5 Reasons NOT to Skip Leg Day!

Saturday's are leg day around here and in the FASTer Way to Fat Loss® program we work them pretty hard!

If you are still wondering why "never miss a leg day" is a big deal, check out these 5 reasons why you shouldn't forget to train your lower body once a week.

Leg Day - 5 reasons it’s important

1. Core and cardio - leg exercises are compound movements which mean you work multiple muscle groups and get your heart rate up

2. Better performance - strong legs mean better balance and stability during all of your activities.

3. Fat loss - training the largest muscle group means using more energy which comes from stored fat

4. Prevent back pain - strong glutes, hip flexors, quads and hamstrings keep you stabilized and will help prevent back injuries

5. Look great - toned and strong legs are sexy!

If you'd like to see some leg day exercises, follow me on IG (here) or join my FASTer Way To FASTer Way to Fat Loss® bootcamp. Get more details and a FREE starter kit here!

A Leg Workout and My First Fabletics

We woke up in Connecticut on Wednesday morning. We took a different route back and ended up getting great views of New York City as we crossed the George Washington Bridge. There was a little traffic, but overall it was an easy ride (thanks to mrC's driving).

As a bonus I also woke up with a jacked up shoulder blade, I guess from my sleeping position. I tried to pinpoint the spot with my trusty tennis ball, but no luck.

Feeling motivated after telling the world (well, my blogging world anyway) that I need to bring back the strength training, I went to the fitness center armed with a leg workout from my SHRED days. It. Was. Killer.

Here's the workout as written: 10 minute WU, 10 sets of 10 walking lunges, 2 sets of 10 weighted goblet squats, 2 sets of 12-15 dumbbell deadlifts, 2 sets of 12-15 plie squats, 10 sets of 10 side lunge to squat, 100 calf raises, 10 sets of 10 burpees, 10 minute CD.

I did the workout as written until...the side lunges. This is when I started thinking that maybe I should have considered modifying earlier. I did 3 sets instead of 10 side lunges and only 3 sets of burpees (just enough for the Pushups, Planks, and Burpees challenge by Running on Happy ---> it's a repeat of what she did in January).

I'm afraid I may have over-done it on my poor hamstrings. There's not much that is good about the hotel fitness room, but there is a spongy foam roller.

As we headed out of Newark on Tuesday, we made a pitstop at the mall. Besides popping into New York and Company (where I found this dress, these linen pants), I wanted to check out Fabletics. I didn't even know they had an actual store! I wore my new leggings during my workout and they were great. I don't usually like the floral designs on myself, but the color combo of the Oasis print made this one a winner. I kind of wish I had bought the capris though.

We spent the afternoon visiting mrC's family. My sister-in-law and I went to the trails at the local university to walk a couple dogs (the puppy in the middle of the pic didn't join us). We couldn't believe that it was 90 degrees out!

For dinner we picked up some ready made parm-crusted haddock, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli from the local grocery and took it to mrC's parents. Then we hung out at his brother's for a bit watching the hockey game.

Anyone doing the (January repeat) PPB challenge?
Have you tried anything from Fabletics?

Thoughts About Workouts and Other Stuff

Things that make me go hmmm. (I'm linking up with the Friday Five 2.0 - join the fun here)

It was leg day on my workout schedule. I started with a one mile warm-up run on the treadmill. I had already walked to the fitness center, so my legs felt good during this run. For some reason the Nike Run Club app on my watch thought I had run for 50 minutes? Hmmm.

Another thing that makes me go hmmm...why doesn't the treadmill and my watch distance ever match up?

My FASTer Way to Fat Loss® strength training workout was broken into three parts:

LEGS: squats and deadlifts
SUPERSETS: thrusters/plie squat jumps and scissor step-ups/calf raises
GLUTES: kickbacks, clamshells, bridges, abductors

It was a good workout, but I had trouble figuring out how to do the scissor step-ups in the fitness center. There are several weight benches that are the right height and some low step platforms that are kind of too low. I used the low step platform today because I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to put my shoes on the weight bench. I did wonder though, do people step up on weight benches? Hmmm.

Another thing that makes me go hmmm...what is the proper etiquette for wiping down mats in the gym if you didn't leave sweat marks?

After our workouts (mrC ran a 5k on the treadmill, yay!), we walked back to the apartment for our cool down and enjoyed the amazingly pleasant fall-like weather we are having right now.

Let me side-track for a minute...The nice weather actually started yesterday. Here I am all dressed up and waiting for the bus to go to lunch with the girls and NOT sweating to death. (PS - I love my sandals ((affiliate)) but for the life of me, the right heel strap will not stay up, no matter how tight I make it. Ugh, but I still wear them)

And since I brought up lunch, here is the freshly made pasta I had for lunch. If you are ever in Hong Kong, I highly recommend dining at Cucina at the Marco Polo hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. They have spectacular views of Victoria Harbour (you can see the table where we sat on the Cucina website here - right in the corner). My friend's husband is the General Manager of the hotel, so we might have had some VIP treatment thanks to her ;)

How about more good food? I'll share our post-workout breakfast from today: Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pancakes. I've been looking forward to making these ever since we brought the box back from our trip to the US in September. First I was saving them to eat in October (anyone else do that?) and then it was just a matter of time to make them.

They are soooo good! Why, oh why, don't they sell these year round? And why did I only buy one box? Hmmm.

mrC had to run to the airport, so I got caught up on some TGIT on Hulu. When he gets back we are going out to dinner.

What do you have going on for the weekend?
Do you like pumpkin pancakes?
Are you a Grey's Anatomy, Scandal or How To Get Away With Murder fan?

My First Stride Rate Test and Leg Day

Saturday mornings mean leg day at the gym.

We like to walk to the gym. It's a good warm-up, but today I also wanted to run on the treadmill. I usually run for 10 minutes using some form of intervals, but today I went for a full mile without stopping.

While I was running, I started thinking about my stride rate. I read a Runner's World article this morning that talked about how to be a more efficient runner. 

I also read somewhere that more efficient running will help decrease injuries. I probably should have thought about this a long time ago, but figured it's never too late to make improvements! For two minutes, I counted my steps. Both times I came to 95. There is probably a difference between treadmill and outdoor running, so I will do another stride rate test the next time I run outside, but I'm happy with that number today.

My FASTer Way to Fat Loss® leg day workout was organized into three parts: 

One-Minuters: wall sit, plank, and mountain climbers for one minute each. Mountain climbers for one minute pretty much stink. I had to take two breaks mostly because my arms needed it. 

Weights: This is the part I enjoyed most. leg press, leg curls, front squats, deadlifts, lunges. No problems with any of the exercises and I felt good about my weight choices.

Finishers: Curtsey lunges, side lunge with squat, squat jumps and lunge jumps. My knee hates curtsey lunges and lunge jumps. Instead I used the adductor machine and skipped the lunge jumps.

I love that the fitness center has a pool. Cool downs are just so much better there.

We spent the rest of the afternoon indoors. We went to 6:30 Mass and it was still super warm. We took the bus to try and stay cool.  Then we had trouble finding the temporary location and ended up walking around getting hot and sweaty. Ugh. 

Regular Calorie Day - the meals

Broke fast about 12:30 - turkey breast rollups, celery, hummus, and Cheez-its

Lunch - protein fruit smoothie and PB&J apple cinnamon rice cakes

Dinner - leftover buffalo chicken quinoa. This stuff is so good!!

Snack - My first Siggi's vanilla yogurt. On the fence about this. It was strong? Not sure the right word for it. I didn't hate it, but I couldn't eat the whole container either.

Have you ever done a stride rate test?

Do you like Siggi's yogurt?