Hello #2015! Got that “New Year’s Detox” #Spinning Class In Today

Hello #2015! Got that “New Year’s Detox” #Spinning class in today. A whole lotta awesome. #exercise #fitness #workout (at Jackie’s Gym)

via the Ohradiogirl Tumblr 

It's not too late to get in shape ... not for summer, but for life!

It's not too late to get in shape ... not for summer, but for life!

It's typical for me to troll YouTube seeking workout videos. My preference is for vids that are short but effective. Sometimes I want to move, but I don't have the energy. Other times, I want high impact.

The FitnessBlender vids are interesting. They're usually short, but you will do either 2 or 3 rounds - or you can just do what you have time to do or what you can do.

The instructions are perfect and of course there's the visual to help offer guidance as well.

This particular vid is great because you have a bit of a pause between each 40-second exercise; and there are eight (8) exercises in the round. It ends up being about 22 minutes in total.

So get movin and give it a try.

Beginner Boot Camp Workout -- Easy Toning & Low Impact Cardio Workout

For a Quick Aerobic Workout, Try This

For a quick aerobic workout, this this short vid on YouTube.



It's just enough to get warmed up. Even on a lazy day, it might get you motivated to do a bit more. You know, to get you pass that sluggish feeling.



I know that the title says 10 Minute Fitness Routines - Fat Burning Basic Aerobics, but this one is just over 6 minutes. Even more reason to give it a try.



Here's what I like about it:

• As mentioned, it's brief.
• The music is not too high energy, but not the yoga pace either.
• The instructor is not annoying.
• The moves are easy to do.

So what's stopping you now? Let's do this!

Music Monday 144 :: Salme Dahlstrom's "C'mon Y'All"

Music Monday 144 :: Salme Dahlstrom's "C'mon Y'All"

Love, love, love this song. And you've heard it so many times in so many different commercials and movies.

I thought that it was Macy Gray, but no it's Salme Dahlstrom. The vid below is not an official video, but the vid lists the commercials and movies where you'll find this track. Also, the audio quality on this vid is really good.

Great workout song. Have fun listening.

Cairo Life :: Serenity at the Sports Complex

It was a serene moment at sunset on Wednesday, September 19th, but it's always peaceful at the #AUC sports complex.

Group Fitness Flow Chart

Group Fitness Flow Chart


Just a little something to get you started ... thinking. But eventually, you gotta do something!

And remember w/group fitness, you make new friends. Yay for new friends.

Via I LOVE CHARTS http://pulse.me/s/bBWk5

image borrowed from WellofHealth.me

The Today Show's 10-Minute Workout

I heard The Today Show talking about this workout last week. So I went online to see it for myself. Sheesh. It's a doozy - and I don't mean doable; okay, so of course it's doable, but it's exhausting. They mentioned that this workout is ideal for traveling since you don't need any equipment.

Seems Jenna Wolfe could be a trainer on The Biggest Loser; Wolfe could give Jillian Michaels some competition. Well, maybe not, because Jillian is just tough and has made many-a-challenger cry on TV.

Okay, back to the topic at hand: it's a well produced vid too - but what would you expect from the NBC team. They've condensed the exercise time and they pretty much give us a demo of the exercises.

The workout seems really easy, but don't be fooled. Oh, and don't be ashamed if it takes you more than 10 minutes or if you can't do them all or you can't do all of the reps. You gotta do something though and the first thing is to give it a try!

Here's a list of the exercises in The Today Show 10-Minute Workout:

1. 100 Jumping Jacks
2. 90 Butt Kicks
3. 80 High Knees
4. 70 Kicks
5. 60 Mountain Climbers
6. 50 Toy Soldiers
7. 40 Shoulder Side to Sides
8. 30 Inner Knees
9. 20 Basketball Jump Shots
10. 10 Kick Drops

Let's do this!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Music Monday 76 :: Popular Music Monday Blog Posts

Music Monday 76 :: Popular Music Monday Blog Posts (according to Google Analytics)

Another year and another set of Music Monday blog posts. So I culled Google Analytics to see what were the most popular Music Monday blog posts.

Music Monday 27 :: Oleta Adams

Originally posted on May 11, 2009

Music Monday 51 :: Workout Mixtape

Originally posted on March 15, 2010

Music Monday 21 :: Run DMC 2009 Rock Hall Inductees

Originally posted on March 30, 2009

Music Monday 8 :: Lyle Lovett "I Will Rise Up"

Originally posted on December 29, 2008

Music Monday 9 :: Ben Lee "Catch My Disease"

Originally posted on January 5, 2009

Reverb10 :: Body Integration

I've decided to be a part of Reverb10. It's a 31-day blogging challenge where you reply to the daily writing prompts that are designed to get you to reflect on this past year as well as provide some insight for the upcoming year. I'm going to give myself 5-7 minutes for each post.

Day 12 :: December 12, 2010 :: Body Integration

• This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn't mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present? (Author: Patrick Reynolds)

It's true that I really did plan to blow off this prompt for Reverb10. Just wasn't feeling it. Probably not feeling it because I have not been in tune to my body this year. So sad.

I mean, last year I got up at 5a twice a week, just so I could go rowing on the Nile. But that's quite a sacrifice with my teaching schedule and getting to work on time. And I went sandboarding last year too. What an adventure ... busted my knee up pretty good though.

Me after my sandboarding spill in Siwa, Egypt (Nov, 2009)

So that leaves me with nothing but some sedentary habits for this year: take a one hour commute each way to work and teach all day at least twice a week. My only saving grace for taking care of myself on those long and crazy days is that I make myself go to the gym on campus: it's new and it's fancy. After 30-45 minutes in the gym on the elliptical machine, I'm all good, refreshed and sane again.

