At Home with Elizabeth Dole

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Exercise Spotlight
Squats and Lunges

If you’re looking for great, no-equipment-required exercises that burn fat and build muscle, try squats and lunges. Both are easy to do in the privacy of your hotel room, require little space, and will get your cardiovascular system revved up. Better yet, both exercises have many variations, so you’ll always have something new and exciting to try.

Squats
To start, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Keep your knees bent, with your weight on your heels. Your toes should be able to wiggle. Squat down, making sure to keep your weight back so that your knees don't extend past your toes.

Keep your back straight, eyes ahead. Extend your arms in front of you for balance. If you feel off balance, try squatting over a chair or low table.

Perform three sets of 20 repetitions.

Some variations to try:

• Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width, toes slightly flared out. The wider your feet, the more you will work the inner thighs.
• Add weight and intensity by lifting your laptop or phone book.
• To isolate one leg, take your normal stance, but rise up onto the toes of one foot.

Lunges

Start with one foot forward, the other back. Be sure your front knee is over your front ankle. Lower your back knee almost to the floor, and rise up again. Concentrate on squeezing your buttocks to push yourself up.

Perform three sets of 20 repetitions, each side.

Lunges have many variations:

• If you have adequate space, perform walking lunges, crossing the length of your room while lunging with each step.
• Alternatively, alternate side to side in place.
• Rather than stepping forward into your lunge, try stepping backward, alternating side to side in place.
• Add weight and intensity by lifting your laptop or phone book.

Squats and lunges are an excellent way to start the day. The cardiovascular exercise that you’ll get will help bring your metabolism up, so that you’ll burn more calories throughout the rest of the day.

News and Links

Airlines and restaurants alike continue their expansion of diet, health, and fitness offerings. Good news for business travelers!

• Song announced availability of its "Get Fit on the Fly" in-flight fitness program, developed exclusively for Song by fitness guru David Barton.
  (http://www.flysong.com/home/index.jsp)
• JetBlue added in-flight Pilates exercises to its health and fitness conscious program.
  (http://www.jetblue.com/travelinfo/health/)
• Just in time for the hottest days of summer, Starbucks introduced a new Frappuccino® Light menu of frozen coffee drinks. Made with low-fat milk and sweetened with Splenda®, these new beverages have 30-40 percent fewer calories with significantly less fat and sugar.
  (http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=421&cookie%5Ftest=1)
• Jumping on the bandwagon with increasing fitness-conscious Americans, Red Lobster has introduced a new Lighthouse Selections menu packed with low-carb, low-fat, and/or low-calorie selections.
  (http://redlobster.com/whatsnew/default.asp)
  (http://www.redlobster.com/lighthouse/menu.pdf)