What is Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping?

Farrell’s eXtreme Bodyshaping is a results based fitness program for participants of any age, lifestyle, sex or athletic ability. The program was developed by Lance Farrell — a long-time taekwondo competitor and teacher — specifically to combat obesity and to help people develop healthy lifestyle habits by incorporating the fat-burning, strengthening and endurance building aspects of competitive martial arts training into a course for regular people who aren’t interested in sparring or contact drills.

In 45 minutes a day, six days a week, Farrell’s can help you make real changes in your fitness and overall health. Results are typical with the Farrell’s program. In 10 weeks with Farrell’s, you will see the eXtreme changes you expect out of your fitness and nutrition commitments.

The Farrell’s program combines four essential elements needed to make eXtreme changes in your bodyshape:

• Cardiovascular exercise to Burn Fat
• Strength training to Build Muscle
• Nutrition plan to help you Eat Healthy
• Instructors and coaches to keep you Encouraged throughout your journey

Stay the Course... You Got This! Twin Cities Health and Fitness

Whether it’s St Patrick’s Day, another holiday, the weekend, crunch time at work or you’re busy with kids (or all of the above...) there’s always a rationale for putting exercise last.  You, however, are not like many other people; You are FXB! 

The goal of living at level 10 is to make exercise a priority even when you've got a dozen other things to do.

Schedule weekly workouts into your day planner or phone calendar—it’s helpful and reminds you that you should reserve those times for exercise for yourself.  This helps you be a stronger and better version of yourself. We invest our time in many things during a given day, but making time for fitness and health should be among the top of all of our lists. We all have to make this decision very often, whether to go work out or do “something else” (insert a million different things here). If you’re prone to skipping exercise when life gets busy, you might need to give yourself a stronger push in the right direction. 

To set a precedent for exercise, try these steps for making fitness a priority in your busy life:

Identify and be honest with yourself about the most optimal time for you to exercise.  Your best bet is to exercise whenever your busy day allows it, and that is why we offer so many class times. Get in, get moving and get your workout done for the day. The more successful you feel about sticking to your workouts, the more you’ll want to keep up with that rewarding behavior.

Buddy up FXB Style.  When you've got one or more friends cheering you on (or an entire class) and expecting you to show up and exercise with them, you’re less likely to blow off the workout. You wouldn't want to stand up a friend or miss out on the social time of exercising together.

Visualize!  Take a minute to close your eyes or envision yourself getting your workout done and remember how good that feels.  Envision yourself walking out the door, after a hard workout, your face smiling, ready to move on with the rest of your day.  We always say, "You'll NEVER regret coming for your workout!"

Remember that we are all here!  We are all here to support and encourage you. This is what makes us so different. For those of you that are new and will be attending the 10-week party you will see what we mean when we say we are an FXB family. We support and encourage each other every day and celebrate your success!

Read THIS! So Many Reasons To Love Your FXB Workout | Twin Cities Health & Fitness

  Kickboxing, which includes bag work, burns a ton of calories, up to 750 an hour and maintains a higher calorie burn for several hours after your workout. 

It works red and white muscle fibers and fast and slow twitch muscles. 

 Kickboxing builds core muscle strength and improves posture.  It is an awesome ab workout!  

Kicking is a KILLER glute workout!  FXB cardio kickboxing classes increase energy levels, (after you catch your breath, of course!)  

Since kickboxing requires repeated bursts of explosive movements, it results in a stronger and more efficient heart.  

A regular kickboxing program will improve flexibility and decrease muscle tension.  

Hitting a heavy bag is an unbeatable stress reducer.  A few alternating rounds anyone??

Seeing your improvement in you skill and conditioning level definitely boosts self-confidence.  kickboxing teaches you how to relax and contract your muscles optimally for functional results you will see and feel.  

Kickboxing saves time, since it's a total-body workout that improves strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, cardiovascular, stress reduction and self-defense skills.  

Kickboxing is interval training.  Explosive movement followed by reduced intensity, followed by more explosive movement is great for burning fat.  

You have an arsenal of defense weapons, should you ever need them.  

So many reasons to love FXB and your workout, so many reasons to be proud of yourself and the work you do here!  (as if you needed more reasons...)

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School Is Out... Headed to the Movie Theater? | Twin Cities Health & Fitness

The aroma hits you as soon as you walk through the doors of any movie theater…popcorn! For many people, a trip to the movies isn't complete without a big tub of buttery popcorn and a giant cup of soda. But if you don’t choose carefully, that treat could be scarier than a Fun Friday bonus pyramid set! 

