The Diet that WORKS!

Weight training is KEY to developing long, lean toned muscles.  There is nothing new there, but we often overlook (by choice) how important it is to pair proper nutrition with all of your hard work in the gym.

In order to get those lean muscles to show, proper nutrition and portions are a MUST.  I wanted to share with you all what a typical day looks like for me and how I am able to maintain my physique without gaining fat and while still maintaining my energy, my workout intensity and my lean mass. I use my “BIBLE DIET” 5-6 days a week.  For those 5-6 days I “bible” just about 100%.  This allows me to eat (within reason) what I want for a couple meals (or a couple drinks!) during my weekends. This eating plan is full proof. I have used it for years and it has helps me achieve the physique I wanted as well as helped me maintain it while still having energy and enjoying the foods I love in moderation.

HERE IS A SAMPLE MENU OF A TYPICAL DAY OF NUTRITION FOR ME:

5:00 AM Meal 1: 3 Egg Whites, 1 Piece of Ezekiel Bread Sprinkle Cinnamon on top!

I eat this within 30 minutes of waking up. This gets my metabolism up and running right away!

8:00 AM Meal 2: Vegan Protein Shake with Spinach and 1/2 Cup Fruit on the side.  The only thing that is in the shake is ice, water, 20 grams of protein powder, 1/2 cup of fresh spinach leaves and a pinch of cinnamon.  Fun Fact: Adding spinach to your shake is a great way to get in your veggies. You can not even taste it in your shake! And yes, only a 1/2 cup of fruit, total! Fruit will spike you insulin. Therefore, fruit should take place of your carb option in your meal.  Or you can do half and half. 1/4 of a carb 1/4 of a fruit. Make sense?

11:00 AM Meal 3: All Natural Steak Tips (3 Ounces) with 1/2 cup or onions and Mushrooms

2:00 PM Meal 4: Quest Protein Bar (This bar will take care of your protein portion of the meal as well as your carb portion) So this bar should replace an entire meal. The great thing about Quest bars is they are all NATURAL and taste DELISH! Super filling for a bar.

5:00 PM Meal 5: 3-4 Ounces of Grilled Chix and 1/2 Cup of Fresh Salsa!

As far as how many carbs I eat or recommend eating. I cycle my carbs!

Day 1: 4 Carbs (20 Grams each)
Day 2: 3 Carbs (20 Grams each)
Day 3: 2 Carbs (20 Grams each)
Day 4: 1 Carb (20 Grams each)

Then Repeat! I get the BEST results using this carb cycle. Still include a protein and if possible, a veggie with each of these meals. For a full menu, recipes, directions, and portion sizes for your size and gender you can email me directly. Xo

**Keep in mind that this is a SAMPLE MENU and these portions are based on my individual size/goals/activity.**

Get a Balanced CORE workout for Sleek & Slender ABS!

In order to tone and tighten your core to give you the sexy lean mid section you are looking for, there are 4 muscle groups you MUST hit.  Often I see ‘core’ workouts that only hit the rectus abdominis muscle AKA the front of your abs.

To get a tight, sculpted, balance core we need to make sure working each of these muscles during your AB workout:

1. Rectus Abdominis (front of your core)

2. Interior and Exterior Oblique’s (sides of your core)

3. Transverse Abdominis (innermost of the flat muscles of the abdomen)

4. Lower Back

It is important to have a well balanced core workout implemented in your training program. Out of all the core muscles the transverse abdominis muscle probably the most forgotten muscle during AB workouts, but really is the most important. This muscle is critical to exercise to strengthen the core and minimize back injury.

Here is a AB circuit that includes exercises that will hit all of these 4 key muscles in your CORE:

1. Toe Touches or Bicycle Crunch (Rectus Abdominis) 45 Seconds/15 Seconds off
2. Side Plank Dips (Internal and External Oblique’s) 45 Seconds/15 Seconds to switch sides
3. Low Plank Hold (Transverse Abdominis) 1 Minute Hold
4. Back Extensions (TA and Low Back) 45 Seconds/15 Seconds off

Repeat 3-4 Rounds.

During this workout, think about the muscles you are working for each exercise. Make the ‘mind/muscle’ connection. Visualize the muscles working, squeeze the muscle through the movement and through your set. Draw your belly button into your spine during each rep. Think of your Abs as a wet towel. With each rep you are trying to ‘wring out’ the towel.

Be The Influence!

Workout Of The Day! WOD

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Here is a quick and efficient workout of the day. This cardio workout includes a healthy dose of hills, sprints and jogging/walking recoveries. This workout will torch fat and calories in no time at all. To get more workouts like this, check out the Pear Sports APP for FREE!

