Shuichi Take Fitness » Blog http://www.shuichitakefitness.com Shuichi Take Fitness | Workout Videos | Personal Trainers | Health & Fitness Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:01:22 +0000 en hourly 1 Shuichi’s Weekly Workouts (1/30-2/3) http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-130-23/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-130-23/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:03:41 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1688 This weeks workout program is designed to keep you on your toes and promote muscle confusion. Each day will be a completely different workout so you won’t need to take any notes to refer back to. With each workout choose a weight, pace or intensity that you know your comfortable with for the first round or circuit. Upon completion, make any adjustments so that you can continue the workout at a high level–that you are comfortable with–for the duration of the workout.

 

 

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-130-23/feed/ 0 Take’s Top Ten: Healthy Snacks http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/takes-top-ten-healthy-snacks/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/takes-top-ten-healthy-snacks/#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:17:04 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1697 It’s the middle of the day—somewhere between lunch and dinner—when all of a sudden you hear your stomach growling. Uh oh!  You just ate a few hours ago but it’s too early for dinner so what do you do?? Grab a healthy snack of course!

Throughout the course of day—particularly between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner—having a snack is a great way to keep your metabolism (your body’s calorie burning engine) running optimally and curb hunger pains. Hearing your stomach growl or getting hunger pains is not a bad thing—that’s just your body letting you know it needs more fuel to keep performing at a high level. Adding snacks in between your three main meals can also keep your calories lower throughout the day by preventing over eating. The key is to have healthy snacks around so that you avoid the snack machine or grabbing one (or more!) of those free donuts in the office kitchen.

Below is my list of top ten healthy snacks. When coming up with this list there were a few guidelines that I used:

  • Under 200 Calories
  • Simple and Easy-little to no prep time
  • Convenient-something that you can keep close by

I did not include vegetables on the list as they generally tend to be low in calories. Normally this is good, but, in it of its own, vegetables do not do an adequate job of curbing your hunger. Adding a stalk of celery or a carrot to each snack is an option if you’re trying to add more vegetables throughout the day.

10. Protein Shake- in the interest of this list, I am referring to the ready-to-drink shakes (RTD)—not the kind you make in a blender or buy at a smoothie store. You can find these in your grocery store and they usually come in vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. Buy a few brands to find out which one you like the best. Nutrition stats: around 180 calories, less than 5 grams of sugar, less than 5 grams of fat and about 20 grams of protein.

9.  Protein Bar- although some protein shakes and bars may have weird ingredients that you can’t pronounce, they fit the criteria of my list and are better options than a milk shake or a snickers bar. So if you’re ok with engineered food, keep a few bars at your desk. There is a wide variety of bars including organic (which I’m scared to try!) so pick a few out and find one or two that you like. Nutrition Stats: around 180 calories, 10-20 grams of sugar, around 10 grams of fat and 15-20 grams of protein.

8. Greek Yogurt- there’s been a lot of buzz going on about Greek Yogurt and rightfully so. They have about the same amount of calories as regular yogurt but have less sugar and more protein.  Nutrition stats: Around 150 calories, 5-8 grams of sugar (unless you get the fruit flavored variety which is twice as much), about 10 grams of fat and about 15 grams of protein.

7. Celery with Peanut Butter-I don’t know about you but I used to have this as a kid and still do to this day! Although peanut butter is high in fat, it high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat which is considered the “good fat” as they help lower cholesterol. Celery is low calorie (25 per stalk) so it’s a good balance to the higher calorie peanut butter. Nutritional stats (2 stalks): around 200 calories, less than 5 grams of sugar, 15 grams of fat and around 8 grams of protein.

6. String Cheese- most string cheese varieties are mozzarella cheese which is lower in fat that other types of cheeses.  If you are on a low carb diet then string cheese is a great option as it has 0 carbohydrates. Nutrition stats (1 stick): 80 calories, 0 grams of sugar, 6 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein.