With a little planning, you can still enjoy a yummy snack that doesn't wreak havoc on your good eating habits. But just how bad could a tub of popcorn be? On average, a large popcorn (which contains 20 cups) boasts a mind-boggling 100 grams of fat—the equivalent of more than six fast food hamburgers. With about 1,300 calories, that large popcorn packs almost a full day’s supply of calories for the average dieter. 

But, I know what you are thinking... What is a movie without popcorn? We suggest eating a healthy snack and a large glass of water before you go so you are not overly hungry.  Order a kid-sized popcorn and skip the added butter. This will ensure you enjoy yourself and your waistline!  

Let's Chat About Nutrition | Twin Cities Health & Fitness

There's a lot of information floating around about what to eat, don't eat this... don't eat that... how much protein to get and when, etc.  Indeed, you should be very mindful of everything you put in your mouth, considering it will be the fuel you need to draw upon during that last 15 minutes of a grueling workout on the bag.  Complete success at the end of a 10-week session means fully incorporating everything in the program, the cardio, strength-training, a rest day and nutrition.  It can be so easy to get caught up in wanting to do everything just right when it comes to food prep and grocery shopping, selecting brands, etc. 

But if the topic of eating and nutrition is leaving you overwhelmed always remember, just keep it SIMPLE!  Keeping it simple can mean a lot of different things to different people.  It can mean you make the same dinner and lunch 4 or 5 days out of the week.  It can also mean sticking to 3 or 4 recipes and rotating them on your calendar, so you are always shopping for the same types of ingredients.  Therefore, you always have the same key ingredients on hand.  It can also mean thinking of portion sizes in terms of proteins the size of your palm, six times a day and carbohydrates the size of your fist, six times a day, in addition to vegetables and water.  It is also important to remember to eat every 2-3 hours, and in general, before you start to feel really hungry.  

If you have a sandwich for lunch, for example, and you use two slices of bread, those two slices are likely bigger than your fist.  Try switching to an open-faced sandwich, with only one slice of bread or swapping the bread with a thinner, lighter whole wheat wrap or lettuce leaf. 

When you are at the grocery store, remember to try and spend more of your time and food budget in the produce and refrigerated sections of the grocery store, where the least processed foods are.  The more preservatives, (chemicals) a food has, the less fuel it will have for your body.  Highly preserved foods are also very hard for your body to digest, further hindering the success you are trying to achieve.  Finding the least preserved foods, is simple too, the shorter the ingredient list, the better.  

Those are just a few tips in keeping your eating "simple."                 

Now this has been a very brief overview on how to think "simple" when choosing foods.  Truly getting into the specifics of nutrition would go on for pages and pages.  Fortunately, for all FXB Members, you have an AWESOME manual, which gives complete information on how to "fuel" your body.  Please take some time and re-visit the manual you got on your first day.  It might take reading through a few times but the benefits are large... At Level 10!  

You Can And You Will! | Twin Cities Health & Fitness

There is no such thing as an overnight success. Anything worth having takes time, determination and discipline.

Keep taking risks, stay in action and don't be afraid to make mistakes. You are a person with a mission. You are working to be the best you can be.

Most people give up because they become impatient. They lose motivation and confidence. That is not you, you are FXB and you are strong.

You will never quit. You will be the one that stays the course and gets the prize. That is who YOU are!!!! Please do not hesitate to talk to your coach or any FXB team member if you have any questions or just need encouragement. As the workouts get harder, you get stronger. Think of how far you have come in these last four weeks. What is hard today will be your warm up in the future.

Keep up the amazing work! You are all living at level 10!

A Superbowl Spread That Will Make You Feel Like a Winner! Twin Cities Health & Fitness

The Super Bowl is coming up Sunday and for many sports fans, it's another holiday, a holiday of eating.  But one afternoon of football-watching should not have to turn into an excuse to overindulge in foods that have little nourishment for your body.  Goals and challenges help keep us motivated and stay on track in the gym.  Try challenging yourself at home during the Super Bowl.  For example, challenge yourself to skipping the potato chips and opt for carrots, celery, and other chopped veggies for your crunch.  If making sandwiches, try wrapping them up in a lighter whole wheat wrap or lettuce leaf.    

Here are just a few examples of foods to set out for your Super Bowl party, taken right from the FXB Cookbook:

Cilantro, black bean & corn salsa

Simple hummus

Grilled chicken avocado wrap

turkey lettuce wrap

cinnamon chips with fruit salsa... just to name a few!

Now, if you have your cheat meal reserved for Super Bowl Sunday... That's great!  It might be a good idea to start with some of these lighter snacks earlier in the day, so that you are not completely ravenous by Super Bowl time.  

Always remember, keep hydrating, even during your cheat meal.  Enjoy your weekend!