This week’s challenge is to “Make A Touchdown”! I include some great cardio moves including burpees, plyometric jumps and suicides – all which require you to “touch down” and will really get your heart rate up!

This week’s challenge is to “Get a Tight End”! I demonstrate 3 moves in the video that will really target your glutes. Remember to join the challenge by clicking the link below the video. The winners get some cool prizes from ExerciseTV!

Join my new challenge series with ExerciseTV! This week’s challenge is called “Don’t Be A Wide Receiver” and it’s the first of 4 football themed workouts to appear on ExerciseTV.TV. To join the challenge, visit their Facebook Fan Page and click on the “Breakfast Club” link on the side. Or, visit SocialWorkout’s website and you can officially join there.

This week we want you to get focused, get your head in the game and work on slimming down and toning up!  Try to fit in this total body workout every day this week if you can. Also, be sure to eat a “clean” diet and remember to eat a healthy breakfast every day!

*You DO NOT need a football or access to a football field for these workouts ; ) For the next 4 weeks you only need 1 set of light/medium weights (or something from around your house) and medicine ball (optional).

Hi guys! Last week’s challenge for the ExerciseTV Breakfast Club was to run 60 minutes during the week. You can still do this challenge on your own this week or do it in addition to this week’s challenge :Work Your Sides!

At the end of the video I show 5 of my favorite warmup drills to do that I do before a race, long run or any time I want to loosen up before I run. These drills include:

-Dynamic Hamstring Stretch
-Butt Kicks
-Toe Walk
-Heel Walk
-High Skip

I did a challenge last week for ExerciseTV called “Make Every Day Hump Day!” and challenged everyone to incorporate hills into their workouts. Running hills is one of my favorite forms of cardio, but it’s also like strength training because it really tones the backs of my legs. Give this challenge a try and then also don’t forget to join me on for my other weekly challenges on SocialWorkout.com or you can join us on ExerciseTV’s Facebook page under the Social Workout tab! It’s free, fun and you can win PRIZES!

I’m still helping ExerciseTV with their “Breakfast Club” each week by giving members a new challenge to do in addition to their regular challenge of eating a healthy breakfast. The program is free and all you do is go to the Facebook page and chat (if you want) about what you had for breakfast and get ideas from others. Then, you can tell me and the others if you also did my workout challenge!

ExerciseTV has also partnered with Social Workout, a great social networking site that is all about health and fitness! You can officially join the challenges there each week so that you can really be held accountable! They have this great system where you log in a once a day, once a week or how often as you like, to track your progress and enter in things such as # of workouts, # veggies you ate, # minutes you spent outside or any other challenge that you decide to join. You can also challenge your friends and invite others so you can all see how you stack up!

So, your challenge this week is to workout with a friend/buddy at least 3 times this week! You can grab your dog, a friend, family member, coworker or anyone else that would be a fun workout buddy, or r, maybe you know someone who could use a little extra help or motivation. My workout buddy this week is SMUDGE! He’s my 1.5 year old basset hound! Don’t laugh…he has some pretty fast little legs. Although the drool and big ears tend to slow him down. I hope you all join the challenge and let me know how you like it!

On this week’s “Ask The Expert” Blog, I address some of the common problems/issues people face with running.

Here is one of my latest commercials for Glade and ExerciseTV! Be sure to join their Facebook Fan Page to get the latest on new products and fragrances!

My client Erica Rose will be on tv tonight on ABC’s The Bachelor!

They are airing special clips of the “Bachelor Reunion” during the normal show…so be sure to look for her! She’s been training hard in order to get ready for this show and her other recent appearances on shows like Vh1′s You’re Cut Off, The Dr. Phil Show and others. We keep the workouts fun and include a mix of balance training, spinning, weights and yoga.
Also, Erica and I have decided to partner on a new workout project and will be making a fitness dvd this month called “Stiletto Bikini Blast”! We wanted to make a cute, fun workout video that’s perfect for summer with a unique twist. Check back soon for more details!

This week’s challenge with ExerciseTV is to work your left and right sides separately! Why? Well, most of us have one shoulder, bicep, quad, etc. that is stronger than the other. So, when you normally do both at the same time, the stronger one kicks in. Also, by isolating each side you will challenge your balance and also really be able to focus on your form. In the video I demonstrate the moves with free weights, but you can also do it with machines. For instance, when I use the seated leg extension machine (for quads) I just put one leg under the bar to work 1 leg at a time. Just adjust the weight to about half of what you normally do with both legs together.

This week’s challenge with ExerciseTV is pushups! In the video, I demonstrate beginner, intermediate and advanced versions. See how many you can do of each!

Ask any of my friends and clients…pushups are my favorite exercise! Don’t worry if you can only do a few. If you practice every week you will be able to do all 45 (or more!) without resting in between!

I’m part of ExerciseTV’s “Breakfast Club” where we try to challenge viewers and members to a new workout or food challenge each week. This week’s challenge is to balance while you do your bicep curls! Try it out and let us know how you did!

