Short on time but want to move your body and get stronger?

Great, because this quick lower body shred workout delivers a combination of strength and explosive cardio moves for a balanced total body training session in less time!

Join Coach Neesha from Team Betty Rocker – one of our amazing trainers who will guide you through this workout. Coach Neesha is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and a Team Betty Rocker Coach.

Listen for the cues on rep ranges for today’s workout so you can select an amount of resistance that challenges you. Progressing and getting stronger requires adaptations in our muscle tissue – adaptations that come from challenging ourselves beyond where we were before.

That could be more reps, more time or just more resistance. Having the rep range to work within is a great way to feel out where you’re at, and gain confidence in choosing the right option for yourself.

Get ready to challenge yourself today, and join Coach Neesha to rock your workout!

If you enjoyed that workout and are looking for a sequenced plan that will make the most of your training time, the Quick Strength and Shred Challenge in Rock Your Life is perfect for you! These 15-20 minute workouts combine fast plyometrics and strength circuits, giving you a balanced training program on a short time budget!

Start this challenge today!

How do you feel after that workout? Check in with Coach Neesha and me and let us know how you liked it!

Check out these progress shots from Bailey, a Rock Your Life member who has had amazing, sustainable results over the past 2 years from having a supportive community, and consistent access to workout classes and challenge programs.

“I have been doing Betty Rockers workouts since July of 2020 . Today I took a progress pic just to see how far I have come! The first pic is from 7/2020 and the updated pic is from 05/2022. 40 lbs down.. several inches lost! This workout program along with eating a healthier lifestyle has truly changed my body and mind! I am currently doing the bikini body challenge and it has kicked my butt! If this momma of 3 can do it, so can you!!” 

Wondering where to get started?

I’ve got a plan for you! In fact, I’ve got so many 30-day challenges you could take one every month of the year and still not do them all! You can find ALL of my amazing 30-day home workout challenges inside Rock Your Life – plus myself and the Team Betty Rocker coaches teach 5 new classes every week in case you want to just workout with us outside of a plan.

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Quick Lower Body Shred appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

We’ll be starting off with a strength-building circuit with extra emphasis on your legs and booty, and finishing with a quick high intensity tabata to get your heart pumping.

This workout is really going to challenge your muscles with compound moves designed to target every area of your body for a complete and balanced workout.

Change happens when we are consistent. One of the best ways I know of to stay consistent is by having a plan to follow.

I recommend following up today’s workout with my 30-day Booty and Abs Challenge– which gives you a full body workout plan with a special emphasis on sculpting and strengthening your butt, legs, and abs!

Ready to get started? Press play and let’s go!

Amazing job with that workout, Rockstar! Now let’s get you a plan!

Check out the 30-Day Abs and Booty Challenge for a home workout program that will sculpt and define your abs, legs and glutes (plus give you a great full body shred), uses minimal equipment and will get you on track to feeling and looking your best!

Be sure to check in today and let me know when you do your workout! Always looking forward to hearing how you’re doing, and any questions you have!

Share this post with a friend who loves working out!

The perfect follow up to this workout is the 30-Day Booty and Abs Challenge!

Define your abs and sculpt your booty and legs with this time-saving 30-day workout plan that can be done at home or in the gym!

Check out Laura’s amazing progress after doing this program for just 30 days!

The 30 Day Booty and Abs Program gives you a full body workout plan and it has a special emphasis on sculpting and toning your butt, legs, and abs! The follow-along workout videos are about 30 minutes long, can be done at home, incorporate minimal equipment (that I’ll show you alternatives to) like an exercise ball, stretchy bands and light dumbbells.

Check out the 30-Day Booty and Abs Challenge right here!

The post Full Body HIIT Strength appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Today I’ve got a quick lower body blast that will build strength and endurance and get you all fired up!

Why do resistance training?

• Resistance training (working your body against a force or load) increases your muscular strength.
• Strengthening your muscle tissue boosts your immune system, increases your fat burning potential, supports your joints, and can even improve your sleep!

Why do plyometrics (explosive cardio)?

• Plyometrics are sometimes called “reactive training” as in how your body reacts to the ground.
• Explosive jumping moves like these in short bursts are a great way to load and strengthen your muscles and support your joint health – plus boost your cardiovascular capacity.

If you happen to be a woman over 40, these 2 types of training are especially beneficial for you in supporting muscle development and fat loss, and they’re great for women of all ages.

PRO TIP: One thing that will help you strengthen your muscle tissue, experience less soreness and feel energized throughout your day is consuming enough protein.

Protein is a key nutrient that supports cognitive function, hormone and enzyme function, your immune system, AND muscle protein synthesis!

When you’re having a busy day, making a quick protein shake with my delicious Chocolate Protein Powder can help ensure you’re getting enough of this important nutrient – alongside your whole food meals.

Now grab some items for resistance – like water bottles, laundry jugs or dumbbells and let’s get right to it!

If you enjoyed that workout and are looking for a sequenced plan that will make the most of your training time, the Quick Strength and Shred Challenge in Rock Your Life is perfect for you!

This power sculpt challenge will work your entire body, giving you balanced strength circuits combined with fast plyometrics. Plus energizing power yoga and restorative yoga to balance it all out! All in just 15-20 minutes a day!

Start your 30 Day Trial today!

How do you feel after that workout? Check in with me and let me know and tell me one way you are taking care of your body today.

Looking for support and a consistent plan to follow? Check out what Rock Your Life, (my home workout studio and women’s fitness community) has to offer! I’m so proud of Cylee for what she’s accomplished as she’s been rocking her fitness journey for the past 2 years!

“I’ve been hanging out on the down low being inspired by you all! These results are a two year journey, but I wanted to share them because I think too often we give up on ourselves because we are not seeing results immediately. At least that’s how I’ve been. Lol Anything WORTH doing takes time! It takes consistency. It takes determination.

Betty Rocker is my favorite so far. I highly recommend her programs and products.
The feature where they Email you your workout every morning is freaking genius! It literally gives me something to look forward to. I love her and all the coaches!” – Cylee B. Rock Your Life member.

One-off workouts are great, but having a PLAN to follow is even better!

Join my online home workout studio and women’s fitness community, Rock Your Life, and get access to 30-day Challenges, a powerful support network unlike any other, new workout classes added every week you can do from the comfort of your own home – and share the journey while we help you reach your goals!

Click Here to get a 30-day Trial to Rock Your Life!

The post Lower Body Power Blast appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Ready to work your entire body today in just 25 minutes? Join Coach Neesha for this awesome total body strength building workout.

Coach Neesha is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and a Team Betty Rocker Coach.

We’ll be starting off with full body strength-building circuit, and finishing with a quick tabata (high intensity cardio in just 4 minutes).

Your workout doesn’t have to be an hour long or any set amount of time, to be effective. I’m all about the “all or something” approach and remembering that it’s okay to go at your own pace without pressuring yourself to get it all done at a certain time or in a certain way.

This workout is a great one to do from home or in the gym with simple equipment like dumbbells, or you could use any weighted objects you have around the house like water jugs, laundry jugs or anything you can easily hold onto.

Check out tons of more fun workout classes in the class library in Rock Your Life, plus start your next workout plan! We’ve got dozens of challenges, great support and everything you need to get on track and stay there! Grab a trial right here!

Now join Coach Neesha and let’s get right to it!

If you enjoyed that workout and are looking for a sequenced plan that will make the most of your training time, the Quick Strength and Shred Challenge in Rock Your Life is perfect for you!

This power sculpt challenge will work your entire body, giving you balanced strength circuits combined with fast plyometrics. Plus energizing power yoga and restorative yoga to balance it all out! All in just 15-20 minutes a day!

Start your 30 Day Trial today!

Be sure to check in today and let me and Coach Neesha know when you do your workout. Always looking forward to hearing how you’re doing, and any questions you have!

Share this post with a friend who loves working out!

Check out these progress shots from Bailey, a Rock Your Life member who has had amazing, sustainable results over the past 2 years from having a supportive community, and consistent access to workout classes and challenge programs.

“I have been doing Betty Rockers workouts since July of 2020 . Today I took a progress pic just to see how far I have come! The first pic is from 7/2020 and the updated pic is from 05/2022. 40 lbs down.. several inches lost! This workout program along with eating a healthier lifestyle has truly changed my body and mind! I am currently doing the bikini body challenge and it has kicked my butt! If this momma of 3 can do it, so can you!!” 

Take YOUR fitness to the next level – without having to leave your house!

Grab a 30-day Trial to Rock Your Life and get access to….

• Dozens of 30-day Challenge plans, complete with interactive calendars and daily email push to keep you on track – you can take a new challenge every month if you like, or go at your own pace and take as long as you like to do any challenge!
• 5 new workout classes a week that you can do from home for variety and fun! Drop in on your schedule – they’re all loaded right into your workout library to use anytime in case you’re not taking a challenge or just want to swap a workout around.
• Choose any workout from the Class Library by body part you want to train, how much time you have and workout style – with over 1300 classes you’ll never be short of motivation to get your workout in!
• Support from me and the Team Betty Rocker coaches, plus the other amazing women in our community in our private support group so you can check in and share the journey, make new friends, and get your questions answered!

The post Total Body Power Sculpt appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Today we’re working on strong, sculpted legs! This 20-minute power workout will build strength and endurance and really bring the burn!

This workout is actually Day 1 of the Quick Strength and Shred Challenge which I just released in Rock Your Life, my online home workout studio and women’s fitness community. (You can grab a 30-day trial right here!)

We’ll be starting off with strength-building moves that will target your legs and glutes and finishing up with a quick tabata to get your heart rate up and trigger fat loss.

I encourage you to take these moves at your own pace, focusing on proper alignment and engagement to get the most out of every bit of this quick and sweaty workout.

Now grab some items for resistance – like water bottles, laundry jugs or dumbbells and let’s get right into this quick workout!

If you enjoyed that workout and are looking for a sequenced plan that will make the most of your training time, the Quick Strength and Shred Challenge in Rock Your Life is perfect for you!

This power sculpt challenge will work your entire body, giving you balanced strength circuits combined with fast plyometrics. Plus energizing power yoga and restorative yoga to balance it all out! All in just 15-20 minutes a day!

Start your 30 Day Trial today!

You rocked that workout, I’m so proud of you! Check in with me and let me know how you are taking care of your body today.

Krystal was so glad she joined us in Rock Your Life – especially when she looked back over her progress over 6 challenges and saw she had lost 30 pounds and gained a group of friends along the way with the resources and support she found in Rock Your Life.

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life where you’ll have access to:

• Dozens of 30 day Challenge programs that you can start, stop, and re-use as many times as you like! Choose to get daily emails to support you on your journey!
• Over 1200 home workout classes to choose from by length of time, type of workout, body part trained and more so you can stop, drop and Betty Rock anytime, anywhere!
• Over 300 healthy, delicious Betty Rocker recipes!
• Our private women’s fitness community where you can make new friends, and get support from me and the Team Betty Rocker coaches as you check in for your workouts!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post 20-Minute Lower Body Power Sculpt appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

This powerful tabata zone workout will give you an awesome head to toe strength and burn session!

Tabatas are an incredibly effective and efficient way to workout! They offer us the maximum benefits in the shortest amount of time (1), which is great!

Tabatas are a type of HIIT – high intensity interval training- where we pair 0:20 of maximum effort with 0:10 rest periods which you repeat for a total of 4 minutes. The key to getting the most out of this is to really give it YOUR ALL (2)!

In today’s workout I’m going to stack 3 tabata sets together to keep you sweating, strengthening – and guessing – as we add new moves with each body zone.

When you feel like you can’t keep going during those cardio intervals, remember that it’s only 20 seconds. Push through, and the core section will feel like a breeze!

For this workout, I suggest you have something elevated nearby like a chair, box or stair as well as some weighted objects to use for resistance. I’m also wearing this super cute, adjustable weighted vest by Hyperwear (available in black or grey) that I love for adding an additional challenge to my workouts – TOTALLY OPTIONAL.

Grab a water bottle and meet me on the mat!

One-off workouts are great, but having a plan to follow is even better! Check out Home Workout Domination for a total home workout program that uses minimal equipment and will get you on track to feeling and looking your best!

Tabata Zones with Bonus Core

Click to expand and see all workout move descriptions.

Equipment: Weighted Objects (water bottles, dumbbells, etc), Optional Elevated Surface
Format: Perform move 1 for 0:20 seconds, rest for 0:10 seconds and then repeat for move 2. Repeat moves 1 and 2 back to back for 4 rounds total. 

Upper Body Zone Tabata

Move 1: Squat Thrust

• Begin standing with your core engaged and chest up tall.
• Bend your knees and place your hands on the floor in front of you.
• Step or jump your feet back to a tall plank, keeping your core tight and back flat, gaze about 6 inches in front of you for a neutral spine.
• Jump or step your feet back into your hands and come back to standing, loading your weight in your heels and using your momentum to power you up into a jump.
• MOD: Perform this movement with your hands on an inclined surface, like a chair, couch or ottoman. You can also take the impact out entirely by stepping back and forth rather than jumping, and coming up to a body squat rather than a jump.

Move 2: Renegade Rows

• Begin in a tall plank position with your core engaged, back flat, and shoulders stacked over your hands holding weighted objects.
• Keeping your hips square to the ground and core engaged, perform a row with your right arm by pulling your elbow straight back along your body and squeezing the base of your shoulder blade. 
• Slowly return your right arm back to the ground and repeat with your left arm.
• MOD: Do this move on an elevated surface by placing your hand on the edge of a couch or table, from a kneeling position, or remove the weights completely.

