Bikini Booty!

The latest addition to Tone It Up's Bikini Challenge is an amazing Beach Bum Workout. This routine focuses solely on your back side to tone it into a perfect swimsuit shape. I've already completed the routine once today and will be doing it a second time after tonight's super sculpt and Zumba classes. :) You can never work your back end too much.

You all already know that I firmly believe that a fitness playlist can make or break your workout. If the music I'm listening to isn't fast paced and keeping me pumped, I'm not going to work out at the level I need to. There are ton's of great places around the web where you can find and download (sometimes even for free!!) great tunes to spice up your ipod. 

• The Nike Women Facebook page has a link on the left side that takes you to their favorite workout songs and even lets you download a couple for free. 
• Certain artists, like DJ Lindsay Luv, offer free downloads of their mixes on websites such as SoundCloud.
• Other mashup artists, like Girl Talk, combine short bits of thousands of songs to create long, party mixes. Since they don't pay to use artist's songs, they have to offer their songs for free on sites such as Illegal Art. Here you add an album to your cart and when you checkout, you can pick the price you wish to pay (free if you want.)
• Other workout blogs post entries of their favorite workout songs.
• Fitness magazines, such as SHAPE, often have online or print articles that include great songs.

Those are only a few places to explore fantastic collections of music that will keep you working hard and enjoying your time at the gym. 

Here's another list of some of my current favorite songs:

1. Snoop Dog ft. The Doors - Riders on the Storm
2. Adele - Rolling in the Deep
3. DJ MZ- Rokin Blanks
4. Girl Talk - Triple Double
5. Tanlines- Real Life
6. Goldfrapp - Ooh la la
7. PILL ft. Keri Hilson - Pretty Girl Rock Remix
8. Nicki Minaj- Your Love (Danny Genius Remix)
9. Miike Snow- Animal
10. MillionYoung- Hammocks 
11. MGMT- Electric Feel
12. M.I.A.- Bingo

I hope you all are keeping your ipods full of the most fun and upbeat music you can find so your sure to get the most out of each workout!

Mini Workouts!

Today's schedule has been beyond hectic, but the majority of my hard work has been for a good cause. As fundraising chair for my campus Relay for Life, I've been busy lately gathering donations and setting up fundraisers--like tonight's at Rita's Italian Ice (sooo yummy.) On April 8th all of my teams hard work will pay off as we celebrate our Relay for Life event and raise money for the American Cancer Society. (hopefully we'll reach our $50,000 goal!)


After a busy day of schoolwork and fundraising, I was thankfully able to squeeze in a small, but powerful workout in my room. I completed Tone It Up's newest challenge: Lean Legs Pyramid and did my own personal booty workout.

For those of you who want to try these exercises at home, here are the workouts:

Lean Legs Pyramid

• 20 squats
• 30 lunges
• 40 toe touches (head forward, legs straight, bend town & touch your toes)
• 50 second wall sit (sit up against a wall, legs at 90 degrees and hold it!)
• 100 seconds jumping jacks
• 50 second wall sit
• 40 toe touches
• 30 lunges
• 20 squats

Kate's Booty Workout- begin on the mat in tabletop position

• 10 hydrants
• 10 hydrant kicks (hold leg at 90 degrees out to side and only kick from knee)
• 10 donkey kick bent leg (foot flexed)
• 10 donkey kick straight leg (abs engaged, foot flexed)
• 10 weighted donkey kicks (place hand weight behind the knee of the leg that is lifting)

Bridge with kick exercise

    Switch to other leg, repeat 2x

• 10 bridge with pulses
• 10 bridge with kicks (each leg)

These are both great workouts to target your lower body. And they are perfect because, aside from the weighted donkey kick, you don't need any equipment and you can do these exercises almost anywhere. Give them a try!

Tomorrow the Tone It Up girl's will be releasing their beach bum workout video and I can't wait!

Fantastic Fitness Fashion

Question time: When it's time to hit up the gym, do you do it in style or wearing whatever t-shirts and shorts you can grab?

