Make losing weight easier by training for a fitness event.
Filed under: Articles, Blog, Fitness
We all know the number one reason people begin an exercise program, weight loss. What we don’t know is that most people are so focused on losing weight that they don’t actually enjoy the exercise programs they have undertaken to achieve their desired result.
There is nothing wrong with pushing yourself to slim, however it is important that your chosen fitness routine is enjoyable and not a chore. You will find that if you can participate in an exercise routine that is actually fun, you will generally forget about the weight loss process which in turn will lead to a greater chance of long term success.
There are so many different exercises or physical activities we could participate to lose weight and increase our overall fitness levels. How do we choose which one is best suited to our needs? Well, I think one of the best approaches for selecting an exercise regime that you are going to stick to, is to plan and train for a fitness event. It could be anything from running your first half marathon to a small triathlon or even a swimathon. So long as it involves participating in activities you enjoy and is within your physical fitness limitations, you will be half way to beating the bulge and at the same time having fun whilst doing it.
Focusing on an up and coming event will help take your mind off the rigors of weight loss. Having an fitness event to train for is one of the best methods of continual training as in the case of training for a half marathon. You need to get the miles into your legs before you attempt a 20 km fun run and in working to increase your fitness levels for such an event will in turn help you shed those pounds. So before you know it you are regularly training with a goal in mind.
Here are three tips to getting started on your fitness quest:
YOU ARE ALWAYS READY
Does this sound like you? “I need to get into better shape before I can do that.” Lets get serious. Not everyone who attends a fitness event is an elite athlete. The reason for the popularity of such events is that any one can participate, what ever skill or fitness level they possess.
So set your self realistic goals, be disciplined and with regular training you will soon find that the sky’s the limit.
CHOOSE AN EVENT
Find and register to a fitness event which allows you plenty of time to increase your fitness levels so as to be able to complete your mission. Lets not choose a half marathon to run next week. Be well prepared with a proper training plan/routine which will put you in fine stead as you approach your deadline. Until you make the commitment and actually sign up, it’s only an idea. You will be less likely to skip workouts because you’ll want to do your best for the big event. Consider fundraising for the event. This will help in motivating you to complete your goal.
TRAIN WITH YOUR FRIENDS
I have to admit that having a regular training partner is one of the keys to continual training methods. Firstly, the responsibility of having a friend rely on you is a great motivational tool. Secondly, training with friends is so much more enjoyable and can be the difference between actual training or saying, i’ll go tomorrow. There is added accountability and a tendency to strive for better results when you have the positive support of your friends.
Great Tips For Having A Good Fitness Plan
Filed under: Articles, Blog, Fitness Date Club
Exercise is a scary word to many people. Most people think of a fitness program of something boring and painful and avoid it at all costs. However, exercise is very important for your body and it can be fun, too! Read on for some tips on staying fit and having fun!
You need to build up your resistance. You can do this by lifting weight and increasing the time of your work out sessions. When you develop a good resistance, you will be able to burn calories faster and have a body that looks great and you will feel great all the time.
Studies have shown that taking pain relievers to help with post-workout muscle soreness can hurt you and inhibit muscle gain. It is better to make sure that you stretch out before you work out and use heat and cold to relieve your muscle soreness after a hard workout.
Rotate your workouts of different muscle groups. For example, one day work on the muscles in your arms and shoulders and the next day work on your legs. This will cut down on pain in each area, and also give each muscle group a chance to rest before you work on it again.
Don’t have a large chunk of time to devote to exercising? Break your workout into two sessions. Don’t necessarily increase your workout time, just break it in half. Instead of running for one hour, run 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening. If you don’t want to hit the gym twice in one day you can do one gym workout, and one outside workout.
Start running. Running is a great way of keeping fit: it doesn’t cost anything, you can fit it into your schedule easily, and it doesn’t require any special kind of equipment (apart from a good pair of running shoes). Start with short distances run slowly, but try to be consistent. Start with a 10 to 15 minute run, taking walking breaks if necessary. Do this 3 times a week, and gradually extend the running time to 20 or 25 minutes. Don’t focus on the length of the run, rather the amount of time that you run. When you finally measure the length of the run, you will be amazed at how much ground you cover in 25 minutes! You will be ready for your first 5k run in no time!
