ACE's Best Biceps Exercises

A Look Back: Top 3 Exercise Posts of the Year

Great post that offers new ideas about how to incorporate a traditional full body exercise that can much more than just a cardio workout.

Since so much time is spent indoors, getting outside is so important. There are so many ways to exercise outside, here are 40 ideas to give you new and exciting ways to create an active lifestyle!

There are many things in life that can keep us from prioritizing exercise, such as traveling, vacations, work, holidays, a busy schedule, or simply not wanting to leave your house for the gym. Whatever they are for you, here are 5 full body exercises for you to perfect so that you are ready to fit exercise into even you toughest days.

How to Exercise on the Beach without Anyone Knowing You're Working Out.

It's that time of year again! When Cookouts, days at the beach, and crazy schedules fill our summer months it's so surprise that healthy eating and exercise often get put on the back burner. Here are some way to make sure your day at the beach includes some exercise as well!

Some easy ways to be active at the beach:

Walking

Surfing/ body surfing 

Swimming

Walking in the water knee/waist deep

Get up off your chair/ blanket often and walk down to the water

Dig a whole/ build a sand castle 

Play catch/frisbee

Volleyball/Paddleball

Picking up seashells and sea-glass 

Flying a kite

Sea kayaking

Some not-so-easy, but fun ways to keep moving:

Windsurfing

Water skiing

Paddle boarding

Some Exercises to do at the beach:

Cobra

Superman

Plank

Contralateral limb raises

Glute bridge

Calf raises

Single leg stand

For some bodyweight exercises that are less discreet, but great to do at the beach, check out   Movement is Medicine: 5 Bodyweight Exercises You Can do Anywhere.

Don't forget the sunscreen, and always stay hydrated! Check out of my favorite kind of sun protection (hypoallergenic, anti-aging, all natural, never tested on animals) here!

40 Ideas for Outdoor Exercise.

1. Walking 
2. Running
3. Rollerblading/Rollerskating
4. Bike Riding
5. Hiking
6. Skateboarding
7. Swimming
8. Kayaking
9. Sports - tennis, soccer, basketball, beach volleyball, etc.
10. Canoeing 
11. Gardening 
12. Trail Running 
13. Walking the dog
14. Horseback Riding
15. Aerobics
16. Frisbee
17. Sailing 
18. Home Repairs
19. Uphill Sprinting 
20. Windsurfing 
21. Lawn Mowing
22. Sight seeing walking trails/tours
23. Tai Chi 
24. Scuba Diving 
25. Washing a car
26. Snorkeling 
27. Fishing
28. Surfing 
29. Trampoline 
30. Fly a kite 
31. Water Aerobics
32. Rowing
33. Water Polo
34. Water Skiing 
35. Rock Climbing
36. Mountain Biking 
37. Outdoor Yoga
38. Rollerskiing [1]
39. Stand-Up Paddelboard
40. Trapeze

6 Ab Exercises You Can Do Anywhere.

While spot-reduction, or the belief that focusing on one particular area will burn and reduce fat localized to that area, is not possible, the following are 6 exercises you can do anywhere to strengthen and tone your abs.

Supine Reverse Crunches:

V-Ups:

Supine Bicycle Crunches:

Glute Activation Lunges:

Vertical Toe Touches: 

Glute Bridge:

5 Back Stretches and Strengthening Exercises.

Here are 5 exercises and stretches that you can do anywhere to help improve your mobility and stability. Remember, it is always better to stretch after your workout. Here's why.


Cat Camel: This exercise focuses on the stability of your entire core, including your lower back, abdominal, and hip muscles.





Downward Facing Dog: This exercise helps stabilize your joints, enhance balance, and use the strength of your arms and legs to evenly stretch your spine.




90 Lat Stretch: This stretch helps to improve flexibility in the latissimus dorsi to facilitate mobility between the hips and shoulders




Glute Bridges: This exercise helps to improve hip mobility and stability, and core stability, by activating your glutes.





Spinal Twists (advanced): This works to promote trunk rotation primarily through your thoracic spine.

6 Ways to Jump Rope and 6 Reasons You Should.

Jumping rope is way more than just an activity for kids. It can be an extremely effective full-body workout that you can do almost anywhere and can save you time by combining your cardiovascular workout with toning your lower body, abs, and arms.

