3 of the Biggest Misconceptions in the Fitness World Explained Head On

Lets clear up a few huge misconceptions in the fitness world. I have posted 3 common mistakes and elaborated with reason why.

1. Cardio is NOT the most efficient way to lose fat.
2. You will NOT BULK UP from heavy resistance training.
3. Longer workouts are NOT Better.

Cardio Vs. Resistance Training


Cardio training in exactly that, to help make your heart and cardiovascular system fitter. It burns calories at the time of the workout, but there is no oxygen debt created to get an elevated heart rate and metabolism post workout. High Intensity resistance training uses all of the stored nutrients in the muscles and therefore this needs to be repaid after your workout, this catabolic reaction creates the elevated metabolic effect of resistance training. Cardio training has a sparring affect and can metabolise and burn muscles tissue because of the length of time this is being performed at a low grade intensity. Resistance training stresses your muscle to help it grow. Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than any other tissue in the body.

Cardio training can create or exacerbate muscle imbalances and overuse injuries. You are performing thousands of the same movement over and over again in a cardio workout such as jogging. Moms have numerous muscle imbalances from pregnancy posture and to avoid getting an overuse injury from this you workout should be multi directional with a variety or total body moves such as squats, lunges, push-ups and pulls.

Just a little side note that high intensity training has the same effects on your cardiovascular system as a traditional cardio workout in shorter time. Is has been studied and proven, check out this article.

Weight Training and Bulk

Come on, no one believes this anymore, do they? Women you CANNOT bulk up form lifting heavy weights. Your natural body chemistry will not allow it. You are a woman with a feminine balance of estrogen and testosterone. Even at that you actually want to elevate your testosterone for short periods of time to burn more fat. Men with a larger balance of testosterone even have a hard time bulking up. When you see the body builder image this is created partly by natural body type, but mostly chemically enhanced whether you are male or female.

Muscle is useful, healthy and considered sexy-just look at all the Hollywood stars. It also weighs more than fat- so don't get hung up on the scale.

Longer Workouts- blah

When I see people at the gym slaving away for hours on the cardio machine or lifting weights all I think is WOW they must be really bored or unemployed. Who has time for that. This issue is 2 fold.

1.Long workouts can actually push your body into stress and eat away at your muscle tissue, and like we mentioned earlier if its a long cardio workout - watch out for over use injury.

2. If you can workout for 1-3 hours, you are not trying hard enough. Your workouts are not intense enough to burn fat efficiently, gain muscle and even speed. Workout quicker and lift heavier to maximize your workout results whether they be for fat burning or performance.

So where does this leave you. Are you wondering what to do for your workout? Try this fail safe, most economical approach to MOMS WORKOUT.

Cold Season and Moms Sleep DeprivationWorkout

Cold season has arrived as Kasia has returned to school. She has brought home a virus that Ava picked up combined with BRUTAL teething. We have been up for 2 nights with her and she is consistently throwing up mucous that sits in her chest after she lays down for a few hours. I feel helpless, she is scared, crying and cannot tell me why. Sometimes she wants to be hugged and sometimes she pushes me away with frustration. If anyone has any suggestions for helping with the mucous in her chest please let me know.

On a lighter note Ava is 18 months and still doesn't walk. I have a walker/fire truck for her but she only wants to press the noisy buttons on it. On her own to my surprise the other day she pulled out our old floor WINE RACK. She stood and started pushing this around. Great she has made her OWN WALKER, who needs fancy toys, just one multi purpose wine rack/walker is all you need. This wonderful development in Ava has come a week after Kasia has decided to name her favourite doll "Pinot Grigio"

Due to lack of sleep yesterday my BUSY MOM workoutwas mobility and body weight exercise. I performed leg and arm swings, lunges, lunge twists, squats, bulgarian split squats, push press/pushup/rotational plank combo, 1 leg deadlift and pullup 1 set of 4 and one set of 3. This is all I could manage and I felt better, more alert and stretched.