One simple (and cost-free) form of exercise you can do is pushups. Pushups are relatively easy to do. You just place both hands on the ground, spread shoulder width apart, both feet on the ground, and push your body upwards and downwards. Pushups are a great workout for your chest and arms.
When you first decide to become more fit you will probably have a lot of motivation. Remember to try and save some of this motivation for later on in your routine as after the first few months it can often feel much more difficult to stay motivated and driven to succeed.
While many products promise to get rid of your beer belly and eliminate troublesome fat around the midsection, one of the best routes to core strength is very simple: running. Running burns fat and calories at a high rate. Abdominal strength and muscle training is important, but weight loss and fat burning come through cardiovascular exercise, as well.
If you’re unable to work out at one point in your regimen, don’t take it as a bad sign. Generally if you’re able to return to your regular schedule you can move past the small slip up. By overestimating the situation you can exaggerate it, making it consume more of your time as you focus on it more. The best course of action is to simply move ahead.
Don’t attempt to maximize your overall weight limit by adding a whole bunch of weights at once, without testing it. Try adding about 20 to 30% more than what you usually lift and then test, to see if you can handle that first. Start by lifting it off the rack and then holding it for a couple seconds and then placing it back onto the rack. After about 3 or 4 minutes, try your max and it should feel lighter than before. Never attempt this without a spotter, though.
Stretch afterwards. Studies have shown that over-stretching before running or performing weights has shown decreased stamina and increased damage when weight lifting. Stretches are good for increasing flexibility but can be potentially dangerous by weakening fibers before they are utilized. Good fitness requires a combination of flexibility and strength, so don’t exclude stretches completely.
Test a workout bench before using it. Depress your thumb into the bench’s padding, and see if you can feel the underlying wood. If you can, move on to another bench. A hard workout bench can cause what is known as T4 syndrome. Chiropractors define this as a thoracic spine misalignment that weakens your arm by affecting its nerve function.
A great fitness tip is to measure your stats often. You should aim to measure waist size, body fat, or some other variable at least every four weeks. This will show you the results that your training has given you, which will motivate you even more to accomplish your goals.
With all of the information you just learned about getting into shape you should start feeling more confident in achieving your fitness goals. Take into account that if you truly want to get fit that you have to not only know what to do but actually implement those strategies into your everyday life.
Article Source:
Author: harry888
Do you want to start lose weight faster? Then you can take a look at green tea and weight loss now.
Fitness and its Importance In our Life
Filed under: Articles, Blog, Fitness Date Club
A lot of people think that fitness is not going to help them in any aspect of their life. This is far from being true. In this article you will learn the great advantages you have from fitness in order to make an informed decision on whether to start working out or not.
There are both physical and psychological advantages you will gain when training. You should know that keeping your body fit will not only help you be in better physical shape, but your level of self confidence will also increase. Also, it is a known fact that it is much easier to think positively when exercising.
A positive attitude is very important in life, and it is much easier to have this attitude when we train. Therefore, for a healthy body and mind, we should definitely choose fitness. The way people look is important, but the level of self confidence is even more important than that.
You can also reduce the opportunity for a lot of diseases if you will regularly work out and keep a healthy heart. There are a lot of diseases that are related to a sedentary lifestyle and the lack of working out.
There are a lot of problems that can be easily prevented with working out. The level of your overall health will definitely increase if you choose to begin your fitness program. Exercising and diet go hand in hand for a healthy life and you should be aware of this aspect. If you will maintain a healthy diet, chances are you will help avoid a lot of future health problems.
Also, you will have a positive attitude that can only help you in life. It does not matter if you are young or old, you will be in a better state of mind with an exercising regime. You will also be able to concentrate better if you are healthy.
In conclusion, fitness and exercise bring a lot of change in a person’s life and the great thing is that these changes are almost always positive. You will think positive and be healthier while training. Most people boost their self confidence level, which is often even more important than your improved appearance. These are all great things — now got get started with the excercise program and be on your way to better fitness!
