Category Archives: Fitness On A Budget

Tips, tricks, and advice on how to be fit without going broke

$19.99 Champion Sports Bra Sale plus 20% off

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Gosh, I love it when Champion runs their semi-annual $19.99 sports bra sales!. They always seem to know when my motivation is flagging and could use a little boost by way of a cute new pink sports bra with high motion control and wicking Double Dry lining. 😉

Even better, through 3/29, you’ll also get an additional 20% off your entire order as well as free shipping for orders over $100. I doubt that I’ll hit that free shipping threshold, but 20% sure isn’t bad, especially since several styles in discontinued colors are only $15.99.

The $19.99 sports bra sale runs through April 27, but the 20% off ends this Sunday, so pop on over and take a look if the girls need a little pick me up, LOL. (And if you don’t happen to be a female, they also have an $8.99 Double Dry workout gear sale going on for the men, too.)

ChampionUSA.com

Champion Clearance Sale @ OneHanesPlace

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Woohoo!

There’s another great Champion sports bra and workout gear clearance sale going on at OneHanesPlace.com through the end of the month!

Several different styles of sports bras (usually $30 or so) are on sale for $9.99-$15.99, and there are also plenty of workout bottoms and wicking sports tops in the mix for $15 or less.

Check it out, and get an additional 20% off with promo code 611357 if you order before 3/11/09! (Enter the code during checkout–there’s a button on the same page where you enter your payment information.)

Oh, and there is a nice selection of men’s workout clothing, too, but who cares about that? 😉

Two Nintendo DS Cooking Apps for under $10

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For my fellow Gamer Foodies out there, check out these two Amazon.com deals on a pair of brand new cooking titles for the Nintendo DS handheld system:

Personal Trainer: Cooking (list price $19.99) is only $4.95 today (Saturday only), and get this: What’s Cooking? with Jamie Oliver (list price $29.99) is actually only $7.90 (not the already good $9.95 sale price) if you scroll down on the product page to the Best Value box and click on the “Add both to cart” button that will put the game AND a Nintendo DS Play Stand in your cart. The Play Stand is a handy accessory that will hold your DS console up on your kitchen counter at the proper viewing angle within voice recognition distance while you are busy cooking away.

These two apps are great stocking stuffers for the cooking-impaired gamers in your life–students, new grads, single young guys who spend way too much money on take out meals, or even yourself. They both include 100+ recipes as well as step-by-step animated and audio instructions on how to prepare each dish. Give that starving student in your life a gift that will provide them with one of the most important life skills they can have: the ability to make their own meals from scratch.

Just make sure they already own a Nintendo DS!

Health O Meter Body Fat Monitoring Scale ($19.98 + $5.20 s/h)

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HSN.com has a Health O Meter body fat monitoring digital scale on clearance for a very cheap $19.98 plus $5.20 shipping and handling. What a perfect gift for the calorie-counting, obsessive-compulsive fitness and nutrition geek in your life…or anyone who is embarking on a quest to get fit.

Scale

Most body fat scales are in the $50+ range, so this really is a decent price! This one got very good ratings from other buyers on the site.

Here are the features of this model:

Health O Meter Body Fat Monitoring Scale Includes:

* Health O Meter body fat monitoring scale
* 4 AA batteries
* User’s manual
* “Essential Facts About Body Fat” pamphlet

Product Features:

* Tracks weight and weight change and compares to your goal – helps you successfully reach your fitness target.
* FDA-approved, this scale uses BIA (bioelectrical impedance analysis), large metal contacts and 4 load cells – helps insure accuracy, precision and repeatability.
* Stores personal information for up to 4 different users and 5 entries per user – can be used by the whole family
* Extra-large 1.6″ graphic display – shows weight and percentage body fat together; helps make tracking the results of your fitness routines simple and quick.
* Accurately measures weight up to 350 lbs in 0.2 lb. increments – provides a very specific weight assessment.
* One-button save function – simple control.
* Measures approx. 13-1/4″L x 13-1/2″W x 1-1/4″H.
* Made of plastic and metal.
* Avoid contact with moisture.
* 350 lbs. max. weight capacity.
* Made in China.
* Comes with a manufacturer’s 5-year limited warranty.

RCR W5D3: Free Action Hero Workouts

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Celebrity trainer Valerie Waters whose Red Carpet Ready program I am currently following posted a pair of great workouts geared towards creating the Hollywood action babe look she gave to Jennifer Garner in Alias and Rachel Nichols who plays Scarlet in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie–lean and defined, but not quite as in-your-face powerful as a fitness competitor or Oxygen cover model.

