Patty Hartong's Blog

Follow me as I begin my teaching journey with the Zumba program. My first step in becoming a Zumba Instructor is to attend “Zumba Basic Steps Level 1”. Once I complete the training process I will be adding Zumba to my Group Fitness classes. Stay tuned! What is Zumba? If you are looking for a calorie incinerator that’s both exciting and fun, Zumba is the workout for you. ABOUT ZUMBA® FITNESS Are you ready to party yourself into shape? That’s exactly what the Zumba® program is all about. It’s an exhilarating, effective, easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning dance fitness-party™ that’s moving millions of people toward joy and health. Zumba Fitness® is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, and contagious steps to form a "fitness-party" that is downright addictive. Since its inception in 2001, Zumba Fitness has grown to become the world’s largest – and most successful – dance-fitness program with more than 10 million people of all shapes, sizes and ages taking weekly Zumba classes in over 90,000 locations across more than 110 countries. ZUMBA FITNESS®. MOVING THE WORLD TO A NEW BEAT. Zumba Fitness is very serious about supporting its licensed instructors and legally enforcing its trademarks. If you would like to check if an instructor is legally licensed to teach Zumba classes, go to the Zumba website and look up the instructor by name. NOTE: Instructor - Patty Hartong – coming soon!!!! Thanks!

Per Racheal Crosgrove Q&A in Womans Health  - The dreaded “muffin top” is made up of fat, so you can’t flex it away. Instead, focus on full-body exercises that burn more calories and get your metabolism revving long-term. One of the many effective exercises is the lunge with single-arm press.

Hold a dumbbell at your right shoulder and stand with your left foot three feet in front of your right. Lower into a lunge.

As you stand, press the weight overhead. Lower it back to your shoulder and repeat. Do 10 to 12, then repeat on the other side.

Holding a weight on one side while doing a lower-body move makes your core work harder to stabilize your body. The result: You’ll burn calories, rev your metabolism.

Patty Hartong Fitness Tips

My Blog is designed to help my clients understand the importance of exercising correctly. ie: using proper form - being aware of their personal limitations – and using correct modifications. Currently - you cannot view the workouts, or exercises until you have worked with me on proper technique. The workouts currently posted are advanced. http://calfitnessandyoga.blogspot.com

If you would like access and currently attend my CSD Group Fitness Class, or train with me individually, sent me an email requesting permission.

Cheers - Patty

 

Bikini Challenge Nutrition reminders and rules to follow –

8 weeks – NO EXCUSES!

The following rules are your rules for life.

Note: Once you meet your goal you will continue to eat following these rules in order to maintain your body. There is not a finish line to this challenge. You will find that once you are in your jeans, the way you eat and workout will have become a way of life for you.

NUTRITION RULES

1. Eat breakfast within 15 minutes of waking up followed by a meal every 3-4 hours. You must fuel your body (not starve it) to get your metabolism revving and keep your blood sugar stable starting first thing in the morning. Your body is in a fasted state when you wake up because you have not eaten for 8-12 hours. Being in a fasted state means your body wants to store fat. Your metabolism is in the gutter at this point and you are definitely not burning fat. Also skipping meals increases your likelihood of metabolic syndrome which includes decreasing your good cholesterol, increasing your blood pressure and worst of all increasing your belly fat. Why is this? Fasting decreases insulin sensitivity which means your body becomes insulin resistant, or it has trouble removing glucose from the blood. Do not skip meals!

2. Have a Fruit or Vegetable ever 3-4 hours with every meal. Never Eat Protein by itself.  Eliminate all processed carbohydrates and you have to earn your unprocessed starchy carbs. Some carbohydrates raise your blood sugar faster than others. You want to completely avoid...Make it a point to have a fruit or vegetable at every meal with your protein source. You can also choose one of the starchy unprocessed carbohydrates from the grocery list to have with your breakfast and in the meal immediately after your workout and your post workout shake. These are the two meals in your day that your glycogen stores and blood sugar will be the most depleted and you will need those starchy carbohydrates.

