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I saw something similar to this on a Pinterest DIY page, and mentioned it to Josh. He constructed this for me today. All I need to do now it paint it, and to add a couple more bungees to the rack.
It's big enough for my fit balls, medicine balls and the kids soccer balls. Yahoo!
January is the month that anyone, and everyone, decides to hit the gym to meet one of the biggest New Year's resolutions across the nation. Which one? To lose weight and get in shape. People wait through the tough holiday season with parties and holiday meals, just to start fresh on January 1st.
Whether it's the first time you're working out, or it's your 1000th workout, it doesn't make you above some do's and don'ts of New Year's fitness resolutions or gym etiquette. 1. Do set realistic milestones Everyone sets big goals, but small milestones set the tone for your fitness journey. Whether the goal is to lose 20lb. or 100lb. it's important to set milestones that make you feel successful. 2. Do treat yourself with something other than food Our society lives for food. Our social lives are surrounded by restaurants and cocktails, and by rewarding good behavior with food. For example; if you eat all of your dinner it's okay to have a dessert. It's common practice to have a celebratory dinner with a few cocktails if you're promoted at work. Instead, put $5.00 aside every time you lose a pound or two. By they time you reach your goals you could have enough to get a nice outfit, or get a mani/pedi. 3. Do set a convenient schedule for you Setting a workout schedule that does not work with your every day activities such as work, kids or school is bound to make going to the gym difficult. For instance, go to the gym if you know you're a morning person, or if that's the only time of the day you have free. 4. Do wipe down your machines Whether you're on a bench, or a piece of cardio equipment, it's important to wipe down the machines. It helps reduce bacteria and viruses. If you're cardio royalty; don't forget to wipe down the base of the cardio machine, as well as the handles. Trainer gives tips to keep fitness resolutions
5. Don't leave the weights on the machines
It's very simple: If you're strong enough to take the weights off the rack then you're strong enough to put the weights back. There's nothing worse than racking a 600 lb. leg press because some jerk didn't rack his weights. It only makes the regular members mad, and it's certainly intimidating for someone who is new and isn't strong enough to rack it. 6. Don't go to the gym with a cold Sneezing and coughing on the equipment and the gym members is gross. It's also counter productive. Listen to your body and stay home if you don't feel well. 7. Don't expect it to be easy There is nothing easy about WORKing out. The operative word is WORK. WORK out. WORKed out. WORKing out. WORK outs. Do you see what I mean? Plan to WORK through your New Year's fitness resolutions. There is no other way to get the benefits of exercise, or to reach your goals, without WORKing for it. 8. Don't take up space because you're on your phone Technology is everywhere. That includes in the gym. However, minimize the use of your phone when in the gym, or use it in an area other than on a machine. It's extremely annoying to everyone waiting for you to finish with a bench because you're texting your friends instead of working out. If you're texting, or shuffling through your music every few minutes, you're taking space from someone who is serious. Workout programs after childbirth are a way to lose weight and get in shape, but sometimes the affects of childbirth make exercising difficult or uncomfortable. However, there are ways to make your program more comfortable until your body gets back to "normal." Not sure what they are? Listen to your body and make these simple modifications to help get through the exercise program comfortably. Reduce or substitute chest exercises Chest exercises are not a problem after childbirth, but in some cases, enlarged or engorged breasts make chest exercises difficult and painful. Take it easy on exercises that concentrate on the pectoral muscles, and stop doing them if painful. Exercises that require you to lie on your chest on a bench should be excluded, or substituted with seated exercises. This is the same for floor exercises. Hand grips and wrist positioning for tendonitis Pregnancy brings on tendonitis for some women, which makes exercise more difficult. In my case, it became so bad that I could not snap buttons on baby clothes, or open baby food jars with my right hand, and gripping heavy weights was painful. It lasted for many months so I changed hand/wrist positions, as well as lightened the weights during exercises to reduce pain. Exercise becomes a balancing act After 40 weeks of shifted center of gravity; a woman's center of gravity shifts again. The heavy belly is gone, but balance takes time to regain. Even body weight lunges and squats can cause you to topple, so it's important to adjust your stance and use something to support your balance. Flexibility and stretching In general, women and girls are more flexible than boys and men. Also, teenage girls have more anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than boys due to increased relaxin their bodies. Hormones, such as relaxin, is increased in a woman's body during and after having baby, so flexibility and stretching are important to keep track of. Stretching should be done with care so that you don't over stretch and injure yourself. Low impact exercise for incontinence Embarrassing as it sounds, incontinence is a problem for women after having a baby. While some women only suffer slightly, this was one of my most pressing issues during exercise after my children's births. High impact exercises that required me to jump were changed to low impact exercises. I also changed my chin ups and dips to assisted chin ups and dips because the gravitational pull, along with my body weight, was too much pressure and would cause an incident. I decreased heavy weights to lighter ones so I would not strain, as well.
