Burst Training, Oregon beach style, with yours truly

Remember, this one can be done anywhere. Even while traveling.

As long as you've got 2 working legs, no excuses. I"m talking about Burst Training.

Burst Training is one of the most effective, least complicated workout routines for women who are busy yet want to stay fit. (For a complete tutorial and schedule on how to do Burst Training, see my FREE Fitness Breakthrough kit you can download here.)

For me, Burst Training usually means a 15 minute quickie on my stationary bike.

Lucky me to blast through this routine for a change in barefoot freedom on the sand while here in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Two days in a row.

Bursts Finito!

It Started As A Walk

My sisters and I, while on brief beach holiday, have been hitting the beach for a walk after an early breakfast to catch the salt air, get in some good exercise, and generally squeeze some solid play time in at the start of the day.

By our second day, inspiration propelled my legs into Bursts on the beach. 120 footfalls at max speed til I was winded, followed by about 2 minutes of easy walking to recover. Another sprint. Recovery. And so on. Perfect.

More Outdoor Girl Shenanigans

After a lunch of grilled portobellos with potatoes and a pile of veggies, we drove north to find a trail high above the Pacific cliffs. We traversed a solid 3 mile loop, and turning from the steep climb to drop back toward the shore, with stunning views through the evergreens to the beach below.

Stunning views through the evergreens to the beach below.

In the distance, where I'd started the day with the footfalls of running.

What about you? How's your Burst Training going? Any place is game.

• Trails.
  
• Tracks
• Sidewalks.
  
• Dirt paths.
  
• Pools.
  
• Bikes.
  
• Elliptical machines.
  
• Treadmills.
  

OK, I admit it,  the beach sexes the whole thing up.

But the effect on your body and mind, anywhere, is the same. Energy soars. Sleep is sweet. Your metabolism gets stoked to a premium.

Please tell me about YOUR Burst Training method in comments below.

Next…

Yours truly at Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon, on the cusp of sunset

Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do.

My two darling sisters, Pam and Kristie, and I have just driven out to the Oregon coastline after rendezvous in Portland from 3 corners of the country.

We drove the winding roads from the city to the coast, stopping for baskets of berries and loaves of fresh bread along the way.  Oh, and some huckleberry jam.

Sunset, barefoot walk on the beach.

The sun just dipped below the horizon.

There's a fire in the fireplace.

The rice cooker is bubbling away, wafting sweet brown jasmine across my laptop.

I'm suspecting late night laughter and the sound sleep that comes in the company of sisters. Morning java overlooking the Pacific from our 3rd floor deck.

Oh, did I mention we have our spa dates all lined up for tomorrow? 

Assembling food and fuel to pack into cooler and boxes for our camping trip to Yosemite! From the upcoming Fit Food Quickies™ Cookbook.

True to my promise to report in on how I fueled the heady and grueling ascent to the top of Half Dome n Yosemite last week (see How A Busy Woman Trains To Climb Yosemite's Half Dome) I'm here to report that we did the whole darn thing on our usual, easy prep fare.

That means piles of plants and potatoes, big bowls of grain, fistfuls of fruit, beautiful grainy breads and colorful beans, and a few nuts and seeds thrown in for fun, flavor, and rib-sticking gusto for long days of hiking.

Eating this way for years has defied the "need lots of protein for muscle and energy" myth that I've seen disproven over and over again.  As a matter of fact, the more I learn, the more it is clear that the very edibles we have been led to believe by the four food lobbies as "building strong bodies" can be crippling to our health and sap our vitality.

Cramming The Cooler

Packing for a 4-day camping trip, when you are used to lots of fresh and fibrous foods as we are, just takes a little more planning – and space – than the cheese and salami route.  Not a problem.  It took one giant cooler and 2 large cardboard boxes, along with my backpack brimming with sandwiches, apples, and snap peas  for the journey en route.