Lower Body Zone Tabata

Move 1: Skaters

• Begin standing with your core engaged and chest upright.
• Step your right foot back behind you and over to the left as your left knee bends. Your right knee will line up behind your left heel.
• In your lunge position, ensure that your chest remains upright and your left knee does not rotate or press out over your left foot to maintain stability.
• Power off your front heel to laterally hop to the other side and repeat the curtsy on the other leg. Alternate back and forth.
• MOD: Take the jump out of the move and do low impact alternating curtsy lunges or reverse lunges.
• Optional: Increase the intensity of this move by holding a light weighted objects in each hand.

Move 2: Modified Kettlebell Swings

• Begin standing with your core engaged, shoulder blades pulled back and down and your weighted object in your hands.
• Shift your hips back as you slightly bend your knees to load your weight in your hamstrings while keeping your chest up tall. 
• Drive your hips forward with power as you let your arms and weighted object float up toward the ceiling to end with your arms overhead or at eye level (be sure your rib cage is still pulled down and you’re not arching your back at the top). The power should come from your lower body rather than you muscling the weight up).
• Control the weight back down and you shift your hips back and repeat.
• MOD: Perform this move without any weight or perform Romanian Deadlifts as you increase your posterior chain strength. 

Core and Back Zone Circuit

Format: Perform each move for the prescribed repetitions and repeat for 2 rounds. 

Move 1: Cross Body Sit Ups (12 each side)

• Begin lying on your back with your knees bent and your core gently pressing into the mat to activate blueberry spine.
• Bring your right hand behind your head and cross your left ankle over your right knee.
• Lift your chest off the mat (without tucking your chin to your chest or pulling on your neck) and reach your right elbow across your body to crunch toward your left knee.
• Slowly lower yourself back down and repeat.
• Complete all reps on one side and then switch sides. 
• Optional: For additional core work, keep one leg bent and extend the other (rather than crossing it across the knee) and as you lift  your chest, bring the extended leg in toward your upper body and then extend back out. 

Move 2: Cactus Arms Extensions (10-12)

• Come down to your mat, back is flat to the ground pressing your low back into the floor, core engaged with your knees bent.
• Bring your arms to an upright 90 degree angle position, pressing your shoulders and elbows into the floor.
• Slide your arms as far upward as you can while maintaining elbow and shoulder contact with the ground.
• Optional: Drive through your heels to lift your hips off the ground as you move through cactus arms to add additional posterior activation. 

Move 3: Toe Reaches (10-15)

• Begin lying on your back with your feet together and legs straight up in the air and your core gently pressing into the mat to activate blueberry spine. 
• Lift your shoulders off the ground by pulling your chest up (without tucking your chin to your chest) to reach toward your toes. 
• Slowly lower yourself back down and repeat.
• MOD: Bend your knees instead of keeping them straight and reach toward the ceiling. 

Move 4: Swimmers (20)

• Lie on your stomach with your arms and legs extended and reaching toward the walls in front of and behind  you.
• Lift your right arm and left leg up at the same time and then alternate with your left arm and right leg and repeat back and forth.
• Keep a slight contraction in your lower back as you “swim” and keep your gaze neutral so your neck isn’t straining or hyperextending.
• MOD: Place your fingertips on the floor to support your upper body and isolate just the legs.

Great job Rockstar! Don’t let anything stop you from taking care of your body in whatever way is right for you today!

Ready for more? I’ve got you covered!

The Home Workout Domination program is perfect if you’re looking for a time-saving resistance training plan to do at home, at the gym, or on the road – it will torch body fat, and tighten and strengthen your legs, glutes, abs, and arms – total body domination!

Check out Home Workout Domination right here!

The post Tabata Zones with Bonus Core appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Get ready for a powerful, time-saving workout for your entire body!

Coach Nikki from Team Betty Rocker came up with this super fun sequence of strength building moves in a time sequence known as “tabatas.”

The coaches and I all love tabatas because you get to go hard for a short interval (just 0:20) with an even shorter rest (0:10) and repeat this nonstop for four minutes. This is a great way to really fatigue the muscles in a short amount of time, and get a great workout.

Nikki has created a series of these 4-minute tabatas for you today, and I know you’re going to have a great time.

Coach Nikki is a yoga instructor ERYT200, an AFAA Certified Personal Trainer, a Mat Pilates Instructor and a Team Betty Rocker Coach who teaches barre, yoga, pilates and strength training in ROCK YOUR LIFE – our online home workout studio and women’s fitness community!

Keep reading to find out more about the workout she has in store for you and why she loves it!

Hey Rockstar, Coach Nikki here! I really love body sculpting, strength training and tabatas. So today, I’m bringing you all three! I designed this workout to give you an opportunity to focus on full body strength using the short intervals and brief rest periods that tabatas are known for.

For today’s workout you can use a set of weighted objects like dumbbells or water bottles – or stick with your own bodyweight. If you choose to add extra resistance, I suggest challenging yourself with some heavier weights today since the moves are short and focused – but be sure to check out the moves in advance and choose the right amount of weight for yourself prior to beginning.

Choosing the right weight for yourself means that you can perform the move with good form, complete all the reps in the set while feeling fatigue at the end, and feel an increase in your heart rate. You should still be able to talk, but not sing – that’s a good way to tell if you’re in the “zone” that’s pushing you.

I hope you enjoy it!

Great job Rockstar! Now let’s get you a plan! Check out the 30-Day Abs and Booty Challenge for a home workout program that will sculpt and define your abs, legs and glutes (plus give you a great full body shred), uses minimal equipment and will get you on track to feeling and looking your best!

Full Body Tabata Strength and Sculpt

Click to expand and see all workout move descriptions.

Equipment: Optional Weighted Objects (water bottles, dumbbells, etc) & Optional Elevated Surface

Format: Perform move 1 for 0:20 seconds, rest for 0:10 seconds and then repeat for move 2. Repeat moves 1 and 2 back to back for 4 rounds total.  Rest as needed between each set of Tabatas.

Tabata One

Move 1: Alternating Reverse Lunge

• Begin standing with your core engaged and chest upright.
• Step your right foot back behind you and begin bending your back knee until it nearly touches the ground in a 90 degree angle.
• As you stand up, power through your front heel and bring your back foot to meet your front foot as you come to standing.
• Repeat with your left leg and alternate back and forth (ensure your knee is not shooting out over your toe and maintain an upright chest). 
• MOD: Hold on to a chair or wall to help stabilize.

Move 2: Static 1/2 Lunge Pulse

• Begin in a lunge position with your right foot forward, left foot back about 3 feet with your chest up tall, core engaged and weight in your front heel.
• Bend both knees as you lower yourself towards the floor while keeping the front knee behind the toes and be sure to lower straight down rather than forward.
• Lower down until your back knee nearly touches the ground in a 90 degree angle and the power through the front heel to come back to standing and repeat. 
• MOD: Hold on to a chair or wall to help stabilize.

Tabata Two

Move 1: Plank Hold

• Begin in a low plank position with your elbows on the ground, shoulders stacked over your hands and your core engaged. 
• Press your lower back slightly up toward the ceiling and hold for the allotted time.
• MOD: Perform this move from your elbows and knees or on an elevated surface.

Move 2: Reclining Ab Crunch with Side Reach

• Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the ground and lower back pressed gently into the mat.
• Use your abdominals to sit yourself up slightly and reach both arms over to the right of your legs.
• Lower yourself back down with control until you are back in your starting position and repeat on the same side. Switch sides every other round.

Tabata Three

Move 1: Kneeling Squat to Overhead Press

• Stand with your feet wider than hip distance, toes turned out slightly (sumo stance) and core engaged.
• Shoot your hips back behind you for a squat, keeping your chest up tall weight back in your heels, and knees tracking your toes.
• In the bottom of the squat, brace your core and step one foot back like you’re coming down into a lunge.
• Bring your knee to touch the ground and then return your back leg to your squat position and stand. 
• As you stand, bring your arms overhead while maintaining an engaged core (ensure you’re not arching in your low back).
• MOD: Perform full body extensions by squatting down (or to a chair) and bringing your arms overhead as you stand. 

Move 2: Bodyweight 1/2 Squat Pulse

• Stand with your feet wider than hip distance, toes turned out slightly (sumo stance) and core engaged.
• Shoot your hips back behind you for a squat, keeping your chest up tall weight back in your heels, and knees tracking your toes.
• In the bottom of the squat, drive through your heels to lift your body up 2-3 inches for a pulse and back down. 

Tabata Four 

Move 1: Hinged Supine Row

• Hinge forward at the waist to be at 45 degrees with your core engaged, chest up, shoulders rolled back and down, and your weights in your hands and hanging beneath your chest with your palms facing in front of you.
• Pull the weights to your sides while keeping your elbows close to the body, and squeezing your back muscles like you’re pinching the base of your shoulder blades together.
• Slowly lower the weights back down to your starting position and repeat.

Move 2: Triceps Push Up to Alternating Side Plank

• Begin in a tall plank position with your core engaged, wrist slightly inside shoulder width and chest right over top of your hands. 
• Lower yourself toward the mat keeping your shoulders away from your ears and your elbows in tight to your body and pointing back behind you. Keep your gaze about 6 inches in front of you rather than looking up or down, to maintain a neutral spine.
• Keeping your core tight and elbows in the same position, powerfully press back up and away from the floor to return to your starting position.
• Rotate to one side, bringing one arm up to the sky and your legs extended out.
• Rotate back to a tall plank to perform and push up and then rotate to the other side as you did previously. 
• MOD: Perform this move from an elevated surface or from a kneeling position.

FINISHER:

1:00 Squat Thrust with Knee Tuck

• Begin standing with your core engaged and chest up tall.
• Bend your knees and place your hands on the floor  in front of you.
• Step or jump your feet back to a tall plank, keeping your core tight and back flat, gaze about 6 inches in front of you for a neutral spine.
• Jump or step your feet back to your hands for a knee tuck, back out to a tall plank and then back in to come to standing, loading your weight in your heels and using your momentum to power you up into a jump.
• MOD: Perform this movement with your hands on an inclined surface, like a chair, couch or ottoman. You can also take the impact out entirely by stepping back and forth rather than jumping, and coming up to a body squat rather than a jump.

Way to show up for yourself today Rockstar! Comment below if you have any questions or to check in with Coach Nikki and me when you finish today’s workout.

Did you enjoy this workout? Then you will love the 30-day Booty and Abs Challenge! It will give you a complete program to work your entire body (so you won’t need more workouts than what’s in the program) with a SPECIAL EMPHASIS on sculpting your butt, legs and abs.

Get the 30-day Booty and Abs Challenge RIGHT HERE 

This is one of my most popular 30-day Challenges! Check out all the details right here!

The post Full Body Tabata Strength and Sculpt appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Ready to move your body, get sweaty, and feel super shredded? Look no further than this awesome body zones tabata workout!

Tabatas are a form of high-intensity training that involves 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. The trick to getting the most out of this is to really give it your all in that 0:20.

This workout takes the traditional tabata format up a notch by stringing together four tabata sets to create an endurance-tabata style workout focusing on each body zone: upper, lower and core – making this the perfect remedy for jam-packed days.

Plus you’ll get your heart rate up by combining strength and resistance training in one workout – my favorite way to train!

It’s fun, it’s effective and it will leave you feeling strong, toned and fit! Let’s go!  

Doing one-off workouts like this is great, but following a plan is better! Join us in Rock Your Life for the Rockin Body Challenge and have a plan to follow for the next 30 days and beyond. Grab a 30 day trial today and start rocking your challenge from absolutely anywhere!  

Body Zones Tabatas

Click to expand and see all workout move descriptions.

Equipment: Elevated Surface, Weighted Objects
Format: Perform move 1 for 0:20 seconds, rest for 0:10 seconds and then repeat for move 2. Repeat moves 1 and 2 back to back for 4 rounds total.  

Lower Body Zone

Move 1: Alternating Reverse Curtsy to Kick

• Begin standing with your core engaged and chest upright.
• Step your right foot back behind you and begin bending your knees until your back knee until it nearly touches the ground in a 90 degree angle (ensure your knee is not shooting out over your toe and maintain an upright chest). 
• As you stand up, power through your front heel and as you bring your back foot forward, powerfully kick it in front of you.
• Repeat with your left leg and alternate back and forth. 
• MOD: Hold on to a chair or wall to help stabilize. 

Move 2:  Bulgarian Split Squats

• Begin standing with your chest up tall in a lunge position with your back foot on an elevated surface. 
• Slowly lower yourself down by bending your knees to the depth that is comfortable for you (ensure that your front knee isn’t buckling in or bowing out).
• As you stand up, power through your front heel and come to standing. 
• Repeat all repetitions on one leg and then repeat on the other.
• MOD: Hold on to an object in front of you or wall to help stabilize. 

For wholesome supplements to support your active lifestyle, check out the Whole Betty by Betty Rocker collection!

 

Upper Body Zone

Move 1: Elevated Push Up Claps

• Begin in a tall plank position with your hands on an elevated surface and stacked below your shoulders with your core engaged.
• Lower yourself toward the elevated surface by bending your elbows, keeping your shoulders away from your ears and your elbows shooting back behind you. Keep your gaze about 6 inches in front of you rather than looking up or down, to maintain a neutral spine.
• Keeping your core engaged and your shoulders away from your ears, powerfully press back up and away from the elevated surface and as you come up, explode off the surface to clap your hands together and return to your starting position.
• MOD: Perform the push up in a kneeling, or single knee down position or take the clap out and just work on traditional pushups.
• Check out my Push-up Progression Tutorial for tips on perfecting form and building strength!

Move 2: Superwoman Lifts to Trap Activators

• Lie on your stomach with your arms and legs extended.
• Lift your legs and arms off the mat together, using your lower back and glute strength.
• As you lift your body off the mat, draw your elbows back towards your ribcage, focusing on the squeeze between your shoulder blades.
• Re-extend your arms, and lower both arms and legs back to the starting position.
• MOD: Begin by isolating your upper body only, leaving your legs on the mat for stability. Perform several upper body isolated lifts. Then perform several lower body isolated lifts. Work on isolated upper and lower body lifts until you feel comfortable putting them together.

