Two years ago, movemo was founded to help others move more and stay healthy so they can continue to move the world.  We’re still working our butts off to make sure that happens, one small victory at a time

From February to March, Movemo Fitness partnered with New Yorkers for Children. Can you imagine growing up without a parent or guardian’s love or guidance? The majority of us are fortunate  to have that support, but a small percentage of the nation’s children don’t even have one parent or guardian to guide them. That percentage translates to thousands of homeless and uncared for children. Thanks to child advocate communities like New Yorkers for Children they provide the care and even the resources for these children to be able citizens.

Through our partnership, we offered fitness classes at JKM Fitness Studio and gave our friends, family and community a great reason to stay fit and make an impact in the lives of New York’s foster children.  The proceeds we collected from our fitness classes went to programs implemented by New Yorker’s for Children.  These programs open the door for foster children to have the opportunities that any other child would have access to.  After teaching eight fitness classes and helping 70+ friends and family become a little fitter, we fund raised nearly $600 for New Yorkers for Children.

Why I’m Committed Health, Fitness, Movemo and You.

But there’s another piece to that story that I think is just as important – why training fulfills my life and my commitment to you, our readers, friends, fans and family.

Train to Move More and Move Well for Life.  Often people think that trainers just push people to work out, break a sweat and lose some weight.  Honestly, if that was all it took to do my job I wouldn’t be doing it (there are already way too many fitness DVDs and bootcamp instructors that do that job).  The real reason I train people is to help them learn to move more and move well so that they can better endure and enjoy life’s challenges and opportunities with a resilient body as well as a resilient mind.  This isn’t achieved through just back breaking work outs and simple low carb diet tips.  This is achieved by training and empowering yourself to

• Better listen to your true lifestyle goals. No, I don’t mean a lifestyle goal of being skinnier or sexier, but a lifestyle of enduring happiness, strength and resilient confidence.
• Better your curiosity about your health.  Success comes to those who are perpetually curious of their world.  If you are not continually interested to learn how your body moves, strengthens and ages, you will be unable to adapt to the physical challenges of life.  When you train be curious and learn about your body, how it adapts, its limitations – especially the limitations that were meant to be broken.
• Better adapt to your life’s challenges.  You’re busy.  Aging sucks.  Life is hard.  There are so many challenges that we face, but I whole heartedly believe you can overcome them by building a resilient body.  By training to build a stronger body you are in tandem training your heart, spirit and mind to handle other challenges in life.  For example, if you can train your body to endure a 10 mile early morning run, I’m certain you can handle the challenge of early morning work meetings.
• Better yourself and become more than what you are.  More often I find myself becoming inspired each day as I see more and more friends talking, emailing and facebooking about their fitness.  And though the fitness activities vary, I believe that their reason for highlighting their fitness is one in the same – a deeply personal connection to becoming more than what you are.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean becoming more just as “getting bigger muscles” or becoming “sexier” by losing weight.  I mean becoming more and more the person you were meant to become by bettering your body and mind each day through fitness.  Here at movemo we believe our readership and audience are those that are meant to make a change in the world.  You are here to do good and great things!  Train your body, strengthen yourself and become more.

So keep some of these thoughts in mind next time you train.  Move more, move for life and become more.  Train on!

Partner Leg Lift Pushes

Lie on the ground with arms and legs fully extended.  Using a dumbbell weight overhead as an anchor, grab on as you lift your legs straight up.  At the top of the leg lift the partner that’s standing will catch the top of your feet or ankles and push them back down.  Resist to keep your feet from touching the ground and lift back up to repeat.

Leg Lift Hip Ups

Similar to the leg lift pushes, grab onto the dumbbell weight as an anchor and raise your legs straight up.  At the end of the leg lift, concentrate on lifting up your hips a couple inches off the ground as your shoes

Catch and Throw Sit-Ups

Sitting on the ground in a sit-up position, anchor your feet underneath a weight or set of dumbbells.  Your other partner sits 3-4 feet away and tosses a medicine ball at you.  Catch the ball and sit back and up resisting the momentum of the medicine ball.  Once you’ve sat back up push throw the ball back to your partner and repeat.

Medicine Ball Side to Side Sit-ups

Again in a sit-up position, perform side to side sit-ups as your partner hands off to you a medicine ball.  Alternate between body weight sit-ups and weighted sit-ups to add some extra pressure on your rotary core.

