Lauren Brooks Fitness

"They have no idea the struggles I’ve gone through with my self-image and I’m so careful not to discuss weight or anything like that in front of them.   I want them to love the body God gave them and be comfortable with who they are and not let society or anyone else change that for them."   Kimberly Baker I'm always blown away when I learn more about my students, especially Kimberly, full time working mother of 3! K nowing Kimberly now for 7 years I had no idea she went  through the self image struggles she has shared with all of you below. Kimberly has chosen to open up because she wants you to know that you're not alone! I can't tell you how many of my students have suffered from these exact battles with body image. Whether we are too thin, too big, too weak, not good enough, too this, too that... Kimberly has put this all in to perspective which is extremely inspiring. With Kimberly's full schedule she seems to still make time to show up for her s...

A video posted by Lauren Brooks (@laurenbrooks819) on Apr 14, 2015 at 3:53pm PDT Listen to the entire podcast right here on Strength Matters

Did you know workouts lasting under six minutes can benefit you in more ways than one?  Many of you may already know how fabulous snagging a short session can be for not only your mind, but also for the physical body. If you are bogged down at work all day with hardly a moment to breathe, then  having the opportunity to sneak away for six minutes is much more likely than finding an hour or two. What the Research Says Research has found that just a few short sessions throughout the day can improve overall stress, blood pressure, and weight control.  Shorter intense training sessions can be even more effective in boosting your metabolism than a long drawn-out session. And this research doesn’t just stop at adults.  One study in PLos One  showed that exercise sessions of as little as five minutes improved adolescents and children's overall health. Pretty amazing, don’t you think? KEEP READING AND watch the 4 FREE 6 minutes WORKOUT VIDEOS I made jus...

Quadruped Rock - Ab Exercise by Lauren Brooks My new favorite ab exercise Here is an exercise that completely fires up your abs and quadriceps. I was crawling around in my backyard one day and paused for a brief moment to begin rocking. I began rocking back and forth. I tucked my pelvis towards my rib cage to see how my abs would feel as I was hovering in the crawl position. Quads were already on fire. Now my pelvic floor muscles along with my Rectus and Transverse abdominus began to shake. As a woman who’s experienced a couple C-sections and helps others with core dysfunction, I’m always looking for great ways to fire up the deep core muscles. I loved it so much I called it the Quad Rock. I now use the Quad Rock with my students as part of a warm up or followed by a few strength exercises within a set. They claim this is one of the exercises they feel their abs and quads the most. It's also been quite cool because no one feels any lower back pain.  I made a qu...