5 Ways to Simplify Your Fitness Routine
If you have embarked on a fitness routine but are finding it too hard to keep it up, you are not alone. There are many people who are thinking exactly the same as you right now, and they don’t know what they should do either. You know you can’t really afford to give up as you will lose all the benefit you have gained from all the hard work you have already put in. On the other hand however, you feel your fitness routine has taken over your life and surely there must be more to life than this.
If this is how you are starting to feel about your current fitness routine then you should start making changes straight away. Exercising should be pleasurable; once it fails to be fun you should immediately change to something else. What you must look at first are some common reasons why we exercise in the first place:
• It will tone the muscles. This is true for some people, but for others not so true. It will depend a lot on how far you let yourself go before taking on a fitness routine. Toning your muscles should not be your main aim but more of a side effect that will eventually occur if you stay with it.
• Loss of weight. An admirable aim by all means, but you will lose more weight by controlling your diet in conjunction with exercising. A fitness routine will make you hungry and a lot of the weight you could perceivably lose from exercising will be retained with the extra rations you may well crave after you work out. If you have a fitness routine going with the aim of losing weight you are heading for hard times. You will need to carry out 10 hours of moderate exercise to burn off one pound of excess fat. Dieting alone will reduce bone mass and fat. However, dieting with exercise will actually stimulate muscle growth and merely move the ratio of fat to muscle.
A moderate exercise routine that you don’t expect too much from will induce the release of endorphins which will give you a feeling of well-being. Just 30 minutes a day of vigorous aerobic exercise has been shown to be an effective treatment for both mild and moderate depressive disorder (MDD).
Your fitness routine should therefore aim for the following results:
• Give you a feeling of well being and put you in a better mood.
• Improve your cardiovascular and pulmonary health.
• Build your strength and maintain your muscular endurance.
• Improve and maintain your coordination, flexibility and balance.
You should keep all these aims in mind every time you feel it is all becoming too much, because if you don’t expect to obtain the impossible, and keep it all simple for the right reasons, you shouldn’t go too far wrong.
The Five Rules of a Simple and Effective Fitness Routine
There are five rules to stick to that will make your fitness routine more pleasurable and therefore more sustainable, these are:
1. Don’t overdo it. Improper or excessive exercise can actually damage your body rather than make it healthier. Lifting heavy weights or doing exercises that contain too many repetitions can be harmful.
2. Keep it up every day or at least on five days of every week. Whatever you do don’t let yourself start and stop. Keep up your fitness routine on a regular basis. Vary it by all means, such as walk one day and jog the next. Sit ups on another occasion and beach walk in sand hills whenever you get the opportunity. But whatever you choose to do keep to a regular schedule.
3. There is no need for jogging long distances each day. Fifteen minutes in the morning and another fifteen at night is a good start. Don’t exercise on an empty stomach nor within one hour of going to sleep for the night.
4. If possible it is ideal if you can incorporate an elliptical machine into your fitness routine. These machines will exercise your legs as well as your torso and not put pressure on your joints. They are also easy to use in front of the TV or while listening to your iPod.
5. You can exercise just as effectively at home as in the Gym. All you need is a bit of imagination and innovation. The main thing is to keep it interesting and regular. You could even get the old bike out of the garage and go cycling with the kids at the weekend. It’s all part of the game and if you keep it fun you won’t feel like throwing it all in through repetition and boredom.
Kristy Ramirez is an exercise fanatic (within reason) and a freelance writer for Life Insurance Finder Australian where she helps people answer if whole life insurance is the best option for them.
Want Big Arms Part II
Last week in Part I, I went over the largest muscle group of the arm, the triceps. Now, in Part II the biceps will be covered. Everyone knows where the biceps are located. From an early age, when asked to see our “muscles,” we often have a picture of someone flexing their arms to show off their biceps. In this article we will go over some good methods to make those biceps bigger, and those shirt sleeves tighter!
The main function of the biceps is to flex the elbow and supinate the forearm, and it accomplishes this by working across three joints. The Latin term biceps means two-heads. The muscle is comprised of two heads; the long head (outer portion of the bicep), and the short head (the inner head).
Now that we have gone over some literature, let’s discuss exercises that you need to be doing. Good mass building exercises for overall bicep development is standing curls with either a straight bar, or cambered bar, preacher curls, dumbbell curls (all variations), and machine curls. Most of these exercises stimulate the entire bicep muscle, but you can isolate a certain head if you choose to. A simple change in grip can target either the inner or outer head. A wide grip tends to hit the inner head more, and a narrow grip tends to hit the long head. For dumbbells, changing to a hammer grip will hit the long head more than it will the short, and will even stimulate other muscles such as the brachialis, which is also a muscle group that is associated with bicep development. Preacher curls tend to focus on short head development, and the “peak” of the bicep, although it is still a good exercise for overall bicep growth.
