Today marks the start of a new fat burning campaign – only 5 minutes a day with me leading you through different exercises that’ll kick-start your fat burning initiatives. Workout #1 focuses on your thighs. Check us out on YouTube! Enjoy – R
Triceps anyone?
Sometimes you just don’t have the time or just don’t feel like changing into workout clothes just to workout, right? Well who says you have to find time or wear something workout-ish? Do one thing for a couple of minutes and you’ll get your workout in – at least part of it. Like when you’re waiting for that email, or that phone call, or your girlfriend to get ready, or that client to show up. Check out me working triceps here on my favorite reading chair (dining room and office chairs are even better). Apply “yoga principles” as you plant your feet slightly apart with knees at right angles pressing together. Keep your chin parallel to the floor, your spine straight and dip slowly until your elbows reach right angles (no need to go further), pointing your elbows toward each other. Do not to jerk your head or neck. Note: always be sensitive to any tweaks or pains in your neck as well as your shoulders, elbows and wrists. Move with slow and deliberate movements. Nothing fancy and make sure the chair is properly weighted to support this exercise. Strengthen your arms and build stamina with these simple dips using whatever’s available to you. Do as many repetitions as you can per set, and as many sets as you can – with short breaks in between until you feel the burn and can’t do any more. It’ll happen quick. And always maintain good posture, close your mouth and breathe slowly and quietly like the sound of the ocean, and pick a point of focus to wipe your mind clear. Enjoy – R
Get a good lead
When you’re a base-runner it’s always best to get a good lead so you’re in a better position to advance. And just like in any sport, and in life, it’s always best to be well-conditioned and well-prepared to achieve whatever advantage you can over the opposition. So let’s consider Mother Nature and Father Time the pitcher and the catcher, and let’s say you’re on base. Why not get a good lead by starting your new daily fitness program today, if you haven’t started one already? Because with all the punishing weather out there it’s easy to just curl up in a ball and chill out on the couch for 12 hours. Well, that sounds relaxing, but don’t forget to get your workout in, even if you stretch out and work your abs for 15 minutes. Hint: “Thursday’s 15 Minute Fat Burning Workout”. Plus, you’ll get a head start on your New Year’s resolution to lose weight or get in shape or start sculpting that bikini body for next summer. So take advantage of Mother Nature and Father Time and get started today. And don’t forget the sugar-free hot chocolate! R
What are friends for?
This morning I met this fifty-something gal in the gym with a great body who’s always there. The first thing I asked her was if she worked out everyday. She said yes. Then I said, 5 days as week, and she gave me this look like are you crazy, and emphatically says, “No, 7 days”. Then along comes her fifty-something guy friend who meekly says, “ahhhhh, I won’t be here tomorrow so Merry Christmas”. She then gives him the exact look she gave me and asks why not. The man hesitates and says he won’t be there because he has to baby-sit his grandkids. So she proclaims, “At 5 o’clock in the morning, oh come on Johnny, you better be here!” Now what are friends for, right? Just that. To care about you, to support you, to motivate you, and to make you accountable when things get hard – like working out everyday at 5am. I totally understand why some people have more success with a fitness or weight loss program when they have a partner, or network of like-minded, mutually supportive individuals to help them through the tough times. So if you’re that type of person who benefits from the extra push from your friends, then embrace it and find your workout partner today! And get started with your daily fitness program – whatever it may be. Because who doesn’t have 15 minutes a day to respect themselves? R
Sick and tired of being sick and tired
I was speaking with a friend today about how most people are sick and tired of the same old thing. That is to say, the state of our economy, the 12.5% unemployment rate in California, the depressed real estate markets throughout the country, how it’s more difficult to make the same amount of money for the same amount of work (or more), how going to a gym or yoga studio has become so expensive that it’s prohibitive for most of his twenty-something peers – $15 for a gym workout and $25 for a drop-in yoga class in his neighborhood, and finally, how bad overindulging with food and alcohol at holiday parties – or anytime for that matter – and not working out can make you feel. But really, who isn’t sick and tired of being sick and tired? There’s a new year coming, it’s time to reflect, refuel and re-focus, and it’s time to get your mind and your body in the best possible condition via the simplest and most affordable way. So forget about being sick and tired and get with a 15 minute fat burning daily fitness program today! It’ll make that same old same old seem much much better. And I’ll see you tomorrow. R
Yesterday’s Press Release & Anniversary
FAT BURNING WORKOUTS TO BENEFIT WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – December 9, 2010 – Little did Rich Tola know exactly one year ago today he would premiere a film, start a foundation to help women and children of domestic violence, make a video encyclopedia of yoga poses throughout the streets of Hollywood, and release Rich Tola’s 15 Minute Fat Burning Workouts. And if you ask Tola, he’ll tell you that his fat burning workouts are fit for a King. Or a Queen. Or anyone else in the world, for that matter. “Anyone can do them. Whether you’re in shape or 50 pounds overweight”, states Tola. “Each 15 minute full body workout is filled with low-impact, core strengthening, fat burning exercises that are based on yoga principles and really easy to follow.”
10% of proceeds from Rich Tola’s 15 Minute Fat Burning Workouts are donated to his charity, The Boulevard Zen Foundation (www.BoulevardZen.com), teaching yoga to women and children living in domestic violence shelters. “Our teachers empower the kids and moms by using yoga principles to strengthen their bodies and self-esteem,” Tola said.
His movie, Boulevard Zen, the inspiration for the foundation, premiered at Hollywood’s Silent Movie Theatre a year ago today. Tola wrote, directed and starred in the one-hour drama about one man inspiring the lives of many while overcoming his own challenges. His video encyclopedia of 100 yoga poses, Rich Tola’s Yoga Survival Guide, was released in September and entertains audiences with Tola teaching yoga in the shower, stuck in traffic, at the LA Zoo, baking cookies, waiting for a bus, and watching “The Ellen Show”.
“15 minutes a day is all you need to establish a daily fitness routine that helps preserve your body and clear your mind,” states Tola. His motto, Strong Body-Clear Mind, permeates in his work and persona. And the proof is in the pudding: Tola has worked out daily for more than 30 years, the past five years practicing yoga and teaching 15,000 students. “There’s no question that everyone in the world who’s capable should be doing some form of physical fitness activity every single day,” says Tola. “Respect yourself. Especially around the holidays.” And for only $1.99 per workout, who can’t afford not to?
Welcome to a new Fat Burning lifestyle!
What does fat burning mean to you? Is it a specific thing, or action, or result? To me it’s a lifestyle. I know we hear that word a lot and in too many scenarios, but for the most part we all know what lifestyle means, right? Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “the typical way of life of an individual, group, or culture “. I define it as the way you choose to live your life. Yes, choose.
Because your choice of what’s “the typical way” for you impacts everything you do, and subsequently how you feel. And how you feel is what really matters. Because it permeates you, affecting your overall mental and physical well-being. It’s simple really. Lifestyle = Actions = Feelings. So where am I going with all this? I’m going to the three simple rules I reinforce in every one of my 15 minute fat burning workouts: think positive, speak positive and feel positive. And by positive I mean you can workout every day, you can make healthy choices about what you eat and drink every day, you can speak only positive words regarding any situation or circumstance – because there are positives in everything we experience, and finally, you can feel positive all the time by adhering to the first two simple rules. Trust me. It works. So forget about the potentially hazaradous lifestyle you think you currently have, because those are just thoughts you can change whenever you choose to. So choose to join me for a fat burning lifestyle, one that includes working out every single day for at least the next 30 years. And I’ll see you tomorrow.
Peace – R