Lauren Brooks Fitness

NEW DVD Kettlebell Workshop with Z - Health  DVD Intermediate and Advanced Exercises All of On The Edge Fitness DVD's are high quality Glass Master Pressed, Coded for All Regions, and Shipped All over the world. We only use high quality DVD replication and guarantee all of our products. Bring this once-in-a-lifetime workshop with top kettlebell instructors right into your own home Ready to revamp your training?  Whether you are a beginner or an advanced kettlebell user, you will benefit tremendously from this DVD.  Lauren and Sara will show you how to improve your technique , increase your strength , and prevent injuries all with their fun, clear and non-intimidating approach.  You will be given the tools to achieve incredible power for quicker fat loss during all your workouts.  The perfect complimen t and must have for your kettlebell DVD collection.   DVD FEATURES: - Invigorating & exte...

Yesterday's Kettlebell workshop was such a blast.  The variety of people that came out for this was truly amazing.  Everyone had different backgrounds, however, everyone did outstanding. It was one of the fastest learning groups we have ever had.   We had everyone from stay at home moms, personal trainers, aquatics instructor, home exercisers, and some of the best Krav Maga instructors in the world. Thanks again to Anne and Mike, for allowing me to be the first instructor to hold a Kettlebell Seminar at their awesome MMA Academy.  Kettlebell classes will now be offered at the academy. Here is some of the feedback I received right away from the workshop. - Well Organized - Comprehensive - Understandable - Applicable And very FUN in a non-intimidating environment . Well worth the drive!   Tammy C,  Santa Cruz, California " Really informative and not intimidating. Wish you lived in Los Angeles. " Amanda L,  Los Angeles, Califor...

If this isn't exciting enough on it's own, all people who sign up will receive a 15% off discount code towards anything at the On The Edge Fitness Store. Make sure you email me after you register.  And yes, OF COURSE I WILL be there. Come get smoked with me.  ;-) Looking for a quick way to get attention for your training business and separate yourself from the competition? Have you heard about battling ropes training? This system is spreading like wild fire around the world and has become an integral part of almost every major sports strength and conditioning program. I have been fortunate enough to track down John Brookfield and talked him into doing a certification workshop at our gym in Orange County!  John is a world renowned strength coach and holds several strength records that are jaw dropping!  His Battling Ropes program has become a popular conditioning tool for the NFL, Olympic athletes, elite military units and strength coaches everywhere. “As an at...

Sundays are my days to cook a special breakfast. Special meaning something out of the ordinary for me. Meaning homemade pancakes or waffles for the family.  I refuse to buy any flour that contains gluten.  This week I wanted to try making waffles with coconut flour. These are easy to make and are ready in minutes.  Coconut Flour Waffle Recipe Makes 4 Waffle Serving size - 1 Waffle 1/3 cup Coconut Flour 1/2 cup Organic Plain Almond Milk 6 Organic Free Range Eggs 1 Tbs of Olive Oil 1/2 tsp of Vanilla Extract 1/2 tsp Baking Powder 1 Tbs Agave 1/4 cup of unsweetened apple sauce Blend together until smooth.  I use my blender when making any batter. Batter will be somewhat thicker than almond flour or oat flour. Pour on a heated waffle iron and cook on medium.  These were a little on the dry side.  I think adding 1/4 cup of unsweetened apple sauce will do the trick, but haven't tried it yet. Let me know what you think.

I'm in Love! This is for all the quinoa lovers out there. This has to be my favorite sweet quinoa dish of all times.  It can be eaten cold as a salad, main dish, or as a warm side dish. Perfect for the summer time, but I will definitely be eating this all year around.  This healthy recipe was inspired by a homemade quinoa salad I purchased at a local farmers market.  The flavors mixed together so beautifully that I had to hold back in finishing the whole thing.  It's completely vegetarian and vegan with little to no salt at all.  It makes up a complete protein, while also providing healthy fats, and a superb amount of antioxidants from the dark cherries.  Even my 15 month old loved it! Here is the recipe I came up with.  It's always nice when you can use some of the foods right from your own yard. I used a fresh orange off my tree and lots of fresh mint.  Yummy! 1 cup of Quinoa  (inca red or regular) 3/4 fresh squeezed orange juice 1....

Water has actually changed my life.  Not just any water.  Friends and family who know me well, know that I am a pretty big skeptic.  Thanks to the way that I was raised, I have always been someone who needs substantial evidence in order to believe in something.  Through the years my thinking hasn’t changed that much.  Unless I see proof thru scientific studies, there is no way that I will believe just anything. When I was studying to be a Clinical Nutritionist, I really got a chance to learn how important it is for our bodies to maintain a balanced pH level.  Normally our blood is slightly alkaline and ranges between 7.35-7.45.  The Alkaline Diet Theory believes that a diet high in acidic foods promotes the loss of essential minerals, which can cause illness and disease.  During my program we were given pH strips and told to regularly test our saliva and urine.  As I incorporated more alkaline foods into my diet, my pH levels got higher....