An example workout to build the biceps could be:
• Standing Curls: 4 sets of 8-12 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Curls: 4 sets of 12-15 reps
• Preacher Curls: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
• Hammer Curls: 1 set of 8-12 reps
This workout is a simple, yet effective one to build a pair of biceps. Many people often over-train the biceps, thus they do not yield the results they want. A good idea is to see how your body responds. If your http://supplementreviews.com/forum/index.php?topic=347.0 tend to respond well to directly hitting them once a week, stick with that. However, if you notice you need more work, hit them twice per week. Many people, including top pro bodybuilders can get away with only directly hitting them once a week since the biceps are already indirectly stimulated when you work the back. Some people choose to work the biceps on back day, while others choose to have a back-only day, and an arms day, where they work both the triceps and biceps. An arm day is a great way to focus strictly on the arm muscles, and it seems to have a synergistic effect when working the two together.
Form is especially important when trying to develop the biceps. Always remember that standing curls should be performed with elbows tucked to the sides, and body straight. Do not use lots of momentum to swing the weight up. When doing so, you take the focus off of the biceps, and the deltoids, back, etc. will come into play. If any curl movement becomes so heavy that you lose focus and notice you are using momentum or other methods to get the weight up, then it is time to drop the weight. Developing an impressive pair of biceps requires mastering the mind muscle connection. Focus on the muscle being worked, and squeeze the muscle at contraction.
Everyone wants big biceps. Since the days of Arnold, the image of a bulging bicep peak has been instilled into our minds. Hopefully, you gained some insight through these two articles and will soon need bigger sleeves for those guns you have built!
Power yoga: A modern and magical way to fitness
Yoga has been an ancient form of complete exercise. It emphasizes not only on the growth and development of the physical and mental but also on the spiritual. The longevity of yoga is proof enough if its success. Today, a new brand of yoga is making news. Adapted for the modern world, it is a combination of the traditional and orthodox yoga along with the modern fitness regimens. Known as Power Yoga, it can be practiced by anyone and is most effective for all round happiness and well-being. However, there are certain things to be kept in mind before one begins to practice it. Since power yoga benefits the body, mind and spirit, one needs to prepare accordingly.
At the level of the spirit
Be prepared to cultivate loads of patience. Do not expect immediate gains and benefits. The anticipation and anxiety for benefits themselves cause more damage than benefit. Regular and moderate practice is what is most important and necessary. Also, practice it with love and compassion. Your attitude should be one or prayer that seeks the welfare of the entire world. And for that, one must develop love and compassion for oneself. Most importantly, develop humility as an attitude. Do not attempt to conquer yoga; just connect with it. Each practice session must be like a vacation. When done this way, power yoga will grant peace of mind and an abundant reserve of energy.
At the level of the mind
Be clear on what you wish to accomplish through power yoga. Keep visualizing that goal and affirming to you that it can be achieved. You can aim an increasing your strength, flexibility or the ability to relax. Visualize each posture that you plan to do. Positive visualization is a powerful technique for power yoga students. Relaxation by getting plenty of sleep and breaks from work is also essential for a successful yoga practice. Recreation, which is another form of relaxation, too is necessary. Power yoga will improve your powers on concentration and focus. It improves the memory too while giving the practitioner better self-control.
At the level of the body
Eating healthy and nutritious food is vital for power yoga. Bad food cripples the body and proves counter-productive to yoga. Choose a comfortable mattress of support to practice your postures. The clothes should neither be too tight nor too loose. It would be best to make use of sweat-absorbent apparel. Do not stretch your body beyond what it is capable of. The bodies of different people vary and so, just because you are not able to do something that someone else is able to, you need not worry. Set aside a fixed time daily for the practice and follow it religiously.
A host of physical benefits accrue from power yoga and that is also because of the calm and peace that it brings to the mind and spirit. For one, it tones up muscles and makes you less fat and more fit! It removes toxicity from the body and reduces acidity. It prevents menstrual disorders, hypertension and cardiac problems. It has also been found to help one cope with cancer, sinus, asthma and bronchitis.
Power yoga is thus the best all-round, health-bestowing practice.
About the author: Alia Haley is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on technology, health and parenting. Beside this she is fond of watches. She has a huge collection of DKNY Watches. These days she is busy in writing articles on Exercise-induced asthma and Bugaboo Strollers.
