Today is the opening for Sucker Punch.  I could not care less about this movie BUT I’m thrilled to see Shape published one of Vannessa Hudgens workouts AND it doesn’t involve 5 pound dumbbells.  In fact, they recommend using “Two 12- to 24-pound kettlebells or dumbbells (they should feel very heavy)”.  Did I read that correctly?  “they should feel VERY heavy” (emphasis mine) Someone pinch me.  Finally, awesome advice from a mainstream fitness mag.  These are the same type of workouts that I do with my clients and MYSELF.

Check it out the functional movements like goblet squats and push presses.  Way to go Shape!

(I was going to say they shouldn’t have her in cushy tennis shoes but on second glance I think those are The Nike Frees, while not the best, are better than standard tennis shoes for kettlbell training. She would reduce her likelihood of injury and get even stronger using kettlebells in flat soled shoes like Converse Chuck Taylor’s or, better yet, barefoot.)

Not only does she have a hardcore workout but there is a video where she is talking about her diet which includes lots of “proteins and vegetables” and if she gets a carb craving she goes for “Ezekiel bread”.  I don’t know about you but I find it refreshing to hear a celebrity talk about what they are really eating to maintain a killer body.  Unlike the typical celebrity who lies says they eat cheeseburgers and cakes as if they are on the brink of famine despite looking like they live off of celery and water.  For most people, a CONSISTENT (ahem) diet of veggies, protein, and slow digesting carbs like Ezekiel bread will not only feed your body the nutrients it needs to optimally function but will also help shed fat and feed muscle.

I know a lot of women feel bad when they look at pictures of celebrity bodies.  Personally, it doesn’t usually bother me.   Celebrity or not, I find the sort of discipline it takes to have a lean strong body like Vanessa’s (the article said she did 500 box jumps) inspiring.  It makes me want to keep working out hard and eating healthy because while feeling my best is AWESOME, I think looking my best is pretty awesome too.  Shallow?  Maybe.  Honest.  Yes.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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The post Fluffy Friday: Celebrity Workouts that WORK! appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Recently, Gwyneth Paltrow, said in her weekly GOOP newsletter that she “had the beginning stages of osteopenia.”  Osteopenia is the thinning of bone mass considered by many doctors to be a precursor to osteoporosis.  (Thank you Google.)  One of the causes is a lack of vitamin D and Dr. Lipman finishes off Gwyneth’s (yes we are on a first name basis) newsletter by detailing the importance of Vitamin D and how to increase Vitamin D levels through healthy sun exposure.  (Enjoyed the article and think it’s worth the read.)  I’m glad Gwyneth will be getting more vitamin D but I’d also like to see her start lifting some heavier weights as weight bearing exercises help increase bone density as well.

Do a quick google search for Gwyneth Paltrow Strength training and this video of her and her trainer, Tracey Anderson, creator of the “Tracey Anderson Method”, pops up multiple times.  You might have seen it before.   I know I’ve seen it on like 25 different blogs and message boards but it never ceases to entertain me.

Tracey Anderson, “Only three pound weights.  No woman should lift more than 3 pounds weights.”

Really?

Well girls, don’t pick up that gallon of milk because it weighs over 8 pounds.  Your child wants to be held?  Not if mommy is going to get bulky.   Speaking of holding children the video continues….

Gwyneth, “I hold my 30 lb son in my left arm all day so this one (pointing to her right arm) is like…sags lower than this one (the arm with which she holds her 30 lb son) so she makes me do more arms on one side.”

Hmmmm….anyone else see the irony here?  Gywneth points out that the arm she doesn’t lift heavy with is saggier than the arm she uses to lift her heavy child.  Maybe she should rethink the 3 pound weight rule.

I’m not knocking Gwyneth.  I think she’s beautiful and looks good.   Not to mention she plays one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite movies of all time, Margo in The Royal Tenenbaums.  If those are the workouts she loves then by all means go for it.

As for Tracey Anderson, this video makes it too easy to pick on her. I could say a lot.  In fact, I deleted two entire paragraphs after deciding I don’t want to be Miss Critical.  Besides, I have smart readers who know that lifting weights heavier than 3 pounds is not going to turn them into the She-Hulk.  What bothers me the most was that this aired on Oprah and millions of women, who or may not know that strength training doesn’t automatically make a woman bulky, have seen it.  Thus, perpetuating the myth that so many women and men who know better are trying to dispel.  I’ll speak from my own experience.  Before I started lifting heavy weights my upper arms measured 11″ around.  After more than TWO years of heavy lifting they are 10.25″ around and much tighter than before.  I’ll repeat what Gwyneth said, “I hold my 30 lb son in my left arm all day so this one (pointing to her right arm) is like…sags lower than this one (the arm with which she holds her 30 lb son) so she makes me do more arms on one side.”

Could The Tracey Anderson “Method” work?  Sure and by the looks of her clients, Madonna, Shakira, and Kate Hudson, it does.  (Although be certain those women are also eating a SQUEAKY CLEAN diet as well.)  Muscles will adapt by growing stronger when a greater than normal stimulus (overload) is placed on them and with enough reps you can get results but it’s going to take A LOT of repetitions, hence, a lot of time.  And what is going to happen when 100 reps becomes easy if you shouldn’t pick up weights heavier than 3 pounds?  150 reps?  200?  500?   No thanks.   I don’t have have the luxury of hours (nor the patience or interest for that matter) to devote to my physical appearance every day.  I’ll stick with my short intense workouts with heavy weights like the ones Gwyneth Paltrow’s Iron Man co -star, Scarlett Johansson, did to fit into the Black Widow catsuit.

What about you?  Do you like lifting heavy?  Have you gotten bulky from lifting heavy?  What is your favorite movie with Gwyneth Paltrow?  What do you think of the Tracey Anderson Method? Did anyone else feel a twinge of jealously when they showed the outside of that workout studio?  

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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The post Fluffy Friday: Margo and Myths appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Iron Man brought me breakfast.

Speaking of Iron Man

I read on Self Magazine’s website that Scarlett Johansson used kettlebells to prepare for that skin tight black catsuit the role of Black Widow.

Her on set trainer Bobby Strom was quoted saying,
“but what she really loved was the strength training–things like pullups and kettlebells–and the idea of feeling and looking strong.”

Sounds like my kind of workout.
You know, because I really want to wear a tight black catsuit to take my kids to the park.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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