The 4-Week Fitness Plan to Increase Strength: Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of the four-week fitness plan to increase strength! In just four short weeks, you’ll be on your way to a stronger, fitter you. This strength and mobility program will show you where to begin as well as how to make progressions. Best of all: The workouts can be done from your living room. You’ll need a few small pieces of equipment, but other than that, just bring your commitment to taking your health and fitness habits to a new level.

Over the course of four weeks, this program will guide you through three workouts per week; at the end of the fourth week, you should be rewarded with impressive strength and mobility gains. No matter what “performance” means to you, moving better and with more strength is the bedrock of successful performance. Additionally, better movement supported by necessary strength helps to keep nagging or debilitating injuries at bay.

Day 3 of each week targets the all-important core to help you build a strong, functional base. On the days you don’t have a workout scheduled, you can always add a 15–30-minute walk, bike ride or run/walk once, twice or even three times a week. This is totally optional, of course.

Progressions will be made from one week to the next for each exercise, making the baseline exercise more challenging and/or adjusting the sets and reps. Workout duration in this program will typically be between 15–45 minutes, depending on the day, week and pace that is comfortable for you.

The plan will progress in volume of work and difficulty of exercise from week to week.

What You Will Need for the Entire Plan:

• 1 resistance band/tubing with handles and door anchor (resistance level based on what you can use with perfect form)
• 1 pair of workout sliders
• 1 mini band (resistance level based on what you can use with perfect form)
• 1 set of dumbbells,* likely between 15–40 pounds (weight based on what you can use with perfect form).

*It is possible to modify the small number of dumbbell exercises in this program if access to dumbbells isn’t realistic.

How to Follow

Each workout has four exercises and is organized in an “A” set and a “B” set. Begin with the “A” set and alternate between “A1” and “A2” for the designated sets and reps. Once the “A” set is completed, move to the “B” set and complete in the same fashion.

Day 3 Introduction

Day 3 is core day. This workout will target your core and all of its actions and functions. A rock-solid core is the foundation of movement and high performance — go get it.

Bear Crawl Slider *common

Side Plank with Row *knees bent

Band Tall-Kneeling Anti-Rotation Press

Slider Tall-Kneeling Superman

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Freelance Rates: Are You Charging What You’re Worth?

Money matters can be a sticky subject for freelancers, but they’re a key element in any contractor-client relationship. Your knowledge and energy are valuable, but putting an accurate price tag on them is never quite as easy as it might seem. Nonetheless, charging rates that match your experience and expertise is vital to a successful freelance business.

How can you avoid charging too much or too little for your work? What are the best ways to increase your rates over time without losing new or existing clients? These tips from the Hiring Headquarters—Upwork’s resource for entrepreneurs, executives, and freelancers—will help you avoid or adjust your learning curve.

Know What Mistakes to Avoid When Setting Rates

Every new client is an opportunity to make important decisions about your rates that can have a lasting impact on your financial stability. Unfortunately, finding the confidence to negotiate competitive rates is something many freelancers struggle with.

“Mistakes Freelancers Make When Setting Their Rates—and Ideas to Fix Them” looks at some of the more common stumbling blocks that can lead you to underestimate the value of your work. It discusses how you can determine what your contribution is worth and weigh the many considerations that can impact your calculation.

Six-figure freelancer Danny Margulies breaks his success into four core tenets.

Look beyond the confines of the 9-to-5 mentality. It can be easy to start a freelance business with an employee mindset if that’s what you’re familiar with. As a business owner, however, you have other considerations to account for, such as self-employment taxes, business expenses, and other unpaid administrative tasks that must be completed on top of your client commitments. You shouldn’t hesitate to account for these elements when setting your rates.

Set rates that give you flexibility to level-up your skills. Charging rates that are too low can leave you with a full schedule as you aim for your financial goals—and little time left to improve your skills or gain new ones. Ideally, leave time available to take online courses, read books, and add knowledge that could increase your value to your clients.

Check your assumptions. Not everyone has the same skill level or expertise, and the knowledge you bring to the table has value beyond billable hours. You do yourself a disservice when you assume how a client will respond to a proposed rate.

