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Many believe that the best way to focus on your workout is by working out alone and trying to avoid wasting lots of time socializing in the gym. There is also a group that says that the best way to exercise is to work out with a friend or family member. They believe that by working out with a friend you can build a habit that you can continue for a long time. The popularity of boot camp programs have grown so much because of the motivating group environment. So let's discuss the benefits of working out with a friend/partner and some tips on how to find the best exercise buddy or partner.
Research shows that there are many benefits of working out with a friend/partner than what you might think. The right workout partner can help boost your motivation and have someone to share your success with. However, the wrong partner or buddy could easily steer you off course and make you lose site of your goals. So grab your friend, family member or even a pet and start working out. There is however some things that you need to consider when choosing your workout buddy, so keep these things in mind in finding one.
You and your partner or buddy should be at least at the same level of fitness. Because it can be sometimes frustrating to the fitter one that his or her partner can't keep up and it can then be demoralizing for the less fit partner.
Choose a partner that has the same fitness goal. It can be hard to work out with someone who wants to focus on their flexibility while you on the other hand want to increase speed and strength.
There are people who prefer to workout in the morning, while there are others who like to work out at night. Choose a buddy that has the same schedule as you, or one that can go with you most of the time.
It is very important you like the person you are working out with. Although it can be fun to workout, it is also a very hard task. So if you are with someone who would only make it harder for you then this is not good. Find someone who can inspire you to go on and not discourage you.
If you are thinking of joining a boot camp, join with a friend/partner so you have someone there initially who is starting out with you for motivation. You will soon make new friends at boot camp that can also be there to motivate you when your friend cannot make it, or just have additional support when your friend is at boot camp with you as well.
It is fun to work out with a family member or friend, and some of the benefits of working out with a friend /partner is that it can help keep you motivated while you burn more fat and lose weight more quickly than when you workout alone. Just be sure that you choose carefully the right partner so that you can both enjoy all these benefits of exercising.
Kris Crepeau owner of X Core Fitness in Worcester, MA invites you to visit his website at http://xcorefitness.com for more fitness and weight loss information. You can download a free report on getting back into your skinny jeans by visiting his site as well.
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Initially, a half marathon can seem a bit daunting. However, if you're an intermediate runner, meaning that you've been running five or six times a week and are averaging between 15-25 miles per week, you're ready to attempt your first half marathon. With a bit of planning and a lot of training, you'll be crossing the finish line in no time.
Equipment
The great thing about running is that it's essentially free. It doesn't require an expensive gym membership or fancy clothes. All you'll need is a good pair of running shoes, a couple of good pairs of socks, and an inexpensive watch. Purchasing quality shoes is particularly important, especially as you begin to run longer distances, and it's very crucial to invest in a good pair. Many running apparel and sporting good stores offer a complimentary shoe fitting; they'll observe your step and examine your feet to match the precise shoe exactly to your needs. Socks may seem insignificant, but don't underestimate the power of a good pair of socks. Nothing hinders training like an agonizing blister.
Training
There are many free half marathon training programs available for download on the Internet. Most are centered around the same concepts: gradually increasing mileage to build endurance while incorporating aerobic intervals to improve stamina. Make sure to verify that the selected program comes from a reliable source, and try to follow the training schedule as closely as possible. If you have a busy schedule, it helps to plan a week in advance exactly when you'll take on your daily runs. In addition to the training program, strength training and stretching are extremely beneficial to avoid injury while distance running. High repetition, light weightlifting is arguably the most useful and important cross-training exercise for runners. However, nothing is more important to a proper training regimen than a thorough stretch before and after each run. Incorporating yoga into your fitness routine a couple of times a week is also a great way to minimize injuries and aid in muscle restoration after a long run.
Nutrition
As an intermediate runner, you've probably already mastered the art of fueling your body for long distance runs. However, when training for a half marathon, it's very important to monitor your daily calorie intake to make sure that you're getting an adequate amount of calories. Listen to your body, and nourish it appropriately with a sufficient amount of protein and carbohydrates. If in doubt, there are a plethora of books and online forums available where you can find an abundance of meal plans specifically designed for runners and athletes. During long distance runs, many runners ingest energy gels or protein bars to increase endurance and maximize energy. If you plan on consuming these, make sure to conduct a trial run with the product, as you never want to experiment with a new product on Race Day.
