Poor Form at the Gym

People don't seem to get it that just because you've made your presence at the gym doesn't mean you'll lose weight or you're work is done. You need to give your workout your undivided attention and remove any distraction such as the little hottie next to you or your ringing cell phone. It's one hour that you need to dedicate to you and only you and really pay attention to what you are doing. 

Too often I see people, mostly women, performing exercises incorrectly. This is SO BAD on so many levels. One, you can injure yourself and two, you are not going to see the gains you want. Your form is so important to your success. For starters, if you injure yourself, you'll be out of the gym and unable to perform exercises which obviously kills your momentum and results. You need total focus on the exercise at hand to ensure you are performing it properly. Why do you think they have mirrors at the gym? It's not for those muscle-bound meatheads to check themselves out, it's for you to watch your form so you are doing your exercises properly. 

Fitness Personality Test

We all like to take little quizzes to see what we are, but when it comes to fitness there aren't too many quizzes you can take. Until now! Bodybuilding.com just released a Fitness Personality Test that is surprisingly interesting and accurate. 

For each personality type, it shows your unique strengths and weaknesses. Once you know your personal fitness mix, you can you can transform your weaknesses into strengths and surmount any hurdle.

Check out this five-minute test, answer with your gut response, and see where you fall on the fitness scale. Each personality type has a downloadable worksheet with tips and tools to help you achieve your fitness goals. Take the quiz NOW! 

Warm Up & Cool Down

How often do you walk into the gym and head right for a machine and get going on your workout? If you aren't doing this every time, you are only hurting yourself. And I have to be honest, I am definitely an offender and I know just how important stretching, warming up and cooling down are to your fitness gains so it makes me that much worse! So for those of you that may not be aware of the consequences, I hope after read this, you never skip those 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after your workout to stretch. 

Focus During Workout

What's one of my many pet peeves? People on their phones at the gym. I'll be running on the treadmill and the person next to me will take an incoming call and talk for a good 20 minutes. For starters, you can't get your heart rate up and secondly, you are in no way, shape or form focusing on your task at hand... to workout! The worst is when I see people doing squats while texting. Multitasking is not always a good thing and it's a very bad thing at the gym. 

Loaded Turkey Sweet Potato Taco

I love trying new recipe and making them my own. The Loaded Turkey Sweet Potato Taco may sound odd, but it was so delicious! I found similar recipes and mixed ingredients, removed some, and added others to concocted this tasty meal. Let me know what you think! 

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.

Water on the Run

When you are on the treadmill, have you ever wondered why they have drink holders? NO! I know that was a stupid question. See there are such thing as dumb questions. Those cup holders are there because you should have a water or sports drink to sip on. If you enjoy running then you understand how important it is to hydrate before, during and after. So what do you do when you're not on a treadmill and you decide to run a 5k outside, or take a jog around the neighborhood? Do you run holding a water bottle? Chances are the answer is no. So what's your secret to getting water during workouts?