6 Health Benefits of Jumping Rope from Adrianne Finn's blog: 

1. Excellent form of cardiovascular exercise improving heart health.
2. Burns close to double the calories pre minute than traditional cardiovascular exercise does.
3. Helps build muscles by providing resistance for the lower body and tones the arms as they quickly circle the rope.
4. Is a plyometric exercise and helps develop muscular power. 
5. Helps prevent injury such as ACL tears.
6. Helps improve proprioception and coordination. 

6 Different Ways to Jump Rope:

Basic Jumping: Begin with the rope behind you at your heals and swing it over your head, jumping over it as it approaches your toes to allow for a consistent swinging motion to occur around your entire body. To make sure you are lessening stress on your knee joints, make sure to stay on the balls of your toes and only jump high enough to clear the rope. Focus on low, fast, jumps using your wrist to turn the rope instead of your elbow.

Reverse Jump: To alter the the basic jump and increase difficulty, reverse the direction of the rope swing so that the rope approaches your feet from your heals instead of your toes. Begin with the rope at your toes an swing it over your head in the opposite direction of the basic jump.

Criss-Cross: One of the more difficult and beneficial ways to jump rope, most commonly recognized in boxing training. While jumping rope, cross your arms as the rope swings over your head and keep them crossed until the rope passes under your feet. Start by integrating criss-cross jumping into your regular jumping while maintaining a controlled rhythm and increase the ratio of criss-crossed jumps to regular jumps to increase intensity.

Side-to-Side: While jumping rope, simply jump a few inches to each side to targets calves, quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, and inner and outer thighs. To increase intensity, increase the distance of your jumps, but be sure to maintain balance and stability as to protect the ankles from injury.

One Leg: Jumping on one foot helps to enhance your sense of balance while strengthening your core, calves, hamstrings, and glutes. While jumping rope, bend one knee slightly so you're only utilizing one foot to jump over the rope while maintaing balance. Make sure to jump on each leg either an equal amount of repetitions, or an equal amount of time.

Front-and-Back: This is useful to target all muscles of the lower body and prevent shin splints. While jumping rope, slightly jump a few inches front to back maintaining balance. Increasing distance of jumps to increase difficulty.


Have a low ceiling or don't want the hinderance of the rope? Check out this rope-less jump rope called Airope

Try also adding these 5 Full Body Exercises You Can Do Anywhere into your jump rope routine!

Maintaining a Healthy Weight.

6 Tips from ACE for making weight management a
permanent part of your lifestyle. 

1. Weigh weekly. It's normal for body weight to fluctuate by a couple of pounds from day to day and from morning to night depending on fluid balance, meals eaten, clothes worn, medication, and health status. A weekly weigh-in allows you to track the trends without getting hung up on small fluctuations. Here's an easy-to-understand explanation for possible reasons for weight fluctuation.

2. Move as much as possible. Integrate physical activity into your daily life at every opportunity. Here are 9 Ways to Add Physical Activity to Your Day.

3. Create a healthy home environment. Set yourself up for success, only surround yourself with things that will help you reach your goal. Keep only healthy food in the house and plan your meals for the week or month to avoid last minute take-out. Also, keep your gym bad near the door and exercise equipment in plain view. Here are 5 Full-Body Exercises you can learn to and do anywhere to help you stay on-track.

4. Learn to cope effectively with stress. Times of increased stress put you at risk for backsliding to your old behaviors. Learn to change your perspective and respond mindfully to stressful situations instead of reacting. Here are some tips for Reducing Workplace Stress and how to start your own meditation routine.

5. Activate your social life. Integrating physical activity with your social life provides support for your active lifestyle and makes staying active fun and more likely. Here are 8 Ways to Get Fit and Be Social.

6. Keep a measuring tape handy.  The scale rarely tells the whole story, and reaching and maintaining a healthy "weight" is just a part of the battle. Measuring progress in other ways than the scale is an extremely important part of determining your overall level of success. Body fat composition is a great way to determine how much of your body is composed of fat, and if you don't have access to that type of testing, the next best thing is to take, and track, your measurements. Here's how to take your measurements.

Meditation for Health. Transcending Spirituality.

In western culture the value of meditation is too often dismissed as a foolish spiritual pursuit and a waste of time, despite the fact that countless scientific studies have proven otherwise. These studies continue to show that the benefits of meditation transcend simply achieving spiritual clarity, but they also include "stronger immune system, enhanced attention, lower blood pressure and reduced risk of heart disease, less anxiety and depression, increased feelings of compassion and empathy, fewer binge eating episodes, lower blood sugar, improved sleep, and better pain management," just to name a few.

