Most women start exercising for a change in body composition. This goal is to lose fat and build muscle. They sometimes don’t know this is what they are looking for. Their goals sound like “I want to tone up,” “I want to look like this fitness model,” I want to lose weight,” or “I want to lose 10 pounds.” All of these goals are pretty elusive, besides that last one. That’s a good, measurable goal but also has its flaws. The one thing all of these goals boils down to is these

Congratulations! You have reached a plateau. I know this may seem like an odd thing to congratulate you for BUT this is a big step. It means all of your work has paid off and you have reached all that you can achieve with your current knowledge and training. You have literally topped out and can’t go any farther with what you have built. Although it is frustrating, this is a GOOD thing. The only way out and up, is to step back, re-asses and drive forward with new skills and m

Now we get to the 6 week check up. This seems to be the holy grail of postpartum fitness milestones. I hate to break it to you but IT IS NOT. The 6 week check up is basically that; a check up. The doctor will see if you and your baby are healthy and you have stopped bleeding. If you have a good doctor, he or she will also check on your stitches and see how you are healing; that the stitches are not infected and the tearing hasn't gotten worse for any reason. When the doctor s

New to a gym? Or maybe you are getting a lot of shade at the gym and you don’t know why. Either way, read through this list to make sure you are getting the most out of the gym experience and to make sure that the gym isn’t stuck with a sloppy creep for a member. Perverts and Haters Prohibited All kinds of bodies frequent the gym. Keep your eyes and your judgment under control. While it is totally normal to take a few extra glances at someone bodacious doing squats, don’t lin

If you are a gym hopper, travel a lot or are new to a gym, you are familiar with the experience of walking into a new place and hoping to god you don't look like a fool Ok, actually I think we are all familiar with that feeling... But I digress, today we are going to have a short lesson on walking in like you own the place - like you belong there because you certainly do! Here are our goals, every time we walk into the gym but special when we walk into a new gym or unfamiliar

Finding a new gym, visiting a new gym and going to a gym for the first time can be an intimidating experience for many. It is only with some time served and thought that you know what you want out of a gym and how to walk in with purpose. Good thing you are reading this. I have been in probably HUNDREDS of gyms and talked to THOUSANDS of gym goers - both happy and unhappy - and I know what you need to consider before choosing a gym. Before you sign on the dotted line, know th

Your period. Yay! Not the thing most women think of but coming from a woman who has lost her period for two years, I am grateful every time I have it. We should really honor out cycles as it tell us SO MUCH about what we are capable of, our current hormonal health and it gives us a tell about our bodies performance. It is a signal of our super power as women. So start working with your period and make it work for you. For women, making your training work for your cycle is jus

We all have them: imbalances and injuries the affect our daily lives.. Learning how to push through a certain amount of pain is an important part of weightlifting and fitness in general. The fact is, there are no outstanding figures that are not the product of hard, consistent work, pain and sweat. Don't let that scare you. The fact is, not only is the work worth it but you will also learn to enjoy it. People of all ages have imbalances and these tend to multiply themselves a

You have moved past the beginner stage. You have gone to the gym for over 8 months, showing up at least 3 or 4 times a week CONSISTENTLY. For a real beginner, you can follow the same program for two years, only increasing the weights used, and you will most likely still see results. Once you are past this, past 6-12 month of consistent work, you can start to play with your program and incorporate other things. This is when we start playing with supersets, metcons and 1 RM. Ye

There are many theories on training and a lot of them are pretty good. No, really, they are. Because most people are over-fat and under moved, Literally anything they do will be useful and benefit them greatly. Physical fitness is 80% you DOING SOMETHING and 20% WHAT you do. When we get into weightlifting, we want to work the body evenly and towards our goals. So lets go over how to plan your training for the week. A well thought out training program will have some guidelines

The second question you will have when starting weight lift is How Many? In Part 1 we went over exercise selection and what are the moves that will fit your overall life and bring you closer to your fitness goals. Here, we will talk about how to do those exercises. Not all bodies and brains are the same, therefore not all goals are the same. That being said, most women do have the same goal: lose fat mass (aka “lose weight”) and gain muscle mass (aka “tone up”). For those of

Let's talk about exercise selection. Most women do ridiculous, complex movements that include a lunge twist, press and toe tap ("thats ONE") with 4 pound weights. They are told that this will target you bum and slim your waist and tone shoulders, when this move in fact does NONE of that. Most likely, this kind of advice will give you shoulder impingements and be tiring without changing one thing on your body. Listen Ladies, I love you and respect you so here it is: For the

My favorite leggings. Seriously. I am a workout clothes fanatic. I’m actually a clothes fanatic and a workout fanatic, so I do my best to feel my best in the gym. I usually get easily bored wearing gym clothes in general (sometimes Coach just wants to wear a skirt to work). The reasons for critique are plentiful - but since this is a blog post and not a casual chat over nail polish and beer, I’ll keep focused. Style: ABS2Fitness leggings are stylish, womanly and customizable.

There are so many ways to feel the burn, it is easy to get overwhelmed when trying to decide what works best for your fitness. In the long and joyful journey of getting fit and losing weight we have a number of options to aide in changing our bodies. So the biggest question is when to strength training and when to do cardio? The good news is, your goals and preferences will best tell you what will work best to achieve that body you deserve. Let’s go through a couple of scenar

You know all of those magazines that feature only skinny women? Well, there are a couple of reasons why those have been the prominent body type of high fashion and it has nothing to do with health or beauty. Even fitness gurus are lying to you about their bodies - you can't get a Fit Mag cover with 15 minutes a day of exercise. My main concern is for those of you who take these aesthetics as truths; who are ashamed of your thick, sexy thighs and soft hips. Who hate their nat

When we workout your mind and body goes to a different place - a place that takes primal concentration and focus to maintain. All of our senses are heightened and our thinking could not be any more in the moment, thinking only about the task at hand. This is Flow, The Zone, Tunnel Vision and sometimes a happy place inside ourselves. Unfortunately life does typically not allow us to be in this state of bliss and sensual concentration all the time. We have to talk to others, pl