Yesterday, while packing to leave work, a woman approached me and said, “You train my friend _____, and she looks fantastic. I saw her the other night and I could see all the changes,” pointing to her arms and shoulders. The compliment was flattering as a personal trainer, but I had to be honest with her. “I’d love to take all the credit, but I have to give credit where credit is due. I can only take credit for two hours a week; after that it’s her.” We continued the conversation for another moment and she was off to her workout, and I was out the door.
On occasion I speak to people who want to get in shape, but they think a work out must be for a full hour. They also assume that short stints of exercise are not as beneficial. However, exercise is a matter of minutes, and any exercise is better than no exercise. It's important to follow exercise guidelines to lose weight and get in shape, but learn to break the rules to exercise especially if you don't have time to work out. Not sure how to fit in your workout? Think of the phrase "divide and conquer." Photo credit: Bare Necessities When I train female clients, I tell them that I do not want to see an ounce of bounce during high intensity workouts. In other words; wear a good sports bra. Some of my clients are very well endowed (up to K), while others are smaller. Regardless of size, it's important to "tame the beast" and keep bounce to a minimum. Because of this, I have been on the hunt for sports bras that minimize bounce, and have been able to find some that may be of interest to women who exercise. Below you'll see three bra brands that got the thumbs-up from my clients, and me, who swear by the bras we wear. During hot, humid summers my eczema flares up for outdoor exercise. The heat and sweat forces me back into the gym because I start itching. Since I do not plan on giving up exercise I found that reducing stress, different clothing materials and changing my hygiene products are the best way to minimize itchy, eczema flare-ups. Although I can't change the itching during exercise I can alleviate the itching with preventative care before and after. Let's get socialYou rock for sharing!Exercise is work, but it's more work when you suffer from a chronic disease. I am a long-time sufferer of eczema, which is annoying, and painful when infected. Although eczema isn't considered a debilitating disease per se; it is a point of contention to a person who suffers from the itchy, patchy, scaly skin disease.
During my senior year of high school, I began to have red patches of dry skin next to my nose and my hair line. It itched, and even worse, it oozed. To my surprise, it was eczema, and I learned that exercise makes it itch severely. Read more from Shine from Yahoo! Did you follow through on your New Year's fitness resolutions? If you didn't, it's still not too late to reach that goal. Here are some tips to help you fit fitness into your day, and make good on your fitness goal.
It's obvious that one reason to have a training partner is for spotting purposes, but your partner is there for more than spotting. In fact, several exercises are done with both people participating in the exercise. For instance, there are abdominal exercises that are "easier," or can only be completed with two people.
Partner up for supine leg extensions It's important to keep your lower back flat with good abdominal contractions during supine leg extensions. However, it's harder than it sounds, but this is where your partner comes in. With your partner, lay with your backs on the floor with the tops of your heads across from each other. Your feet should be at opposing ends. Reach and grab hands. From here, you can do supine leg extensions at the same time. Partner sit ups with locked ankles Have you done unassisted sit-ups? Or, have you tried them with nothing to hold your feet? It's difficult. If you're not strong your legs come off the ground. You may not reach the top of the sit-up, or you may even give up. Instead, partner sit-ups with locked ankles help you through the movement. Partner sit-ups will help you make it to the top of the abdominal exercise, while your partner motivates you to finish the set. Leg lift push downs with partner Leg lift push downs require a partner. There's no way around it. While on your back, and holding on to your partner's ankles, lift your legs off the ground. Your partner will push them down. In the push down use resistance in your legs and abdominal to keep your legs from slamming the ground. Medicine ball trunk rotations-- Seated oblique twists Begin as you would a sit-up, but place your back against your partner's back. Pass the medicine ball to each other by rotating the trunk to each side; targeting the obliques. Don't forget to alternate directions so you get both sides. Medicine ball sit-up throws Unlike partner sit-ups; you'll need distance for medicine ball sit-up throws. With a short distance between you and your partner's feet, face each other with the medicine ball in the first thrower's hands. The partner catching the medicine ball should lay back to tap the ball on the floor, and sit back up. You do not need an overly heavy medicine ball, and try not to get hit in the face. You, or your partner, do not want to sustain an injury. Although fitness is a big focus in America many people are not sure what suffices as "enough" exercise. Since people view the quality and quantity of exerise differently it's important to know the guidelines. This does not mean you can't adjust the guidelines to suit your needs; however, it is the information needed to help set realistic goals.