5. Hard-Boiled Egg- to qualify for convenient, simple and easy I took into consideration that the eggs were previously hard-boiled.  Eggs, like string cheese are a low carb, high protein snack. The one downside to eggs is that, with the yolk, it contains 70% of the daily recommended amount cholesterol. Without the yolk, the calories go down from 77 to 17 and the protein is cut in half from 6 to 3. Do a hard-boiled egg every so often and instead of two, combine it another healthy snack like a string cheese or apple. Nutrition stats: 77 calories, 0 carbs, 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein.

4. Peanuts- like peanut butter, peanuts are high in good fats but fat is fat, so exercise portion control. Nutrition stats (1oz=28 peanuts): 170 calories, 1 gram of sugar, 15 grams of fat and 7 grams of protein.

3. Almonds-almonds receive the nod over peanuts because it has slightly less calories per serving and I like almonds better. It’s my top ten list so I can be biased if I want to! Like peanuts, they are high in (good) fat so don’t overdo it. Nutrition stats (1 oz=24 almonds): 160 calories, 1 gram of sugar, 14 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein.

2. Soy Beans-soy beans beat out both peanuts and almonds because they have considerably less fat and twice the protein. Commonly found steamed at sushi restaurants (yes, edamame and soybeans is the same thing!), you can also get them dry roasted similar to peanuts. Nutrition stats (½ cup steamed or ¼ cup roasted): 130 calories, 4 grams of fat, 1 gram of carbs, 14 grams of protein.

1. Fruit- under 200 calories, convenient, simple, easy and right off the tree! I really don’t think I need to explain why fruit is my number one healthy snack, and if I do, shame on you! It is also the most versatile snack as it can be combined with just about every other item on the list. Nutrition facts: around 100 calories for 1 serving (serving size varies), 20-30 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fat and 0 grams of protein.

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/takes-top-ten-healthy-snacks/feed/ 0 Shuichi’s Weekly Workouts (1/23-1/27) http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-123-127/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-123-127/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:46:38 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1666 This weeks workouts is comprised of timed workouts. Each workout is broken down into rounds, sets and reps. Each round is for a set period of time and every exercise has a set number of reps. Complete as many sets as possible in each round. If you complete the whole circuit of exercise before the round ends, start back at the top with the first exercise and continue down the circuit until the round ends. The higher your level of fitness, the longer each round should be.

Make sure you take notes after each round and workout so that you can refer back to them later in the week. The goal is try and increase the number of sets in each round then increase the time of each round.

If you haven’t do so already, take the Shuichi Take Fitness “21 Day Health & Fitness Challenge”. All participants must register by  January 31st. Click the link for more details.

 

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-123-127/feed/ 0 Take’s Take: Healthier Fine Dining at Philippe http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/takes-take-healthier-fine-dining-at-philippe/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/takes-take-healthier-fine-dining-at-philippe/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:02:13 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1679 If you have driven past the Ganzavort recently you may have noticed something missing…Philippe. But no need to worry, Philippe hasn’t left Miami. In fact, I think they made an upgrade to the South of Fifth neighborhood, specifically the old Tavrena Opa location.  This means you don’t have to park your car valet anymore—unless you want to of course. Now most people may not associate healthy or healthier with Chinese but I am very pleased to report that you can get both at Philippe. That’s right, even healthy!

To read the full blog CLICK HERE

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/takes-take-healthier-fine-dining-at-philippe/feed/ 0 Shuichi’s Weekly Workouts (1/16-1/20) http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-116-120/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-116-120/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:03:28 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1654 This week workouts are going to focus on weight training. The workout routine  split upper and lower body into separate workouts. The split routine allows you to incorporate more exercises per muscle group which will increase the effectiveness of the workout. Monday and Thursday are lower body workouts with Tuesday and Friday being upper body. Wednesday is a new Cardio-Core workout.

If you haven’t done so already take our “21 Day Health & Fitness Challenge. It takes 21 days to start creating new healthy habits so our challenge is designed to give you the right structure and support to start incorporating regular exercise into you daily routine. Click on the link for challenge details.

