Are you ready for shedding some layers on Valentine's Day? Let SkinnyLegs give you the most beautiful arms and tight, toned legs and body!  

  

SkinnyLegs Feb session starts Mon Feb 4th and Tues Feb 5!

  

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Stress relief

Exercise of course is a great stress reliever but a little help from your significant other would be really nice this month. Stress shows in your beautiful face so to look and feel your best, try these acupressure tips that you can do on your own or a little help from said friend that I found in Fitness Mag this month.

  

1. stress headache?

       Position the pad of your right thumb between the inner corner of your right eye and your nose.  Do the same with your left thumb on the left side.  Relax neck and shoulders and let the weight of your head press into thumbs; hold for 60 seconds.

  

2. carrying the weight of the world in your shoulders?

       Trace your right middle finger from the base of your left side of your neck toward the tip of your left shoulder until you feel a small hollow.  Press the pad of your finger into this spot and hold for 60 seconds. Repeat on the other side with your left middle finger.

  

3. need an energy boost?

     Place the three middle fingers of one hand horizontally on your abdomen just below your belly button.  Press inward firmly with the pads of your fingers and hold for 30-60 seconds.

  

4. "I'm in the mood for love...."

       Stand up, back straight.  Make a fist with each hand and place it, knuckles down, on your lower back, just above your butt.  Using your knuckles, knead your back, applying firm pressure for two minutes.

  

5 Chocolate

       Right??? Honestly, I'm going to Belmonte Raw on Queen St for their chocolate thimbles (vegan, sugar free...$$, worth it...) but if you don't have a dairy issue, try these chocolate truffles

  

oz (squares) unsweetened chocolate, chopped small

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3/4 tsp vanilla

2 TBS Stevia (or your sweetener of choice, Agave, maple syrup...)

pinch baking soda

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder mixed w/sweetener for dusting finished truffles

  

Place the chopped chocolate in the bowl of a food processor or blender.  Heat the cream in a saucepan over med heat until small bubbles appear around the edge.  Pour the cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 30 seconds.  Blend until the mixture is smooth.

Add the vanilla, sweetener and pinch of baking soda.

Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour.

Using a 1 oz. scoop or tablespoon, scoop balls of chocolate and place on a baking sheet.  Refrigerate for about 30 min.

When chilled, roll each truffle in the palm of your hand into a perfectly round ball.

Drop the truffles into the sweetened cocoa powder to coat the exterior.

Store the truffles in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

  

I continue to learn wonderful things about our type of exercise.  The latest is from Bruce Krahn who writes for Revive Magazine this month.

  

Shortened, to the point, yes, he says you need to create a calorie deficit for ultimate success, but exercise is more important and actually, essential.

  

This is the one that stopped me mid jumping jack -

"two key hormones are released during bouts of high intensity exercise which activates an enzyme called HSL which is responsible for mobilizing fat out of the cell...wait for it...he said Mobilize fat to be released out of the cell but did not say that it caused the fat to be used for energy.  Once mobilized, if the fat is not burned it will simply be re-deposited elsewhere on your body." 

YIKES!

Luckily, the key to making sure this doesn't happen is to increase blood flow....to where it can be burned off. Best way to increase blood flow? Exercise.

  

"the pairing of high-intensity with low-intensity exercise in the same session serves to accomplish several goals including:

.release of free fatty acids from trouble spot areas of the body"

  

  

ABOUT SkinnyLegs

 

SkinnyLegs™ gets into the smaller secondary muscles and literally pulls them in creating a longer, slimmer version of yourself! Other exercise classes promote calorie torching which is great for losing water weight, but if your goal is to be smaller, than SkinnyLegs™ is for you!

 

SkinnyLegs works your entire body to sculpt long and lean arms, legs, glutes and abs through a series of exercises with benefits taken from the ballet and dance world together with the spirited NON-BULKING interval cardio!

 

SkinnyLegs utilizes purely your own body weight as resistance training to strengthen, define, tighten, firm and sculpt feminine arms ( light weights are incorporated ), legs, abs and bums. It has been proven that with repetitive exercise focusing on the larger muscles (ie. the treadmill, running, biking...) your larger muscles will do what they are meant to do, become larger and stronger. SkinnyLegs women's only classes will contract your smaller secondary muscles, keeping them guessing through weekly changing exercises and therefore working to create a long, lean physique. The cardio portion incorporates interval training and dance cardio which enhances your results, your endurance and flexibility.

 

The very nature of the SkinnyLegs program is weekly changing and increasingly challenging to keep you interested and your muscles continually working in the right direction, smaller, tighter, stronger, leaner.

 

Looking forward to seeing you next week!