In the past few days I've heard people make comments about exercise that surprised me. Actually, they didn't really surprise me, but made me think about the different views on exercise. Even though I bodybuild, and train a lot, my views of exercise are not skewed in the sense that people have to train hours on end to by physically fit and healthy.
If you're just beginning any sort of exercise or running program, you'll need to choose the proper shoes for your journey. Sneakers, which are the best choice for working out and running, are difficult to choose since each have a snazzy outer shell. Bright colors or cool options are not what is important, though. You may want your shoes to look good, but the most important aspect is that they fit your feet properly and offer you the most support.
During my leg workout I noticed I was clenching my teeth. I had a heavy load on the lying leg curl machine. I never realized that I did this, and was concerned about the damage caused from clenching and grinding my teeth during exercise. Do you clench your teeth, also?
Do your legs hurt and ache from varicose veins? Is it made worse by standing on your feet all day? Reduce your varicose vein pain with a few simple exercises at the end of the day.
If you're anything like me cardiovascular conditioning might be one of your least favorite activities. Instead of walking-it-out on the treadmill I've decided to break away from the gym equipment, and use the numerous aerobic exercises available.
A wedding can bring on tremendous stress and the feeling to make unnecessary changes. Brides-to-be often want to lose that "last five pounds" or drop several dress sizes before walking down the aisle. Instead, reduce stress with simple lifestyle changes such as early planning and adding exercise.
Read full article In the first trimester, exercises can be resumed with little change, but exercises must be modified in the later stages of pregnancy to accommodate your body. Exercises in the supine (on your back) position, will be eliminated, while exercises like squats can be done through the entirety.
If you continue to do squats, it should be modified accordingly. Read more eightsandweights.com As an on your feet employee the chance of poor leg circulation is very high. Jobs that include prolonged standing are known to cause health problems including circulatory issues and lower limb and back problems. On your feet Jobs in the health care, retail, hairdressing, and the restaurant industries (among others) require employees to stand for endless hours, and with unpredictable breaks because of the work environment. Work breaks are not the same for every industry, or within states either. State laws are mandated to have specific break times, but some companies opt to give employees the bare-minimum. This leaves employees on their feet longer. The Squat Break Whenever possible revive your legs with some sort of exercise if you work in an on your feet industry. One of my favorites is what I call a "squat break. " Take a bathroom break, and do one minute of squats. No one has to know, and it will help the circulation in your lower extremities. Do knee highs if you can't, or don't like squats. Do some sort of exercise after work to increase circulation if you can't squeeze in a squat break Other reading material: Modify Squat Exercises During Pregnancy Sources: Medline Plus CNN Hazards Magazine The Veins If you are looking at this website because you want a healthier lifestyle; good for you! You've already taken the first step to change your life. Although the choice to live a healthy lifestyle is more than researching the Internet; you are headed in the right direction. Healthy lifestyle changes involve exercise and good nutrition. Exercise? Weight lifting? Losing weight? Does it scare you? Some dread weight lifting or changing their nutrition program. Nightmares of lifting heavy weights and becoming an oversized, square jawed "neanderthal" is enough reason for many to shun exercise. Maybe you had a personal trainer, and it was the worst exercise experience in history? They trained you so hard during the first session that you did not go back. Perhaps you were out of shape and the simplest exercises created soreness, fatique and humility? Don't give up Regardless, don't quit. Try new exercise approaches such as spin classes, MMA training, aerobics classes, Zumba or beach boot camp. Find other ways to add healthy lifestyle changes to your busy schedule. If you're still debating; ask yourself these questions.
Break free from the misconceptions People commonly misconceive healthy lifestyles as one that involves food deprivation and excessive exercise. Or, there is the notion that you must be a bodybuilder to enter a health club. Unfortunately, misconceptions like these are caused by the hype of numerous fad diets, propaganda and marketing strategies from large corporations in the health & wellness and fitness industry. Luckily, they are misconceptions. However, being healthy is harder than it looks. Like anything else; it takes work to stay healthy. Instead of believing the misconceptions dedicate a few days a week to exercise. Create a healthy nutrition program to reduce your chances of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high cholesteral, as well as to lose weight. |
Lisa M. WhiteAboutI'm not a chef; just a homecook enthusiast who loves to feed my family and friends. I'm a red meat eating, cheeseburger lover. And, there's nothing better than a cold, crisp, Coca-Cola® served with lime to accompany that.
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