Core Zone

Move 1: Heismans

• Begin standing with your core engaged and drive your right knee out to your side as you bring your right elbow to meet it, performing a side crunch. 
• Return to standing and repeat on the other side.
• Try to keep the knees driving up high, and a fast pace alternating back and forth. 
• MOD: Take the run out of it to lower the impact and alternate driving your knees to your elbows focusing on the crunch portion of this move. 

Move 2: Knee Tucks 

• Begin in a tall plank position with your hands on the floor or elevated surface and your shoulders stacked over your wrists with your core engaged.
• Brace your core and jump your feet to bring your knees in toward your chest and then jump them back out to your starting position. 
• MOD: Hold a plank position to work on core strength. 

Bonus Zone

Move 1: Jab, Cross, Crescent Kick

• Come into a fighter stance with your left foot slightly in front of your right, and get light on your feet.
• Punch your left arm to the left for a jab, then punch your right arm across your body to the left for the cross, and then with your back leg (right), kick your foot in front and across your body as high as you’re comfortable with for a crescent kick (almost draw a circle with your foot.
• Perform all reps on one side and then switch sides. 
• MOD: Draw a crescent with your knee rather than a full kick. This is a great way to see how tight your hips are, and if one is tighter than the other.

Move 2: Zone Burpee

• Start in a standing position with your feet wider than hip distance apart.
• Bend your knees and plant your hands on the floor or mat in front of you (hands stacked directly below shoulders) and jump or step your feet back into a tall plank position, holding your belly button in to keep your core engaged.
• Bring your right knee toward your left shoulder, then your left knee to your right shoulder in a cross-body mountain climber motion.
• Jump or step your feet back in to meet your hands, loading the weight in your heels and stand.
• Once standing again, drive your right knee across your body and your left elbow to meet it and repeat on the other side. 
• MOD: Perform this from an elevated surface or step your feet in rather than jumping.

You are amazing! I know it’s easy to wake up and criticize the things that we don’t like about ourselves but I want you to use this workout as a reminder of how amazing your body is and all that it does for you. Celebrate yourself rockstar – it’s a privilege to move your body!

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Body Zones Tabatas appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

I have a super fun workout for you today that combines some awesome full body moves in a tabata format for a fast, efficient workout!

This format will keep you sweating, strengthening – and guessing – as we add new moves with each tabata.

Having fast, convenient workouts you can do even on really busy days is the key to being consistent.

Plus it’s the perfect way to boost your energy, increase your strength and keep your cardio system going strong.

We got this – move your body to feel better, get stronger and live longer! Let’s go!

Full Body Tabatas

Click to expand and see all workout move descriptions.

Format: Perform move 1 for 0:20 seconds, rest for 0:10 seconds and then repeat for move 2. Repeat moves 1 and 2 back to back for 4 rounds total.

Tabata 1:

Optional squat in rest period

Move 1: Jack Out High Jump

• Begin standing with your feet together and arms down by your sides. 
• Jump your feet out wide as you lift your arms out to the side for a jumping jack.
• Jump your feet back together and as you come back to center, squat down and just straight up for a high jump squat, reaching your arms straight overhead.
• Repeat the jack and squat jump back and forth. 
• MOD: Take out the jump and simply step your feet out one at a time while punching your arms out in front of you. 

Move 2: Alternating Side Kicks

• Begin with your feet planted and your core engaged.
• Lean slightly to the left and with a tight core and powerfully kick your right foot out to the side. 
• Return to  center and repeat on the right side. 
• MOD: Hold onto a chair back or stationary object to assist with balance.

Tabata 2: 

Optional body squat in the rest period

Move 1: Side to Side Lunge Touch with Jump in the Center

• Begin with your feet wide in a wide squat position and toes pointed out slightly, keeping your core engaged and torso lifted. 
• Shoot your hips back and bend your knees like you’re sitting down to a chair and be sure your knees are tracking your toes so as to not buckle in. (Be careful not to drop your chest, instead, shoot your hips back and only go as deep as you can go without losing good form.)
• As you return to standing, pivot to the right so you end in a lunge position and begin bending your back knee until it nearly touches the ground in a 90 degree angle.
• Return to standing by driving through your front heel and as you stand, return to your wide squat position and then repeat on the left side. 
• Repeat your squat, lunge, squat, lunge pattern for the prescribed time. 
• Optional: Add a jump in the center when you come out of your lunge and into the center squat.

Move 2: Push Ups (or incline push ups with clap)

• Begin in a tall plank position, with your hands stacked below your shoulders and your core engaged.
• Lower yourself toward the mat by bending your elbows, keeping your shoulders away from your ears and your elbows shooting back behind you. Keep your gaze about 6 inches in front of you rather than looking up or down, to maintain a neutral spine.
• Keeping your core engaged and your shoulders away from your ears, powerfully press back up and away from the floor to return to your starting position.
• MOD: Perform the push up with your hands on the side of your couch or other elevated surface. Alternatively, remain on the mat, but in a kneeling, or single knee down position.
• Check out my Push-up Progression Tutorial for tips on perfecting form and building strength!

Tabata 3: 

Optional full body extensions in the rest period

Move 1: The Charlston

• Begin standing with your core engaged and chest upright.
• Step your left foot back behind you and begin bending your back knee until it nearly touches the ground in a 90 degree angle.
• As you stand up, power through your front heel and bring your back foot forward to step slightly in front of your front foot. 
• Holding your weight on your left (front) foot, powerfully kick your right foot forward and return your right foot slightly behind your left and repeat from the left foot reverse lunge.
• Repeat on one side for the allotted time and switch legs each round. 
• MOD: Hold on to a chair or wall to help stabilize.

Move 2: Cross Body Mountain Climbers

• Begin in a tall plank position with your shoulders stacked over your hands, core engaged, and back flat.
• Keeping your hips down, quickly run each knee in and across your body to the opposite elbow and then back out, one at a time for the prescribed time. 
• MOD: Do this move on an elevated surface by placing your hand on the edge of a couch or table. 

Tabata 4:

Optional plank hold in rest period

Move 1: Sit Up Cross Punches

• Begin lying on your back with your knees bent, feet on the ground and lower back pressed gently into the mat.
• Use your abdominals to sit yourself up and powerfully punch your arms one at a time across your body. 
• Lower yourself back down with control until you are back in your starting position and repeat. 

Move 2: Superwoman to Trap Activator

• Begin lying on your stomach with your arms and legs extended.
• Lift your legs and arms off the mat together, using your lower back and glute strength.
• As you lift your body off the mat, draw your elbows back towards your ribcage, focusing on the squeeze between your shoulder blades.
• Re-extend your arms, and lower both arms and legs back to the starting position.
• MOD: Begin by isolating your upper body only, leaving your legs on the mat for stability. Perform several upper body isolated lifts. Then perform several lower body isolated lifts. Work on isolated upper and lower body lifts until you feel comfortable putting them together.

Amazing job! You did so great with that workout.

Comment below and let me know what the hardest move was for you and how you liked the workout! I love hearing from you.

Love working out anywhere, anytime – no equipment needed?

For my most effective bodyweight shred program, check out the 90 Day Challenge!

In 15 minute workout sessions, you will get stronger, leaner and build endurance as you progressively increase your strength!

The post Full Body Tabatas appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Ready to get SWEATY and STRONG? Join me for this full body tabata shredder workout! If you’ve never done Tabatas before, they are a fast, fun and efficient way to get an amazing workout.

Tabatas are a special 4-minute workout format (a type of HIIT  – high intensity interval training) where we pair 0:20 of maximum effort with 0:10 rest periods. The trick to getting the most out of this is to really give it your all in that 0:20.

Today’s workout is a mix of strength and cardio moves so you can hit both elements of a strong, sculpted body all at once.

As always, I’ll talk you through form tips and modifications so you can get stronger safely. Grab a couple of weighted objects (water bottles, wine bottles or dumbells) and let’s check off your workout for the day!

One-off workouts are great, but having a plan to follow is even better! Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

Total Tabata Shredder

Click to expand and see all workout move descriptions.

Equipment: Weighted Objects.

Format: Perform move 1 for 0:20 seconds, rest for 0:10 seconds and then repeat for move 2. Repeat moves 1 and 2 for 4 rounds total.

Tabata 1:

Move 1: Alternating Reverse Curtsy to Kick

• Begin standing with your core engaged and chest upright.
• Step your right foot back behind you and over to the left as your left knee bends. Your right knee will line up behind your left heel.
• In your lunge position, ensure that your chest remains upright and your left knee does not rotate or press out over your left foot to maintain stability.
• Power through your front heel and as you come back to standing, kick your foot out and to your side.
• Repeat on the other side and alternate back and forth from right to left. 
• MOD: Hold on to a chair or wall to help stabilize yourself or perform reverse lunges, where rather than your knee coming behind your front heel at an angle, you step straight back.

Move 2: Split Squat Jumps

• Begin in a forward lunge position with your knees bent, chest upright and core engaged.
• With your weight in your front foot and your knees tracking your toes, jump up and switch your front and back legs, landing lightly back in your lunge position. 
• MOD: Perform alternating reverse lunges to make this low impact or hold onto the wall or back of a chair for help with balance. 

Tabata 2:

Move 1: Elevated Push Up Claps

• Begin in a tall plank with your hands stacked below your shoulders and your core engaged. 
• Lower yourself toward the mat by bending your elbows, keeping your shoulders away from your ears and your elbows shooting back behind you. Keep your gaze about 6 inches in front of you rather than looking up or down, to maintain a neutral spine.
• Keeping your core engaged and your shoulders away from your ears, powerfully press back up and away from the floor or elevated surface to clap your hands at the top. Land back with soft wrists and elbows as you come back to your tall plank position. 
• MOD: Perform the push up with your hands on the side of your couch or other elevated surface. Alternatively, remain on the mat, but in a kneeling, or single knee down position.
• Check out my Push-up Progression Tutorial for tips on perfecting form and building strength. 

Move 2: Reverse Flye to Kickback

• Hinge forward at the waist to be at 45 degrees, gaze neutral, with your shoulders down and back so they’re not rounding forward and allow your weights to hang beneath your chest.
• Lift both arms out to the side, maintaining a slight bend in the elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Slowly bring the weights back beneath your chest.
• Pull the weights to your sides for a row, keeping your elbows close to the body and squeezing your back muscles like you’re pinching the base of your shoulder blades together.
• While in this row position perform a tricep kickback by kicking your arms straight back.
• Slowly lower the weights down again to the starting position and repeat the fly and kickback combination. 

Tabata 3:

Move 1: Crescent Kicks

• Come into a fighter stance with your left foot slightly in front of your right, and get light on your feet.
• With your back leg, kick your foot in front and across your body as high as you’re comfortable with for a crescent kick.
• Switch your stance after each crescent kick so you alternate your kicking foot.
• MOD: Draw a crescent with your knee rather than a full kick. This is a great way to see how tight your hips are, and if one is tighter than the other.

Move 2: Plank Jack to Tuck

• Begin in a tall plank position with your core engaged, shoulders stacked over your hands and your lower back slightly up toward the ceiling.
• Jump your feet out wide for a jack and then back together.
• Next, keeping your hips down, jump both feet in toward your chest and then back out and repeat these two movements back to back for the allotted time. 
• MOD: Perform this from an elevated surface or step your feet out and in rather than jumping. 

Tabata 4:

Move 1: Squat Biceps Curl to Press

• Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip width distance apart, holding weighted objects in your hands with your palms facing you. 
• With your core engaged and your shoulder blades pulled back and down, shoot your booty back behind you as though you were going to sit on a chair – keeping the weight in your heels and chest up.
• As you squat down, perform a bicep curl with both arms by curling the weight up to your shoulder and contracting your biceps (palms facing you).
• Power through your heels to come back up to standing and as you stand, press the weights up over your head, maintaining a strong core so as to not arch your back.

Move 2: Warrior Burpee

• Start in a standing position with your feet wider than hip distance apart.
• Bend your knees and plant your hands on the floor or mat in front of you (hands stacked directly below shoulders) and jump or step your feet back into a tall plank position, holding your belly button in to keep your core engaged.
• Bring your right knee toward your left shoulder, then your left knee to your right shoulder in a cross-body mountain climber motion.
• Jump or step your feet back in to meet your hands, loading the weight in your heels and stand.
• Bring each foot up and across your body and touch your toe with the opposite hand. 
• MOD: Perform this from an elevated surface or step your feet in rather than jumping.

Thank you so much for joining me for today’s workout Rockstar – you are amazing!! Be sure to check in below and let me know how you liked the workout and where you did it from.

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Total Tabata Shredder appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Welcome to The Betty Rocker Show, the place to be to nourish your mind, love your body, and rock your life.

My guest today, Cynthia Garcia, is a celebrity nutritionist, life coach, bestselling author of The Hungry Hottie Cookbook, and you may have seen her on Khloe Kardashian’s Revenge Body, where she serves as the official nutritionist for the show, or on Dr. Phil, The View, The Doctors, or Dr. Oz, to name a few.

Cynthia is the founder of the Institute for Transformational Nutrition, a modern day coaching school for forward-thinking coaches and the creator of the transformational trauma technique, a technique that she developed to overcome the trauma in her own past and to help her clients overcome it in theirs. This powerful technique has been used successfully for over a decade all over the globe and is taught exclusively at the Institute for Transformational Nutrition.

Cynthia didn’t start out with much in her corner to help her become who she is today, which is part of why it’s so empowering seeing the amazing success that she is. And when I say success, I mean she is a thriving, fulfilled woman. She is happily married, is a devoted mother and she takes the best care of herself. She contributes to many important conversations in the world, and she runs an amazing business that impacts many and fulfills her life purpose.

In today’s episode, we dive into how to identify your story and transform your pain into a powerful force that can help you change your life, improve your relationships and expand your career.

