Archive for February, 2010
Beach Body Tips For Looking Your Best This Summer
When summer comes around it seems like everybody is looking for a way to tone up and lose some extra weight from the winter. Everybody wants that beach body that they dream of. There are some simple tips for getting that beach body and being confident as you strut your stuff around in the skimpy summer clothes. Here are some helpful tips for achieving the beach body of your dreams and looking your best this summer.
Don’t procrastinate and wait until the last minute before you summer vacation or the special event that you want to look your best for to start working on your beach body. You will not be able to achieve your best body in only a few short days. This means if you know that you are going to be taking a vacation to Hawaii in July, start your beach body workouts and nutrition plan 
at the latest in the beginning of June.
Get Six Pack Abs with Workout DVDs
Achieving six pack abs is a very common fitness goal for both men and women. Some people have the misconception that only men want six pack abs, but women want that flat and toned tummy too. Then there are other people who have the misconception that six pack abs can only be achieved working out in a gym or with a personal trainer. How would you like to have a personal trainer come to your home every day to get you that flat stomach? Well, that is what you get with workout DVDs that can be done in the privacy of your home on your own time.
The Hip Hop Ab workouts are a great example on how to build not only strength in your abs but at the same time burn calories and fat. Hip Hop Abs uses standing abdominal moves to work the muscles. This involves the tilt, tuck, tighten technique that can be done anytime. Not only will you burn calories and sculpt six pack abs but you can also learn a few cool dance moves from the workouts as well. Plus, they are actually fun. Can you say that about working out at the gym for an hour?
Yoga Fitness
Who has the time these days to go to the gym three or four times a week? The truth is, a lot of people want to get in shape, but don’t want the hassle of rearranging their schedule to workout at the gym. Luckily, it’s possible to workout in the comfort of your home without purchasing a lot of expensive gym equipment using yoga booty ballet videos. Now if you’re a guy, you might be thinking: “Yoga? That’s for ladies”. However, you would be sorely wrong. Yoga is one of the most intensive physical activities you can engage in; fifteen minutes of Yoga will make you sweat like you’ve been working out for an hour on a treadmill. Not only is Yoga an intensive cardio activity, it’s also a way to tone your shape and even build muscle.
Next time you’re thinking about taking the plunge and buying a gym membership, remember that you can work out at your leisure with Yoga right in front of your television. It’s also a great activity to do in the morning. There’s nothing like a little physical activity to get the adrenaline pumping!
Features of the P90X Fitness Mat
There are certain features of the P90X plyometrics mat that make it an important piece of equipment for the P90X workout program. It is not like every other exercise mat and was designed for the purpose of the P90X workout program, but can easily be used for other exercises as well.
P90X is a very high impact workout which is why the plyometrics mat offers a shock absorbent feature that is comfortable and easy on your body. Plyometric workouts involve different jumping exercises, which when done on a hard surface can potentially hurt the knees or the shins. Jumping exercises that are done on a shock absorbing mat that is comfortable cushions the blow on the knees and shins and will take the impact away. This way you don’t have to worry about your knees hurting or getting shin splints from the workout.
Another feature of the P90X plyometrics mat is the fact that it is slip resistance but has a none sticky grip. So this means that you can put the mat on your hardwood floor and you don’t have to worry about the mat leaving spots on the floor or ruining the floor’s surface. Also, the mat is slip-resistant even when it becomes wet from perspiration. If you have ever used an exercise mat before you may have noticed that when it gets wet it also gets slippery, which can make for a dangerous workout. Since you will definitely be sweating during a P90X workout, you don’t have to worry about slipping on the surface and getting injured.
Lastly, the P90X plyometrics mat is larger than other normal exercise mats. This allows for maximum landing capability when doing the plyometric exercises. What is the point of a mat if you end up not landing on it? This mat will fit a man or woman and allows for extra room in case your jumping is not on point. It offer extra cushioning throughout the whole mat so if you land on the end of the corner, you don’t have to worry about not being cushioned.
This exercise mat can be used for more exercises than just P90X. It can be used when doing yoga, abdominal exercises on the ground or stretching exercises. If you wish, you can even do the aerobic exercises on it to protect the your knees and shins against injury when kicking or stepping. It is an all-purpose exercise mat that has great features suitable for P90X but also for just about every exercise you could need it for.
Fitness Workouts for Busy People
No matter how busy you are, there is always time to fit in some sort of exercise into your daily routine. Whether you work 12 hours a day or you have children to watch after all day long, there are fitness workouts for busy people that don’t take that long, but can be efficient for losing weight and getting into shape. Here are some fitness workouts for busy people that just about everybody can find time to do.
Resistance Bands
The great thing about resistance bands is that you can easily do a resistance band workout while watching television or even watching the kids. They are simple to use and are just as effective as free weight without all the added space of having free weights. Make up your own 15 minute resistance bands workouts that you can do a couple times a week. One day you can concentrate on your upper body and the next could be your lower body and on the third day you rest and then repeat. Resistance bands are a great way to build lean muscle and get stronger.
How To Achieve Your Fitness Goals
Those who lack or lose motivation are the most likely to give up on goals. There are several ways to build and maintain your motivation through days when you just don’t feel like its worth it. One way is to use the buddy system. Having a friend who also wants to get fit and who can share your success with really makes a difference. That friend might be a personal fitness coach or fitness videos
.
Individuals who start a workout plan with a friend are far more likely to stick to it in the long run. A buddy helps to encourage you to do your best, to show up every time, and to really push to your max when your tired. This is similar to having a coach who can push you to achieve your potential through encouragement.
Another good way to motivate you is to write a list of your goals and put them up somewhere visible. Your goals should be realistic but still give you a real challenge to work for. Putting up a list of two or three goals on your fridge is like having a constant reminder of why you are putting in effort. This way, your fitness days and times don’t just sneak up on you. A part of it can be a picture of someone who inspires you- a hero, or even your son or daughter- a reminder of why it is important to lead a healthy life.
Keep these tips in mind and try out one or all of them out and you’ll find yourself far more dedicated to your workout goals than ever before.
Let Tony Horton Help You To Your New Year’s Fitness Resolution
So many of us start off the new year with resolutions to get fit, start diets, and lose those excess unsightly pounds. After the holidays and letting everything go for a while, it feels like the right thing to do; start the new year off by getting yourself to look and feel the way you want to be. But why does there seem to be a huge number of us who just can’t commit to those resolutions and maintain a healthy change?
There are a few key reasons that get in the way of hanging onto those goals. One is the excuse of no time. Its really an excuse because its not that you have to have spare time to spend going to the gym or going for a jog. In reality, its about making time. Getting up extra early, giving up television, changing your work schedule, packing a lunch; these are examples of what it means to “find the time” to workout. It takes more than just an assumption that when you have time to workout you actually will, because it takes a lot more than that to disrupt the daily and weekly routine. So, set up a schedule, and intend on sticking to it. If you only have 10 or 20 minutes available to you at a time, then so be it; use all your spare time to get a little more movement into your day. It can be as simple as running stairs, a short jog, or maybe a fitness dvd like Tony Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer. What ever it takes…get your heart pumping!
Fight Type 2 Diabetes with Weight Loss
If you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, then your number one thought may be how you can fight the disease and live a healthy life. Well, one of the best ways that you can fight type 2 diabetes and live a long and healthy life is with weight loss. Losing weight can dramatically increase your chances that you will not suffer from medical complications from diabetes such as a stroke, amputations, and nerve damage.
One of the major reasons behind developing type 2 diabetes is being overweight or obese. By losing the weight, your body can better make use of the insulin and actually can go back to a normal and balanced system of properly using the insulin for the needed functions in the body.
In fact, people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and have gone on to lose a substantial amount of weight and considered to be a healthy BMI (body mass index) have actually have completely gotten rid of the disease from their life. Even if you don’t go on to lose 50-75 pounds, just losing 10-15 pounds can increase your health and lower your type 2 diabetes complications.