Author: Dedi Walker
How To Get Nice Muscle Tone And Build An Attractive Muscular Body
Filed under: Articles, Blog
Most people know that they need to lift weight build muscles. However many just want to have nice muscle tone and an attractive but not too muscular body as they do not want big muscles. So they just lift light weights with high repetitions. Well, it is not going to work. To have nice muscle tone, you will have to build some muscles right? So you will have to lift heavy to force your muscles to grow. Once you are satisfied with the size of your muscles, you will then need to cut your body fats for your muscles to show up well and that means nice muscle tone.
You need to have a solid commitment and knowledge to get nice muscle tone and build an attractive muscular body. Here are some muscle building tips. Before you commence weight training, remember to warm up and as well as doing some stretching exercises.
•Train Muscle With Free Weights
Machines will have its uses, but for a start, concentrate on free weights. That means work almost exclusively with barbells and dumb bells. Free weights recruit many stabilizing muscles for balance and control. That means you will work a lot more muscle parts other than the intended ones. That will give rise to little bumps, striations and definitions all over your body instead of one huge lump of muscle on your intended muscle. Because of the extra stimulant created, your muscles grow faster too. Why else do you think all professional body builders almost exclusively use free weights?
•Train With Compound Exercises
Incorporate as many compound exercises as possible to your routines. Compound exercises are exercises that involve 2 or more joint movements. Because they utilize more joints, which means greater muscle mass are involved. Greater muscle mass means heavier weights. Heavier weights mean encouragement of greater muscle growth. More muscle growth means more tone to your muscles.
Some excellent compound exercises are the Squat, Deadlift, Chin ups, Dips, Bench press, Barbell Press, Lunges, Bent-Over Barbell Row…etc.
•Train Intensively But Do Not Over train
You must train intensively for your muscle to grow. Try to do more reps or add more weight than the previous session or else your muscles will think (actually muscles don\’t think, they adapt), ‘Ah… we\’ve done that. Nothing new, so no need to grow bigger and stronger.’ That being the case, you will wreck your chances of attaining an attractive muscular body.
Because of this, it is important that every time you train hard, you give your body time to recover as it has suffered strains and actually sustained many small scarring. Contrary to popular belief, your muscles grow when you rest, especially when you sleep and not in the gym. So sleep at least 8 hours a day. Also, do not train everyday or work the same muscle group more than once or twice a week. If your training was vigorous enough, do no more than an hour per session.
Try not to do cardio work on the same day as your weight lifting work. In fact, during the muscle building phase, you should do less cardio work as aerobic exercises burn muscles. You can increase your cardio work at cutting body fat phase, so as to lose body fat in order for your muscle tone to show up nicely.
•Technique And Form
This is the most neglected fundamental of bodybuilding. Everywhere, everyday, you will see people using wrong forms and techniques. This not only compromises your growth, it will also make you susceptible to injuries… sometimes even permanently putting you out of the gym.
Wrong form occurs usually when people try to lift weights that are too heavy, whether out of vanity or ignorance. As a guide, always lift with strict focus on the muscle you intend to build for that exercise. Feel it contract and extend. Lift the weights deliberately and slowly. Never ever swing your weights up especially when doing bicep curls or the military press.
•To Build Muscles Fast You Must Perform Lower Body Exercises!
This is what most people don\’t realize. Your lower body makes up 60-70of your musculature. If you don\’t train them, not only will you look spider-legged, your entire body will not grow as quickly and as large. Don\’t think that you can hide those skinny limbs in pants! Most people do not train their legs because squats, dead lifts and lunges can be very grueling exercises. But it is precisely because of such intensity that you will produce more growth hormones when you sleep and overall muscular development is stimulated. Your body shape will also be more balanced and therefore more attractive.
Do read up more to understand how your muscles work and then work on it so that in no time you will be a proud owner of a well tone attractive muscular body.
Author:
Chris Chew is a fitness personal trainer of fashion models, actors and male pageant winners.
FITNESS PROGRAM
Filed under: Articles, Fitness, Fitness Date Club
ADDING CONTENT
Do you have suggestions on what you want to read on this blog? We want the blog to be a source of “energy for your body & soul(mate)…”
We are planning to create micro pages for different categories, e.g., martial arts, ball games, fitness training, etc.
We will also cover news in the health, fitness and dating industry.
Are you interested in providing us with material and maybe writing guest blog posts now and then? Please write your interest in comment section.