CASUAL STYLE - Ottawa At Home

city to cottage exercise routine
“The goal of functional training is to strengthen and
condition your body for everyday movements and
activities, using your own body weight as resistance,
which offers you the freedom to replicate the routines
wherever life takes you,” says Jeff who has designed a
45-minute program to take on the road this summer.
Our model, Kanata Lakes resident, Judi Taggart ,
knows only too well how quickly a fitness routine can
suffer in the summer. When her four grown children
were young, Judi used to pack-up her car and head
to the cottage for the summer leaving routines and
schedules behind, including regular trips to the gym.
“Often by the end of the summer I felt like I was in
worse shape than in the beginning, which seemed crazy
because my life was active and busy up the cottage but
lacked focus when it came to working out,” says the
fitness buff, who has been working out with Fennel for
the past two years and takes his program on the road
whenever she travels. “I feel better being able to stay
focused on a fitness routine.”
ball-crunches: Sit on the ball (it should be moulded to the arch
of your back) with feet on the ground, shoulder-width apart. With abdominal
muscles tight and hands crossed in front of chest, crunch to 60
degrees. Do three sets of 25 crunches.
advanced tip – hold onto a free weight at chest height while crunching
(Judi uses a 10 lb weight).
push-up: In kneeling position place hands on either side of the mat, buttocks
should be parallel with shoulders to distribute weight to the upper body. Push up
and down.Work your way up to 25 at a time, for a total of 100 per workout
advanced tip – start on toes with knees off the mat.
lunges: Start in a straight standing position, step forward with
one leg and drop down making sure front knee doesn’t extend
over the toe. Keep the knee of the back leg as low to the ground as
possible (without touching) – your front calf and back leg should
form a box. Do 3 sets of 12.
advanced tip – hold free weights while lunging.
july/august 2009 | oah | 31