Something I find really powerful in transforming pain and trauma into a powerful force for good in our lives is the impact that telling our stories has, and not just the stories we have to tell, but the way we tell them.

If you’re looking for inspiration and motivation or if you’ve ever felt like life was just too big to carry, that you could never change or get away from the past, or that the decks were stacked against you, today’s episode is for you.

From her site: “ Cynthia Garcia is a female founder, life coach, best-selling author, media personality, celebrity nutritionist, and mental health advocate. She overcame an insanely dysfunctional childhood filled with abuse, crime, addiction, and poverty. Today, she inspires others to rewrite their stories by showing what was possible when she rewrote her own.

I believe that to change your life, you can just tell a different story and every girl can make up a new story. I also know that if we could share this message and have it trickle it down to the next generation, we could empower women in the bigger, bolder way they deserve – all by simply telling a new story.” 

In this episode you’ll discover:

Cynthia’s Story (4:22)

• Growing up with abuse and domestic violence
• How she made the conscious decision to change her life
• Her life in Los Angeles
• Getting sick and hitting rock bottom
• The importance of how you view your story

Cynthia’s journey from victim to an empowered woman (11:25)

• The importance of progress over perfection
• Why it took her time to tell her story
• How trauma and pain manifested in her body
• Her decision to end her life
• The overwhelming anger she experienced
• The “deal” she made to save her life
• What Cynthia focused on first in her “new life”
• The importance of integrity and grit

How to heal yourself and feel empowered (25:14)

• The three basic needs for healing
• How your physical body plays a role
• Betty Rocker’s three A’s of communication
• The importance of connection
• How feeling that you matter drives you
• Redefining nutrition
• The Institute of Transformational Nutrition
• The three components of Transformational Nutrition
• The importance of “feeding” yourself everyday
• The importance of mental health

How Cynthia created the Institute for Transformational Nutrition (35:10)

• Jenny’s story
• Using food as love or comfort
• Why it’s not really about the food
• Cynthia’s personal struggle with food

How to figure out your deeper why and change your habits (40:08)

• Why you “fall off the wagon.”
• The importance of your stuck story
• The different layers of your stuck story
• How to peel back the 6 layers of your story
• The importance of finding your bigger why
• Why there is no such thing as a “fast fix”

How your story impacts your life (48:11)

• Cynthia’s “stuck story”
• How she carried her story with her throughout her life
• The importance of doing the work to heal
• The importance of lifting others in their stories
• The importance of seeking out resources

The importance of community in healing (53:51)

• How the people around you impact your story
• The importance of a supportive community
• How the people in your life can keep you accountable
• Looking for the gold

Today’s podcast is brought to you by ROCK YOUR LIFE! My online home workout studio, where you can take as many 30-day challenges as you like for consistent, sustainable progress! For added variety, we offer 5 new classes each week, healthy recipes, a private women’s only support community and MORE!
New members can get a 30-day Trial RIGHT HERE!

The 5 stories we tell ourselves that keep us stuck (55:29)

• The 5 story archetypes
• The importance of rewriting your story
• How our strengths can come from our weaknesses
• How your archetype shapes your reality
• Discover your stuck story assessment

How to become an Institute for Transformational Nutrition Coach (1:08)

• What you can expect in the program
• Career options
• Become a coach

How to connect with Cynthia (1:12)

• Instagram: @iamcynthiagarcia
• The Institute for Transformational Nutrition
• Cynthia’s Website

Coming up next week, I’m excited to introduce you to Kine Corder, a nationally certified counselor and clinical hypnotherapist.

She’s the CEO of Presidential Lifestyle, a wellness company focused on wealth in all of its forms. We’re going to get into some conversations around the American dream and some paradigm shifts that I know you’re going to find fascinating and insightful. Can’t wait to see you there!

Love The Betty Rocker Show? We do too! Share it with your friends, and subscribe on your favorite podcast player to be alerted when new shows drop!

Love The Betty Rocker Show? We do too!

Share it with your friends, and subscribe on your favorite podcast
player to be alerted when new shows drop!

ABOUT THE BETTY ROCKER SHOW:

Join me for open and thought provoking discussions about health, fitness, and how to stop undermining ourselves – and start taking meaningful action that makes us role models to others…

….and, listen in on my intimate conversations with amazing thought leaders, health care professionals, athletes and celebrities to learn their secrets and insights for overcoming life’s challenges, living longer, healthier, stronger and more #flawsome lives.

New shows are released on a weekly basis during each season of The Betty Rocker Show. Shows alternate between solo episodes with me, and interviews with guests.

Subscribe on your favorite player today!

The post Episode 15: The Power to Overcome, Transform and Thrive with Cynthia Garcia appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Today’s workout combines two of my favorite styles of training– barre and tabatas! It’s the perfect combo to get your heart rate up and sculpt long, lean muscles.

I really loved this workout for the opportunity to work so many stabilizing muscles and strengthen my body while also getting an awesome cardio burn!

You’ll be working out with Coach Nikki, one of our amazing Team Betty Rocker coaches from Rock Your Life today.

Coach Nikki is a yoga instructor ERYT200, an AFAA Certified Personal Trainer, a Mat Pilates Instructor and a Team Betty Rocker Coach!

Use this time to connect with your body and engage your muscles, and head into your day feeling strong and centered.

Keep reading for a special message from Coach Nikki below.

Hey rockstars, Coach Nikki here and I’m back to bring you another fun workout!

I am so excited to bring this Tabata Barre Sculpting workout to you today. We will be using short intervals in a tabata style of 0:20 seconds maximum effort with 0:10 rest periods. It’s the perfect mix of strength, HIIT training, sculpting, and flexibility!

All you need is a little space to move, a chair or countertop for balance, some water to stay hydrated and a sweat towel.

See you at the barre! 

Love having workouts you can do ANYWHERE, ANYTIME – and a well-designed plan to follow so you get the BEST RESULTS?  Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

You rocked that workout! Check in below and let us know how you enjoyed it and what move was your favorite – we love hearing from you!

We’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life….

…our epic home gym that has new classes every week, 30-day Challenges to keep you on track with a program, your own personal workout library, over 300 healthy recipes, an exclusive support group, access to the Team Betty Rocker coaches, and so much more!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Tabata Barre Sculpt appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Hey Rockstar! We’re getting into some Tabatas today – an incredibly effective and efficient workout style that offers us maximum benefits in a short amount of time.

You’ll be working out with Coach Nikki, one of the amazing Team Betty Rocker coaches from Rock Your Life.  She’ll have you targeting your upper body and core to get an awesome fat-burning, strength building workout in less than 20 minutes.

Coach Nikki is a yoga instructor ERYT200, an AFAA Certified Personal Trainer, a Mat Pilates Instructor and a Team Betty Rocker Coach!

Keep reading to find out more about the workout she has in store for you and why she loves it!

Coach Nikki here!  There are two things I really love and that’s strength training and working out using a stability ball. The stability ball adds a whole new level of challenge to any workout by causing the muscles to fire in a new way in order to maintain your balance!

While using short intervals in a Tabata style of 0:20 seconds maximum effort with 0:10 rest periods, I designed this workout to give you an opportunity to focus on your upper body strength, to challenge your core, and have FUN!

For today’s workout you will need a set of weighted objects – dumbbells or water bottles- and a stability ball (if you have one). If you don’t, no worries – you can do these moves without one – I’ll show you how. I hope you enjoy it! 

Great work with today’s workout! Now you need a plan to put workouts like this together in a complete sequence that will strengthen your entire body!  Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

Great job Rockstar! I’m so proud of you for showing up for yourself today.

Be sure to check in below with me and Coach Nikki and let us know how you liked the workout and what move was your favorite!

How about new workouts to do daily, from anywhere?

You’re invited to Rock Your Body AND Your Life…

…in my epic home gym that has new classes every week, 30-day Challenges to keep you on track with a program, your own personal workout library, over 300 healthy recipes, an exclusive support group, access to the Team Betty Rocker coaches, and so much more!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Tabata-Toned Abs and Upper Body appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

I’m going to stack 3 tabata sets together to make this super effective for you. Tabatas are an incredibly effective and efficient way to workout! They offer us the maximum benefits in the shortest amount of time (1), and who doesn’t want that?

Tabatas are a type of HIIT – high intensity interval training- where we pair 0:20 of maximum effort with 0:10 rest periods which you repeat for a total of 4 minutes. The key to getting the most out of this is to really give it YOUR ALL (2)!

And remember, to get the most from your workouts, focus on eating a combination of balanced whole nutrient dense foods, getting quality sleep and reducing your stress levels– the other three components of our 4 Pillars of Health.

As always, I’ll talk you through form tips and modifications so you can get stronger safely. You won’t need any equipment for this one so meet me on the mat and let’s check off your workout for the day! 

Love having workouts you can do ANYWHERE, ANYTIME – and a well-designed plan to follow so you get the BEST RESULTS?  Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

You rocked that! Be sure to hydrate and fuel up with Full Body Collagen or Berry Green Protein. Nourishing your body post workout with nutrient dense foods is so important!

Don’t forget to check in with me below and let me know where you did this from-I love hearing from you!

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Full Body Tabata Burn appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Hey Rockstar! I’ve got an awesome workout for you today that will sculpt and strengthen your arms, abs and back in just 20 minutes.

I invited the amazing Coach Amanda from Team Betty Rocker to teach today’s workout. You may have seen her on the blog before or inside of Rock Your Life teaching classes.

Since her classes are super popular in our online training program, I thought you’d enjoy another chance to work out with her!

Coach Amanda is a NASM and NESTA Certified Personal Trainer, Crossfit Level 1 Trainer, TRX Qualified Trainer and a Team Betty Rocker Coach. She teaches weekly classes in our online fitness studio and coaching community, Rock Your Life – and we’d both love to see you there!

I’ll let her tell you about the workout she has for you today. You are in great hands! 

Coach Amanda here! Upper body training is often neglected but it is such an important aspect to our fitness and has always been my favorite muscle group to work! I love how strong I feel with strength training and the empowerment that comes with lifting heavy and doing strict movements.

I chose these particular movements because they allow you to focus on strengthening isolated muscle groups without getting overly complicated. This is something for any fitness level and can be done at home or at the gym so there’s no reason why you can’t do it – my favorite!

Abs on the other hand, have never been my favorite to work so I always like to pick challenging movements that are also fun to get the most bang for my buck. These moves are great for core stability and strength plus some added upper body work as a bonus!

Each move in this workout allows for so much versatility. You can increase your weight and work on form, or increase your rep target for quantity – all while keeping the same movements and time. This makes it super fun for a partner workout to keep up with and challenge each other!

Now grab a couple of full water bottles or weights and let’s #stopdropandbettyrock!

Great work with today’s workout! Now you need a plan to put workouts like this together in a complete sequence that will strengthen your entire body!  Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

You are so strong Rockstar! Give yourself credit for how hard you worked today.

Leave me and Coach Amanda a comment below to let us know where you worked out from today, how you’re doing with your fitness goals, and what we can do to support you in reaching them – we love hearing from you!

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Arms, Abs and Back appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

In under 20 minutes you will get an epic full body burn with me, and a special BONUS ABS sequence from Coach Amanda, one of the coaches in my online fitness community Rock Your Life.

Speaking of community– I was at an event recently and almost every speaker touched on the importance of community and how vital it is to living a long, healthy life. Relationships and a solid community help us decrease our stress levels, combat anxiety, and depression and can even help us reach our fitness goals (1).

Having a support system when it comes to your goals makes you 95% more likely to reach them than if you were to go at it alone (2). So if you find that you are always struggling with your motivation levels and staying committed, take a look at the relationships and the people you surround yourself with.

Is your community building you up or is it getting in the way of your goals? Having support is so vital when making positive changes to your health and fitness. Here are three ways that a supportive community are helpful for you…

3 Benefits of Community

1. Support:

Have you ever had one of those days where the last thing you want to do is work out? Maybe you’re tired or stressed out and you start to talk yourself out of exercising, internally justifying the decision and even negotiating with yourself to in some way to skip your workout. We’ve all been there!

Which is why having a supportive community to show us that we’re not alone in the challenges we face on this journey is so important. We all need a helping hand from time to time and a community that you can rely on to lift you up is a game changer when it comes to sticking to your fitness goals!

2. Motivation:

The truth is, motivation is something that comes and goes. We can all set goals but sticking to them can be another thing altogether which is why having a group of people to lift us up and encourage us can be so beneficial.

Having friends who encourage you, cheer you on and empower you can be just the thing you need to find your motivation to show up to your workout or do your meal planning for the week.

3. Inspiration:

Not only are we more likely to mimic the behaviors of those around us (3), we also tend to push ourselves harder when surrounded by people who challenge and inspire us (4).

Working out with friends or having an accountability partner makes things more fun and when we add in the competitive level such as a group challenge, your motivation, consistency and results improve! Wanting to keep up with those around you can also make you push yourself harder than you would on your own and show you what you are truly capable of.

Thank you for being a part of my tribe and joining me and Coach Amanda for today’s fast and fun workout! You won’t need any equipment for this one – just #stopdropandbettyrock.

Great work with today’s workout! Now let’s get you a plan to put workouts like this together in a complete sequence that will strengthen your entire body!  Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

Way to show up today Rockstar!

Leave me a comment below to let me know where you’re working out from today, how you’re doing with your fitness goals, and what I can do to help you reach them – I love hearing from you!

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Full Body Tabatas with Bonus Abs appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Hey Rockstar, it’s Tabata Time!

This Booty and Abs Resistance Tabata workout will give you an awesome cardio burn and some strength building moves in just 15 minutes!

Tabatas are a 4-minute workout format (a type of HIIT – high intensity interval training) where we pair 0:20 of maximum effort with 0:10 rest periods.

The trick to getting the most out of this is to really give it your all in that 0:20, as the benefits of it come from how hard you are working (1)!