3. Have a protein source at every meal. Never eat carbohydrates by themselves. Protein contains the building blocks of what your body needs to build a buff bod. Never eat carbohydrates alone. Carbohydrates raise your blood sugar, some faster than others, telling your body to go into storage mode. Protein blunts this increase in your blood sugar keeping you in a stable fat burning mode. At every meal have a source of protein with a carbohydrate. It is important you eat a protein with each meal to keep you in a fat burning state all day long. For your breakfast, lunch and dinner shoot for 4-6 ounces of protein which looks like the size of the palm of your hand. You do not need to get your scale out, just eye ball it but make sure you are getting enough.

4. Eat healthy fats daily. Don’t be afraid of fats! You need good fats in your diet. Plenty of nuts, avocado, olive oil and fish – these are essential to making you healthy! And most recently research is supporting coconut oil/milk as an important addition to your diet. Add it to your shakes or use it as part of one of your meals. There has also been research that shows Omega 3 fats, the kind found in fish, increase and help regulate your body’s fat burning potential!

5. No more caloric beverages. Drink mostly water. Drink ½ your bodyweight in ounces of water every day. Being dehydrated is not acceptable when it comes to achieving a fit and fabulous body and getting into your jeans. Being dehydrated takes away from your exercise performance, leading to decreased results, causes fatigue and increases your cortisol levels, your stress hormone that breaks down muscle tissue. Your pee should be clear. If your pee is not clear you are not drinking enough water. You can have tea and coffee in moderation.

6. Save shakes and bars for emergencies when whole food is not an option except for post workout when a shake will be your best choice. Post workout you should have a shake. Otherwise, you can have a shake as a snack blended with some fruit if whole food is not available. Limit your consumption of over processed, high sugar, low nutrient foods including many of the protein and health food bars. Check the labels of the bars for high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats. Stick with the rule: if you can’t pronounce the ingredients you probably don’t want to eat it.

7. Optional: Supplement daily with a Multivitamin, 3-6g Omega 3 Fish Oils and 2000 IU of Vitamin D3. If your body is deficient in any of the vital nutrients you will not burn fat and get into your jeans. Taking these supplements daily is your insurance policy that you are getting everything your body needs to function optimally. Check with your doctor before starting new vitamins ore medications.

8. Always drink a workout shake either during your workout or within 10 minutes of finishing your workout. Use a high quality whey protein shake (with 20- 30 grams of protein) mixed with fruit or other carbohydrate. You will not get everything out of your workout if you skip this step. You must replenish your body immediately after your workout with quick releasing carbs and fats (a shake is best) to ensure optimal recovery.

9. Keep this journal of what you are eating and follow these rules 90% of the time. Keeping a journal will keep you accountable and keep you on track. To get into your jeans you must keep track of what you are doing so you can look back and make changes if you need to. If you don’t keep track you will think“I am following these rules “most of the time.” But consistently when someone says “most of the time” to me and isn’t writing it down, they are following the rules about 70% of the time which will not get them in their jeans. Keep in mind you do not have to be 100%. Give yourself 10% of your week to relax and enjoy life but stick to the rules the other 90%.

10. You should spend time each day de- stressing. High Cortisol levels (your stress hormone) has been linked to high belly fat and will keep you from getting in to your jeans. Take 10 minutes every single day to do one of the following:

• Close your eyes in silence, practice deep breathing

• Take a hot bubble bath

• Take a Jacuzzi

• Stretch or do yoga poses in silence (alone)

• Write in a Journal – get up 10 minutes earlier and just write and let your

Subconscious  flow. Buy a nice journal for this only.

• Get a pedicure or a massage or facial – you deserve it!

• Watch a Funny Movie.

