Whether or not you’re one to make resolutions, January is the best time to get in shape. Summer is now only a short six months away! Bring on the bikinis and shorter than short-shorts – it’s time to look and feel great. In my past blogs, I’ve showed you how to tone up and strengthen your muscle groups. Now, it’s time for me to explain how cardio workouts can really get that six-pack and those toned legs to show.

You can do as many crunches as you want, but your sleek muscles won’t show through unless you burn the layer of fat covering it. That fat is made up of long term energy that has not been used and compensates by staying around your body. Remember that late night fast food run? Well, by eating that delicious burger and letting the 500+ calories sit, you maintain extra unhealthy energy until it has a reason to exit your body. By engaging in cardio activity – any workout that gets your heart racing and sweat pouring – you are finally burning that fat off and putting those calories to use.

So, what is cardio exercise? It includes (but is definitely not limited to) kickboxing, running, dancing, biking or swimming. For those of you who have a gym membership, I highly recommend looking into group fitness classes. It’s a great way to have a fitness expert provide a guaranteed calorie-burning workout and force 1 hour of exercise on you. You can even switch up your routine by taking a strength training class one day and then Zumba the next!

But for those of you who don’t want to trek all the way over to the campus gym in the brutal snow, I have good news! It’s easy to get your fitness on right in your dorm room. My favorite iPhone app is Nike Training Club. You can choose from 15 to 30 minute plyometric workouts that definitely get your heart pumping – it’s like having a personal trainer on your phone!

And for those of you who don’t have a gym membership or an iPhone app, you have me. Here are some easy ways to get rid of that super extra cheesy concoction from the campus diner.

1. Squat Jumps

Begin in a low squat. Keep your feet a little more than hip width apart, arms clasped in front. Make sure your knees do not surpass your ankles. Sit low into your heels and pretend you’re sitting into a chair.

It really is as fun as it looks! Go ahead and jump up from your squat position. Power through your legs and jump as high as you can. Keep arms up, legs off the ground and core tight. Land back softly on your feet and back into the original position. You should try continuous squat jumps for about 1-2 minutes to feel ultimate gluteal and quad burning.

2. Mountain Climbers

Begin with your hands directly under your shoulders. Extend one leg outwards and keep one leg bent in. Keep your back flat and refrain from sticking your booty into the air. I think I was admiring the tanbark in this picture, but keep your head up and looking forward for a bigger challenge.

Now it’s time to climb the mountain. Keeping your arms in place, switch your leg positioning by jumping into it. Some people like to start in a plank position, bring one leg in and back out, then switch. I love extra intensity, so I add the jump-push in between.

3. Other options not pictured: Jumping jacks, high knee jumps, jumping rope, or running in place. They’ll all get your heart pumping and your fat burning off. Put these workouts into your daily routine and you’ll be bikini ready in no time.

Summer, here we come!

Got a problem area you want to tackle? Need some workout ideas? Tweet your questions to @jackelynho. I’ve got your back. And front. And sides.

It's time to try something new. And that includes wearing an actual shirt to the gym.

If magazines like Women’s Health or Fitness are considered a part of your required monthly reading (or, really, as long as you haven’t been living under a rock), you have probably learned that switching up your workout routine is vital. In addition to being a surefire way to speed up weight  loss by ensuring that you’ll burn more calories, varying the things you do at the gym will ensure that your body is up for any challenge.

Now, if only I had listened…

Last week, I returned home from school for the long-awaited Christmas break and was informed by my mom that I would be accompanying her to her training session. She works out once a week with a nice (and semi-attractive) man who seems to be pretty un-intimidating, and seeing that she is a 52-year-old mom and I’m a 22-year-old rock star in pretty good shape, I figured that it would be a piece of cake. I can run on the treadmill, right? I can do bicep curls with ten pound weights! Bring it on!

