Bridge holds are a supplemental exercise in my Bridge Progression series. They are good to use when you are trying to focus on specific muscles, for example trying to get the glute to fire more and the hamstring to fire less.
Bridge holds are also good to use as an in between exercise when you have mastered the one exercise but are not quite ready to move on to the next.
In the video I have demonstrated the two legged and single leg floor bridge. You can also do bridge holds on the stability ball and medicine ball with both two legs and one leg. Give it a try you will definitely feel your glutes burn.
Bridge Holds
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under Exercise Video Clips, Video Series by 
Food binges can be the worst. Do you ever hit that point in the afternoon where you feel like you are no longer in control of your food choices? Your intentions are good; you want to choose something healthy, but nothing healthy appeals to you. So instead, you go for the high calorie - low nutritious junk food out of the vending machine or the homemade things brought into the office.
Believe it or not this is your body's natural response to not being fed, it really has nothing to do with your lack of willpower. The only way your body knows how to get you to stop what you are doing and make you go eat is to turn on the cravings. Once you hit this point it is to late, very rarely will you be able to pick carrots over potato chips.
A body that is fed at regular intervals with nutrient dense foods will have very little need for food binges.
It is important to eat every 2-3 hours. Every meal should consist of a vegetable/fruit, a protein and a complex carb. All of your snacks should consist of a protein source and a fruit/vegetable source. Remember carrots and apples are snacks whereas, potato chips and cupcakes are junk food.
If you eat this way 90% of the time it is OK to occasionally throw in the junk food now and again.
Try adjusting your diet and see if it doesn't help with those afternoon food binges.
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under Weight Loss Tips by
The stability ball bridge is the third exercise in our bridge video series. This exercise really helps you to isolate and work on the glute muscles. If you have been following along you have completed the cook hip lift and the floor bridge so far.
Now some people may argue that the stability ball bridge should come first before the other two exercises, there really isn't a right or wrong answer - I am presenting the bridge series in the order I use with my clients.
I like to insert the stability bridge into the progression third because you have had time to build up some core stability and therefore feel a little more comfortable on the ball. You have also started to understand what it feels like when your glutes fire, so you are not just going through the motions you are actually using your glutes to bridge you up, and as I said earlier you can really isolate the feeling.
Start out with 1 or 2 sets of 12 and try to work your way up to 20 reps. I like to do my reps for time, usually 1 minute, that way I can concentrate on firing my glutes not counting reps. Give it a try and see how you like the exercise. I will have number 4 for you next week.
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under Exercise Video Clips, Video Series by
I recently had someone ask "what is the best way to take care of my bones, the doctor told me I need to keep them strong?" Depending on who you talk too the answers may vary.
However, two important things remain the same – adequate calcium and vitamin D in the diet and a combination of impact and resistance 
training in the exercise routine.
Impact training refers to exercises like running and jumping - impact is important, in fact, the higher the impact the better. Jumping rope, team sports such as basketball, kick boxing and other high impact aerobic classes are all good examples of impact training.
Swimming, biking, and elliptical machines are not good choices for maintaining bone density.
Weight training will also work it places and external load on the bones. Most experts agree that for weight training to impact bone density to loads need to be relatively high.
With all that being said, most people want strong bones to help prevent broken bones as they age, but one thing that can help prevent breaks even more is adequate balance.
If your balance is poor start off just trying to balance on one foot before you move on. Try it with eyes open and closed and with shoes on and off. Once you can do that you can move on to the Single Leg Toe Touch.
Stay Motivated,
Karen
Filed under FAQ, Health Secrets & Tips by
