15 Min is All You Need To Look and Feel Amazing!

February 3, 2016 by
15 MIN TO FEEL AMAZING | www.4hourbodygirl.com

Busy? 15 Min is All You Need To Look and Feel Amazing! 

Last night’s dinners was a hearty meal of grass-fed steak, broccoli, a green leafy salad, and a half glass of red wine. I posted pics of the food I eat in earlier posts if you’d like to check them out.

15 min to look and feel amazing | https://www.4hourbodygirl.com

I usually have 30grams of protein within 30 min. of waking (this is what Tim Ferriss recommends in the 4-Hour BODY) but every once in a while after a long, good sleep, I’ll only have a piece of fruit.
 
Last night I slept 9 hours. I went for a little walk in the sun for about 10 minutes to get some fresh air and Vitamin D, and to get my neurotransmitters firing, before sitting down to my laptop with a big jug of ice water and a steaming cup of hot matcha green tea, plus as always, my Athletic Greens. 
 
I have been cutting down my intake of caffeine steadily the last week, with a big cup of green tea being the stand in for coffee this morning. I am not against coffee, ok ok, I love coffee, but at the same time, I am well aware of how much better I start to feel and the impact on my sleep quality when I get my caffeine intake right down every day, and get it in early. I’ll be doing a future post about having more energy without caffeine.
 
One and a half liters of water (a few trips to the bathroom) and two excellent blocks of work later… it was getting close to food time. 
 
I decided to exercise briefly before eating for a host of reasons, but I wanted it to be short, fast, and not too stressful, plus I was running out of time to get the workout in, my lunch in, then continue with my day’s work.

Enter a Minimum Effective Dose Workout

 
2 minutes of foam roller (self myofascial release) with 30 seconds on each of quad/hip flexor, and IT band). Grrrrr this one is so painful sometimes.

Goal: Remove Restrictions, Improve Mobility, Improve Tissue Quality

 

3 minutes of activation/mobility/dynamic warm up

 

Goal: Use some of that improved tissue work to immediately perform a series of activation and mobility exercises to improve movement patterns.

Glute Bridges x 10 with adduction (5 second squeeze at the top) I clamped the foam roller between my knees for the adduction part to save time.

glute-bridge | www.4hourbodygirl.com

Reverse lunges with rotation (arms overhead) x 6 each side – one of the BEST hip flexor

mobilizers on the planet.

reverse-lunges| www.4hourbodygirl.com
 
Hand walks x 6 (also called Inch Worms) out as far as sore shoulder was happy
Inch worm from skinny mom| www.4hourbodygirl.com

Image from skinny mom.com

 
Walking quad stretch x 6 each leg with glute squeeze for 2 seconds 
Best-Quad-Stretches | www.4hourbodygirl.com
 

3 minutes of neural activation and full body warm up

 

Goal: ahhh, neural activation and full body warm up

For this today I skipped rope, 30 seconds flat out, 30 seconds very slow, for 3 “rounds”, totaling 3 minutes. (This is soon hard to do after having kids! I make sure my bladder is empty before doing these! TMI? Sorry….

30 seconds fast I tried to move my feet and the rope as fast as I could. I included shuffles, butt kicks and for the last 5 seconds, & high knees.
 
30 seconds slow, I keep the rope moving at a steady pace, but wasn’t cranking it, the goal is to keep moving and have an active recovery. 

3 minutes (and 19 seconds) of Kettlebell swings 

 

kettlebell-swing | www.4hourbodygirl.com

 

Goal: The “work” part of the workout – metabolic conditioning and

Hamstring/Glutes Strength Endurance | www.4hourbodygirl.com

100 x two handed swings with a 70lb bell without stopping. 
Why 3 minutes and 19 seconds? Just before I grabbed the bell I hit play on my chosen workout song of the day, which happened to be 2 minutes and 49 seconds, and thought I would cruise to complete this in time…. Almost didn’t make it. 
 
3 minutes of medium paced skipping without stopping

Goal: extend the “work” part of the workout with further metabolic conditioning, while forcing active recovery.

This one was the most elective of all of them, and would be the first to go if I wanted to shorten it further, but I wasn’t happy with my swings performance, so decided to add this in.

1 minute for 100 reps of band “pull aparts” with arms straight and done out in front of chest. 
Start with arms straight out in front of you, gripping your band (they vary greatly in strength/tension) about should width apart with an overhand grip. 
Starting the movement by pulling your shoulder blades together, finish the movement by pulling your arms away from each other. Your arms will end up out to the sides then slightly behind you, the band will hit your chest. That is 1 rep.
 

You can maintain tension on your shoulder blades by never returning the bands all the

way in, or you can go all the way in all the way out, play with it. 

Goal: try and counter the day’s sitting by working some volume in to my upper back, specifically aiming at rear delts and mid trap.

You can mix up the focus of this and add in other muscles by adjusting hand position and arm angle, but assuming you are doing these with your arms straight out in front of you, this is what is going to be getting the bulk of the loading. 

