How to stick to your fitness routine 2

Last time we presented you with 3 useful tips to improve your commitment and consistency when it comes to training. Today we analyse 3 additional strategies and essential topics to keep in mind in order to raise your spirit. Lets get started!

What you will find:

A) Select a convenient location, B) Reward yourself, C) Keep track of you progress

Select a Convenient Location

If your gym is 45 minutes away, that’s just one more reason to not go there. It doesn’t matter how good it is. If you’re realistically not going to make the commute, it’s not the right gym for you. A good rule of thumb is to find a gym that’s within 20 minutes of you, but the closer the better. All things being equal, select the gym closest to you. But if there’s a truly great gym 20 minutes away and a mediocre one ten minutes away, go ahead and splurge on the good gym — but be honest with yourself about whether you’re actually going to make the trip.

Reward yourself

Simply giving yourself a mental (or even a literal) pat on the back when you meet your fitness goals is a great way to stay motivated. Many men are too reticent to praise themselves or acknowledge their achievements, but it’s such an important part of recognizing when you take care of yourself.

You can also reward yourself in more material ways. Sticking to fitness goals for a week can be a reason to have a Saturday night burger, fries and shake meal. Sticking to them for 90 days means you can buy some nice new running shoes or more expensive equipment for your chosen form of exercise. Positive reinforcement can work wonders in helping you to meet your goals and stay on task.

Some guys also like to add in some negative reinforcement. Making it sting a little when you stumble can be a good way to remind yourself to stay the course.

Take Pictures of Yourself

A little egotistical, right? But these photos are just for you. Because the physical benefits of working out happen gradually, you’re probably not going to notice the results for a little while. You will, however, notice them if you take pictures on a regular basis. Posting them to Instagram is optional. These are for your own personal use.

Get a good picture of yourself from the front, from the side and from the back. Do it at least once a month, but more than once a week is probably unnecessary. Whenever I look back through my old folder of work out progress photos, I’m amazed at what I’ve done. Any time I need a little pick me up, exercise related or not, it’s nice to have that to look at for physical proof that my hard work hasn’t gone to waste. This isn’t about narcissism; it’s about documenting and recognizing your progress.

A month, two months, six months — the important part about working out is being consistent over long periods of time. It’s good for your health, it’s good for your state of mind, and it certainly isn’t going to hurt when it comes to talking to girls. The benefits are enormous: Studies even show that people who regularly work out earn more than those who don’t.

Now if that’s not a reason to stick to your gym routine, I don’t know what is. So, develop your plan, and stay healthy!

For more tips on how to stay committed to exercise and how to improve your social life in other ways, be sure and explore all of our posts and the many other topics we covered, particularly the dietary plans and the guidelines to see results and make your trainings worth the effort.

Beginner Home Workout(Advanced)

Leaning Back Ab Stretch

Leaning back ab stretch is going to be the first upper body exercise and your main back exercise for this workout.The main muscle worked will be the lats. But as shown below, various shoulder and scapular stabilizers and other muscles will be involved as well:

The abdomen, or abdominal region is actually composed of 6 muscle groups that are located and attached from the ribs to the pelvis region. These are referred to as the core region and are responsible for moving flexing and supporting the trunk areas. Amongst the benefit of having a slim torso , having strong abdominal and core muscles reduces lower back pain an aches and increases stability to your torso.

Lying Leg Raise

The thighs in general are tough mentally and physically to train, when done so correctly. It takes dedication and commitment to build balanced thighs. For the quadriceps as well as the hamstrings, it is very important to use a full range of motion in all exercises. While training quadriceps, it is important to incorporate basic foundation movements with isolating movements. While training the thighs you will also target your buttocks as a secondary muscle. This is especially effective for squatting and lunging exercises. In addition, hamstrings are a muscle which must be fully stretched at the extension phase of the movement while trained.

Regular Squat

Next, we’re going to move onto a lower body exercise before proceeding onto the next upper body movement. This just helps to optimize our recovery and performance with each exercise throughout your total body workout.