Cheers - Patty

Rules From Rachael Crosgrove, Female Body Breakthrough

Posted on May 12th 2010 1:00PM by Joe Dowdell As I get older, I hate the saddlebags around my upper thighs. How can I get rid of them? Many fitness professionals and group fitness instructors will tell you to do tons of side-lying leg raises (foot internally rotated, foot in a neutral position and the foot externally rotated) and fire hydrants (on your hands and knees, lifting each leg up one at a time while knees are bent at a 90-degree angle), and you'll get rid of those stubborn saddlebags. These individuals are also the ones who build entire classes or training sessions around the premise that spot reduction is an effective method of losing body fat. Well, this is simply not true; in fact the primary muscles that are involved in the above movement patterns (i.e., gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, tensor fascia latae) are not even close to where the actual body fat is being stored. I'll talk about effective exercise strategies for losing body fat later, but for now I've asked my esteemed co-author of our new book, "Ultimate You," Dr. Brooke Kalanick, to weigh in on the saddlebag issue since it really goes much deeper than what most people have been told. The sex hormones -- estrogen, progesterone and testosterone -- are often overlooked when it comes to losing weight. This is surprising because even a casual glance at men's and women's bodies show a striking difference in where they store body fat. That difference in "shape" is the sex hormone effect on body fat -- particularly in the hips and thighs for women, and the belly for men. Ladies, whether you've always had wider hips or you've started storing more fat there as you've gotten older, fat on the hips and thighs -- a.k.a. saddlebags -- means you've got imbalanced sex hormones. More specifically you are estrogen dominant. Estrogen dominance happens when a woman's estrogen is at least relatively high and her progesterone is at least relatively low. (Keep in mind relative hormonal imbalances are not easily seen on a standard blood test). Estrogen is the female sex hormone that gives ladies smooth skin and curvy hips -- when out of balance, it can wreak havoc on your health and your figure. Dreaded saddlebags aside, remember, no hormone is all good or all bad. After all, estrogen gives women soft skin, a healthy heart, strong bones and of course it plays a role in regulating the menstrual cycle and thus fertility. It's when the scales tip too much in favor of estrogen that we see menstrual irregularities, worse PMS, difficult menopause, fibroids, endometriosis and expanding hips and thighs. Wondering if you are estrogen dominant? If you answer yes to any of the questions below, it is likely that estrogen plays a role in your weight issues: --Are you overweight? --Do you carry body fat in your hips and thighs? --Do you have a hypothyroid condition? --Do you have fibroids, endometriosis or PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)? --Have you taken or do you currently take birth control pills? --Are you menopausal or perimenopausal? We end up estrogen dominant by skewing the balance between estrogen and progesterone. This happens as a result of other hormonal imbalances, a low protein diet, being overweight and stress, as well as from medications and our modern environment that's rife with endocrine disruptors. Stress triggers estrogen dominance through a couple of mechanisms. First, progesterone and estrogen have a delicate, easily upset balance. When we are stressed, we convert more raw materials to cortisol, your stress hormone, and less to making progesterone (this is known as the Progesterone Steal. If you've ever been under a lot of stress and missed a period or it was late, you've experienced this). Having less progesterone around to balance out estrogen leads to estrogen dominating a woman's hormonal landscape and among other things starts to pack on the padding around the hips. Secondly, when cortisol rises due to stress, an elevation in insulin -- your fat storing hormone -- occurs as well. Both of these things increase body fat and increase your overall estrogen dominance. What's worse is body fat itself creates more estrogen -- so you can see the vicious cycle. It sounds horribly unfair, but an enzyme called aromatase, found in high concentrations on the hips and thighs of a woman (and more so in belly fat on a man), takes a woman's precious lean hormone, testosterone, and converts it into estrogen. As if this hormonal havoc wasn't enough, excess estrogen also disrupts thyroid hormones, turning down your metabolic rate. Surprisingly, menopause can create estrogen dominance, too, which sounds odd because we know estrogen and progesterone both decline after menopause. But while estrogen may be overtly low, it can still dominate progesterone and testosterone making it particularly difficult to burn off those saddlebags. Hormonal birth control (the pill, Depo Provera or the Mirena IUD) and synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescribed for menopausal symptoms can cause estrogen dominance and weight gain. Not for every woman, though. Women are unique in what is their optimal estrogen/progesterone balance and some women's livers detox estrogen better than others, so they will tolerate hormonal medications better. If you take these medications with no issue, then you probably detox estrogen pretty well. However, if you are like many woman and gained weight from the pill or other hormonal medication, or you had a lot of side effects (mood swings, water retention, breast swelling) then you probably don't detox estrogen well and your physique will benefit from avoiding these types of medications. Of course, do not stop any medications without the supervision of your doctor. Another issue is endocrine disruptors. These compounds occur naturally or are man-made chemicals found in our air, water and food -- everything from plastic water bottles and shampoo to pesticides on fruits and veggies contain estrogen disruptors. They block the effects of hormones that balance estrogen's effects, causing estrogen to dominate a woman's hormonal landscape. For example, endocrine disruptors can lower the effects of progesterone and testosterone by blocking their production and they can also act as strong estrogens themselves -- and your daily life is teeming with them! Don't get overwhelmed trying to completely rid your life of excess estrogens -- you don't have to do it all, but do as much as you can. Removal of even one source of endocrine disruptors will benefit your health and your physique. Here are some big ways to avoid excess estrogens: --Eat organic fruits and veggies whenever possible to avoid estrogenic pesticides. --Pay more for proteins. Low-quality proteins are full of estrogens, so pay a little more for higher quality protein choices such as grass fed beef or bison, free range chicken and hormone free dairy. --Switch to paraben and phthalate-free cosmetics, body products and deodorants, such as Weleda brand skin care, body care and deodorants. --Use only natural cleaning products such as Method, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day or Seventh Generation. *If you use plastic containers to store food, never microwave them. Opt for glass as much as possible and always for microwaving as plastics leach estrogenic chemicals. --Avoid soft plastic water bottles whenever you can by using glass at home or office and getting a stainless steel water bottle for travel, such as Sigg or Klean Kanteen. Supporting your liver's ability to detox estrogen can also make a big difference and this is one place where supplements can be extremely helpful. Here are a few suggestions: --Zinc: 15 mg to 30 mg daily (zinc decreases aromatization of testosterone to estrogen) *Use caution with long term zinc supplementation over 30mg per day as it can cause deficiencies in other minerals. --Resveratrol: 400 mg 1 to 3 times daily (the antioxidant in red wine) --Curcumin: 800 mg 1 to 3 times daily (the antioxidant in turmeric, especially good if you also have insulin resistance. --Grapeseed Extract: 200 mg 1 to 3 times daily *Use caution with Resveratrol, Curcumin and Grapeseed supplements if you have an autoimmune condition such as Hashimotos' Hypothyroidism as it can trigger autoimmune attack. --Vitamin B6: up to 200 mg per day (B6 aids in estrogen detoxification) If you are estrogen dominant and drink alcohol regularly, you may have a particularly difficult time shedding saddlebags. Alcohol, along with its added calories, turns up estrogen synthesis and, because it can cause swings in blood sugar, it can aggravate insulin leading to more fat storage. Fruits and vegetables, particularly raw or steamed cruciferous veggies such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale and watercress are excellent estrogen modulators so eat these in liberal amounts daily. The suggestions above can make a tremendous difference in your ability to shed the fat from the hips; however once you've become estrogen dominant, fat loss does become more difficult. In addition to Joe's exercise suggestions below, the more walking you can do the better. Walking at a low intensity level as much as you can throughout the day will aid your fat loss tremendously. Increasing your walking overall is helpful, but even more helpful is walking on an empty stomach for 45 to 60 minutes first thing in the morning. This not only will yield great fat loss results, it's a nice time to take for yourself, listen to an audio book or catch up with a friend. If you can find the time, it's worth it! Now that Brooke has enlightened you with the underlying mechanisms that cause saddlebags, I'll briefly touch upon the exercise component. Like I stated in many of my previous posts, the best solution for decreasing body fat while either maintaining or increasing lean muscles mass is through a combination of total body resistance training, interval training and proper nutritional strategies.