Along with and including  the starter staples as in the image at the top of the page, I packed:

• 2 quarts of brown rice that I cooked in the rice cooker and then froze as part of the "ice" for the cooler
• 1 dozen large fuji apples
• 2 dozen bananas
• several cups of steel cut oats and rolled oats
• raisens
• bag of grapes
• cans of cooked beans
• loaves of bread
• large bag of tomatoes
• jar of peanut butter and jam
• 2 bags baby carrots
• 2 giant bags of snap peas
• McDougall soup mixes – about a dozen
• Annie Chung noodle soup
• almond milk
• flax seed
• Lara Bars

A Day in the Menu

On our big trek day to Half Dome we had a typical day's eats.  As that is pretty fresh (shall we say emblazoned?) in my memory, let me run through the day.

Plant Powered to the top of Half Dome

Breakfast:

Our launch time out of camp was planned for 6:00 a.m., still flashlight time in Yosemite Valley, so I needed to prep breakfast the night before and store it in the bear locker.  I took a couple of cups of rolled oats, a handful of raisens, and soaked it in the pot overnight.  In the morning, a quick heating of same delivered two steamy, sweet bowls of grain which I topped with a full banana each, scoop of flash seed, sprinkle of sucanat, and splash of almond milk.  Full tanks, and ready!

For the hike I packed and we ate through the course of the 10 hour trek, round trip:

• two hummus, tomato, and avocado sandwiches  on sprouted grainy bread
• two peanut butter and banana sandwiches
• four giant fuji apples
• 4 lara bars

Of course, we packed several quarts of water.   As we neared the challenge of the last "sub dome" (I call it a pyramid, a giant stair-step process up to the base of the dome) and the haul up the cables themselves,  I ate my two apples to get more glycogen packed in my  muscles, already sponges to absorb more stored energy from the exertions early on.  This proved to be a good strategy as I never ran out of juice.  Just got a little winded.  After all, we were at nearly 9,000 feet.

Mission Accomplished!

Our arsenal of eats proved to be perfect for the day, we had enough to go on and even came back with a couple of the Lara Bars.   And ten hours later, after crashing into camp,  we caught our breath, and then treated ourselves to veggie burgers and salads at Yosemite Lodge.

What are your tricks for packing and eating healthy on the run or camping?  Share your ideas in comments below!

Triumph at the top of Half Dome

Terror grips your gut even before you slide up onto the near vertical granite wall you've got to glue your nose to if you want to haul yourself to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite.  Call it a summer highlight or sheer foolhardiness, but this week's ascent of Half Dome ranks as one of lifetime's peak experiences.

The crazy journey to summit Half Dome begins with an over-eight-mile hike (yes, that's one way!) and UP nearly 5,oo0 feet of steep mountain trails,  with the most challenging leg – hauling yourself up the cables with sheer arm strength and purpose of will to the top – the last.

The cables. Straight up. Here I go.

We hoofed it out of base camp at 6:15 a.m., steeled by a cup of courage and giant, steamy bowl of oats and bananas.  Backpacks crammed with water bottles and a full arsenal of eats (more on food and fuel in another post), we layered up against the 4,000 ft. elevation Sierra cold, fully mindful that the day's trek would more than double our elevation, with the Half Dome summit hovering at just under 9,000 ft.

How Does a Busy Woman Train For This One?

What kind of hours do you imagine you might need to get into this kind of shape?

Truth is, with just 2 tweaks to my usual, time-minimized workout routines for busy women, I was primed for the job.

How 27  Minutes Of Workout Time Got Me To The Top

Believe it or not, my weekly workout routine time – totaling 3  1/2 hours/week overall – that averages out to about 27 minutes a day – did the trick.  Here are the key pieces that put me, literally, over the top.

1)  Burst Training: I knew, looking ahead to the Half Dome climb, that I would need explosive bursts of energy to meet the demands of clawing up the cables the last portion of the climb.  I not only kept up with my 3x a week 15 minute Burst Training (see my FREE Fitness Breakthrough Kit for complete instructions and schedule), but I added one more 60-second burst.  Still did the whole bit in 15 minutes per session.

With Greg at the top of Half Dome, west horizon

2) I added pull-ups: Using my ballet bar as fitness toy, I added  2 – 3 sets of 15 reps per week.  With my feet on the floor, body in table position and an overhand bar grip, this move strengthens arms, shoulders and back – really targeting the lats in a big way – for the task ahead:  Pulling my body weight UP those cables, with feet as stabilizers and back up.