Why Tabata Workouts?

Tabatas are one of my favorite ways to train because they are an efficient way to get an awesome workout in a short amount of time. They are fun, fast and effective which is perfect if you’re busy but want to stay fit and strong!

Some of the proven benefits of Tabata include: 

• Improved fat loss- research shows that Tabatas have a greater impact on your fat loss efforts in just 4 minutes of ALL OUT EFFORT than doing moderate or steady state exercise (2). A shorter workout that elicits a greater response? I’m in! 
• Reversing your risk for metabolic disease syndrome, which can lead to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Metabolic disease syndrome also increases your risk for high blood pressure, high blood sugar and excess body fat, specifically around your abs, all of which we want to avoid for a long, healthy life (3).
• Building lean muscle – Tabatas have been shown to increase the production of testosterone in your body which plays an important role in the production and repairing of tissue – especially muscle tissue (4). This repair work of the muscle fibers is what forms new muscle strands and increases the thickness (and amount of) muscle fibers that you have (5)! More fibers equals a stronger you!
• You can use them to train ANY body part! Tabatas are one of my favorite ways to work my booty and my core. You can easily pair together any two exercises to work that body part to the max!

As you know, I love training BOOTY and ABS, however one of the biggest mistakes I see people making with these two key areas is not understanding how to properly activate them so they can get the most out of their workouts. 

Stabilizing and activating your core and glutes while you’re exercising will help you get so much stronger in all the things you do, improve your balance and help you uncover your muscles much quicker!

I want to invite you to add some props to the workout! I’m wearing this super cute, adjustable weighted vest by Hyperwear (available in black or grey) that I love for adding an additional challenge to my workouts. Other than that, grab a water bottle!

As always, I’ll talk you through form tips and modifications as we go so you can make it your own and be where you are at!

If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you! Let’s go Rockstar!

Great job Rockstar! Now let’s get you a plan! Check out the 30-Day Abs and Booty Challenge for a home workout program that will sculpt and define your abs, legs and glutes (plus give you a great full body shred), uses minimal equipment and will get you on track to feeling and looking your best!

Amazing job! You did so great with that workout.

Comment below and let me know what the hardest move was for you and how you liked the workout! I love hearing from you.

If you know a woman who would like to feel more empowered, happy and fit, share this post with her!

Your support of other women is what makes all of us stronger. As we grow, we lift up others around us.

Use any of the share buttons in this post to share to your social media or just email the link to this post. 

Be sure to check out my 30-Day Booty and Abs Challenge for more booty-popping, ab-shredding workouts to help you look and feel your best ALL YEAR LONG!

The post Booty and Abs Resistance TABATA appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

I’ve been really focused on the 4 Pillars of Health (sleep, nutrition, stress management and exercise) this year, and I intend to continue to support you in balancing them in your life in the new year.

To finish out the year strong, I’ve included some of my best workouts and lifestyle practices for you to enjoy. Just use this post daily and stay on track, and check in with me after you’re done in the comments below – or of course on instagram @thebettyrocker and Facebook! #12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

I’m releasing this 14 days before New Year’s so you have room to take a couple additional days off to account for family time and holiday travel – please feel free to shift things as needed.

Mark your calendar, bookmark this post, and let’s get started – comment below “I’m IN!” to let me know you’re doing this!

Day 1: Hotter for the Holidays, Part 1

Let’s kick things off right with a 15-minute Full Body Shred!

In the final weeks of the year – a time when we all get super busy with holidays, family, events, parties and trying to finish all those eleventh-hour projects – I find it essential to have some fast, effective workouts I can do at home.

This workout uses a couple of dumbbells, but you can also use water bottles or any household object to add a little resistance to your workout.

Let’s start this 12 Days of Betty Rocker Challenge STRONG!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 2: Cardio Barre Workout

In this low-impact, high-intensity cardio barre workout, we’ll focus on toning and tightening our butt, legs, and core. You’ll need a mat and a chair for this workout – and about 20 minutes.

Get ready for a blast of that booty barre burn that will keep this challenge going in the right direction.

The holiday season is in full swing, and with less time than usual and all the demands of a busy schedule, this is the perfect workout to add in the mix!

Remember to check in below when you finish your workout, and keep going strong!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 3: 15-minute Solstice Stretching 

 One of my favorite ways to reset my body and get super grounded is to do a yoga session.

But most classes are an hour long, and sometimes I need to just jump in and get a good stretch with some bonus power moves to really feel present in my body.

Today, in celebration of welcoming the winter season, I invite you to join me for this 15-minute power stretching session I put together to help focus on key areas that get tight like shoulders and hips, strengthen the core, and focus on both our breathing and how grateful we are to have strong, healthy bodies.

Be sure to take the time to complete the 2-step Gratitude Exercise at the end of this post!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 4: 10-minute Hotel Room Workout 

So many of us have travel plans during time of year, and there’s always a lot of buzz around how to balance staying fit with the upheaval to our regular routine and/or location.

I’ve got you covered with this amazing full body sweat sesh in a hotel room – you can do this wherever you happen to be this season.

Take it on the road, do it at your in-laws, or anywhere today finds you – and be sure to share this workout with a friend or family member. After all, your health and strength is a gift that keeps on giving.

I’ll be looking forward to your check ins!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 5: Betty Barre Sculpt 

This one might be called “low impact,” but don’t be fooled into thinking that means low intensity – these barre moves will activate your body in all the right places. You’ll be the sweet kind of sore and all kinds of sculpted when this Betty Barre Sculpt is complete.

And because you need to stay focused on your form while you’re doing this workout, you’ll automatically be more present to the moment, which is a wonderful skill to practice, especially right around now.

Anytime we tune into our mind-body connection this way, amidst the chaos of our busy lives, it’s a win. The practice of being super present can really help us handle stress, at the holidays and all year long.

All you need for this one is a chair or the side of your couch and some light dumbbells or water bottles. The workout is a little longer, just under 30 minutes but if you’re short on time why not do half of it now, and half of it later?

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 6:  Betty Rockin’ Tabatas

No matter what your holiday schedule has on deck for you today, I know you’ve got 15 minutes to #stopdropandbettyrock with me!

I’ve got some fun, new moves for you to try out today in this triple threat Tabata smash that will work your entire body in all the right ways.

When I say “triple threat” I’m not just talking about how fabulous, beautiful, and amazing you are (that’s a given) – I’m talking about THREE 4-minute Betty Rockin’ Tabatas, stacked together to give you an amazing workout in practically no time at all.

Today marks the halfway point through the challenge and YOU’RE DOING AN AMAZING JOB!

Be sure to check in today!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 7: Enjoy a No Strings Attached (NSA) Day with Your Food

Consider this permission granted!

When you prioritize eating healthy, whole foods on a regular basis, it makes the occasional indulgence no big deal.

“Cheat” days imply you’re doing something wrong – but you’re not! After all, food is not a moral issue. Rather than feeling bad or guilty for eating foods not in your regular rotation during holiday gatherings, lean into having a “No Strings Attached” relationship – enjoy it, then move on.

Food nourishes us, yes, and it also holds an important place of cultural significance. Because when we gather around to share a meal with friends, family, and loved ones, we build the sense of connection human beings need to thrive, which makes special occasions – like the holidays – perfect opportunities to focus on enjoying food with gratitude rather than moderating it through guilt.

Happy Holidays Rockstar!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 8: Hotter for the Holidays Part 2

We’re going to turn it back up again today with this full body HIIT circuit you can do at home, on the road, or wherever you find yourself this week!

HIIT workouts are super fun, fast, and incredibly efficient if your goal is to maximize fat loss in a short amount of time.

Whether you have time to rock 1, 2, or 3 rounds, this workout will get your heart pumping and your muscles working.

Your body will thank you later!

You’ll need 20 minutes and some dumbbells or water bottles for a little extra resistance.

Let’s go!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 9: Total Body Barre Sculpt

It’s time to #stopdropandbettyrock again today with a high-intensity, low-impact, ballet-inspired workout!

This Total Body Barre Sculpt circuit actually has some great benefits to your body that go beyond just toning your muscles, like stronger postural alignment and better stress management.

You’ll just want a chair back or countertop handy for balance, and a few light weights or water bottles for resistance.

You’ll be done in under 25 minutes today!

You are here, you are capable, and you are going to rock this workout! 

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 10: 11-minute Cardio Core

Having workouts that you can do on the go makes such a big difference when it comes to staying on top of your training during life’s busiest seasons.

It’s easy to skip a workout because we don’t think we have time to go to the gym, or we’re not in the perfect place or situation, but if you have simple, quick workouts to do like this 11-minute Cardio Core one you can take action anytime, anywhere!

That’s right – in mere minutes, you can make significant, positive differences in your body, your mindset, and your stress levels.

All of that comes in mighty handy right about now!

Don’t forget to check in today!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 11: Self-Care Stretching and an Easy One-Day “Detox”

You’ve been dominating this challenge for 10 days at this point, so give yourself the luxury of taking time today to give your muscles the sweet release stretching can bring.

Stretching is one of those things we often take for granted or just don’t do properly. But it’s SO necessary, and there are some really good reasons to stretch – not the least of which is that a flexible body is a STRONG body.

And while you may want to save my awesome One-Day “Detox” plan for after New Year’s, I want you to have it in your back pocket for any time over-indulgence catches up with you.

Supporting yourself with a plan that allows for occasional indulgences and special treats, plus includes a variety of all the nutrients you need to be active, and keeps your body fat to a level you’re happy about is super important!
#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Day 12: 15-minute Booty Barre Challenge

You made it to the final day of the challenge!

Good for you!

Today’s barre fusion sequence is designed to lift and firm your booty and strengthen and sculpt your legs. You’ll be done in under 15 minutes – but you’ll feel the burn for hours!

No equipment needed for this one –  just set up with a chair or countertop nearby to help you balance.

You’ve done such a fabulous job so far – I have complete faith that you can and will totally rock this very last day!

#12daysofbettyrockerchallenge

Congratulations, Rockstar!

You completed the 12 Days of Betty Rocker Challenge like the unstoppable warrior you are!

I hope you know how impressive it is that you showed up for yourself like this.

I have every reason to believe that the New Year is going to be incredible, and when you dedicate time and energy to your health, fitness, and overall wellbeing, you are making it so!

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post 12 Days of Betty Rocker CHALLENGE appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Ready to rock your body in 15 minutes? I’ve got some new moves for you to try out in this triple threat tabata smash that will work your body from head to toe!

When I say “triple threat” I’m not just talking about how fabulous, beautiful and amazing you are (that’s a given) – I’m talking about THREE 4-minute tabatas, stacked together to give you an amazing workout in less time.

Tabatas are a special 4-minute workout format (a type of HIIT – high intensity interval training) where we pair 0:20 of maximum effort with 0:10 rest periods. The trick to getting the most out of this is to really give it your all in that 0:20.

I love cardio workouts in general, but I’m really more a fan of HIIT than anything else when time is of the essence. I write these workouts to incorporate resistance training (using gravity and creative sequencing) to simultaneously build strength and increase muscle and bone density while we’re burning it up!

Yes, I am an efficiency queen – I feel like I have to be if I want to stay healthy, run a business, have a life and meet all of my responsibilities. Can you relate?

When I have more time I really enjoy going for a run, doing a spin class (got a Peloton bike last year that I love), a dance class, kickboxing or pretty much anything that sounds fun and invigorating. I’d love to hear what activities you enjoy for cardio – let me know in comments below when you check in after your workout, and let me know where you worked out from today!

Love having workouts you can do ANYWHERE, ANYTIME – and a well-designed plan to follow so you get the BEST RESULTS?  Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

Thanks so much for doing that workout with me today! I’m wishing you a happy holiday season, and I hope you’re having an amazing day wherever this finds you!

I always LOVE hearing from you, and learning where you did your workout, who was there, and how you’re taking care of yourself with your nutrition, stress management and sleep – the other 3 of the 4 pillars!

Check in below.

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Betty Rockin’ Tabatas appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Today I want to invite you in to learn about one of the things I do to stay super healthy. As much as I share smoothies and tabata workouts, I’m also a big proponent of rest, active recovery and activities that improve our mental state of being and reduce stress.

Actually, one of the best ways to make the most of your training is to actively rest, on purpose.

While it might sound counter-intuitive, it’s when you rest that your body goes through the repair process that sculpts strong muscle.

While you’ll drop some body fat doing HIIT workouts and eating right, your greatest power to influence your body composition is the balance in your hormones – those chemical messengers that regulate metabolism.

Some of those lifestyle factors that influence hormone im-balance include stress, sub-optimal sleep (so not enough or poor quality), not eating nutrient-dense food, and also overtraining which is another form of stress on the system.

The body can also be compromised by environmental pollutants that creep into our food or water that it’s trying to work around or filter out.

In today’s video, I’m coming to you from inside my infrared sauna and sharing why I use it – as well as how to build your own. I’ve got 2 friends who are showing you behind the scenes of their DIY builds so you can get a look at how to do this if you’re interested.

Why I Was Using an Infrared Sauna

To actively aid my training recovery process and decompress, I had been using hot saunas and infrared saunas for years and loving how good I felt after.

But it wasn’t until a blood test showed how high my mercury levels were that I got really serious about the benefits of infrared light, and decided I might be able to use it to help improve those markers.

High levels of elements like lead, mercury, cadmium, tin, and others can be harmful to your immune, nervous, reproductive, and digestive systems – and add stress to your body’s filtration (detoxifying) organs, namely the liver and kidneys. I’m not sure why my levels were so high, like other elements they can enter our system through soil, air or water emissions.

After getting this alarming data from my test, I decided to get serious and invest in an infrared sauna.

I really didn’t have any high expectations about how my body would respond with regards to the mercury, I just knew it could help over time – and there were other health benefits that I wanted to explore as well, like increased collagen production, decreased stress, deep, cellular repair, improved flexibility and more.