Because weight loss is so important for people with type 2 diabetes or individuals that have been diagnosed as prediabetic, the American Diabetes Association has teamed up with fitness expert Kathy Smith to endorse a lifestyle program called Project You Type 2. Project You Type 2 is much more than a simple workout video. It is a complete lifestyle program that is specifically geared towards people with type 2 diabetes to help them get healthy and lose weight.
One of the hardest parts about losing weight is getting motivated to do so. Most people find out that eating healthier and getting some physical activity every day is not as bad as most people think. The best way to get motivated to lose weight is to think about how much healthier you can be. Type 2 diabetes has so many medical complications that can come across with it. Do you really want to potentially have a stroke because you weren’t motivated to lose weight? A good thing about Project You Type 2 is that all the information that you need to get started is right there in front of you. It has the workouts, a cookbook and program guides to walk you through the whole thing and will tell you what you should be doing each and every day.
So, if you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or even just pre-diabetes, it’s time to change your life right now and get healthy and start your weight loss journey. Don’t put it off anymore as you may not have as much time as you think you do before you do start suffering from some complications from the disease. Even just losing 10 pounds can help you fight type 2 diabetes.
Why You Should Start Interval Training Today
Trying to find the best workout to get fit as quick as possible? Want to know what you can do to maximize your time at the gym? For those who want to really sculpt and tone their bodies and don’t really know how to get into it, or what is the most effective way to go about it, there is interval training.
Interval training is commonly talked about as a great approach to cardio training, but many don’t know what it is exactly meant to be.
Interval training is a method of cardiovascular training whereby the athlete must do a series of exercises at varying intensity and in quick succession of each other. The difference between each of the exercises is that all are performed at a moderate intensity, with the inclusion of high intensity for short intervals in between. An example would be performing a jog for 3 minutes followed by a 30 second sprint. The benefits of interval training are worth the effort; it is a unique and successful way of challenging both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. This means that not only are you using energy stored and ready in the muscles, but when it runs out, the body is metabolizing other means of generating energy (often from fat stores).
Doing extreme versions of interval training are even better, if your body can handle it. An example of an extreme interval workout is Shaun T Insanity MAX interval training where the high intensity stints are performed for as long as 2 or 3 minutes and the lower intensity movements are 30 seconds long. This is a very difficult and seriously challenging fitness program where individuals can burn up to 1000 calories in one hour. Compare this to the average moderate to high intensity workout which will burn up to 500 in an hour. Burning more calories in the same amount of time you would normally workout is a huge bonus, who doesn’t want a more effective and efficient workout? Interval training can be the most effective calorie burning workout you choose to do.
The next biggest reason why interval training is the best way to get fit is that it challenges the muscles strength and endurance at the same time. This means that the muscles become calorie burning machines; continuing to work long after you have stopped working out. As a result, your metabolism is boosted and working harder than ever. The body will continue to burn calories at a higher than usual rate, all the time- even while sleeping. A higher metabolism means the body will begin burning that excess fat that is stored for energy metabolism. Doing interval training regularly will be a major factor in reducing excess body fat on the whole body, especially if it is coupled with a good dietary plan. Not to mention, with a great interval training plan that you do regularly your body will start to show results, your muscles will quickly tone up to meet the demands its faced with, and losing that layer of fat will really show them off.
Lift Those Dumbbells Ladies!
Many women shy away from a workout program because they are worried that building muscle will make them get bigger. This is a common misconception among women. Because of this myth some women choose to focus their exercising routines entirely on cardio-vascular activity. The truth is that gaining muscle will actually help women lose fat.
Imagine that fat is like cotton; it weighs little, yet takes up a lot of space. Muscle is more like brick, it feels heavy, but takes up less space. As you begin a weight loss workout you may notice you gain a couple of pounds before you lose any. All that really matters is that you’re losing inches. The more inches of fat you lose the better you’ll fit into your clothes.