How To Make Workouts Fun: 7 Tips That Work!

By Marie Sanchez 

Working out naturally produces endorphins, enhances your mood, and effectively sheds weight. Yet, some people avoid the gym like the plague. Why? Maybe it's just not that fun.

Many people lose their motivation to exercise before they even get started. They have numerous excuses such as they're too tired, there's not enough time, the gym is boring, etc.
However, if you want to get in good physical shape, consistent exercise is imperative to your fitness routine no matter if it is stretching, weight resistance or cardio. Ideally, you need to devote
a minimum of 20 minutes a day to keep (or get) your body in top physical form.

If your current workout routine has lost its appeal or you're simply bored with it, try the following 7 tips to liven things up to rejuvenate your fitness goals.

1. Tired Of Your Same, Uninspiring Cardio Workout?

Take a break from your typical cardio workout and go out dancing for the night. An entire night of intense dancing will burn an insane amount of calories (without the alcohol of course).

Dancing is a fun, exhilarating and exciting change of pace to a boring routine cardio workout. Not only is dancing enjoyable, it works every part of your body in addition to significantly increasing your heart rate to enhance your cardio health. So, put on your dancing shoes, hit the dance floor instead of the gym, and dance those calories away!

2. Be Aware Of Your Willpower - And Use It

How many times have you heard the phrase, "I'll do my workout tomorrow"? Don't wait too long since tomorrow never comes. You must draw strength from your willpower and do it today.

Re-work your schedule so that you will always have time to get a 20-minute workout in every day. Once you get accustomed to it, it will simply become a part of your daily routine.

3. Develop Your Own Personal Mantra Relative To Your Health Goals

Your mindset toward reaching your fitness goals is just as important as the physical aspect of your workout routine. Enthusiasm and self-assuredness play a key role in achieving your goals.

Create a few special mantras and let them play repeatedly in your mind while you workout to remind yourself why you are working so hard. For example: "I'm going to look like a million dollars in my favorite bikini this summer!"

4. Blog About Your Fitness Goals And How You Are Progressing

Start a blog to follow your own points of progress or join an online fitness forum to learn new ideas and techniques relative to your particular health objectives.

Blogging creates accountability and answerability to yourself and the others you interact with online. You will gain insight from a community that is driven by the same aspirations and passions that you have. Not only will others inspire and motivate you, but you will inspire, motivate and encourage them as well.

5. Change Up Your Workout Regimen

Every now and then, changing your surroundings to keep your motivation going in relation to working out is necessary.

Since most gyms are typically boring and somewhat unimaginative, indulge yourself to a change of pace by experimenting with a new dance studio; or get outside to play a refreshing outdoor sport.

6. A Love And Hate Relationship

Many people absolutely despise going to the gym and working out even though they know how beneficial it is to their health. On the other hand, most people love to watch television. So, why not combine the two to ease your time spent in the gym?

While you are exercising, turn on your favorite TV program to pass the time quicker as you burn off those calories. It's a win-win situation!

7. Set Up A Little Friendly Competition

Make your time in the gym a bit more interesting. Initiate a friendly wager with a workout buddy and compete for a predetermined prize. Whichever one of you hits their target first gets the reward for whatever you are competing for. It could be something as simple as a new tube of lipstick, or something with higher stakes such as a buying a new outfit for the winner of your competitive venture.

Want to have a body-to-die-for and fit into that figure hugging dress or sexy bikini? Get tips on how to tone your body at UrbaneWomen and get trim and fit... fast!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marie_Sanchez

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How and What to Eat Before/After Weight Training Workouts

By Abdul Matynne 

This particularly holds true if you are trying to sculpt your body through weight training routines. While a wholesome and well balanced diet is crucial, you will need to ensure that you are giving your body the specific food types that are needed to build muscle tissue. So, here is a look at what you ought to be eating before and after weight training workouts.
 Inside This Article I will Reveal you:
1. What is a good pre weight training food?
2. Pre-workout snacks
3. What is good post exercise food?
4. Post-workout meals
5. What should you drink post-workout? and
6. How much protein should you take when weight training?

1. What is a good pre weight training food?

Working out on a full tummy can lead to gastric distress; however, it is also essential that you give your body the right type and amount of fuel to prepare it for a grueling session. Regardless of how efficacious your exercise regimen is, it will prove futile if your body is starved of vital nutrients.

So, eat a heavy meal of 600 to 800 calories 3 to 4 hours before weight training. This will ensure that you get the proper nutrition and the food is digested before you start working out. As you get closer to your workout time, choose smaller snacks, opting for a liquid meal an hour before the session that will give the body all the glucose that it needs. You can consume a small snack of 400 to 500 calories about 2 to 3 hours before weight training.

Remember to avoid food items that cause gas build up in the digestive tract such as beans and broccoli. Your meals should comprise of a wholesome amount of carbs, protein and very little fat. Replenishing your body with the right amount of fluids is also essential; consume no less than 17 to 20 ounces of fluids 3 to 4 hours before weight training and follow it with another 7 to 10 ounces a few minutes before the workout to get the body prepared for the taxing session.

