Cheating out Calories

If you are looking for a few simple substitutes you can make on a daily basis to cut calories and trim up your waistline, here are my top five ways to easily cut 200-2000 calories a day!

Beverages!

So many people consume a significant amount of calories in beverages alone.For some, simply switching drinks will greatly reduce overall calorie-intake and help shed unwanted calories with such a minimal sacrifice.

Sweaty Today, Strong & Sexy Tomorrow

You know I love to fuse cardio, strength and agility to make your workouts total body shockers, and get MORE out of less time.

As you have probably learned by now, many of my workouts involve different types of training and exercises that work multiple muscle groups at all times, thus burning a lot more calories than your typical lifting routine.

What You Need:

• Set of dumbbells (I use anything from 5-8lbs)
• Bench or sturdy chair

KEY: Lift as heavy as you can while keeping proper form and control of your body at all times. I have listed the amount that I’m lifting in the video, but those figures are in no way meant to imply that you ought to lift the same - listen to your body and find the weight that is appropriate for your strengths. It will vary by muscle and movement, but you should aim for a weight that makes it very difficult to complete those last 2-3 reps, particularly by the second set.

The Workout:

8 strength exercises

Complete 2 sets of 12 reps with one 30 second cardio interval between the first and second set. Set your Gymboss Interval Timer to a 30 second interval to accurately time the cardio.

I’m keeping your heart rate and your calorie burn high by adding a 30 second cardio interval in between the first and second set of each strength exercise.

• Row with Lunge Drop & 30 seconds Jumping Jacks
• Full Body Squat + Overhead Press & 30 seconds Scissor Jumps
• Calf Raise + Lateral Raise & 30 seconds Hop-Overs
• Hip-Up + Chest Fly & 30 seconds Rower Crunches
• Squat w/ Triceps Extension & 30 seconds High Knees
• Deadlift w/ Leg Lift & 30 seconds Plank to Push Up
• Jackknife Pullover (12 each side) & 30 seconds Cross Punch Crunch

How should I use this routine with Amanda’s other videos?

For complete personalized workout plans and to learn when and how to do workouts, what to pair together and more, I have it all available on FitStrongandSexy.com. Let me help you build your personalized workout plan today!

WE are raising the standard on what it means to be FIT.

Love,

Amanda

Hang with Me: Amanda-Russell.com

Train with Me: FitStrongandSexy.com

This CRAZY Thing that is Taking my Workouts and BODY to the NEXT Level

This CRAZY Thing that is Taking my Workouts and BODY to the NEXT Level

As you may likely know if you’ve ever watched any of my workout videos or subscribed to my fitness plans – I’m not big on fancy, expensive or hard to use equipment. In fact, I RARELY use it and have been resistant to incorporate much of it in fear of enlisting ANY obstacles to YOU at home in getting FIT.

However, like anything you do often, your body becomes efficient at the same exercises and you MUST keep changing things up, so for the past few months I have incorporating this amazing new exercise tool to my routine and with my clients and the results have been incredible – not to mention how much fun it is to use.

For the very first time I’m introducing you to a piece of equipment I truly think is worth investing in – ladies and gentlemen:  The OctaSlider! Regardless of your fitness level, the OctaSlider can be incorporated into your life and help you achieve incredible results. It forces you to engage your core to gain stability adding a whole new element to your fitness. The uses of this little (and easy to travel with) tool, is that it can be used for everything from physical therapy for knees, and shoulders to dynamic training drills for elite athletes.

I personally have loved the effects it has had on my own body as well as my clients in helping to achieve muscle tone and sculpt and lean out hard to target trouble spots like the stomach and back of the arms. 

So be prepared to see me incorporating this into my workouts – if there is one piece of equipment I recommend investing in right now, it is this; the Octaslider.

AND I managed to negotiate a discount code for you (I’m such a bargain shopper I love a good discount, who doesn’t).

Use code OctaARFit and receive 20% off at OctaSlider.com

Here are just a few of my new favorite exercises to get you going: 

OctaSlider Core SeaSaw

Deep core, and shoulder arm toning at its BEST!

Start in a push up position with one slider under each foot. Slowly lift your hips to slide your feet towards your hands so your body comes into an upside down ‘V’ position. Slowly lower hips back down until you are back in the ‘top of a push up’ position.

Start with 2-3 sets of 6-10 reps and work up to 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

Butt Transforming Leg Curls. 

I love these because they target the often forgotten hamstrings and cover hip extension and knee flexion—at the same time. This exercise gets deep into your core with a high degree and teaches you how to keep your butt contracted through dynamic motion. If you keep your hips elevated throughout the duration of the set, this will be quite challenging and your hamstrings and glutes will be screaming.

