Gina Jackson Personal Fitness

Just finished a long day and a glorious one.  Thanks to two fabulous classes of Pilates students (both new and old) an amazing yoga teacher, Anayra Calederon, the warmest temperatures January could offer, a luxurious hot bath and the soulful music of Eva Cassidy.

The renewed pursuit of Yoga as a healing, stretching and relaxing practice will be a new experience, for me in 2010.  I took my second class today, at Surya Yoga and haven’t stopped gushing about the studio and the two fabulous instructors I had the pleasure of working with (Kelly and Anayra.)  I signed up immediately for a 10-session pack and enjoyed Kelly and Anayra on Thurs and Sat, respectively.  My plan is to use the 10-pack, re-new regularly as another mind/body part of my regmine going forward. Surya Yoga, YES!

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A male client of mine read this article and told me he heard all my words to him on paper when he read this. I liked that. The rules of fitness are the same and apply to all of us. Read the rest of this entry →

I remember the first time I saw those tight, strong arms on Linda Hamilton in the first Terminator movie.  Way back in the day….circa 1991.  They were fierce and powerful.  I wanted them.

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Ok, so you made the commitment to yourself to lose 20, 25 or 30 pounds. Congratulations! You have started moving forward already by taking that first step of establishing a goal. With that in hand, these five, tried and tested, rules of the road will help you keep your promise to yourself. Read the rest of this entry →

A young woman sent in a question that mirrors many of the thoughts of new clients seeking a weight loss/management program and unsure of the degree to which they need to push themselves to achieve success.

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This question came in from a young woman recently.

“I am 21 years old and 5′0. I am currently 165 lbs. I used to be 127 until after I graduated high school. Now I would really like to lose the weight just to feel better and be HEALTHY!! I have serious issues staying motivated. I lost about 10 lbs a couple months ago but then just lost interest in the diet. I don’t know what I could do to keep myself motivated. Read the rest of this entry →

If you are planning to travel for the summer, there is no need to assume you cannot workout on the road. I have run across a great resource to purchase bands and balls for portable workouts.

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For those of you training with me privately in the last few weeks, have enjoyed squats, lunges and shoulder raises, plank poses as well as push ups with the NEW Bosu Ballast Ball. Its the Stablity Ball taken to the next level! Great for core training, balance and firing up every muscle in a training session! My young and seasoned citizens alike all love it! Check out my use of the ball at Bloomingdales for a Promotional Event at Riverside Square Mall, Hackensack, NJ.

Here’s an article from the New York Times about classes that will be cropping up all over using the ball. Read the rest of this entry →

The only way to get flat abs is to lose body fat We all want flat abs ! Most people focus on this area and always saying “I’ve been working on my abs for years and I still can’t get that perfect flat tummy even though I have a good diet. Many of you reading this are likely thinking the same thing. If that’s the case, have you ever wondered why you
persist? There are not many things in life you’d stay with for that long when you’ve failed at it?

Despite the facts, many people still think they can get flat abs if they just keep doing enough ab exercises. In other words, we think we can’t reach this goal because we’re doing something wrong. The truth of the matter is, getting a six-pack is hard and, if you haven’t seen yours yet, maybe it’s not what you’re doing that’s the problem.

Its a Myth

If you’ve been doing crunches forever and are miffed that you still don’t have flat abs, you’re no doubt operating under a myth – assuming that you can do an exercise (or a group of exercises) for a certain area of your body and the fat will fall off. Why else would you spend so much time doing crunches if you didn’t believe they would burn the fat off your belly? It’s no wonder we still think this…if you pick up any fitness magazine you’ll find plenty of headlines to feed that belief. Read the rest of this entry →

Looking to get a leg up on the competition? The hanging leg raise may confirm your status among the fitness elite—but be forewarned—this is an exercise that takes no prisoners.

If there’s one exercise that strikes fear in the hearts of even the staunchest fitness enthusiasts it’s the hanging leg raise, and no wonder. This unforgiving maneuver seems especially designed to expose any and all upper body weaknesses, leaving no doubt as to the state of your conditioning or quality of your strength training program.

There are no half-measures with hanging leg raises—either you can execute them successfully or you’re left in the dumpster, re-evaluating your training regime. Read the rest of this entry →