Focus on delivering value and don’t work for free. Offering to work for free can send clients the wrong message about what your time is worth, and you risk devaluing your skills and abilities. Instead, it’s better to focus on finding ways to provide value.

Learn How To Increase Your Pay Rates Thoughtfully

Even when you’ve set a rate you’re comfortable with, over time you’ll find moments where it makes sense to increase your rates. This is another challenge that most freelancers face at some point. How you do it can affect your degree of success and the relationship you have with clients.

“6 Methods for Raising Your Rates (Without Losing Any Clients)” offers ideas that can help you increase your rates without upsetting clients or missing out on excellent opportunities. Here are a few different ways to help navigate this delicate subject more smoothly with existing and new clients alike.

Niche toward more specialized services. By avoiding general work and specializing in a specific area your target client base needs help with, you can make yourself more appealing and put yourself in a better position to charge more.

Break your services down into tiered packages. When given the choice between a cheaper basic service, a middle-tier package, or a premium offering with extra bells and whistles, you’ll find many clients may be willing to pay more for higher-end services.

Be flexible and willing to negotiate. Even if a client is reluctant to pay a higher rate, they may be willing to negotiate and still leave you with a better rate. Learning to negotiate well is another useful skill to cultivate.

Check out the Hiring Headquarters for more tips on how to boost your freelance game.

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McKinnon by Cressey – 40 Immaculate Kerrisdale Pre-Construction Concrete Apartment Residences

At a Glance

• exclusive West Side location
• four-storey mixed-use concrete building
• 40 residences on three levels
• 18 neighbourhood restaurants
• community centre, parks, library & shops
• weekly local farmers market
• meticulous golf courses

Luxurious Living at its Finest

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Pricing for McKinnon
Pricing for these expansive homes are yet to be announced. Sign up for VIP access above to receive updates when details are released.

Floor Plans for McKinnon
We have not yet seen the floor plans for McKinnon, but you can expect from Cressey easy-to-furnish floor plans with beautiful interiors that are flexible and able to withstand the rigours of day-to-day living. The CresseyKitchenTM is a prime example of their forward thinking design ethic, bringing even more utility and ease into people’s lives.

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Plans call for 179 parking spaces in two levels of underground with access from the rear lane. No details about storage have yet been made available.

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Still in pre-construction, maintenance fees have yet to be determined.

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Cressey hasn’t announced when McKinnon will be ready for occupancy, but don’t miss out the opportunity to purchase these exclusive homes when details are released. Fill in the blue form above to subscribe to our VIP list.

Are you interested in learning more about other condos or townhouses on the Westside of Vancouver?

Check out these great Westside Presale Condos!

The post McKinnon by Cressey – 40 Immaculate Kerrisdale Pre-Construction Concrete Apartment Residences appeared first on Vancouver Real Estate by Mike Stewart 604-763-3136.

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Buying Real Estate IS NOT LIKE Buying At The Bay

 

 

The phrase I always hear from people looking to buy real estate is, 

 

I Want A Bargain!

 

When I first entered the real estate industry, a colleague of mine told me.  “Gary, buying real estate is not like buying at The Bay”

I said, “What?  What do you mean?”

He continued, “You know how you go to The Bay and you’re looking to buy a $100 shirt and because it’s Bay Day, you get 30% off.  Then when you sign up for their Bay card, you get another 15% off, then there’s a scratch and save and you get an additional 25% off, and by the end of the day, you end buying the $100 shirt for $20?”

“Yah, it’s such a great deal eh?”, I replied.

“That DOES NOT happen in real estate.”  He emphasized, “But people seem to think buying houses are like that, they want 30 – 50% or more off of the purchase price and it’s ridiculous.”

I learned something that day.  The public doesn’t know how it works in the real estate industry.  They think they know, but they don’t.  

 

Then how do I know how much I can sell my home for?

 

For sellers, you talk to a Realtor who knows the market (balanced, buyer’s or seller’s market), knows the comps in the area and has a general forecast of where the market is heading in the short term.  

