Exercise is one of the most vital things in a person’s life. Too many people are living quite sedentary, which is horrible for their health and wellness. You may be in the same boat, spending the majority of your time sitting on the couch in front of the television or sitting on the computer playing games. Knowing why exercise is so important and which ones are great for you will help you to jump-start your new and healthier life.
Whether you use home gym equipment or you actually have a gym membership, exercise has a variety of benefits. People who exercise are healthier overall than those who live sedentary lives. Exercise boosts your metabolism, which is great for improving chances of weight loss. It also helps to get blood circulating throughout the body, helping with various conditions that you might be dealing with. It has also been said that people who exercise tend to look younger than individuals who do not. Exercise can help to tone the body as well, helping you to look leaner and healthier. Continue reading Why Add Exercise to Your Life?→
Exercise bikes, commonly called spinning bikes, are a great piece of exercise equipment for anyone who is trying to get in shape by adding aerobic exercises to their workouts. Exercise bikes are stationary pieces of equipment just like treadmills, so you will be able to work out on your bike no matter what time it is or what kind of weather there is out doors.
She hasn't ever had acne, but she has empathy for those who do.
Most people are going to struggle with acne in their life. This is called puberty alright? Mother Nature isn’t a vindictive witch trying to make your life miserable. She is just trying to show you how insignificant you are by destroying every ounce of dignity you ever had by inflicting you with sebum clogged breakouts. Not so bad right? There are some easy ways to combat loving Mother Nature though. The first technique is…
Keep Your Hands Off Your Freaking Face
As you well know acne comes about from oils like sebum being clogged up in a pore. Yeah it is gross, who the heck named that oil ‘sebum’? The reason they get clogged up is because of dead skin cells. A great way to get some dead skin stuck in a pore is by jamming it in their with your fingers. You see the implication here? Don’t touch your face, unless you want acne. Technique two isn’t as obvious.
Exercise and Sweat The Crap Out of Your Face
When you sweat the body naturally carries away all that disgusting dead skin. So all you have to do is start sweating. This can be done by going into a steam room or by exercising. The later option is going to actually benefit your physique too, so I would recommend that. Not only does exercise cause sweat though, it also promotes the production of healthy oils on the face. It is a double win. But be warned do not forget to
Wipe Up When You Are Finished
The only down side to exercise is that when the sweat drys there is salt left on the skin. This can lead to salt clogging the pores and then your face will be pimply and then the whole exercise will have been pointless. There is an easy solution though. Just wipe your fetching face off. See no more salt, and the body will still be making that great face oil. So after the double win of exercise you get a double plus win from the face wipe. After you wipe up.
Stop Stressing
Stress creates a weird concoction of hormones in the body. Once these hormones are all fire-riled you basically are screwed. Acne infection is imminent. Luckily some good exercise is going to cause that hormonal balance to stay in check, and that way you won’t be able to stress your self a new set of pimples on your face.
Follow the Light
What you learned in Sunday school applies to every bit of your life, even your uncomfortable adolescences. Getting a good amount of sunlight is going to provide much needed vitamin d for the skin and it is also going ot burn away any bacterias that you may have accumulated through the day.
There you go a quick blurb on acne for ya. Enjoy next time I see you, you better not have any more acne. Got it?
The body thrives on routine. In fact, if you continuously exercise on any specific day of the week, a psychological and physiological pattern will be developed. The psychological part is pretty neat, in that you will be more motivated and willing to get up, as it is part of your routine. Though the real kicker comes from the physiological habit being formed. The body will actually start producing more energy so that you can workout on that day. You may notice if you ever miss working out that day for some reason an immense amount of pent up energy.
2. Never Go More Than One Day Without Working Out
Rest days are fine, and in some cases more beneficial than not. However, you should never allow yourself to go more than one day without exercise. This is to prevent you from falling into the deadly grasps of indolence. It is the same mentality that comes with cigarettes or alcohol, “once you have one what is the harm of one more?” Do not allow yourself to fall victim to such thoughts. Stay adamant in your resolve, and workout out every other day at least no matter how inconvenient it gets.
3. Do It First Thing When Waking Up
Here are three reasons to do it first thing in the morning.
It sets the pace for the rest of the day
It stimulates metabolism, exciting weight loss.
It is easiest to get your exercise routine checked of the list first thing.
4. Don’t Kid Yourself
Be realistic about your goals. Even though Beyonce lost 60 pounds in 4 months, you will probably want a goal a little easier than that. It is possible to burn an extra 2,000 calories a day, but that requires hours on a treadmill and diet specifically limited to salads. So instead of trying to copy the methods of a super star, who has unlimited resources, private chefs, and presonal trainers. Why don’t you aim for say 1,000 calories a day. That is still 30 pounds in 4 months. Whatever your goal is, make it something that you know you can see through, and then stick to it.