Image from Buzzillions

As winter begins to turn into spring (finally!) brightly colored workout gear has taken over! From gym bags, to shoes, to running tops these fantastically fashionable fitness attire is everywhere. I tend to typically throw on any t-shirt I can find with my usually fun and bright gym shorts, but I did succumb to brilliantly blue new shoes for the spring :)

Image from CitySports

<--------I was able to find these amazingly bright shoes at the Nike Outlet for only $40! What a steal!

I also have these  purple shoes  that were a perfect ----->
gift from my boyfriend (he is so good sometimes!)

Having such fun colored items makes me excited about getting into my gym clothes and showing them off. I've had so many people stop me to comment on my shoes and it kinda gives me incentive to hit up the gym (hehe :) )

FitSugar has put together a couple of great slideshows showcasing some of this Spring's most colorful and fun workout essentials:

• Colorful Running Tanks
• Bring Running Shorts- I love rocking the Nike Tempo shorts in concord/green apple/spark :)
• Radiant Running Shoes

Pants from Lululemon- $98

If none of the workout gear you've found seems good enough for you, there is always the option of customizing your own personal gear. Nike ID lets you design new shoes and Yogamatic is a company that allows you to design your own yoga mats. How cool is that?!

Adding personalized flair to your workout wardrobe is a great way of pumping yourself up for your workout. When you look good, you feel good and in turn you are able to push yourself to work out harder.

Sometime's all you need is a pair of yoga pants with a splash of color on the top, but other times you feel the need to go all out with great shoes, tops and even brightly colored ipods. These extra splurges are worth the money if they are going to get you at the gym and working hard!

BTW: According to Tone It Up's Spring Into Bikini Season! calendar, tomorrow is officially a BOOTY call day!

• Be sure to set your alarm 30 minutes early and squeeze in some cardio before your day starts!

Kicking butt and taking names

I just got done teaching a fantastic guts, butts and thighs class.  I was called in last minute to sub the class and I'm so happy I decided to teach. I was feeling pretty lazy today and was going to skip my workout, but somehow my workout managed to hunt me down.

Guts, butts and thighs is one of my most favorite classes to teach. Its strictly a toning class that focuses on some of the hardest to hit areas. Your doing crunches, lunges, squats, twists, raises, planks and anything else you can imagine. (it really kicks your butt haha)

Plie squats are possibly my all time favorite thigh/butt exercise. Oh it burns so much but it works better than you could ever imagine. To do a plie squat you begin in a wide stance, toes pointed out and knees in line with toes. You suck your abs in tight, stand tall and then pretend your sitting down into a chair. Push your butt out, keeping that chest tall and open, all while not letting your knees pass the front of your toes. Think about holding your muscles tight and then push yourself back up.

Doing 3 sets of 20 plie squats along with your other exercises is a sure way to get your assets in shape. :)

Check out directions for this and other exercises at celebrity trainer David Kirsch's website.

Image from DavidKirschWellness

Rain Rain Go Away!

Don't you just love March? I woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine and warm weather and now I'm going to sleep with thunderstorms and the dread of tomorrow's cold weather. Boo!!! I'm ready for summer weather all the time!

Image from ToneItUp

The drastic change in weather makes it hard sometimes to keep myself dedicated to going to the gym. When it is rainy and cold I just want to cuddle up with a book and a giant blanket! I got lucky today because yesterday I signed up for Tone It Up's 8 week Bikini Season Workout Plan :) I signed up for the plan here and last night they sent me a 'morning booty call' to remind me to get up early and sneak in 30 minutes of fitness ( I did it :) )

Today I checked my e-mail and received my first workout video in the series and printable routine to take with me to the gym. (I am in love with printable routine btw) The email also informed me that tomorrow I will be receiving my printable calendar to keep track of my workouts and I can't wait.

I'm absolutely loving the idea of having updated workout plans sent directly to me! and the best part of the Bikini Season Plan is the huge amount of giveaways that the Tone It Up girl's have collected. Throughout the 8 week challenge they will be giving away over 100 gifts like Roxy gear, Physicians Formula makeup and Oakley sunglasses.

For those of you who are still unsure about signing up for this exciting challenge, here is the first workout in the program. Check it out, see what you think and then sign up for the 56 day beach preparation plan.

This is the link to sign up!

Why Should I ?!?!?

