That's Fit

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz! My 12-year-old daughter has started getting into fitness, all on her own motivation. She's always been on the thin side, and is certainly a healthy weight...and a fairly healthy eater. She said she wants to work out to build muscle and put on a few pounds (certainly not what you usually hear from girls at that age group). I want to support her, but I also want to be sure she is doing things in a healthy age-appropriate way.

She lives with her dad and we live in different states, which certainly makes matters more complicated. If she lived with me we could figure out ways to exercise together. Her dad and his girlfriend are both overweight with unhealthy habits. Any suggestions on how to get started? And is there anything she shouldn't be doing yet or things I should look out for? Thanks, Judy

Hello Miss Judy. You ask a great question and are smart to be both excited and leery of the situation. A child of 12 eager to pursue true fitness is an absolute gift. It is also a perfect point for that child's parent to stop and evaluate the situation, to make sure it's addressed correctly.

Want to know what professional trainers like me wish for, for Christmas? Sing along!

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, one water-based heavy bag.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two boxing gloves.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three ropes for jumping.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four Body Buggs.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Versa Steps.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz, I'd like to do some muscle building exercises for my lower body, but am having a hard time adding resistance/weight. I can't use the bands that I've found, because I'm allergic to latex (and all the products I've seen so far warn of the natural rubber/latex found in them). Do you have any suggestions for products and/or exercises that'll help me build up and tone those muscles? I already run, but that doesn't get all the areas that I'd like to work...and I don't want to go to a gym just for this. Thanks!

A. You are going to be so happy with my answer, because there are so many options available to you. A latex allergy must be frustrating, so first of all......I'm sorry you have to deal with that. No fun. But! With our without latex, there are infinite options for your lower body training.

When training people, my first priority is to get them to understand how each muscle group works. Once they understand this, they can work out in the fanciest gym in the world with tons of equipment or in the desert with none. Equipment is nice, but rarely necessary. For the most part, most of us will never lift anything heavier than our own body weight .So for starters, think about that. Squats, lunges, leg lifts, butt-blasters, calf raises. The list goes on. You can do those things anywhere at any time, and if you have some extra weight to add resistance such as dumbbells or the Body Bar you get bonus points.

Next thing that comes to mind are Gliding Disks. These little purple plastic Frisbee look-a-likes are inexpensive, easy to use, highly effective and fun. Visit GlidingDisks.com to check them out and definitely grab a video too. You'll need some guidance on how to use them.

Also use things around your house. Have steps? Climb them by twos. Have a trunk? Do step-ups on it. Strap a paper-weight or can of soup on to your foot and do those leg-lifts. Be creative. Latex is a popular product in many fitness tools, but it is certainly not a make-or-break your workout' type material. If you're in need of some training ideas grab a book, magazine, or video with lower body strength training How-tos. Or stay tuned to That's Fit for our soon to launch Move of the Week video podcast. Let me know how things go! Fitz

Q. Hey Fitz. Quick question: I am not a "morning workout" person like a lot of people. As you know, physiology teaches us that we should have more energy in the mornings for workouts and such; I am the exact opposite. I could not feel much more rotten when I wake up early for a run.

I want to try to change this problem if I can. Aside from powering through a couple of weeks of morning workouts so my body is acclimated to it, are there any power bars or something I can munch on just before my workouts to energize me? I usually don't eat or drink anything except maybe a glass of OJ or water before I dive into a morning workout. Thanks for any tips! Dean....

Yes, we all do crunches. Crunches, crunches and more crunches. I do them myself, and think very highly of them. But! If you'd like to change things up and work on sculpting your fancy torso in new way, give these skills a try.

• Prone pikes. Place your feet on a stability ball or on some Gliding Disks, with your hands on the floor in push-up position. Back flat. Lift your hips straight up to the sky while keeping your legs straight. Once you've elevated your hips as high as they'll go ... lower back to push-up position. Repeat at least eight times. Add one rep each day you do these. Very advanced!

• Front kicks. Stand with one foot in front of the other with feet shoulder width apart. Lift the front leg by the knee first, and follow to extend your foot up high. You'll engage your hip-flexors and rectus abdominus as you raise that leg up high. Kick within your comfortable range at first, but challenge yourself to kick higher along the way. The higher you lift your knee, the more you'll work your abs. Switch your stance and repeat on the other leg. Kick at least 20 times per leg. Beginner to advanced level exercise, depending on how high you kick.

One of my favorite recent additions to our awesome slew of fitness tools is the Gliding Disk. Gliding Disks look like a cross between a Frisbee and a paper plate. Simple as they may be, they're really quite clever. The woman who created them, Mindy Mylrea is a saucy little thing who uses a variety of household objects in a clever way for fitness training. After a previous relationship was formed with QVC, she introduced to them "her paper plate training". In love with Mindy and her fresh ideas the Gliding Disk was born. Sweet story, aye?

I took my first Gliding class at a fitness conference a few years back from Mindy...and then I took a few more. Not only was I sore, I was impressed and eager to share my cool new tool with my own clients.

Gliding Disks are great for cardio, strength and flexibility training. They're also a lot of fun. As Mindy demonstrates in about seven million videos, you can use them in infinite ways. What I like most is that they actually improve my clients form. It's impossible to lunge backward and have my front knee shoot over my ankle (which is a bad thing to do). I've tried to lunge incorrectly on the disks, but I can't. And that's great! They also force/allow the user to go through their full range of motion, which is helpful in growing both strength and flexibility.

Friday April 17th, I'll be attending a fitness conference. Fitness conferences are a blast and are designed to take fitness professionals to the next level. Keep us updated on new tools, toys, and training ideas. It's a place where we share our research, invention and experience. It's a awesome!

I've been going to these conferences for almost two decades and I look forward to each and every one. I love my job, would do it for free if I was one of those 'trust fund kids,' and love the buzz I get from the whole experience of helping others live better and longer. Fitness conferences are super cool, because they inspire and educate my colleagues and I to better ourselves in order to better you.

Fitness pros aren't the only ones who'll benefit from them though. I would love to see more general fitness enthusiasts there. You get to choose the courses you're interested in taking and just go experience a bunch of different innovative workouts. For example. The area I live in does not offer any Strip Tease classes. But, I got to try one at a conference. Does that mean I want to become a stripper or become the Strip Tease instructor? NO! I just wanted to go do it for fun. By the way.....from my experience, the class is basically a hip hop dance workout with some extra thrusting and hair flipping.