The Fitness Gurus

Happy Principal’s Day, Exonians! While you’re out enjoying the warm weather and freedom today, hopefully you’ll all be able to motivate yourselves for at least an hour or so to get in a solid workout. Since everyone will probably be wearing minimal clothing, we thought it might be a good idea to give you guys an ab workout so those six packs can glisten in the sun all day long. For this oblique workout, you’ll need a light weight—we suggest between 7 and 15 pounds. We want you to avoid going above this weight, as you’ll run the risk of dropping the weight on your leg, so if the workout is too easy, just do more sets instead of increasing the weight. Tucking the weight behind one of your knees, raise your body into the plank position, keeping your leg bent to hold onto the weight. Slowly bring the leg with the weight on it up towards your shoulder, crunching sideways and tensing your obliques. If you want to make the move more difficult, try simultaneously doing a pushup while you curl your leg in.Our healthy food of the week suggestion comes straight from our very own Christina Collis. For those of you who don’t like broccoli, try lightly drizzling olive oil and sprinkling just a dash of cheese on top of it, then putting it in the microwave for 20-40 seconds. Although they add both fat and calories, in moderation, this modification can be an excellent way to get your daily veggies in.For our healthy alternative of the week, we recommend Chia seeds! These small little seeds are one of the richest plant-based sources of fatty acids containing both omega-3 fatty acids and polyunsaturated fats. Chia seeds are also rich in fiber, high in antioxidants and contain lots of healthy minerals. Chia seeds can help reduce inflammation, prevent aging and cancer, improve cognitive thinking, help regulate insulin and decrease high cholesterol. Two tablespoons of this nutrient-dense food contains 117 calories, 4g of protein, 7.4g of fat and a third of your daily fiber intake. These seeds provide twice the iron and magnesium as a cup of spinach and as much calcium as a half-cup of milk. You can sprinkle Chia seeds on cereal, sauces, vegetables, rice, yogurt or oatmeal. You can even eat Chia seeds plain!These seeds are also hydrophilic, so when added to water they make a great energy drink. Chia seeds can absorb up to 10 times their weight in water, which make them a great way to hydrate for a long workout session. A study published by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that Gatorade and Chia water offer the same performance benefits for the amount of calories. In addition, Chia water has a much healthier nutrition profile than Gatorade. So, next time you’re at the store, grab some Chia seeds and enjoy!And now for our quote of the day: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." –Aristotle Raphy and Lexi