So most of you reading this post are probably chronically sleep deprived. Can you really get results with your body and even mind under this strenuous condition. YES you can, but keep your wits about it. If you feel extra tired or your mind is scattered perform a mobility, rehabilitation type workout. You can get copies of Mobility and Joint Revcovery Workouts in the Baby Bump Busy Mom Fitness System. Another great workout is foam rolling and stretching, especially when you feel like you are tired, fighting a virus and you are under extreme stress. You can get results with your body using these workouts because when you do have energy to perform a KickAss workout your range of motion will be better and you can burn more calories working through full range. Your mind will be healthier because you will have done something for yourself used your mind in a totally different way than what you usually do. This can help clear your head and focus on your daily tasks.

3 Super Busy Mom Snacks

Today I'll report on some easy nutrition tips, with some modifications so you can give them to your children or send them to a "nut free" child zone such as school, daycare or birthday parties. These are also great snacks when you are pregnant. Eating is essential for all, but to get in healthy snacks when pregnant can be the difference between feeling nauseous and not. Keep your blood sugar stabilized if you are pregnant-eat.

1. Blueberries, walnuts, cottage cheese. This is a great busy super mom snack as blueberries contain antioxidants, walnuts contain essential fatty acids or omegas and cottage cheese contains whey protein to stabilize blood sugar. For the super kids snack version you can leave out the walnuts and a touch of applesauce for added fruity sweetness for the kids.

2. Apple slices and cheese. This super mom snack contain fiber, protein and fat to reduce blood sugar fluctuations. Mom may prefer apple-wood smoked cheddar and kids mozzarella, it all works. Eat the skin on the apple as this contain a few grams of fibre on its own.

3. Dried apricots and almonds. This busy mom snack again contain fibre and omega fatty acids. For the super kids version you can add some dried apricot slices to yogurt or cottage cheese. OK so you or your child is lactose sensitive or intolerant- so add some dried apricots (sliced) into nut free granola with a few dark chocolate chips(or carob)- I guarantee they'll gobble this down.

These snacks are easy to make, relatively not messy for children and mom, and have a balance of nutrients to stabilize blood sugar. I use the almond /apricot combo as my go to snack. I always have a bag of this in my backpack because it doesn't go bad. You can always have your food on hand. None of the snacks are low fat as you will notice, actually quite the opposite. Fats are essential in your eating plan to be successful at health and weight loss.

For the mom that is ready to take her nutrition to the next level I am going to refer you to this complete comprehensive eating program with great tasting recipes I am going to refer you to an ebook call The Diet Solution. I think you will find this easy to follow and is full of great ingredients such as coconut oils and medium chain fats to boost your metabolism. A great compliment to your busy mom workouts.

Also for a complete Busy Mom Fitness program or Pregnancy Fitness program check my Baby Bump ebooks. Everything you will need from pregnancy, post delivery, and fat loss/fitness. A comprehensive system.

My Busy Mom Fitness workout today- dynamic warmup and circuts

circut #1 2x- modified pullups, squat press, prone jack knife with pushup, kettlebell snatch

Busy Mom Fat Loss circut #2- lunge kettlebell row, burpee with jumpsquat, lunge xover row, jump squat 10 of each 2x through the circut

To get more workouts like the one listed aboven in a 16 week program get a copy of your Baby Bump Busy Mom Fitness ebook.

Think Like An Athlete- changing views on fat

So my girls are counting the dogs boobies and reviewing what colour they are. Great, they are both very curious and have realized SAMMY the dog is a girl and daddy is a boy. I have just been informed the dog is licking herself as well. I indicated this is OK, this is how she cleans herself, just don't you do it. I have been through this before when Kasia peed out in the yard because Sammy did.

BUSY MOM FITNESS- Body Image and Changing Views on Fat

So we reviewed important reasons to exercise over the past two posts. Reason 1- fix pregnancy posture, 2 gain strength and speed recovery to care for your children, others relieve stress, deal with/prevent depression. When you start an exercise session set a mini goal for yourself that session, like today I am going to try and add 5 seconds to my plank. This is important in two ways a) it automatically makes your fitness program progressive and we need constant progression to yield results and b) It shifts the focus of your workout from negative to positive. You are not focused on losing weight that session (that we all know is impossible to achieve in one day although we all hope it's possible) and a positive challenge to add something to your routine.

Fitness is an achievement earned over time, not in one or two sessions. Look at the long term effects and benefits. If you have just had a baby you will not be ready to jump on the horse and run a 10km race, right?. Your body needs to heal and become progressively stronger to get a lasting result. In actual fact you probably could or may be capable of running a 10km in early post partum, but is this wise. NO WAY, you will never get a lasting result to get to your true strength potential. You will run a 10km and most likely your fitness will plateau and then deteriorate due to overtraining and imbalances. You will never get the lasting fitness result you desire. I see the result of improper programming in my industry on a daily basis.

