Fight Weight Gain for Valentine’s

It’s the National day to engorge yourself on sweets and romance – Valentine’s Day. We’re surprising our loves and lovers with chocolate covered everything by day – and deliciously sweet drinks at night. When it’s all over, most of us are left staring at our naked selves in the mirror on the morning after wondering what happened. Well – worry no more, baes and beaus! Personal Trainer, Certified Nutritionist & Exercise Physiologist, Franci Cohen has the perfect exercises to burn off the tasty delights and fight weight gain.

It’s more than just calorie counting, though.  Franci weighs in on how much exercise you need to do to burn off the Valentine’s Day treats.

Cherry Cheesecake

• Calories: 360

• Fat: 21g

 

Exercise: To burn off 360 calories, Franci suggests the Burpee Bounce Block (The Triple B).

 

Begin by squatting down low enough that your knees are level with your hips. Be careful not to hyperflex your knees over your feet. Next, place your hands on the floor directly under your shoulders, and jump your feet back, so that you are now in plank position. Quickly jump your feet back in towards your arms, and then jump up to standing position shooting your arms straight above your head.

 

You just performed your 1st Burpee! Now do 23 more! Each Burpee should take approx 8 seconds, and the total 24 should be done continuously without interruption if possible. Next, stand behind a mini trampoline. If you can’t find a trampoline then you can use a bench or step. Squat down low and then power squat forward up onto the trampoline. Then, power squat off back into your starting squat position on the floor. Repeat 24 power bounce squats. Each squat on/off should take approximately 4 seconds (2 seconds on/2 seconds off).

 

Finally, step on to trampoline, and pretend you are making the final most important “jump shot” of an NBA basketball game. Stand with feet and knees together, squat down and reach both arms up and out in front of you as you jump up with power.

 

Repeat 100 jump shots (yes-100)!!!! It should take less than 3 minutes to compete. Now, jog in place on trampoline for 3 full minutes. The consistency of the moderate intensity jog will target fat stores, and the fluctuation between the high-intensity plyometric Burpee block and the moderate aerobic jogging with expend additional calories overall. You are getting the benefits of cross-training. Congrats! You’ve just completed the 1st block of your Burpee Bounce Block-Triple “B”!  NOW repeat the entire block 3 times, and you can kiss that cheesecake goodbye!

6-Piece Box of Godiva Chocolates

• Calories: 440

• Fat: 26g

Exercise: Want to blast away those 440 fat-laden calories of smooth silky chocolate bliss? Franci recommends the Can-Can Lunge.

Start by taking 2 cans of beans/soup/pasta sauce out of your cupboard. 16oz cans are perfect! Holding one can in each hand stand with feet hip-width apart facing a mirror. Step forward with your right leg into a deep lunge, making sure your right knee stays directly over your right ankle (not past-not over the foot), and checking to ascertain that your left hip and knee are in 1 straight line (don’t let left knee pull behind the hip). Now, quickly swap legs while punching your hands down.

 

Repeat right -left, right- left on single counts (2 seconds each leg), for a total of 60 seconds (30 power lunges with can punches).

 

Now it’s time for the “can-can”-just like the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall!

Go back to starting standing position and bring arms straight out to the sides so that hands elbows and knees are all on one straight plane. Without bending the knee, lift your right leg up so that leg is parallel to the floor, and as you do this, bring your hands together to touch in center of your body-line. Switch to left leg.

 

Continue swapping leg lifts with a small bounce in between, and bringing arms in and out each time a leg lifts up. Repeat the “can-can” series for 60 seconds total

 

Finally backtrack to lunges, doing single lunges (1 at a time without the power swapping). Perform 100 lunges (50 on the right leg and then 50 on the left-no alternating legs).

 

This should take approx 6-7 minutes to compete (4 seconds per lunge).

Yay! You did it!  Repeat the “Can-Can Lunge” cycle 4 times, and those blissful chocolate medallions will simply melt away!

2 Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with 2 Glasses of Champagne

• Calories: 260

• Fat: 8g

 

Exercise: To fire up that metabolism and knock out the calories from the bubbly, try this Kickbox Drillmaster.

Facing a mirror start performing front kicks. With your arms in the “on-guard” position, kick your right leg forward so that the ball of your foot is directed toward the mirror. Aim to get your foot above your shoulder height. Repeat on the left leg.

Continuously kick right- left, right- left, until you have performed 100 front kicks (50 on each leg alternating legs). This should take less than 3 minutes.

Next, continue with double front kicks (2 on the right, then 2 on the left). Perform 25 doubles on each leg-still totals 100 kicks, and takes another 3 minutes or less.

Finally, perform non-stop airborne front kicks (100 high then 100 low). Kick your legs (right, left, right, left) in the air non-stop as fast as you can (approx. 1 kick per second), trying to get your legs elevated as high as you can for 100 kicks. The repeat the same 100 locking ankle level (very low), for an active recovery. The 200 kicks should take 3-4 minutes total.

Repeat this Kickbox Drillmaster drill set 3 times, get strong, get ripped, and kick those calories gone!

 

* Note: * All calories and exercises provided are based on a moderately active 130 pound 30-something year old woman.

**Kimi Note:** Since most of us don’t fit this profile, I’d suggest adding an extra set for each exercise that you do, for better results.

Sound Off: Do you think you’ll be overindulging this Valentine’s Day? Would these moves help you fight weight gain?

Meet Franci Cohen

 

Franci Cohen is a personal trainer, certified nutritionist, exercise physiologist and creator of SPIDERBANDS®, a total-body cardio resistance workout that leverages gravity and your bodyweight with other intense exercise modules such as rebounding, kickboxing and indoor cycling.  With over 18 years of experience, Franci has been a mainstay in the fitness and nutrition industries. Franci believes in a tough love approach to fitness and health.  “We all have our fitness wake-up call at some point in our lives and it can be a powerful catalyst for change,” says Franci. “Unfortunately, many people overcompensate and try to change everything at once, which is a disaster. Making lasting change involves going through stages that aren’t necessarily linear.  People fluctuate and transition between the stages. Knowing how to move through them can get you where you want to be.”

 

Franci devotes much of her time to Fuel Fitness, a specialty fitness center in Brooklyn, NY and continues to teach group fitness classes, train clients and broaden her perspective in all areas of fitness, nutrition and wellness.  She designs unique fitness modules and group exercise programs for her clients utilizing the most effective and popular products, tools and exercise equipment available.  “Exercise is one of the most important things you can do for your health, but sometimes it’s hard to just get motivated.  My goal is to keep it fun and interesting by creating out-of-the-box programs that wow my clients with both the innovative nature of the classes, as well as with the rapid results they see in their bodies!  My classes are the ultimate playground where fitness meets fun, and nothing is off limits!”

 

Education:

• Triple Bachelors Degree

• Masters in Nutrition

• Masters in Exercise Physiology

Certifications:

• Nutritionist

• Group Exercise Instructor

• Group Fitness Specialist

• Personal Trainer

• Lifeguard/Professional Rescuer

• Indoor Cycling Instructor

Certifying Institutions

• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (A.N.D.)

• American College of Sports Medicine

• National Academy of Sports Medicine

• American Council on Exercise (ACE)

• American Fitness Association of American (AFAA)

• Mad Dog Athletics

• American Red Cross

 

Franci has been married for 14 years and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and four children.

Check Franci out here!