G is for Glutes

Your glutes are the largest muscle in your body. No, seriously and I’m not telling you that you have a big butt – in fact, far from it. It’s just that the gluteus maximus is the largest, single muscle in your body. There are plenty of other names for your glutes whether you want to call it your rear, your buttocks or your derriere. But the glutes do more than just look good in a pair of jeans. The glutes are engaged every time you stand up or sit down. Since I’m sure you do this on a regular basis … Continue reading →

F is for Fitness

We talk about fitness a great deal here in the fitness blog, but we don’t always talk about what fitness is – exactly. Do you know what physical fitness is? Ultimately, it means a couple of things that are similar, but not altogether the same. First and foremost, physical fitness refers to the general state of your personal fitness – this includes your mental, emotional and physical fitness. There is also fitness that is specific – based on specific training to accomplish a specific task. For example, a dancer who trains to perform a specific routine is still engaging in … Continue reading →

E is for Energy

Calories are a unit of energy that provides fuel for your body and that we consume in our food. Calories are things we count and things we burn – but what we need them for is pure and simple: energy. The human body gets energy from two major sources: food and sleep. If you don’t eat properly, chances are you sleep a great deal. You can generate a false sense of energy from drinking caffeine or eating sugary products – but that energy is often short-lived and the crash is considerable afterwards. Outside of eating and sleeping, exercise is the … Continue reading →

C is for Calorie

What is a calorie? Do you know what a calorie is? It’s a unit of energy. It’s the energy that exists in food and that our bodies in turn utilize. Ultimately, a calorie is determined to be the amount of heat that is required to heat 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. So if you have 240 calories in something, that’s enough energy to heat 1 kilogram of water to 240 degrees Celsius and that’s pretty hot, right? Calories Are Important Whether you care that there are 710 calories in a double cheeseburger or not, calories are a part … Continue reading →

B is for Bad Form

We talked about A is for Abdominals a couple of days ago and today, we’re going to talk about Bad Form. Bad form happens when we’re in a rush. You know what it’s like to rush around, you have a dozen errands to do and you may only have 30 minutes to hit the gym while your son or daughter is at their dance class or other activity. When we rush things and we try to squeeze too many activities into too little time, we make mistakes. B is for bad form because when we use bad form, we are … Continue reading →

Hump Day Hesitations & The 4th of July

Let me preface this by saying Happy 4th of July to all our American readers and visitors. For everyone else, good morning. Wednesdays are a particularly tough day for a fitness program, why? Because Wednesdays are a particularly tough day for anything. It’s hump day. It’s the middle of the week and that means you are either still caught up in the doldrums of the Monday lag or your eye is firmly on Friday and you don’t want to think about today. Keep Your Fitness Thoughts on Today You need to practice focusing on your day to day work and … Continue reading →

A is for Abdominals

Let’s get serious about changing our thinking on shrinking. In this case, we’re talking about that annoying belly fat that most women suffer from after giving birth. But what you need to focus on is not just that belly fat, but also the entirety of your middle. This area of your body is called your core and it focuses on your abdominals You want exercises that target your entire core. Crunches, for example, are great for your upper and front abdominal muscles. They don’t work your oblique – to work your oblique, you need to perform bicycle crunches. You also … Continue reading →

Using Perceived Exhaustion

It doesn’t matter what your fitness experience is, you can use perceived exhaustion to help measure your fitness experience. Remember, perceived exhaustion is how hard it is for you to do the workout. It’s not about walking the furthest or running the fastest. It’s about how you feel when you are doing the exercise. Think for a moment, when you go to a doctor and they ask you to tell them on a scale of 1 to 10 – how badly does something hurt? A 10 being excruciating and a 1 being discomfort. This is using a perceived pain scale … Continue reading →

Don’t Just Sit There

We’ve been talking about some alternative exercises you can do when you are standing in line, waiting for your kids or just being idle. Today, we’re going to talk about what you can do – right now – right there in that chair where you are sitting. That’s right, you’re going to be able to do some exercises right now – so are you ready? Please Take Your Seats All set? Sitting comfortably? You can perform this sitting at your desk or sitting on the sofa. Many of the following exercises are what we call isometric exercises. When we say … Continue reading →

Supplementing Your Day to Day Activities

We talk about the need to exercise 30 to 45 minutes at least three times a week. Ideally, if you could work out 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week, you’d be in peak condition in no time. But since people have trouble finding time to exercise – trust me, I know the feeling – there are other things you can do to help supplement your physical activity. Overcoming Tired Sometimes I feel like I’m too tired to work out. I may not have gotten a lot of sleep the night before. I might have gotten interrupted before I … Continue reading →