Fit Fall Recipe

We love our veggies and in my nutrition plans, I promote getting most of your carbs from veggies rather than highly processed breads and pastas that our human bodies can't digest very well. If you're worried about a lack of energy, then you haven't tried falls friendliest veggies like the acorn squash... They are high carb and you can find them all over grocery stores during the fall season. Below is a recipe for a great high carb soup to feast on to fuel those heavy leg sessions and HIIT workouts.

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

3 acorns, sliced in half and seeds removed
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
2 shallot, chopped
1 red onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tsp. kosher salt

1 teaspoon savory
1/2 tsp. dried ginger

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried sage
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
4 cups vegetable stock

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place squash, skin-side-down, onto baking sheet. Lightly sprinkle with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Roast in oven for 45-50 minutes, or until flesh is tender and skin is starting to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool, remove flesh from skin by using a spoon and scooping out the flesh. Discard skin and set flesh aside.

In a large, deep pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add carrots, garlic, shallot and onions and saute until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Once tender, add salt, ginger, sage, cayenne, allspice, savory, black pepper, squash and vegetable stock. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove pot from heat and puree mixture, either with an immersion blender or a blender (in batches) or a food processor.

Once pureed, season to taste.

 

Loving Legs on Monday

Let's make Monday universal LEG DAY!

                

Everyone loves to hate legs day, but we love it!  It's not easy to get lean and muscular legs, but patience and hard work will pay off!

             

  Here are five great reasons to start your workout week with legs!

1. You get your hardest workout out of the way.

 

 

2. You burn off those weekend calories because squats and lunges burn a ton of calories.

 

3. The DOMS will be over in enough time to do a second legs day during the week.

 

4. You don't have to do cardio on a machine if you incorporate some leg plyos and circuit style training.

5. You will have an awesome sense of accomplishment for the rest of the week!

There are several leg workouts in our previous blog posts to look at. You can also visit our website http://twinspirationfitness.webs.com/ for a personalized leg workout!

Fall For Lean Legs... My Training Secret

           

Fall is prime time to flaunt your lean legs in the hottest stretch pants. But what is the best way to train for lean legs... high reps, low weight? High weight, low reps? Here is my (Juliane) number one secret to lean legs like a dancer.

You MUST do a combination of both types of training including heavy weights and low reps and low weight and high reps. I found this is most effective because you need to build that muscle, but still burn the fat surrounding the muscle so you can see the definition. Ladies... DO NOT be afraid to lift heavy weights with your legs... body weight squats will NOT give you muscles, but they will condition your legs and boost that metabolic rate. You can combine the two styles of training in one workout per week, or separate them on different days. So on Monday, you might do a heavy leg day then on Thursday do lighter weight and higher reps with plyometrics to really get that heart rate up and in fat burning mode. You can also add finishers and drop sets to a heavy leg workout which we have discussed in previous posts. Below is an example of a good finisher or an exercise for a light leg day.

This exercise will activate your core, abductors, hamstrings, and glutes. Using a heavy resistance band (blue, gray, or black) wrap the band around your arches and lift legs a few inches off the ground. Hold the band back with your hands...

Push through your heels to straighten your legs...

Then open your legs to the sides to hit the abductors and glutes...  keep repeating for about 30 reps or until failure.

For more secrets to lean leg training get a personalized plan on our website http://twinspirationfitness.webs.com/

 

You can also try out my Barre Fusion class on Fridays at 5:30pm at the Dance Dynamix Studio in Lititz, PA.

Curtsey Band Squats...At Home Workout

Here's a simple at home exercise that targets the entire lower body and your core. It's a Curtsey Squat using and band around the thighs and 2.5lb ankle weights. Do a deep curtesy on the right and then bring your knee up to the side and squeeze those abs! Try to hold your balance for a few seconds before repeating. Balance is very important and if you don't use it, you lose it! 

Here's the workout...a simple 20 minute metabolic booster that works the lower body and core as well as balance.

-10 curtsey squats with leg raise (as described above) on right side, then 10 on left side.

- 10 abductor walks to the right (side steps leading with the heel,) then 10 to the left.

-10 parallel squats

-10 calf raises in second position (legs wide toes turned out)

- wall squat hold for 1 minute

Rest for 1 minute then repeat the entire circuit for 20 minutes (keep the band and weights on for the entire circuit)

 

Visit our website http://twinspirationfitness.webs.com/   for online training and nutrition.