2Inspire Health & Fitness Magazine #27 - December 2021

Top 10 Ways to Motivate Your Child to Exercise Youth Boxing: A Great Cardio Workout How to Get Over Your Fear of Going to the Gym 4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Overdo Your Exercise

5 Reasons to Get Your Workout Done Early in the Day 3 Reasons Why Walking Makes Great Exercise if You’re Usually Sedentary Are Low Impact Workouts Still Effective?

2021

2Inspire Year In Reivew

2Inspirenutrition.com December 2021 FREE

INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ISSUE

2021 2Inspire Year In Review - pg. 3 Top 10 Ways to Motivate Your Child to Exercise - pg. 7 Youth Boxing: A Great Cardio Workout pg. 11 How to Get Over Your Fear of Going to the Gym- pg. 13 4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Overdo Your Exercise - pg. 16 5 Reasons to Get Your Workout Done Early in the Day - pg. 18 3 Reasons Why Walking Makes Great Exercise if You’re Usually Sedentary - pg. 20 Are Low Impact Workouts Still Effective? - pg. 22

Want to stay in shape, but also want to enjoy the holidays? This can be tricky, but this month we will share with you some of the tips & tricks to keep you and your family healthy & fit just in time for 2022.

The holidays are a stressful time of year, yea and sometimes you just need an escape. Take this opportunity to get fit with your loved ones by finding some fun ways for everyone in the family to enjoy exercising together! Find out what it takes to motivate your children to workout with you. From the benefits of youth boxing to finding out what truly drives the fitness behavior of children, its time to dedicate 2022 to the health of both you and your family. famil Figuring out what works best for you when it comes to exercising can be difficult to understand. Perhaps you need to figure out how to defeat your fear of the gym, or you tend to “overdo it” quite frequently which leaves you feeling drained & unmotivated to continue on. No matter your reason, your body will thank you for any movement that you do throughout your day, whether it be physical or mental, walking or reading, exercising can be found in so many different ways. di This month you can also read about the effectiveness of walking, working out earlier in the day, and how to know what your body needs when it comes to health and fitness.

To your health, Dennis M. Postema

Founding Editor & CEO

P.S. Make sure you let your friends and family know they can get a free subscription to 2Inspire simply by visiting our website.

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The content in 2Inspire Magazine is made available on the terms and conditions that the publisher, editors, contributors and relatied parties; shall have no responsibility for any action or omission by any other contributor, consultant, editor or related party; disclaim any and all liability and responsibility to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause; are not responsible in any way for the actions or results taken by any person, organization or any party on basis of reading information, or contributions in this publication, website or related product.

2021

There is nothing more important than your health, and that point was really hammered home aswe dealt with events in 2020. For 2021, we at 2Inspire wanted to make sure we were just as devoted to ensuring you could stay healthy and motivated to exercise and eat right, no matter what.

Let’s look at the many ways 2Inspire showed you how to stay fit, motivated and strong in any location during 2021.

January Because January is often the time when people initiate huge changes in their lives, we started the issue by sharing tips for a total fitness lifestyle shift. And because baby steps are a vital part of creating really big changes, we also covered how often you should work out if you’re not usually active and how to slowly change poor eating habits. For motivation, we shared 15 habits of highly fit people and five benefits of group fitness classes.

One of my favorite tips in this issue comes from the total fitness shift article:

2Inspire Year In Review

“The answer to successfully maintaining a diet high in nutrition and low in dangerous and even deadly chemicals and additives can be found in a simple joke:

shortcuts that never work, we discussed why using laxatives for weight loss is on the list:

“... [W]hen you take a closer look at the science behind “Question: ‘How do you eat how laxatives work, you an elephant?’ understand the problem.

“Answer: ‘One bite at a time.’ Your body assimilates cal“You can accomplish big ories very rapidly when you things with small, consistent eat. They hit your bloodefforts. If you wanted to, you stream soon after swaltruly could eat an elephant lowing. By the time any (or any other huge amount laxatives take effect, your of food) by simply taking calories are already going to one small bite at a time.” work naturally. Besides, laxatives only take water weight February out of your body.”

In February, we wanted to focus on some simple but March effective tips to give your If the recent pandemic health renovation extra help. taught us anything, it’s that One article we shared talked we need to remain flexible about health fitness and diet in our approach to fitness. hacks that provided simple For many people, going shortcuts to a fit and healthy to the gym has been a polifestyle. We also wrote tential health risk in recent about the top 10 foods that years, so we used March’s make you feel fuller for long- issue to give ideas for worker and gave some ideas for ing out outside. We talked healthy breakfast smoothies. about the fun way to get We also wanted to make fit outdoors, staying safe sure people knew about when exercising outside, weight-loss shortcuts that and choosing the right kinds don’t work, because at its of outdoor activities. core, healthiness is about lifestyle changes, not hacks. I also got the chance to sit down and talk to fitness On the topic of weight-loss competitor and model

Phoebe Davis. When I asked her about the difference between motivation and discipline, she said:

of the different types. We compared outside bicycling to stationary biking and also talked about biking to work.