As I am recovering from a shoulder injury, these were done with the little pink band. Since we tend to sit a lot during the day in a shoulders rounded position, this causes what is called stretch-weakness in the scapular retractors (and frequently external rotator) muscles. Add to this that most people have vastly stronger internal rotators of the shoulder than the internal rotators, and we have a need for corrective exercise. (You could also try NEVER SITTING, always walking with good posture and doing three or four pulling reps for your upper back for every one you do for your chest). 

This is a phenomenally useful exercise and I highly recommend you start asap. They can be done throughout the day or at the end of workouts, and intensity can be modified by adjusting your hand position on the band and the band tension.

Great for posture. 

I got my bands at Elite FTS, but you can also get them at amazon.com or any local sporting goods store. 
 
Do what makes you feel amazing
 
So there you have it! 15 Min is All You Need To Look and Feel Amazing! Do you have 15 min.? Do you have a quick go to 15 min routine? I would love to here about it in the comment below. 
 
Here’s to your health, wealth and happiness!
 
 
 

Originally Published on: Aug 21, 2011 @ 11:04

Easy & Tasty, High Protein Veggie Nuggets | www.4hourbodygirl.com
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A Healthy Breakfast: Not An Impossible Mission

February 5, 2013 by
It’s a trite but true that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. For most of us, it’s been about 12 hours since our last meal and our bodies need a good refueling. Yet, statistics show that as
many at 50% of us don’t eat breakfast.
We’re too busy. We don’t like breakfast foods. We’re not hungry. We’re trying to lose weight (which is actually counter active by the way). Sad to say, none of those reasons are valid. There are many
healthy breakfasts that can either be bought or made that are fast and even portable, which leads me to…
 
A Healthy Breakfast: Not An Impossible Mission!

egg-muffin-photograph | www.4hourbodygirl.com

 There’s no law that says you have to eat breakfast foods for breakfast. You legitimately might not feel hungry in the morning, particularly if you aren’t accustomed to eating breakfast. But you should eat something, even if you make a fairly light choice, like fruit and yogurt. Trying to lose weight is the worst excuse of all. Study after study shows that people who skip breakfast end up eating more the rest of the day than people who eat a solid
breakfast every morning.
So how do you get the magical mix of the right nutrients that will give you energy and send you healthfully into your day?
It’s not that hard, really. Spend a little bit of time thinking about what you like and then plan some healthy breakfasts. Here are
some ideas to get you started:
* If you need something portable, the ever-popular smoothieis a good choice. Be careful when you purchase a smoothie at a shop, however, as some can have as many as 600 calories. You can purchase a good blender or smoothie maker to have at home and whip up your own smoothie in less time than
it takes to stop at a smoothie store, and you’ll know exactly what’s in it. I usually add either spinach or kale to get more greens in my diet. I always also add Athletic Greens as a nutritional supplement for the ultimate health insurance!
* Although 4 hour body recommends the slow carb diet options, which are quick and easy, sometimes you can plan ahead for a grab and go option. Something like this would be to make some breakfast burritos and keep them in the freezer. You can use regular or whole-wheat tortillas, scrambled eggs (either whole, all whites, a mix, or an egg product), some veggies like peppers and onions, and turkey bacon or soy sausage. These freeze beautifully. Pull one out, and while you’re pouring your green tea, it can be heating in the microwave. Add a banana or apple for on-the-go dining.
* Cereal is an okay breakfast, as long as it’s not the only thing you eat. Consider adding some banana or blueberries on top, or fixing it with soy or almond milk for a healthy dairy addition. Otherwise, cows milk is  okay, as long as it’s organic and states that it is free of hormones. I also like to add chia seeds, ground flax, coconut and cinnamon for sustainability, more health benefits and to speed up my metabolism.
* If you don’t like breakfast, consider making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole sprouted grain bread. Grab a banana or apple on the way out the door. Have some leftover vegetarian pizza from dinner? That’s better than nothing for breakfast, though you will want to add a glass of milk or some fruit to round it out.
* Trying to lose weight?
Breakfast might be the easiest meal to fill up without using a lot of calories
or fat. Have oatmeal with creamy rice milk, or a high-fiber cold cereal with hazelnut milk. Consider a
homemade version of a fast-food sandwich. You can bake up some eggs in a muffin tin, add a slice of
Canadian bacon and put the two into a toasted, whole grain, English muffin with some sharp, white cheddar and spinach for a 220-calorie, filling breakfast full of nutrients. I make 12 at a time and freeze the rest. They warm up quickly in a microwave or 40 min in the oven while I take my shower and get ready for the day. I use the directions here: Healthy Egg McMuffins. Drink your Athletic Greens before you eat this and you’re guarenteed  to have amazing energy and start your day of right!
 
What do you normally have for breakfast?
Easy & Tasty, High Protein Veggie Nuggets | www.4hourbodygirl.com
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