Here are six tips from Diksha McCord on how to begin a meditation practice.

• Create a dedicated space. A small room or closet is ideal, but if this is not possible, create a quiet area in your home and return there each time you practice. 

• Set a consistent time. Choose a regular time - such as dawn, noon or dusk - and try to practice daily. 

• Ensure quiet. To sharpen your mental focus, wear headphones or earplugs if sounds are distracting. 

• Sit with good posture. Sit upright, with spine erect and body relaxed, and place your hands, palms up, on the thighs at the junction of the thighs and abdomen. 

• Be comfortable. Use pillows and cushions as necessary. Sit in a chair if it's more comfortable. Place a pillow across your thighs as needed as a place to rest your hands. Experiment with different positions (including different hand positions) to find what works for you. 

• Start gradually. Start with as little as 5 minutes and increase your sitting time in increments of 5 minutes. Work up to 30 minutes, twice daily, if possible. Let enjoyment be your guide.

Spot Reduction. A myth, and nothing but a myth.

"It is important to understand that 'spot-reduction' is not possible."

It is a common misconception that it's possible to focus on one or several areas of the body to reduce fat in just that specific area. While spot-training allows one to target specific muscles of the body, it does not target specific areas of fat deposits. It is important to note that fat tends to be lost in the reverse order in which it was gained, and there is no way to target individual parts of the body to solely reduce fat in just that location.

For more on "why is the concept of spot-reduction a myth?" click here.

Movement is Medicine. 5 Full Body Exercises You Can do Anywhere.

Life can sometimes get in the way of getting to the gym. Having a backup plan ready to employ during those moments is great way to help you stay on track. Here are 5 full body exercises you can do at home, on vacation, and on your own time to keep your body moving.

1. Mountain Climbers target butt/hips, thighs, and full body.

2. Spider Walks target full body.

3. Inchworms target abs, arms, back, chest, shoulders, and full body.

4. Sprinter Pulls target full body.

5. Inverted Flyers target abs, butt/hips, thighs, and full body.

Sit Less, Move More. 9 Ways to Add Physical Activity to Your Day.

Modern conveniences have eliminated many of the necessary physical activities that used to be part of everyday life, and subsequently adding them back into a daily routine requires a conscience effort. Here are nine ways to sit less and move more from the American Council on Exercise.

9 Ways to Add Physical Activity to Your Day:

• Take a quick walk around the block or your house before getting ready in the morning

• Walk 30 minutes at lunch

• Have a "walk and talk" meeting rather than sitting at a desk

• Pace when talking on the phone

• Work while standing rather than sitting at a desk with adjustable-height desks or treadmill desks

• Walk for 15 minutes right when arriving home, before getting preoccupied with home responsibilities 

• Walk with your children or spouse and talk about your day

• When parking the car, choose the space farthest from the door

• Make it a general rule to avoid all labor-saving devices (e.g., escalator, elevator, and moving walkway)

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Find Your Peak Exercise Time

Getting up, out, and moving can be one of the bigger challenges in maintaining a consistent exercise schedule. There actually is a time of day for everyone, based on one's typical routine, that is the most productive time to exercise. If you feel like your workout is "wearing you out instead of pumping you up," then this scientific research may be able to help. Check out this ACE Fit Fact to figure out your best time to exercise.

The Best Time to Exercise

5 Common Fitness Saboteurs and How to Defeat Them.

We all know life can be busy, stressful, and challenging at times, and these can quickly become excuses for putting exercise and health on the back burner. Learning how to navigate these tricky situations is the key to creating a life of healthy habits. Here are 5 common setbacks and some practical ways to overcome them.

5 Common Fitness Saboteurs and How to Defeat Them.

Have Fun When You Workout.

National Geographic, "Why We Are Fat." 2004.

Above is a Body Scan of a 250 pound 5'6" woman and a 120 pound 5'5" woman. We all know the importance of a healthy weight goes far beyond just the way you look in clothes. 

Too many people are affected by the complications associated with carrying excess weight. My goal as a Personal Trainer is to help people adopt a healthier, more active lifestyle by incorporating exercise in a way that is enjoyable and beneficial.