The regular squat is the exercise of choice here since it’s been repeatedly shown in multiple papers to elicit very high quadriceps activation. However, it will also heavily involve various other lower body muscles.You should mainly feel the tension in the muscles highlighted below as you perform the exercise.There are 17 muscles located in this area yet there are roughly three major ones that should be focused on relating to fitness and strength training. There is a small yet very effective set of exercises that target both the inner as well as inner hips muscles that you can perform.

Raised Push Ups

The chest is a muscle which must be trained for all of its areas to develop completely. Usually for males, a full and wide chest is the goal. It is very important as with most large muscle groups to build a foundation of the muscle before concerning yourself with details. This foundation phase will be the building blocks to further detailed work. With the pectoral muscles, it is significant to follow a plan which will consist of a few basic movements along with some isolation movements. Proper form, contraction and stretching will boost your gains and help prevent injuries. There is a wide range of exercise to properly stimulate all areas of the chest muscles for men and women.

Dips

The muscles of the arms are one of the most sought after parts to develop. Your arm consists two thirds of triceps and one third of biceps, making the triceps muscle the larger of the two. Therefore, if you seek to gain more size in your arms, be sure to focus on the triceps to a greater degree. In men there is usually a strong emphasis placed on training the biceps over triceps. On the other hand, many women feel that they need to tone up the triceps area since over time, skin and fat begins to hang and look un-appealing with age. Toning up the triceps is the solution to this common problem. Complete arm development requires the training of both biceps and triceps.

Published by the Budget Fitness Team

What’s for lunch?

It’s easier to click a few buttons on your phone and have food delivered to your door…but why waste money you could be saving when you make your own lunch at home!

It’s super easy to prepare meals for the week which in turn will save you money and ensure that you eat healthier.

For example, a grilled chicken and lemon salad filled with herbs and spices is easy to prepare in bulk and contains cheap ingredients. You can always add your own personal touch like adding some vinegret or even fruits.

Another easy meal to prepare is taco salad, layer your bowl full of ground turkey, black beans, corn, scallions, cheese, and tomatoes. It’s the heartiest way to pack a healthy salad for lunch.

The last meal I’ll leave you drooling with is….

A zesty mediterranean quinoa salad. In a large bowl combine quinoa, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, avocado, feta and parsley. There you have it! Now all your friends will be jealous of your delicious lunches, hope you can pass these meals on to them so they can join you and even motivate you!

I hope I’ve made you hungry…now go prepare your next meal 🙂

You’re Welcome!

How To Stick To Your Fitness Routine

Every year we come up with resolutions like ‘lose weight’ or ‘have abdominals’, but if you’re reading this post, chances are that you’ll find it hard to respect such resolutions.

Today, I want to drill down on fitness-related resolutions, and specifically, how to stay committed to exercise. To do so, we’re going to divide the topic in two separate posts in order to develop sufficiently on every strategy.

What you will find:

A) Pick Something You’ll Enjoy, B) Make a Habit of it, C) Find an Accountability Partner

A) Pick Something You’ll Enjoy

This sounds obvious, but it’s probably the number one reason guys don’t stick with their fitness routine — they pick something they hate doing. Maybe you read about how great Crossfit is for getting into shape. Or perhaps you were impressed with the idea of putting on 30 pounds of muscle by lifting heavy this year. Still, the best exercise routine isn’t going to do any good if it doesn’t inspire you to stick with it.

Getting in shape doesn’t have to be a case of “take your medicine.” There’s no reason you shouldn’t enjoy or even look forward to exercising. So, whether it’s jogging, racquetball, Krav Maga, hiking, baseball or even lifting weights, find an activity you like. Maybe it’s not something that you do at the gym. All the better — that’s money saved!

B) Make a Habit Out of Your Activity

Another mistake we tend to make is trying to squeeze exercise into our schedules here and there. Worse yet, you might only work out when the spirit moves you. Instead, you need to make it a probable part of your schedule. You need to make it a routine — a habit. Just trying to haphazardly fit it in where you can probably won’t work, since it’s already a lower priority than what you already have planned. So how do you do best fit exercise into what’s probably an already busy schedule?

