Liz Marmesh, Author at Whole Life Challenge

What You Need to Know About the Relationship Between Sleep and Exercise

Liz Marmesh — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 13:00:00 +0000

One thing you’ll never find me without is a watch.

Maybe it’s the trainer in me, but for years my day was run by time hacks, work bouts, meal intervals, and perhaps most importantly an imaginary must-go-to-sleep buzzer. For most of my single years, no matter how good the company or the TV show, 9pm was lights out time.

But then I met the partner who made me break all my little rules.…

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Strength Training for Women: 9 Things That Bust the Myths

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 15:00:39 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

I admit I cruised through school as a full-time nerd with no time for sports. In my senior year of college, I finally discovered the world of strength training at an all-women’s gym. That’s right, all female members, all female trainers. And I can still tell you the names of each of the women who showed me how to correctly lift weights, whether it was by volunteering to be my workout buddy or sharing new workout programs.…

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Fit Over 40: How to Safely Train Kettlebells for Strength Endurance

Liz Marmesh — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 07:01:41 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Forty is the new twenty — with a side serving of occasional hip and back pain.

That being said, those over the age of forty tend to know their bodies best, and remain rife with endurance and fortitude, while perhaps making “smarter” choices when it comes to their fitness routines.

So, if you’re forty or over and looking to give your at-home fitness routine a little (safe) kick in the rear…

I’d like to introduce, or reintroduce, you to — the kettlebell.…

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How to Stretch and Exercise After Travel (in a Hotel Room)

Liz Marmesh — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 07:01:39 +0000

How to Stretch After Travel

Fresh off a plane, train, or automobile? Here are a few ways to get your body stretched out. You can use this sequence as post-travel recovery or to prepare yourself for a hotel room workout.

This stretching series is designed for intermediate to advanced athletes:

Couch stretch

Supine wall sit

Modified crow

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How to Exercise After Travel

It can be hard to get excited about working out at your hotel.…

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How to Get Your Exercise in a Hotel Room (2 Free Videos)

Liz Marmesh — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 07:01:21 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I know if I can film a workout in a tiny hotel room, you can get your exercise in a hotel room. If you follow me in these two videos, we’ll get your travel aches out and get your exercise game rolling.

You don’t need any equipment, just a bit of space. Shove the furniture around a little if you need to (I like to call it strength work) — and then just hit play.…

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How to Build an Exercise Habit: A Free 8-Week Workout Plan

Liz Marmesh — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 07:01:57 +0000

Reading Time: 11 minutes

I’ve been there too: that day you put on your stretchy jeans and they won’t button. That morning you get on the scale and see the highest number you’ve seen in your life. That series of sleepless, stress-filled nights that keep you from all your best-laid healthy plans.

We all share these experiences, though we may not talk about them with others (because we aren’t necessarily proud to announce them).…

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Strength Training Basics: How to Know How Hard to Go

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 10:00:49 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

Trainers run a wide spectrum: from the infamous “yeller” (you know, the trainer who is sure to let the whole gym know a training session is going on by shouting motivating cues at peak volume) all the way to the “core whisperer” (the trainer who spends most of the session murmuring tips to an ab-contracting client).

The “yeller” tends to leave the client immobile with soreness for a couple days after the first workout.…

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The 8 Best Exercises for Beginners (Plus a Free 8 Week Plan)

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 10:00:25 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

The world of exercise choices can seem like a maze. The overwhelming confusion of where to start and how to know where you’re headed turns many of us away. After all, there are far fewer choices to make from the comfort of the couch.

And now — Coach Liz comes to rescue.

Let me scoop you off your loveseat and open the doorway to movement by kicking off a new fitness routine with accessible movements and a focus on daily actions.…

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6 Thoughts That Stop You From Exercising (and How to Change Them)

Liz Marmesh — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 10:00:01 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

I’m going to start working out on Monday.