Instead, I was forced to endure pull ups (I cannot do these), lunge and squat around the entire room while carrying crazy weighted sticks, lie down on that squeaky medicine ball while doing sit ups, fling around little black weights that looked like cowbells and bruised the inside of my wrists, and lower myself into numerous machines while I pushed and pulled and panted until I could barely breathe. Meanwhile, my mom was just humming to herself and completing her tasks without a word.

Five days later, I can still barely move. When I lift my arms to put my hair in a ponytail, shooting pains soar through my shoulders. Every time I sit down in a chair, my thighs burn. My shoulder blades ache when they press up against the seat of the car. And every time I take a step, I have to hunch over a little bit to ease the pain resulting in a Hunchback of Notre Dame-esque stride that I know must be pretty unattractive. My parents, my friends and my boyfriend are going to kill me if I complain of soreness another time, and I might just lose it if I still have to roll out of bed like a toddler just learning to walk tomorrow morning.

Now, I don’t need Shape to tell me that what I thought was a pretty legit exercise routine – my usual 45-minute run on the treadmill or stride on the elliptical – wasn’t really enough. I wasn’t lifting enough weights (so my strength was suffering), I wasn’t doing enough core work or improving my flexibility (since I kind of hate sit ups and never take Pilates or Yoga classes), and I wasn’t switching up my cardio.

While getting 45 minutes of exercise in each day is good, that alone will not get the job done. Variety is important. And that means variety within your cardio workout – like interval training – and variety in the types of workouts you do – like weight training, core training and flexibility. In order to burn the most calories and see the greatest results from your exercise routine, you must train your entire body, and you really gotta spice those workouts up in the process. Otherwise your body will get used to your routine and it won’t have to work as hard to complete it. Which means, over time, that 45 minutes on the elliptical will burn less calories. And still be just as boring.

As we sit on the cusp of a new year, it’s time to think about what you want to look and feel like in 2010. I don’t know about you, but I know for a fact that I don’t want to feel the pain of getting out of bed. Or sitting in a chair. Or brushing my hair. And I wouldn’t mind getting a little stronger and leaner.

Basically, I’m ready to make some major changes in my routine and you should, too. Sign up for some weight training classes on campus. Seek out a Pilates studio and build up that core. If you’re an elliptical rat, get on a treadmill and start running. Not only will these small changes make your workouts more interesting and effective, but your new strength will increase your endurance, making you able to get even better workouts in down the road.

It’s a win/win. Unlike my current situation, which is a pain/more pain.

Well not talk to you personally, but he did spend a long time on the phone with CollegeCandy telling us about the importance of switching up our workouts, why it’s crucial to stay hydrated and all the other tips and tricks he uses to get his clients into tip-top shape. Although be forewarned; this man is serious business when it comes to seeing results (i.e. opting for apples and green tea for dessert), so getting in shape his way is no easy task.

And there’s more! (I know!) His new website www.murphyfitness.com is launching today, July 1st, and members can download workouts, videos and keep a food diary where Patrick will give personal feedback to ensure success! And he’s giving away a FREE membership to one very lucky CollegeCandy reader. You (yes, YOU!) can look like Olivia Wilde for FREE. Get to know Patrick a bit and then find out how you can be one step closer to that banging bod…

5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1.    What is your most ridiculous college memory/most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
I disappeared with a bunch of friends to Mexico without telling my family for like, almost a week. I just disappeared for like five days, that was really bad. I was just starting college so I was just experimenting and partying my ass off.

2.   What are five things you can’t live without?

Exercise, my wife,  my eyesight, contacting my mother every week, and I can’t live without staying hydrated… You’re gonna find out in this phone call that I’m kind of a fitness fanatic. I live and breath my job. I love it.

3.    What’s your motto/advice you live by?
Well, I say many things, but one of the things I like to say is that the root of all evil is the lack of circulation. So, everything – every problem that we have, mentally and physically with our bodies – is a lack of circulation.  That is the cause and root of all evil. That’s why cancer happens, why we have eye problems, why we have skin problems, why we have all types of problems. So,we gotta keep moving.

