Happy Tuesday everyone! With the holidays fast approaching I know that everyone is doing their last minute work outs in order to look great for when they see their families. One of the things that always happens after a great workout is you muscles tend to be sore. For me I always am sore some days I am more sore than others depending on the work out I had the day before, but this is something that isn’t bad. I tend to get a lot of muscles spasms especially on my back. I grew up with scoliosis and instead of surgery I wore a back brace from 7th grade until my sophomore year of high school. This was pretty difficult especially growing up in Florida with all of this humidity. Since I have been working out more frequently than before I have noticed my back acting up from it. My brother Ira suggested that I use a foam roller to stretch out my muscles. I looked at it and said that thing you have in your bedroom is for that? He said yes and showed me how to use it properly so that I wouldn’t hurt myself in the process. Since that day I use after every hard workout I have which is normally after I go to a Fhitting Room class or a SoulSurvivor. This is has truly made a difference with my muscles and helped with my back spasms tremendously! If you don’t own a foam roller no problem there are tons of options online now and at different price points. If you have never used a foam roller before and aren’t sure which one to purchase stick with the simple ones that almost look like a rolled up yoga mat to start and then go from there. Hope this helps all of you with your muscles. Have a great Tuesday!
Fitness Tuesday – Stress Unloading Apps
Happy Fitness Tuesday! With the holiday season upon us we all know that this is the most stressful time of the year. Whether it be you are stressed at work and trying to get all your projects done before the end of the year or stressed out in your personal life we all have our moments. According to Self Magazine there are a few apps out there that are supposed to relieve you from some of your daily stresses. I tested some of them out myself and here is what I found. The first app is called “OMG I Can Meditate!” and its free on IOS or Android. Essentially you are moving your finger across the screen with a black blob and when you lose focus then it alerts you that you have lost focus. For me this was relaxing for a little while until my thumb started to hurt, but some doctors would say that the pain in my thumb is from all the typing and texting that I do. If you are one of those workaholics you need to try the “Totally Tabata” app that is free as well for IOS or Androids. This helps you sneak in a quick workout while you are in at work and it’s interval training which is also good for your body because you don’t want to A put too much stress on it when you don’t work out often and B it is good to do something different in each work out. The final suggestion that I believe works wonders is mindless gaming. I know that sometimes people who do this can get heavily addicted and forget where they are, but if you have maybe one to two games on your phone and you set a stopwatch to play for say an hour a day it really helps you just clear your mind of everything else around you and destress. I never understood this before until recently and now even on the days that I am not working I do it to just clear my head. I also tried it with putting my phone on airplane mode, but some of the games require internet access so if it does put your phone on sleep mode so you can fully engross in the game that you are playing. My personal favorite game is 1010 it is truly addicting. If you are interested in seeing what other options that Self Magazine suggests to destress this holiday season check out their website here. Hope everyone has a great Tuesday! <3
Image taken from google
Fitness Tuesday in honor of Stella’s Birthday!!
Happy Fitness Tuesday! Today is a very special day for me because it my sweet puppy Stella’s first birthday!! It is crazy to me to think that a year ago on my birthday I put down a deposit for her and now she is already a year old. So today in honor of her birthday I want to talk about fitness with your animal. Now I love to give Stella treats and of course she loves them too, but we also want our pets to be healthy and have tons of energy. I have noticed that for her even after a two hour walk she still is full of energy, but then eventually sleeps. I personally do not go running with Stella everyday, but I have been taking her for casual jogs in Central Park at least once a week since. Thankfully (knock on wood) it hasn’t snowed yet so I am taking full advantage of it. If you are fortunate enough to have a pool anywhere near you and for us New Yorkers an indoor pool take your dog for an occasional swim. All of my family pets have all loved to swim not just because we were in Miami, but because it is great exercise for them. Even though I have seen videos of it and I find it entertaining I have heard that putting a dog on a treadmill isn’t the best idea especially if you turn up the speed on it. Just like Taylor Swift did in the Apple commercial a dog can seriously hurt themselves and fall down. Hope you all have a great Tuesday and again Happy Birthday to my sweet puppy Stella! If you don’t follow her already please follow her on instagram: @ HowStellaGotHerWoofBack
<3
Fitness Tuesday- Bagels & Squats
Happy Tuesday Everyone! Can not believe that November is almost over and it’s now officially Holiday Season! As I have previously posted one of my favorite new workouts that I go to at least once a week is Fhitting Room. I love that every time I go it is something different. Even if you do the same exercise again like the rowing machine they always find a way to change it up. Now since Fhitting room is currently only in New York I found a video posted by Bagels & Squats that shows 12 different ways to work out your arms without the use of any weights! As I was watching the video I said to my mom sitting next to me that these were all workouts I did in my Fhitting Room classes. Then low and behold at the end of the video it says that the exercises were provided by Emily Cook Harris an instructor at The Fhitting Room. The video was posted by Self Magazine as well. If you go to Bagels & Squats facebook page here the video was posted on June 6th of this year. Hope everyone has a great day and did a lot of good shopping yesterday on Cyber Monday. Some of the sites are even continuing their sales today so if you didn’t snag an item that you forgot yesterday check and see if they are still offering Cyber Monday sales on the site. <3
Here is the link to the Facebook Page for Bagels & Squats
Fitness Tuesday – Pre Thanksgiving Work Out
