Be Fit Fitness Blog

I often see people at the gym keeping a diary or record of their workouts. Some people record their daily exercise workout in a small notebook, while others carry a big binder. Some people keep a record of the type of exercise they do and that’s it! Others keep a more detailed and meticulous account of the type of exercises they do, the number of sets and the number of repetitions as well.

I have to admit, I don’t do this. I tend to keep a record of my workouts in my head. The only problem with this is that, once in awhile, I may forget what I did the week before since I like to rotate my exercises.

This week I was thinking back to the fitness results that I achieved over the last four years. Trying to remember what I call “my best year” and the way I achieved it via exercise, nutrition and the supplements that I was using! I thought to myself that it would have been nice to write down in detail my workout routine. To be able to look back at any year and compare to see what I did! Also to make the record more meaningful, my fitness diary would have included the types and brands of supplements that I was consuming. I’m talking about when, how much protein powder, Glutamine and Creatine that I was consuming. This way I could see what supplements and combinations of supplements worked the best for me. To add to this, maybe make an additional note of my daily diet and nutrition would have been included.

I have to admit that such a fitness or workout diary would entail a lot of work. In the long-term, it could be very useful to compare and determine what types of exercises, how you did them and the supplements that you were consuming worked best for you.

It is important to add variety to your weight training workout to make your workouts more interesting and effective. If you exercise a lot, after awhile, it’s only natural that you may feel tired or you may not feel like working out as much or as often. Sometimes, it’s good to take a week off every once in awhile to re-think your approach to exercise or just take a break.

Ways to add variety to your workouts

What I like to do when I am weight training is that I like to change the order of my exercises for a particular muscle group each workout. Every other week, I also like to alternate between different types of exercises for a particular muscle group. So this way my muscles do not get accustomed to the same movements and I don’t get bored. There are always a few exercises that I enjoy doing every week and since they work for me, I keep them in my weekly workout.

You may also want to add new and different exercises every once in awhile to enhance your workouts and work different muscles. Of course if there are exercises that you enjoy doing and they are very effective for you, stick to them!

Another technique I like to use is to change the grips I use with respect to dumbbells and when using certain machines. There are many weight training machines from companies such as Nautilus that offer you a couple of different hand grips such as close-grip and wide-grip. So if you are doing a chest exercise on the machine, one week, you may want to do the wide-grip and another week, the close-grip. There are countless workout scenarios you can devise when machines and gym equipment offer you such alternatives. You should choose the ones that work for you and fit with your weight training approach. In this way, you are able to focus and hit different muscles and achieve much better results.

If you are also interested in building more strength, every once in awhile, you may want to increase the amount of weight for a particular exercise to an amount that you have never done before. Even if it means that you can only 2 to 4 repetitions, you have progressed to a new level.

These are only just a few of the many ways that a little variety can make your workouts more interesting when exercising with weights.

When it comes to weight loss and slimming, you need the help of fitness professionals who can motivate you and hold you accountable to your weight loss goals. The fitness professionals you choose should be knowledgeable and portray the image of healthiness and looking great. Again, you do not want to hire someone who is over weight to help with your weight loss goals.

Take a look at Kim Lyons at Fast Track to Fat Loss.

She’s a best selling fitness author, a fitness competitor and one of the fitness trainers in the TV reality show “The Biggest Loser”. She looks amazing, she’s got a positive attitude and she know how to get you slim and in shape. Not to mention, she’s been featured in countless magazines. With credentials like these and her looks, you know she can help you too.

There is a tendancy for most people as they get older to be less active and exercise less or not at all. It’s important to exercise when you are young, but equally important to do it when you are older. Many studies have shown that people who continue to exercise and stay active in their golden years have healthier brains. By healthier brains I mean better memories, better cognitive skills and positive outlook on life and things.

Today I was watching the news about a study which was done on exercise and a person’s brain functions as they age. They were showing this lady who is 92 riding a seated exercise bike. From what I saw, she was riding it pretty effortlessly. In her interview she said that although she is 92, she feels like she is 25! Her hair may be grey, but she looks and feels amazing for her age.

I’m not going to go into the technical conclusions from this study, but the basic reason for a positive correlation between exercise (staying active) and a person’s brain function as they age is that exercise helps to increase blood flow to the brain and repair brain tissue and keep brain tissue healthy.

This is just another reason why you should continue to exercise as you get older and not resort to a sedentary lifestyle.

So it’s a new year and you are thinking about getting in shape. Perhaps it’s a New Year’s resolution that you have already made in the past, but you never get around to achieving it, for whatever reason! Online personal training is an inexpensive and effective way for you to get in shape this year. You could also hire a personal trainer at the gym, but they will be a lot more expensive and if you do not choose the right person, you may not achieve the results you are looking for.

Who should you hire to help you with your fitness goals? You should look for someone who is knowledgeable and can customize a fitness program tailored to your needs. Someone who lives the lifestyle of what they do. By this I mean, a personal trainer who is in great shape, toned and lives a healthy lifestyle. If they can achieve personal results with respect to their own fitness goals, than they can obviously help you! You wouldn’t want to hire an over-weight personal trainer. In my opinion, they wouldn’t be able to effectively help you and they send you a wrong message which could be detrimental to getting you motivated.