4 reasons to exercise from Michael Van Straten's The Little Book of Detox Tips For People on the Go:

Image from Amazon

1. Exercise builds muscles strength, which improves posture, prevents backache and reduces the pain of arthritis.
2. Exercise improves the health and efficiency of lungs, circulation, and the heart. And as your heart grows stronger, it's able to pump more blood with few beats and less effort, which reduces the strain of the heart itself and prolongs its healthy active life.
3. Exercise boots your natural immunity and increases the body's resistance to disease and infection.
4. Exercise makes you feel good emotionally, as physical activity releases mood-boosting hormones in the brain.

I hope these tips help encourage you to get up, get moving and get you looking and feeling great :)

Early Morning Exercise

I'm so glad that I woke up early enough to attend morning flow yoga (finally!)  It's such an amazing feeling to wake up with the sun and stretch your muscles to awaken yourself for the day. I am seriously (I know, I've said it before lol) determined to continue this and make it routine. I felt so much more  focused throughout my day. I highly encourage all of you to wake up a bit early and even do simple stretches in your room to wake yourselves up :)

Image from ToneItUp

I've found another new site for you girls that's full of wonderful exercise tips and nutritional info. Tone It Up has become my latest go to site for wonderful ideas and inspiring updates as I continue on my fitness journey :)  Created by girls for girls, this site has so many exercises, food ideas, beach body inspirations and lifestyle makeover tips.

Karena and Katrina put together their workout and nutrition plan in an effort to help themselves slim down and tone up. Their personal workout routine has now grown into a blog, fitness community, nutritional system and diet plan. And the site is so much fun! Reading it makes me want to work out and really gives me inspiration to get myself in shape and on the right path. Check out their Music Monday workout playlist here!

The site even has fun videos that help you as you learn new exercises to do at home. Their toned and slim thigh video shows a great routine that specifically targets your thighs. It's unbelievable. 



Check out their site for all kinds of fun innovative workout tips to help you get your sexy summer body!

Ballet Beautiful

Image from BeautifulBallet

It seems like we've had a burst of ballet beauties on the big screen in the past couple months. With Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Black Swan and now Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau, these babes are taking over.

The long, slender, flexible figure of ballerinas have long been viewed as an ideal image of perfection and grace. With tips and moves from the trainers who got these stars into shape for their ballerina performance, you can work to become slim and toned.

Mary Helen Bowers, a former ballerina in New York City, worked with Natalie Portman for 5-8 hours a day, 6 days a week to achieve her new body. According to Mary Helen, exquisite grace, beauty and strength are the essence of a ballerina's form. In an effort to create a highly defined physique for Natalie, she created a method that was, as she says, "a highly targeted and effective approach to fitness." You can check out this article on Shape Magazine's website to see some of the moves Mary Helen used to tone Natalie's muscles.

You can also look at Mary Helen's website, Ballet Beautiful, to learn more about the method she has created to keep herself in shape while dancing with one of the world's most prestigious ballet companies: the New York City Ballet. She created Ballet Beautiful to ensure elegance with power in her technique and to polish and add precision to her form.

Image from BalletBeautiful

According to the website, Ballet Beautiful benefits include:

• Superb posture
• Graceful carriage
• Sleek micro-targeted 'ballet' muscles
• Elongated limbs
• Strong center and lean form
• Increased flexibility

Mary Helen's method is now available for everyone who desire to acquire the elusive shape of a ballerina's body. With no dance experience required, the method is suitable for almost everyone. You can learn more about the method and purchase instructional videos or personal classes on her website.

FitSugar has also posted an article that shares some moves Emily Blunt used while preparing for her role in the recently released film, The Adjustment Bureau. The article includes links to show you how to preform moves such as White Swan, Kneeling Hinge and Paso double lift, which help to lengthen and strengthen your muscles.

Is it food??

I happened to stumble upon something great/weird/fantastic/hilarious today and thought I should share it with you. Pilates guru Lisa Johnson posted on her blog a guide to help you figure out if the food your buying at the grocery store is real or not haha. 

Image from LisaJohnsonFitness

Lisa's site is a fantastic source for all things fitness. She is a well respected pilates instructor and owner of  Modern Pilates studio. She writes for her own blog as well as for AOL Health's fitness blog, That's Fit.

