Lauren Brooks Fitness

I will be sending out a New Year's workout to those who subscribe to the On The Edge Fitness newsletter.  If you have not subscribed yet, it only takes a second.  Then you will get the workout we will all be doing at On The Edge Fitness on New Years day!  Perfect way to start off 2013! Don't forget our Holiday sale . Only going on for a few more days.   25% off the ENTIRE online store. Code: holiday25

I filmed a kettlebell swing  video about 8 years ago, when I first began my journey in to kettlebells.   I shared it on YouTube a few years later.  It helped many learn the swing who didn't have access to a live instructor.  The only issue now is I don't swing like that any more nor teach it that way.  I invited Franz Snideman from Revolution Fitness , my first kettlebell coach, to help break down the "current" swing that we practice today.  Believe it or not, the swing has evolved into something more athletic, more powerful and efficient! For those of you who have access to RKC or StrongFirst Instructors, this may just be review.  For those who don't have access to an instructor and continue to learn from videos and/or books , this is a nice breakdown taught briefly in an easily digestible format.  Apply one technique at a time and watch your kettlebell swing become stronger!  Let us know how you do! To view video directly on YouTube click here

(To read this where I originally posted this, which has all the comments, please click here ) "What the hell is that?" I asked as I picked up a big, heavy black ball with a handle on it.  My college and gym rat friend Joel replied, "A kettlebell.  It's a gift for a friend.  It actually costs quite a bit."  I was very intrigued, but it didn't go any further than that.  Little did I know my life was about to change.   In 2005, I was working as a personal trainer at a gym located in Oceanside, California.   They received a flyer promoting a Russian kettlebell workshop for trainers only.  Instantly it brought me back to holding that heavy black ball that I was so curious about.  The flyer hung up on the bulletin board in the back for days and I must have walked by and read it 15 times.  For some reason I was obsessed! They wanted to send a trainer from their gym to the workshop in La Jolla to then come back and share what they had learned.  I

I had the honor of writing for Pavel Tsastouline's StrongFirst blog about what it takes to be a strong female.  How strong does a woman need to be to be considered "strong"?   Click on the image below and it will take you directly to the article.   "Masters" women which we refer to ages 50 and older, I will be providing some strength baselines in the comments. I really enjoyed writing this.  Hope you enjoy it!  Continue reading here p.s. For ongoing strength and conditioning classes and programs you can access any where  in the world visit Lauren's Playground

This warming comfort soup is very simple to make.  This red lentil with roasted red pepper soup was inspired by my talented friend Allison.  It does take time, since the lentils and veggies need to simmer and need to be stirred.  I make this at night after my kids are in bed while talking to a friend or listening to music.  You can really get a lot done while making this soup.  Make it on an evening where you can hang around the kitchen. Ingredients: 2 Cups Red Lentils (Washed and separated) 1 Zucchini Chopped 4-5 Carrots Chopped 3-4 Garlic Cloves Chopped Chopped Green Onions 1-2 4 Cups Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth 2-3 Cups Organic Low Sodium Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup 1 tsp of Turmeric Himalayan Pink Salt to taste Add Cilantro to taste Directions: Heat up deep pan or pot on medium with 1 Tbs of Olive Oil.  Stir the soaked Red Lentils in olive oil and quickly add the Vegetable Broth and cover.  Take it to a boil stirring frequent

Update : Since writing this article I've had an influx of emails from women confessing to me their struggles relating to these females highlighted in this article.   I took a chance writing this article and have definitely received some rebuttals with no scientific backup.  Dr. Berardi, from Precision Nutrition, has shared this article on his main Facebook page for the females considering some sort of fasting approach to health to give it a second thought.  He's worked with over 10,000 women and has had lots of success and continues to experiment on himself and keeps diligent records of what works and what generally does not work.  To have someone of his caliber along with Dr. Krista  Here is a study he found backing this article up.  New study he found here plus a 60 minute lecture he just did on Intermittent Fasting  here. Sharing the untold stories of Intermittent Fasting (IF) and other dietary fads. This article is exclusively written for Breaking Muscle. It was an

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Grab 2 Kettlebells and let's have some fun. Follow along or set your timer for 15 seconds of hard work, 15 seconds of rest. Nothing wrong with eating pumpkin pie and enjoying your favorite foods over the holidays.  Don't forget to have fun during this time with your workouts, move, invite the family to do an easier version, and again HAVE FUN!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving from Della, Katie, and Lauren from On The Edge Fitness!