Those are a few for now.  Try them out with a friend and let us know what you think.  And thanks to Mansour Jammal for being such a great training partner!

The 2-Minute Movemo Circuit Challenge

1)      10 Bunny Hops – Short and quick.  Squat down to the ground and make some quick hops to stretch and work out your calves.

2)      10 Jump Squats – Immediately progress from the bunny hops to the jump squats.  Try to jump as high as you can while lowering yourself down to where your knee joint just breaks a 90 degree angle.  Don’t forget to keep a neutral back (don’t flex or over extend your spine!) and tight stomach. (Muscle group: glutes and quadriceps)

3)      10 Front Plate Lifts – If you have a dumbbell or weighted plates, grab them and pull them straight up.  Keep your back neutral and arms straight.  Try not to use your hips and legs for momentum to swing the weight up.  (Muscle group: anterior deltoid, biceps)

4)      10 Overhead Presses – With the same weight immediately progress to an overhead press by pushing the weight straight over head ten times.  Again try not to use your hips and legs for momentum – this one should really start getting your arms tired.  (Muscle group: deltoids and biceps)

5)      10 Weighted Leg Lifts – Using the same weight, transition to a lying position on the floor or a flat bench.  Keep the weight posted above your chest while you pull your legs up for straight leg lifts.  At the end of each lift, try lifting your hips a couple inches off the ground for some extra flexion (Muscle group: quadriceps and abdominals)

6)      10 Planking Side Knee Highs – Place the weight to the side and get into a planking position.  Remember to keep you back and neck neutral (the back of your heads and your back should form a straight line).  Switch off from side to side as you lift one knee sideways to your torso as high as you can get.  (Muscle group: external obliques)

This is a complex circuit so each exercise should transition immediately after one another.  Try this out and let us know what you think!

We want to do more and would love to hear from you on how we can do that.

But first, let’s recap on a short list of some our greatest articles from last year:

Eating Well

• 35 Ways to Eat More Vegetables
• Green Smoothies Infographic
• Infographic: Which Dietary Supplements are Worth Taking?
• 10 Simple Kitchen Hacks
• Korean Zucchini Pancakes
• Eating Healthy in an Unhealthy World

• The NYC Bridge Challenge Movemo Fundraiser
• Kickboxing for Rural Kids
• 50 Inspiring Health and Fitness Quotes
• How to Create a Habit
• Why I’m Committed to Health and Fitness

Even with all this material on improving your fitness so you can change the world, we still don’t think we’ve done enough.  We’re committed to you, our amazing friends, family and co-workers and so we’d like to know what else you would like to learn about fitness and health in 2013.  We know there’s so much more to learn and we’re all about sharing more knowledge with those who are moving our world forward everyday.  Let us know and we’ll get started on researching, writing and even making new fitness videos for you.  Leave us your comments below, facebook us or even email Kevin and I at kevin@movemofitness.com or matthew@movemofitness.com.

Thanks for being such great fans and readers of our work and cheers to a daring 2013!  Move more, and more the world!

-Kevin & Matt

Every year I find myself back in California to celebrate the holidays with my family.  I look forward to this for months because it’s the only real time I get to see all my family that I’ve been missing living in NYC throughout the year.  However, with all the family gatherings it’s easy to get caught up with spending all your quality time eating ridiculous amounts of fatty foods and sweets.  Now, I’m not going to go into a tirade about watching your diet and eating healthy during the holidays – that would just be preposterous (I, for one, am going to stuff my face with every turkey leg and piece of ham I can find).  What I am trying to suggest is rethinking the ways you can spend quality time with family and how you can get them to move more and live well.  To aid in this endeavor, here are a couple ways you can enjoy your time with the family while also moving more and staying healthy (they’re ordered in level of difficulty and effort):

1)      Mall Exercise 101? (difficulty: 1) – So you’re hanging out with your mom or auntie and you know they don’t like to exercise.  But what if you could get them to do it without even noticing.  Not a lot of people think about this, but walking around the mall can be a tiresome effort.  Do a couple laps from one side of the mall to the other on floors 1, 2 and 3 and you’ll definitely get in a mile or two of walking.  You might have to do some extra homework and plan the stores you’ll be visiting beforehand to make sure you’ll be visiting each corner of the mall.  Some might critique the plague of consumerism that takes over during the holidays, but why not flip it and make it a good excuse to get some exercise with the parents.  (Warning: Don’t get trapped into rewarding yourself after with a stop to Cinnabon or Mrs. Fields Cookies store – that would definitely result in an epic fail.)

