Exercise Articles

Staying Motivated This Winter

Fitness for All

The weather outside is truly frightful, which makes it easy to stay indoors and be super lazy during the winter months.  But you don't have to anymore. There are plenty of things that you can do to stay motivated this winter:

• Listen to motivational tapes and/or read motivational books to help gain some inspiration to keep going.
• Learn to breathe correctly. You will feel more relaxed and when you are more relaxed you will also be more apt to stay motivated than when you are stressed.
• Keep a positive attitude. Even though it is easy to be depressed when the long, cold winter months drag on, try to remain positive and you will notice that motivation comes along with being happy.
• Remind yourself that progress is what is important and not perfection. This is especially important when you are looking at your long-term goals, at your long-term goals, as they may seem like the most unreachable.  Remember all of the short-term goals that you have met and you will be more successful.
• Build a support system of friends and family members that are typically motivated. By keeping like-minded people close to you, you will become motivated by just being in their presence.

While these are only a few tips to get you motivated during the next few months, everyone is different, so do what works best for you, and you will see that spring will be here before you know it!

Fitness for All

Trainer Tips: Habits to Avoid for Success

If you feel like you have hit your plateau and aren't seeing any results from your workouts lately, there may be more problems than just diet and exercise that are interfering with your goals.

Many people play the “blame game” and find a host of reasons why things have wrong awry.  But according to fitness trainers, there are a number of habits that you can be doing that will wreak havoc on any diet or exercise program that you participate in.

1. You are doing workouts that you hate : if your schedule is full of workouts that you don't like doing, chances are you are going to continuously skip them often!
2. You always take the same class : if you continuously do the same class then your body will get accustomed to that same workout, creating fewer results.
3. You aren't making a plan : if you are always going to the gym and “just winging it” then you won't be seeing any real results anytime soon.
4. You aren't “fueling” your body : it's not enough to just do the exercises alone, you must fuel your body adequately to have the energy you need to complete your workout.
5. You're skipping your warm up : it is super important to always give your body time to warm up before your workout to prevent injury and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
6. You're not getting enough sleep : lack of sleep is one of the biggest bad habits that all trainers talk to their clients about.  Sleep is critical for strength and recovery.  Your body must be rested in order to gain strength.

Recovering After a Workout

Feel exhausted after a grueling day at the gym? This would not come as a surprise since a serious workout requires huge amounts of energy. Your level of exhaustion may depend on the intensity and length of your workout. Just like a machine, you should load up on fuel to run the entire length of your workout. Deciding to take better care of your health by working out is a big step. But before deciding on this new path it would be a good idea to consult your doctor.

Fuel up your Body

Exercising a good way to loose excess body fat. And most people make the mistake of skipping meals to enhance their weight loss efforts. This way, they're burning fats while preventing additional fats from entering the body. This looks good in paper and it surely is a quick way of shedding unwanted pounds.  This might work for the first few days but depriving your body from its natural source of energy would lead to serious health concerns in the long run.

Eating before and after workouts provides the body with much needed energy not only during workouts. It also allows your body to repair itself and prepare for the next day at the gym. A healthy diet does not involve skipping meals but one that tells you to eat the right type and recommended amounts. If you plan to use exercise as part of a weight loss program, consult your doctor or a dietician for proper food intake and schedule.

Hydrate

More than half of our body is composed of water and when we exercise, we lose some of these as sweat. Water is essential in our body's everyday processes. And without adequate water levels our body is unable to function optimally.

Dehydration is a serious threat to our health. And we should keep ourselves hydrated by drinking adequate amounts of water. Dehydration can cause dizziness and weakness. And when you're working with weights at the gym, this could lead to a serious accident.

Get some sleep

Sleep is not overrated. Sleeping gives our time to recover and get much needed energy for the next day. Spending a few hours at the gym is an excellent way to get a healthy body but we should also give our body much needed time for rest. Without sleep, going to the gym the following day would not be possible or even be dangerous. Seven to eight hours of sleep is all that's needed for our body to repair and get itself ready for the next day.

Gradually increase the intensity of your workout

Aside from performing warm-up exercises before working out, gradually increase the intensity of your workout. Build your cardio and strength before progressing into heavier weights. Workout injuries are often caused by overdoing your exercises. Having a healthy and slimmer body can't be achieved in a day.

Listen to your body

When you're tired get some rest. To keep workouts healthy and free from injuries, simply listen to your body. Pain is our body's way of telling something is wrong. Listen to your body for any signals such as pain or tiredness.

Alternative Weight Training Exercises

There a number of popular weight training exercises that most people know about. The most common of these are the bicep curl, the shoulder press and the lunge lift : the ones that are usually seen in movie montages where the main character is getting “buff” and the ones performed in a gym by people seeking to gain a little muscle mass.

While these will help you reach your goal of increasing your strength and toning your muscles, there are other, alternative weight training exercises that can accomplish the same thing.

Upper Body Strengthening Exercises

If you want to gain arm strength, consider doing some shoulder and triceps exercises along with the usual bicep curls. Some of these do not even require extra weights : they use the weight of your body as the resistance that the weights provide. To gain strength and definition in your shoulder area, do an exercise that works the deltoid muscles in your upper back and shoulders.

Sit in a chair with a resistance band around your feet. Hold the ends of the band in your hands. Lift your arms straight up, while keeping your back straight. Do several reps of this each time that you work out.

Another great exercise for arm strength is the triceps lift. To do this exercise, place two chairs next to each other and stand between them with the backs of each chair facing you. Put your hands on the top of the backs and do a push up like maneuver so that you are leaning on the chairs with your toes on the floor behind you. Hold the position for as long as you can before relaxing and completing it again.

Body Weight Training Exercises

To work out other parts of your body, try some calf raises and deep knee bends : without the weights in your hands : simply use your body as the weight. To do calf raises, stand near the wall with your hands on the windowsill for balance. Point your toe to the floor and, one leg at a time, lift your heel in the air while contracting your calf muscle. Repeat several times before moving on to the other leg. A few repetitions of this will add definition and strength to your leg muscles, most specifically, your calf muscle.

A deep knee bend should be completed while standing near the wall as well, as it will help you keep your balance. Stand perpendicular to the wall with one hand touching it. Keep your feet should length apart, and bend at the knees while keeping your upper body straight. When your upper legs are parallel to the floor, you have bent down far enough.

Slowly lift yourself back up, using only your legs muscles to do so. Repeat several times. This exercise works multiple muscle grounds, including the hamstrings, quadriceps, calf muscles, hip flexors and gluteal muscles.

In order to gain both muscle strength and definition, consider doing alternative exercises like these along with the standard weight lifting movements. You will find yourself getting stronger and more flexible more quickly, and you will not be stuck working the same muscles over and over again each time.