2. Pre-workout snacks

• A whole grain toast with a spoon of peanut
• butter
• Fruit juices
• Cereal with low fat milk
• Minestrone soup
• Yoghurt with fruits
• Salad with light/low fat dressing
• Chicken breast with whole wheat bread
• Fruits
• Grilled chicken with pasta (whole wheat)
• Steamed vegetables

You can also combine these snacks to create a complete meal that includes chicken breast with pasta, a salad for starter and fruits for dessert.
3. What is good post exercise food?

The type of food that you eat right after weight training will have a huge impact on how well and fast you build muscles. Nutrition is important to help your body recover from the strenuous exercise regimen and regain the lost nutrients.

As a matter of fact, the first sixty minutes after the workout session are the body's golden hour, when the glycogen stored in the cells is used up and the enzymes responsible for the conversion of glucose to glycogen are highly active.

So, any sugar consumption is diverted directly to the muscle tissue to replenish the lost glycogen. A post workout meal also performs the vital function of replacing the lost fluids and rehydrating the body. You should give your body a diet rich in fluids, potassium and other minerals and vitamins along with carbs and protein for quick recovery.

Food items such as brown rice, whole grain breads, popcorn, potatoes, fruits etc are rich in carbohydrates and help to replete the glycogen stores. Ideally, you should consume at least 50-100 gm. of carbs post workout.

You should also include lean proteins found in chicken and turkey breast and tuna in your meals; these help in muscle rebuilding. Bananas, raisins and potatoes are a rich source of potassium, so they help to replace the mineral lost during workout. You should also include lots of fluids in the post workout diet to rehydrate the body. Try to consume 20 ounces of water for every pound of body weight after an exercise routine.

4. Post-workout meals

• Sandwiches made from two slices of whole
• wheat bread with a lean protein in between and any type of veggies are easy
• to make, taste great and will give your body all the nutrition it needs.
• Baked chicken breast with rice or pasta
• A bagel with peanut butter
• Potato steamed or baked with a topping of low fat cheese and some fruit.

5. What should you drink post-workout?

A lot of people have trouble eating a big meal after an intense weight training routine. If you are one of them, you should consider using a post-workout recovery drink. These preparations help to replace the lost fluids and the glycogen store in the body.

While there are several products available in the market that can simply be mixed with water to make a wholesome post workout drink, you could also whip up a delicious recovery drink at home with regular ingredients found in your refrigerator. Simply use 1 scoop of whey protein in any flavor of your liking, ¾ cup low fat milk and one banana; blend it all together to make a refreshing smoothie.

6. Is sugar good after weight training workout?

Liquid carbs and even sugar that eventually gets turned into glycogen are essential nutrients in the post-workout period. After an intensive routine, your body will have used a lot of the stored glycogen which will need to be replenished quickly to keep you going.

When you drink liquid carbs with a high glycemic index, you give the muscles all the nutrition they need when they are in a state to soak up the carbs fast. The glycemic carbs also spike up the insulin level in the body.

This will ensure that the carbohydrates are directly sent to the muscle cells.

7. How much protein should you take when weight training?

This is a very common question coming from people interested in muscle building. While protein is crucial for the repair and rebuilding of muscle tissue, overloading on protein will not help as it will simply be flushed out of the system.

Most people with average weight do not need more than 70 gm. of protein each day. If you are into muscle building, you can increase the daily recommended dose to 140 gm. but it would be best to not exceed that amount. Although excess protein will not harm healthy people, it will prove detrimental for individuals who suffer from renal problems and also those who are overweight or diabetic.
How insulin affects weight training?

Insulin is an important storage hormone that redirects the various nutrients to their right places; for instance, insulin is responsible for storing the glucose from the food into the liver and the muscle cells while the amino acids are used for muscle tissue repair and build up. Diabetics develop a condition known as insulin resistance in which the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the hormone fails to store glucose in the cells; this is one of the primary reasons why diabetes may lead to weight gain and vice versa.

A post and pre work out diet and recovery drinks which are rich in protein and glycemic carbs illicit a very strong response from insulin which results in a powerful anabolic muscle building period. It is normal for body builders to manipulate the amount of insulin in the body through proper diet, exercise and even supplementation.

Regardless of your fitness goals, nutrition is vital and unless you eat properly, you will not be able to build muscle or even lose weight. It is particularly important for people struggling with obesity to understand that starving yourself will not lead to weight loss, instead the metabolic rate will slow down in response making it more difficult to lose weight.

If you are not sure about the food items that you should eat before and after weight training regimens, get in touch with a nutritionist for proper guidance. While weight training is hard, it can yield stupendous results when combined with appropriate dietary practices.

Abdul Matynne is the author of the ebook, "The Ten Commandments of Weight Training", a guide with Muscle Building Nutrition and Workout Plans.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abdul_Matynne

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How Often Should You Do Ab Exercise Workouts?

By Jon Dyer 

Developing killer abs is one of the most universally desired fitness goals. Regardless whether you want huge muscles, toned muscles, or better fitness overall, you likely want to develop your abdominals. Maybe a six pack isn't your end-goal; but you likely want a tighter mid-section.
I fall in the six pack camp.
Fortunately, I've been working out my abs for many years, so my abs are well-developed. Even if I have some extra fat, they show up decently.