I truly was amazed when my 2018 tests came back and my mercury levels had dropped from 15.65 to 1.44. It was what prompted me to write this post and share about it on social media.

The Difference between an Infrared Sauna and a Steam Sauna

In a nutshell, infrared saunas create dry heat, warming you from the inside out, while regular hot or steam saunas create moist heat, warming you from the outside in.

Infrared wavelengths are the invisible part of the sun’s light spectrum, experienced as heat. This heat provides many of the health benefits of natural sunlight without any of the dangerous effects of overexposure to solar radiation.

Alternately, steam saunas, or traditional hot saunas have a heat source in the sauna space that raises the temperature of the air around you. I always enjoy this experience and the sweating has benefits to our body as well.

But being able to have them both – a heat source (sans steam) and the infrared light spectrum together was what seemed the most powerful – and enjoyable –  combination, which is why I got the sauna I have.

The 3 Spectrums of Infrared Light used in Saunas

Some saunas use all 3, some have just the far. The red lights used by my friends in their home saunas that you can see in the video are most likely emitting primarily far infrared light.

This handy chart that I borrowed from Sunlighten shows the benefits of each light spectrum specifically, and the links click through to their research about them. I like this company in particular because of all the care and research they put into education and the quality they build their saunas with, and it’s why I got one of their saunas.

Build Your Own Sauna

I know you might not be in the market to purchase your own sauna right away – either because of space constraints where you live, or because you’re not sure if the investment is right for you right now.

That’s why I wanted to give you a few great options so you can test the waters with either a small space or a small budget. I asked two friends who have done this at home to share their materials and stories with me, and I’ve also added some small single person portable, at-home sauna options below.

#1: Budget-Friendly DIY Sauna

Stefanie and her husband Rob were researching the pros and cons of investing in a sauna when they decided to try making their own first.

Rob is pretty handy, but you’ll see in the video how simple this space-saving sauna they put in their guest room is.

I asked Stef to share the materials they used to build the sauna, and you’ll see their finished product in the video interview I did with her.

Stefanie’s Materials:

• Near-infrared 250 watt bulbs from saunaspace.com ($10 each)
• Bayco light clamp ($14.99 each)
• Wooden dowels – various sizes/prices – depends on the size of your sauna
• PVC pipe 90-degree angle joint ($1.60 each- Stef needed 12)
• Cloth rags are stuck into the joint to hold the dowels in tighter (Stef cut up an old t-shirt)
• Cotton canvas ($6.99 a yard – she used 11 yards – 2 pcs at 5.5 yards each)

Optional Accessories:

• benches
• mat
• thermometer

Once you’ve procured all the necessary parts and pieces of your sauna:

1. Create the sauna frame by inserting the wooden dowels into the PVC pipe angle joints.
2. On one of your “walls,” you’ll use shorter wooden dowels and extra PVC pipe joints to create two horizontal bars from which you’ll hang your Infrared Lights.
3. After your bars are in place and all the corners of the unit are connected, drape one piece of canvas across the top of your frame length-wise, then drape the other piece of canvas width-wise. Your entire unit should be covered by the canvas, floor to ceiling.
4. Using the light clamps, attach the Infrared lights to the horizontal bars; plug into a grounded outlet.
5. Feel free to get creative with what you add to your sauna. Stef added a thermometer, a mat, and a couple of benches; you can follow her lead, or come up with your own ideas!

#2: Space Saving DIY Sauna

Next up, I talked to Catherine, one of my best girlfriends, who can make the absolute most of a small space like nobody’s business.

After noticing immediate benefits from using an infrared sauna at a friend’s house, Cat decided to get creative in her own cozy casa.

As she says,

“For a very little investment of time and…money, you can dramatically change the way you feel in a short period of time. I hope [this] helps inspire people about what’s possible in limited spaces!”

Catherine’s Materials:

• Near-infrared bulbs ($20/each)
• Light fixtures (around $20/each)
• Power bar with a switch: ($4)
• Eye protection: ($3)
• Pilates Mat: ($15)

Special thanks to Stefanie,  Rob, and Cat for sharing their totally awesome set-ups! 

#3: Other ways to take advantage of infrared saunas

• In most cities, local gyms, health clubs, or wellness centers offer sessions (and packages of sessions) for Infrared Saunas.
  Look online for “Sunlighten” in your area, then call to find what a session costs – often times, places offer packages of multiple visits, so you can fully reap the benefits of a consistent practice.
• The Solopad from Sunlighten gives you an affordable and portable option. You simply lay on the pad and cover yourself with towels to emulate a sauna-like experience!

• You can also add the Solopad System dome over this, which creates a private, in-home sauna experience that breaks down completely. I thought this was pretty cool!

So there you have it! If you’ve been wondering why I got a sauna, how I use it, or how you can get those same benefits, I hope this post was useful.

Be sure to leave me a comment below if you’ve used a sauna before or have any questions, and I’d love to know if you’re thinking about getting one or building one.

The post How to Build Your Own Sauna on a Budget (and why you should use one) appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Let’s HIIT it today, Rockstar! We’re getting into some Tabatas -incredibly effective and efficient workout sequencing that offers us maximum benefits in the shortest amount of time.

I kept this workout strong in abs and booty, while still delivering a full body workout.

To really maximize the sculpting effect of the moves you’re doing today, pay close attention to the form cues so you can activate your abs and booty effectively, letting you get the most out of your 10 minutes on the mat!

Why do I LOVE Tabatas?

For one, they’re super fast.  Give it everything you’ve got for 20 seconds, then rest for 10, repeat 8 times – you can get a killer workout done in 4 minutes.

I personally like stacking a couple them together and being done for the day in less than 10 minutes total, like in today’s Double Trouble Tabatas.

Tabata training has the added benefit of decreasing impact on our joints due to the shorter duration of the workout, while still delivering massive results through explosive cardio HIIT combos like the ones we’re going to get into.

Remember, to burn off body fat, especially around the belly, we want to focus on a combination of balanced, whole-food nutrition, resistance training to add lean muscle, and – you guessed it – explosive cardio. Here’s my “4-Steps to Get Flat Abs and Burn Body Fat” guide for you to reference if this is a focus for you!

Let’s do this, Rockstar!

Great job Rockstar! Now let’s get you a plan! Check out the 30-Day Abs and Booty Challenge for a home workout program that will sculpt and define your abs, legs and glutes (plus give you a great full body shred), uses minimal equipment and will get you on track to feeling and looking your best!

10-Minute Double Trouble Tabatas

Click to expand and see all workout move descriptions.

TABATA ONE

Move 1: Mountain Climbers

• Begin in a tall plank position, hands stacked just below your shoulders.
• Run your knees into your chest, alternating legs. Keep your core engaged.
• Mod: Take the running out by slowly alternating your knees to your chest, or do them elevated.

Move 2: Jump Switch Lunges

• Begin in a strong lunge position, making sure your front knee is in line with your front foot, and when you bend it stays at a 90-degree angle and the knee doesn’t end up beyond the toe.
• Your back heel is lifted and is in line with your back knee.
• Jump yourself up and switch positions, landing softly and with good form. You can get your arms involved for balance and speed.
• Mod: If jumping isn’t a good idea for your knees but you are okay with lunges, perform forward reverse lunges (that’s a forward lunge, followed by a reverse lunge with the same leg) and alternate sides to target all the same muscles. You can also perform basic lunges in place, or walking lunges. Remember to hold onto a wall or railing for balance, as unilateral movements recruit your proprioceptive balancing muscles as well.

TABATA TWO

Move 1: Jump Squat to High Pull Row

• Engage your core and shoot your booty back behind you as though you were going to sit on a chair – keeping the weight in your heels and chest up.
• Drive your heels down to power up to jump, as you jump up drive your elbows up to the sky holding your weighted object.
• Mod: Take the jump out to lessen the impact, instead perform a body squat with good form. Only squat as deeply as you can comfortably go without bending forward at the waist.

Move 2: Skaters

• This is an explosive cardio move to get your heart rate pumping!
• Start in a curtsy lunge position by stepping back with your right leg to just behind or slightly past your left leg.
• Jump laterally (sideways) to switch legs and continue until the time runs out.
• Mod: Take the hop out and do alternating reverse curtsy lunges.

Leave me a comment to let me know how you do with today’s workout and where you’re working out from! I love hearing from you!

Looking for more workouts that will sculpt your booty and abs, help you torch fat, and save you time?

Take the 30-Day Booty and Abs Challenge!

The post 10-Minute Double Trouble Tabatas appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Hey Rockstar, it’s Tabata time!

This is the kind of cardio that will give you an awesome result – without you having to spend 30 minutes to an hour on a machine at the gym.

Cardio is an important part of your training, but there’s no need for it to take up half of your day. Tabatas are a special kind of cardio sequencing that offers us the maximum burn in the shortest amount of time – in this case 4 minutes.

Today we’re going to do what the girls in Rock Your Life call “endurance tabatas” which is where we stack 2 tabata sets together for a fast, fun and effective 10 minute workout.

Get ready to ROCK your body – and be sure to leave me a comment below when you’re done!

Love having workouts you can do ANYWHERE, ANYTIME – and a well-designed plan to follow so you get the BEST RESULTS?  Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

Other Cardio Workouts You Might Enjoy:

• Cardio Barre
• 11 Minute Cardio Core
• Bikini Tabata Series: Booty and Legs
• Tabata Abs Afterburn Shred

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post 10-Minute Full Body Tabata Burn appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Today we’ll be doing two 4-minute power sets against the clock to really maximize our work time – for a total of about 10 minutes of power burn, focused on shredding the abs!

Tabatas are done in 0:20 work intervals paired with 0:10 rest intervals (which is about the amount of time it takes me to switch positions for the next move anyway) which you repeat for a total of 4 minutes.

I really love this kind of training, because in less time we can still get a really effective cardio workout in. In an 8-week tabata style treadmill study, researchers found that their participants improved overall flexibility and anaerobic power while decreasing musculoskeletal impact on their ligaments, joints, and tendons.

We just finished a month of tabata style workouts in our live Rock Your Life home workout classes thanks to it being one of the top requested training styles in my fitness community! I can guarantee that you’re going to enjoy it!

Looking forward to hearing from you today, so be sure to leave me a comment below to check in! 

Thanks for doing this workout with me today!

Great job on today’s workout! Now let’s get you a workout PLAN so you can keep progressing and get support along the way!

Rock Your Life has access to dozens of home workout challenges, a huge class library with hundreds of workouts of all types so you can choose from a huge variety of one-off workouts if you’re not following a plan, and has a private women’s fitness support community to make sure you always have the resources you need!

Get a 30-day Trial to ROCK YOUR LIFE and start your challenge!

The post 10-Minute Cardio Abs Tabata appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

This is such a popular question, I wanted to create a resource for you.  I know it’s enticing to do ab workouts every day, thinking that you’ll see your abs faster, but actually, doing workouts that target areas where you’re carrying extra body fat will not “melt the fat off” that area.

We cannot spot reduce fat – and I would caution you from taking any supplements that promise to do so, or use “cleanses” or other quick fixes like body wraps, as they are short-term strategies some of which have side effects you don’t anticipate like hormone impacts, and not give you real, long-lasting results.

You CAN get body fat off – and keep it off. Fat comes off our body systemically (which means all over our bodies), and in an order governed by our DNA. It will come off in the order it came on.

If fat burning is a focus for you, building muscle is one of the most effective ways to support that goal as with each contraction of your muscle, you’ll use more energy (and burn more calories). Adding muscle is what shifts body composition to a tighter, more “toned” shape, not fat loss alone.

I know it may not be on your radar to focus on muscle gain over fat loss because we’ve been so trained by diet culture to think about our “body fat” as the primary needle mover, but truly it is our valuable lean muscle tissue that has the biggest impact on our metabolism, long term health, and will help you become, and remain an efficient fat burner.

With that being said, let’s look at four often overlooked strategies that will directly impact your fat loss in a healthy, sustainable manner.

4 steps to follow CONSISTENTLY

1. Get Quality Sleep

Sleep is the most underrated, most important part of losing body fat and gaining muscle. When it comes to toning and sculpting your abs, quality sleep should be one of your top focus points.

Research shows that when we don’t get enough quality sleep, we are more likely to gain weight – specifically belly fat (1).

One study showed a group of people who had the exact same exercise regimen and diet were split into 2 different groups – 1 group slept well while the other group did not. The well rested group lost weight while the sleep deprived gained weight.

Furthermore, those who were sleep deprived had a 55% decrease in fat loss and an increase in the loss of fat free body mass (aka muscle tissue) by 60% (2)! This is why the foundation of my 4 Pillars of Health is SLEEP.

People who lack sleep produce more ghrelin (hunger hormone) (3), are more likely to consume sugary or caffeinated beverages (4), and have a 32% increase of carbohydrate consumption (5) – further perpetuating sleep patterns and creating a vicious cycle.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is essential to human growth and development, fat burning and muscle repair, and is most powerfully produced while you’re sleeping (6). If you’re lacking quality in your sleep, your body will miss the valuable time it takes to repair and will result in decreased strength and increased fat (7).

If you’re putting in the time to exercise and not getting enough sleep, you’re undermining your efforts. Just like you can’t out train a bad diet, you can’t out train bad sleep.

Here’s a great resource to follow up with about sleep: How to Sleep for a Longer, Leaner, Healthier Life

2. Nutrition, Nutrition, Nutrition

Every time you eat, you’re creating the foundation and tissue that make up the actual shape and structure of your body – and every time you exercise, you’re simply putting the finishing touches on the beautiful physique you’ve sculpted with what you put in your mouth.

Healthy recipes from The Body Fuel System

One of the MOST important parts to uncovering your abdominal muscle (and really any area of your body you want to sculpt) is eating a balance of nutrients from whole food sources.

