Anyone can get a great full-body workout with my Top 5 Super Set Exercises. Super sets are quick and effective and give your muscles a “super” pump by combining two different exercises consecutively – without taking a break in between. Enjoy – R
Get Fit. Live Healthy. Lose Inches. Stay Zen.
RichTola.com. Follow on Instagram @BLVDZEN
Do you hate weighing yourself on any scale? Do you avoid them like the plague? No worries, because nobody should be afraid of the big bad scale…just make it your new best friend!
Get Fit. Live Healthy. Lose Inches. Stay Zen.
RichTola.com. Follow on Instagram @BLVDZEN
Still wondering if you should give away that little stool you have stashed in the closet?
Don’t be a stooly…workout with it!
Check out the latest episode of Stay Zen, 10 Ways to Workout with a Stool, where you can Get Fit, Live Healthy, Lose Inches and Stay Zen. Enjoy – R
Bruce Springsteeen’s quintessential phrase “No Retreat, baby, No Surrender” from his mega-hit, No Surrender, penetrates much deeper than our country’s blood brothers in the stormy night vowing to defend us through raging Wars. At least it does for me. And today was a perfect example of how a powerful song like this can inspire me to inspire you…30 years later.
1-Mile Away View of the Verdugo Mountains – Burbank, CA
Just as this song came on my playlist today about halfway through my 2-mile run, I passed this elderly woman walking up the hill. She had to be at least 90 years old, all hunched over and wearing a light blue cardigan sweater and dark wrap-around sunglasses to shield her from the rays. She was ever so delicately ambling up the steep incline with the help a walking cane. And if you’ve ever traveled up that 1-mile stretch from San Fernando Blvd to Sunset Canyon Drive at the base of the Verdugo Mountains in Burbank (see photo), you know that it’s pretty darn steep. So much so that it probably took this senior citizen 20 minutes to walk to the next house. No matter, because she was still walking up that hill.
author, Rich Tola
Because getting older doesn’t mean you can’t fight Father Time and do something every single day to strengthen your muscles – and your bones – and to preserve your body as best you can. It’s called a Daily Fitness Program, and ANYONE can do it.
And it doesn’t matter what you do: walk, jog, bike, swim, Yoga, weights, Hulu-Hoop, whatever! Just do something, like the elderly woman in Burbank. While you still can.
Peace – R
Everyone knows the expression “easier said than done” right? Well, that’s certainly not the case when it comes to Living Strong and Staying Sexy. At least it’s not if you’re always feeling good about yourself and radiating your Inner Beauty out into the Universe. Not to mention sticking to an energizing Daily Fitness Program that keeps your body (and your mind) strong and clear.
Believe in and commit to a Strong Body – Clear Mind. That’s my mantra, and it works! Just like the folks at Livestrong.com who are dedicated to building stronger, healthier and happier lives by offering authoritative expert content about diet, nutrition, fitness, wellness and lifestyle.
So if you’ve lost that strong and sexy feeling and could use a little fitness inspiration today, check out my “How To” videos on the healthy living website (click each title to watch the video):
#1 How to Burn Belly Fat & Lose Weight with a 7-Minute Interval Workout
#2 How to Do a Handstand & Touch Your Feet to Your Head
#3 How to Stay Active All Day
#4 How to Do a Back Stand
#5 How to Know Your Weight-to-Waist Ratio
#6 How to Warm-up for Squats
#7 How to Roll After a Jump
#8 How to Roll on the Ground
#9 How to Look for Yoga Teacher Trainings in Macomb County, Michigan
#10 Yoga Shoulder Shrugs
Enjoy – R
“LA’s Sexiest” by Los Angeles Magazine (photo taken at the ‘Sexy LA’ premiere at Hakkasan Beverly Hills, October 2013)
South Beach Park located at Barnard Way & Speedway
So you say you ‘used to’ workout
And now your body’s gone astray,
Whatever happened to that waistline
Like the wrinkles that won’t go away,
No worries and no regrets my friend
Because help is there today,
Just get your butt to Santa Monica
And let Tola’s Yoga show you the way!
In honor of National Yoga Month, join me everyday in September for a free 45-min Oceanside class in beautiful Santa Monica.
Classes are from 10:15-11am in South Beach Park at the corner of Barnard Way & Speedway in Santa Monica, CA 90405 – take Marine Street all the way to the ocean, it’s just north of the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
Anyone can do it…no mats or Yoga clothes required.
Have a great Labor Day everyone!
