Category Archives: Exercise & Fitness

May 25

The Beginner’s Guide to Workouts

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In order to get the most of your exercise, you must first understand the types of workouts there are, how they work and how to implement them to your liking. You see, it’s more than just lifting weights and running; since people are different and have different lifestyles, the workout routine must coincide with that particular person. So here are the breakdowns to the different workouts:

Cardio

Cardiovascular exercises specialize in improving your body’s overall health. It burns excess fat as well as get your heart in shape for years to come. These types of workouts give you that jolt of energy you need as well as maximizing your energy by unclogging your arteries.

  • Running burns unneeded calories, perfect for trimming down those love handles. It gives your heart a healthy beating as well release “feel good” hormones just to sweeten the deal.
  • Cardiovascular exercises also increase your lung capacity, allowing you to run longer and hold your breath longer underwater.
  • Running on a somewhat casual basis can help reduce the possibilities of heart attack. It’s also workout that is a perfect rehabilitation for people with high blood pressure as well as diabetes.

Strength

People use strength training for two obvious reasons: it defines muscles for aesthetics sake and it allows you to be stronger. They are also important in adjusting your metabolism so you can burn fat faster as well as other interesting perks.

  • Strength-based workouts help develop bone density thus making them stronger and less prone to breakage.
  • Muscles aren’t only for show, these tightly packed tissues that can aid in avoiding injury.
  • The more muscles you develop, the more they help in raising your metabolism. Since muscles need calories in order to sustain themselves, having well-developed muscle tissues insures that the calories are directed to them instead of being stored in your body for future use.
  • Strength workouts need proper posture in order to get the most out of your workout, muscle memory allows your body to be coordinated and have better balance.
  • Its aesthetic value insures that you not only feel good, but also look good.

Flexibility

Flexibility workouts focus on insuring that your limbs are…well, limber. It makes you less susceptible to sprains and has less trouble dealing with stress. Yoga is perhaps one of the best known workouts that combine increasing flexibility as well as deflating stressful thoughts.

  • Yoga is a great form of flexing exercise since it literally requires no equipment, just a basic idea of correct posture as well as stretch positioning.
  • Flexibility exercises also helps to manage stress since it also teaches you breathing techniques to help manage your heart rate as well as calm you down in more stressful situations.
  • Being able to properly limber up also aids in your progress of working out. it helps loosen yourself so you can better perform exercises as well as have more quality of movement when doing sports or getting through with day to day activities.
May 18

A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Strength Training

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Strength training is for people who want to look and feel fit. It’s all about strengthening muscle tissue, cutting down lumps of fat off your body and looking good in the process. Don’t let muscular people at the gym or in fitness ads scare you, you are never too late for strength training. Here are a couple of basics that should help you understand how the system works.

For the benefit of people who want a more successive routine, here’s very basic outline:

1st Week

The first week is dedicated solely to preparing your body for workout. It will essentially limber up your body for the coming weeks so if you experience bodily sores, it’s completely normal.

  • Start with full body workout routine (you can get diagrams online or at your local gym) so you can best prepare for the strength exercise in the coming weeks. Do two reps of these exercises.
  • Selective exercises for each body part (or parts that you want to improve on). Perform a set of 10 to 15 reps per exercise using light dumbbells. Take a day or two of rest in-between workout days. (For a more detailed understanding of this, check my Basic Strength Exercise article!)

2nd Week

Now that your body is limber and able, this is where the workout slightly escalates into a more normalized routine.

  • Continue your selective exercise routine, still maintaining one 1 set of reps for each part.
  • Place additional weights to your lifting quota (roughly 3 but not more than 5 pounds). REMEMBER: Place only enough that you can complete the desired 10 to 15 reps.
  • Do this routine in two-day intervals with a day of recuperation in between intervals.

3rd- 6th Week

As you reach a more normalized pace, the rest is just about adding just the right formula of weights as you will notice below:

  • Add an additional rep to each exercise until you reach a 16-rep cap. Once you reach that number, you add another 3-5 pounds for upper body weights and 10 for your lower body and revert to 10 reps. repeat the addition process every time you reach the 16-rep maximum.
  • 4TH WEEK: Add one more day to your workout sessions, still applying the one day rest in-between sessions.
  • 6th WEEK: Add another set for each exercise.

Nutrition

Now this is obviously not the end of the road for your workout, if you want more you can check out more intermediate routines in this site. But for now, you should focus on the basics I’ve laid out for you. But don’t think that this is just about lifting weights; you also need to take nutrition in order to get the muscle development.

You see, as your body changes due to exercise your metabolism has to adapt in order to keep the muscle growth possible. You see, muscle tissue needs energy to operate properly and thus they require burning more energy in order to operate properly.

