Need Some Help with Your Resolutions?
By now we’re a month into the New Year — and a month into our New Year’s resolutions. If you’re like most people, you might be having some trouble maintaining your ambitious goals. So if you haven’t been quite as dedicated to your resolutions as you’d like to be, we have an easy way for you to get back on track: take an InBody assessment and find out what you’re made of.
A dozen people have taken an InBody assessment recently at BeFitSRQ, and you should be next! The test reveals details about your body composition that are crucial to your health and wellness. You know just weighing yourself doesn’t give you enough information. The InBody will allow you to learn about your body fat percentage, muscle distribution, water balance and more. It’s a great way to set your goals for 2019. And it takes less than 60 seconds!
Exercise of the Month: Golf Workouts
For all you golfers out there, we wanted to share some strength-training exercises that can help you improve your swing.
Try these exercises if you want to power up your swing:
Single Leg Dead Lift
Stand on your left foot with dumbbells in each hand. Slowly tilt forward from the hips, keeping your torso and back completely straight. Try to keep the leg supporting your weight as straight as possible, but a slight bend is okay. Repeat on your right leg (dumbbells are optional). Do 2 to 3 sets per leg, 4 to 12 repetitions, 2 to 3 times per week.
Push Up Position Torso Twist with Arm Raise
In a full push-up position (hands under shoulders, back in straight line with legs and feet set shoulder-width apart), keep your hips parallel with the ground and lift your right hand off the ground to chest level. Keeping your arm in line with your chest, open your chest to as close to perpendicular to the ground as you can get without twisting your hips. Return to push-up position, then switch hands, alternating sides within a set (use dumbbells to increase the difficulty). Do 2 to 3 sets, 5 to 14 repetitions per arm, 2 to 3 times per week.
Side Bridge with Leg Lift
Laying on your left side with your body in a straight line and your elbow under your shoulder, push into your feet and elbow to lift your hip off of the ground. When at your maximum range of motion, lift your right leg as high as you can. Lower your leg and drop your hip almost to the ground, then repeat the motion. Repeat on opposite side of your body. (For the advanced version, start with your hand under your shoulder rather than your elbow. Ankle weights can also be worn to increase difficulty.) Do 2 to 3 sets per side, 4 to 12 repetitions, 2 to 3 times per week.
Medicine Ball Swing Toss
Stand in your regular golf stance, with your knees slightly bent, leaning forward through your hips with your back straight, holding a medicine ball in place of a golf club. Swing the medicine ball as you would your club (the arm and hand motions will be different), and when your arms are at a 45° down angle, release the medicine ball, throwing it against a wall. This should be a quick motion just like a normal golf swing. Do the exercise on both sides of your body (switch your leading hands). Do 3 sets per side, 5 to 12 repetitions, 2 to 3 times per week.
Standing Cable Cross Arm Raise
With a cable pulley, set at the base of the machine and stand with cable in your left hand so the cable is coming down and across to your right. Keeping your arm straight, lift your hand out to your side to just above shoulder height, then slowly let it fall back to start position. Do 2 to 3 sets, 4 to 12 repetitions, 2 to 3 times per week.
Prone Double Elbow Raise
Lie on a mat facedown so your forehead is touching the floor, with your hands on the back of your head. Slowly lift your elbows as high off the ground as you can. Slowly let them drop, but do not rest on the mat again until you’re finished with all the repetitions. Do 2 to 3 sets, 4 to 12 repetitions, 2 to 3 times per week.
Three-Way Wrist Exercise
- Position One (Wrist Deviation):Standing with your arm by your side holding a golf club just off center toward the handle and head of the club pointing to the ground, slowly raise the head of club as high as possible without opening your grip or moving your forearm. Slowly let the club head fall to the start position for one repetition. Turn the club around in your hand so the head is now facing behind you, still holding in the same position on the shaft of the club as before. Again, slowly raise the head of the club as high as possible without opening grip or moving forearm, then let it fall back for one repetition.
- Position Two (Wrist Rotation):Holding the shaft of the club in the same position as before, hold your hand palm down, out in front of your shoulder, with the head of the club pointing to the ground to the thumb side of your hand. Let your arm and wrist flex as far as is comfortable, then rotate your wrist all the way over until the head of the club is facing the opposite direction without opening your palm. Flex back for one repetition. Switch the direction of the club in your palm as before (this time the club will swing under the hand rather than over the top). Try to rotate the club as much as possible in each direction without opening the palm.
- Position Three (Wrist Flexion and Contraction):Using a tube with a rope attached in the middle and a weight attached to end of the rope, hold the tube with both hands, palms facing up and elbows at your sides. Slowly roll your wrists one at a time while the other allows the tube to slide. Roll the rope on the tube until weight is all the way up then let it slowly unroll the tube, letting the weight back down. At the bottom, continue to roll the tube so the rope wraps around it in the opposite direction as before, rolling the weight all the way to the top and slowly back down. (Rolling to the top and back is one full set.)
Do 1 set in each direction, 4 to 12 repetitions on the first two positions, 2 to 3 times per week.
Strength training can help golfers improve their game — just think of the Tiger Woods effect. So try developing your strength and you may see your performance on the course improve!
Eating Tips: Plants, Protein and Pizza
Plant-based diets have been getting a lot of buzz lately. The diet might help you with your health goals, but it’s important to know a little bit about it before you get started. Here are some of the basics:
- Plant-based foods come from — you guessed it — plants. They don’t contain ingredients from animals like meat, eggs and milk.
- When eating a plant-based diet, you can eat fruit, vegetables, root vegetables, whole grains and legumes.
- You can also eat things like nuts, seeds and plant-based milks.
One thing to keep in mind if you decide to try a plant-based diet is that it’s important to eat enough protein each day. Nutrition organizations recommend 56 grams a day for the average man and 46 grams a day for the average woman.
But if jumping into an all plant-based diet seems too overwhelming, why not consider eating one meal a day that’s plant-based or eating a plant-based diet one day a week?
To get you started, here’s a delicious recipe I know you’ll want to try: South-of-the-Border Pizza
Shake it Up with Slim & Sassy
Here’s yet another tool to assist with those New Year’s Resolutions. doTERRA’s Slim & Sassy Metabolic Blend can boost your metabolism and help you manage your hunger cravings. You can pick up a bottle at the Studio today. There are a few different ways you can use it:
- You can add it to water or tea and drink it before you work out for an energy boost.
- You can consume it before meals to help control your appetite or overeating.
- You can add a few drops of it to a Slim & Sassy TrimShake or V Shake.
Whatever way you prefer, consider incorporating it into your 2019 routine. It’s time to shake things up!
February Functions
Ringling College Library Association is always bringing great speakers to town through the Town Hall Lecture Series. They just hosted Shaq and coming up, James Comey is speaking on Feb. 4, and Jimmy Wales, the cofounder of Wikipedia, is speaking on Feb. 18.
On Valentine’s Day, Carol Burnett will headline the Van Wezel for “An Evening of Laughter and Reflection.” The night will include her taking questions from the audience and showing video clips from her shows. It’s a great chance to exercise your funny bone!
Ever wanted to be a superhero? Now’s your chance! On Feb. 16, the 7th Annual Superhero 5K and 1-mile Fun Run will be held at Nathan Benderson Park. The event helps raise awareness for foster care needs in our community and features a powerful theme: even Superman needed foster parents. At this race, you can wear your favorite superhero costume to honor kids in foster care and their foster parents.
See you out there enjoying February in Florida!