Developing abdominal strength is more than just about looking good

Having strong abs (or a strong core as some people refer to it) is not only attractive, it's healthy and good for your spine. It helps with your posture, which in turn is good for your back.

Moreover, if you've set six pack abs as a goal, it's a great motivator for sticking to your diet. It's a very concrete and visual motivator.

So, how often should you work out your abs?

You can certainly work them out more than once per week. Some people do abs every day they work out (i.e. 4 to 6 times per week). In my view, that's a little too often. Instead, I do 2 to 3 ab workouts each week, but I make those workouts count. In other words, I pound my abs really well.
Therefore, 1 to 3 times per week is good.

Designing Ab Workouts

Ab workouts should be balanced. By balanced, I'm referring to targeting upper, lower and side abs. Admittedly, I hit my upper and lower abs more than my side abs... but I do incorporate side ab exercises.

My favorite ab exercises (but the most difficult usually) are those that work out both upper and lower abs at the same time. Examples of these exercises are:

• V-Crunches (a.k.a. Jack Knives)
• Scissor Swings
• Ab Wheel
• Log Rolls (with exercise/stability ball)
• Bicycle Crunches

Any ab exercise where you crunch or move together your lower and upper body at the same time.
How many exercises, sets and reps should ab workouts be?

Reps

I tend to do higher rep counts for my ab sets than other weight lifting exercises. I usually shoot for 8 to 20 reps, depending on the exercise. If, for example, I can do 40 to 50 reps of a particular exercise (such as a crunch), I add a difficulty factor to it such as decline crunches or V-crunches. Another way to make a particular exercise more difficult is to superset it. For example, I may do Scissor swings first, followed by basic ab crunches.

Exercises & Sets

I like doing a variety of ab exercises in any ab workout. I'll incorporate at least 4 exercises during an ab workout. For each exercise I'll do 2 sets. Sometimes I superset my ab exercises, which means I'll do two or three ab exercises back-to-back with no rest in between.

I go by feel

Generally, my ab workouts vary every time with respect to exercise order, rep count, superset arrangement and duration (i.e. number of sets). I really go by feel. I know when my abs are done and that's when I stop.

 I'm not nearly as regimented with my ab workouts as I am with resistance training of my other body parts.
Generally, my ab routine will last 10 to 20 minutes. I take very little rest during the routine.
Another type of ab workout is...

Yoga core workouts. I've done yoga classes with a focus on core that absolutely blew my mind. I couldn't do it all, and I've been working out my abs for years. Yoga core work can be incredibly intense. If you want to do some serious abdominal development, try a yoga routine that focuses on working out your core. It will blow your mind (and you'll get in some stretching as well).

What about incorporating resistance in an ab workout?

Adding a resistance element to your ab workout is excellent. You can use the ab machine, Ab Coaster, wrist/ankle weights, medicine balls, weight plates... you name it, to seriously increase intensity. This can supercharge your ab development.

Ab exercises are for everyone

Even the yoga crowd is into ab exercises. Regardless of your fitness goals, ab exercises should form a part of your fitness regimen.

Next, click here for 12 free intense abdominal workouts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Dyer

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Easy Fat Burning Workouts

By Nathaniel Altimus 

Everyone today turns to diets in order to lose weight. Similarly the other easy way to lose weight would be to burn these calories!

And how do you do that? By exercising. Whether you decide to choose to buy one of the many different exercising machines in
the market or choose to try out certain fitness work out programs, the choice is all yours.

One great option would be for you to join a gym. This has several advantages. While being able to try out different exercise machines that will help your body in different ways, you would also have a trainer to guide you. Having a fitness trainer really helps, as he/she would help you keep to your work out routines, and you will be better disciplined with someone watching over you.

You would need to burn more calories than the amount of calories that you take in. The best fat burning workouts will achieve this easily. It would take you a lot of energy and effort to see good results.

When it comes to fat burning workouts, there are different options for both males and females. This is because our bodies are structured differently, and what would work for a man may not always work for a female body. You could also choose to burn the fat in just certain places of your body, by choosing fat burning workouts that deal with those particular areas.

Fat burning workouts can also be found on video, if you are unable to visit a gym regularly. These videos will help you burn fat and lose weight with the help of a professional instructor who will guide you the work out session. Whether you decide to use a treadmill or go for a jog outside, cardio workouts have also been known to give great results. All you would need is 30 minutes in a day to have a good proper workout. Do not start off with high intensity fat burning workouts as your body may not be used to it just yet.

The key to seeing good results from these fat burning workouts is to be constant at it. You cannot expect to be involved in fat burning workouts for just a week and then discontinue them as they are a long process.

 You must also keep an eye on your calorie intake. You must eat healthy. Exercising alone would never help.
A great way to lose calories is by building more muscle. Spend time on this. You could do this by adding light weights to your work out routines.

If this helped you I have more interesting tips on how to lose belly fat right here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nathaniel_Altimus

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