Image from ModernPilates

The Best of Lisa Johnson Fitness section on her site is a fantastic starting point to finding your way around her site and gaining new healthy knowledge (fitness for your brain :) ) One of my favorite posts is "5 Tips on How to Weigh Yourself." You'd be surprised at the number of women who weigh themselves wrong even though it seems so simple. Check out the post here to figure out what you can do to make sure you don't drive yourself crazy with those pesky numbers. 

Lisa's post "The 10 Things You're Doing Wrong at the Gym" is fantastic for those gym newbies or girl's who feel they aren't getting what they want out of their workouts. You can read this post here to make sure you're getting the most of your workout.

Book Club: French Edition

Photo from GoodReads

Taking advantage of spring break free time, I hit up Borders this evening to scan the shelves and use the last bit of money on a gift card I'd saved from Christmas (I didn't want to spend it!) As I browsed the books one by one (I could honestly live in a book store or library,) I stumbled across a fun little book that I think will soon be an addition to my favorite book of all time collection. Helena Frith Powell's All You Need to be Impossibly French: A Witty Investigation Into the Lives, Lusts, and Little Secrets of French Women seems like it will be an exciting and insightful adventure. 

Anxiously ready to begin reading, I took the book the gym with me tonight to read as I cycled away.I'm only two chapters in and already I've stumbled across some great tips to live the ever classy, sophisticated and sexy French lifestyle. The second chapter is called "Zen Exercise" and (no surprise here) it takes a look at the unusual fitness style of those impeccably perfect French fashionistas. 

The book puts it bluntly: French women want the greatest results possible, while putting forth as little effort as possible. (hmm...) They don't like to break a sweat and don't see the purpose in using weights to add bulk to your body. They take advantage of every opportunity to stretch and walk or cycle everywhere they can. They will wake up 30 minutes earlier just to walk to work and will always choose to take the stairs instead of an elevator. They walk to lunch and will work on small stretches and exercises while watching their children at the park. They do as much shopping as possible (all that walking and trying on clothes burns calories you know) and never drink to excess. 

Image by Inslee

French women also spend more time in the bedroom with their significant others (wink wink.) They know that all movement burns calories and tones muscles, so they are sure to use that to their advantage. I am now dying to be French. These women have such class and sophistication (though it is due to pure arrogance at times) and always seem to be beautiful and put together, no matter what the occasion. 

While we as American's may not always be able to follow all the routines these fantastic French women have, we may be able  to try and incorporate as many into our daily lives as possible. Only two chapters in,  this book already has me planning my trip to the city of love and lights and dying to find out what else these seemingly chic women have to offer me. I can't wait :)

You can purchase the book here or check out Helena's fantastic blog here. Au revoir!

Spring break? More like an everything break!

Well apparently for me spring break means take a break from everything. I haven't slacked totally though, I have been getting up early to take some aerobics classes at my local gym. This morning I took a class that is new to my gym, Cardio Fuel. It's a 60 minute high cardio circuit class. It was a mixture of step, kickboxing, general cardio and some focused toning. The class definitely pushed me to my limits, but I felt amazing afterwards. It feels great when you stick it out and finish a class that is really difficult for you.

I've been on the hunt lately for some new songs to add to my workout playlists. Especially since I finally started teaching some classes at the gym on campus (It was so scary!) I realized that I needed a serious iPod update. I'm not a big fan of mainstream hip hop and pop (except for the occasional Lady GaGa, my guilty pleasure) so sometimes it's hard for me to find some tunes that really make me want to get moving. 

Here's the lineup of my current fitness playlist:

1. Lights (Messed Remix)-  Ellie Goulding
2. That's Not My Name- The Ting Tings
3. When I Grow Up (Lissvik Remix)- Fever Ray
4. Pursuit of Happiness (Steve Aoki Dance Remix)- Kid Cudi
5. Dog Days Are Over (Breakage Remix)- Florence and the Machine
6. Heartbeats (Rex the Dog Remix)- The Knife
7. Born This Way- Lady GaGa
8. Ghosts 'N Stuff- Deadmau5
9. Through The Wire- Kanye West
10. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger- Daft Punk
11. Summertime Clothes- Animal Collective
12. My Delirium- Ladyhawke
13. Little Secrets (Felix Da Housecat Remix)- Passion Pit
14. Waka Waka- Shakira 
15. Swing Tree- Discovery

Where do you ladies find your music? Do you search around for premade workout cds/ mixes or do you create your own? Or do you just listen to whatever is playing at the gym? 