4.    What is your favorite song to belt out at the bar/in the car/for karaoke?
I have like 9,800 songs in my iPod and I listen to so much music, so I don’t know if I have, like, one specific song. I do listen to music a lot, especially on my runs and stuff like that. I like 80′s music!

5.    Ten years from now you will be….
My platform will be large enough that I will be reaching the masses and teaching people the latest fitness and health advice and tips.  Just reaching the masses and helping people stay healthy and become healthy.

5 Questions Just for Patrick Murphy:

1) You train Olivia Wilde, who landed at #1 on this years Maxim Hot 100. Give us your secret!
Well with Olivia Wilde I do full body workouts. Some of the full body workouts are super setting workouts and then the other type of full body workouts I’ll do with her are mini circuits within the hour. So I’ll do five exercises in a row without rest.  And then we’ll repeat it again and then we’ll repeat that little mini circuit again and then I’ll do that four to five times, like four to five different five-exercise circuits. So very high intensity – her heart rate is way up.  And the good news is, every time I train her, I never do the same thing. I force her body to constantly adapt to different modes of resistance, to different environments.

2) Bikini season is here and I know every girl wants your help. If we could make two changes starting today to see the most results the fastest, what would you recommend?
1. Starting right away, you want to definitely start drinking.  I tell all my clients a minimum of 100 ounces of water daily. The reason why that is, is because you want your internal organs, especially your liver, to operate efficiently. If you are dehydrated and your kidneys aren’t operating efficiently, then your liver has to help out your kidneys do their job, and therefore your liver can’t metabolize fat as energy. So, staying hydrated is gonna help you metabolize fat off your body. Also, part of that is getting rid of water retention. If you give your body water all the time, then it’s not gonna hold on to excess water. It’s like this little game you play with your brain.

2. You want to avoid daily sugar spikes. To do so, you want to eat the right carbohydrates. Those are the carbohydrates that absorb slower and those are the ones that are high in fiber. So you want to eat carbohydrates that absorb slowly.  A good example that I tell my clients for good carbohydrates to remember are any fruits with skins: granny smith apples, pears, all berries are recommended. Carbohydrates high in fiber like beans, and brown rice, quinoa, and some great oatmeal products are high in fiber, too.

3) Can you give us a quick, ideal sample daily meal plan? Just, you know, kind of a suggestion.

A good breakfast would be egg white and a fruit, any piece of fruit of your liking.
A snack after breakfast would be 10-20 almonds and maybe even a pear an hour before that.
Lunch would be something like fields of green, like a good salad with different colors in it: Red peppers, orange peppers, or yellow peppers and maybe some type of beans in there, or quinoa or a whole grain.
Another snack an hour or two later would be another type of fruit, maybe just a peach.
Dinner is going to be a good fish, like a halibut or salmon. And you’re going to have a good carbohydrate and fat with that. You’re going to have a good whole grain, either a wild rice or a brown rice or quinoa again, with avocado.

4) Drinking… how much damage?
Basically, the fact of the matter is, the more you put into fitness, the more you’re going to get out of it. So if you want to really maximize full potential, then you have to not indulge as much, you know? Drinking spikes your blood sugar, causing body-fat 100%. Let me give you the safest cocktail, ‘cause if you have a problem, you have to have a cocktail. It would be a vodka soda. It’s 60 calories. All these other drinks, you know, for example, a margarita is 350 calories! Big difference!

5) So what are the best types of cardio that we can do to drop pounds fast?
When someone asks me about cardio, it should have variety, it should be different. You don’t want to do the same interval workout every single time. Most people just do the same thing for an hour or 45 minutes. They’ll do 65-75% of their max heart rate. Once you establish that and you’re able to do that every time and it’s no problem, that’s when you want to get into the interval training.

You can do two different types of interval training, you can do the “hard easy”: three minute/one minute hard. Or you can do another interval that’s called power. You do an interval within an interval.  So if you’re cruising at 3 minutes, for one minute you’re going for the sprint and then for another 30 seconds to another minute you go maximal velocity.  You just try to do as much as you can. And after the interval, then you go down. Then you do it again.