Now that it’s January, I’m sure you are all thinking of ways to get yourself and your family in shape! It can be pretty overwhelming because there are lots of gyms, new equipment and fad diets to chose from. My biggest tip would be to keep it simple. Hit the park or checkout a new trail near your house. All you need to do is walk or run (break a sweat) and then mix in a little strength training and abs after. You don’t even need equipment…just do pushups, squats and lunges.

But, if you are looking for something different to do…find an outdoor sport club or group in your city! In Houston, we have a ton of great running, biking and other clubs that offer a change of scenery and a great workout. Here are my favorites in Houston:

Running: Kenyan Way, Houston Fit, HARRA and the Icehouse Runners that do a “Couch to 5k” (recommended by my friend Kristen!)
Biking: Space City Cycling Club (or checkout West End Bikes for other club info), Bike Houston
Water Sports: Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Houston Wilderness, Houston Canoe Club
Misc: Trees for Houston (planting trees is a good workout!), Houston Arboretum (they have nature trails and offer some outdoor classes), Discovery Green has free Zumba and Yoga classes, Bayou City Outdoors (hiking, biking and more!), join a Soccer or other sports league in your area

Checkout this video I did last May for Fox where I talked about obesity in Houston, how to stay active and also my new DVD!

I ran the 2010 NYC Marathon last month and put together a short video of my experience of the few days leading up to the race and race day. Overall, it was a fun race and a great experience! But, it’s actually pretty hard. The course isn’t super hard, but the 5 bridges we crossed were tough. What’s hard is that when you get to NYC the day(s) before, you spend almost all of your time walking around! You can’t get around in NYC without walking…even if you take taxis or the subway. So, by Marathon day your feet are tired!

The day of the race is super long and starts out with a journey to the very south tip of Manhattan to get to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. Then, you have to wait with all of the other runners to catch the ferry. Once you make it across to the island, you have to take a 10min bus ride to the runners “village” where you do more walking to get to your assigned village and corral. Then, after a long morning you finally start around 10am depending on your wave. The course was awesome and great crowds, but the last 6 miles going through Central Park are hell. You keep thinking you are almost done and then the course winds around and you have 2 more miles!

Once you finally cross the finish, you have a slow 30min walk with the other 45,000 runners to get out of central park. During that time you are freezing (it was in the 40′s) and wet. When I broke away from the park, all I wanted to do was get in a cab and go back to the hotel where I could enjoy my champagne (thanks Mom and Dad). BUT…all the cabs were taken! So, I had to take the bus, which ended up being pretty easy. An amazing thing happened to me when I was walking around looking for a cab/bus. I was so cold that I was shaking really bad and this nice woman actually offered me her coat! I turned it down, but just couldn’t believe that she was willing to give a stranger the coat off her back. New Yorkers are the best!!

For the recipe in the video click HERE.

Last week I was back out in LA to film 4 Glade commercials with ExerciseTV! I also filmed 10 short videos that will be part of the “1 Minute Challenge” to the viewers on Facebook, the blog and YouTube. The day of the shoot, I had a call time of 7:45am at a house in Long Beach where we were filming. I got started around 8:30am with hair and makeup with Astrid, who did a great job. It was nice having the crew there to handle the props, lighting, sound and camera placement! When I do my own videos, those things take me forever to setup! The crew was really amazing and it was such a fun day! Here is a short video of behind the scenes, along with some of the photos from the day. Be sure to check on ExerciseTV‘s site for the challenge videos and other workouts I’ve done. They also have a ton of great free workout videos to watch if you need ideas for your own workouts!

I made this video a few weeks ago before I ran 19 miles on one of my long training runs to show what I eat and how I prepare. I have the NYC marathon one week from this Sunday!! I’m planning to treat the race as a training run, which means that I’m going to go very slow. This way I can come back to Houston and pick back up with my training without having to take time off to recover. Then, I can focus on training for the Houston Marathon, which is Jan. 30th!

How To Workout Like A Celebrity

I recently filmed a short workout video with my client Erica Rose titled “How to Workout Like a Celebrity”! You may know Erica from TV’s The Bachelor a few years ago and most recently from VH1′s You’re Cut Off. She has been a blast to work with at Fit and she’s really a hard worker when it comes to her workouts. BUT, sometimes she’s distracted by calls and texts from friends, costars and her agent. I came up with the idea for the video after one day we were doing the side crunches and I really did look back and she was texting behind me the whole time! But, don’t let the video fool you…she is strong…read the inserted slides for her actual workouts.

**Stay tuned for more information about workouts with Erica including announcements about our NEW DVD!

Here is my sample jumprope circuit workout. I do this workout all the time up at Fit and either use free weights, bands or exercises with my body weight (ie squats, pushups, etc). It just takes a little practice and before you know it…you will be a jumprope pro!

My video is featured on ExerciseTV’s Youtube channel!

As of this week, I’m on the Video on Demand channel in 38 million households! YAY! If you have Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T or any of the other major providors you should be able to access it. Here’s how:

-Go to “Free on Demand”

-Look for either Health/Fitness or similar category

-Look for ExerciseTV

-Then scroll to the “Most Popular” category and my video is titled “Long Lean Legs- Advanced”