Lay on your back, bend your knees with one slider under each foot and left hips up off the floor. Straighten out your knees then slide feet back to align with your knees.

Repeat 2 sets of of 10-15 reps

OctaSlider Push up Flies

The OctaSlider works to force you to rotate your hands in such a way that it allows your shoulders to move through a more natural range of motion. Beware: the chest pump will be intense. In the beginning you may want to do partial flies and work up to straightening your arms over time. 

Start With: Slider Push up 1⁄2 fly 

Start in a regular push up position. Place the OctaSlider under one hand. As you lower in push up position, slide your OctaSlider slightly out to the side. Pull the hand in as you push back up. Finish reps and repeat on the other side. Perform this exercise in the modified push up position to decrease difficulty. **You should feel this in your chest and shoulders. 

Do 3 sets of 6 reps on each arm. 

Advanced: Slider Push up fly  

Same as above except this time push both arms slightly out to the side. Pull the hands in as you push back up. You can do the modified push up position to decrease difficulty. 

Do 3 sets of 10 reps. 

OctaSlider Reverse Lunge 

Regular: Stand with feet together, place the ball of your left foot on the OctaSlider. Slide your left foot back; Right leg will bend at 90 ̊. Slide your left foot up to start position, pulling up with the glute of your right leg. Finish reps and switch sides. **You should feel this in your glutes and some in your quads of the stationary leg. The sliding leg is just going along for the ride. I recommend doing higher reps and lower weight – such as 3 sets of 15-20 reps. 

Advanced: Reverse Lunge with weight 

Same as above except this time hold some weight – whether it’s light dumbbells, a heavy book, or filled water bottles. 

Do 3 sets of 10-15 reps. 

OctaSlider Mountain Climber 

Begin in the ‘top of a push up’ position, body straight, arms under shoulders, and each foot on an OctaSlider. Draw abs in and activate glutes. Slide right knee towards chest and exhale. Slide back to start. Slide left knee in towards chest and exhale. Continue to alternate between legs for remaining reps. **The faster you go, the more cardio action you get in as well. 

Do 3 sets of 15 reps. 

Work up to  2 Sets of 30 at a faster pace

To  stay tuned on the video workout examples SUBSCRIBE to my Youtube Channel HERE

And if you want to do the workouts with me in REAL Time videos – join me on FitStrongandSexy.com

And make sure to use my code OctaARFit to receive 20% off your purchase!

http://www.octaslider.com/

Amanda 0308

The whole hip, bum and thigh region is amongst the biggest problem areas for women (and men, although they are less vocal about it ;). This is my personal favorite workout for Butt Firming, Leg Toning, Hip and Thigh Slimming to enable YOU to get the bum and backside of your dreams!
The added bonus: These specific exercise target those cellulite-prone areas thus enabling you to minimize your cellulite, all you need is yourself and 15 minutes 

What to do:


Perform 50 reps of each exercise, and complete as many rounds as you can in 15 minutes – leaving you with a big burn and when you’re sore tomorrow, you’ll know it’s working!

Burpee Belly Blaster Workout

Ahh the highly sought after washboard stomach….challenging to achieve? YES. Impossible to attain? NO! And if you’re reading this, we have a feeling you are the type of person who likes a good challenge. If you read last week’s newsletter, The Quest for the Mystical Six Pack, you know that the first (and biggest) step to conquering the sleek and toned midsection is to burn off the layer of fat around it.


Millions of crunches a day will not achieve this, high intensity cardio is crucial here.

Ultimate 2

This workout is one of the most efficient yet simple ways to push your fitness limits, blast calories and ultimately get into the shape of your life. The nature of this workout consists of high intensity intervals, which means it cannot be done every day.

Many people, especially fitness junkies and athletes, will finish this workout and feel the adrenaline, the endorphins and the results and think if they did it every day, they would get that much fitter (either that or they’ll never want to go through it again). However, this is not the case, the truth is, you cannot push your body to threshold everyday, doing so will lead to diminishing returns and likely burnout and/or injury.


The key is to constantly change up your workouts and keep your body guessing, so try to add this workout in
once or twice a week as a substitute for your current workout.

The BIG MYTH people tend to fall into believing is that you need more than 30 minutes to get an incredible workout. The truth is, to sustain a longer workout, especially 50 min and over, you cannot perform with the same intensity you would in a shorter workout.
– To get fitter and see big results you need to push yourself beyond your comfort zone – it’s okay to struggle,