Talking HIIT!

Talking HIIT: The basics

HIIT is all the rage right now. I mean,  like everyone is doing it 😉

But seriously, HIIT training is definitely the best bang for your buck if you are looking to promote lean mass while torching as much fat and calories as possible for long after your workout. 

WHAT IT IS EXACTLY: HIIT protocol is pretty basic. Plain and simple, you spike your HR up and drop it back down, then repeat. Over and over.  These intervals can be cardio or weight focused. 

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WORKOUT HIIT: My personal opinion and what I have seen get the best results with myself and my clients is spiking their heart rate into the bottom of Zone 5 and then doing an active recovery or complete rest until they drop into the bottom of Zone 3 and then repeat.

I always practice Zone 5 to Zone 3 method with active recovery in between.  By no means am I saying this is the only way, but this is what I have seen to work the best with my experience. I don’t recommend resting for time in between (30,60,90 seconds) because everyone will be different and have different recovery times.  To make it authentic, once your heart rate gets back to the bottom of Zone 3 (however long it takes) then you know it’s time to do your next interval!  Make sense?

I  do recommend using a HR monitor (preferably PEARsports where you can also get tons of HIIT workouts for free on their APP along with the heart rate strap (www.pearsports.com)).  If you are not using a HR monitor then yes, you will need to work and rest for timed intervals.  I would say rest or do an active recovery for 30 seconds – 2 Minutes in between intervals depending on your fitness level.

 HIIT INTERVAL EXAMPLE:

A) Dumbbell Burpee Row to Pushup        (Until you hit Zone 5)

B) Bicycle Crunch                                          (Until you hit Zone 3)

 

THE AFTERBURN EFFECT: By spiking and dropping your heart rate in this manner your body will be demanding energy and oxygen from your body.  It will be demanding oxygen so fast that your body will not be able to keep up, and this is what we want!  This will cause our bodies to go in to what we call “oxygen debt”.  You know you are in oxygen debt when you are feeling the lactic burn and fatigue and you are breathing heavy!  This is going to keep your body working hard long after you have completed your workout so it can ‘repay’ this oxygen debt.  Sometimes more than 24 hours after your workout. 

My Workout of the Day 2/27/13

Ok People, Major League Baseball Spring Training is under way. It’s staying light past 5pm and the smell of Spring is creeping its way into our noses. Yup, it’s official, Summertime is fast approaching and most of us need to start turning up our workout intensity to get slimmed down and feeling right to put that bikini on in a few months!

Here is a great workout that will burn a ton of calories that is LOW impact. For those of you who can’t run or jump or just hate to do it, this workout is for you! This working focuses on hitting all the problem areas us women have (core, glutes, and hami strings) along with focusing on shaping and toning your shoulders. Shaping your shoulders is a MUST for getting your arms to look toned and shaped. Most women think it’s biceps and triceps. Wrong. The ‘shoulder cap’ is what is going to shape the arm and give you the sexy Kelly Ripa arms we all love!

DIRECTIONS: Complete all of the circuits below. Allow yourself 1 minute (or more if needed) to recover in between circuits. This workout, including recovery between circuits, should take just 30 minutes. Since it is a short workout, keep your butt moving!

CIRCUIT 1: 4 Minutes (Get as many rounds as possible in 4 minutes) Goal: 6-8 Rounds completed.
EQUIPMENT: MEDIUM SIZED DUMBBELLS (Women 10-15 lb dbs, MEN 15-25 lb dbs)

1. DB Burpee x 4 reps
2. DB Squat and Press x 4 reps

CIRCUIT 2: 7 Minutes (Get as many rounds as possible in 6 minutes) Goal: 2-4 Rounds Completed.

1. DB RDL x 8 Reps
2. DB PLank Row x 8 Reps
3. DB Lateral Raise x 8 Reps

CIRCUIT 3: 7 Minutes (Get as many rounds in 6 Minutes as possible) Goal 2-4 Rounds Completed.

1. DB Pullover x 8 Reps
2. DB Sumo Squat to Upright Row x 8 Reps
3. 1 Db Front Raise & Twist 8 Reps

Circuit 4: 7 Minutes (Get as many rounds in 7 Minutes as possible) Goal 2-3 Rounds

1. DB Oblique Twist to Press x 8 Reps
2. DB Back Lunge to RDL x 8 (Each Side)
3. Plank Kickbacks (side to side) x 8

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THE EXERCISES, YOU CAN WATCH ME DEMO THIS WORKOUT IN THIS VIDEO:

BE THE INFLUENCE!