When it comes to meal time, sometimes it's hard to please everyone!  The other day I made some pretty awesome quiches with a homemade almond flour crust.  However, I was the only one that actually thought having the crust was cool.  They looked beautiful, but when it came down to it,  the crust wasn't necessary, just extra food that I didn't need, and my kids only liked the inside.  I think I'll save the crust taste for a personal pie that I'll make sometime. These muffin tins are the perfect solution if you want to make an egg omelette or egg dish for a group of people who all have different tastes.  Each muffin tin can be personalized so you CAN please everyone!  One of these were filled with onions, arugula, and cheese.  Another just plain cheese.  One pepper, mushrooms, and spinach.  It's an easy way to please a family! Large Oversized Muffin tin They turned out awesome as well! Recipe Ingredients: 6 servings 1 tsp of Coconut

HAPPY HALLOWEEN Hope you enjoy this workout as much as we did! Go through the each exercise and do 1 rep.  Lateral Jumps  are an exception and will be 40 reps each time through.  Rest with a 4 Figure stretch or hip flexor stretch.  Then start again and do 2 reps for each exercise.  All the way until you finish 7 reps for each exercises. FINISH the workout with 20 second of 100% all out work, to 10 seconds of rest for 2-3 rounds.  Grab a light bell for this! If you don't have Ropes, do 2 Handed Swings or Jump Squats instead!  Enjoy!!!

I had the honor of working with the amazing Frankie Addelia in his brand new Ring DVD.  I highly suggest you add some ring training to your program if you aren't already doing so.  Many of these exercises can also be done using a TRX.  This DVD is very user friendly and perfect for all ages! Conditioning With Rings Complete System DVD Conditioning With Rings Complete System DVD

Here is an oldie but goodie.  I wrote this for Liftkettlebells.com several years ago.  Thought it was time to bring to attention on my blog.  More and more new moms are continuing to use this tried and true method.  You can of proof over on our inspiration page. I'm living proof as well! I've had 2 C-sections and my babies were huge! Kettlebells for women with children Why Kettlebells are Perfect for Mommies (Especially the New Ones) Whether you just had a baby or have been enjoying motherhood for many years, we all have something in common. We put our children first and tend to neglect ourselves. The biggest complaints I hear from moms are, “I can’t seem to get the fat off my midsection,” “I just don’t have two hours a day to spend in the gym.” Well, I’m here to give you some wonderful news.  You don’t have to spend hours in the gym to get rid of the fat that you accumulated during your pregnancies. You can start by training with kettlebells which t

After making a delicious pumpkin bread yesterday that went very quickly, I decided it was time to start experimenting.  I had some dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe's and a very ripe banana.  I use the last bit of honey I had from yesterdays Pumpkin bread, but had some organic raw Agave that needed to be used.  I knew this would be a different bread.  Within one hour of mixing and crushing a chocolate bar, I had probably the most delicious bread, other than my apple cinnamon bread .  Kids like this even better. Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chunk Bread (Gluten Free, Low Sugar) Ingredients: 2 Cups Almond Flour from HoneyVille 1 Very ripe Banana Smashed 1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree 1 small bar of Dark Chocolate Bar 72% Crushed and broken (or 1/4 cup of Dark Choc chips) 2 Jumbo or Extra Large Organic Free Range Eggs 2 Tbs of Organic Raw Agave (if you like very sweet bread add more) 2 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice 1 tsp of Cinnamon 3/4 tsp Baking Soda Directions