5. Make it Part of Your Preparation
This is a great tip that helps me to stay motivated. I try to imagine what I am training for. And for me that is easy, I want to look good with my shirt off. You can never be too sure when someone is going to need you to take of your shirt. Though, if you are into sports, athletic activities or if you have a special event coming up, think about that. Just imagine your workouts as part of the preparation. Try to visualize the reward.
6. Aim For Better, Not Perfect
No body is perfect, so quite beating yourself up about it. Never let perfection get in the way of getting better. Do not for one second think that it is not worth it if you cannot run for 3 miles. The whole point of exercise is becoming a better ‘you’, so do what ‘you’ can do.
7. Make it Affordable
This is a good tip because it helps to keep people grounded and down to earth about their exercise routines. There is no need to invest hundreds of dollars into a ‘total gym’ or a ‘state of the art treadmill’. Not to say that those things will not make it easier to exercise, because they certainly will. Just, they are not really necessary. In an earlier post about INSANITY we talked about a workout routine that was all based on body weight resistance. Point is, you do not need special equipment or even a gym membership to start exercising.
This exercise is not for the weak of heart, it is not for the lazy, and it is not for anyone who is going to make excuses. INSANITY is an exercise routine that is specifically designed for those who really want to change their physique. It is for those who have the will power and the determination to make a drastic change in their life. This is a home workout routine that lives up to its hype. With just twenty minutes of exercise each day you can look like these people.
I could sit and tell you about this routine, but this video says it a lot better.
Shaun T’s Top Workouts
Do each of these exercises for one minute then switch to the next without stopping. After you have gone through the entire circuit (all six exercises) take a one minute rest. Repeat this circuit three time. It should take a total of twenty minutes.
The HEISMAN
Spread your feet shoulder width apart, keep your arms bent at the elbows and close to your body. Hop onto your left foot while lifting your right knee toward your chest. Drive your left arm forward and right arm back. Then hop onto your right foot and drive your left arm forward and right arm back, like you are running in place. Alternate left foot right foot for an entire minute.
Stance Jacks
Stand with feet together and arms out, so you look like a cross. Jump into a deep squat, lowering left hand toward your right foot. Keep the arms straight, fingers touching and the squat low. Jump back to start and repeat on the opposite side. Alternate between sides for one minute, keep up a quick pace throughout.
Hit The Floor
Start in a regular standing position with shoulder width apart and arms relaxed. Crouch down (as shown) placing the right hand on the floor closer to the left foot. Keep the left arm extend back. Jump in the air and land in a crouch with the position reversed. Repeat exercise for one minute.
Power Jump
Start with feet shoulder width apart. Keep your knees loose, not locked, and lower yourself into a squat. Jump out of the squat raising your knees as high as you can toward your chest. Try placing hands on the knees in midair. Land with knees loose, not locked, and repeat for a minute.
Switch Kick
Start with palms to the floor and feet flat. Keep the buttocks elevated and alternate kicking left foot then right.
Diamond
Start by going into a squat like with the power jump. Lower yourself till thighs are nearly parallel with the floor. Jump into the air touching hands above the head and feet together with bent knees (as shown).
How it Works
Body Weight Resistance
These exercises all utilize body weight resistance, which activates much more muscular resistance than typical weight training because the resistance is spread across more muscle area. This is going to cause more caloric burn and it is going to resonate deeper in the core of the body. So these exercises are not going to turn you into a beefy meat-head, but it will sculpt your body till it looks like you are made of granite. An added bonus to body weight resistance is that you never have to buy any unnecessary equipment.
Different Energy Types
Insanity engages mega-caloric burn by utilizing three different types of energy systems in the body. What is that? You didn’t know about the different energy systems int the body. They are the phosphogen, clycolytic and oxidative.
Phosphogenic energy is used to produce quick rapid burst of energy, like jumping, five second sprints, and other plyometric exercises
Clycolytic energy is used for weight lifting, one minute sprints and other types of anaerobic exercises.
Oxidative energy is used for yoga, long jogs, and all the other aerobic exercises.
(To learn more about the different energy systems follow this link)
There have been other routines that have incorporated aerobic with anaerobic exercise, but INSANITY is the very first to merge all three (aerobic, anaerobic and plyometric) to maximize performance and energy burn. Thus making this routine truly unique and extremely effective. However, like any other routine you have to put effort into it to take any thing out.
The question is, are you insane enough to change your life?
Sometimes just running on a treadmill or outside can get a little monotonous and boring. Have you ever been on a trampoline before? Trampolines are an amazing way to get some fun exercise. The only problem is that they are too big or too expensive and require a backyard. That is when you say, “What is a rebounder?”. Rebounders are mini trampolines that you can use to switch up your workout.