Apr 27

Lifting Weights for Beginners

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Lifting weights, which is second to being one of the most accessible forms of exercise there is; next to running of course! Strength training has a lot of benefits mainly that of cutting down fat clumped on your body as well as allowing you to be stronger. Starting out with weights is a good idea either in the comfort of your home or in a gym. Ready? Here we go!

Basics of Weightlifting Exercises

In order to maximize the effect of your work out, it’s import that you should know the correct method of lifting weights. Here are the essentials:

1. Warm Up

Limbering up is essential during exercise routines. It allows your body to loosen up as you prepare to do you day’s worth of reps. Light cardio such as running in place gets your heart pumped hot as well as release hormones that gives you the blast to do your work out with optimal energy.

2. Posture!

Always keep your back straight when lifting weights. Not only does this even out the development of your muscles, but it insures that you strain the right muscles so you can best optimize your workout.

In this instance, always lift and lower your weights slowly without breaking proper posture. Never use momentum as an easy way to lift weights; you’ll just be swinging it back and forth without any significant development in your body!

3. Overload

In order to build your muscles, you must strain them enough to develop. That is the sole reasoning behind weight lifting. This relatively means that it forces your muscles to work harder but not to the point that they overdo themselves. The weight must be heavy enough that it can cause growth in the muscles after a period of time as well as allow you to finish you intended reps without breaking off.

Always utilize your full range of motion when lifting. For example, when lifting weights you should start with your arms straight and lifting the weight to a point that it completely curls your bicep. This maximizes all the possible muscles as you go about your reps.

4. Recuperate

Rest is just as important as straining your muscles for growth. In fact, it’s a cool down period that allows your muscles to develop. It’s a good tip to not go overboard with a particular area for more than 2 days in a row.

Choosing the Right Weights

Okay, so you’ve got the basics laid out for you. Choosing how heavy you’re going to lift depends entirely on how many reps and sets you are currently doing. The workout must have a set or reps that can be completed without too much difficulty as well as be able to fatigue the set of muscles you are bent on developing.

Although this can take a few workout sessions to determine the sweet spot, it is nonetheless a good way to train your muscles into development rather than just sticking to a specific set as your proceed with your workouts. If you feel that the program is too difficult for you, switch to a more forgiving routine.

Remember, it’s more about maintaining your routine and evolving it as you reach your desired peak. Always work with proper form as well as discipline in order to get the most out of your workouts!

Apr 27

Mind Over Body: Yoga As A Healthy Exercise

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Yoga is more than just a fancy exercise. It’s a system of holistic health that came from India more than 5,000 years ago. The goal of Yoga is to liberate not to entangle you in funny knots. It’s a meditation that allows you to “quiet your mind”, a technique that allows you to free your mind from outside thoughts and just focus on being in a state of tranquility. To be certain, you do not have to pose like a pretzel in order to get into this state of mind, rather, you can benefit from poses that benefits your mental as well as physical condition.

Now to be on the safe side, although Yoga is a harmless art, doing so with no supervision can lead to unneeded injuries. It’s like trying to draw a face when you can’t make a decent circle yet. Yoga is best taken in class sessions where a licensed expert is there to supervise your poses so that it does its intended effect.

Benefits of Yoga

Yoga’s objective as well as its main benefit is stress. You may get the idea that due to its posturing of different positions, yoga is only good if you want to develop your flexibility; but what most people don’t know is that Yoga also good for building up strength. With balance of flexibility and strength in hand, it’s no wonder that people who practice this art are known to be in higher spirits or have an increase in their vitality.

    Here’s a list of few of the many benefits of what Yoga can do to your body:

It can build up your strength. Just to get into more detail, Yoga also requires you to support your weight. And since the whole art is based on slow movement rather than speed, you’ll be forced to concentrate strength on specific areas in order to achieve the intended pose.

It develops your threshold for pain. With flexibility and strength comes a more stable back, you’ll get rid of spinal compression and tightness that usually get from sitting too long in a couch or in front of your computer.

You’ll breathe better. The Paranyama exercise does a great deal in focusing our attention to breathing, it teaches you how to better utilize your lungs on top of clearing nasal passages all while retaining calm nerves.

It reduces your stress. This is a true aspect of yoga in general. It teaches you how to be calm and find a place in your head where you can gather your thoughts and cool down. Combine calm breathing with centralized thinking or concentration and you’ll have a powerful tool in dealing with intense stress.

Conclusion

Yoga is really easy to get into once you’ve started your first group class. Sure, it may all seem awkward at first but it the exercise will eventually cause your body to be more responsive and flexible than it was. It’s breathing technique will do wonders to your nervous system, not to mention make work or stress-related situations more tolerable!