Like what Patrick had to say? Think he’s the guy to get your body where you want it to be? Tell us why you need Patrick’s help to reach your goals in the comments section below. We’ll randomly choose a winner on Monday, July 6th to “take home” the free membership to MurphyFitness.com. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be #1 on Maxim’s Hot 100 list next year!

Happy National Bike week, everyone!

Sound like a holiday you’d like to celebrate? Did I just hear a “hell no!”?

Ok, I get it; biking is an acquired liking. Some argue their butts don’t fit on the seat; others say it’s just too hard. But the butt pain (and trust me, there will be butt pain) is well worth all the benefits of taking up biking. Bikes not only provide great exercise, but they are also an incredibly practical piece of sporting equipment because they can be used for exercise or transportation. Extremely cheap transportation.

Why ride a bicycle to work or class? The most immediate result you will see is the money you will be saving when you don’t have to pay for gas or parking meters. And who can forget the fresh air you can breathe in by eliminating all that carbon your car would have dumped into the air?

If that won’t convince you, how about the health benefits?  Think about it; instead of sitting in a car moving your foot from left to right, you could be pumping those legs to burn calories and build muscle. In fact, for a 135 lb woman, an hour of leisurely biking can burn about 300 calories! Three hundred! Imagine how quickly you could tone your body up by simply switching up your ride to class!

If you are looking to burn major calories, Spinning is a must. Ok, so you can’t really spin to class, but it is one of, if not the most, intense exercise classes you can ever partake in. You can burn as many as 800 calories in a single hour! Spinning is no joke and an extremely difficult full body workout. This interval class allows you to burn some serious calories while also toning your legs, working your core, and building endurance. And that is the kind of workout that can only be done on a bike.

Don’t have 60 minutes to spare?

Try this four minute cycling workout using a fan bike. It will burn up to 800 calories AFTER you finish! Pretty awesome, right? It’s called a Tabata Interval and the combination of rest and intense bursts of cardio elevate your heart rate for the hours after you finish your workout. Now you don’t have the option of saying you don’t have enough time to workout. You just need 4 minutes!

Wanna know what bike is right for you? There are a variety of kinds that are geared towards commuters, mountain bikers, street racers and leisure riders. Check out this cool women’s bike site to get started finding one that is right for you. Be careful, though; bikes can get pretty pricey. They can be as expensive as two thousand dollars, but there are also many affordable options, especially if you buy something used.

It’s finally warm out, so give up that gym membership for the summer and hop on a bike. You’ll enjoy the weather and scenery so much, you might even forget you’re working out.

[If you liked this workout, don't forget to subscribe to DietHealth on YouTube for free and check out my blog updated weekly over at Examiner.com! It's like having your very own personal trainer at no cost. Could there be anything better? Have a question? Ask me on Twitter.]

Katrina doing the Fitness Model Circuit Workout

Do you ever look at pictures in Shape or Self magazine and wonder how the models get their perfect bodies? Well, most likely they have been Photoshopped to perfection, but in real life, they are not far from it.

When I was in California recently, I was lucky enough to have Karena Dawn, a fitness model, show me and my pal Katrina the workout she used to get in shape for a recent shoot with Shape Magazine. It’s a total body fat burning circuit workout you can complete in just 20 minutes! Try this routine three days a week and you will have a magazine-cover body in no time.

Self Magazine Fitness Model Workout

This workout is 20 minutes, and includes a resistance move followed by 30-60 seconds of cardio, like running up stairs, jumping rope, running, or even jumping jacks. Best part: you do not need any equipment or a gym membership to complete this workout. You have no excuse not to get in shape!

1. Push ups (20 reps)
To make this move more difficult try putting your feet up on a stair. To make it easier, place knees down on the ground.

