Posted by admin | Posted in General | Posted on 07-02-2011
With any exercise program you will eventually reach a plateau. This is a stage where you seem not to be making any progress towards your fitness goals. At this point it is easy to become disillusioned and lose motivation. If you find yourself on a plateau and in need of motivation try the following tips and see if they can help you.
Re-evaluate Your Goals
If you are not motivated it may be time to re-evaluate why you’re doing it in the first place. The goals that were once important to you may not be as important today. Set yourself new goals and new rewards. Ask yourself why you really want to do this and set a new goal to achieve it. Break it down into monthly, weekly and even daily goals. Breaking them down into smaller goals makes them less daunting and increases your success of achieving them and success feeds your motivation for more.
Hire an Accountability Manager
Don’t worry this is not going to cost you anything, apart from your pride if you fail. Sometimes our worst enemy is ourselves. We start with good intentions only to sabotage ourselves. If you find you keep doing this then, consider getting someone you will be accountable to. This could be a spouse, friend or training partner, anyone who will help to motivate you. Make a promise to them that you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. This can be highly effective as the fear and shame of letting someone down is a great motivator.
Take a Guilt Trip
This may work for some people and not for others. However, if you are the sort of person who hates wasting money then go to an expensive gym and sign up for a membership. The thought of wasting all your hard earned cash by not turning up at the gym to do your workout will become to unbearable.
Visualisation Techniques
These can be effective at helping you stay motivated. You use visualisation techniques to picture in your mind what you will be and feel like when you achieved your goal. This will involve re-enacting and sensing the feelings and emotions as if you already achieved your goal. This takes practice but can be highly effective. In addition to this you can create a dream board where you place pictures, illustrations and quotes that will help you visualise what you want to achieve. The dream board should be placed where you can see it everyday.
Posted by admin | Posted in General | Posted on 23-10-2010
Many of us are concerned that we are not able to go to a gym for a regular workout. But there is good news. You can do very effective home workouts from the comfort of your home. One of the best types of exercises is home cardio workouts that help you to burn fat off your body. They are very effective and you will require less time for getting very good results. The best thing is that these cardio workouts at home do not require any kind of equipment, as you can do what is called circuit training.
There are a few important principles that you need to understand before doing the exercises. First, you will be performing resistance exercises without any rest between them. According to research, such exercises are very effective for burning fat when compared to the traditional methods. So you can get quick results in a short period of time. When you do the body-weight circuits you will be building lean muscle in addition to burning fat.
Building lean muscle helps you to increase your metabolism and you will be able to develop a good physique. This is not possible by using only the traditional cardio exercises, such as getting on a treadmill or elliptical machine. While doing these workouts you have to use a lot of muscle while performing the repetitions. So more calories will be burned naturally. And the best part is that you will be burning more calories for about 36 hours after the exercises are completed.
These circuit training home workouts consist of various exercises like advanced burpees, inverted rows with your palms up, one leg Romanian deadlift, close grip push ups, plank and jumping jacks. Do each one right after the other and repeat the whole sequence as much as you can. You should be able to complete a certain number of circuits in a set period of time, like 15-25 minutes. Once you start doing them you will realize their effectiveness.
The second type of exercises consist of squat thrusts, door pull ups, handstand push ups, Bulgarian split squats, reverse crunches and squat jumps. Just like the first set, perform these one after the other and complete as many repetitions as possible in the set period of time. The third set consists of the advanced burpees only. Try to complete as many burpees as possible in the specified time, at least about 50 times in 15-25 minutes.
When you do these home workouts regularly you will see a great transformation and your body will gain a lot of other benefits too. Apart from loss of fat you can enjoy a strong, healthy and athletic physique as well. Try to increase the number of repetitions if you want them to be more effective.
Posted by admin | Posted in General | Posted on 18-06-2010
Its official – experts now say that walking your dog is healthier than the gym! Surprised? Don’t be. The benefits of a brisk 30 – 60 minute walk will burn nearly as many calories as an aerobic class. Why? Because dogs need daily walks for potty breaks and exercise, forcing owners to get out and walk regularly. And regular exercise is the key to a healthy lifestyle and cardiovascular fitness. Just make sure to give the same consideration to your pups walking gear as you do to your own.
Now that you know that, its time to gear up for those walks! Your dogs walking gear is as important as a good pair of walking sneakers for you. Your dogs breed characteristics and training needs will dictate the type of collar, leash and/or harness that you need for your daily walking routine. Here’s a few tips for selecting the right walking gear for your dog.
Dog Harness or Dog Collar?
Most vets will recommend a harness over a collar for small dogs. That’s because small dogs are prone to trachea injuries, and the constant pulling of a dogs neck against a collar only increases the risk of injury. A well made harness will not only minimize injury, many adjust to provide the perfect fit and look great on your dog.
Dog Collars are a better choice for bigger or strong breeds because it makes pulling, something that big dog breeds are naturally inclined to do, a bit more difficult. A dog collar also serves as a good general training tool too, so if you’ve got a dog that has not yet mastered the art of the neighborhood walk, it will aid you in controlling and training your dog.
Dog Leash Options
There are basically two types of dog leashes: the traditional fixed length leash and the retractable leash. Fixed length leashes allow better control of your dog on walks and minimize leash burn (yes, they are notorious for leaving burns on your legs when not locked). Retractable leashes have their place, and are best for the casual, non-structured walk. But if you are constantly stopping to let Fluffy sniff around, you’re not going to burn many calories. Therefore, the fixed length leash is the best way for you and your dog to stay focused on getting a good cardiovascular walk.
