How to Get Sassy Mambo Hips

Senior Fitness & Balance Tips

Great article in today's IDEA newsletter about Balance Training for Seniors.

I've created a low impact chair workout for seniors you may enjoy:

Sit'n Fit is a chair workout. Seniors who have limitations can still be mobile without the added stress of back strain, arthritic pain or the possibility of falling.

While in a chair, march in place and increase your heart rate for cardio vascular conditioning.

Use resistabands for muscle conditioning - by placing the elastic band under your feet and holding it in place, you can:

1. curl your arms up and down to work biceps.

2. Tilt your body forward a bit and press back with arms to do triceps extensions.

3. Or, you can open your arms up and out to the sides to do shoulder flys.

4. Press them overhead and do shoulder presses.

5. Straddling the chair and twisting your torsos will help improve core strength.

There are actually a myriad of exercises you can do in a chair. Feel free to post questions or add your own exercises!

Thanks for Participating in our Thanksgiving Mambo Mania Fundraiser

Thank you to all who got up early to shake their colitas with me on Thanksgiving morning for my annual Mambo Mania fundraiser!

The class was very energetic and I am so glad to have had you all there to burn some calories and support the Concern Foundation. Hope the rest of your weekend was amazing! See you at Mambo class soon.

Personal Best's Annual Thanksgiving Marathon Class

Make a preemptive strike on those Thanksgiving dinner calories with Clarita's Annual Thanksgiving Marathon Class! Come get a great workout and support a great cause. All donations from the morning class will go to the Concern Foundation which researches children's cancer. So bring those bells and a $10 donation and come feel good with us Thanksgiving morning at 9am.

New Class Schedule at Personal Best is Up!

(Click on Image for Larger Version)

Learn the Thriller Dance with us

This Halloween we decided to replace our Thursday night Mambo Mania class with Michael Jackson's "Thriller." In less than one hour, our students learned the routine and this video takes you through the process. Enjoy!

Dance-based Fitness Takes Back The Spotlight

TV shows like "Dancing With The Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance" have rekindled that flame for dance in so many of us and have many people fondly remembering the 80's when dance-based aerobics dominated the fitness scene. I often hear my clients reminisce about old aerobics classes and videos. They loved the challenge of learning and performing new choreography, plus it was downright FUN!

Finally, I have great news for my clients and all of you -- the demand for dance is BACK and becoming popularly known as "retro aerobics!" You can read more about it on AOL's that's fit, but in a nutshell, more and more gyms across the country are offering a variety of dance-aerobics classes. People are revisiting the classics, like my friend Kathy Smith's first aerobic videos from the 1980s (check out her classics now available on DVD). I have always believed in dancing as a workout and have based my career around it. I can't think of a better way to sculpt your entire body and ignite your metabolism -- all while having an absolute blast! This is a trend that I've been committed to my entire life, and I'm thrilled to see America embracing a form of movement that not only shapes your body, but lifts your spirits too. So, let your hair down and take my Mambo Mania class or update your dance/aerobic video collections with one of my Mambo Mania dvds! Let's party towards our personal best!

What to Eat Before Mambo Mania - Yummy!

Clarita's favorite pre-Mambo Mania snack tip!

Snacks To Keep You On Track

It's very easy to fall into the junk food trap when you are on the go in your car, at the office, or in between getting the kids homework done and dinner ready. By keeping healthy snacks handy, it is easy to steer clear of the chips and candy. Here are a few of my favorite snacks that are tasty, travel well and keep me goin' when I'm on the go: pop open cans of tuna with crackers, pre packaged carrots, celery sticks with low fat dressing, or almond butter, high protein low carb power bars, almonds, hard boiled eggs, string cheese, bananas, apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries and lots of water!

Also, when you do your weekly shopping for all these healthy snacks make sure you don't go to the grocery store hungry! You don't want your belly tempting you to make bad decisions. And if you fall off the wagon and end up eating a candy bar during the weak, don't beat yourself up... just stop by for a class at Personal Best.

Here's A Taste Of Afro Cuban Rumba!

This is just a sampling from my Afro Cuban Rumba class. Traditional Afro Cuban dance moves make a great workout for your core, because most of the moves involve contracting your core and rotating your hips. It also works your quads because you are always moving with your knees bent. It is a fun, rootsy workout that doesn't feel like a workout. Most students are concentrating on their footwork and the dance sequences and forget that they are even exercising. In this class there are men and women of all ages and fitness levels, so there is no reason to be intimidated! Download the MP4 of this workout here to take with you anywhere, or if you are in the Los Angeles/Southbay/Long Beach area come take the class at Personal Best, my studio in San Pedro.

Sneak Peak at Mambo Mania

Last week we filmed a bit of an Original Mambo Mania class at my studio - I dare you not to dance along with it.

Do You Really Think I Dance All The Time?