Once I get my diet under control, I’ll start exercising.

I joined the gym a month ago and that is the only time I’ve been through its doors.

Do any of these statements sound familiar? No matter what we promise each other over the water cooler or the dinner table, the majority of Americans are not even reaching thirty minutes of exercise three days a week according to the U.S.…

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5 Powerful Life Lessons Learned from Personal Training

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 09:00:39 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Coaching a team or a group class has always been an intimidating concept for me. I prefer to work in pairs. In particular, what I’ve loved most about personal training is the one-on-one conversation developed over time with a client. To me, that’s where coaching relationships are truly built.

I’ve worked with a variety of clients: business executives, recovering addicts, teenagers struggling with weight gain, pregnant and post-partum ladies, and those returning from injury.…

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What You Need to Know About Fats, Carbs, Protein, and Your Goals

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 09:00:53 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

I work in a cubicle farm. Unique to my quad of cubicle-mates over the past two years is that each of us has run our own version of a long-term nutritional experiment with independently strong results.

One coworker lost fifty pounds from logging a daily limit of calories and running. Another person lost twenty pounds on the ketogenic diet, counting fat grams on an Excel spreadsheet, toting charcuterie snacks everywhere, and exercising in moderate amounts.…

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How to Plan (and Enjoy) Rest Days in Your Exercise Program

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 09:00:10 +0000

Reading Time: 8 minutes

I have never been drawn to the weight room by the promise of improved aesthetics. But somewhere between an engagement proposal and an upcoming dress try-on, I found myself sucked into the pedal-to-the-metal exercise motivation vortex.

Must. Work. Out. Every. Day. Or. Else.

Ten days of exercise in a row later, my alarm went off at 4:45am after a broken night of sleep.…

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The Quiet Eye: How to Train the Way You Gaze (and Why)

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 09:00:19 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Pick your favorite sport, any sport. Imagine the player you most admire walking up to the plate, getting ready for a jump ball, or prepping for a rope climb. What is the one thing they all have in common?

For starters, they are definitely not texting on their smart phone.

Jokes aside, no matter who you’re picturing, these athletes typically share an incredible ability to focus and concentrate that conveniently also makes them appear quite intimidating to their competitors.…

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Why Losing Fat Is Not the Best Goal (Plus 5 Actually Fun Goals)

Liz Marmesh — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 09:00:28 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

I pinched a lot of body fat as a personal trainer. At some point, it became normal to meet a stranger in the gym and, a few minutes later, claw-grab the places where they were most prone to store fat.

This person and I would then sit down and talk in-depth about their personal health challenges. The majority of the time, the prospective client would be aiming for “body-fat loss” and have not much else they wanted to work on.…

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How to Build a Better Backside (Strengthen Your Posterior Chain)

Liz Marmesh — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 09:00:28 +0000

Reading Time: 5 minutes

You’ve probably heard all these fancy terms before: upper cross syndrome, weak posterior chain, tight hip flexors, and anterior pelvic tilt. What do they all mean?

Boiling it down to the simplest of terms, a professional is informing you the front of your body is tight as well as stronger than the backside of your body.

Multiple factors contribute to these postural conditions: sitting and typing for hours on end, driving and gripping the steering wheel, a lax core.…

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7 Pieces of Advice for Working Out After Injury

Liz Marmesh — Tue, 22 May 2018 09:00:46 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

“Pop.” I felt the pain immediately in my low back. I stood up from the stability ball. It was just a stupid core exercise, a simple bodyweight back extension. Then came the realization I could not set my left foot on the ground without a sharp, shooting zing of pain through my hip. [Insert expletives here.]

I did what many of us do after injury: tried to walk it off, then sleep it off, then ignore it.…

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Core-Spo: How to Take Your Plank Game to the Next Level

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 07 May 2018 09:00:18 +0000

Between yoga abs, power Pilates, and core blast classes, a common theme has held true over the last decade: a good plank is worth every second of your time.