I know we talk a lot about the macronutrients – the carbs, protein and healthy fats you need – but you also need the MICROnutrients from greens and plants for essential body, brain and hormone functions. Vitamins and minerals are essential for cell growth, function and development. For so many reasons, it is essential that you take your eating just as seriously as you take your workouts.

I know we have this tendency to have an outside in approach to health and stick to our exercise plan more religiously than we stick to our eating but you can not exercise your way out of a nutrient deficient body that is not functioning at it’s best.

Need some help with healthy eating? Take my Quiz!

3. Actively Manage Stress

If you’re in the habit of putting this at the bottom of your list, it’s time to make it more of an active priority. Chronic stress has been scientifically proven to cause us to reach for comfort foods, undoing your efforts to have a balanced nutrition intake (8).

While stress is an important adaptive mechanism that protects us, constantly getting stressed by traffic, family situations and even negative thoughts about ourselves can lead to disruption in our hormone cycles and cause fat storage.

Elevated levels of stress cause the body to produce more cortisol. While cortisol is an important hormone, when it is chronically elevated, over time it affects where and how much fat is stored. And more often than not, that place of storage is in your abdomen (9).

Chronic stress greatly affects our brain which in turn lowers our immune response so we get sick more often, causes us to recover slower from injury, and results in a decreased ability to maintain a state of health and vitality (10).

In order for you to build lean muscle, lose unwanted fat, and have a great impact on you health it is imperative that you begin to actively cultivate habits that mitigate stress.

Practices like meditation, mindfulness and gratitude are all great ways to combat stress in the here and now. Journaling, getting therapy for unresolved (and ongoing) issues, and practices like neural feedback can also be very beneficial. The act of booking things for yourself you enjoy like a massage, acupuncture or even a facial can be a way to unwind, and also practice self-care. Taking a bath, reading a book, setting aside time for yourself and anything you find relaxing can all be ways to balance out the demands of your busy life.

Here’s a great resource to follow up with about stress management: 5 Ways to Beat Stress and Get More From Your Workouts

4. Exercise

a) Add Interval Training (explosive cardio): Whether that be High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) circuits, plyometrics, or Tabatas, explosive cardio is one of the best ways to maximize overall fat loss during  your workouts (11).

Here are a few ways I add it into my workouts:

• Super-setting power resistance/strength moves with explosive cardio intervals – think jump rope, jump squats, etc.
• Adding finishing circuits to a weight lifting workout
• Doing bodyweight circuits that combine strengthening moves with explosive cardio

b) Add Resistance Training

Resistance (or strength) training helps to sculpt lean muscle, which makes you a more efficient fat burner and will change your body composition and shape (12).

Resistance training also elicits the release of HGH, (especially in training sessions that utilize many large muscle groups at once) (13) – so you’ll be a more efficient fat burner and muscle builder (but let’s not forget – this won’t work unless you’re sleeping well and managing your stress).

So be sure to balance your HIIT with some strength training to see amazing results – you are not going to get bulky just by adding some weighted objects to your workouts.

I personally take a combined approach, doing the best workout for the situation I’m in. If I’m traveling I’ll use my HIIT circuits and at home I’ll cycle between bodyweight workouts and weight-training.

These programs were designed to combine resistance training and explosive cardio:

• Home Workout Domination (8 week HOME workout program that can be done with minimal equipment)

• Lioness (8 week GYM or HOME with equipment program)

• 90 Day Challenge (12 week HOME workout program NO equipment- gravity and creative bodyweight moves will provide you with resistance)

c) TRAIN YOUR CORE 360 DEGREES AROUND, not just your front abs. Focus on training your ENTIRE core to see real ab definition

That means workouts like this awesome yoga core sequence, where we targeted the abdominal wall from the inside out, and all the way around.

We were working on the front, side, AND back muscles that stabilize our core and aid us in all the movements we do. Targeting the deep core stabilizing muscles is key to greater balance and alignment of our spine and pelvis.

The body is super smart and designed for balance. If you only focus on building muscle on one portion of your body, like only doing a lot of crunches, leg lifts or sit ups, you will actually only go so far in the amount of muscle you’re able to develop.

This is your body’s natural way of protecting you, as too much muscle on one side will put undue stress on your underlying bones and pull you out of alignment (read Building a Balanced Physique and Protecting Your Joints).

So what’s the recipe for burning fat off your stomach (or any part of your body, really)?

Get a good night’s rest, fuel your body with whole foods, practice self care and lower your stress, and top it all off with a combination of full body explosive exercise and resistance training!

All of my workout plans combine resistance training and explosive cardio – so you can build lean muscle, and lose body fat if you have it to lose. Wondering what workout program would suit you best? TAKE THE QUIZ!

The post 4 Steps to Burn Belly Fat (and Body Fat in General) appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

In this post:

• Why is cardio valuable to include in training?
• 2 Types of cardio training
• Is one type better than the other?
• Resting Heart Rate
• Target heart rate zones while exercising
• The importance of Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

In a nutshell, why is cardio valuable to include in training?

The stronger your heart, the stronger your cardiovascular system, and the better your body functions (1) overall – making this a valuable part of your training regimen that can prolong and improve your life.

Our cardiovascular system (the heart, blood vessels, and blood) supplies our organs and tissues with oxygen and nutrients, transport hormones through the body, and is responsible for ridding the body of waste.

Like any muscle, the heart gets stronger and healthier the more regularly you work it. And as the name describes, cardiovascular training (cardio) is a great way to strengthen the cardiovascular system.

Here are just a few of the benefits you can experience from including cardiovascular training…

• strengthens both your lungs and heart (2)
• increases bone density (3) and (aerobic cardio) preserves muscle mass (4)
• improves your body’s metabolism (5)
• improves mitochondrial function (6)
• improves the flow of oxygen through your entire body, and improves VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen your body can process)
• strengthens your heart and blood vessels (5)
• improves your resilience to stress
• aids in fat loss (7)
• decreases the risk of chronic ailments like diabetes and heart disease (8)
• elevates your mood (9)

The 2 Types of Cardiovascular Training

Cardiovascular training is exercise that raises your heart rate. There are 2 types of exercise that can contribute to cardiovascular health, and each has different benefits. One is not “better” than the other – both should be practiced for good health.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise (“with oxygen”) is exercise that can be sustained for longer than 10 minutes. There is plenty of oxygen flowing through your body to support your muscles and sustain the energy you need to keep going.

Many of our daily activities (from digestion to breathing to standing and sleeping) are supported by the aerobic system – and the health of this foundational supportive system can be enhanced by training within the aerobic zone.

An example of aerobic exercise is “steady-state cardio,” which is exactly what it sounds like – your level of intensity (60-70% of your maximum capacity) doesn’t really fluctuate for 20 minutes or more.

There are many aerobic fitness activities to enjoy, like cycling, jogging, swimming, hiking, walking, or any activity that you can sustain while elevating your heart rate (around 120-150 beats per minute). Low impact training is in the aerobic “zone” as well.

It’s fun and feels great!

The benefits are more than just physical – it feels good to be outside running or hiking, breathing fresh air, getting sunshine, and seeing new sights.

It lowers your heart rate and improves your ability to handle stress

Steady state cardio also helps create positive adaptations in the heart that impact our ability to handle stress; its ability to pump more blood with each contraction over time lowers your heart rate during activity and during rest.

A lower heart rate is indicative of a healthy cardiovascular system, and good “parasympathetic tone” in the nervous system, increasing your ability to relax, focus, and recover from stress – including the positive stress of intense exercise (next section on anaerobic exercise).

• Read more about the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system in“Top 5 Ways to Beat Stress and Get More From Your Workouts”

It positively impacts your muscle tissue

Steady state cardio has also been shown to preserve muscle mass (4), and even increase hypertrophy (muscle growth) over time, making it a valuable contributor to the prevention of sarcopenia (muscle wasting).

Exercising in the aerobic zone “with oxygen” results in the production of more blood vessels (to carry the oxygen), and increases the size of the blood vessels. More nutrients and oxygen can get to your muscle tissue, and there’s more support for waste removal – which all adds up to better recovery and support for healthy muscle tissue.

It increases your endurance and boosts your energy

Speaking of your muscle tissue, aerobic exercise relies on mostly your slow-twitch muscle fibers, which are the fibers that are built for endurance. These fibers contract slower and at a lower intensity than fast-twitch muscle fibers. These changes to the composition of your muscle fibers add up to increased endurance.

Aerobic workouts also increase the density of mitochondria and the protein myoglobin in your muscle tissue. The mitochondria, or the powerhouse of the cells, are how your body makes energy in the form of ATP, and myoglobin brings oxygen to the cell – which is necessary for the production of ATP. This adds up to more energy for you.

Anaerobic Exercise

Anaerobic exercise (“without oxygen”) is shorter duration exercise (usually 2 minutes or less) that requires more oxygen supply than the body can support.

You may see terms like “interval training,” “plyometrics,”“high intensity interval training” or “HIIT” for short, “tabatas” (a specific 4 minute interval training style) – these can all be types of anaerobic training. Sprints – on a bike or while running for instance – are also anaerobic.

All forms of HIIT fluctuates between short bursts of intense activity and “recovery” periods of less intense activity. The workouts are fueled by stored carbohydrates, but make you breathe harder meaning you will burn more fat than during steady state cardio (10).

HIIT gets your heart working harder for a short period of time, and because it’s working without oxygen, it has to take in more oxygen after the workout. This is the “exercise post-oxygen consumption” or EPOC effect you may hear about in relation to the impact HIIT has on fat loss for a period of time after the workout.

Because of its shorter duration and lack of oxygen, lactic acid is produced which is what creates fatigue. But practicing regularly will boost the size and quantity of the fast-twitch muscle fibers, giving you more power, strength and endurance.

Anaerobic exercise can also increase the breakdown of glucose (also known as glycolosis). It can also boost ATP levels, which are the primary energy source in muscles, as well as creatine phosphate which can be converted to ATP and used for energy. Creatine levels increase, which helps supply energy for muscle contractions. HIIT training can also boost testosterone and growth hormone, both of which impact muscle growth.

Is one type better than the other?

Both aerobic and anaerobic training are beneficial, and measurably improve many important indicators of health and fitness. Blood pressure drops, metabolism improves and VO2 max (which measures the maximum amount of oxygen your body can process) goes up. Studies show that combining both of these types in your exercise regimen is the best way to get maximum benefits out of your workouts (11).

Depending on your life and the demands on your time, you may find that HIIT training is the time-saver you need, and you can more easily fit it in – or you may be someone who enjoys long runs in nature. Both give you great benefits and increase your energy and muscle health.

You may choose to cycle them both into your training at the same time, or do focused periods of training (say 3 months) where HIIT is a primary focus, and then another cycle where steady state cardio is a focus. This can be a fun way to enjoy variety and challenge yourself in different ways.

Many of my workouts and circuits combine both aerobic and anaerobic training – with slower, low impact strength moves paired with explosive bursts. I enjoy this style of training and implement it frequently to save time and get the benefits of both endurance and explosive strength.

Your anaerobic capacity is influenced by your aerobic capacity, meaning without a foundation of aerobic fitness, you won’t be able to push as hard in those HIIT circuits. You want the capacity for both endurance and strength and power – so combining aerobic and anaerobic activities is a great way to really create healthy and strong muscle tissue.

All of the body’s systems impact each other tremendously. Increasing your resilience to stress has a major impact on decreasing your risk to many diseases, and high stress and chronic stress are directly correlated to increased fat storage. There is an important place for both aerobic and anaerobic exercise in your training – regardless of your goals.

While you may burn more fat in less time with HIIT training than you do with steady state cardio, both will impact fat loss. In my mind, what’s more important than fat loss is a focus on preserving and gaining lean muscle – especially as we age. While it’s easy to get overly focused on fat loss, one of the mechanisms by which we become more efficient fat burners is by increasing our lean muscle mass.

Gaining and preserving muscle (as well as increasing your aerobic and anaerobic capacity) should be a lifelong goal to mitigate many of the impacts of the “aging process” including sarcopenia, which is muscle wasting.  Muscle burns more calories at rest, supports your joints, and serves as an important endocrine organ, meaning it impacts hormone function and metabolism.

• Read How Muscle Works
• Listen to Muscle is Key to Longevity with Dr Gabrielle Lyon

Diversity in your fitness routine will train your cardiovascular system to perform well at different levels of intensity and increase the overall function of your body.

Resting Heart Rate (RHR)

Resting heart rate is the number of beats per minute your heart beats while you’re at rest, and is an important health indicator. The RHR range for adults falls between 60-100 beats per minute (12), and “normal” varies from person to person, though in athletic people a lower number is generally an indicator of fitness. Some athletes may be in an even lower range.

To check your RHR manually on yourself, you can either use the side of your wrist, or the side of your neck. A great time to measure is first thing in the morning after waking up, before you have coffee.

• At the wrist: find the tendons that runs down the center of your inner arm, just below your palm. Take your pulse using your index and middle fingers gently pressing into the thumb side of the skin beside the tendons.
• At the neck: place your index and middle fingers lightly on either side of your neck, just beside where your Adam’s apple would be (women).
• Using a timer, count the number of beats in 15 seconds, then multiply that number by 4. You may want to repeat this a couple of times, taking the average of the values you get.
• Don’t take a measurement just after exercising or after a stressful event. Wait up to 2 hours, as your heart rate can remain elevated for some time.
• Wait for at least an hour after consuming caffeine.

Target Heart Rate Zones

It can be useful to follow heart rate training zone guidelines when exercising, comparing workout intensity to your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is considered the highest amount your heart can sustain during cardio training. You can get this number by subtracting your age from 220. Most athletes train at between 50-70% of their maximum heart rate.

Using the chart below, find the age category closest to yours and use that to find your target heart rates. Moderate intensity (steady state cardio for instance) has a target heart rate of around 50-70% of your maximum heart rate, while high intensity exercise is about 70-85% of your maximum.