Prepping for Race Day- What to Expect
As Race Day approaches, it's normal to experience a bit of anxiety. Many runners make the mistake of overexerting themselves in a last-minute attempt to prepare. Instead, trust your training and don't try to overcompensate, as this has been found to be counter-productive. Adhere to the training schedule and make sure to taper the training a week prior to the race. Your two meals prior to the starting gun are highly important. On the evening before, eat a meal of protein and complex carbohydrates, and again, you don't want to experiment with any unfamiliar foods. Awake early and allow plenty of time for a relaxed preparation and transport to the starting line. At least an hour before the race, consume a small meal composed mostly of carbohydrates, and drink plenty of water. Upon arrival at the race site, find your proper place at the starting line, and soak in your surroundings. You've worked hard, trained hard, and now it's time to enjoy the run!
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You do not have to spend hours in a gym to become physically fit. This article features tips that may help you get fit, whether you are that the gym has or elsewhere.
Never wrap your thumb around workout bars. Whenever you place your thumb near your fingers, it helps you to target the back muscles. This may feel strange, however it will let you target the right muscles.
Alternate crunches and sit ups. Sit-ups happen to be getting a bad reputation of late. It is best to steer clear of anchored sit ups. They may be harmful to your back.
Incorporate rewards for meeting your goals to your plan. Give yourself temporary goals to look forward to, and as you meet them, make a move nice for yourself. Understanding that you will get a small treat soon will encourage you to keep working. Getting the treat helps you see that you are accomplishing a thing that can also be motivating.
Try out many exercises, and judge your favorites to build a routine that you could stick to. Make sure your fitness is one thing that you find fun, this way time will go by faster.
Always ensure that you are not over-training with regards to your exercise routine. A good way to check this is by taking your pulse one thing the morning after a workout.
It is not uncommon to do too much too fast when you initially start up an exercise program. Ease into workouts if you haven't exercised for a long period. If you gradually boost the intensity, you will not overexert the body and you can avoid injury.
Weight lifting is the best way to increase muscular mass. Just record just how much weight is lifted for a single exercise, after which multiply this amount by the repetitions performed. If you increase this number any time you exercise, you will get stronger faster.
Here are a few tips to get some big muscles. Multiply the reps by the weight to keep track. Every day increase the value that is multiplied and you will always get stronger.
You should make a minimum of a little space for exercise in your schedule. By including a few minutes occasionally of ab crunches or pushups, you take advantage of your down time by including fitness into your routine. You can work out during your down times throughout the day.
Getting healthy as well as in shape can present many challenges; it also offers enjoyable times too. Use these ideas to round out your fitness plan. With the addition of more exercise, more often, you'll see major advances.
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As you know by now, I am a firm believer in body weight exercises, or what I like to call "REAL" exercises.
What does this mean?
Well, based on my experience, I find that too many people tend to take the easy way out when it comes to the exercise they do to try and lose their unwanted body fat.
A perfect example is that mystery machine that seems to be so popular, called the "Elliptical Trainer." Body weight exercises can beat this type of exercise hands down in many ways. For example, it's been proven that the movement that is replicated by one of these elliptical trainers is unique unto itself, and doesn't mirror any natural movement that the human body performs on a regular basis. In other words, doing a regular workout on one of these machines is like practicing your golf swing for hours upon hours and then going out and playing a game of soccer, hoping that those practice sessions will help your game!
Plus, let's face it, once you get on the machine and get it moving, you're pretty much just "going through the motions" and letting inertia and momentum do the work for you, right? And, while some fat burning does occur while using machines like this, as soon as you step off, that tends to stop because you haven't given your body and your muscles anything substantial, like body weight exercises do to keep them engaged and burning off fat for several more hours after your session is over.
I have a somewhat unique strategy when it comes to using body weight exercises to burn fat, and it's called Dynamic Body Weight Training (DBT for short). In its very basic form, DBT consists of 5 main exercises, each one focused on delivering an "exercise shock" to different parts of the body, and forcing it to try and adapt to those movements. You see, that's the key to getting results from ANY fat loss program: you have to continually force the body and the muscles to adapt to the stress being delivered via exercise. Unless that happens, your fat loss will stall and come to a halt, like repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
With all that being said, today I want to reinforce my DBT body weight exercises strategy with you by introducing you to what I call my "FAB-5″ exercises. I promise you that if you can incorporate examples of each of these 5 categories of exercises into your regular workouts, and truly give an honest effort, you will have the success you desire when it comes to your fat loss goals.