Why do planks continue to win out over crunches? Planking is a core-endurance exercise that trains your ability to isometrically contract your core muscles for longer amounts of time. And, in a plank, your abdominal wall is positioned optimally against gravity.…

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5 Simple Ways Fitness Can Actually Improve Your Work Day

Liz Marmesh — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 09:00:58 +0000

I’m not going to lie. If I worked in a dress-code free zone, I would wear yoga pants and a sports tank under a suit jacket to office meetings. Heck, maybe with some nice cushy sneakers, I’d do quiet air squats in the back of the conference room instead of trying to sit still in swivel chairs. What’s the worst that could happen?…

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What You Need to Know to Get Started Indoor Rowing

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 09:00:39 +0000

Want to train your cardiovascular system while toning your backside? Or find a repetitive endurance exercise that does not take a toll on your joints? Or engage in a heart-rate raising sprint without tightening your hip flexors?

Indoor rowing has taken off in popularity over the last ten years, popping up in HIIT training and CrossFit workouts. Indoor rowers are also one of the least expensive pieces of cardio equipment you can purchase to add to your home gym.…

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The Best Way to Get the Most Out of Your Fitness Tracker

Liz Marmesh — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 10:00:11 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Twenty minutes into an interval training session, I looked down at my watch and realized I’d accidentally shut off the exercise-tracking feature somewhere during a front squat. Ugh.

Sweating like crazy, heart pounding, I was pretty sure my workout still counted.

Does this sound like you? Are you so used to tracking your exercise that if your technology fails, it feels like it takes away from the calories you’ve burned?…

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How to Warm-up and Work Out with Zero Equipment

Liz Marmesh — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 10:00:03 +0000

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Whether it’s a rainy day or you’re stuck in a hotel room with weak WiFi, there is always a way to get in your exercise. Everything I’m about to show you requires zero equipment — which means you can do this warm-up and these workouts pretty much any time and anywhere.

Once you’ve watched through the videos and/or followed-along at least once, then you can “choose your own adventure.”…

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How to Bounce Back After Falling Off the New Year’s Wagon

Liz Marmesh — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 10:00:05 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Not one week into 2018, I found myself standing in a donut shop with some foodie girlfriends admiring anything that had marshmallows on it.

Store lamps beaming off the glaze of the baked goods on display, I saw my dreams of an improved eating habit flashing before me, and wondered, “Would this be the gateway donut? The sugar bomb that crashed my whole 2018 health plan to the ground?”…

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How to Get, Keep, and Be an Awesome Workout Buddy

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 08:00:17 +0000

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Post-holiday party indulgence, I meandered to a treadmill for a penance workout. I was already sore, fighting a food-hangover, and dreading an indoor run on a chilly day. I sent my workout buddy a message, “Three or four miles?” She wrote back fast, “Four miles! And you’re lucky I didn’t say five!” Holding to our workout-buddy code, at the end of my run, I sent her a “proof of workout” picture of the treadmill display: five miles that I had never planned to do.…

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The 5 Factors to Getting the Most From Group Training

Liz Marmesh — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 10:00:52 +0000

Six hundred calories torched and 28 of my hard-earned dollars burned along with them, I walked out of a group training session, drenched in sweat and puzzled as to how after a full hour, the only feedback I received from the coach was, “Nice work.”

Granted, we met at 6:00am, I was a drop-in, and she was a substitute. We were never going to be a thing.…

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7 Strategies from a Pro Traveler: How to Exercise on the Road

Liz Marmesh — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 09:00:31 +0000

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, knees driving into the orange polyester seatback in front of me, the quiet allowed me time to reflect upon how I got from spandex-clad trainer to globetrotting gal.

For years, I rocked yoga pants all day long in high-end gyms in South Beach and Los Angeles. I would train a few motivated executive clients, close out my morning shift and hop on a squat rack.…

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