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25-Minute Cardio Dance Workout

If you long for the lost disco days of the ‘70s, this cardio workout will bring those funky moves back to your very own living room. Complete with variations for all levels and made up of basic, easy-to-master moves, Jamie McFadden will have you grooving in no time.

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Ham & Asparagus Mini Quiches

Brighten up your morning brunch with Maebells’ ham and asparagus mini quiches. Packed with tender ham, crunchy asparagus and sharp cheddar, these cups are packed with flavor and require little prep work. Better yet, these mini quiches take half as much time to bake than a traditional full-size quiche, so you can enjoy brunch faster!

Ham & Asparagus Mini-Quiches

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, diced
• 4–6 tablespoons ice water
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped ham
• 1/2 cup chopped asparagus
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Coat a 12-count muffin pan with cooking spray, and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour and butter until the butter breaks down into small pieces. (Alternately, use a pastry cutter or two forks.)

When the butter is completely combined, add one tablespoon water at a time while the mixer runs (or while stirring with a fork) until a smooth dough forms.

Lightly press the dough into each cup of the muffin pan and up the sides.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and ricotta until smooth. Set aside.

Add the chopped ham, asparagus and cheese to the muffin tins, and pour egg mixture over until 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

To reheat, bake at 300°F for 15 minutes.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 6 |  Serving Size: 2 quiche cups

Per serving: Calories: 250; Total Fat: 13g; Saturated Fat: 6g; Monounsaturated Fat: 3g; Cholesterol: 215mg; Sodium: 179mg; Carbohydrate: 19g; Dietary Fiber: 1g; Sugar: 1g; Protein: 15g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 141mg; Iron: 13%; Vitamin A: 13%; Vitamin C: 1%; Calcium: 16% 

Annie is the gluten-free blogger behind Maebells that has a passion for revamping classic Southern comfort food into lighter, healthier, gluten-free meals. For more from Annie, head on over to her blog and connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Photo courtesy of Annie Holmes. Original recipe published on Maebells.

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Ask the Dietitian: What Causes a Weight-Loss Plateau?

If you’ve ever experienced a weight-loss plateau, you know the disappointment of stepping on the scale after another week of eating well and exercising only to see the same exact number as the week before. For days, or sometimes even weeks at a time, your weight may not budge, which can make your efforts to eat well and move more seem, well, like a waste of time.

The truth is, weight-loss plateaus happen to almost everyone trying to lose weight–even those go-getters with plateau prevention plans. In order to overcome one, it’s important first to understand why they occur. Here are three contributing factors that can lead to a stalemate with the scale:

1. Water weight loss returns. A rapid drop in weight is normal during the first few weeks of weight loss, but what you may not realize is that a fair amount of this initial weight decrease comes from water lost as the body uses up carbohydrate stores in the form of glycogen (sugar). As carbohydrate intake fluctuates day-to-day, it’s not uncommon for some, if not all, of that water weight to return, which can offset fat loss and cause a plateau.

2. Your body doesn’t just burn fat. The downside to losing weight is that your body doesn’t just burn fat for energy–it breaks down muscle too. Unlike fat, muscles burn calories, so losing muscle will slow the rate at which you use up energy from food. This of course impacts weight loss, and is part of the reason why cutting too many calories can work against you because your body will break down muscle at a faster rate. For tips to offset this, learn why protein is good for weight loss and how to optimize your carb, fat and protein goals.

3. When you weigh less, you burn less. As a smaller person, you expend less energy moving around than you did at your heavier weight. Thus, the same number of calories that produced an initial loss may now just maintain your current weight. To continue losing, you’ll have to increase the calories you burn through physical activity and/or reduce the number of calories you eat. For up-to-date calorie need estimates, be sure to update your nutrition goals in MyFitnessPal every 5-10 pounds or so.

Remember, it’s completely normal for weight loss to slow or even stall on occasion, so don’t get discouraged. Now that you understand the main causes of weight-loss plateaus, you’ll be able to devise a plan of attack if and when the number on the scale stops dropping.

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, next week we will share 10 tips for getting over a weight-loss plateau, so stay tuned!

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