Make sure you take notes after each round and after each workout so that you can refer to them for the next workout. The goal is try and increase the number of reps, sets then rounds after each workout.

Have a great week!

 

Monday: Lower Body

Tuesday: Upper Body

Wednesday: Cardio-Core / Advanced

Thursday: Lower Body

Friday: Upper Body

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-116-120/feed/ 0 21 Day Health & Fitness Challenge http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/21-day-health-fitness-challenge/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/21-day-health-fitness-challenge/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:10:55 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1569 I don’t know about you but the first week of the New Year is always hectic and crazy for me. With so many new objectives, assignments and tasks set in front of us, it’s completely understandable to wait a week until starting with your health and fitness resolutions. Now that the first week of 2012 has come and gone, I thought that now might be a better time to present the Shuichi Take Fitness “21 Day Health & Fitness Challenge”.

Many fitness challenges I’ve seen this past week have been for 30 days. Now I have nothing against the number 30. I think it’s a good number, divisible by 10, 5, 3, and 2. My 30th birthday was a great night—what I remember at least. But there’s something about the number 21 that I think makes it special. The legal drinking age, blackjack, we’re in the 21st century, it’s the sum of the first six numbers (1+2+3+4+5+6=21…pretty cool, huh?!)…there’s just something.

There are two reasons why I decided to make this challenge 21 days:

  1. 21 sounds like a much more manageable number than 30. Between the two, I think most people would agree that making a commitment for the smaller number is more realistic and attainable.
  2. 21 days—or 3 weeks—is how long it takes to start forming a healthy habit. If you make a commitment for 21 days to stay focused and consistent with your fitness program, you have built the foundation for the healthy habit of regular exercise!

Every week I post a weekly fitness program that outlines a workout of the day for Monday-Friday from the workout videos found on our website. For Saturday and Sunday, get in some form of physical activity, whether it is going outside for a run, taking your dog for a longer walk, playing a pick-up game of basketball or just doing another one of our workouts. The goal is to exercise and be active for 21 days straight. Even if you miss a day or two it’s fine. You still are on the right path for creating a new, healthy habit of fitness!

Here are the guidelines for the challenge:

  • Start date must be by January 31st
  • Record your starting weight
  • Take photos; front, back and a side shot
  • Make a video (optional). Include what your fitness goals are, why you’re taking the 21 day challenge and any other information you would like to share
  • Record your body fat. This is important because it measures your body composition (fat weight vs. muscle weight) and allows you to track how much improvement you have actually made. For example, if you lose 5lbs of fat but gain 3lbs of muscle your net change on the scale will only be two pounds–the scale never tells the whole truth so get your body fat measured. To get your body fat measurement taken I recommend calling a local gym and ask them if they offer a service to measure body fat. There may charge a small fee but it’s worth the investment. Once you know your body fat percentage you can set realistic goals. If you have a trainer or a friend who’s a trainer you can also ask them. There are some scales that measure body fat as well. They aren’t the most accurate but it will get the job done.
  • Record all your weekly workouts (reps, sets, time, etc) and what activity you took part in over the weekends and for how long.

After the 21 days, record your weight, measure your body fat, take another set of photos and add the “after” portion to your video if you are doing the video option. The top 3 challenge participants will receive a Shuichi Take Fitness T-shirt as well as a Sports Authority gift certificate. Results will be evaluated based on a combination of body composition improvement, weight change and consistency. The top participants will have their results posted on our website as testimonials to motivate and inspire others to challenge themselves to make healthy lifestyle changes.

To enter our “21 Day Health & Fitness Challenge” email us your start date, initial measurements and before photos to info@shuichitakefitness.com. After your complete your 21 Day Challenge send us your final measurements, after photos and YouTube link to your before and after video.

If you have any questions or comments please email us.

