*Lunge forward with your left leg until your knee is bent 90 degrees and directly over your ankle.
*Jump up and push off the floor with both feet.
*Switch while in the air and land with your right leg into a lunge.
*Alternate sides.

Other moves include a kick-back squat, single squat, and touchdown. Read on for more butt sculpting– it’s a 5 minute workout!

Post from: Blisstree

Quick Workout: Brazilian Butt Lift Explosive Lunges

Working up from your average squat, try one where you work in a single dumbbell. Instead of holding two, and upwards, try holding one with your arms straight and your elbows just ever-so-slightly bent. While bending your knees into the squat, remember to keep your knees in line with your toes, and follow these directions:

* Stop when your knees are at a 90 degree angle or when the natural arch of your back is lost.

* Contract those glutes and don’t allow your shoulders to round forward.

* Avoid locking the knees on your way back up, and then try about 2 sets of 10-15 reps.

You will so feel this.

Post from: Blisstree

Amp Up Your Squats

I need a Swiss exercise ball for crunches, having endured a huge move that had me leaving behind a giant amount of stuff. While shopping for stabilizer balls, I started to question what the best size was. This is where I need your help!

Do you crunch with a ball, and what size do you use? MuscleGuy weighed in on his blog, stating that “A larger ball has a gradual arch, so you’ll feel less of a stretch in your abdominals, while the more abrupt arch of a smaller ball puts your body in a more pronounced stretch position. As your flexibility improves, drop to a smaller size.”

So do I just go with the biggest one because I’m incredibly not-limber, or a slightly smaller one to work myself a bit more? Opinions would be lovely!

Plus, if this is true, I need to start switching to a stabilizer ball for my day work anyway.

Photo (c) Totally Fitness

Post from: Blisstree

What’s the Best Size for a Crunch Ball?

Are you trying to wean yourself off of juice and other high-cal beverages? Me too. While I feel like everyone’s always telling me to mix sparkling water with juice, I’ve found something much better: Maguary Cashew Juice. This “neutral-flavored,” delicate juice is available imported from Brazil, and is 84% juice. With a single 500 ml bottle, you’ll make 5 liters of juice: a single cup of water just needs a tablespoon-and-a-half of the juice concentrate. The best part? It’s $5.00 or less ($2.79 in Miami), and has only 10 calories per serving. What a perfectly refreshing way to grab a glass of juice and not feel bad about it.

You can buy it here if you’re not located near foreign imports store or you’d like to save some time..

Post from: Blisstree

Majorly Low Calorie Juice: Maguary

I need to try these little foot treats out– gosh, are my feet tired these days. Throw in a super heat flash, crushing humidity, and a precipitation, and they’re swelling up into footballs. (I swear, I’m turning into my grandmother. . .) I haven’t done it in years, but now I’m hooked on foot baths.

Where I am heading to grab all my post-workout foot treats? Bath and Body Works: it’s just so much easier to do one-stop shopping when you’re super-busy. My top three picks off the site:

*Aromatherapy Foot Soak: Peppermint, rosemary, and effervescence. Sign me up!
*Footloose and Fancy Free Bubbly Foot Bath: “Like champagne for your feet.” Plus, you can buy 2 for $20 in a special deal.
*Super Luxe Foot Set: Post foot bath, I think I want to take advantage of this buffing soap, serum, and foot butter in a “Seeds and Grains” package. Wonderful!

Photo (c) Bath and Body Works

Post from: Blisstree

Another Foot Treat: Fizzing Foot Bath

Um, I’m moving to Miami. Like next week– commence hyperventilation. I’ll soon be in a bikini on a regular basis, and if that’s not scary enough, keep in mind that this will be going on all. year. long. I feel like I’m back in Brazil, except for the fact that then I was in my best shape ever.

My plan? The Sassy Water supplement, to complement the whole Flat Belly plan that I’ve got going on. The situation is critical, but hopefully this will help. According to what I’ve read at The Coveted, this helps to calm angry stomachs. I certainly need that!

The Sassy Recipe (via The Coveted’s Recommendation). . .

Mix together the following ingredients for a flat belly of your own:

* 8.5 cups water
* 12 spearmint leaves
* 1 t. grated fresh ginger
* 1 cucumber (peeled and sliced)
* 1 small lemon (sliced)

All you need to do is let it stand overnight in the fridge for a fresh drink, and hopefully a flatter belly.

Photo (c) PicApp

Post from: Blisstree

It’s On! “Sassy” Slim Time

I don’t have them yet, but I will soon– but I haven’t been reading very good things about them at all. Not in terms of performance, mind you, but about the appearance. While I’ll admit I don’t have any designs on the white ones, I still covet the snake version. I think I agree most with ThisNext’s Fashion Kitty, who admitted:

Even though it horrified one of my fellow co-workers I put myself on the wait list for these fugtastic shoes. They are so ugly yet I want them anyways. I have always been intrigued by FitFlops but the basic design made me turn away.

You saidit, girl! All my friends are horrified, too. Now all I need to do is get my hands on a pair of them to prove everyone wrong.

Photo (c) FitFlops

Post from: Blisstree

Does Everyone Hate My Gladiator FitFlops?

#1. Masters Activemotion: Medium support for activities like weight training and biking, and up to triple D with underwire. This bra will be under $40 (MSRP) and is available in multiple color combinations.

#2. Marathon Woman Powermotion: High-impact is where I’m at, and apparently that’s what I’m going to get with this bra. It has some “V” technology that is supposed to balance tension, and has hidden strap adjustment– very interesting indeed.You can get it with or without underwire, but I’m not quite sure why you would want to get it without that extra bit of support. Yay!

As soon as they arrive, I’ll be taking these out on quite the rigorous test run (and walk, and jog, and more). Stay tuned.

Post from: Blisstree

New Sports Bra Review Coming Your Way

Oddly enough, I couldn’t find anything really good on the internet, even though I was searching pretty exhaustively. I ended up hunting down a few top beverages through some personal recommendations and a trip to the market, but, as always, I’d love any recommendations from you.

Without further ado:

* Odwalla (Formerly Fresh Samantha): My favorite juice, hands down, happens to come in a flavor I’ve never seen in the store. Well, perhaps I purposely didn’t try to see it– you know how I feel about carrots in general by now! However, after I tried out Odwalla Pressed Organic Carrot Juice, I realized that it actually competed with my favorite Micronutrient Superfood drink from the same brand.
* Bolthouse Farms Carrot Juice Concentrate: This is definitely the freshest tasting I found (I actually bought this one at Price Chopper). According to the Bolthouse website, this juice is extracted only from sweet baby carrots no more than 24 hours after harvest. It’s really creamy, too.
* Naked: There’s a pound of carrots in a single bottle, and while it’s not as pleasing to drink as Bolthouse, it’s a nice change from the aforementioned unique flavor. Try switching it up.

Post from: Blisstree

Tasty Carrot Juice

It’s just too bad that I adore my spicy peppers as well, since there is still a warning placed on those ones. Like my favorite Mexico jalapenos.

My Favorite Healthy, Chunky, and Easy Salsa:

* .75 cup tomato salsa (I like mine organic)
* 1 large mango that has been peeled and diced
* 2 T lime juice (Fresh is best!)
* 1 fresh tomato, chopped well
* 2 T chilantro, fresh and chopped

Stir everything together and serve with deliciously crunchy multigrain chips. So good. . . so tomato-y.

Post from: Blisstree

Healthy Eating: Give Me Back My Tomatoes