2)      Making fruit, protein or green smoothies (difficulty: 2) – You’re spending time at home setting up the Christmas tree, hanging up lights in the front yard and lighting up a log on the fireplace.  What would make all these even sweeter?  Answer: doing them all while drinking a nice glass of whiskey and eggnog fruit or green smoothie!  Just pick up some fruits at the market, some skim milk and if you want to go green (some carrots, cucumbers, spinach or kale) and mix up a smoothie for you and the family.  Save the whiskey and eggnog for Christmas Eve.  Get some good nutrients in to help keep you energized and feeling good while doing some holiday party prep and chores.  (Tip:  check out movemo’s green smoothie infographic)

3)      Gym it up Gangnam Family Style (difficulty: 3) – Okay, this one requires a little more effort and if there was a way to gym it up Gangnam style then I’m all ears.  The hardest part is convincing your mom or dad to go with you to the gym, but once you’re there the workout is the easiest part.  This one is good if you have a sibling to tag team with.  Just plan it with your brother or sister and ask your family member to join you for an early morning workout.  My sister and I do this all the time when we are visiting home and if it means quality time with her son and daughter, our mom comes with us to the gym almost every time.

4)      Todo Todo Line Dance (difficulty: 2-3) – So this one depends on how awesome your family is.  I grew up in a Filipino household and one thing us Filipinos cannot deny during family gatherings is line dancing.  What can I say it’s in our blood.  So don’t think too much about it just clear the living room, garage or backyard, download some todo todo music on itunes and press play.  You are guaranteed dancing, movement and laughter for at least one hour.  If you’re family isn’t one for line dancing, try some other genres like reggae or salsa and see what happens.  This is also a great time to work out and work on your dance moves while in the comfort of your home and family.

5)      Run an Exercise Class with The Kids (difficulty: 2-4) – This last suggestion requires a little bit of planning and maybe even more patience (cause working with 5 years olds with unlimited energy is tough work).  Every year I come home for the holidays and I realize that there have been one or two more additions to the extended family.  It’s sad but I have so many nieces and nephews running around I have troubles remembering all their names!  If you’re really motivated to give the gift of fitness, why not start while they’re young.  If you are skilled in any performing arts (dancing), exercise (lifting, yoga, etc) or martial arts, try running a short class with the kids.  This will help teach them that the holidays isn’t just about eating lots of food, getting presents and playing video games.  They can also have fun exercises with their favorite aunt/uncle.  Below is a clip of my nephew Dryston and I having a mini-boxing session – he’s gonna be a knockout

I hope these suggestions help and that you can try one or two of them out.  Moving more to move the world doesn’t just mean personal wellness, but those of your friends and family too.  If you’re really aiming to increase the quality of your life and health, you must focus outwardly as well as inwardly.  Sharing the gift of fitness with your loved ones over the holidays is a good first step.

Let us know what you think and if you have any more creative suggestions we’d love to hear them.  Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter below for more ideas on how to move more and move the world.

Sign Me Up For the Movemo Monthly

Or connect with us Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook or Tumblr

This Week’s Links

Burn Off that Pie – Stair Workout
Looking for a new workout that you can do in your apartment building without going to the gym?  Here’s an intense stair workout from Art of Manliness.  Try this one out if your short on time, want to build on your butt and glutes, too cold to workout outside or all of the above.

How to Buy Fitness Gifts without Getting them Mad
I’m all about giving the gift of fitness to friends and family over the holidays, but sometimes it can be a little tricky because you don’t want them to get angry.  Fortunately, there are folks like Lisa Johnson that have thought this through and have had good experience with fitness gift giving.

The Greatest Workout Ever Created
Okay, so I won’t claim it was THE best workout ever created, but it certainly seems like the best nerd and video gamer workout every created.  Nerd Fitness has just taken one of the all-time classic video game cheat codes and created an simply body weight workout.  Try it out and re-live your nerdy childhood while integrating it with a life of fitness and exercise.  Kudos Nerd Fitness – kudos!