To make sure you are doing your push ups properly, start out in a table top position with your spine in neutral. Extend one foot back, then the other. If you feel more comfortable placing your hands wider than shoulder width, then feel free to do so for your own comfort.

-  60 seconds of Cardio.
This is up to you. Choose any sort of heart pumping cardio you like and do it up for a full minute.

2.  Jump Squats (20 reps)
With feet hip distance apart, squat down bringing arms down by sides. Once your thighs are parallel to the ground, swing your arms back and jump up raising your hands high above your head. Land on your toes lightly and bend your knees going directly into your next squat. DO NOT lock your knees when you land. Not only does this defeat a lot of the workout, but it is horrible for your joints.

To make this move easier, simple do not jump, just squat.

-  60 seconds of Cardio.

3.  Tummy Tucks (20 reps)
Starting out in plank position (which is the position you’d hold before doing a push up), bring your right knee to your right elbow shifting your core weight with your leg. If this is too hard simply bring knee into chest rather than out to the side.

-  60 seconds of Cardio.

Now find a bench or something that is at least 2 feet off the ground for the last resistance move.

4. Tricep Dip (20 reps)
Place hands on the edge of the bench. For a harder exercise, extend legs out straight. Beginners can keep knees bent. Lift yourself off the bench and hang your butt just a couple inches in front of the ledge. Lower your self down towards the ground using your arms (NOT YOUR LEGS!) and push yourself back up using your triceps. (This is the best workout for getting rid of that unwanted under arm flub.)

-  60 seconds of Cardio.

You have now completed the circuit. Tired? Well, you gotta do it two more times for the full 20 minute workout.

If you are unsure about any of the moves, watch the video version of this workout below. Don’t worry; it’s only 4 minutes, which is just enough time to show you all the moves. Enjoy that rockin’ new body, ladies!

[If you liked this workout, don't forget to subscribe to DietHealth on YouTube for free and check out my blog updated weekly over at Examiner.com! It's like having your very own personal trainer at no cost. Could there be anything better? Have a question? Ask me on Twitter.]

Now that daylight savings is behind us, we can look forward to longer, warmer days! To celebrate the wonderful season of blooming flowers, running outside, and the warm weather, get started on that bikini body with a new “Spring Into Swimsuit Season!” circuit workout.  It’s a 30 minute circuit workout you can do anywhere, even your dorm room!The best part is that this workout not only blasts calories, but it also ignites your metabolism burning fat all over your precious body!

Have an iPod or iPhone? You can now download this very workout for less than a dollar! For just $0.75 you can buy the video and save it on your iPod. Next time when you go to the gym, instead of trying to remember what you saw on YouTube, you can just watch it again on your iPod along with tons of other helpful fitness videos.

It’s like having a personal trainer at the gym for a fraction of the cost. (Take that, recession!)

You can even do these videos at home and you don’t need to buy the equipment. Here is a breakdown of alternatives:

Jump Rope – Just pretend there is one in your hand and simulate the wrist movement.

Medicine Ball – Soccer ball, basketball, any ball, a shoe box…

Weights – Cans of food like vegetables, soup, sauces, or even water bottles.

Physio Ball - I got nothing here. You kinda need this one. If you don’t, you can do the same movements without the ball (regular push up and leg lift).

If this particular workout doesn’t strike your fancy, there are tons of other online workouts available, from cardio to at-home Pilates. The possibilities are endless, so get online and find the “personal trainer” that works best for you.

Enjoy your workout!

Get even more weekly fitness updates by checking out my blog on Examiner and following me on Twitter.

“Wanna see what happens when people stop being nice and start getting real”? Well if your answer is yes, then you may get your answer by tuning into MTVs 21st season of The Real World. (Yes, it’s been on for that long!)

Most people stopped watching Real World after the fork incident in Las Vegas. I don’t blame you. I, too, swore off the awful drama, but then I found myself with nothing to do and 100 reruns of the first episode showing on MTV. So I watched. And you should too. Since you may have missed the premier, here is a little cheat sheet to get you all caught up.