The first exercise in your arsenal of fat loss is the Lower Body Exercise. This can be any of the body weight exercises which primarily focus on the legs. For example, the body weight squat is a perfect way to begin a FAB-5 workout. This exercise affects the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and the glutes in one fell swoop! The legs are typically larger and also more often used than the upper body, and are therefore a natural starting point for your DBT workout. If you're using the body weight squat, remember not to allow your knees to come past your toes when you lower down into the squat position.
After your lower body has had a go, it's time to move to the upper body for your second exercise, which is a Pushing Exercise. Any form of the classic push-up works great here, as long as you are using your arms, chest and shoulders to move your body away from something in front of you, in this case, that would be the floor. There are so many variations to the push-up that you would be hard pressed to need to repeat a version of it during a typical 4-week DBT workout session!
Number 3 on the list works as an opposing exercise to the push. That is, of course a Pulling Exercise. In this case, your arms and shoulders are still coming into the equation, but the main focus of a pull is the upper back. There are lots of terrific body weight exercises for the back, not the least of which is the chin-up or the pull-up. Some others include wall stick-ups or prone stick-ups. Body weight exercises like these are perfect for engaging difficult areas like the upper back, and giving you the results you want. Who wants their "sexy back?"
We're getting near the end of our FAB-5 exercises, and next on the agenda is that central part of our body, called the Core. This is where the entire body gets its balance and strength from, and is made up of the lower back and abdominals. So your fourth exercise should be a Dynamic Body Weight Core Exercise. Again, the possibilities are almost endless here. The one word of caution that I will give you is this...please, at all cost, stay away from sit-ups or crunches! These do a real number on your lower back, and for a lot of people, their neck too. Instead, do some body weight exercises that will engage your core fully, and also give you the benefit of working other muscles at the same time. For example, something like a spider-man climb, or even a simple exercise like a cross crawl will give you this effect quite nicely.
Finally, we want to be sure to get a bit of cardiovascular exercise into our FAB-5 circuit, so you are going to finish off with a Dynamic Full Body Cardio Exercise. Quite simply, this exercise is something that you can do which will engage the entire body and increase your heart rate, breathing, and, as a result your cardio conditioning all at the same time. The most basic form of this exercise is running in place. If this is your choice, make sure that you are moving your arms vigorously, and bringing your knees up as high as you possibly can. This is the one that will show you just how "lame" that elliptical trainer machine really is when it comes to getting results fast!
There you go. My FAB-5 body weight exercises that you can perform almost anywhere because they don't require any equipment, and will give you better results than any expensive cardio machine since they are combining both strength and cardio into one workout! In my opinion, the best way to do a FAB-5 workout is as a circuit. You perform each of the 5 body weight exercises one after the other with no rest between them, either for a pre determined number of reps, or for a period of time, then give yourself a 1 minute rest at the end of the 5th exercise. You should aim for repeating the circuit at least 4 to 6 times before you cool down.
What are you waiting for?
Choose your body weight exercises for your FAB-5 workout, and then go and get it done! You'll absolutely love this type of workout, and you won't get bored out of your mind by looking at the console of one of those elliptical machines where it shows you how many calories you've burned in the last 2 minutes!
REAL EXERCISE leads to REAL RESULTS!
My Name is Dale Bateman. For over 10 years, I've been helping ordinary people (like you and me) achieve their fat loss goals with my common sense approach to health and wellness. I truly believe that long term fat loss can only be mastered by incorporating what I call my three components of fat loss.
These are Fitness, Nutrition and Motivation. Without all three components, you are setting yourself up for failure. Each week, my blog features a brand new, original post dealing with one of these three components. Also, you can sign up for my free weekly newsletter and free 5 week e-course, "5 S.T.E.P.S. to Losing Your First 5 Pounds."
So if you're looking for common sense strategies for losing fat and achieving optimal health and wellness, please visit my blog today: http://losethefatforlife.com
Thank you.
Dale Bateman
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