For those who do not subscribe to my newsletters, I normally do not share coupon codes on my blog or facebook page.  However, I thought I'd let everyone in on the Mother's Day Sale we are having. Spend $25 and receive 15% off your entire purchase. This will not last long.  Click this link to give the greatest gift of fitness and health to the deserving moms out there! (or for yourself if you feel you deserve it!) 15% off Coupon Code: 1272392777 FITNESS SHOP     and NUTRITION SHOP

I often get asked by my friends and family, how do you do it Lauren?  "You never make any time for yourself.  You are either working or with your babies".   Finding time these days outside of my fitness career and family has been quite challenging.  Although I do my best to give as much quality time to my babies, I don't give much quality time to myself! But to be honest with you I enjoy what I do so much, that it's more fulfilling to me than getting my nails done or watching television.  I much rather be thinking about my next project or designing a fun workout for my classes.  I can't help it! This is just who I am.  On a side note, spending time with my friends more is something that I need to really work on.  It's just hard when most of my friends now have babies too and we have to work around nap schedules! Every day I get inundated with emails asking me for advice regarding fitness, nutrition, or questions about my DVD's.  On the ...

"Won't I get big bulky muscles if I use that heavy kettlebell?  I build muscle very easily, so I need to use lighter weights." If I got a dime for every time I heard the above, I would be a millionaire by now.  I feel like a broken record.  I can't tell you how many times I have had to convince women that they will see quicker results using heavier weights.  Scientific studies are proving that heavier weights with lower repetitions is what you need for the lean and sculpted look.  We have been trained to believe that lighter weights are for muscle tone and heavy weights are for the beefy body building look.   New York times came out with a great article that links to a few studies proving a higher percentage of fat loss when females participated in using heavier weights. Using 70-80% of your 1 rep max keeping the reps under 8 proved to be more effective than lighter weights at 40-50% with higher reps.  Using heavier weights will increase your streng...

I want to share an article I wrote for a Kettlebell Magazine in February of 2010.  Since my pregnancy in 2006 I have been a big advocate of using kettlebells during pregnancy. Not until my second pregnancy in 2008 did I film my first and only Pregnancy Kettlebell DVD, which really showed people that you can use a kettlebell when implemented properly throughout your pregnancy. I've also released Baby Bells 2 recently as well, which is available as a streaming version.  Shawn Mozen, owner of Agatsu, asked me to write this article, since training with kettlebells during pregnancy has become more and more accepted.  Women, their husbands, and other kettlebell instructors email me on a regular basis for advice on kettlebell training during pregnancy.  I truly enjoy discussing pre and postnatal fitness. With the research I have done along with my personal experience as well as working with many pregnant students over the years, both in person and online, it has become a...

Yes even kettlebells can help your yoga practice and vice versa.  It's so wonderful to actually be able to see and feel the benefits almost immediately. I've been so excited about this since I have added a Yoga portion to my Saturday kettlebell classes. This class is taught by Robin Duncan, certified YogaWorks teacher.  So far, people have loved the feeling of both combined.  Granted the yoga poses are designed specifically for those who just completed an intense class using kettlebells, cables, and other ballistic and strength training movements. From  the research studies from Dr. Stuart McGill, Robin Duncan and I design a safe practice that compliments the kettlebell class.  I have no doubt in my mind that more and more kettlebell instructors will be partnering up with qualified yoga instructors to do the same thing.  However, I hope that other instructors know that there are many popular yoga poses that should not be implemented directly after a stude...

I want to start off by thanking all the participants at the workshop for doing an outstanding job, even with the video cameras and lights all over the place.  I especially would like to thank Carolyn Brumfield RKC II, owner of Phyzyks , for allowing us to use her beautiful facility.  Not only did she allow us to use it, she also instructed the dreaded Double Snatch. For those who missed it, don't worry, the DVD will be out this summer.   I also want to thank Sara Cheatham for being an amazing partner with this workshop.  In spite of this being our first workshop together, our different teaching styles and personalities complimented each other very well.  It was a great atmosphere and vibe throughout! Thank you to everyone, film crew (you know who you are), Della Whelchel (my BuggyBellz partner) and the great people who surrounded us.  At the end of the workshop we handed out some feedback forms which were completely Anonymous. ...

This weekend I went to a Vegan potluck dinner.  My friend Melanie, made a Corn and Arugula salad that was a huge hit.  I could not believe how delicious it was.  I felt like I was at a fine dining restaurant. The dressing was made from scratch along with slicing the corn off the cob and putting it in to the salad.  All the tastes just went so well together. The recipe was derived from the Corn and Arugula Salad recipe at allrecipes.com however Melanie made some changes to it and then I made a subtle change as well.   Here it is and I will put notes of how I did it in red. Ingredients 1/4  cup  cider vinegar ( I used unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar ) 3  tablespoons  minced shallots 2  teaspoons  Dijon mustard 1/2  teaspoon  salt ( only added a dash, since I'm not a believer of using too much salt ) 1/4  cup  olive oil 4  cups  fresh corn kernels (from 4 or 5 ears; see notes) (only use...