Enjoy – R
Rich Tola teaches Yoga at the domestic violence shelter
But wait, don’t I need a “place to live” and a “job” and at least “get to know the area” before I just pack-up and move there?
Not at all, if I believe in myself and I’m not afraid to jump. Not literally, of course, but in way that describes what most people experience when they’re asked to commit to something new and challenging. Like Yoga. Or walking 2 miles every single morning before you take a shower. Or doing my 100 consecutive days of 5 Minute Fat Burning Workouts on YouTube (all of them, especially my AB ones!). Oftentimes we experience subtle fear and inward resistance usually followed by “rational” reasons for not doing it. Like “I can’t do Yoga because I’m not flexible”.
You know how many times I hear that phrase – about a dozen times a week. That’s right, because I usually talk fitness with people I meet and encourage them to embrace a daily fitness program that’s based on Yoga. Simple, effective and to the point. That’s my style, especially when it comes to respecting yourself with an arsenal of exercises that’ll stymie Father Time.
Muster the confidence to believe in yourself, and whatever you do, Don’t Be Afraid to Jump.
Enjoy – R
Here’s another book sample about helping others believe they can: Chapter 42 – Intervention
When you look up the word complacency in the dictionary you’ll learn the following meaning: self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation or condition.
So whatever you do in life, AVOID it like the plague! Because in order to improve upon your existing situation – or physical well-being, for that matter – it’s always best to “stay hungry” for perfection so you can better yourself and your condition. And never be smug about it!
Regardless of your situation, always strive to better yourself and seek the higher ground.
As a kid growing up in a poor Sicilian family, my parents taught me to always strive for perfection and to believe in myself in whatever I did. Whether it was playing baseball on my unbeaten 12 year-old All-Star team, or attending auditions in the “nobody makes it here world of Hollywood”. I do my best and never get complacent with my abilities or achievements.
That’s why over the past six years since I arrived here in February 2007, I’ve been creating and innovating as much as I can. Like my more than 100 free Yoga & fitness videos posted to the Internet and new Audio-book for my memoir, Simply Between Millions: From Wall Street to Hollywood. I didn’t just settle with the paperback and digital versions. No. I wanted to make my life’s wild and inspiring journey about pursing my Hollywood calling and persevering against the odds – however great they may be against you – available on all platforms, including Audio.
So in two weeks I’ll be the proud father of another creation narrated and produced by me. Here’s a preview of what’s to come:
Enjoy – R
Have you read the recent articles about how mindful meditation can improve test scores?
Mindfulness studies were done at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where “researchers found that after a group of undergraduates went through a two-week intensive mindfulness training program, their mind-wandering decreased and their working memory capacity improved. They also performed better on a reading comprehension test — a section from the Graduate Record Examination, or G.R.E.”
And if you know a thing or two about meditation – it can be done anywhere. Although the best results may be achieved by following the secular pillars of the practice, including sitting in an upright posture with legs crossed and gaze lowered, you can incorporate mindful meditation into all aspects of your life…including your workout regime.
Because when it comes to clearing your mind and strengthening your body with a Daily Fitness Program, it’s always best to keep your thoughts – and feelings – focused on the exercise at hand. Don’t obsess about the past or futurize about what you have to do later that day.
Make it a moving meditation. Stay purposeful, focused and relaxed (breathe), and BE PRESENT in everything you do.
Enjoy – R
RIP Margaret Thatcher
If you haven’t done so already, then add some IRON to your diet. And I do mean the chemical element with the symbol Fe. That is to say, IRON in the form of dumbbells and free weights. Because a well-balanced Daily Fitness Program includes weightlifting to keep your muscles tone and strong.
All it takes are some dumbbells and a flat bench – or an ottoman will do – which you can likely buy on CraigsList or eBay for a ‘song and dance’. The dumbbells you can store under your bed and the bench or ottoman becomes and part of the decor. Then off you go…with a fool-proof way to spend a quick 30 minutes on a great workout…without ever leaving your bedroom. Who can say NO to that?
Rich Tola teaching Weight Room Yoga
And if you need some expert instruction on proper posture and technique when exercising with dumbbells and a flat bench, check out Lesson #9 – Weight Room Yoga and my Yoga Survival Guide.
There are 30 fun lessons about 5 minutes each, filmed throughout the streets of Hollywood including Walk of Fame Yoga, Shower Yoga, Bus Stop Yoga, Zoo Yoga, Traffic Yoga, Beach Yoga and the advanced balancing class I call, Prison Yoga, dedicated to Lindsay Lohan the day she went away.
Enjoy – R
Rich Tola 