So what is proper programming for a new mom that will take you to your ultimate fitness and fat loss quest. Start with the furious 5 and work through the 3 progressive stages. Start the free beginner fitness/fat loss program and progress to the 4 week program. All of this is at your finger tips by signing up for my newsletter at the side of the blog. This program is incremental, progressive, and focuses on functional strength which is needed for lasting fitness results and fat loss.

Athletes rehab starts very slow and is progressive, they have professionals advising them of long term results. "Yes today your can run 50 metres in 15 seconds and will be able to get to 8 seconds by continuing what you are doing, this is an ok result. If you take a step back and perform 2-4 weeks of post rehab or muscle balancing exercise your potential will be to run a 50 metre in 6 seconds. " This is the same as fat loss, you can drop 10 pounds by jogging with your stroller, but if you fix your pregnancy posture, balance your muscles and embark on a high intensity resistance training program you have potential to drop a lasting 20 lb.

I will tell you from experience as an athlete, this is how an athlete tackles learning and mastering a new skill and how they approach their fitness routine. Start slow, methodical and when the basics are mastered results are exponential. Lets do a comparison-

Athletes have bad posture from playing sports
Athletes have traumatic stress injuries from falls, hits ect.
Athletes have overuse injuries from repetitive moves

Moms have traumatic stress injuries from delivery
Moms have overuse injuries from repetitive moves
Moms have bad posture from pregnancy

Wow mom, you are an athlete and motherhood is your sport. Understanding that being able to plank for 20 seconds longer will allow you to hold your baby for 1 hour longer before your low back gets tired is incentive enough. Think of the result of each exercise in your program- will this allow me to do something better in my daily mom life. Exercise should enhance your life, not burden it.

If you tell an athlete that by performing 20 seconds more on their front plank will allow them to return to their sport quicker or jump higher without back pain they will do it- because that is their incentive, their mindset and their reason for performing exercises.

You have more incentive to perform better in your daily life than just jumping higher or running faster. Your job is important, life shaping and multi dimensional. You need endless endurance, strength and positive energy. Don't focus on negative like feeling fat, it will impact your life and your children's lives. Focus on the positives like being strong, trying a new exercise, and managing stress. There is no harder and more important job or sport in the world than being a mother. You yield life.

The end

sincerely ,

Jacqueline (mother and athlete)

Get Fat Out of Your Head-Reasons For Exercise

I just had to write as a proud mom, Kasia's first day of Junior Kindergarten went awesome. Here is her photo. So this is what I did to prepare myself for her first week of school and my husband travelling as well. I made the girls a breakfast schedule so first thing in the morning I am not scrambling for the rush. As a working parent this I find , is the most stressful part of the day. So I will head stress off at the pass and here plan for it. I am focused on success and want them to leave the house with a full belly.

GIRLS BREAKFAST SCHEDULE

Monday-breakfast sausage, cereal, mixed berries

Tuesday- blueberry waffle, sausage, apple

Wednesday-raisin toast, applesauce, sausage

Thursday- mini muffin, banana, drinking yogurt

Friday- scrambled eggs, yogurt, fruit



Busy Mom Fitness- Get Fat Out of Your Head

So at the end of last days post FAT IS ONLY A FEELING, I indicated we need to address your reasons for working out. Be honest- is it to look, good, lose fat, tone your arms, see your abs? Or is it to be healthy, fix your pregnancy posture, be strong, prevent overuse injuries, feel great? Let me know your answers in the comments.

A bit of insight can go a long way. So all of you have just been through a life and body changing experience-PREGNANCY. Do you know what pregnancy does to your posture? Well it pushes your head forward, rounds your upper back (like a hunch back), sways your low back, rotates your hips outwards so you walk like a penguin, forces you to walk with your weight in the balls of your feet. So all of these changes in your posture can exacerbate and create pain in your neck, shoulders and back. Relaxin and prolactin when nursing can further create joint instability and your can be left with nagging little injuries in your joints. (Refer to wrist video for tips if this is you).
So that being said are you caring for your baby/children with optimal posture and pain free? Probably not, so make this your 1st first priority of why you are working out, to care for your new baby and prevent any further change in your posture that can lead to pain. Start with the Furious 5 exercises for brand new moms.