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/21-day-health-fitness-challenge/feed/ 0 Shuichi’s Weekly Workouts (1/9-1/13) http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-19-113/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-19-113/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:10:22 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1591 Now that we’ve all gotten through the first week of the New Year I thought that it would be a good time to introduce the Shuichi Take Fitness “21 Day Health & Fitness Challenge”. A 21 day commitment to stay consistent with your workouts sets the foundation to create a new, healthy habit. In addition to the Monday-Friday daily workouts, you will be adding in some form of physical activity—your choice—on Saturday and Sunday.

This week’s fitness program introduces timed workouts. Timed workouts consistent of a series of exercise done continuously for a set period of time or round. Within each round you will try to complete as many reps and/or sets of each exercise as possible. All of this weeks workouts do not require equipment so they can be done indoors or outdoors.

Make sure you take notes after each round and after each workout so that you can refer to them for the next workout. The goal is try and increase the number of reps, sets then rounds after each workout.

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-19-113/feed/ 0 Take’s Take: Healthier Fine Dining at Mister Collins http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/take%e2%80%99s-take-healthier-fine-dining-at-mister-collins/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/take%e2%80%99s-take-healthier-fine-dining-at-mister-collins/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:31:56 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=384 I have had many clients and friends over the years ask me what they should order when they go out to eat. I’m fairly confident that everyone pretty much knows what’s healthy and what’s not healthy. In most cases though, unless someone is advised what the better choice is, they are going to order what they want—which usually isn’t that healthy.  Therefore I have decided to take it upon myself to take on the arduous, burdensome task of dining at Miami’s finest restaurants to provide you with the healthier selections on their respective menus. This is the sacrifice I am making so that you don’t have to be left with daunting decision of having to make a healthier decision on your own.

To read the full blog CLICK HERE

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/take%e2%80%99s-take-healthier-fine-dining-at-mister-collins/feed/ 0 Shuichi’s Weekly Workouts (1/2-1/6) http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-12-16/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-12-16/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:07:32 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1381 Here we are, the first week of the new year! Resolutions are made, goals are set and motivation is at an all time high. All you need is a little guidance and instruction–which is exactly what my weekly workouts are designed to do! Since it is the start of the new year, check and record your weight then track your improvements over the next few months. Seeing results is the best way to keep you motivated and consistent.

This weeks fitness program is heavy on cardio. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are cardio days with Tuesday and Thursday being full body workout days. Each workout incorporates a few core exercises therefore there is no dedicated core days. Don’t forget to stretch before and/or after your workout.

Have fun and Happy New Year!

 

 

]]> http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-12-16/feed/ 0 Shuichi’s Weekly Workouts (12/26-12/30) http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-1226-1230/ http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/blog/shuichis-weekly-workouts-1226-1230/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:30:40 +0000 shuichitake_admin http://www.shuichitakefitness.com/?p=1292 The week between Christmas and New Years is a funky week when it comes to getting your workouts in. Between end of the year deadlines at work, guests in town and making plans for your New Years celebration, health and fitness often get shelved until the new year actually begins.

Starting this week I will be putting together weekly workout programs from the workouts videos found on my website. Every day of the week will have a designated “Workout of the Day” for you to complete. I know this week isn’t the easiest week to start up a new workout program so I encourage everyone to give it their best effort and try to get in as many of the workouts as possible. Think of it as a trial run or a practice week leading up to the new year. The great thing about the workouts is that they are available online 24/7 so you can get your workouts in whenever and wherever it is convenient for you.

This weeks workout program is a well-rounded and balanced routine that focuses on full body conditioning and muscular endurance/strengthening. Here is this weeks workout program:

Make sure to take notes from your Monday and Tuesday workouts so you can refer back to them on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Your goal is to try and complete more reps or sets on your Thursday Dumbbell-Bench workout and take shorter or fewer breaks during your Anywhere-Anytime Cardio workout on Friday. Wednesday is your light day that is designated for core exclusively. This is also a great day to get in your stretching routines.

Have fun and Happy New Year!

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