What is your REALAGE? - go to Realage.com and take the test.

Valentines – Candy Lovers Weekend Workout: 2-14-11--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are 11 exercises in this workout and you will do 50 reps for each of them. Some will have a 20 second rest in-between. It will take you around 20-30 minutes to complete. It is a times Challenge. Start your watch and get moving. Once your done see how long it took you.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Backward Lunge Kick Up (25 reps on each leg) Start by lunging backwards. Don’t let your knee go over your toes and keep your chest high and abs tight. Rise up and kick the back leg up as high as you can. This counts as one rep. Do 25 on each leg.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Walk Over Push Ups – 25 reps TOTAL 1 set only Get into position and do one push up. Then get back into plank and walk with your feet and your hands one step over to the side. Perform another push up and then walk back over to the side where you started from. Each push up counts as one rep. Do 25 reps total. If you can continue to do regular push ups, then go down onto your knees, but just remember that you will have to get up on your toes again to walk over to the side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Mountain Climber – 25 reps - (20 second rest) - repeat Get into the starting position and then just jump up to switch legs. Do 50 reps total.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Sumo Squats Knee Up – 50 reps Stand with your feet wide apart and squat down. Bring your weight towards one side and bring one knee up. Return to the sumo squat again and do the same on the other side. Each knee up counts as one rep. Do 50 reps total.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. One Leg Bridge Leg Lift – 25 each leg Lay on your exercise mat and put both feet flat on the ground. Lift your hips up, so that your shins are vertical to the ground and your thighs parallel to the floor. Extend one leg out and raise it up so that your toes are pointing toward the sky. Lower your leg down and then repeat 25 times. Do the same thing on the other leg.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Side to Side Squat Leg Lift – 25 reps Stand with your feet wide apart and squat down. Bring your weight to one leg and lift the other leg up and extend it. Put the leg down and now shift the weight to the other side and repeat. Do 50 reps total.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. One Arm Side Push Up – 25 rep each side Lay on your side and place your hand on the floor next to your bottom shoulder. Place the hand of the bottom arm on your top shoulder. Now push with your hand into the ground to bring your upper body up and extend the elbow. Do 25 push ups on each side.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Star Crunch – 50 reps Lay on your back and lift your extended legs up towards the sky. Extend your arms out and above your head. Lift your upper body up and reach with your hands forward between your legs. Open your legs wide and then bring them together again as you lay back down.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Diagonal Touch Down – 25 reps on each side Position yourself in a straddle stance and shift your weight towards the back leg as you squat down to touch the ground right next to your back foot. Rise up and twist your body in the opposite direction as you reach with both of your arms up towards the sky. Do 25 reps on each side.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Side Plank Leg Lifts – 25 reps each side Get into the starting position (see the picture above). Your supporting hand should be right underneath your shoulder. Don’t shrug your shoulders. Your legs are extended. Lift your hips up so that you create a straight line with your legs and upper body. Lift your top leg then lower (leg lifts) – this counts as one rep. Do 25 reps on each side.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. One Leg Wall Sit – 25 reps on each leg Sit with your back against a wall so that your thighs are parallel to the ground and your knees are above your ankles. Extend one leg out and start pulsing up and down. Do 25 small pulses on each leg Cheers - Patty

