your self-massage standing up.  For best results, leave the oil on your body for at least ninety minutes before showering off. I like to do this massage just after a shower in the evening. I towel off the excess oil, put on my comfortable nightclothes, and enjoy the lingering sensations and relaxing scents before going to bed. The oil is completely absorbed by the time I climb into the sheets 

Unlike in Swedish massage, the hands do not knead or dig deeply into the muscles in an oil massage. Instead, the palms remain flat and are brushed, or drawn, evenly over the skin with only moderate pressure, as though you were smoothing wrinkles from a bed sheet.

In the ayurvedic tradition, oil massage is often done at a brisk tempo that can actually be aerobic if done for thirty minutes or more. But I like to do it at a slow, steady pace that allows time to enjoy the sensations. Feel free to linger over an area for greater stimulation. Try spending extra time on your ankles, wrists, backs of the knees, or any area that feels especially good.

Kathy

Introducing a Workout Designed by… You!

by Kathy Smith

Introducing a Workout Designed by… You!

One of the most efficient exercises to burn fat and calories doesn’t require any equipment. Interval training (also known as High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT) can be practiced while walking down the street (or treadmill!), while riding your bike, or hiking the trails. And, it gets you fitter in less time.

Interval training combines short bursts of extra effort with normal activity over the course of several minutes and it can help you create flat abs and a healthier, leaner, more confident you. It supercharges your metabolism!

It’s easy to create your own interval training workout. The key to making 10-minute sessions of burst training work for you, is to make sure you have enough intensity. The Tabata Protocol is a common example of high intensity interval training. In the early 1990s, Professor Izumi Tabata trained the Japanese speed skating team, and he instructed them to do 20 seconds of all-out, fast-as-you-can-go intense activity followed by a 10-second rest period, and then repeated the cycle eight times. The whole workout took only four minutes, but the improvements in endurance were impressive.

The Tabata Protocol is the standard for high intensity interval training technique, but you don’t have to take it to that level to get the fat burning benefits. Determine your own level of intensity where you’re pushing as hard as you can. I like to visualize different faces to describe different intensity levels:

▪   When you’re at 60–75% of your maximum, you’ve got a happy face. Most of your long, slow training is in this range. At this level, you feel great, you’re relaxed and you can keep going for a long time.

▪  At 75–85%, that smile flattens to a look of determination. You’re not talking. You’re focused on your mission and entering warrior mode.

▪  At 85–95% you’re giving near-maximum effort with a battle-cry face. You can just barely keep this up for a few minutes.

Alternating between your happy face and battle-cry face is the essence of interval training, and it will transcend the calorie-blasting limits of what you thought your body was capable of.

As you continue your interval training, you’ll expand the time you spend at battle-cry. You’ll also see an improvement in your endurance on the days when you do longer, slower workouts. In fact, to get the best results from your 10-minute HIIT exercises, it’s important to not do them more than three times a week. This gives your body adequate time to recover, will help you avoid plateaus, and the variety will keep you interested in exercising.

My NEW HIIT Kit can help you quickly get from happy  face to battle-cry and the trim and toned results you want.

Kathy

Green Machine Smoothie

by Kathy Smith

Ingredients:

• 1 C. broccoli
• 1 1/2 C. cold water
• 1 leaf kale
• 1 C. arugula
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 juiced lemon

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients into a blender.
2. Add more water as needed.

Kathy

Blueberry Sunrise Protein Shake

by Kathy Smith

Low in calories, high in protein!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3⁄4 cup blackberries or blueberries
• 1 scoop (2 tablespoons) vanilla or chocolate protein powder

 Directions:

1. Combine water, berries, and protein powder in blender.
2. Cover and blend until smooth. For a thicker shake, use less liquid. For an icier shake, add ice.

Serves 1

Kathy

Burn 400 Calories in 20 Minutes With Kettlebells

by Kathy Smith

Every bit of exercise counts. But the truth is….some workouts are more efficient than others and you owe it to yourself to experiment and try new things when it comes to fitness. Take kettelbells for example. Kettlebells are not just glorified dumbbells. They’re a workout tool that optimizes how you move your body to torch fat and tone muscle in less time.

A University of Wisconsin study found that a kettlebell workout can burn up to 20 calories per minute or 400 calories during a 20-minute session. With those numbers, all excuses for not enough time to exercise go right out the window!

It’s easy to quickly move from one exercise to the next during a kettlebell workout because of the kettlebell’s distinctive shape. When you’re smoothly moving through each exercise without stopping, you’re in what’s called the “kettlebell flow.” The calorie-burning and muscle-building don’t take a break, either.

