Six steps to shape up in '08

Friday, December 28, 2007
By ALTHEA FUNG
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The new year is just days away. It's time to clean up the house, get your tax information together and prepare for the upcoming year.

But more importantly, it's time to shape up for 2008. As with most of the population, my resolution is to work out on a regular basis and eat healthier food. My ultimate goal is to be able to wear a swimsuit at the beach this summer, minus the oversized T-shirt.

To do this, I enlisted the help of two personal trainers to explain simple exercises that working men and women can do in their homes if they can't make it to the gym.

Morgan Ciani, personal trainer and owner of Chisel Circuit in Jersey City, devised a 45-minute total-body workout based on six basic movements - push, pull, lunge, twist, squat and bend.

A simple push-up can develop the pectoral muscle (which is situated in the upper front portion of the chest wall), the triceps and the midsection. I have difficulty doing a push-up but Ciani recommends using a coffee table or bed post to prop yourself up instead of doing them on the floor. It gives the same work out and can also be a challenge. Push-ups can also be performed on the wall.

Moving your body in a rowing motion is a pull. To do this, place palms facing down and have elbows out and move like you are opening a door. This will work out the muscles between the shoulder blades.

A lunge strengthens the quadriceps, hamstring and gluteal muscles. To perform a lunge correctly you should stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and step forward, landing with the heel first. Your knee should be at a 90 degree angle and directly over your toes. Pay close attention to your knees; failure to perform this exercise correctly can lead to injury.

The twist works out the oblique muscle, or what is endearingly referred to as "love handles." Ciani recommends moving like you are swinging a bat - keeping your belly button centered, move from side to side is a twisting motion.

Brandon Edmonds, a trainer from Newport Swim & Fitness Center, also recommends combining a twist into doing a crunch. When laying on the ground, face up with knees bent and alternating hitting each knee with the opposite elbow - for example, lifting the right knee and bringing down the left elbow. Also sitting on a bench or bed with legs straight out and twisting from side to side strengthens legs and the oblique muscle.

The fifth movement is the squat. Ciani describes a squat as, "when you go to a dirty gas station and you absolutely must use the toilet but it is dirty." Squats work out the lower half of the body, with major emphasis on the quadriceps and glutes. To do a squat, bend your legs at the knees and hips, lowering the torso between the legs.

Edmonds also recommends doing fire hydrants - get on all fours and raise each leg to the side creating a 90 degree angle. This exercise also works out the hips. Another variation of the exercise is doing kick backs, where instead of lifting leg to a 90 degree angle, kick the leg backwards.

The final movement is a bend, which can be used in combination with the other movements. For example, Ciani says that while you're doing a squat, bend over to lift something off the floor. These exercises done for an hour, two to three times a week can help maintain your weight and improve your over all health.

Household items like canned foods make good and inexpensive weights. They only have to be a pound or two, but lifting them repeatedly still creates a burn. Also changing little things, like walking up the escalator, can make a drastic difference.

Edmonds also recommends that you switch up your exercise periodically.

"It's like when you read a book. The first time you read it, you're excited because it's new and fresh," he said. "You read it the second time and might catch something you didn't catch before. The third time you know what's coming on the next page. It's the same thing with the body."

However, working out really means nothing if you are packing away four doughnuts a day. Taking in more nutritious foods and taking out junk food will assist in the weight loss process.

Ciani recommends looking at labels and said "It's hard to just take out everything all at once. Sometime you just have to make slight changes. Like instead of using the brand name peanut butter with the additive, try natural peanut butter."

For people like me, who love carbs but hear so much about how bad carbs are for you, Edmonds offers some hope.

"Carbs are not bad. Carbs can be your friend - it just depends on what carbs you are putting into your body," he said. "Generally, when it comes to carbs, if it is white it ain't right, but if it's brown get down."

Substituting white rice with brown rice and white potatoes with sweet potatoes can change not only the flavor of what you eat but the sugar content. Edmonds recognizes that it is hard to completely take out the junk food, and says eating things in moderation works.

Skipping meals isn't a healthy alternative so try instead to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet to replace fatty snacks. It is hard to get in five to six meals a day, as recommended by nutritionists, but eating three solid meals can keep you energized. Also, you should drink at least eight glasses of water a day. For those that hate the taste of water, adding a splash of cranberry or orange juice can up the flavor with only a small dose of sugar.

Tracking your progress by keeping a log of what you eat and your exercise regimen can show you what's working and what needs to change.

By keeping in mind how much you move and what goes in your mouth, being healthy in 2008 should be as easy as pie (just a sliver without the whipped cream, of course).

And I'll see you on the beach.