Tread the Holiday Calories Away!

Tis the Season of over-eating! Get a head start on burning those Christmas party calories with this treading workout.

Directions: Choose your jog pace!

5.0 MPH = Beginner 6.0 MPH = Intermediate 7.0 MPH = Advanced

Whatever YOUR jog pace, the rest of the speeds of this workout will go off of your jog pace. So if it says “+2 mph” and your jog pace is 6.0mph, then you will increase your speed to 8.0 mph. Make sense? OK- get after this workout, then get back here and let me know how you did!

Jog 3 Min

+1 30 seconds

+2 30 seconds

+3 30 seconds

Jog Pace 1 minute

2% Incline, +1.5 mph 30 seconds

4% Incline, +1 mph 30 seconds

6% Incline, +.5 mph 30 seconds

Jog Pace 1 minute

3% Incline, +1.5 mph 30 seconds

6% Incline, +1 mph 30 seconds

9% Incline, +.5 mph 30 seconds

Jog Pace 2 minutes

+2.5 mph 1 minute

5% Incline Jog Pace 1 minute

+3 mph 1 minute

5% Incline Jog pace 1 minute

+3.5 mph 1 minute

5% Incline Jog Pace 1 minute

+4 mph 1 minute

5% Jog Pace 1 minute

+4.5 mph 1 minute

Jog Pace 2 minutes

Walk 2 minutes

Done!

Total Time: 24.5 Minutes

Be the Influence!

Nancy

Make it Happen!

I did a interview for a locale magazine the other day and I was asked, ‘What advice could I give someone that would change their life?’ At first, I was thinking, ‘Umm none, they need to change their own life.” So I guess that was my answer. With a little better thought and explaination, I elaborated on this thought and came up with an answer that I think we all need to remind ourselves of often.

Any goal is obtainable. Life can be anything you want it to be. You can be anything you want to be. You can look any way you want and feel any way you want. You are in charge of your own body, health, and happiness. Don’t limit yourself to leading a less healthy life than you deserve. You are the only thing stopping your goals in life from becoming reality. If you don’t know where to start, reach out to someone who can give you knowledge and/or advice to helping you reach your goals; utilize your resources! Make the time, don’t make excuses, and get it done. Stay committed, if you fall, get back up, and pretty soon your goals will become reality! It’s never easy, but it’s always worth it.

Be the Influence!
Nancy

Motivation with Maxwell!

Total Weight Lost: 53 Pounds

Ok you guys!  I love all of my clients, but I love this one the most!  Let me explain!  Maxwell is the love of my life.  The most amazing person I have ever met and my bestest friend.  I have Under Armour to thank for bringing Max and I together.  I trained Max in my morning class for over a year before magic happened at our company Christmas Party last year.  The rest has been history.  I have never been happier!  Just another amazing perk that fitness has contributed to my life!

Ok back to business! I am so proud of Max.  He was coming from the WVU football team of heavy weights, sprints, and a totally different mentality of eating and nutrition. My classes are nothing like what he did in college, so this was a huge transition for him.  It took some time, but finally, he gave in to my programs, and gave it a real shot.  Boy, did it pay off!  Here is what he had to say:

“Before I started working out with Nancy I was your stereotypical former college athlete. I participated at a sport in a very high level, therefore I knew everything there was to know about eating right and working out. I thought structure was the only thing I needed to get the same results.  Needless to say I got a little more than I bargained for and the results, knowledge, and inspiration will motivate me for a lifetime.

At the end of 2010 with just six months of the “real world” under my belt, I was an all-time high 258 pounds. All the alcohol, food, and lack of exercise finally caught up to me. Upon seeing a few errant pictures of myself at a party with my shirt off, I knew it was time for a change. I enrolled in Nancy’s boot camp on January 3rd 2011 to see if I could shed a few pounds before our annual spring time mancation.

At first I struggled more mentally than physically with the format. Mentally, I came from an environment where rest and recovery were commonplace and you were measured by the amount of weight you could move not the number of repetitions. If you had an hour and a half workout you were probably only actually working out for 45 min. Nancy’s class was 45 minutes of straight high intensity work. If you asked me to do 10 reps of a weight I could do it, but if you asked me to do reps of the same weight for 45 seconds I would struggle to get 8.