The Real World Brooklyn is the same crap as every other season, but with a few small changes:

Instead of 7 housemates this time, MTV has added another housemate in the mix, which should be interesting. In my opinion, it’s to improve the ratings and create more drama. I mean, the show has been around for so long that people have seemed to forget about it, so they needed do something new. Other changes to the show include an aftershow where ex-housemates from past seasons, as well of some of the cast members, will appear and answer questions about the current season. Oh, and instead of working together in a group project (which was always a total sh*tshow), the housemates will try to make their dreams come true on their own.

So who will be causing the drama?Here’s a short bio of the housemates.

Ryan is a 23 year old from Pennsylvania who was in the US Army and served a year in Iraq. He’s focused on making music with his guitar and writing a book.

Beya is 21 and dreams of being a professional hip-hop dancer. She will go to auditions in this season in hopes of getting her big break.

Chet is a 23 year old strict metrosexual Mormon from Salt Lake City, Utah, who loves to sew his own clothes and is saving himself for marriage. (Editor’s Note: gay and won’t admit it? Definitely.)

Devyn is a 20 year old beauty queen who counts Miss Missouri and Miss Teen America as some of her pageantry titles.

Scott is a personal trainer who recently appeared in Men’s Fitness Magazine.

JD is a 22 year old dolphin trainer (Um, NY may not be the best place for your break in dolphin training…) who was raised by his abusive father who did not support JD’s homosexuality.

Sarah, who is the tattooed lesbian turned straight 22 year old, was also abused when she was young.

Katelynn, the housemate who may cause the biggest stir, is the show’s first transgendered housemate. Desperate for ratings, MTV?

I’d like to make predictions as to what is coming this season in Brooklyn, but this is Real World. I mean, I never would have expected someone to get smacked for throwing a stuffed bear in the water in Seattle, but it happened. And it was awesome. What I can say is Real World Brooklyn is gonna be a trainwreck. And totally worth watching.

Even after 21 seasons.

Working out at the gym:

Pros: It can be great motivation to see people you know, or strangers, pushing themselves to lengths that you want to push yourself too. Creating a sense of unity, a gym can group individuals together that have the same mentality: getting and staying healthy. You can even make gym dates with your friends or spouse as a way to bond, workout, and push each other. Additionally, there’s more of a variety at a gym; you can take classes or use machines that really work for you.

Cons: The competition can get to you. Some people go into gyms to flaunt their bodies, while sizing up the other men and women, making you, say a less healthy or thinner individual, feel inadequate. Some people view gyms like sororities; you have to look a certain way to fit in. Also, there can be lines for specific equipment, which can cause a time constraint. Depending on where you join, a gym can cost you an arm and a leg; the local gym by me is $100 bucks a month – yikes!!! Too rich for my blood.

Working out at home:

Pros: You can work out when you want, however you want, in your sweats or in your undies. Yes, buying equipment is expensive, but the lump sum you pay will add up to less than a annual gym membership. I splurged three years ago on a treadmill for the holidays, which ON SALE, cost me $500 bucks. However, three years down the road, it’s still alive and kickin,’ which is more than I can say for my uber expensive monthly gym membership.

Cons: It’s hard to motivate yourself. When you know the couch, a bag of potato chips, and the boob tube is on just a few feet away, you’re more likely to say ‘’ah, screw working out today,” than you are in the middle of a gym. You also can get bored of the same routine workout, which is more likely to happen when you’re at home with one or two machines, versus a whole slew of them at a gym.

Whether at home or at a gym, working out is an important asset to staying healthy. So, find the right location that works for you and get to it! If you’re used to working out at home, try a monthly membership at the gym and see how it makes you feel. You may love the classes offered (sometimes, a free personal trainer session is thrown in – who knows!) and wind up kicking your at-home workout habit. For you gym buffs, cut your membership short and invest in your favorite piece of equipment or some at home workout DVDs; the convenience of your at-home gym will create an ease from the crazy gym lifestyle.

What do you prefer?