The Fitness Guru

The response to the Personal Training Podcasts has been terrific!! You all seem to be getting into the idea of CyberTraining 1.0.

This week’s workout is a focus on upper body work with some cardio thrown in for fun! It’s 55 minutes from soup to nuts! Give it a whirl.

This week’s upper body focus is a result of a request for an upper body workout. It’s that simple. Ask me and I’ll make it happen. Also, let me know what soundtracks you want. If you want to workout to all Sinatra (hey, ya never know) tell me and I will post the podcast.

These workouts are for you! Let me know how best to shape them!

And the Winner is…..

It was a very difficult process. So many of you submitted great entries. But after dozens of entries, some hand wringing and debate among our judges, the winner of the First Annual Guru Makeover is…….

Christine Barker of DUMBO, NY!

Stay tuned for updates on Christine and her fabulous makeover.

And thank you to everyone who entered!! We are going to have lots of other great contests in 2010, so stay tuned!!

Podcasts

So a few brave people have tried the new Free Personal Training Podcasts and the feedback has been fantastic. It’s so easy to use. Download the podcasts from our ever-expanding library HERE, add the podcast to your iPod, and come into the Guru for a workout with your Cyber-Trainer. Michael will guide you through a variety of workouts with an eclectic mix of music and various workout times! Check it out now and catch the wave!!

Every so often, I love to celebrate a member of our community who is doing extraordinary work. I love that people come into the studio and work out HARD! But I love it even more when they take that training out into the world. Today, I found materials on not one but TWO of our folk doin’ what they do so well: Chandra and Don.

If you pass through the Guru every so often odds are you have passed one or both of them, and, knowing them, they have smiled and greeted you. Chandra is a film maker and Don is….well, you’ll have to ask him…..something with finance and whatnot. But what amazes me is what they do in their off hours. I consider myself an athlete– not brilliant but I can hold my own. But these two have wandered into sports I can’t even fathom: horseback riding and surfing!

Check out Chandra competing last weekend:

And here is Don in El Salvador:
(it’s a still picture. Don’t click on it. It won’t do anything)

And here is an interview I did with Don back in 2007 about the 40 pounds that he lost to get ready to go surfing:

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

We finally have the Cardio-Strength Circuit Podcasts available for download right HERE. For those of you who don’t know about the Circuit, it is a wonderful idea thought up a couple of decades ago by my good friend, Joel Kaye: spend just a few minutes on each piece of equipment and in a quick hour, you have worked your body in every possible direction. Of course, we have added our own spin to the Circuit idea, including the Podcasts.
Now you can download an hour long workout right onto your iPod. Bring your iPod to the Studio and you are ready to rock!! You get an hour of music and instruction on how to use the Circuit to your best advantage. It’s like having a persona ltrainer right there with you.

Give the Podcasts a try and then let us know what you think. LEt us know what other sorts of music you want to hear, and what other workouts would light up your fitness life. We will make it happen.

Enjoy and Rock On!!!

Recently, I posted about the absurdity of Kim Kardashian releasing an exercise video. My problems with the video stemmed mostly from the fact that Kim is not a fitness professional and therefore has no place as an instructor. My post brought a response from Jennifer Galardi, one of the two actual professionals hired to put Kim through her paces. Jennifer appears with Kim in the video and her comments may be read at the bottom of the previous post.

[caption id="attachment_1049" align="alignright" width="100" caption="Patrick Goudeau"][/caption]

I continue to take issue with many points raised by Ms. Galardi including the fact that Kim was hired because she “sells” and that “by no means do the DVD’s imply that Kim is the one who created these routines or tries to teach them.” Unfortunately, that is exactly the implication, given the packaging and the marketing campaign. And, even though Kim is one of the “hardest working clients” she has ever trained and Kim “is really committed to this and now makes fitness a part of her life”, that is by no means any sort of qualification for what is gimmick marketing, pure and simple.
However, as insulting as I find Kim’s video to be, attention must be paid to Ms. Galardi and Patrick Goudeau, the other professional hired to whip Ms. Kardashian into shape. Here are two pros who have spent their careers improving their craft and dedicating themselves to helping others. The fact that they need to work on projects like this is simply business.
BUT both instructors have their own video lines and I strongly urge you to check them out the next time you are shopping for videos. Let’s put our consumer dollars toward people who have worked hard and deserve the support.
Here is Jennifer
and here is Patrick
Enjoy!!

We are very lucky at the Guru. We have a stunningly talented community, made up of the very best in the arts, theatre, dance, music and business. But I was blown away when I heard the music of one of our own, Jillian Lubow. She was kind enough to let us post one of her new songs, but I STRONGLY recommend check out her other work here and getting a copy for yourself. Check it out!!
Remember/Forget (click the link, hear the song)

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

No, it’s not a ski run. It’s what I do when I’m strapped for time and I want as solid a workout as possible. Here’s how it works:

1. First, I start with 5 minute warm up on the elliptical machine.
2. Next, I choose five exercises, A thru E.
3. Each exercise should work a different body part: legs, arms, abs, etc. I will also add a cardio vascular exercise like Mountain Climbers or Jumping Jacks
4. I start with one set of exercise A. Then I wait 30 seconds. Then I do exercises A and B. Wait 30 seconds. A,B and C. And I continue on until I have A,B,C,D, and E.
5. Now I start with E. Wait 30 seconds. E,D, wait 30 seconds. And all the way back to E,D,C,B and A

Each Diamond should take about 15 minutes to complete. If I have 30 to 45 minutes to workout, I will do two Diamonds back to back. And the great thing is that I can keep changing the exercises from Diamond to Diamond so that I never get bored.

It is a high intensity workout so be careful and patient the first time out. But give it a try and you’ll find the Diamond is a fun, creative way to make the time fly by in the gym.

Ok, yes, it kind of misses the irony and it doesn’t have quite the shock power, but, since we celebrated This Is Why You’re Fat, I feel the need to introduce This Is Why You’re Thin. Enjoy!!

I woke up so confused today. First, I found out that Omega-3 fatty acid supplements, the so-called “heart healthy” fatty acids, may not be so heart healthy after all, albeit studying heart attack patients and with the caveat “we are not saying that they are not effective.” Oops.

Next up, I find that what we should be consuming are Lipoic acid supplements which have been slightly controversial but NOW seem to be helping in lowering triglyceride levels. Ah good……

Next onto the scene (folks, this is within ten minutes at five in the morning–a bit much before the AM cup of coffee)– olive oil! Turns out one of the anti-oxidants, DHPEA-EDA, is especially good at protecting red blood cells from damage. Yes!! Let’s smother everything in olive oil.

I still haven’t gotten over yesterday’s Twinkies in Bacon. The bottom line is supplements will confuse and perhaps never help you. They may even work against you. We always want to think that there is an easy way that we can outsmart nature. We can eat all the cake and ice cream we want and if we just eat oatmeal in the morning, we are never going to gain weight. Nothing could be further from the truth. Healthy weight is the icing on the healthy life style cake. You can’t eat the Twinkie Stonehenge and still think you will be a size 2 (guys, read: 32 inch waist) AND healthy. IT doesn’t work like that. Don’t worry about the supplements in your day-to-day life. Worry about eating five servings of fruits and vegetables. Worry about getting enough fiber and water. Don’t think you can pull a fast one on Mother Nature, ’cause in the end, she is a vengeful bitch.

Okay, okay…..Valerie looks great. Yes, she’s 48. Yes, she’s a mom.

But look what we got under our own roof……..sizzle……….