Now that Fall is here I get in the baking mood.  Especially when it comes to using Pumpkin. After all who doesn't like Pumpkin?  This was the first time attempting Pumpkin Bread. I've made pumpkin muffins before, but this was different since I only had a limited amount of ingredients.  It's one of the lowest sugar and high protein pumpkin breads I think I could make without actually adding protein.  I don't like to cook with protein powders.  Almond flour is packed with protein, fiber, and good fats. Ingredients: 1/2 cup Organic Pumpkin Puree 2 cups Almond Flour 1/4 cup Honey 2 Large Organic Free Range Eggs 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice 3/4 tsp Baking Soda 1/2 tsp Cinnamon Directions:  Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately very well.  I recommend using a mixer to blend all the ingredients together nicely.  It will be a thicker batter.  Put in a loaf tin.  Bake at 350 for 30-40  minutes.  I took mine out at 40 minutes.  I personally like my br

This is a fun ladder circuit we did for the first 10-15 minutes of class after we warmed up. More detailed directions are all below the video.  This is not a follow along.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did for our class.  In case you are wondering what we did after we did quite a few pull-ups, snatches, roll-outs, crawling, jump squats, and other FUN ways to start a Monday.  People were laughing.  At the end of our workout after I was tired I had fun with Della's daughter.  Photo below! Here is the workout 1.  Start with your less strong side. 1 Push-up 1 Clean 1 Front Squat 1 Back Lunge 5 One Arm Swings Stronger side (other side) 1 Push-up 1 Clean 1 Front Squat 1 Back Lunge 5 One Arm Swings 2. Start with your less strong side. 2 Push-ups 2 Cleans 2 Front Squats 2 Back Lunges 5 One Arm Swings Stronger side  (other side) 2 Push-ups 1 Clean 1 Front Squat 1 Back Lunge 5 One Arm Swings Take a quick break for a hip flexor stret

Katie Dawers , instructor at On The Edge Fitness in Encinitas, designed this great class I had to share with you all. The beauty of this workout is all the strength exercises stay between the rep ranges of 1-5.  The high intensity exercises are higher reps of 6-8.  At On The Edge Fitness we all agree anything over 5 or 6 reps starts getting in the high rep category.  I will explain the workout below since it may be hard to decipher from this photo.  Not that there is anything wrong with Katie's handwriting.  It's definitely better than mine.  :-)  Personally I used the 16kg's for the Double Presses and two 28kg's for the Single Leg Deadlifts for the workout.  I also used between the 28 and 32kg for the Squats depending on how I felt for that round.  I completed the 5 pull-ups for each round instead of doing 1 arm rows.  High Pulls I used the 18kg and the 20kg.  Swings I used the 32-40kg and the snatches I stuck with the 18kg.  Directions:  Go through the entire

First of all my kids won't stop asking me to make these.  They devoured them in minutes!  These mini egg bites or egg muffins were inspired from my friend  Allison  who found this on Pinterest .  Of course I immediately went to her board and had to repin it.  Allison is a mom of 2, almost 3 kids, who I truly admire.  She always has the coolest ideas from anything to recipes, costumes, to home organization.  As a working mom of 2 kids myself, I truly don't know how she does it all!   Originally I wanted to use the large muffin tins that these are designed for.  However, due to our home flooding a few weeks ago, I currently don't have a kitchen.  Our kitchen supplies were quickly packed in boxes and it's hiding in one of the 40 boxes that were packed by the emergency flood workers.  The only muffin tins I could find were my mini muffin tins.  The positive side of using mini muffin tins is they take just 10 minutes to bake and they truly are bite size.  The no

