Before You Workout
Original Article Intro
What to eat before cardio or strength training sessions. Simple advice to help you maximize whatever workout you’re doing.
Workout Timing - Longer Workouts or More Frequent Workouts?
Original Article Intro:
Getting in shape is a numbers game. You add up the calories you eat; subtract the calories you burn through exercise while dividing your workouts into manageable blocks of time throughout a week. But are you better off working out 45 minutes six days a week or 90 minutes three days a week? This article has the surprising answer!
Are ‘Gizmos’ Worth it?
From everything that I’ve read and seen out there, the new gizmo that you see on late night TV probably isn’t worth it. But the sad thing is that a lot of people know this and still buy it! Have we come to the point where we’ll just accept anything to lose weight or get in shape, no matter how much our logic screams out at us “That’s a joke!”? Hopefully not.
Awhile back on AmazingAbdominals.com there was a review done of 6 popular ab machines. This makes a good read and their conclusion is that most machines don’t really help that much. Some have effectiveness, but then problem is that they only target one area of the body. Doesn’t this sound a lot like spot-reduction? And as we all know (again, the logic is screaming out at us), spot reduction doesn’t work.
So before you’re convinced that if you just do 100 crunches a day you’ll be fit, actually listen to that logic and save your money. Stick with the tried and true principles and be willing to put it the time necessary to really change your life and body.
Health News — Obesity a Cause of Discrimination
<!–adsense–>Being overweight can cause more than just health problems, you could also be at risk of discrimination at work. If you’ve been looking for another reason to really start to lose weight, this could be a very good reason - the security of your job!
Of course, we don’t support any type of discrimination, whether at work or anywhere else. But this is definitely something to consider if you find yourself in an interview or promotion situation. There have also been studies done that show that an athletic/fit looking candidate is often favored over a candidate who isn’t. Fair? Definitely not. But that isn’t the point. For your own well-being (health, employment, etc.) there are plenty of reasons to get in shape and be healthy.
3 CommentsCan’t Make it to the Gym Today?
Do some pushups! Do variations, but get some in.
Lunges! These can even be done without weights, just hold the position longer.
Crunches! You just need a floor to do these anyway!
Concentration Exercises! An example would be to grab a chair (or small child), and hold them in a curl movement (about 90 degrees) for as long as you can. Resist dropping the chair (or kid) for as long as you can and feel the burn!
Of course, there are more ideas than this that you could do, but don’t make excuses, come up with an alternative.
Setting Yourself Up to Win
- Take a “before” picture and look at it constantly. The whole point of doing this is to motivate yourself to change the way you are. Keep reminding yourself that you don’t want to stay this way and that you’ll do what it takes to change.
- Have pictures of “role models”. This helps you to keep your goal in mind. Go find a picture of someone that has your same body type and has a body that you think you could believably achieve and look at it constantly as well.
- Watch the health news. this one may sound a little weird, but its a really good idea to become conscious of why you might need to make some changes. If you keep yourself up to date on the growing concerns out there associated with obesity and take a “I won’t be part of the problem” attitude, it can really be motivating.
- Have a support group. Its very important to take note of who you hang out with or who is in your social circle. Make sure that you are around people that support what you’re doing. Eventually you might get to the point where you honestly don’t care what others think and you really are just doing it for yourself, but at the beginning your motivation is very fragile. Protect it and be careful who you share it with.
While this is not an all encompassing list, we hope that it will at least help you to maintain a high level of motivation for a longer period of time. A lot of what you will achieve in your goals will be determined by your attitude towards what you’re doing.
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Identity and Your Figure - Jade Bradbury
A “One-Size-Fits-All” Program?
Rather than looking for that perfect routine, what you should be looking for are principles. Principles are the guiding truths that will help you to really build the body you want over time. What does it take to gain muscle? Is there just one perfect program that will always work? NO! So instead, learn the principles to gain muscle, then customize your workouts accordingly for long-term growth and effects.
News Flash — Spot Reduction Doesn’t Exist!
This has been a stated fact for years now. And yet, people still pay plenty of money for little gadgets to do just that! Why?? Because many people out there are so desperate for a change in their life and well-being that they’ll believe the claims that deep down they know aren’t true. But let’s face the facts. If you want to really improve the way you look, you have to take a whole approach, a lifetime approach. If you want to see a six-pack when you look in the mirror, you have to reduce your body fat overall, not just around your belly. Can you image how funny it would look if you had a six-pack but were still carrying extra weight on other parts of your body? You need more than just crunches, you need a whole body adjustment. Keep this in mind next time you see the next gadget at 1am on the tv.
