Are you Free Squared?

The other night I had dinner with Stephani Drapeau, my dear friend and co-star of my film, Boulevard Zen.  We were discussing the concept of “freeing your mind and your soul” from anything that prevents you from evolving to a higher level.  That is to say, letting go of the “ties that bind” you to past beliefs, or rather, disbeliefs about your dreams, your desires, and your life’s destiny.  Because when you free your mind and your soul, you evolve to a much better and brighter place.  A place where anything is possible if you truly believe it.  So make a conscious effort to become Free Squared, especially when it comes to fat burning and a daily fitness routine.  Because anyone and everyone has at least 5 minutes a day to respect themselves with a little exercise.  So enjoy firming your Core & Abs with my 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #97 – Side Plank.  My best – R

Eat Smart

Everybody understands the concept of eating smart, right?  And what a great time to get mentally prepared for the long holiday weekend by consciously respecting your body with a smart approach to eating.  Because eating smart with healthy foods and smaller portions per meal will certainly complement your daily fitness program.  So enjoy stretching it out today with my 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #94 – Leg Stretches.  – R

Maximize Gains and Minimize Injury

This week I updated my YouTube Channel home page (click HERE to check it out) and changed my Profile section.  For anyone my age or even 10 years younger, this New Age internet world with all it’s social networking, websites and tags is quite a handful, right. Whatever happened to calling someone or sending them a handwritten letter. (like I’ve been doing in recent weeks).  It’s also interesting how few words you use when you write a note or letter by longhand.  With computers and all, we’re usually bombarded with TOO many words.  Oh well, adapt and survive!  Nevertheless, in my Profile on YouTube I wrote, “My style is precise to maximize gains and minimize injury.”  Simply put, getting the most out of your workouts is achieved when you know exactly what to do and exactly how to do it – as in proper form and body mechanics.  Plus, you’ll reduce your chances of getting hurt.  Which is exactly what and how I teach.  Even if you exercise regularly or practice yoga, check out my videos and expand your knowledge base.  You’ll definitely learn something that will help you and that you’ll never forget.  So enjoy going to the “extreme” today with my 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #93 – Extreme Abs.  – R

Who can forget “the Nineties”?

Now who can forget the end of Modernity and the start of the current Postmodern Age? And what do you remember most?  Is it the World Wide Web and the Internet Boom, MP3s and mobile phones, Amazon and eBay, AOL and Yahoo, the iMac and Windows 95, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, Apartheid and Nelson Mandela, Great Britain handing Hong Kong over to China, Hurricane Andrew and the Northridge earthquake, Boris Yeltsin and the old Soviet Union, the surging Dow Jones and proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, the Dodge Ram and the Saturn, Dolly the cloned sheep and the Hubble Space Telescope, Generation Y and the Spice Girls, Tattoos and body piercings, Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, OJ Simpson and Colombine High School, assisted suicide and Jack Kervorkian, the Gulf War and Rwandan Genocide, the blockbusters Dances with WolvesTitanic, Pulp Fiction, The Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump, Pretty Woman, Ghost, and Home Alone, the lovable Friends and ER – and don’t forget George Clooney, Beverly Hills 90210Beavis and Butthead and The Simpsons, the passing of Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, Selena, Tupac Shakur, and The Notorious B.I.G., punk rock and the rave movement, Resident Evil and Laura Croft, Nirvana and Britney Spears, the Major League Baseball strike, Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong and Hulk Hogan, Jennifer Aniston’s haircut and the resurgence of the Wonder Bra, and of course, Y2K.  It was also a decade of fitness fun with Taebo, Boot Camps and the Soloflex.  And no worries if you can’t remember the 1990’s and lost all your Soloflex bands, because there’s no equipment necessary with my 5 Minute Fat Burning Workouts.  So enjoy strengthening your upper body with today 90th consecutive daily workout – Shoulders & Arms.  RIP 1990’s – R

