Friday Inspiration 6-7-13 |

It’s been a wild week and my thighs are burning like crazy but thank goodness it’s finally freakin Friday! Here’s the latest installment of Friday Inspiration and hopefully it finds you well in your fitness GRIND.

-J.S. Gates

Routine of the Day: CARDIO, CARDIO AND MORE CARDIO!

Ok so after introducing a couple of cardio combos at the beginning of a Total Body Sculpt class and seeing many of my participants struggle with their stamina, I realized that the lack of cardio in workouts is probably a huge trend. Many of the participants who were use to the weekly Bootcamp-ish class were quickly out of breath once I threw some cardio moves at them. In MY opinion, without cardio incorporated into a regular fitness routine, any type of high-intensity circuit class is somewhat null and void. The reason is, if you don’t have a strong cardio foundation then how are you going to effectively run through a circuit and maintain stamina?

So remember cardio can include 20-30 running, kickboxing routines or my favorite, a string of cardio moves. If you are going to try to incorporate both cardio and circuits, I would do 20 min cardio and 25-30 min of circuit training.

‘I Earned it’ Drink of the Day: Via the Gaia Health Blog. I love indulging in fruity drinks especially during the summer and especially after I’ve kicked butt in the gym all week. There are things that I believe should be feverishly counted such as blessings or money but calories… in drinks… are Not one of them.

Ultimate Rum Punch (Alcoholic)

3/8 cup golden or amber rum
1/4 cup coconut rum
1/8 cup apricot brandy
1/2 cup real pineapple juice
3/8 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/8 cup fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice
Garnish: Limes, sliced

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a shake and shake well.
Pour over ice to serve.
Garnish with lime slices

Music to Add to the Playlist: I’m going a little different on you today but give each song a chance, because once you do I PROMISE it’ll add a bit of spice and variety to your playlist.

Fergie- A Little Party Never Killed Nobody– This is a great song for running a couple of laps, ab workouts or squat exercises.

Toro y Moi- Cake– I’d do burpees to the song. Why? Because burpees are hell and this song makes me happy, so I become happy as hell to do a circuit of burpees.

Jessie Ware- If You’re Never Gonna Move– This song is great for bicep curls, tricep dips or planks.

Mark Ronson-Bang Bang Bang– This is definitely a circuit song, it gets the blood pumping a bit and will probably have your head nodding.

Daft Punk-Get Lucky– Hands down this is a great running or even cycling song.

Q-Tip- Vibrant Thing– This is a great cool down song, especially if you want to end with a 10min ab section.

Article of the Day: Losing Weight: How Not To Do It. I felt this simple yet logical article is an important read for anyone contemplating diet tactics that involve diet pills, detoxes etc. It’s a quick read but also digs into the science of harmful weight loss strategies.

Recipe of the Day: Via Pip & Ebby. I love stuffed peppers and I love Mexican food even more. Put them together and you have heavennnn. I swear I can smell them from the screen.