Apr 27

Five Easy Reasons Why You Should Start Running

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Running keeps your body trim since it benefits almost every part of your body as well as keep your mood nice and lifted. The best part is that you don’t need weights or any extra equipment; just put your foot in front of the other until you get your days fill of running. Although I’m aware that running isn’t exactly everybody’s favorite form of exercise, it is by far the most accessible form of staying fit.

Here are five reasons why you should start running:

1. It Makes You Happier

Did I mention that running eliminates depression? You see, running secretes hormones that improve your overall mood. These chemicals kick off a few minutes after initiating your running. It can be tiring at first and you might not enjoy it, but the fact that it’s a far better cure for depression is reason enough to at least try it. If you’re struggling from depression or really down lately, running can be a great fix instead of popping mood enhancers or prescribed medicine.

2. It Relieves Your Stress

Stress can definitely cause a myriad of health problems, not to mention that it emotionally beats you down. Worrying can definitely lead to loss of appetite as well as lay waste to much needed sleep. Running on the other hand does the exact opposite: releases extra energy as well as “happy” hormones that just take your edge off. Oh, and if you’ve got a headache, they help take away the pain too.

3. Running Improves Your Health

Whether you’re after a boost in your immunity system or just plain old losing weight, running does all of those things. Research indicates that running on a daily basis can help maintain bad cholesterol and store in good cholesterol on top of increasing your lung’s threshold and overall performance. Since running keeps the blood in your veins pumping at a faster pace, it boosts your immunity system as well as lowering risks of heart-related troubles.

Running as a piece of exercise that burns those calories, making it a perfect past time to maintain or lose weight.

4. It Makes You Confident

These are perhaps some of the many underlying effects of running. Consistently running and achieving goals certainly has positive effects on your self-esteem. It’s like a legal high of taking pride and desiring to stay in shape for the better. If you’re tired of just maintaining a pace, change it and push yourself!

5. It Prevents Disease

Think of running as an investment for your future. Like it or not, one day we’ll grow old. Running and other types of exercise helps maintain your body’s shape and more importantly, keeps it in working condition to fend off diseases as well as prevent the onset of cancer.

Doctors recommend running as part of the lifestyle transitions for people who have high blood pressure and those who have early onsets of osteoporosis and diabetes. Running can greatly reduce risks of heart attacks.

Apr 27

Cycling as a Form of Exercising

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Bicycles are great vehicles not only as a more economic way of getting around, but another healthy alternative of exercise. If you intend to start exercising with a bicycle, you must first understand how to properly ride a bike, how to cycle safely as well as options for exercise.

Bike Safety

Cycling maybe a great way of exercise, but you must understand proper safety in order to avoid unnecessary accidents and bike-related injuries. Here are a couple of precautionary measures that you need to understand before you start your cycling exercises:

  • If you’re hurt or feel hurt after cycling for a minutes – stop. There’s a saying that tells you that no guts no glory, but if you feel abnormal pangs of intense pain, you need to stop immediately and if possible, schedule an appointment with your doctor.
  • Look both ways. If you’re cycling in an area where there is traffic, always be observant of the road. Bicycles can slip through traffic relatively fast, but what you don’t see can no doubt send you into a world of hurt!
  • Always wear a helmet. The unthinkable can always happen, especially when you least expect it. Helmets can save your life so don’t go off cycling without it.
  • Wear the proper gear. A cyclist’s outfit isn’t just a costume; it helps you be more aerodynamic, giving you more control especially during windy seasons.
  • Know your bike’s limitations. There are basically two main types of bikes: mountain bikes and BMX bikes. Mountain bikes are built for crossing rough terrain and are taller than BMX bikes by comparison.

    • Popular Cycling Spots

    Perhaps the unique thing about cycling as a form of exercise is that your fitness is tested by the terrain itself. In a way it’s a more intense form of running or jogging since you’ll be weighing both your balance as well as you momentum in order to cross terrain. Here are some popular cycling spots that you should consider:

    Road Biking. This is great for beginners to start; it’s flat enough to give even the lowliest of bikes traction and it gives you opportunity to build up your speed without having to deal with rocky pathways. If you want to breeze through your bike rides, roads are ideal.

    Mountain Biking. These are built for people who want to take their biking to a whole new level, but these are strictly for mountain bikes as BMX models aren’t built to service rough terrain. The surface is uneven which means you have to really work during uphill climbs and manage your speed during slides downhill. It’s rough, potentially messy and challenging!

    Bike Maintenance

    Keeping your bike well-oiled as well as keeping your tires nice and filled with air are the rudimentary elements of maintaining your bike. It is also pertinent to check your breaks before going on your ventures for precautionary measures. Do a weekly inspection of your bike to see if it need crucial fixing or further cleaning.