When you’re exercising, you need to work out at least three times a week. More is better, provided that you might take two separate days off, though some guys do light physical activity, such as a long walk or yoga on their “off” day. Sit down and take a look at your schedule. What time of day is most realistic for you to regularly work out? Maybe you have to get up an hour early or rearrange some other parts of your schedule. Once you decide what you’re going to do, etch it in stone and stick to it. The question isn’t simply how to stay committed to exercise, but how to get the most from that commitment. To be effective, your exercise routine should be no more negotiable than going to work in the morning.

C) Find an Accountability Partner

An accountability partner is someone you have to report to if you flake out on your exercise routine. Having to call your brother every time you skip on exercise isn’t by itself going to keep you on task, but it can provide that little extra bit of encouragement you need to stick with it on days when your will is waning.

Even better than an accountability partner is a ‘gym buddy’ (even if the gym is your place or a public space). Find someone who is into the same exercises as you and shares your commitment to staying healthy. Hopefully this person will be more motivated than you are, but if they’re not, don’t worry. You’d be surprised just how big of a difference it can make in the long term. On days when he doesn’t want to go, you keep him on point, and he’ll do the same for you. More than just getting you to train, you can really deepen and strengthen a friendship you already have or build a new one.

Think about whom you know. Has anyone else mentioned a strong desire to get into shape next year? Do you have a friend you’d like to see more, ideally someone who has common interests in terms of exercise and activity? Even joining an intramural sports team can provide you with a number of accountability partners you didn’t know last week. There’s no right way to develop this accountability — it’s only important that you have it.

For more tips on how to stay committed to exercise and how to improve your social life in other ways, be sure and explore all of our posts and stay tuned for part 2 of ‘How to stick to your fitness routine’.

Healthy Lifestyle Tips

It can be overwhelming when switching to a healthier lifestyle. There is an abundance of information on how to form healthy habits…You might find yourself asking, “Where do I even start?

5 Healthy Tips You Can Start Today!

Eat more Fruits and Veggies!

When you do your shopping, instead of grabbing a bag of chips to snack on, pick out some fruits and vegetables. They are filled with loads of antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals that will boost your energy levels and make you feel better throughout the day.

Veggies don’t always have to be boring, there are many ways to prepare them. You can grill, roast, caramelize, and pan sear them as well as add seasonings like garlic, lemon, herbs and spices. Fruits can also be prepared in a variety of ways, like a yogurt parfait, throw some in your bowl of oatmeal, have them after a meal if you have a sweet-tooth for dessert, and you can even make a delicious fruit smoothie.

Drink water!

Everyone knows soft drinks are not good for your health because of their high content of sugar and the chemicals that they contain. If you are addicted to the fizz there are options for you, stores like Trader Joe’s, that sell .80 cent liters of water that are carbonated and some are even flavored. It’s important for your body to stay hydrated because it affects your skin, digestion and can actually boost the number of calories you burn.

Get at least 8 hours of Sleep

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

It’s important to get enough sleep as it affects your entire body! Poor sleep reduces your mental and physical performance, as well as disrupts your appetite hormones. There is a positive correlation that less sleep increases the risk of becoming obese. Set an alarm to remind you to start getting ready for bed earlier and begin forming healthy sleeping habits!

Cardio

Be sure to get out of the house and so some cardio at least 30-60 minutes a day …cardio doesn’t always mean running. It means any activity that elevates your heart rate. For example skipping, jumping rope, jogging, playing tennis, soccer, or going for a hike. Doing cardio won’t only help your physical appearance, it will boost your happy hormones, also known as endorphins. You will feel so good and accomplished, trust me!

Take Vitamins

If you spend most of your days inside and don’t get enough sun, take some D3 vitamins! D3 has proven to increase bone health, lower your risk of getting cancer, and even reduce symptoms of depression. These tips and tricks will only help you if you are open-minded and WANT to start living a healthier life. To be successful in forming healthy habits you must be consistent, consistency is key! Remember it takes 28 days to form a habit!

Beginner Home Workout

This program isn’t just for the true beginner who has never trained before, it also suits anyone who hasn’t trained for a period of time. How long has it been since you went to the gym regularly? Six months? A year? Five years? Don’t worry: The following routines will get you back on track in. Let’s get to work.

Full body workout level 1

You’ll begin the program with a full body workout, meaning you’ll train all major body parts in this session.

