My company, Goal Fitness & Nutrition, LLC, holds many one-hour bootcamps throughout the year to help people lose weight fast. They are fun yet challenging, and the intensity can be modified for any fitness level. Here is a sample bootcamp workout that can be done with or without weights or equipment. To perform the following bootcamp workout, all you need is a stopwatch (or clock with a second hand), water, and room to move (I recommend using the great outdoors as your gym so you have plenty of room and space to run). Feel free to use weights or resistance bands if you have them available to add more difficulty!

All exercises listed below should be performed for one minute, one right after the other, unless otherwise specified. The entire workout should last about 60 minutes.

-Warm-up walk or jog (5 minutes)

-Incline Push-ups on Bench or Step (Place hands on a bench or step while you perform a military or modified push-up.)

-Run lines as fast as you can (In a parking lot or field, mark off 3-4 different points in front of you, about 20-25 yards apart. Start at point one, run to point two, back to point one, then to point three, then back to point one, etc. until you’ve touched all of the points in front of you. Do this once.)

-Regular Crunches (Lie on your back on the floor with knees bent and feet on the ground. Using your abdominals, raise your shoulders off of the ground as far as you can. Lower and repeat.)

-Decline Push-ups (Place feet on a bench or step, and hands on the ground, while you perform a military or modified push-up.)

-Run lines as fast as you can (once)

-Regular Crunches

-Plank (Lie on your stomach on the ground. Raise yourself onto your toes and forearms so the rest of your body is off the ground. Hold yourself here for one minute, focusing on tightening your abdominal muscles.)

-Squat with alternating shoulder press (Stand with feet about shoulder width apart, hands at your shoulders-both hands holding dumbbells if you have them. Perform a squat as low as you can without your knees moving in front of your toes. As you stand back up from this position, raise one arm overhead. Bring that arm back down as you perform another squat. Repeat with other arm, then alternate after each squat.)

-Jog 2 minutes

-Plank

-Squat with alternating shoulder press

-Jog 2 minutes

-Triceps dips off bench or step (Sit on a bench or step with the heel of your palms resting on the edge. Lift yourself off of the bench or step and lower yourself in front of it until your arms are almost at a 90-degree angle. Use the palm of your hands to lift yourself up to the starting position. Repeat.)

-Alternating toe touch (Lie on your back on the ground with your legs straight up in the air. Reach with one hand towards the opposite foot. Return to center and repeat with the other hand to the opposite foot. )

-Jumping Jacks with cross punch (Perform a jumping jack and punch to one side of your body between movements. For example, think of your arms as going up, down, right punch. Up, down, left punch.)

-Triceps dips off bench or step

-Alternating toe touch

-Jumping Jacks with cross punch

-Shuttle run with push-ups (Using the same 3-4 markers from the running lines drill, start at point one and run to point two. Drop and do 10 military or modified push-ups. Stand up and run to point three. Do 10 push-ups. Repeat for all points. Repeat this drill two times in a row.)

-Side plank (Lie on your side, resting on your elbow. Raise yourself up so your torso and hips are elevated off of the ground. Hold for the entire minute, then switch to the other side for one minute.)

-Split Jumps (Stand in place with one leg in front of you, the other behind you. Perform a lunge by bending both knees and dropping the back knee to the ground until it almost touches. From this position, jump as high as you can and switch leg placement so the opposite leg is now in front of you, and behind you is the other. Repeat, alternating legs.)

-Shuttle run with push-ups (same as before)

-Side plank

-Split jumps

-Cool-down walk or jog (5 minutes)

The key is to switch-up exercises at a quick pace so you keep your heart rate up through the entire workout. Alternating an upper body exercise with lower body or cardio exercises will keep your heart pumping hard!

Good luck and have fun!

www.GoalFitnessandNutrition.com

www.GoalFitnessandNutrition.com/Online

What have YOU got to lose?

