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No Excuses – Workout without equipment

We always have a ready excuse to not do something we don't like. For many, that unfortunately includes exercising. The most-often used excuse about not being able to work out is the lack of time. Well, time shouldn't be an excuse anymore since there are now many short but effective exercise videos that will provide quite a workout. Better yet, many of these videos are free if you just search for them online. This one's a good short work-out for those always on the go. Please share and keep me updated on your progress! – Enjoy, Chad

Video courtesy of Women's Health

Posted in Body, Cardiovascular training, Fitness tips, Full Body Exercises, My Workouts

Reaching fitness goals is walk in the park

When we need to reach a goal, it is sometimes better to walk before we run and take it one step at a time. It's the same with working out and attempting to get healthy and fit. It takes every little step to make it and it might have to start with walking. Non-runners always ask me how they can become runners and I always tell them the same thing – start walking first and build up from there. Hope this story helps those who are trying to get to the path of health. – Best, Chad

 

walking information via Mayo Clinic
Let's face it. Walking is a popular low-impact exercise. Now, new iPods are equipped with pedometers, half-marathons are packed with walkers and MapMyWalk.com and other apps can map and measure walking routes. But even with all of these new innovations, you'll still want to pay attention to basics.
 
 
The national recommendation for regular physical activity to stay healthy is actually rather attainable. Adults are encouraged to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity five times a week or more. This means that walking the dog, hiking, biking or walking to the metro instead of hailing a cab all count as exercise.
 
 
In fact, the Library of Medicine says walking for fitness was the primary activity reported by people who met the national recommendation for healthy exercise. Research from the Duke University Medical Center confirms the amount of exercise is more important than the intensity, and walking yields significant aerobic benefits — especially a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. Walking for fitness can help keep joints fluid, but it also may cause some soreness or stiffness in the knees and ankles. Use the following tips to get the most out of walking:
 
 
First things first — ask the doc. Always consult with your doctor before starting any exercise routine if you have been largely sedentary or suffer from existing health conditions. Dress for the occasion. Wear comfortable clothing that's loose-fitting. If it's cool, wear layers. Cushioned socks and shoes that fit well are also important. Remember that tennis shoe sizes may be larger than dress shoe sizes. Stretch to warm up. Begin by walking leisurely for a few minutes, then stretch key muscles like glutes, calves and quads. Once your muscles are warmed up, gradually increase your speed, and pay attention to your posture. 
 
For hydration, trust your body. Generally speaking, if you plan on walking for over half an hour, bring water with you. But you can also trust your thirst. If you're concerned with over-drinking, consume fluids only when you're thirsty. For marathons, no more than one cup of water per mile is a good rule of thumb.

 

 

Posted in Body, Cardiovascular training, Fitness tips, Full Body Exercises, Mind/Body/Soul, My Workouts, Weight Loss

5 Tips For Boosting Your Willpower

It's really hard for many folks to stick with an exercise or diet program. It really takes strong willpower to stay committed to one's physical goals. As we head into May and closer towards summertime, here's a great piece on how to keep your willpower strong and steady as you start a new exercise program. – Make it a great day, Chad

By Christine Carter, PhD / Huffington Post

Who among us has not made a plan to get up in the morning and exercise, but then hit snooze one time too many, sleeping through our morning jog?

We may have been super-inspired by the incredible brain-boosting properties of exercise. We may have had every intention to start an exercise plan and stick to it. But then… We didn't. Our warm bed sucked us in. We'll exercise tomorrow.

What we need is willpower. Once we get in the habit of exercising — or of staying calm in the face of a toddler meltdown, of not checking our email after 5 p.m., or of doing anything else we want to have the resolve to do — we don't need to try so hard. But for now, because we are in the habit of pushing snooze — or yelling, or checking email compulsively all evening — we need self-discipline.

Here are five tips for strengthening your willpower.

1.Get enough sleep. That's seven to eight hours for adults, at least nine for teens, or 10 to 12 for elementary and middle school kids.

Sleep deprivation makes us susceptible to temptations like Facebook and that chocolate-covered cookie over there, for physiological reasons. Self-control takes a ton of brainpower, and when we are tired, our bodies don't tend to deliver enough glucose to our brain for it to get the willpower engine going.

2. Meditate for five minutes a day. Sit up straight and focus your attention on your breath. When your mind wanders, as it will, you'll be building willpower when you simply notice that your mind has wandered and you bring your attention back to your breath.

As Kelly McGonigal notes in her awesome book The Willpower Instinct, the worse you are at meditation, the better it is as an exercise for building self-control. Here's why: In order to check your impulsive tendency to snag that donut off the counter, you need to build self-awareness.

When you are aware of what you are doing (e.g., "I'm feeling tempted to scarf that down."), you're actually engaging the part of your brain you need for willpower, rather than letting your impulses take over. Meditation gives you practice at engaging your self-awareness; as a bonus, deep, slow breathing also helps strengthen your self-control.

3.Lay off the cocktails. Science of the blazingly obvious, I know, but face it: We often have a glass of wine right before we need willpower to make healthy choices at dinner. Alcohol lowers your blood glucose, which a series of studies shows can dramatically weaken your willpower. (You'd be better off drinking sugary soda before testing your will, although I'm not actually recommending that.)

Alcohol also reduces self-awareness, and it is self-awareness that we need most to bring us back to our goals. (See numbers 2 and 5.) Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Body, Fitness tips, Food, Mind, Mind/Body/Soul, Soul, Weight Loss

4 Variations of Pushups

It might be one of the most common and oft-done exercises around, but many people still don't know how to do a proper pushup. This is a great video from Men's Health that not only shows you one, but four ways to do a pushup. Please enjoy the video and share your comments. – Best, Chad

Posted in Body, Fitness tips, My Workouts, Upper Body Exercises

Does Exercise Make You Overeat?

I wouldn't really say exercise makes one overeat as much as the extra activity and exertion might make one hungrier than normal. This piece highlights a couple of studies that show how exercise affects different people's brains. Interesting indeed. Please share and comment. – Best, Chad

By Gretchen Reynolds, NY Times

Some people respond to exercise by eating more. Others eat less. For many years, scientists thought that changes in hormones, spurred by exercise, dictated whether someone’s appetite would increase or drop after working out. But now new neuroscience is pointing to another likely cause. Exercise may change your desire to eat, two recent studies show, by altering how certain parts of your brain respond to the sight of food.

In one study, scientists brought 30 young, active men and women to a lab at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo for two experimental sessions, where they draped their heads in functional M.R.I. coils. The researchers wanted to track activity in portions of the brain known as the food-reward system, which includes the poetically named insula, putamen and rolandic operculum. These brain regions have been shown to control whether we like and want food. In general, the more cells firing there, the more we want to eat. To continue reading, please click HERE.

Posted in Aging, Body, Fitness tips, Food, Mind/Body/Soul, Weight Loss