The exercises are a collection of basic moves that, while also used by advanced lifters, we feel are suitable for the beginner as well. Notice we are starting you off with only free-weight movements are present right off the bat. For the reasons that these are the exercises you need to master for long-term gains, so you may as well learn them from now on. Carefully read all exercise descriptions before attempting them yourself.

Full body workouts are one of the best workout splits for long-term muscle growth and strength regardless of your training experience. They not only enable you to optimize your training frequency and recovery throughout the week but are also time efficient .

However, in order to maximize the benefits of a full body workout routine, you need to adequately target all of your major muscle groups within each workout:

And you need to do so in a balanced manner such that your muscles grow and strengthen proportionately overtime. Leading to not only a more aesthetic physique but also minimizing your risk of injury.

In next article, I’ll show you exactly how to do so based on current scientific literature and our anatomical understanding of the human body.

Published by Jimmy

Healthy & Delicious

Ever feel like you never have anything in the fridge or you don’t know what to make with the ingredients you do have? Let us help you out, we are here to talk about simple, healthy and delicious recipes that can easily be prepared and don’t cost a fortune.

Let’s start with the most important meal of the day…Breakfast! Let us inspire you to eat a good breakfast everyday with a list of delicious, flavorful and healthy options. From eggs to smoothies and even quick quiches filled with nutrients to help you kick start your day.

Loaded Scrambled Eggs

1 red onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving kosher salt and black pepper
8 large eggs, beaten
3 ounces of your choice of cheese, (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 diced avocado
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

Step 1: Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender, 12 to 14 minutes.

Step 2: Add the eggs and cook, stirring frequently, until the eggs are just set, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the Cheddar and cook, stirring, until just melted, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Step 3: Remove from heat and stir in the tomatoes and parsley.

Step 4: Drizzle the bread with oil and serve alongside the eggs.

Published by Vanessa Villegas

SUPPLEMENTS: do you really need them?

Be yourself, show your determination and results will come.

The topic of supplements is quite misunderstood and a lot of misconceptions gravitate around it. So let’s try and clarify the issue.

Firstly, is important to define the term and specify what we’re referring to. Dietary supplements are defined as products taken orally that contain one or more ingredients (such as vitamins or amino acids) and they are intended to supplement one’s diet and are not considered food.

Clearly, and the terminology says it all, they are intended to integrate your nutrition plan.
Remember that to achieve muscle growth and volume of the muscular tissues, there is no shortcut!
Following a complete and well-balanced nutrition together with a thought-out exercise program is essential and none of the supplements are intended to substitute this regime.

Nonetheless, they certainly have some use and could be helpful in maximizing the results. For example, creatine and protein-based supplements are likely the most effective choices for muscle gain, integrating the benefits coming from eating enough daily calories and nutrients. Omega-3 Fish Oil and vitamins are instrumental in the recovering process and in the healing of the muscles.

The overwhelming quantity of information on the topic makes it difficult to find reliable and unique rules regarding the topic, and many of the sources are certainly biased.
Moreover, the range of products and categories is endless: creatine, whey protein, BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, valine), L-Glutamine, Omega-3 Fish Oil, vitamin/mineral supplement, vitamin D and K2, beta-alanine, magnesium and many more.

What we can say for sure is that they are not necessary, and they provide a merely 3% of the muscle gain, leaving the 97% to diet and exercise.
Unfortunately, another point against these supplements is that they can be quite expensive if taken regularly (as advised to see the effects ).

In conclusion, our professional advice is to consider twice about going down this road. If you’re reading this blog most probably you’re tight on money or you have some instinct about saving, so we can tell you that all your goals are achievable without any kind of integrators. If instead you’re stubborn (as most of us are) my advice is to concentrate your money on Whey Protein and BCAAs, because they provide a good value for money and you can quickly see results.

If you have any doubts about the assumption of supplements and about what’s recommended, shortly you’ll find a new post our team is working on.

Remember: consistency is the challenge and motivation is the solution! Keep up the good work and share with us your doubts and topics you would like us to cover.

Until next time…

Marco Sandri, Freelancer and Fitness Enthusiast