Week 9:  Jump Squats

So it’s week nine and for those of you who might have hit a weight-loss plateau, don’t despair. You may be feeling a bit of stress and pressure as your wedding date draws closer: will the gown fit…will I look my best? All the more reason to get your body to move and let those endorphins release some of that tension and shake things up.

Additionally, to push through that plateau, make sure that your mindful of what you’re eating. I understand that looking amazing in your dress on your wedding day is of the utmost importance, but It’s also incredibly important to eat. Starving yourself , skipping breakfast to “save calories” is actually counter-productive to achieving your goal. You have to eat to get fuel in your body so that your body burns energy efficiently. The best piece of advice that I can give you is: every time you eat, make sure to eat some protein. This piece has been about physical training, so I won’t go to far off on the nutritional tangent, however, as a general rule, we need to eat more protein, even when snacking. A snack could be Greek yogurt with fresh peaches, or a handful of nuts with an apple, even peanut butter on celery would suffice. It doesn’t really matter what combination you choose, just eat a lil protein.

Just know that it’s normal for weight loss to slow down and sticking to this workout plan and healthy eating habits will soon set the scale slipping down again, especially if you rev up your workout with another additional exercise – the “Jump Squat”.

So we’ve been doing squats and lunges, ab work and pushups with our cardio. Now you are going to inject the “Jump Squat” into your routine between every two exercises. For example, you will do one set of push ups, followed by one set of bicep curls and then a set of Jump Squats. Repeat this sequence until you complete all sets working through your entire circuit.

What’s a Squat Jump? Take your standard squat, add propulsion to get a simple plyometric exercise and you have a Jump Squat. Think of yourself as a spring – begin in your standard squat position: feet about shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, abdominals drawn in and your chest is lifted for an upright posture.

Load the spring: bend your knees, lowering into a squat, brining your hands own and back behind your hips.

Release the spring: exhale and thrust your hands forward and overhead, fully extending your legs and hips jumping off the ground as if trying to catch a runaway balloon.

Reload the spring: land softly on the balls of your feet and rock the weight of your body back into your heels as your knees and hips flex back into a squat. This is crucial. A soft landing allows the muscles of your body to absorb the impact of your jump as opposed to your joints and bones; simultaneously, getting stronger .

Upon landing, and rocking back into your heels, capitalize on your momentum and immediately jump back up, until you complete your set. You should find that after your 2nd or 3rd set, you begin to feel your heart rate pick up. The Jump Squat is a full body exercise an will take a tremendous amount of energy to complete.

Beginner’s:Perform sets of 3 squat jumps inbetween every two exercises. Doesn’t seem like much, now.
Intermediate: Perform sets of 6 squat jumps
Advanced: Perform sets of 12 squat jumps

There it is – Week 9…Take charge ladies, stay committed, stay confident!

Check out this video that shows you correctly how to do a Jump Squat: