Get Fit Quick Tip:
Join a Group!
Is your exercise motivation lacking? Join an exercise group! The energy of a group is contagious:
A group will challenge you to try new exercises.
A group will feed your enthusiasm and drive to log a maximum-effort workout.
A group will renew your commitment to exercise because you’ll hear of others reaching goals.
A group will energize your dedication if you engage in friendly competition with other participants.
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Find the FUN!
Having fun with your fitness, means you’ll want to workout! A consistent workout is where results happen. Let loose, explore and experiment, be open to not exactly knowing what comes next. Here’s how to have fun with your fitness:
Be vulnerable. Take a chance on a workout, where you don’t know exactly how it will go. Do something different!
Be a beginner. Not all workouts need to be about 100% mastery the first time. Try something new!
Abandon structure. Play, run, jump, skip, dance!
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Corner Stretch!
Stand facing a corner. Step forward with one foot and place your forearms on the wall, with your elbows slightly lower than shoulder level. Gently lean forward, feeling a stretch across your chest and front shoulders. Hold for ten to thirty seconds.
*Consult your physician before beginning exercise.
Get Fit Quick Tip:
SLOW DOWN your strength training!
To get the most out of your strength training workout, slow down your pace! Complete the exercise at a pace where you’re able to stop the exercise at any point. Controlling the weight is key to overloading your muscles. A slow pace extends the time your muscle is under tension. Try lifting the weight for 2 seconds and lowering the weight for 4 seconds for starters.
*Consult your physician before beginning workout.
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Abandon your structure!
Not all exercise has to be structured to count. Making fitness fun is a great motivational tool to keep exercise consistency up. Start thinking out of the box for ways to be creative with your fitness. Here’s a few to get you started:
Be spontaneous. Meeting cancelled last minute? Go for a walk. An extra hour on your hands? Bike to a friends house. At a concert? Get up and dance!
Add the play. Did you play a sport or game as a kid? Play as an adult!
Incorporate props. Try a stability ball, stability disk, foam roller, medicine ball or pilates disk. Experiment with different exercises to keep fitness interest high.
Mix in adventure. Try your local climbing gym. Jump in your community pool. Check out the local hiking trails. Take a kayaking or paddling lesson.
For an investment of just under $25.00 a Foam Roller offers provides many purposes and benefits to the everyday exerciser. Massaging muscles, offering a balance component to workouts, as well as providing an abdominal challenge and stretching are just a few of the uses. You’ll find varying lengths, however a 6 inches in diameter and 3 foot length foam roller is the most versatile for many. Proper body mechanics are important when using the foam roller. This means pay attention to your body position as you’re working on the roller. As always, consult your physician before adding in this or any new component to your exercise regime.
Rolling on the foam roller should not be painful. It’s important to keep the roller moving much like a massage. Roll up and down your muscle only. For example, place the foam roller perpendicular to your body just under your calf or lower leg muscle. Position the roller to be under only one leg at a time. Sit on the floor, stay seated on the floor or for more pressure on your calf muscle, lift your body up on to the roller. Roll up and down your calf muscle about six inches of total movement. Keep the duration of your rolling limited to less than a minute at first.
The foam roller can offer a balance challenge to your workouts. Because of the round shape, your body must work to stabilize the roller. For example, lie on the roller face up lengthwise with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Now move your feet and knees together and place your arms across your chest. Hold for 10 seconds before returning your hands to the floor to help balance.
Adding an abdominal challenge to your workout using the foam roller provides unaccustomed work for your muscles. For example, begin on the floor on your hands and knees. Place the roller under your knees. Pull your belly button up toward your spine, pull your shoulders down. Hold your torso and the roller in place. Now lift your right hand up off the floor and hold for five seconds. Return your right hand to the floor, and lift your left hand up off the floor and hold for five seconds.
Stretching on the foam roller allows gravity to assist your stretch without allowing any compensatory patterns. For example, lie on your back lengthwise on the roller. Keep both knees bent with your feet flat on the floor. Now reach both arms straight out along side your body and roller with your palms up.
Check out this super versatile and multi purposeful piece of exercise equipment next time you are at the gym. Consult a Fitness Professional to outline specifics for you and your workout program. Roll, improve balance, challenge your core and stretch for posture all on one foam roller!
Getting healthy doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Check out the following fitness equipment that costs about $20.00, and even less if you catch them on sale! (Consult a fitness professional for specific recommendations as all equipment options may not be appropriate for everyone.)
Jump Rope. Perform jump rope intervals in between your strength exercises. Begin with 10 second intervals and build up to 2 minutes or more. Or simply jump rope for an unaccustomed cardio workout.
Pedometer. A basic pedometer that attaches to your clothing will provide helpful feedback to gauge and adjust your walking program. (A simple pedometer offers strictly total step information, in contrast to the computer friendly options.) The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity recommends we each cover 10,000 steps every day for wellness. Use the pedometer the first few days to track how many average steps you’ve been walking. The Surgeon Generals’ plan recommends adding 500 steps for each two week period, until 10,000 steps/day is reached.
Exercise Band. Exercise bands provide a versatile and compact strength training alternative to weights. Read the package to choose a light-resistance band if you are new to exercise.
Medicine Ball, also called a Weighted Fitness Ball. The weighted fitness ball may be used like free-weights. Choose a 4-6lb ball if you’re new to exercise.
Fitness Step. A stepping workout is a fun way to mix up your routine and strengthen your legs at the same time. Follow the manufacturers DVD included with the step for instructions and workout options.
Ankle/Wrist Weights. Ankle and wrist weights may be used for upper and lower-body strengthening.
Stability Ball. Read the package to choose the appropriate size stability ball for your height. Follow the instructions to inflate safely.
Getting fit doesn’t have to break the bank. A fun option is to go shopping with friends, each purchase a different piece of equipment, then trade every few months. Sharing and swapping exercise equipment is a built-in unaccustomed exercise guarantee, at a reasonable cost. Check out the deals at your local sporting goods store this summer. You’ll be amazed how many different workout equipment options are available to us.
Snowed in? Pouring rain? Sub-freezing temps? Weather-proof your workout with these take anywhere moves.
This 12 minute workout can be done anywhere. Complete 1-3 rounds.
Always consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. If you’re unsure of proper form, seek assistance from a Fitness Professional. The following is for those without injury of illness concerns. Perform exercises at your own risk.
Beginning Exercisers: Do each exercise for 30 seconds/30 seconds rest
Intermediate Exercisers: Do each exercise for 40 seconds/20 seconds rest
Advanced Exercisers: Do each exercise for 50 seconds/10 seconds rest
Jumping Jacks
Alternating Reverse Lunges
Tricep Dips
Pushups with Shoulder Taps
Bicycle Crunches
Jump Squats
Alternating Side Lunges
Mountain Climbers
Squats
Plank on Elbows
Tera Busker is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Fitness To Go, an exclusive In Home & Private Studio Personal Training Service based out of Roberts, WI. www.fitnesstogo.net
Have you let your workouts slide because of your various commitments. Is your gym membership getting stale? Have you considered working out at home, as you may not always have time to go to the gym or to studio classes?
By working out at home, you can combine longer sessions when you have more time, with shorter sessions when time is tight. For example you should be able to find a 10 – 15 minute slot to workout, ideally 3 times a week.
As it is a short session you will want to maximize on your time, so that you can achieve similar benefits to a longer exercise session. One way to do this is to raise the intensity of your workouts. Research has found that bursts of high intensity training, followed by timed periods of less intense activities or rest, can burn more fat and increase your fitness level in a quicker time frame than steady state exercise. Another name for this type of training is HIIT, High Intensity Interval training.
You can mold your workout to your schedule and you don’t need a lot of equipment, just a mat/towel and your own body weight. At the same time if you have some dumbbells, a kettlebell, etc there’s no reason why you cannot incorporate them into your workout. Adding weights to your workout will also help to raise the intensity, as will compound exercises where you utilize more than one muscle group. For example, performing a squat with a shoulder press.
The ideal type of workout should include cardio exercises to keep your cardiovascular system strong and working efficiently, with resistance exercises to help build muscle, strengthen your bones and encourage a greater rate of fat burn. Exercises that will work the entire body should be chosen where possible, to encourage a balance in the development of muscles. Exercise the larger muscles first for example your quads, back and shoulders before the smaller muscles like, biceps and triceps, this will help to prevent you tiring too quickly.
Some of the following exercises are ideal to put into this type of workout as they get your heart rate up and keep those feet moving; squat jumps, mountain climbers, burpees and jumping jacks. (As always, please consult your physician before beginning exercise.) The following exercises also require effort; push ups, lunges, squats and planks. So for your shorter home workouts, pick some of the exercises stated above.
A workout may look like this for example: For a 10 minute workout choose 5 exercises, do them intensely for 50 secs followed by a 10 sec rest for 2 sets. Always make sure that you warm up beforehand and cool down properly.
How do you find time to fit in your workouts? Would you now consider working out at home? How can you fit HIIT into your schedule? Thanks for commenting.
Gillian Stephen is a Fitness and Nutrition coach and also a mother of two, a 2 year old and a 4 year old that keep her very busy. She supports individuals by helping them put together a strategy for weight loss. She incorporates making better food choices and fitting exercise into your busy schedule, so you lose the weight and keep it off, a lifestyle change. Follow Gillian on Twitter @Gillan_Stephen, and via her website www.fitnessbuster.com.
Are you busy? Do work, kids, and other life commitment prevent you from getting to the gym? You’re not alone. The good news is, man (and woman) didn’t have gyms and their sacred equipment for thousands of years and they managed to get in great shape.
We are surrounded with thousands of opportunities to exercise and move whether we are at home, at a park, or anywhere else life may take us. Using only the most premium piece of exercise equipment ever created (our body-weight) we can get stronger, more fit, and energize our life.
Here are some whole-body exercises you can use right at home to create a leaner and happier you! Click on the exercise and you’ll find a YouTube video demonstrating each exercise.
1. The Crab Crawl
This exercise is great for the triceps, shoulders, upper back, glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. Try doing three sets of three movements in each direction.
2. Around the World Push-Ups
This exercise helps strengthen the muscles of the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. Try doing a total of 10 push-ups.
3. The Hungry Tiger
If you want strong hips, shoulders, triceps, and core, all while getting an aerobic workout the Hungry Tiger is an exercise you can do anywhere! Try to complete three rotations clockwise around an open space, then three rotations counter clockwise.
4. Get Ups
Getting up of the ground sounds like the most basic of human movements. However, as your flexibility, strength, and mobility are challenged in this unique coordination intensive exercise you’ll burn calories and have a great time doing it. Try doing 10 each leg or 20 alternating.
5. 1-Legged Airplane
Want to challenge your balance while you build strong, lean, flexible hips and thighs? 1-Legged Airplanes can do the trick with no equipment needed!
To put together a fat burning workout using all five exercises right in your living room either do the recommended reps or time each exercise for 30-40 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between
Do the entire circuit 4 times.
Yes, you can get fit wherever you are!
Brett Klika C.S.C.S., author of “The Underground Workout Manual- Exercise and Fat Loss in the Real World” (www.undergroundworkoutmanual.com) is a world- renowned human performance specialist, motivational speaker, author, and educator. He uses this knowledge and experience to motivate individuals and audiences around the world through his writing, speaking, DVD’s, and free blog, www.brettklika.com.
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