Squats, Spaghetti, Ball and Bands

Tip of the Day: Squats

People with bad knees generally stay away from squats. I was just training someone who's knees hurt them while doing squats, and it made me a little nervous. So I've been researching into it, and I found that squats are actually going to strengthen your knees eventually. They'll strengthen your muscles (quads and hamstrings) that control the knee joint. It's kind of like a q-tip. If you stick it to far in your ear, it's going to hurt! (bad example?) So you want to shoot for going down until your legs are parallel with the floor, but only go as far as you can without your knees hurting you. If you do have knee problems, don't go straight for the weighted squats. Put an exercise ball between a wall and the small of your back, and do wall squats as far as you can without your knees hurting.


Healthy Recipe: Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce

I love Italian food, and I hate not being able to eat it when I'm trying to watch my calories. This week I'm going to find healthy, light Italian recipes. This recipe is 374 calories a serving and this makes 8.

• 1 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 pound lean (90% or leaner) ground beef
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is beginning to brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Stir in garlic and Italian seasoning; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add beef and cook, stirring and breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Increase heat to high. Stir in tomatoes and cook until thickened, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in parsley and salt.
4. Serve the sauce over the pasta, sprinkled with cheese.

Exercise: Ball and Band

These are great exercises to do at home, and the tools are so much cheaper to buy than a set of dumbbells, or a treadmill!

Butt and Back exercise
Sit on the stability ball with knees wide directed over toes, spine straight and abs tucked in. Wrap the resistance band around your hands, being careful not to constrict your knuckles or fingers. Raise the band over your head, with arms extended straight up to the ceiling. Pull the band apart until your arms form a Y shape over your head. Pull the band tight with no sagging or lax areas. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull the band down behind your head until it reaches the top of your back, as if performing a lat pulldown move in the gym. Simultaneously, while you are pulling down the band, deeply squeeze your gluteus maximus and lift your hips up off the ball about 1 to 2 inches as in a reverse squat movement. As you raise the band back up overhead, return your butt to the ball. Perform 15 to 20 repetitions to sculpt the latissimus dorsi and trapezius muscles in the upper back while toning the quadriceps and gluteus muscles in the lower body.

Pecs and Abs exercise
Sit on the ball with the band wrapped around your hands. Walk your feet out until your back is resting comfortably on the ball. Raise your arms directly over your chest. The band should be tight and give you resistance when opening the arms wide. As you curl your chest up off the ball and contract your abdominals, pull the band down across your chest by opening your arms to the side. Make sure your arms make a straight line across your chest, not going higher than the shoulder area. Return the back to the ball as you raise your arms back to the starting position. Try not to let the band go lax when you bring it back to the beginning position. Perform 15 to 20 repetitions being careful not to jut the chin forward on the raises or open the arms to wide past the shoulder girdle.

Biceps and Quad exercise
Sit up tall on the ball with feet on the floor, knees hip-distance apart in a 90-degree angle to your torso. The band should be under the arches of your shoes so that there is equal amount of band on each side. Wrap one end of the band around your right hand and the other around your left. Bend your elbows into a 90-degree angle and place them close to your ribs. Bring your hands together and curl them up towards your left shoulder as you lean back towards the left contracting your ab muscles on the left side. Tuck your lower abdominals in to support your lower back and be careful not to arch. Return the arms to 90 degrees. Repeat the contraction and bicep curl to the right side. Try to perform 20 repetitions or 10 to each side. It is helpful to exhale on the exertion part of the movement and inhale on the relax or return portion.