Weekend Challenge #2 – Superbowl Fast and Furious Weekend!.................................................................................................................................................................... This is a Jump Rope Challenge with 4 exercises only. This interval is a 2 set - timed- 50/10 ie: 50 second effort and 10 second rest for all 9 exercise stations. Use a timer! Count your reps – You are competing against me! See my score below: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Instructions – Do a 5-10 min dynamic warm up –starting with a 2 min jog. Then jump rope 50/10 x2 (you can use any foot strike you like). If you can try to change it up as much as possible. Then go right into exercise 1 – 50/10 x2 – then repeat the jump rope 2 sets, exercise 2 sets etc. - 18 min workout:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1-Jump Rope 1- jump 50 seconds – rest 10 seconds and perform 2 sets – ie: 50/10 -50/10. count your jumps and record the both sets. 2 sets----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2-EXERCISE one: Alternating Toe Touches – on your back with bent knees. Start with arms over your head. Do a crunch bringing you hands to the toe on the right leg – come back down to start and then repeat on the leg left. Count each toe touch as one. 2 sets------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3- Jump Rope 2- jump 50 seconds – rest 10 seconds and perform 2 sets – ie: 50/10 -50/10. count your jumps and record the both sets. 2 sets------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4- EXERCISE two: Combo push up side jump/side lunge – Perform Traveling pushups, jump up to standing then jump to side, jump back and then do a side lunge. You should then be on the opposite side and repeat. 2 sets----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5- Jump Rope 3- jump 50 seconds – rest 10 seconds and perform 2 sets – ie: 50/10 -50/10 “. count your jumps and record the both sets. Count each push up. 2 sets----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6- EXERCISE three: Plank (on hands or in a modified plank) with legs up and out. Do a plank – then move one leg up then out then up then back – repeat on other leg. Count each time you lift your leg as one. 2 sets--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7- Jump Rope 4- jump 50 seconds – rest 10 seconds and perform 2 sets – ie: 50/10 -50/10. count your jumps and record the both sets. Count each push up. 2 sets------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8- EXERCISE four A: Right Side Hip drops (in mod or full plank) –Get into a Right side plank. Lift your hips to start. Then bring the hips to the floor and then back up to start. Count each time your hip hits the floor as one. 2 sets------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9- EXERCISE four B: Left Side Hip drops (in mod or full plank) –Get into a Left side plank. Lift your hips to start. Then bring the hips to the floor and then back up to start.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Count each time your hip hits the floor as one. You can either have the bottom knee bent (mod plank) or you can have both legs straight (full plank). Note: Keep your shoulders back and stacked on top of each other. Do not round forward. 2 sets---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cool Down and stretch for 5-10 min-------------------------------------

1-22-11     

Weekend Challenge #1 - 11 exercises 50 sec effort and 10 sec rest (Interval) 

7 -MIN WARMUP 

        ·          Jump Rope Training - use this as your warm up -  Set your timer for 15 rounds and two intervals of 10 and 15 seconds. You will complete 15 rounds of 20 seconds of jump rope work and 10 second of rest. Try to change the style of your skipping for each interval. One more thing, if you don’t have a jump rope  - then do high knees, jumping jacks, scissors, or something similar to get your heart rate up and your legs working. (I did not count by jumps but down the road we will).

WORKOUT CHALLENGE:

        ·         For this workout you will need your Interval timer. Set your timer for 12 rounds of two intervals. The first interval will be set for 10 seconds and the second one for 50 seconds. Your goal is to push as hard as you can during each 50 second interval to complete as many reps as possible for each exercise. The 10 seconds in between is just enough to write your reps down.

           My scores for this workout: 1-22-11 (beat all my old reps from 1-15)

Shoulder Push-ups – 38 reps (you are in a rev V-butt up) 

Prisoner Jump Squats – 70 reps (squat jumps) 

Mountain Climbers – 108 reps (each jump counts as 1) 

Clapping Push Up on your knees– 28 reps    Jump Lunge – 56  total reps(alternate lunge with jump) 

Bicycle rotation Abs on floor – 94 reps (each knee to elbow counts as 1)     

Single Leg ext - Tricep Push-ups (on knees) – 23 reps 

Forward & Backward Lunge w/ single leg Jump Up (left) – 22 reps

Forward & Backward Lunge Jump Up (right) – 25 reps

V-Up Side Crunch (left) – 30 reps  V-Up Side Crunch (right) – 30 reps   

Burpees with a jump – 12 reps

Cheers - Patty