Well, I am swinging my hips 99% of the time, but that 1% of the time I'm not - I still have to get my exercise in!

Today, I was featured on Vital Juice talking about what I do when I'm not teaching mambo, salsa and rumba in an article about my favorite L.A. staycation spot, which happens to be right in Personal Best's backyard. One of my husband and I's favorite getaways is to go hiking along the beautiful, coastline between San Pedro and Rancho Palos Verdes. Click here to read all about it. See you in class, or on the trails!

IDEA & More Mambo Mania for You

Just getting back into the swing of things after a fabulous IDEA World Fitness experience (as always.) Thank you to all of you who took my Mambo Mania class for your continuing education on Friday, August 14, your energy was great.

Many of you expressed interest in staying in touch for more dance moves and choreography, which I am now getting to work on. Please visit my blog (or subscribe) and I’ll post more info, videos and iTunes playlists as they become available. I look forward to your ideas and feedback too, so please leave comments or email me anytime.

See you at class,
Clarita

Healthy Eating Tips

Healthy Eating Tips, an excerpt from my eBook: "Clarita's Metabollic Cure"

• When eating out, ask for "to go" containers. Also, don't be afraid to ask for substitutions. Take control!
• When leaving the house for long periods, plan ahead: pack a lunch or necessary snacks.
• If you know you’re going to have to rely on fast food, study your options before you get there. Most fast food chains have web sites that list nutritional information.
• Carry meal replacements such as food bars with you when you’re away from home.
• When you go grocery shopping, shop the perimeter of the market first—that’s where you’ll find the fresh, lower calorie foods.

Indoor Workouts for Cold Weather Months

I'ts technically Spring, but it's still quite cold out there. Are you looking for a great indoor workout? Talk about turning up the heat! Flex'n Stretch'n Pump'n Mambo Mania incorporates hot Latin moves in a workout that promises to sizzle away the pounds. (see what Self Magazine has to say about it.) This fitness DVD is a spicy, comprehensives cardio, muscle conditioning and Yoga workout.

If you don't have the time to do the full scale workout, I've broken down this program into individual chapters so you can elect to do the cardio sequences one day, the Yoga sequences the next day and the muscle conditioning sequences another.

Experts recommend a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate exercise (like brisk walks) most days of the week for improved health but-even 15 minutes a day has proven to help reduce the risk of obesity. A recent study known as The Bristol University Children of the 90's simply increased activity levels of 12 yr olds for only 15 minutes a day and showed a 50% reduction in obesity in boys and 40% in girls.

The key is regularity more than intensity or duration. Once you create a habit of daily exercise, your chances of increasing the intensity and duration drastically improves -and, so does the probability of a leaner, healthier, stronger body.

Mambo Mania on Self.com!

Mambo Mania was recently reviewed on Self.com by Janene Mascarella. (We love her and you should follow her on Twitter!) She writes about something many women struggle with, pregnancy weight.
This mother of two gained 187 lbs over the course of her two pregnancies and she was able to loose all of it, but 20lbs. So in the spirit of being a mother, she decided she needed to shake what her momma gave her with Mambo Mania (and a few other worldly workouts) in order to lose the weight.

Now, 20 lbs lighter Janene is looking sexier than ever and is probably a better dancer too!

Check out the article yourSelf and if you have a success story, share it with me! And if you're not having success, email me with your challenges, I am sure I can help you figure out the ideal routine for you.

Healthbolt.net Mambo Mania Giveaway

Congratulations to Kristen Hendricks who won the Mambo Mania DVD collection during Healthbolt.net's 31 Days of Christmas promotion!

Please let me know if you have any questions or need help breaking down the dance steps...and please keep me updated on your progress. If you stick to it, you'll sizzle away those pounds and inches and feel Sexy too!

Thanks to Healthbolt for your support!

Mambo Mania DVDs In Splash Magazine!

L.A.'s Splash Magazine featured my Mambo Mania DVDs in the Healthy & Beauty section of its Holiday Gift Guide 2008!

I know the Holidays feel like they were yesterday, but keep the Mambo Mania DVDs in mind for Valentines Day. They make a hot gift for everyone who can't come see me at Personal Best!

Check out the Splash Review below.

Mambo Mania Fitness DVDs


Description: Fitness expert and dancer, Clarita, offers two great fitness videos. Flex'n Strectch'n Pump'n DVD is a comprehensive, 60-minute full-body conditioning program that incorporates strength training, yoga/Pilates and Latin dance moves. Pulsating and upbeat contemporary music keeps audiences motivated and coming back for more! The Original Mambo Mania DVD is a 30-minute cardio workout packed full of traditional Latin music and moves, teaching audiences basic Cha Cha, Mambo, Merengue and Salsa steps. Clarita uses a classic aerobic format in this bilingual workout, leaving audiences ready for the dance floor and, sí, able to count hasta 8 en español!
Visit the Website
Price: $9.95 to $19.95