One example of a online fitness program that can help you is owned by Chad. His new online fat loss and fitness program: Fast Track to Fat Loss has been helping clients to achieve amazing results as you can see from his photo:

and some of his current clients:

As you can see in this photo, Chad is in amazing shape (2nd from left) and so are his 4 clients. If he can achieve results like this for himself and his clients, then he can obviously help you at Fast Track to Fat Loss.

A lot of people use diet pills to lose weight quickly. Diet pill may work temporarily for some people, but to lose weight and keep it off for the long-term, there are only two real ways of doing it. They are regular exercise and proper nutrition. Sure it may take more time and involve more effort but the long-lasting results you receive will be well worth it!

Danger of Diet Pills

Just recently the FDA released a warning about a number of weight loss pills that can be dangerous to your health. There could be many others not on that list which the FDA hasn’t tested yet or knows about. When you purchase these pills, you really don’t know what they contain, sometimes where they were manufactured and what side-effects they may have especially if you are already on some form of prescribed medication.

So think about it, can you really afford to sacrifice your long-term health for fast and immediate weight loss? Nothing in life is accomplished fast. Everything takes time and sometimes you need to do it in small steps.

My recommendation to long-lasting weight loss

My recommendation is that if you approach weight loss with realistic and attainable goals, you will slim down and lose weight. Sometimes you need to do it in small steps. Like they say, Rome wasn’t build in a day. So take a look at your eating habits and embark on a regular exercise program.

Eating Habits

What I suggest is that you examine your eating habits by eliminating fatty foods and foods low in nutrient value (cakes, cookies, etc…) from your diet and by eating smaller meals.

Exercise

Set up an exercise schedule for yourself and stick to it. This way, it becomes a regular part of your life and not a chore.

You can exercise outdoors or at the gym. Sometimes it’s tough to exercise at home, that’s why I prefer going to the gym. In the warmer months, there’s nothing more enjoyable than being outdoors and exercising at the same time.

Instead of just watching TV, get yourself an exercise bike and ride it while watching TV. Or, you may want to buy an exercise workout DVD and exercise along with it. There are also specialty TV channels with all-day workouts focusing on Yoga, Pilates, aerobic and strength-training.

As you can see, there are a lot of fun and enjoyable ways to get in shape and lose weight the real way!

Every year I determine what I want to accomplish when it comes to my health goals and my fitness goals. What can I improve upon in my workouts, what exercise variations or new exercises should I incorporate into my workouts and how can I improve my nutrition, what I eat. I exercise to look and feel great. As I get older, I don’t want to look and feel beyond my years. I want to feel as if I am getting younger. Of course you can’t, but you really want to slow the aging process naturally as much as you can. There are a lot of active people who look great at their age. You may know quite a few.

I feel that I finished 2008 on a very strong note. I’ve increased my strength and endurance with respect to my weight workouts and thus, I have stayed very motivated. My weight is at a very healthy level. I’d like to increase muscle mass, but sometimes it’s better to let your body dictate your ideal and healthy weight, not let your superficial aspirations determine what you want to weigh. This year I’ll continue to increase my strength and continue to improve myn muscle definition. I also intend to increase the intensity of my leg workouts. I have to admit that the last few years I haven’t focused enough on legs, but I do a lot of rollerblading in the warm months to keep them fit and strong.

With respect to nutrition, I have made a few changes this past year that has boosted my energy levels at times substantially. I have gone back to drinking caffeine-free green tea on a regular basis. There are so many health benefits from green tea. I have also limited my coffee consumption to 1 cup per day. The problem with drinking too much coffee or any drinks with caffeine is that caffeine it is a temporary and short-term energy boost. In the long-run, it actually saps me of energy and it will weaken your immune system. I am also eating more fresh fish with higher protein amounts. Again the natural source of Omega-3 from fish has numerous health benefits. I also stopped buying frozen fish which tends to contain unnecessary sodium. The best is to buy fresh fish and freeze it yourself.

I also try to limit the amount of bad fats that I eat. Not only are they unhealthy for you, but they will drain your body of energy and weaken your immune system.

These are just a few of my goals and apirations for the new year. What I can attemp to do better and a closer look back at what I did well with respect to my fitness level and my nutrition, eating habits.

With the new year now here, it’s a good time to reflect on how successful you were with respect to meeting your health and fitness goals. One of your goals could have been the common problem a lot of people face, the weight issue. Either you were looking to lose a lot of weight or you just wanted to slim down a bit by losing a few extra pounds. If the weight issue was one of your concerns and you were not able to lose the amount of weight that you desired, it could have been due to the fact that you went back to your bad eating habits or that you didn’t stay committed and motivated to exercising on a regular basis.

On the other had, if you are a serious athlete or bodybuilder, did you advance to your next level. You may want to examine why you didn’t or what didn’t work for you and try a fresh and new approach.

Whatever your  health and fitness goals are, in order to achieve them, you must make sure they are realistic and attainable. Once you start to see results, you end up being more motivated and committed. If you set the standards or goals too high, you may fail and just give up.

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss what I think I accomplished with respect to my health and fitness goals this past year.