As a personal trainer, I’m often asked, “What should I eat?” With all the different diets, fads, and recommendations out there it’s really hard to know where to start. So to avoid any pitfalls, I’ve come up with a comprehensive list of different healthy snack options and foods to incorporate into a healthy lifestyle. Be sure, however, to pay attention to serving size.

High Protein

-Beef or Turkey jerky

-Egg whites

-Low-fat or Fat-free Cottage cheese (Tip: Mix with fruit for a complete meal, or just salsa for a nice kick!)

-Canned tuna (lean)

-Canned chicken (lean)

-Protein bars

-Protein powders

-Nuts

-Edemame

-Low-fat string cheese, laughing cow cheese, mini Babybel, or other reduced fat cheese

-Lentils

-Natural peanut butter

-Oats (Tip: This is actually a great balance of carbs, healthy fat, and protein. Eat instant and it saves time, too!)

-Low-fat, Fat-free, or Greek yogurt (Tip: Mix in some fruit for a complete snack, nuts or flax seeds for healthy fat, or protein powder for added, well, protein!)

-Quinoa (Tip: This is higher in protein than other grains.)

-Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans

-Soy nuts

-Turkey burgers

-High-protein ready-to-drink shakes (SlimFast, MyoPlex, etc.)

-Hummus

High Carbohydrate

-Milk

-Soy milk

-Veggie burgers

-Air-popped popcorn

-Veggies and fat-free dip (Tip: Make the dip with fat-free sour cream and a salad dressing packet. Also, cut the veggies ahead of time and you’ll have them ready anytime!)

-Trail mix

-Whole-grain cereals

-Fruits

-Vegetables

-Dried fruits

-Whole wheat or multi-grain crackers

-100% whole wheat breads

-Rice cakes

-Sugar-free pudding or jell-o

-Raisins

-Whole grain English muffin

-Whole grain tortilla

-Sweet potato/yam

-Baked potato

-Baked tortilla or potato chips

-100 Calorie packs

-Granola, Luna, Detour, or other snack bars

-Canned soup (Tip: Eating a cup of soup before your meal will help you become full faster, so you won’t eat as much!)

Note: With canned and processed items you need to be careful of sodium and high fructose corn syrup content. However, there are usually lower sodium or natural food alternatives available for many different items.

Food modification tips for weight loss

When you’re eating out for dinner, be sure to make healthy modifications to your meals to reduce the amount of fat and calories you’re taking in. Get dressings on the side, dipping your fork in before taking a bite of your salad. Ask for no cheese to reduce the fat even further! With your dinner, pick entree options that include a protein, carb, and vegetable source. Ask for a salad or a different side instead of fries. Eating soup before a meal will decrease your appetite sufficiently, as will drinking a full glass of water while you’re waiting for your food. Omitting an appetizer will help as well. Eat slowly so you know when you’re full. If you are stressed, take a few deep breaths and discuss something you’re looking forward to. Let your day go before you eat…. emotional eating is a killer and dinner should be a time to enjoy, not harp on the day behind.

Junk food

Let’s be honest, sometimes we can’t keep our minds out of the cookie jar. When a sweet tooth strikes you, or you’re just craving something unhealthy, you can indulge a bit without entirely undoing your day. I recommend planning one day a week where you get to treat yourself to whatever you’d like. In the meantime, if you crave something and it’s not your cheat meal day, go ahead and find a healthy alternative that will keep you satisfied so you can push through to the next meal. If you can’t get something out of your mind, go ahead and have a nibble or two (like a handful of M&M’s). It won’t completely undo your day and you won’t feel you’re restricting yourself too much. Try dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate for added antioxidant benefits. It’s all about making sacrifices, but also feeling like you can live your life without too many barriers.

Portion control

Overall, the best advice I can give is to just be conscious of what you’re eating. You don’t have to measure everything out ounce for ounce, but I recommend taking a bit of whatever you’re eating out of the container and putting the container away before you actually eat. For example, if you’re eating chips and salsa, pour out some salsa and take out a couple of handfuls of chips. Once those are gone, you’re done with that snack. If it takes a food journal to keep you on track I’d do it. It may be tedious, but it gives a great idea of what exactly you’re putting in your mouth. You must eat consciously and with purpose or you’ll end up eating mindlessly and never know actually how many calories you’re consuming.

