6 Minute “Sexy Leg” Workout

Written with love, by Jennifer Dene

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Today’s quick bridal workout is all about the legs!

A pair of strong and sexy pins will make you feel totally confident for the wedding day and your honeymoon. Getting the blood pumping to those big muscles is also a great way to burn off unwanted stress and helps you feel in control of all those decisions that you still need to make.

Leg training can be tough and you might be tempted to skip it or stop halfway through an exercise as the burn starts to build. So this week I’m challenging you to stay the course and stick with me through the entire series — there are only 10 repetitions of each exercise so I know that you can do it!

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Apart from making you look like a total bombshell, strong legs also improve your ankle, knee and hip stability, reducing the risk of injury.  This workout is suitable for all levels and can be done on its own or paired with an arm workout and ab workout for a full body session.

What we’re focusing on today:

1.    Compound Movements: Working multiple muscles in each move improves your strength, releases feel good hormones and burns a higher number of calories than easier isolation moves such as bicep curls. You will see compound moves in the sumo squat high pull, calf raise overhead press and the weighted single leg RDL.

2.    Glutes, glutes and more glutes: Get ready for a terrific looking tooshie from every angle as we tighten that derriere from multiple directions today. Second position pliés strengthen your bum without bulking it up, goblet squats give you that nice perky lift, and deadlifts focus on the under side of your glute and hamstring.

3.    Balance: Sometimes the hardest part of exercising is simply staying still. This workout will challenge your balance in a variety of ways, engaging more muscles and strengthening your core.

 

Grab one heavy weight (optional) and let’s do it to it!


With love,
     Jennifer Dene

7 Minute Ab Workout For A Beautiful Belly

Written with love, by Jennifer Dene

Happy Saturday beautiful bride!

I love working out with you each weekend - It’s such a fun and positive way to start the day. Today I have a deep belly burn workout that is perfect when done on its own or added to the end of our last bridal leg workout (phew, I hope you felt your legs after that one!).

I only isolate my abdominal muscles during one training session each week, as too much targeted ab work can cause structural imbalances and diastasis (separation of the six-pack muscles). Of course the core is active during every workout, especially in planks and squats, but I don’t recommend doing hundreds of crunches each time you go to the gym.

With that said, I do love a good belly burn workout every now and again and I have a feeling that you might agree. Let’s keep up that healthy new year motivation as we enter the third week of January.

What we’re focusing on today:

1.    Obliques

These are the muscles at the side of the waist: Cinching in your waist with sliders, bicycles and side plank will make that mermaid gown really pop!

2.    Rectus Abdominis

The Six-Pack: As I mentioned, I rarely isolate the six-pack muscles in my workouts, but today they are getting some love with a weighted crunch. There are three levels of this move so follow the one that suits you best. A femininely defined belly will look smoking hot in your honeymoon bikini.

3.    Transversus Abdominis

This is your deep low belly: This muscle is the most important abdominal muscle for supporting the spine and improving your posture — especially before you walk down the aisle. We strengthen the TA during our frog presses and plank pose, so continuously draw your navel into your spine during those moves.

Let’s Get Started! Grab your mat and one heavy weight (optional) and let’s do it to it!

P.S. after your workout is the perfect time to try a bridalicious smoothie. Get the healthy breakfast smoothie recipe here.

How to Build A Better Bridal Breakfast Smoothie

Written with love, by Jennifer Dene

healthy breakfast smoothie recipes with less sugar

Instagram and Pinterest are some of the best sources of healthy living inspiration out there! I’m constantly motivated by the beautiful photos and creative ideas that women around the world are sharing.

But there’s a recent health food trend that isn’t sitting so well with me. I’m talking crazy big, crazy sweet breakfast bowls. Whether it’s a tropical fruit smoothie or an acai bowl with all the trimmings, these sweet breakfast beauties aren’t as healthy as they look.

While our bodies are designed to metabolize 25 grams of sugar each day - which is equivalent to about six teaspoons - many of these #healthybreakfast smoothie bowls actually contain upwards of 60 grams of sugar — especially when topped with extra fruit, granola and honey.

Talk about a sweet rush.

If you’re struggling to see results with your bridal wellness plan, you might need to take a look at how much sugar you’re consuming, and there’s no better place to start than on your breakfast plate.

Let’s break down an average smoothie bowl recipe:

●     One large banana (14 grams sugar)
●     Half a mango (23 grams sugar)
●     1 cup vanilla almond milk (16 grams sugar)
●     1 tablespoon almond butter (1 gram sugar)
●     Handful spinach

Blended and topped with:

●     1 tablespoon honey (17g sugar)
●     1/2 cup granola (anywhere between 5g and 20g sugar)
●     1/2 cup fresh berries (3g sugar)

The total sugar in this “healthy” breakfast bowl is 80 — 100 grams. That’s your quota for half the week!

So while you might not be adding white table sugar to your breakfast in the morning, a fruity smoothie or breakfast bowl is affecting your body in the same way.

Fruit is a natural source of sugar — and one with the added benefit of fiber — but a little goes a long way and excess sugar in any form will be quickly stored on the body as fat. That’s why today I want to show you how to build a better smoothie; one that hits all the health notes of a blended breakfast and keeps you moving towards your bridal wellness goals.

 

How To Build A Better Healthy Smoothie

Start with liquid:

●     8 oz water or unsweetened milk of choice

 

Add vegetables:

healthy breakfast smoothie recipes with less sugar

(choose one or more from the list below)

●     1 cup baby spinach or romaine lettuce
●     1/2 zucchini or cucumber
●     1 stalk celery
●     fresh fennel

Add protein:

(choose one)

●     Pure whey
●     Stevia sweetened vegan protein
●     Hemp seeds

Add healthy fat:

(choose one)

●     1 tablespoon nut butter
●     1oz avocado (frozen for a thicker smoothie
●     1oz raw coconut meat (frozen for a thicker smoothie)

Add sweetener:

(optional, choose one)

●     1/2 banana (frozen for a thicker smoothie)
●     1 cup frozen berries
●     1 kiwi fruit

Toppings:

(optional, choose one)

●     1/4 cup low sugar granola
●     1 tablespoon chopped nuts
●     1 tablespoon coconut flakes