3)  Quad strengtheners: Thigh Warriors, Fit Quickie #6, has proved to be my best friend in building rock-solid thighs and were my ace in the hole on this one.  I did my usual routine on this one, just making sure I pushed my limits each time.  (How low can you go?)

4)  I kept up the calf work: Knowing that gecko-style climbing and holds on vertical faces demand strong calves, my usual calf-raise routine did the trick.

5)  Glutes and hamstrings: Fit Quickie #6, Gorgeous Glutes and Hamstrings are a mainstay of my workout schedule and proved to be excellent prep.  Incredibly, I came back without a sore fiber in my backyard.

Here's The Best Part

The same targeted body-shapers that I've come to love for the feel and look they create turned out to be the very best tools for building the body I needed for undergoing the strength challenges of the Half Dome quest.

And when you think about it, this makes perfect sense.  At least for the cable-climb portion of the journey, extreme demand on muscles held under tension was critical to prepare for.

Later, at moonrise from Glacier Point, Half Dome floating in the background

Much of the time was spent hovering in bent knee position, calves and quads tensed for the hold.  Arms, doing same, with short pause points at crossbars on the granite face, following by explosive seconds to the next landing.

As it turned out, I had the wind, the arms, the back and the legs to do it.  And make it back the full 16+ mile hike round trip, hitting camp once again after 4:00 that afternoon. And all on my focused, minimized workout schedule.  Yahoo!

Next time I'll tell you all about how I fueled for this one.  This may surprise you, too!

Peak snowpack year = peak waterfalls in Yosemite. = peak experience.

We rode our bikes everywhere in the valley floor at Yosemite

Bikes, hikes, flooding campgrounds and breathtaking shots from the crests of cascading falls – it's all in the video.

Along with our pet doves that went along for the 4 day camping  journey – true story!  And thank goodness Greg had the patience and talent to put this together so that I can share with you.

]]> http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2010/06/28/yosemite-romp-outdoor-fitness-extravaganza-video/feed/ 8 http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2010/05/19/back-from-the-beach-seals-wildflowers-pt-reyes-video/ http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2010/05/19/back-from-the-beach-seals-wildflowers-pt-reyes-video/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 13:46:38 +0000 Lani http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/?p=3966

Back from the beach! And so much to tell you about already this week.

For example, this note that came in just the other day:   Have you ever wondered this yourself?

More on Back From The Beach: Seals, Wildflowers, Pt. Reyes, Video!

Back from the beach! And so much to tell you about already this week.

For example, this note that came in just the other day:   Have you ever wondered this yourself?

"Lani, I am doing 40 minutes of calisthenics.  I take water breaks, but I break a good sweat and get winded.  Doesn't that count it as cardio?"  Lauren asked me in an email a few days ago.

Are you, like Lauren, confused about how to get effective aerobic exercise? Are you wondering what the standard is for "cardio", whether you want to lose weight or just increase your energy?

No better person to ask than Dr. Kenneth Cooper. Yes! I mean THE Dr. Kenneth Cooper. The father of aerobics. Read about my conversation with the good doctor this week by clicking HERE: "Confused About Cardio?"- and find out what "cardio" means and what you need to do to get it.  Then leave a comment on my blog about it, OK?

Reminder: This week's FitDream Fusion Inner Circle Call is Wednesday May 19 and promises to be juicier than ever.  Our topics this week are:

1) Psychology: How our core beliefs can sabotage our success;

2) Nutrition: 5 easy-to-fix fat loss comfort food meals;  and

3) Exercise: Tips for Fit Quickies™.

AND the May Gams Glutes Abs and Arms for Summer class sizzles on.

Pssst….One of our members just lost over 10 lbs in the last month.  Um, I'll let her tell her story later.

P.S. Overheard after the Fit Quickie's Academy held in California on Sunday, May 16:

"I love the Fit Quickie concept and find them very useful (as I did the original TA exercise, FQ #1, which is still one of my 'go-tos'!)  Thanks for the great work you're doing!"  ~Diana Israel, Adjunct Professor, Golden Gate University Ageno School of Business

"Lani, your Fit Quickies are AWESOME!! I loved that part of the workshop and I learned so much about muscle targeting, isolation, and activation. I'm so glad I planned to stay the whole day!"  ~ Elizabeth Platt, Owner, Inside Out Fitness.