Selecting the Right Dog Harness or Dog Collar for Your Walks
There are plenty of harness and collar styles available on the market today. Your selection depends on your personal preference, along with consideration for how well your dog is trained.
If you have a dog that needs a bit more control than a dog collar will give, then a harness is the way to go. Dog harnesses are not only easier on your dogs neck, they are nearly impossible to wriggle out of – something that many escape artists are good at doing in a collar! Rather than a choke collar, which is favored among those with narrow-headed dogs that can easily wriggle out of a dog collar, a dog harness is a much kinder and gentler way of keeping your dog in check.
When shopping for your dogs walking gear, look for products of quality that are backed by the manufacturer, and allow flexibility to adjust for a good fit. After all, a well-fitting collar or leash is just as important as a well-fitting pair of walking sneakers!
Don’t forget to enjoy your walks with your dog. Walking is not only a great way to get fit and stay in shape, it’s a good stress reliever for both you and your pup!
Posted by admin | Posted in Fitness | Posted on 19-05-2010
Extreme fitness can help you in a variety of ways. If you are a bodybuilder, it can help you get ripped while you gain lean mass. If you want to step up your cardio, extreme fitness can help you become aerobically superior. As an athlete, extreme fitness can really help you to step up your game. You can become stronger, faster and more explosive. In short, extreme fitness will take you to the next level in your workout and your fitness level.
From a cardio standpoint, your extreme fitness routine should include high intensity aerobic activity such as running, cycling and workouts on the elliptical machine. This may sound like any other aerobic workout, but the difference here is that the intensity level of the workouts is greatly increased. Running miles instead of minutes and cycling in a high intensity spin class or mountain biking as opposed to passive cycling can punch up your workout from ho-hum to extreme. You can achieve the same extreme fitness results in the gym by using the treadmill, stationery bike and elliptical machine. The key to taking your workout from a standard gym workout to an extreme workout is how long, how far and how intense you go.
If you want to build lean mass and get ripped, extreme fitness entails increasing your weights and adding reps. Your workouts need to become more efficient and you must ensure that you are doing each exercise correctly, maintaining the proper form. It would be wise to enlist the aid of a trainer at this point because they can help you with your form and make your workout as efficient as possible. They can help you with determining which exercises need more weight, which need more reps and which need both. Different muscle groups require different workouts in order for you to get optimum results.
As an athlete, extreme fitness can help you step up your game. You can become a better runner, stronger swimmer or more worthy opponent as a triathlete. Because you are training your body at a much higher level of intensity, you are making your body stronger, faster and more explosive. Your fitness routine should be tailored to your particular sport. For instance, a runner would have a different fitness routine that that of, say, a swimmer.
Of course, extreme fitness workouts for high level cardio, lean mass or enhanced athletic performance must be accompanied by a diet of fresh vegetables, either raw or lightly steamed, and lean meats. More protein will increase your muscle mass as you work those muscles. You will also need more calories and clean carbs for energy so that your body can sustain the high intensity workouts that you are putting it through. If you do not give your body the proper nutrition, you will not get the results that you desire. Also remember, you do need a certain amount of fat in your diet for various reasons such as keeping the skin supple and cushioning organs. Extreme fitness can get the results that you want, but you have to follow the whole formula which consists of diet, rest and exercise.
Posted by admin | Posted in Fitness | Posted on 12-08-2009
So just why is it that home fitness is suddenly begin to increase in popularity over the last few years? The reason for many Americans who now exercise at home is because it is convenient, affordable, time efficient and for many it can be a private thing. Also following recent studies it has shown that those who join a health club are likely to quit their exercise program more quickly than those who workout at home.h
Moreover more and more people are starting to include the purchase of equipment as well as designing an exercise in order to carry out their home fitness program. They are also finding it easier to implement an exercise regime as well as being able to track their progress. So in other words what is happening is people today are now setting up not just their own health club program but also their own gyms at home.
In fact the home fitness market has blossomed since the early 1980′s and those companies who produce fitness equipment were prior to this only showing a small percentage of the sales to home users. Whilst now approximately 30% of all sales of fitness equipment is being made for use in the home. However, it is important that when choosing exercise equipment it should be chosen for its safety, its effectiveness in helping you to achieve your goals, how much you have to spend and what space you have available in your home.
Also the reason why home fitness has become so popular over the last few decades is because home workouts and fitness programs are not only fun but they achieve great results. In fact recent studies carried out showed that those women who worked out at home got better results than those women who actively went to a gym to workout? In fact today if you were to do a search of the internet you will find a number of different sites that offer home fitness programs which do not require the use of fancy equipment. In fact there are many home fitness programs available which require little or not equipment at all.
Another major attraction for people to work out at home is the fact that it’s been proven and shown recently that exercises using our body weight has produced far better results than the results from using many famous and expensive equipment. The body looks whole lot more natural and balanced, and it’s so inexpensive in terms of time, space, and money.
More and more fitness fans are getting into these body-weight exercises that also do not require huge area to begin with, and therefore, working out at home has become a huge trend of late.
With the popularity of free body movement exercises such as Tai Chi and Chi Kung, the choices for home exercises are getting more plentiful. Besides, as many other kinds of martial arts are getting popular nowadays, the need for gym and paying for gym membership have really been transformed, or shall we say, upgraded in this “Less is more” mentality?