Gluten Explained
Over the past couple years I’ve been seeing more and more gluten-free products but never understood what it was and why so many people’s body reacted poorly against gluten in their diet.  This quick summary from Better Health Innovations helps break it down.  For example, did you know that about 1 in a 100 people have celiac disease which reject gluten in their intestine?

9 Ways to Do Cardio
…That suck slightly less than most forms of cardio.  Hey, I didn’t choose the title but it’s a great read on different choices to work on your cardiovascular health.  You don’t always have to run on a treadmill or go for an hour long run to get a good cardio workout.  Check out this list compiled by John Romanielo.  I integrate a few of these in my weekly workouts and they definitely keep me balanced while diversifying my workout routine.

Sign Me Up For the Movemo Monthly

Or connect with us Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook or Tumblr

This Week’s Links

Hiring a Personal Training Girls Vs Boys – Statistics have shown that people are far more likely to choose a male trainer over a female one, even when the female is better trained.  Lisa Johnson’s article goes more into depth on the skewed assumptions people may have choosing a trainer based on gender and she provides helpful tips to choose more effectively (i.e. what are you goals and comfortability factors working with a man or woman).

Can Women Pull Their Own Weight? – Last week we highlighted a study that all but determined that women can’t do pull ups.  The fitness community reacted with a punch.  Here’s one constructive response from a trainer stating that no matter the challenge, people can train and find a way to meet their goals – pull ups included. 

Tips for a Badass Bench Press – How many of you have been plateauing on the bench press?  I know I have and I’ve had the most difficult time trying to break through.  Tony brings some great tips into the equation including several exercises to strengthen your shoulders and deltoids to support the bench press movement.

Packable Workout Gear - Going on trips for the holidays?  Here’s a quick list of some packable workout gear from Men’s Fitness.com.

20 Almost Laws of Strength Training – Here are some quick and easy tips on strength training from T-Nation.com.  Several of these are fundamental to exercise fitness but often overlooked and misrepresented.  Enjoy!

In the past year I’ve participated in two mud races, the Warrior’s Dash in Northern California and the Tri-State Tough Mudder in New Jersey.  Honestly, I didn’t really know what I was getting into.  The idea of them sounded fun and living in NYC, I rarely get to do exercise training in the outdoors. And this last Tough Mudder was definitely fun and crazy!  Climbing up 20 feet mud hills, holding on for dear life swinging on slippery monkey bars above pools of freezing water, even crawling through swamps of mud as electrical wires are dangling above you?!  I learned a couple life lessons through this past race: the first being that your body is always stronger than you think it is and most importantly, that mud races build community and a pathway to fitness enlightenment.

So here I was hanging out with 6 co-workers running 13 miles through mud while toughing through 20 plus obstacles.  Little did I know that after 4 hours of grueling exercise, I would have a new handful of friends I could call brothers and have my faith restored in humanity.

(Team Gee Whiz .. with Hand of Saruman Faces)

I’ll be honest, part of me thought that I could rely on my individual skills and training to get through the obstacles, but I was quickly proven wrong.  I can’t tell you how many mud hills I tried climbing on my own, just to slip and fall back down or the number of walls that were too high for me to climb.  However, any doubts of failing these obstacles were quickly put aside when I realized my friends were there to help lift me up, lay down and create a chain of bodies to climb a mud hill or even carry me on their back for 50 yards.  So many times I climbed up walls and mud hills only to find that there was a random stranger waiting at the other side cheering me on, helping me back down or grabbing my arm to support me before I fell.

(I was serious, my friend Charlie literally carried me on his back for 50 yards!)

And then I thought, what if exercise and fitness could always be this way.  Some folks have found free, creative and consistent ways to work out and stay healthy with friends and loved ones.  However, for most folks this just isn’t a reality.  Instead many, including myself, have accepted the reality of paying $100-200 for elite gym/training memberships or paying for a gym whose lackluster services do nothing to motivate you into better health.  I’ve got to believe that there is a better solution out there that can get the majority of people invested in building communities and a society of better health, fitness and wellness.  When we figure it out it’ll truly be a day of enlightening fitness.

Look out for our next post: Moving the World with Fitness.