Is p90x Right for You?

When I first began working out, I was not comfortable enough getting a gym membership. That was too much commitment for me and I was self-conscious. I had heard of Beach Body's p90x and my friends and boyfriend were trying it so I decided to give it a shot too. The ease of working out at home at any time really appealed to me instead of trying to make a specific class time or getting in the car to drive the gym. I know that sounds lazy but hey, when you're just getting started, convenience is key.

Coming Back from Vacation...

I've decided to change up the blog a little and make some personal posts mixed in with the informational posts. 

Coming back from vacation (ok, not really a vacation but a long weekend) is always hard. The entire weekend, I didn’t really want to exercise. I wanted to pig out, relax and catch some rays. 

What to Eat After a Workout

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But, when most people think they just grab a greasy burger after an all-out, intense workout, they better think again!! This is a big no-no. When you workout, your body is burning fuel from your pre-workout meal. Glycogen stored in muscles begins to breakdown and an hour after your workout, your muscles begin to break down. Right after a workout, your body is the most receptive to absorbing carbohydrates and protein.

Plank Vs. Crunch: Which Should you be Doing?

 

Let me first start this post off by saying...if you do only ab workouts, you will NOT, I repeat, WILL NOT, have that flat tummy you see in the magazines. Like all other areas of the body, if you want to blast fat, you need to add some cardio to your life and watch those pesky things called calories. Now, what an ab workout will do it help tone those muscles that you may end up seeing if you add all three components together (ab routine, cardio, and nutrition). Otherwise, you're only building muscle on top of existing fat. 

Fitness Humor on Hump Day

Well it's HUMP DAY! For those working professionals that means your half way through your work week, but yet the weekend seems so far away! I thought I make a quick blog post to bring you some fitness humor to brighten your week. And, since the work day is winding down and about to come to a close, this means you are probably only a few hours away from hitting the gym and getting your much needed stress reliever on, your workout! You can find more humorous health and fitness posts and images at Facebook.com/FitFadFan and @FitFadFan. So please, take a moment to laugh and read these: 

Barely There Footwear

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I remember when the barely there footwear started catching on and I thought it was weird! I didn't understand how someone could run on pavement with a shoe that looked like a sock. It funny how trends work...something starts off large or clunky and then gradually gets smaller and then it gets larger again. Think about cell phones. They started huge and then turned super tiny and now they are getting larger. Well I think that's how shoes go as well. 

Easiest Weekly Workout Plan

Compliments of Back on Pointe, I came across this Daily Workout Plan that I really wanted to share. You can perform these in under 10 minutes and they are great strengthening exercises. And, the more build up your strength the more sets you can do. To start out, you can reduce the reps to something you're comfortable with. But as you continue to exercise, you can begin increasing the sets. 

Water or Sports Drinks?

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Gatorade has been around since the 60's, but the sports drink industry didn't get much buzz until the 90's when Michael Jordan endorsed it. Then everyone wanted to drink it! And now? Well now there's a ton of talk on whether to consume sports drinks or water. And then there are those people who try claiming sports drinks are unhealthy, loaded with sugar, calories, etc. So, are you confused? Are you unsure what you should be drinking? 

The Power of Music for Workouts

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Because music can affect your mood, it also affects the way you workout. Just the same as slow, mellow music can put you to sleep, the fast, upbeat music can get you moving. When you think back to the last time you played music while you cleaned the house, did you listen to Jack Johnson or did you have Beyonce playing? Chances are you had something loud and bumping to keep you motivated to clean. 

Yawning During Workouts

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So I realized I've been yawing a lot during my workouts. And I mean a lot! So much that I felt I needed to do some research on this and find out why. I knew it wasn't from being tired because I would be fine all day with a yawn or two here and there. But as soon as I get into my workout, I would be yawning every 2 minutes it seemed. Have you had this happen to you? Well, here's what I found and I'd like to share it with you because I had no idea this was somewhat normal.

Plyo for Power

Ever heard of plyometrics? If you haven't, then you definitely want to acquaint yourself with it. Plyometrics, plyo for short, is a great workout for both men and women. It just so happens to be one of my favorites. Check out the p90x Plyometrics CD for an awesome workout! 

Originally developed for Olympic competitors, plyo is a training technique designed to increase muscle power and explosiveness. These moves help improve the function of muscle, tendons, and nerves to allow you to run faster, jump higher, and hit harder.

Put a Kick in Your Step with Kickboxing

The number one reason most people throw in the towel on their weight loss journey is because they get bored. Doing the same thing, every day, can get old real fast. So, to avoid getting burnt out or bored, vary your routine from day to day. Your muscles and your body will thank you, too. 