Reason number 2 STRESS RELEIF- yes do something for yourself, exercise can be it. This is a positive in so many ways. Exercise relieves stress, releases endorphins to help with depression, manage anxiety, promote healing and health, gain strength to care for your baby. It does not have to be strenuous until you feel ready, but there is power in doing something for yourself and it can be as simple as starting the Furious 5.

Lets hear your reasons for exercising mom. We will tackle the athlete mentality later this week.

Fat is Only a Feeling

Have you ever thought, "I feel fat"? I am sure as a woman you have at least 100x/week. But fat is only a feeling. Are you really fat? Probably not, you may just be having guilt feeling about eating some chips or doggin' it through your last workout. It comes down to your mindset, how do you see yourself. People are harder on themselves because we are naturally self-absorbed. Believe me others are not criticizing you for skipping yesterdays workout- they don't even know and they are too busy worrying about themselves. Ok, so we have that cleared up, no one else is critiquing you. But what about you, why are you hard on yourself? Ask yourself these questions and answer them truthfully, everyone's answer is going to be different and I would love to hear them. If you are overweight, you have come to the right site for help and support too.
Myself, I will answer this question for you right now. I feel fat when I eat a poor breakfast like junky cereal, this sets me up for the day. I also feel fat according to my monthly cycle, that I feel I cannot control how my hormones affect my mind. I can honestly (and my clients will attest to this) say I don't think I feel the same degree of social pressures as other women I know regarding my body image. I am female and I do have them, but I know that part of my attraction of being a successful personal trainer is because of my positive self image. So where did this come from, we all read the same magazines and watch the same tv.

I don't have a six pack, but I am strong and happy with my body. I will post videos when I am feeling fat and bloated, like the kettle bell video, because I know all people have these days, that's life. I could diet for photo shoots if I wanted to, but I won't that's not real life. I was going to, but decided personally against it. I train for overall health.

I can attribute my positive self image to being an athlete. Yes that is right, I always trained for performance not for looking good but for actually being good at something. I played soccer, basketball and volleyball all at a highly competitive level. My sport of choice that I continued playing on the varsity team was volleyball, and I can attest it was my worst sport as well. I was good enough to play varsity, but it was my biggest athletic challenge and I took it on. If I can play at this level in my worst sport I can do anything. I had to get better and that is when I started training, just to be competitive with the other athletes. This is how I got involved in working out, I loved it. I never started to lose fat, I just wanted to jump higher and be faster. The thing is it worked for both, I became a better athlete, I had a leaner body and my self image sky rocketed.

What Every Mom Can Learn From A Man-you may not thought this possible

I had an interesting conversation with one of my male clients who is an ex professional athlete. Dealing with men, they do not hold back, he out right said I am fat, I need to lose 25 lb. He has a young family and is extremely busy. He is honest with himself about his health and how he feels. He told me point blank " I am fat, I am embarrassed of my fitness level and I want to feel like and athlete again". That was it, a light bulb went on for me "FEEL LIKE AN ATHLETE" and your body will follow. I am expecting tremendous results from this man because he is honest with himself and does not hide his feelings about his body image from me.

Be honest with yourself. Remember fat is only a feeling, self body image is what is important. Training like an athlete will get you there. But I'm a mom, not an athlete and never have been. That does not matter, you are training for performance, yes how you pick up, hold and carry you children, this is your sport. This is my sport now, and I need my training to perform as a mom at a top level and be energized and pain free managing my kids. Train for you health, without your health you have a lot to lose- increase your quality of life with your family.

Make this a priority, THINK LIKE AN ATHLETE and MOTHERHOOD is your SPORT. Positive body image will follow and you soon the body you desire and deserve will follow. I know all of this is easier said than done and keep visiting this week as we talk about reasons for exercising and changing your mindset.

Kettle Bell Challenge for Mom

Yes today was a day for kettle bell circuits in my training schedule. I love them, portable, quick, efficient. I get a great total body, fat burning workout with one piece of equipment. They originated in Russia and have been adopted by the mixed martial arts community. They are fast becoming mainstream because of the results they yield. I was first introduced to kettle bells a few months after the birth of my first daughter, and started taking lessons a few months after that. I have been using them ever since, not solely but as part of my busy mom fitness schedule. Check out this video for a demonstration. You can try these moves with a dumbbell.