Throughout the Spring and Summer of 2011, I attended her class an average of 3 times a week and tried to stick to a low carb, high protein diet. Once I got my weight down to around 230 I worked out mostly as a means to maintaining my current life style and not an attempt at making any gains. As the Summer ended and the Fall set in I fell off the bandwagon again. I went to around 2 classes and week and started eating poorly again. I decided that Thanksgiving meal was going to be my last hurrah and this time I was going to try to get serious about dieting and working out. Little did I know that a trip to the grocery store would change my life.

When I got back from Thanksgiving at around 240 pounds, I asked Nancy to put me on her diet plan and we decided to meet at the local grocery store. It turns out that I was mostly ill-informed or too stubborn about my old eating habits and that I do not know everything there is to know about eating healthy (imagine that!). The combination of working out in her class and participating in her diet plan has taken my body and mind to shapes and places that I never thought they would go.

I believe dieting and working out are directly correlated. If you are discipline in your diet, you’ll be discipline in working out, and vice versa. I had dieted numerous times in the past for many different reasons, but Nancy’s food plan never once and still hasn’t felt like a diet. I was still eating a lot of the things I normally eat except more often and in smaller portions. I am confident to say that I will never be overweight again and I have developed enough knowledge and discipline through the whole experience to last me the rest of my life.  The best part is, I get to keep the girl too. ” -Max

BE the Influence,

N

Motivational Monday!

Meet Erin!  Erin has been loyal and dedicated to my training for a few years.  She motivates everyone around her, including myself, to push harder, and perform better.  She is one of the strongest, fastest, toughest women I have ever trained.  I feel lucky to have had Erin train with me for so long.  She is beautiful inside and out.  Here is what Erin had to say about her journey:

“I have been working out with Nancy for almost 2 years now and it is hard to explain with words how she has affected my life.

Nancy is my role model. She motivates me, inspires me, encourages me and most importantly makes me want to be a better person.

I have played sports my entire life, including soccer in college. After I graduated I was looking for a routine / regimen I could follow that was completely different than my soccer training. I am so grateful that I found Nancy. I work out with Nancy four times a week in her am boot camp. Nancy mentally and physically challenges me every morning and I absolutely love it. I am not only physically stronger , I am mentally stronger while I work out as well. I now understand the saying “it’s all in your head”. Nancy has taught me to get out of my head not only during workouts but also in my everyday life.

Nancy has a gift. Even after 2 years, she has the ability to make me sore after each workout while making me want more. It is a sick yet awesome thing. Nancy’s workouts are all different and unique which leads to my muscle confusion. Nancy is not only an amazing trainer she is also extremely knowledgeable and educated in nutrition. She has created  a healthy diet that encourages clean eating, makes you feel amazing and most importantly WORKS.

I can’t thank Nancy enough for what she has done for me. She is a game changer and hands down one of the best in the industry. She is the influence.  ” -Erin L.

BE the influence!!

N

Motivational Monday!

Lisa is an amazing person inside and out.  She is constantly a leader in my advanced morning class.  She is one of the people who motivates ME the most when I am working out with this class.  She has completely changed her body composition since beginning my class.  She has also become a great friend of mine.  I am lucky to train such a hard-working, loyal person like Lisa.  Here is what she had to say:

“I began Nancy’s class about two years ago.  Prior to working at Under Armour, I always did workouts on my own, combining exercises I learned while playing basketball in college, and also trying different workout dvd’s such as Insanity and P90X.  I would have never expected to join a class, and even more so, have it impact my life the way it has.

Working out has always played a major role in my life from as far back as I can remember.  However, ever since I played my last basketball game in college, I found it harder and harder to get motivated to not just workout, but to push myself to a level mentally and physically—that not only challenges me but gives me results.  That’s when Nancy and her “bootcamp” came into my world…

Her class provides more than weight loss and a more toned body, it also gives you the escape  needed from all of real life’s worries, problems, and other uncontrollable situations encountered on a daily basis. Nancy’s workouts are challenging and she always keeps us on our toes; finding new ways to motivate us each and every day.  She is by far one of the most inspiring people I have ever came across.  Not only is she hardcore when it comes to demanding her clients to push their bodies to ultimate limits; but she herself lives a life that only one could hope to emulate.  Her hard work and passion for what she does rubs off on each and every person she works with.  It not only makes you go hard for the hour you are working out, but it carries with you throughout the entire day.

With one hour a day/4 times a week and changing my eating habits just a little bit, I can confidently say that I am back down to my college playing weight.  I have lost 15 lbs., feel stronger and healthier than I have in a long time, and mentally feel on top of my game.  I attribute so much of this to Nancy’s class and don’t know what I would do without it.  Like I’ve always said, “Nancy Halterman doesn’t only change bodies, she changes lives.” -Lisa

Be the Influence,

N