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All too often, when we hear cardio workout, we think the only option is the treadmill or elliptical machine. There are so many options to get your daily cardio in. One of my favorites is the Cardio Kickboxing class at +LA Fitness. The fact that you're jumping up and down consistently for 60 minutes, is like jumping rope, but a lot more fun! 

Weightlifting vs. Bodybuilding: Is there a Difference?

Many women believe that lifting weights will make them look like a bodybuilder and less feminine. Well guess what? You couldn't be any more wrong! Lifting weights, power lifting and bodybuilding are all different categories of weight lifting and should not be lumped together as a whole. I used to fall into the cardio only category thinking that was how I would lose weight and burn fat the best. 

Cycle All Year Long

I love spin classes at the gym and I love to ride my mountain bike outside. But, there have been days I get to the gym and the spin class is full, and other days where it's raining outside so I can't ride my mountain bike. So when I heard about bike trainers I was super excited and couldn't wait to get my own! I have looked into my own spin bike, like the Proform Tour De France bike, are really expensive...I'm talking $1,500 expensive!  

Now bike trainers can be a bit pricey too, but I'm not a competitive cyclist or anything. I do this all for fun. So I only needed a basic bike trainer. I looked around and read some reviews. There are a couple different types of trainers.

Get Back On Track with Your Diet

Monday is the perfect today to start over. I just had an entire cheat weekend with my diet/exercise program and I'm feeling very lethargic, lazy and unmotivated today. So if you're feeling like this too, here's the perfect way to get yourself back on track this week. 

It's never easy starting over...follow these tips for a little boost!

Join a Recreational Sports League

I grew up playing sports my entire life and when college ended, I stopped playing. This was right about the time I began gaining weight, and lots of it! It wasn't until I moved states away on my own that I decided I should meet some people in my new town. I came across a listing looking for softball players. So I said what the hell, why not? It was a coed league. I met some new people, while realizing it had been way too long since I played and I missed it. The team didn't play another season and I was left alone again.

Smart Armpocket Carry-All

I have been in the market for a new iPhone workout armband so I can easily listen to Pandora or iTunes while I workout. The last one I purchased was a cheap rubber phone case with an elastic band that was not comfortable and the rubber stretched out in no time.

I just so happened to be reading SHAPE magazine and in the holiday gear section they featured the Smart Armpocket. It looked pretty cool so I checked it out on the website: www.armpocket.com. This was just what I was looking for! It has a memory foam like cushion with non-slip technology and pockets to hold my key, credit card, ID, chapstick or whatever...along with holding my phone of course! And the protector was touchscreen. What else is that it is eco-friendly, I was surprised by this.

So Bootylicious!

I attended the Weider Olympia Fitness Expo this past September. I picked up a free copy of Pauline Nordin's Butt Bible DVD workout. Funny name, I know. 

Totally forgetting I owned the DVD, I came across it over the weekend and decided to pop it in the DVD player and try it out. I actually really liked the DVD. There are 3 disks, one is 20 min. upper/20 lower, 30/30 and I think 40/40. So I started with the 20 minute lower and 30 minute upper. The lower "butt" exercises seemed very typical and basic, but definitely great exercises to do. And the same with the upper. I got a nice sweat going, which I always love. 

Be a Superhero

Today I bring to you the Superhero Scramble, one of many obstacle course runs (OCR). I participated in the Miami event and let me tell you: It. Was. Awesome!! So awesome I'm doing multiple OCRs this year. I have been wanting to do one of these types of runs for sometime now, but haven't been able to find anyone to do it with. I think it intimidates everyone and these events can be super pricey! I ended up find a crazy good coupon on Swaggle.com (now Gearup.active.com) for only $35.

So this course was 6 miles of wicked terrain with 20+ obstacles. Now don't let the mileage discourage you. I went with my boyfriend and friend and they rarely, if ever, workout and they both completed it with no problem. The obstacles were a perfect mixture of some easy, like crawling under caution tape, to challenging, like rock wall climbing and a rope pull up a 90 degree wall, to difficult, like rope climb to ring a cowbell. The last one named, I just wasn't strong enough to do!

To Monitor Fat Loss or Not?

So some of my coworkers entered a Body Transformation Challenge and they all had their body fat percentage taken in house (I chose not to participate in the challenge). They used calipers and many were complaining it wasn't performed correctly so everyone had skewed results. This challenge got me wondering what my own body fat percentage was. Then again, if it was high I didn't want to know! 

Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor

So I did some research using the googler. I came across a review for body fat analyzers on About.com. Click here to read it. I was looking for a handheld device and not a scale. The Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor was the first handheld one in this review list, ranked at #5. Now, this article was written in Feb. 2011 so I'm sure new things have come out since then.

This little device can store multiple user profiles and the cons were so minute I can't believe they bothered mentioning them. Here's what they were:

• Must be consistent for good results
• No scale but must enter weight value