I find learning a new tool takes your mindset off exercising solely to lose fat, but learning leads to performance. This is a new skill that is fun, efficient and make you feel energized. The second benefit is you will shed pounds while you are at it.

Weekend Challenge- perform this kettle bell circuit shown in the video with a kettle bell or a dumbbell. Just get used to these new moves. Post in your comments after you are done for a GREAT BABY BUMP PRIZE. Remeber the last prize was from Prograde Nutrition.

3 Keys to a Fit and Healthy Mommy

I hope everyone received my newsletter yesterday about how to maintain a fit and healthy life after labour day. You can still get it sent to you by signing up to the right hand side of this blog. The just of the letter was;

3 KEY TO LIVE BY to have a fit and healthy life as a busy mom.

1. Organize your menu. This means have meals planned in your head, make the grocery list to support this and shop and execute, by that I mean cooking not burning food.

2. Organize your workouts. Have a rough idea of when you want to workout for the day. Have a weekly plan of the days you are going to workout and have a workout program to follow. Again you can grab a free workout program in the side bar of this blog.

3. Sleep More. This will reduce stress, reduce belly fat and reduce overuse injuries. You will be a happier mommy.


My busy mom workout today- bike ride to work 10km, foam roll, standing lat pulldowns, pullups, shoulder rotations, deadlifts, bike ride home.

Stretching and Muscular Imbalance for Mom

A few things first, I got this email for Julie Tupler

Jacqueline, It would be great if you could post to your readers that they are doing a show on diastasis recti on Sept 15th and my dvd, splint and tupler technique will be featured. Thanks so much.. Julie Best Julie Tupler, RN DiastasisRehab...Closing the Gap with the Tupler Technique www.DiastasisRehab.com.

So if anyone is available the show will be on TV, 9am NYC time on a show called The Doctors, so tune in and support Julie and find out about her methods.

My Busy Mom Workout today- today I did a post rehab session for about 20 minutes then trained my next client and completed my workout with a few strength exercises. I have been trying to focus more on stretching lately and performing core exercises and postural exercises with opposing muscle group stretches between. I feel this is working, which leads me into WHYI am doing this. I have a brutal muscle imbalance in my lower body from delivering my first child. She was stuck for a while and while she was being delivered my and psoas muscles were torn on the right side of my body. I am "forever" working on my right leg to maintain fitness. So my stretching routine is all part of a bigger plan to increase my right leg strength. I am doing a lot of unilateral training that causes tightness so I have to stay on top of this to get a lasting gain. Fitness is not just a fly by night 4 week trial, it is a way of life and doing the right exercises for longevity and lasting results is very important and often overlooked. People are so worried about doing what is trendy the basics get left behind.

I am a huge fan of unilateral training and have all of my clients performing it. PLEASE NOTE as a new mom if you are still releasing relaxin hormone in the for of prolactin from nursing and your pelvis is unsteady, shearing or has some pain do not perform UNILATERAL training yet (such as 1 leg squats, reverse lunges). They can further irritate your pelvis and set you back. Not everyone will suffer from this but just be aware when you start exercising as a new mom what should feel right.

Strengthen Your Posture Workout

For 3 great workout check out the bottom of last days post. I have another one, not quite as intense, but effective for posture.

Busy Mom Workout- 3 sets of external shoulder rotations, shoulder press wall slides, arm swings and legs swings, foam rolling and my workout begins. This is a strength workout so movements should be slow, heavy and deliberate.

Superset 1for strength in posture- modified pullups 12x with bentover self stabilizing kettle bell rows- 2 x thru this superset.

Superset 2- kettle bell full front squat with kettlebell reverse lunge (load in the front leg for extra stability work) 2 x thru this superset.

Scapular protraction/retraction from plank position and some round the world kettlebell passes for my anti-rotational abdominal muscle training. Then I cut the lawn.



I would like to announce the winner of the Workout Challenge posted 2 weeks ago. Laura Wills will be receiving a container of Prograde Recovery, a great recovery solution from tough workouts. This is a brutal, yet simple workout consisting of all burpees and pullups.