At first you might think that they wouldn’t be that big of a workout. You would be wrong though. Rebounders are just as if not more effective than treadmills. The workout from a rebounder will quickly drain you of your energy and you will be sweating in no time. These small trampolines can be easily moved and stored. Set it out in front of the TV while you watch, try out some rebounding exercises, or even use it to do something crazy like this guy,
So if you’re getting bored with running give rebounding a shot, there is so much you can do.
It’s most likely that this isn’t the first time you’ve heard of this topic. It seems to be abuzz in the news, where doctors and marathon runners claiming that shoes are not as good as we think. How can this be? Shoes have been around since the written history of man. How can multi-billion dollar shoe companies who pay loads for this kind of research be wrong? Isn’t barefoot running a step backwards for man kind? Lets take a look at the facts, and try to not get caught in what might just be another new trend.
The “Benefits” of Barefoot Running
Claim 1
Running barefoot causes less collision force to the feet than running in cushioned shoes.
Why is this you think? Well it seems that runners who forgo their sneakers end up running on the balls of their feet, whereas those with shoes are more likely to end up running on their heels. Landing on your heels while running can create 2 or even 3 times the impact than landing on the balls or middle of your feet. I’m still skeptical about this claim and here’s my theory behind it. If you are running barefoot and you’re trying to run on your heels, you’re going to be in pain. Barefoot running punishes incorrect running and running with shoes on allows you to build the bad habit of running on your heels.
Claim 2
Wearing shoes causes our smaller feet muscles to weaken
This claim may have some truth behind it. If you are running barefoot, you’re going to have to use all your toes, tendons, and ligaments to prevent hurting yourself from the terrain. This increase in activity can help your body improve its balance and reflex when it comes to movement.
Claim 3
Barefoot runners receive less foot injuries
This is simply not true. The injuries that both barefoot and shoe runners experience are not the result of what they are or are not wearing, but from improper running. The process itself in starting to run barefoot involves your feet getting calluses. The whole point in your body doing that, is to protect itself from the excessive use of your feet in such a manner. Not only would you have to worry about unsightly calluses, but you would also be at risk for stepping on glass, nails, and other unclean, potentially dangerous artifacts.
Overall it may feel nice to run around barefoot, but I would advise you to leave it where it belongs. Run at the beach or the park barefoot, but save your feet from potential harm on roads and other such surfaces.
It was pretty much the only form of exercise that I got for quite a few years. It was pretty good too. Since I live in a warm place I got to skate with my shirt off lots.
Think about it, great exercise program that is way fun and lets you take your shirt off in public. Great.
I’ll tell you what I enjoyed about it too. I could go and exercise (skate) anytime that I wanted to. That was really the big thing for me. It was so easy. I probably spent more time at the skate park than anywhere else.
It was pretty cool to be able to go skate and still have tons of fun even after all of my skating buddies moved away and joined the army or whatever it was that they did. I just kept skating by myself.
One thing that did though was it made me more of a recreational skateboarder and not such a progressive skater. I didn’t really get better as fast or open up any new big areas in my skateboarding. If you are skating with friends then you kind of take turns skating and then watching everyone else go while you encourage them and cheer them on. After I spent tons of time skating by myself I realized that other people at the skatepark spent lots of time socializing and watching other people skate while I was pretty much going non-stop and only resting when I physically had to. I think I started to lose some speed after a while but I was glad that I didn’t have to have other people coaching me just to have fun skateboarding.
As a form of exercise it was mostly a mix of cardiovascular conditioning, HIIT, and agility and speed training. Probably balancing too.
We all have hobbies and talents. These are great to have. Life would get boring without them. A secret to staying healthy is to have some sort of passion or hobby that requires physical exercise. Drawing, knitting, sculpting, programming and such are great to hobbies to have, and are great for our minds. However, it is very beneficial to our overall health if we have some sort of hobby that will help us get into shape.
This can be anything from hiking, to jogging, to tennis, to skateboarding, to swimming, to anything that requires a lot of physical demand. When you have a hobby like this it pulls you out of your home, and into a setting where you will receive a lot of physical exercise.
If you don’t have any sort of physically demanding passions, try out a few things, and try to really get into one. Join along in something that some of your friends do. If you’re not good, that’s perfect. It will force you to practice more so that you can get better at whatever it is. It’s best if you can choose something that you will be able to see your progress in. Being able to see your progress is a great motivator to pushing yourself harder. If you have a hobby like this, you won’t even need to set apart a time for exercise because you’ll get it in your hobby, and you’ll enjoy it.
Try to figure out what your best physical hobby is, and if you discover you don’t have one, try some things until you find one, and make it a passion. Everyone needs one of some kind or another. Good luck!
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