This chart can also be useful based on your fitness level. If you’re a beginner, aim for the lower range of your target zone (more like 50%) and gradually build up. If you’re more advanced, you can more easily push to the higher range.

These numbers are just general guidelines. To manually check your heart rate while exercising, keep moving – your heart rate will drop when you stop.

The importance of Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

Heart rate variability measures the variation in time between heart beats. This variation is controlled by your autonomic nervous system, which runs both your sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous systems. Your brain constantly processes all kinds of information, and your responses to it activate these pathways.

If your system is constantly under stress from a poor diet, lack of sleep, overtraining (or lack of exercise), anxiety, isolation or other health disruptors, your fight or flight mechanism can shift into overdrive causing the variation between heartbeats to be low. Conversely, the more relaxed we are, the higher the variability between heart beats.

The significance of your HRV is that it can really show you how your nervous system is responding to both the external environment and also your inner thoughts, feelings and emotions.

A lower HRV can correlate to an inflamed system, worsening depression and anxiety, and an increased risk of death and cardiovascular disease (13).

A higher HRV is indicative of resilience to stress, and often indicates physical fitness. One of the reasons I am a proponent of mindful breathing exercises, meditation, therapy and other forms of self care and personal development is because of the impact it can have on your responses to stress and your heightened self-awareness in being able to care for yourself in a balanced way. This can raise your HRV, and increase your resilience.

Measuring RHR and HRV

A chest strap monitor is a great way to determine all kinds of indicators, including RHR and HRV, and you can also get readings from other wearables for your wrist, or even finger. I personally keep track of my HRV – as well as RHR and many sleep and activity indicators with an Oura Ring.

To sum it all up, your cardiovascular fitness can be impacted by all the choices you make about how to take care of yourself – not only with your workouts but with the way you eat, think, and practice self care.

Be sure to check in below and let me know what insights you got, and let me know if you have any questions!

For workouts that balance your training with aerobic and anaerobic fitness activities and give you variety so you’re never bored, join ROCK YOUR LIFE

My online home workout studio and women’s fitness community! With fresh new classes added 5 days a week and dozens of fun 30-day challenges to choose from so you can mix up your training styles and get support along the way, you’ll always be motivated to exercise and enjoy it – while reaping all the benefits to your health!

Get a 30 Day Trial!

The post Cardio 101: How to Use Cardio to Meet Your Goals appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

In today’s workout, we’re going to target our back, core and arms to get an awesome fat-burning, strength building workout in less than 10 minutes.

I am loving hearing from you about how you are doing with these workouts! Be sure to check in down below in the comments area when you’re finished up today!

If you’ve been following along this month, you’ll have gotten to go around your entire body with these fast, effective Tabata workouts that can be done absolutely anywhere in 4 minute blocks!

Here are the other workouts in this series so you can take advantage of the entire collection:

Bikini Tabata 1: FULL BODY

Bikini Tabata 2: BOOTY and LEGS

Bikini Tabata 3: Cardio ABS

Enjoy the workout!

We’re gearing up for our July Summer Shred 30-day Challenge in the Rock Your Life Community – so check that program out if you’re looking for support, accountability and a great program to follow to really get your body moving this Summer!

Check in with me below and let me know how you do with this workout!

Great job on today’s workout! Now let’s get you a workout PLAN so you can keep progressing and get support along the way!

Rock Your Life has access to dozens of home workout challenges, a huge class library with hundreds of workouts of all types so you can choose from a huge variety of one-off workouts if you’re not following a plan, and has a private women’s fitness support community to make sure you always have the resources you need!

Get a 30-day Trial to ROCK YOUR LIFE and start your challenge!

The post Bikini Tabata Series 4: Upper Body Smash appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

This week we’re doing a super cardio core workout that combines some of my favorite ab moves in our tabata format for a fast, efficient workout!

If you are just joining this workout series, here are the other two workouts for you to try:

1-Bikini Tabata Series 1: FULL BODY

2-Bikini Tabata Series 2: BOOTY + LEGS

I’m gearing up for the Rock Your Life #SUMMERSHRED 30-Day Challenge – I host brand new LIVE challenges in our community every Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter and we have dozens of 30 day challenge plans just waiting for you to start them!

If you have been wondering what it’s like, this is a great time to join us! You can get a 30-day trial and then stay for a month, a year or for as long as you like! CLICK HERE to get more info!

Let’s get right into today’s workout!! Right below the form notes I included some more great info and resources for you on sculpting a strong stomach – so if that’s an area of the body you’re working on, be sure to scroll down and use that info!

Check in with me when you finish up today!

Wanting to define those abs a little more for summer?

Awesome.

A strong core supports and stabilizes you through all the moves you make – and is a great goal.

There’s a little more to getting it shredded than just doing ab workouts every day though…

Looking forward to hearing from you!

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, 30-day home workout challenges, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

The post Bikini Tabata Series 3: Cardio Abs appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

If you haven’t tried the first workout in this series yet, you’ll love it! It’s a Full Body Tabata and you can do it with me right here.

Just to recap, tabatas are extremely effective fat-burning workouts we can do in a short amount of time (just 4 minutes per round).

Scroll down below today’s workout description for the 3-Essential Components of Fat Loss.

I’ve included some strength-building resistance moves in the mix to lift and sculpt the booty and legs!

Let me know how you do with today’s workout – looking forward to hearing your check-ins! Comment below!

Great job on today’s workout! Now let’s get you a workout PLAN so you can keep progressing and get support along the way!

Rock Your Life has access to dozens of home workout challenges, a huge class library with hundreds of workouts of all types so you can choose from a huge variety of one-off workouts if you’re not following a plan, and has a private women’s fitness support community to make sure you always have the resources you need!

Get a 30-day Trial to ROCK YOUR LIFE and start your challenge!

3 Essential Components of Fat Loss

First, fat is NOT the devil. We need a healthy amount of body fat for normal body function.

However, a lot of us have fallen victim to sedentary lifestyles and a lot of marketing hype from fad diets and food manufacturers – and are struggling to get the extra fat off around trouble areas.

To burn off body fat, we want to focus on a combination of balanced, whole-food nutrition, explosive cardio and resistance training that adds lean muscle.

1 – Explosive Cardio

Explosive cardio (like this tabata series and the programs I write) systemically targets fat burning, helping to reduce your overall body fat.

I mentioned in the 4-step flat stomach guide that while we can’t “spot reduce” (a million crunches won’t burn the fat off your abs), the fat WILL come off in the order it went on if we consistently approach it with these principles.

Recommendation: 2-3 times a week.

2 – Why do we want lean muscle?

Muscle supports your joints and skeletal structure. It makes us stronger and more efficient not only in our workouts, but in everyday activities too.

It burns more calories at rest than fat, effectively helping you to be fat-burning machine even when you’re sitting at your desk.

When I’m not in the gym (or not using weights), I still incorporate resistance training into my workouts taking advantage of gravity, complex movements, tough balancing moves, sliders and more – all the kinds of things you can find in the workouts we do together in my classes, my online programs and workouts here on the blog.

Recommendation: 2-3 times a week.

A great way to combine resistance training and explosive cardio if you’re mostly doing home workouts is to use workouts that have both types of moves written into them (circuit training style), and follow a 3-4 workout a week plan. Add in one additional day depending on your fitness level and time availability. 

3 – Dial in Your Nutrition

Nutrition is the final – and I’d say most essential  – piece, because while your workouts can still help you get stronger, it will be harder to drop body fat if you’re eating the wrong combination of nutrients, or not eating enough nutrients.

It’s very important to know that the fat that we eat from whole foods does NOT just “turn into body fat.” Healthy fat from nuts, seeds, eggs, avocados, grass-fed yogurt (if you tolerate dairy well) and responsibly raised meat has important functions in our body that are essential for a healthy metabolism.

To balance your plate, focus on getting protein with every meal. Your body can’t make all of the amino acids it needs for its metabolic functions and has an amino acid pool it draws from that needs consistent replenishment. Eating a variety of wholesome protein sources throughout the day is a great way to ensure you have what you need.

Include carbohydrates that come from whole-food sources your body can readily use. I recommend a combination of sprouted, fermented or soaked grains (overnight oatmeal, sprouted rice or quinoa, fermented miso) and fibrous vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes and squash.

Fruit is also excellent, and a quick source of energy but higher in fructose, which gets used differently than its slower-digesting carb counterparts that I mentioned first.

I recommend including your complex carbohydrates with your first meal of the day and in your meal that follows your workout.

Include healthy fats and don’t eat fat-free foods. The most common foods that cause fat storage are the highly processed foods, many of them labeled to make us think they’re better for us with catch phrases like “fat-free, sugar-free, natural sugar,” etc.

Beware of foods that have the fat stripped out – to make them palatable, they’re often loaded with sugar and/or sodium.

Avoid foods that are “sugar-free” – they usually have a lot of extra sodium and in many cases sugar substitutes and additives that aren’t as easy for the body to process.

Recommendation: Last but not least, what has helped me the MOST over the years is learning about nutrition and my body so I can choose to eat mindfully.

That doesn’t mean I’m eating “perfectly clean meals 24/7, 365.” That means I choose these balanced nutrients most of the time, and choose to deviate from this guilt-free when the occasion calls for it.

It’s a lifestyle – not a diet. Arm yourself with knowledge and empower yourself to LIVE in the body you create by choice, not by chance.

Let me make healthy eating easy for you! Take my Eating Type Quiz!

References:

Dutchen, Stephanie National Institute of General Medical Sciences What do fats do in the body? 12-2010

The post Bikini Tabata Series 2: Booty and Legs appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

Welcome to Week 1!

Why do I LOVE Tabatas?

For one, they’re super fast. You can get an awesome workout done in 4 minutes. I personally like stacking 2-3 tabatas together (we call them “endurance tabatas in Rock Your Life) and being done for the day in less than 15 minutes total.

Second, they’re wicked effective. This style of short-duration exercise has the added benefit of decreasing impact on our joints while still delivering massive results.

In an 8-week tabata style treadmill study, researchers found that their participants improved overall flexibility and anaerobic power while decreasing musculoskeletal impact on their ligaments, joints, and tendons.

Leave me a comment below today’s workout and check in! Let me know how you’re doing!

Awesome work!! Do you feel the burn? Check in below and let me know how you do today!

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The post Bikini Tabata Series 1: Full Body appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

You really can get amazing results in a short-duration workout when the intensity of your workout is high.

We can up the intensity in our workouts a couple different ways – one with a faster, more dynamic style (like plyometrics, tabatas and HIIT circuits) that get our heart rates up and blood pumping –  and also workouts like today’s where the intensity comes from the resistance and recruitment of many stabilizing and balancing muscles.

There are a lot of great ways to do resistance training like using weights, bands, a slider – or even as simple as using gravity to your advantage, which I do in so many of my bodyweight workouts. I alternate the short, effective workouts I do between a more plyometrics style and resistance style so I don’t get burned out – plus I love the variety!

Today we’re going to be using gravity and our sliders to add that resistance-intensity to our training – with this core-focused workout that you can do in about 12 minutes with me (or repeat for a longer workout of course) to really make the most of our time and get stronger!

Leave me a comment to let me know you were here, and how you did in today’s workout! There are notes on form written below for you, as well as some info about nutrition to help you get the most out of your training.

to repeat the workout, jump back to 1:21

To really see the hard work I put into my workouts pay off, I make it a PRIORITY to focus on getting balanced nutrition.

What nutrients does your body need to make the most of YOUR hard work and the time you’re putting into your training?

You need….

Protein: Eating protein is not going to “bulk you up.” It’s an important nutrient that’s responsible for multiple body functions. It is even more satiating than fat or carbs, and it can boost your metabolic rate while lowering your appetite.

If you’re constantly craving sugar or sweets, it is important to take a look at the nutrients in your daily dietary intake to see if you’re getting enough protein, fat and complex, wholesome carbohydrates.

Carbs: I do not recommend a no-carb or low carb diet for any length of time. Long term carbohydrate deprivation leads to a complete depletion of your body’s storage glycogen levels, depression of your immune system, decrease in metabolic function, and a host of other issues.

Making your baseline a good variety of complex and simple carbohydrate foods provides your body with the nutrients, vitamins, and fiber it needs without spiking your blood sugar or overloading your liver. I’m talking about easy stuff like quinoa, brown rice, and baked sweet potatoes sprouted grain bread and overnight oatmeal.
Fruit is a wonderful quick-digesting “simple” carbohydrate that comes complete with minerals and vitamins. It won’t give you as much lasting energy as a bowl of oatmeal would, so go for variety and prioritize to the lower glycemic fruits (berries, apples) more than the tropical fruits (pineapple, banana, mango).

Keep in mind that soaking, sprouting, or fermenting grains is always the best preparation method that breaks down the protective outer coating of the grain and the gluten protein, and allows your body to get their full nutritional benefit.

Fats: Fat is the preferred fuel of muscle tissue at rest (make sure you get plenty of sleep to maximize this benefit), AND it protects your muscle’s valuable protein stores while being burned for energy along with glucose and glycogen during exercise.

Eating fat provides your body with the means to absorb the micro-nutrients in foods like vegetables and greens – by shuttling and dissolving their fat-soluble vitamins and phytochemicals to your cells. It is a powerful ally in optimal health.

Greens: Aside from cooking greens and harnessing all their wonderful fiber that helps our digestion and energy, I love making green smoothies – or using a high-quality and tasty greens plus protein powder like Berry Green Protein when I don’t have a lot of fresh stuff on hand. Regularly rotate your greens and ingredients for the greatest nutrient variety.

Looking forward to hearing from you today! Be sure to comment below when you do this workout, and share this post with a friend who would love it!

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The post Low-Impact Core Slider Home Workout appeared first on The Betty Rocker.