Happy Fitness Tuesday everyone! I am running around crazy right now because I am heading back to Florida today with my sweet puppy Stella and I’m super excited to get to some warm weather ASAP! So as many of you are already preparing yourselves for eating way too much food on Thursday there are some workouts that can help you prepare for the feast I am sure all of you are about to have. One of the things that I do on every flight I have is stretch. Whether it be twisting my back or if you are sitting in the bulkhead sit I always stretch my legs out. I am also one of those people that stretches my quads while I am waiting for the restroom. The worst thing you can do especially on a plane is just not move at all. Prior to your meal this week I suggest that if you are somewhere that is warm take a nice walk. I am most definitely taking Stella on a nice walk around my neighborhood because first off it’s warm outside and if you can get a nice tan while you are walking why not and also its an easy way to burn some calories before you consume them all at your Thanksgiving meal. Also a lot of cities have Turkey Trots which is usually a 5k the day of Turkey day. Now if you are like me and don’t want to leave your mom or dad home cooking by themselves then the walk around the block is a great way to get some work out in before your meal. I hope everyone who is traveling today travels safe and stays warm if you are staying in the cold. Hopefully I come back from Miami with a nice tan 🙂 <3
Fitness Tuesday – Meditation
Happy Tuesday Everyone! Thanksgiving is a little over a week away and I am already mentally preparing myself for how much food I will be eating over the holiday. I am also prepping for the stress of travelling. Personally, I am an anxious flyer and I used to be able to sleep on planes all the time when I was younger, but now I can maybe sleep max 5 minutes on the flight. Something that everyone has told me to do and has recently popped up in pop culture is medication. Even recently on Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kendall Jenner did this to help with her airplane anxiety. I know what you are all thinking right now. You picture someone sitting cross legged with their palms facing up on their knees, eyes closed, saying “ohmmmmmmm,” but that isn’t what you have to do. Every person, I have noticed, meditates differently. Oddly enough, in my high school we had yoga as an option for physical education. Both of the yoga teachers also were teachers in our school and one of them was my physics teacher senior year. He started every class with a 5 minute meditation in order for us to clear our minds. We would sit our chairs back straight and hands by our sides like they were dangling and simply focused on our breathing. That not only helped me everyday relax before the start of class, but it also especially helped me before any exam. Recently, I have been trying to figure out new ways to help me calm down and deal with everything that I have going on in my life. Sometimes I take my yoga mat to my roof and I lay it out and rest my back against the wall and just close my eyes and focus on my breathing. One thing that I highly recommend if you are meditating, is to not bring your phone or anything-turn off all electronic devices. Disconnecting from all devices and all social media for a little while is very helpful in this process. You can cross your legs, sit up tall with your legs out or even lay down- whatever works for you. Some people think if you lay down it looks like you are sleeping, but I don’t believe that. I believe that if you take even 5 minutes everyday whether it be when you wake up or at night just to clear your mind of everything it helps you re-energize and get ready for the next day. I hope you all enjoyed today’s fitness tuesday post. Namaste! <3
(Image taken from google)
Happy Election Day! Fitness Tuesday: Running
Happy Election Day! It’s Fitness Tuesday and to honor the New York City Marathon that just took place this past Sunday, today’s fitness inspiration is running. I know that most people don’t enjoy running. My brother Ira says that he gets bored while running even with listening to music or having a tv on if he is on the treadmill. I personally used to feel that way too, but now I enjoy it from time to time. In the spring of 2013, I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon which is something that honestly shocked my entire family. When it comes to running, the first thing that you need to do is get a great pair of shoes. Yes, I was one of those people that went into a running store and ran on a treadmill in front of a bunch of people to find the right shoe. Also don’t expect to find exactly the color you want in a running shoe. Mine are pink and teal and personally I would have preferred something not as out there, but at the end of the day they are so comfortable and that is really what matters when running. If you have the opportunity to run outside do it! I say this not because it is more entertaining and possibly scenic running outside, but for me I have noticed it is not as hard on my knees. When starting to run take it slow.and don’t worry about trying to have a fast pace. Also when running with your music put your phone airplane mode if you aren’t expecting any calls in order to save battery. I did that when I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon and I am so thankful I did. Make sure you also stretch before and after running and it’s always a good idea to take an epsom salt bath after a nice long run. Hope to see everyone out there running the streets before it eventually starts to snow.Happy running everyone and I go out and vote! <3
If you don’t already please follow my dog Stella on Instagram @HowStellaGotHerWoofBack
Fitness Tuesday- 30 Day Squat Challenge
Happy November everyone! Wow crazy that today is the first day of November. This year has truly flown by and can’t believe that we are so close to the holiday season. Most people know November as no shave Movember, but since the 1st of the month fell on Fitness Tuesday here at Just Jodi Style I wanted to give you all a challenge for this month. This month I am going to be doing a 30 day squat challenge. Different than the ab challenge for last month I wanted something that was similar in the sense that it’s not as time consuming, but target a different area of your body. I have done the challenges in the past where you do wall sits or lunges, but I have never done one with simply just squats. You think that it wouldn’t do anything to your body, but look at Jen Selter. She is now known for building her backside into what it is today and she did a lot of that with simply doing squats. I mean I don’t necessarily want the same results as her, but she has truly made her brand with it. With Thanksgiving coming up just around the corner I know that it’s going to be full of food and treats so I want to be mentally and physically prepared for it :-). For all of you who did the ab challenge last month I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I personally can tell that my abs are stronger than before and I do feel more toned. I don’t have the flattest abs in the world, but I am surely getting closer to it. If you didn’t do the ab challenge last month you can always try again this month. Hope you all have a great Tuesday and happy November to you all! <3