With my best guy and videographer extraordinaire

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A big yummy thanks to everyone who has been posting, sending notes, and staying connected while we've been on the travel bug itch here in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the past 2 weeks.

Greg has been ON with his photography and has wed still images with motion shots  to make this astonishingly beautiful video Trip Report.

It speaks for itself….hope you likey!

Manana, voya casa…

]]> http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2010/04/28/colors-vistas-beauty-san-miguel-de-allende-adios-video/feed/ 2 http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2010/04/20/workouts-on-the-road-feliz-fitness/ http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2010/04/20/workouts-on-the-road-feliz-fitness/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:22:06 +0000 Lani http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/?p=3785

Heading out on a walk down the hill to the cafe in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Do you ever get frustrated or stuck about how to stay fit while traveling? So that you don't arrive home flabby, enervated, and with excess poundage?

More on Workouts On The Road: Feliz Fitness

Heading out on a walk down the hill to the cafe in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Do you ever get frustrated or stuck about how to stay fit while traveling? So that you don't arrive home flabby, enervated, and with excess poundage?

I understand the anxieties – it can be so frustrating!

And it can leave you wishing you'd never left home in the first place because now it feels like there is so much ground to make up.

One of the upsides of being an entrepreneur with a mobile business is that I get to work in far-flung places;  and more often than not, combine business with pleasure.

I still need to keep my fitness focus, though – and that means getting creative about workouts in exotic locations.

Staying Fit On The Road: Tricks For The Trail!

Take it from someone who has mastered this one.

Not to brag, it's taken years of trial and error to get this one right.  But now I've got it running like a charm.

And "master" doesn't mean "perfect" – it means simply that I've polished the system so that it is easy, portable, and WORKS.

Feliz Fitness – Working Out While In Mexico

Travel to Mexico has other fit benefits:  see 5 Ways Travel To Mexico Keeps You Fit.

But to really stay in my fitness and body shaping best, I need to include targeted body shaping exercises in addition to my usual habit of walking each day.  And the need to take simple solutions on the road with me is what, after all, gave birth to my Fit Quickies™.

So let me tell you about this morning's workout.

Today's South of the Border Workout

Perfect post-workout pleasure: popping into the hot springs just outside San Miguel

And I hit all the "hot spots".

That means the areas to be sure to target for best body shaping.  I did get creative – without my trust dumbbells for triceps, the search was on for small resistance I could hold in one hand.

Solution! An iron!  Followed by hefting a large marble egg that I found on a bookshelf here in the house where we are staying.

Oh, and then the iron spring coil I found for biceps. Where there's a will.

Here's the sequence I followed:

1. Warm up: knee lifts, deep plies with tucks, and calf raises:  to warm the large muscle groups, elevate heart rate, and bring FOCUS!
   
2. Fit Quickie #1:  7 Seconds to a Flat Belly: engage the abdominal muscles to align the upper body, keep me mindful of position, and complete the warm-up
   
3. Fit Quickie #3:  Triceps Triple Play,
   
4. Pushups and Reverse pushups
5. Fit Quickie #2: Inner Thigh Squeeze and Tease: getting the legs ready for workload
   
6. Fit Quickie #8:  Thigh Warriors: OK quads, do your stuff!
   
7. Fit Quickie #4:  Gorgeous Gluteals and Hamstrings: I can never get enough of "seat" work – and the benefits in body shaping, energy boost and calorie burn are the big payoffs!
   
8. Fit Quickie #5: Topless Muffins: an all-time top-of-the-lister for making the lines of the back and flow into the seat smooth out, lift the seat, and shape the side of my seat.
   
9. Fit Quickie #7:  Kickstand Curls: no need to "crunch" forever – just target, isolate, overload, and have the latest research on ab exercises at your disposal (I do)
   
10. Fit Quickie #8:  Backyard Burners: finish frying the glutes and releasing the back – a FUN fun way to wrap up the workout
11. Stretches: my signature hamstring stretch and hip stretches
    

Tricks for travel fitness that you can share?  Please click here and leave your thoughts in COMMENTS below.