Along with hunting for new songs to add to my mixes, I've also been searching around for some new exercises to add to my routines. It's so important to keep updating your workouts to keep your body guessing and working hard. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but new moves are great for making your muscles stay tight and toned. 

Trainer to the stars, Tracy Anderson, is wildly popular for her hardcore workout routines that work to strengthen and tone muscles without adding any bulk. Using no more than 3lb weights and mixing toning moves with cardio and dance routines, she has created the Tracy Anderson Method to transform bodies worldwide. 

Image from InNewsToday

You can check out Tracy's website, search for some videos from her on youtube or read about her workouts on a variety of workout blogs across the net. Her tips and workout moves are fantastic for both at home and gym workouts. I read an article about Tracy's routine and found a couple great toning exercises within:

• Ballet Grand Plies: Stand with hells together, toes slightly apart. With a straight back, bend at the knee as low as you can, then go back up again. Work up to 100 reps.
• Single Arm Overhead Pulse: Using 3lbs weights, stand with feet shoulder-width apart, arms at your sides. Raise one arm above your head with your elbow slightly bent and then straighten your arm completely over your head. Pulse like that, up and down. Work up to 100 reps on one side and then the other.
• Piking: Lie flat on the floor, arms at your side. LIft straight legs up to ceiling at 90 degrees and then gently lower. Without pausing, lift them back up again .Your upper body should remain flat on the floor.

For more information on Tracey's routine and workouts for the stars check out the article I read, Tracy's website, FitSugar's collection of articles or any of Tracy's workout DVD's.

Not all dimples are cute

The countdown to spring break has begun! And as I've mentioned before, the gym is absolutely packed with girls getting their last minute workouts in. I've got less than 3 days until I get to enjoy an entire week of nothingness. (relaxation at it's finest :) ) And just because I'm not headed to the beach to soak up some rays (I'm quite jealous of those who are,)  I am still working hard to get myself in shape. Summer is just around the corner you know!

I almost had to force myself to go to my kickboxing and Zumba classes yesterday, but I'm sooooo glad I went. I had excellent workouts and felt really refreshed when I was done.  Sometimes an intense cardio workout is just what you need to get your blood flowing and heart beating and smiling. There is something about a great workout that puts me in a fantastic mood.

Image from FitSugar

I mentioned in one of my other posts that one of the most frequent complaints about women concerns their so called "love handles." One of the other problem areas I hear about most often concerns the dreaded cellulite on their booty and thighs. noooo!!!!  The strange thing is, from a medical view, cellulite doesn't actually exist. It is nothing more than uneven fat distribution under the skin. And it is something 80-95% of women have. (ladies, your not alone!) Their appearance can be caused from untoned muscles, hormones or a different genetic factors (it's honestly not your fault).

The bad news about these little dimples is there is no way to get rid of them completely. BUT there is good news. There are ways to help reduce their appearance. By adding 20-60 minutes of cardio, three to five times a week, to your fitness routine you can help reduce your body's overall fat content. The less fat you have, the less cellulite there can be. Cardio alone will not fix your problem though, toned muscles mean less visible dimples. That's what we want :) Here are a couple strength training ideas you can use to target the most common trouble zones:

Image from FitFineLines

• Lunges in all directions 
• Try squats to help your backside 
• Focus on your inner thighs with these tips and moves
• Bridges and Donkey Kicks are great for the booty
• Different pilates moves help to elongate and strengthen muscles
• Keep your routine updated with different exercises
• Plank variations target multiple areas at once
• Yoga can target all trouble areas

Keep in mind ladies, you aren't going to be able to remove these pesky little bumps completely and almost every chick out there has them too. Don't be afraid to rock your fantastic new bikini. As long as your confident wearing it, nobody will notice your not so favorite areas. And try not to think of your "trouble areas" as problems, they make you unique and you should flaunt it!