These are available for free in her blog, and can be performed at home with minimal equipment: 5-10 lb dumbbells (mostly 10 lbs), a step or low chair, a stability ball, a pair of Valslides, and a fitness band. There is a “Valband” available for $4.99 at the same online store as the Valslides, or you can try to find one locally in the pilates section of your favorite sporting goods store. I also had good luck finding the Valslides themselves on clearance at my local Target for $12.48 including the covers and a workout card and DVD.

If you want to get a taste of what the RCR program is like, give these workouts a shot. Perform them three times a week in the following pattern:

Week 1
Mon: Workout 1
Wed: Workout 2
Fri: Workout 1

Week 2
Mon: Workout 2
Wed: Workout 1
Fri: Workout 2

For best results, throw in 20-30 minutes of interval cardio on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and take Sunday off.

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TODAY’S EATS
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1. Green smoothie (1 c. spinach, 1 c. Diet V8 Splash Tropical, 1 small apple, 3/4 scoop protein powder, 3 baby carrots)
2. 60g oats and raisins, 3 egg whites scrambled with 2/3 c. spinach, 1 peanut butter protein popsicle
3. 1.5 c. shrimp and chicken jambalaya with 1/2 c. brown rice
4. 15g walnuts, 20g raisins
5. 5 baby carrots, 1 T. ANPB, 1 small apple
6. 3 oz. Oriental sesame chicken strips, 1 c. peas and green beans, 3″ Subway Chicken Pizziola sub oh whole wheat with extra veggies (~220 cal)
7. 3″ Subway Chicken Pizziola sub on whole wheat with extra veggies (~220 cal; Worked late night at the office–will count as this week’s 2 cheat items)

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TODAY’S WORKOUT
============================
* RCR Circuit B2 (60 min)
* Outdoor skate (30 min)

Cool Idea of the Day: Make Your Own 5k Race!

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Irene at Pink Dumbbells challenged us this week to find a race in our area on November 9 and join her in walking or running a 5k. Well, as you know I am not fan of running, but I am usually down for a 5k once the weather cools down a bit in Florida, so I Googled around for some nearby races.

There was only one race in my area that day, and it was 40 minutes away in Celebration. The supported cause was prostate cancer research. While this is a worthy enough cause, I would not normally donate money to something like this because I prefer to give to local animal charities or international organizations that help educate women in developing countries. The registration for the race was $20.

Then I checked Active.com and found out about the 10th Annual World Run Day, a sort of DIY, worldwide race day which just happens to fall on November 9th this year. Registrants pay $17.99 via Active.com to officially put their names on the list of participants with a custom dedication and to receive a printable race number and a World Run Day race t-shirt. On the big day, you choose your own route and distance, run at your own chosen time, and then donate more money to a charity of your choice. As an added bonus, you can feel warm and fuzzy knowing that you are part of a global initiative to encourage fitness and giving.

Very cool, I thought, but what a pity that the $17.99 entry fee doesn’t include any sort of donation to charity. I’d have to give another $15, $20, or whatever on top of that to my chosen charity, which would hike up the price of participation considerably.

Then I realized: Why don’t I just skip the middle man? What are they providing me besides a row of text in a HTML table on a website no one I know will visit and a t-shirt that will end up in my “Refashion Fodder” box?

So this is what I plan to do:

On November 9, 2008, I will spare myself the 40-minute drive to Celebration and run 5k around my neighborhood wearing a race shirt of my own inkjet iron-on design (probably reading, “The only good part about running is STOPPING!” and “1st Annual Caustic Musings Pink Dumbbells* Charity 5k”) and a printed race number from the HP Laserjet at work. When I complete the 5k distance, I will award myself official-looking certificates for winning my age group, gender group, and overall. Then I will have a celebratory breakfast of buttermilk oatmeal pancakes, turkey bacon, honey, fruit, and an egg white/veggie omelette and dash off a $20 check to the SPCA of Central Florida.

So how about it?

Anyone else planning on making their own 5k race on November 9? What will you call it and which cause will you support?

* Name changed because several other Pink Dumbbells members are interested in doing this, too. I will be making a downloadable t-shirt design that everyone can print off on their own iron-on transfer paper at home.

Red Carpet Ready Club 6-Week Contest (Free to enter!)

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Now for some news…I’m loving my M&F 12-week program, but I’m toying with the idea of doing Valerie Waters’s Red Carpet Ready for the next 6 weeks as part of the contest going on at the RCR Club membership site. I signed up for the 2 week free trial last Tuesday, and I had planned on checking things out then cancelling before the trial was up, but they are running a 6 week challenge starting this Monday and have offered to extend the free trial for the duration of the contest if you decide to participate.