So imagine this…You’re at the gym, moving along through a 30-minute elliptical workout at a moderate intensity. On the other side of the gym, another woman is powering through a 12-minute kettlebell routine, at high intensity, with little to no rest!
Which one of you will burn more FAT and CALORIES?
Even though you probably burned more calories during your elliptical workout, the woman doing the all-out kettlebell exercise is more likely to torch more fat and calories overall…even though she is working out for HALF as long.
Both workouts are effective ways to get in shape for summer, but the high-intensity kettlebell workout requires a bigger oxygen deficit. This leads to something called EPOC, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. This means that after your workout you need to take in more oxygen to recover properly. Because this requires more energy, your body burns even MORE calories after the workout is complete.
And because a kettlebell’s center of gravity shifts during the course of each exercise, your body – especially your core – naturally responds by engaging more muscles. Plus the shape of a kettlebell is very similar to every day objects like a heavy suitcase, moving a piece of furniture or stack of books, or even a shopping bag. Training with kettlebells has the instant benefit of making life’s heavy lifting a little easier.
Not only that, but kettlebell workouts combine the toning benefits of resistance training with the fat-blasting benefits of aerobics. The full body resistance training you get from kettlebells helps create lean muscles, which burn more calories, and reduce fat even when you’re not working out.
If you’re ready for quick results from an invigorating workout that will boost your metabolism, don’t miss today’s 5-minute FAT-BLASTING kettlebell video above.

Own your copy of Kathy Smith's Kettlebell Solution today!

Kathy

5 Best Lower Body Toning Tips & Tricks

by Kathy Smith

Women ask me about trimming their inner thighs almost as much as they ask about banishing belly fat, whether or not it’s okay to eat carbs, and the true meaning of life. Let’s start with your thighs because there are easy things you can do to really firm up this stubborn area. And when you combine thigh toning with a killer butt workout, you start loving your lower body like never before.

1. Squeeze it.

Your “adductors” are the inner thighs – an area often overlooked in normal workouts (unless you’re a speed skater). Adductor machines (found at most gyms) are great for targeting this area, but you can also activate this area whether you’re standing in line at the bank or doing squats at home.

Try this now:  Stand normally, feet parallel and hip-width apart, abdominals tight, and shoulders back.  Without changing the angle of your feet, try to slide your feet together simply by using the muscles in your inner thigh – and simultaneously try not to tighten your glute muscles. Your feet won’t move. As you practice this, you can actually feel the action beginning all the way down in the soles of your feet and moving up through the entire inside of your leg. This activates the inner thigh muscles and also helps you stand a little taller!

And try this later: Next time you’re doing a set of squats, use a slightly wider stance than you usually would (roughly a few inches beyond your wider-than-hip-width position). Turn the toes outward slightly, and as you lower down into the squat, you’ll feel all the normal lower body muscles firing (glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and core) – but this time you’ll notice a little extra emphasis on that hard-to-reach inner area!

2. Lift it.

Once upon a time, leg lifts were invented for women who wanted to work the inner and outer thighs – but after the hundredth lift, they didn’t find their happily-ever-after. Adding some resistance to those classic moves helps you take results to the next level.

In fact, utilizing resistance tubes requires you to maintain constant tension throughout a movement.More muscle fibers light up, which results in quick toning results. Plus, tubing allows you to target areas that aren’t as engaged when you’re doing simple front/back movements.

Take your newfound inner thigh awareness into your everyday life. The same way you can work your abdominals from your desk, you can also engage your thigh muscles right now, as you read this.

3. Live it.

Squishy balls are terrific – I like to keep one under my desk so that I can do some extra thigh squeezes when I’m sitting at the computer.  It’s like a stress-relief ball for the legs – one that helps you power up your lower body.

4. Balance it.

Balance exercises not only strengthen your core, improving your stability and overall health – but they also engage muscles in the lower legs, including stabilizing muscles like your inner thighs. Many yoga moves, such as tree pose or dancer pose, are perfect for a late afternoon balance challenge. What could be better? You can calm the mind while strengthening your inner thighs!

5. Burn it.

The lower body plays a major role in maintaining your cardiovascular systems – since you can’t walk, run, or step very far without it. And the fat-burning benefits of cardio are a key component to trimming down your thighs.

Kathy

Strawberry Chocolate Protein Shake

Try adding any of these 6 ingredients to pump up the nutritional value of your smoothies:

1. Maca Powder just 1 tsp boosts energy and vitality
2. Parsley contains lots of iron
3. Aloe Vera detoxes the colon
4. Spinach or Kale - think green to get lean!
5. Ginger is perfect to aid digestive issues. I’m always adding it to my smoothies for a morning burst!
6. Flaxseed oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids…perfect to protect bone health and helps prevent heart disease.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Mixed berries
• 1 cup Unsweetened almond milk
• ½ cup ice
• 1 tsp maca powder (optional)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. 

Enjoy!