64 Year old diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes now off all meds and loses 37 pounds  "...I have lost 37 pounds. My glucose level has dropped from 137 to 104 (range 65-110). Cholesterol fell from 217 down to 164 (range: 120-200), LDL-Cholesterol went from 133 to 104.8 (50-130) and triglycerides came in at 213 and went down to 96. (Range: 36-165.) (Today is 10/18/12 - not quite 4 months since the "D" date.) I take no medicine as I prefer a holistic approach and believe that my success is due to my new eating plan and Lauren Brooks' kettlebells DVD." Here is Rachel's Incredible Story: Before being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in June 2012, my son kept asking me to use kettlebells. To appease him, I bought a 5 pound one and later a 10 pound one - and they sat on the shelf. Always athletic, I continued with the Step that I've used for the past 20 years. I would lose four or five pounds only to regain it. Then came the frightening diabetes news and so ma

The secret is out!  You finally get to see my horrible hand writing.  Is it an excuse that I'm a lefty and hardly use my hand to write anymore?  Probably not!  Anyhow, this is a workout that my class and I did yesterday.  Directions below.  We warmed up with alternating light Turkish Get Up for a total of 3 on each side, with some Down Dog, Up dog, and walk outs.  Part A. Take two heavy bells you can Suitcase Deadlift for at least 5 times, then carry it for about 15-20 seconds. Then a tall kneeling press for 3-5 reps per side (squeeze those glutes) Total 3-4 Rounds Part B.  Perform 5-8 stiff one arm rows.  Pelvis is drawn to ribcage, just like the top of the swing.  You are SLOWLY descending on the one arm rows keeping your lats engage as long as possible.  Single Leg Squats can be done on a bench, using a TRX, or just straight Pistol if you can do 5 on each side that is what is suggested.  Only PERFECT reps please! Part C.   Just as my beautiful ha

Here is a workout we did at On The Edge Fitness the other day.  It's probably one of my favorite workouts so far.  Warm up with light Turkish Get Ups or/and Joint Mobility I posted this last month over at the On The Edge Fitness Facebook page, but thought I'd make it easier to find and put it on under the kettlebell workouts label of my blog. Directions: A. Begin by doing 8 reps for each exercise in this section. Then do a hip flexor stretch and begin back at 7 reps, until you make it down to 1.  If you are just starting begin at 5 or 6 reps.   Pace yourself and take breaks as needed.  It's not a race. B. Go through each exercise for this section and perform 5-6 reps each.  Rest and repeat for 3 rounds.  Make sure you are challenging yourself since the reps are low. C. Cool down on your own D.   ENJOY and let me know how you do!

 This article is written just for people struggling with losing the last five to ten pounds.  To view it where it's published and has a nice size font go to the F3 Nutrition article page   here  or click on the photo.

The Art of Practice: 5 Key Elements for Perfect Practice "Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” – Vince Lombardi Does practice make perfect or does practicing perfectly make perfect? Practice comes down to more than just the actual practice session. Patience along with determination are other qualities you should work on to make the most out of your practice. We are an instant gratification generation and many of us expect to get results and have an amazing skill set overnight.  We all want the magic formula that gets you from zero to hero in minutes. Without patience not only will you... Read the rest right here on Breaking Muscle

“Kindness is more than deeds. It is an attitude, an expression, a look, a touch. It is anything that lifts another person.” Unknown Have you ever done something for someone without expecting anything in return?  Have you ever helped someone you don’t even know? Did you know that doing something nice for someone without any strings attached can literally be just as rewarding for you as it is for the other person?  Raises seratonin levels and makes you more pleasant to be around.  A few weeks ago I celebrated my 33rd birthday.  Rather than have a big celebration, I chose to lay low and be with my family.  Throughout the day I thought it would be nice to go to my local Eastern Refloxology place for an hour treatment to have a bit of pampering.  When I walked in the lady at the front desk told me there were no openings.  She asked if I could come back in a few hours and I told her I’d be having a small family birthday dinner by then.  Once she heard the word birthday she