Good luck!

www.GoalFitnessandNutrition.com

What have YOU got to lose?

The answer is simple: YES!

For starters, let’s list some of the main reasons why lifting weights is beneficial to women. Weight training increases bone density, overall strength, flexibility, metabolism, fat burning potential, balance, self-esteem and confidence, and let’s  not forget to mention it gives an overall toned, slender, and healthy appearance. Wow, what other reasons do you need to pick up those dumbbells?

Too many women think lifting weights will make them look like men. As a personal trainer, I often come into contact with these women. Well, ladies, I have to tell you that it just ain’t possible! This is such an old-school mentality, and with all the scientific research that has been done on this subject it’s time to get the news out there. Unless you have the same high amount of testosterone as a man does YOU WILL NOT GET BULKY! Women do not naturally produce enough testosterone (the male sex hormone) to become man-sized. I know we’ve all seen women who are rather large and have veins bulging out of their thighs and arms. Chances are these women are supplementing with anabolic steroids, which are synthetic testosterone hormones, or other mass-gaining supplements. Couple that with a very strict nutrition regimen and hours in the gym, and you’re looking at one massive woman! These women are looking to compete and they have a purpose and dedication above the general population. Unless this is the plan you have for yourself, you won’t get big. So now that there’s no reason to be afraid of the other half of the gym, let’s get to business!

One of the most important things to remember when weight training is to use a weight that is challenging to you. If you don’t feel like it is heavy enough, and you’re breezing through your workout, you need to increase the weight. You won’t see results, and your metabolism won’t increase, if you aren’t lifting heavy weights. And heavy weights won’t make you big because…… YOU DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TESTOSTERONE! As you get stronger, you will need to increase the weights you are using. But before you can do that, let’s talk about how to lift.

Many women want to lift weights, but just don’t know where to start. Step number one is the terminology. The two most important words in workouts are reps and sets. If you’ve never lifted weights, I recommend starting with 2 sets of 10-12 reps. Sets are the number of times you actually perform an exercise. Reps are the number of times you lift the weights in a given set. For example, if I am to do two sets of biceps curls for 10-12 reps, on the first set I would do 10-12 biceps curls, rest for a minute, then perform another set of 10-12 reps of the same exercise. You want to make sure you use a weight that is challenging to do 10-12 reps. If it is very easy, increase it. You want to be challenged to complete the set of 10-12 reps.

When figuring out what exercises to perform, my recommendation is to split your body up into muscle groups. I usually pick at least two exercises for the larger muscle groups like chest, back, abdominals, and legs. For smaller muscle groups like shoulders, biceps, triceps, and calves, I recommend at least one exercise per group. You can hop online and do a simple search for ‘abdominal exercises’ or ‘biceps exercises’ and come up with a multitude of options. This will also allow you to see how to perform the exercise with correct form, which is important to seeing results. Plan out your workout before you actually get to the gym and keep track of the weights and reps you are performing. This way you can reference it for the next time, and you’ll know if you should be increasing your weights.

With all of this in mind, here’s how a beginning weight training workout might look:

Push-ups

Seated Rows

Squats

Crunches

Shoulder Press

Biceps Curls

Triceps Dips

Walking Lunges

Oblique Crunches

Plank

For each exercise, you will perform two sets of 10-12 reps. When you feel comfortable with two sets, increase to three sets. Always remember to increase your weights as you get stronger. You will hit a plateau and stop seeing results if you don’t increase the weights periodically. Also, make sure you are switching up your exercises so you’re not doing the same thing for a long time. Perform a total body weight training workout two to three times a week.

Have fun!

www.GoalFitnessandNutrition.com

What have YOU got to lose?