© Lani Muelrath, M.A. 2010 All Rights Reserved

Creating the right weight loss and body shaping plan for you isn’t difficult, but it must be at the top of your to-do list. Once you have this mastered, your fitness and energy is going to take off, which I know you’re going to love.

Would you like the surefire formula that quickly makes it possible for you to abandon ineffective workouts, obsessive dieting, and habits that keep sabotaging your success?  Say YES to mastering your fitness, multiplying your energy, and moving your business – and your life – forward! Find out more here.

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On the move in Mexico! Greg snapped this as we climbed down the cobblestone streets to town in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

My friend Hope had to dash home to the States for awhile and asked if we might like to stay at her home in San Miguel de Allende, high in the Mexico dessert, for a bit.

Uh, yeah.

So here we are.

The house is beautiful, brilliantly decorated, and very private.

And as usual, travel to Mexico means there are plenty of ways to "sneak in" fitness.  Actually, more like "built in".

Here are 5 ways that hanging out in Mexico can keep you fit:

The house in San Miguel where we are staying...5 floors, count 'em!

1.  Stay in a vertical casa:

Now, Hope had told me "the house is on 4 levels".  I think it's more like – 5?  First you spiral from the garage to the kitchen, dining room, and lower level gardens. 

From there it's UP to the bedroom and den and second level deck.  Out the door, past the lush cultivated gardens, you climb again to the dining platform that looks out across the city and the valley beyond, and the artist's studio.

Wait, there's more!  There's another spiral up to the viewing platform high above all.  Did you count 5?  Tell me you did!

2.  Eat your meals on heavy Mexican pottery:

Easy, that's all there is in the house!  I figure whenever I load up our dinner plates with our usual mountain of rice, brilliant veggies and side of beans, I have at least 5 lbs in each hand to carry – well, UP to the dining levels since we like to eat outside, it's so darn pretty in the gardens.

Carrying these dinner plates in Mexico keeps the biceps on their toes

3. Load up on veggies and fruits in the market and via street vendors: Our first market outing was a roaring success, as we returned lade with tomatoes, avocado, onions, eggplant, squash, bananas, cilantro, washed greens, mango, papaya, and lustrous carrots.

Eating a plant-strong diet is one of my secrets for staying slim and it's easy – and cheap to do here.

4.  Walk – everywhere! Right out the front door, the cobblestones lead in 2 directions:  UP to the higher levels of the city, and down into the heart of town, with shops, cathedrals, art galleries, and parks.

5.  Ask for – and get – what you want in restaurants.

So far, 2 out of 3 lunches we've eaten while walking around town.  Now, this can be challenging even in the states where restaurants seem to throw oil, cheese, and cream on everything they can!  To date, my simple request for "sin queso, sin crema, y sin grasa" (without cheese, cream, or grease) has been met with a gracious smile and full compliance.

Our veggie burritos at Media de Naranja

Yesterday at Media de Naranja (translation:   "Half an Orange") Restaurant was veggie burritos with black bean, avocado and side salad of dark greens, with shredded carrots and beets – dressing on the side please, and the veggies were so sweet I didn't even bother with a squeeze of lime except for in the cerveza.

Today we ate at "CafeOrganico" and had veggie burgers (house recipe) with side salad.  "Sin queso, crema…" …you get the idea.

We hear there are some hot springs nearby.  I'm betting some kind of hiking will be involved!

Have you any travel eating tips or adventures that you'd like to share?  Tell about them in Comments below.

Is your weight problem holding you back from being your best in your business, work…life? Creating the right weight loss and body shaping plan for you isn’t difficult, but it must be at the top of your to-do list. Once you have this mastered, your confidence is going to take off, which I know you’re going to love.

Would you like the surefire formula that quickly makes it possible for you to abandon ineffective workouts, obsessive dieting, and habits that keep sabotaging your success?  Say YES to mastering your fitness, multiplying your energy, and moving your life forward! Find out more here.

© Lani Muelrath, M.A. 2010 All Rights Reserved