Power and economy go hand in hand

I read this in my Horoscope this morning and immediately thought how it relates to almost everything in life, including the correct fitness program.  I say correct because the power comes from doing a combination of simple, full body workouts using the proper technique, and the economy comes from maximizing your time and results by doing them on a daily basis.  So maximize your power and economy today by getting started with my 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #86 – Terrific Triceps II.  Enjoy – R

Fitness + Family = Fun

Yesterday I taught a one-hour fat burning class at a domestic violence shelter in San Diego on behalf of my charity, The Boulevard Zen Foundation.  I was excited to teach about ten children (ages 3 – 12), with a few ever-so shy moms and grandmothers too.  It was certainly a family affair, with the kids leading the charge!  Since I don’t have any children of my own – at least not yet – I’m always fascinated by the pure joy kids find in the simplest of activities.  And with their moms and grand-moms joining in, they had FUN, regardless of how challenging it was.  Simply put, Fitness + Family = Fun.  So gather your entire family today and enjoy strengthening your legs, and your family bond, with my 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #85 – Chair Twists (the exact same exercises we practiced at the shelter).  And have fun!  – R

No excuses with Lounge Chair Abs

So you’re going on vacation and you won’t have time to workout, right?  Wrong.  Because with today’s 84th consecutive 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout – Lounge Chair Abs, all you need to do to is chill out poolside on a lounge chair.  That’s right.  Because no matter where you go, there’s always time for a 5 minute workout.  And for those of you who aren’t familiar with my 5 minute yoga lessons (in my Yoga Survival Guide), there isn’t a place on earth where you can’t workout or strengthen your yoga practice.  So if you’re not a sun worshiper and rarely find yourself on a lounge chair, check out Shower Yoga, Bus Stop Yoga, Baking Yoga, Office Yoga, Weight Room Yoga, Prison Yoga (for Lindsay Lohan), Park Yoga, Traffic Yoga (yes, while sitting in traffic), Beach Yoga, Rooftop Yoga, Zoo Yoga, and of course, Watching “The Ellen Show” Yoga. Because no matter where you are or what you’re doing, you can ALWAYS add some fitness into your day.  Enjoy – R

Slow and steady wins the race

Everybody’s read Aesop’s fable, The Hare and the Tortoise, right?  It’s about a hare who vainly boasts of his great running speed and challenges the slow tortoise to a race. However outpaced, in the end the tortoise wins because the hare decides to take a nap en route to the finish line.  The moral lesson here:  slow and steady wins the race.  Just like with your daily fitness program.  It may seem to progress slowly, but in the long run you’ll certainly see the results you desire as well as feel the rejuvenating affects of doing a little something to strengthen your mind and body every single day.  So enjoy getting Fantastic Forearms with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #83.  – R

Don’t let time waste you

William Shakespeare once said, “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.”  For anyone who’s ever read the world’s pre-eminent dramatist, this is some pretty straightforward prose.  Or is it?  Because like anything by Shakespeare, it helps to read it a few times and let the true meaning of the words really sink in.  In this case, the concept of wasting time has a double meaning – time being wasted and time doing the wasting.  If you really think about it, whenever you waste time it has a tendency come back and bite you in the butt.  That is to say, wasting time can negatively impact you as well as prevent you from reaching your goals.  Whatever it is you’re doing.  Especially with fitness.  So don’t waste time planning and talking about your new exercise program.  Keep it simple and workout everyday.  And enjoy strengthening your core and toning your abdominal muscles with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #81 – Plank Crunches.  – R

Offset today’s fear with a new fitness routine

Superstition holds today, Friday the 13th, to be a day of bad luck.  Nonsense, right?  Well, according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, “an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed.”  So does this superstition prevent you from leaving the house today and sticking with your daily routine?  Then how about offsetting today’s fear with a new fitness routine, and join me for some good old fat burning!  Because who says friggatriskaidekaphobia (fear of Friday the 13thhas to be a bad thing.  Enjoy today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #79 – Leg Hops.  – R