If you are interested, you can still get in on this. You will have access to the RCR Club forums and membership site which includes a downloadable copy of the RCR 1.0 ebook ($77 value) and the video 2.0 edition of the program when it is ready.

The major downside to the program is that it uses light weights.

Like, REALLY light weights–we are talking 5, 8, and 10 lbs here, or–gasp!–none at all.

This could be a bit psychologically challenging for those of us who have been conditioned to train as heavy as we can stand for the past few years. How am I supposed to intimidate the guys at the gym if I’m only squatting with 10 lb dumbbells?

Valerie trains female celebs like Jennifer Garner, Kate Beckinsale, Elizabeth Berkley, Poppy Montgomery, Cindy Crawford, and Jennifer Biel, so her program is geared toward that type of physique versus the more buffed out look of figure and fitness. The sticking point for me, however, is that those clients weren’t exactly in bad shape when they started working with her in the first place–she has successfully turned out a lot of “toned but not bulky” Hollywood physiques, but they were all sort of waifish ectomorphs to start with, you know? NONE of those women were particularly fluffy OR carrying much muscle, so I’m not sure what the effect of her program would be on those of us who are more mesomorphic or endomorphic than her famous clientele.

Needless to say, I am approaching this with a healthy dose of skepticism. I am willing to give almost any training model a try for a mere 6 weeks, but I’m not interested in losing any of the lean mass I already have–just dropping some subcutaneous fat. I’m all right with not putting on more muscle at the moment as long as I can increase definition and decrease my overall jiggle factor.

The RCR strength program is circuit-based with reps in the 10-20 range, with most of the exercises falling into the 10, 12, and 15 rep categories. The workouts are around 60 minutes long according to the book, and are performed three days a week. My initial impression of it is that it would act more as a calisthenics/cardio blend for me than a true strength workout, but hey, that is not necessarily a bad thing when your primary goal is to lean out.

The cardio is interval style, three times a week for 30 minutes.

I’ll leave it up to you gals as to whether this holds any interest, but just be aware that you need to sign up before Monday to get the full 6 weeks for free. The prizes have not yet been announced.

If you do want to give this a try, you can sign up for the Gold level membership at http://www.redcarpetready.com/club/

Once you enter the 6 week challenge on the forums by posting an entry thread and submitting “Before” photos, Ryan, the friendly neighborhood admin, will extend your trial for the full duration of the contest. Participants are expected to post regularly in the 6-Week Challenge forum to keep everyone abreast of their progress. If you do decide that the membership is not for you before the 6-week trial/contest is over, just drop Ryan an email at rcrfeedback@gmail.com to cancel.

Cute Workout Shoe Alert: 25% Off $39.99 Ryka Mary Janes

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Update: A NEW 30% off coupon code with no minimum purchase is available from July 24-27! Use code: EMCP8LLK during checkout.

Foot Locker has a 25% off coupon code (EM218LM3)with no minimum purchase requirement that expires tonight at 11:59 PM CT. Best of all, with this magical coupon, you can score one of these insanely cute pairs of Ryka women’s Mary Jane-style trainers for about half the suggested retail price of $59.99.

All of these Ryka shoes are already on sale for $39.99, so the coupon knocks another $10 off the price, which means that you can have ’em for $29.99 + 6.99 s/h + sales tax.

Guess what I’ll be wearing to the gym next week on lifting days? W00t!

Reviews and multi-views of both the Versa and Ramble style Mary Janes can be found at Zappos. Both averaged 5 out of 5 stars from customers.

Ryka Ramble

Ryka Ramble

Description of the Ramble:

  • Stylish enough to go from around town to around the gym.
  • Hook and loop closure provides stability with easy on/off accessibility.
  • Open mesh upper offers breathable comfort.
  • Low Profile EVA midsole offers modern, stylish comfort.
  • Nitracel heel and forfoot cushioning absorbs impact and provides toe spring.
  • 8.00 oz.

Ryka Versa

Ryka Versa

Description of the Versa:

  • Open, lightweight in-gym trainer with fullfoot cushioning and midfoot stability.
  • Textured synthetic upper with mesh accents for lightweight support and detailing.
  • Full forefoot Nitracel Engage® provides superior forefoot cushioning.
  • Rearfoot Cushioning Cartridge for rear stability shock absortion.
  • TPU shank offers midfoot stability.
  • Hook and loop closure strap for easy on/off and an adjustable, snug fit.
  • Shoe weighs 9.4 oz.