But there's still hope for more body integration. I'd planned on buying a bike after I had such a good time in the "Biking Depression Away" event in Cairo. Supposed to go and buy a bike tomorrow in the hopes that I'll ride in the morning at least once a week. In the voice of a superhero, "Mind and body - UNITE!"

Music Monday 51 :: Workout Mixtape

I've been seeking out some music to use for my workout. I had a hard time nailing down the tunes that would work best, but I think that you will like it. It's about 30 minutes.

For this workout mixtape, I decided to kick up the tempo, so don't be alarmed if the songs sound faster than normal. The good news is that the artists don't sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

So here's to getting fit and fabulous. Let me know what you think.

• Download Ohradiogirl's Workout Mixtape

Note: image courtesy of Microsoft clip art

Music Monday 42 :: The Top 5 Kanye West Workout Songs

I know that it's the season to kick Kanye West, but I'm going in the other direction. I will (try to) ignore his personal life and appreciate his contribution to the music spectrum.

My recent workout calls for some uptempo tunes. Much to my surprise, I've found that my increased heart rate goes up when Kanye's songs are playing. Humm ... it's hard for me to ignore this fact. This woman here needs a good workout and a good song or two and Kanye fits the bill.

So without further ado ... here are the
Top 5 Kanye West Workout Songs

5. "All Falls Down"

4. "Stronger"

3. "Gold Digger"

2. "Good Life"

1. "Touch the Sky"

Now, go ahead and load up the playlist and let the pounds drop.

Aches and Pains

So I don't have to ask myself about the aches and pains because I know the true source of the issue. But I thought I'd share w/you so that you can learn a lesson or two and not suffer as much as I am suffering.

I promised myself that I would practice more Pilates this year. Well, I've certainly kept that promise to myself. Since February, I've been doing Pilates twice a week (unless I'm traveling). This is not your typical Pilates. No, this is machine Pilates. I love my gym. It's like a cute little boutique gym. There are no more that six members in a Pilates class at a time. But the machines are wonderful - it's does not seem like work or exercise at all; quite relaxing.

But Pilates is not the reason for my aches ... no, occasionally on Monday afternoons I talk a walk through the neighborhood w/some of the girls from the gym. The neighborhood, mind you, is a bit hilly, meaning, we usually begin our walk by asking "should we take the big hill or the big, big hill?" All of the hills are gargantuan! That is the cause of my aches and pains, well, that and after the 45 minute walk (this is not a stroll) I then went to the gym for a Pilates class.

No complaints, right - no pain, no gain - except I am not striving for a goal, just some consistency in my workout regime.

My advice to you ... get your workout on, just spread the workouts out evenly ...

Two Feet in the Graveyard

Graveyard, originally uploaded by timmredpath.

I was talking to my friend the other day and she randomly asked me where I was. I told her that I was at the cemetery. It's not really as weird as it sounds even though I was not there to visit a particular person.

You see, I visit the local cemetery at least three times a week. I go there to run/walk. Again, it's not as weird as it seems; at least not around here. This was not my 'regular' thing, but here's the story:

A few years ago, I was training to run a half marathon. I was training w/a group and it was at the beginning of Winter. So we mainly ran on the treadmill at the local YMCA. However, if you are training for a marathon, at some point you have to (or you should) get out and run on some race-like surface. The ladies I was training w/knew the area quite well. They ruled out the county fairgrounds (which I still have yet to visit) and agreed on the cemetery. Of course, I got the time wrong for the first session and by the time I found the place, they were finishing up, so I had to (well, I guess I could have bailed) run in the cemetery alone ... ooooooh.

That's the story, so now I go there frequently. There are lots of positives to going to the graveyard to run/walk:

1. It's quiet ands serene
2. Usually, no pets allowed
3. Usually a smooth surface
4. Very few obstacles in the way
5. Oh, it's free

There are however, some disadvantages to using this particular venue:

1. Some time drivers tend to drive fast and they don't really expect to see pedestrians
2. You need to know the cemetery hours (I was almost locked in a cemetery once a while back when a friend and I went running there; I guess I am not really new to using the cemetary as a track, huh?)
3. You have to watch out for old creepy guys (and old creepy gals for that matter)

So, that's my no cost recommendation for today! Get to running!

Eeeeew, what's that smell?

I think that in some cases, certain smells are expected. Say you are out in farm country, well, the smell of say cows and manure would be ordinary. And so, too, is the smell at a gym or a work out facility. Sometimes it smells funky; I get that. But how and why is it that the thick aroma of perfume saturates a gym?

So here is my story ... I am working out at the YMCA, a new facility in my town. And it is nice: lots of new machines; a wide variety of classes, etc. So I'm on the Eliptical machine doing my thing with my music goin and an occasional glance at the television. People come and go past the machine I am on; no problem. Then two women walk by and I damn near fall off of the machine from the after-smell of someone's perfume. I don't know that I would feel better if it were my fav fragrance or not? Probably not, just too much of a good thing. This perfume reeked! It was like old lady stinky and floral perfume. Shameful.

The issues here are numerous:

• why do people slather on perfume before coming to the gym to work out? Will I be more offended by your true body funk than the overdose of fragance that you poured on ... ?


• Is there any consideration for those who might be allergic to fragrances?


• Could you use less of the perfume? And could it be a more aromatic fragrance ... ?

There is no way that I can get healthy in that kind of environment. Or just imagine that someone says to the fragrance offender: "You look good, but you stink?" Now, that wouldn't be nice and neither is the OD on the perfume.

**photo courtsey michelleannlincoln