“One day I came up with this quote that was the whole meaning behind this blog post that I wrote. Basically, it was, ‘Motivation comes and goes, discipline is taking action despite emotion.’ So regardless of what happens in your life, you will wake up one day and be like, ‘Yes, I’m going to hit my workout today. I’m going to give my all and hit my nutrition perfectly.’ On that day, you are motivated and disciplined because you are feeling both. The next day, you may wake up and be like, ‘I’m exhausted. I don’t want to go to work. The last thing I want to do is go to the gym.’

Now you are not motivated, but the bottom line is, if you want the results and you want to make these changes for yourself, you need to be disciplined.

April also saw me sitting down with Cabi of @getfitwithcabi. We talked about her 85-pound weight loss and how social media helps her maintain accountability.

On the topic of balancing everything, Cabi said:

“I think there’s a difference between having reasons and having excuses. Life does get in the way, and we have multiple things and stages of life that affect us.

There are times when I have to travel for work, and I will take my oatmeal to my hotel. And even if I didn’t have time to work out, I still take my workout clothes, in case I have time to work out, I’ll do it in the room or I’ll dance.

I do a lot of dancing because I like to keep myself fit through dancing. The days that I don’t have time to go out on a run, I’ll just play “There are moments, too, some music and dance and when you push yourself past sweat. So there are ways, a lack of motivation, and you you know. They say where grasp that discipline. Those there’s a will, there’s a way.” are the moments that add up over time to build that May habit of being a disciplined Family is everything to us person.” here at 2Inspire, so we focused the May issue on how April you can help your children In April, we continued the be more fit. We explored outdoor exercise trend with some reasons why childa cycle-focused issue. We hood obesity is on the rise discussed the many benefits and talked about whether of cycling as well as some obesity runs in families.

We shared tips to help you motivate your children to make healthy eating choices and to inspire your children to be active. We also talked about ways that parents can educate themselves and talked about what you should do if your child criticizes their own body.

In our article on ensuring your kids get enough physical activity, we talked about how parents need to set an example for their kids:

“If you are not regularly exercising, how can you expect your kids to do the same?

You can start small with a walk each night after dinner. On the weekends, do a physical activity that takes more time, like a bike ride or hike. If you are in an area with inclement weather during part of the year, opt for a family membership at a gym or YMCA. Many facilities have an indoor swimming pool and jogging track in addition to various exercise machines and free weights.

Ask whether your gym offers exercise classes, such as Pilates, yoga, Zumba, etc. Many places include them free of charge in your membership or charge a nominal fee to participate.”

June We know how motivating it can be to see how other people stay fit, so in this

issue, we shared 15 habits of highly fit people. We also talked about some simple lifestyle tweaks to help you lose weight while also discussing weight-loss shortcuts that never work.

To help inspire movement, we covered signs that your body is craving exercise, ways to get more active when you work in an office, and 10 ways to make exercise part of your daily routine.

One of my favorite tips from this issue was from the article covering 10 ways to make exercise part of your daily routine:

“... [F]ocus on a goal or end result, not the exercise itself.

Pretend you decided to do some body-weight exercises today—10 lunges, 10 sit-ups, 10 pull-ups and 10 push-ups. If you simply stare at the wall and count off repetitions, you can get bored and distracted before you even get started.

Instead of thinking about the exercise or physical activity you are performing, picture a mental image of your body and your mindset when you are fit and in shape. Think of how you are going to look and feel, the compliments your friends and coworkers are going to shower you with. In other words, keep the goal of your physical fitness in sight at all times.”

July Not everyone has a lot of time or experience exercising, so in July we talked about the best types of exercise for sedentary people and provided some ideas for effective 10-minute workouts. We also discussed some heart-healthy foods and researched whether caffeine can boost workout performance.

August As the 2021 summer breathed its last, we reviewed the top 12 outdoor exercises to replace the gym and discussed why outdoor exercise boosts mood more than indoor exercise.

We also talked about overcoming common struggles to start exercising when you’re obese and finding your “why” for getting fit.

My colleague and fellow fitness devotee Kevin Schoen stopped by to talk about attaining workout consistency and simplicity. During our interview, he gave a couple of tips for those who struggle to make fitness a consistent part of their lifestyle:

I also sat down with BossUp Babe, weight loss and wellness expert Karissa Adkins, to talk about fitness, and she helped me understand what “bossing up” means to her:

“First, get into the habit of actually holding yourself accountable. Come up with some kind of plan. Are you going to go to a gym? Are you going to work out at home or some kind of combination of those? Figure out what that’s going to be. Then secure your gym membership or your home equipment, set it up, and figure out what exercises you’re going to do.

“Bossing up is doing anything that scares the living crap out of you. Bossing up is that moment when you’re like, ‘Should I, or should I not?’ It takes courage, but it’s our job. It’s our responsibility in life to boss up. We can either choose to stay stuck or to boss up and become the best version of ourselves, whether that’s with our health, our personal lives, our businesses—it doesn’t matter, the choice is yours.”

September As colder weather enters “Next, try to work out at the the scene, we know it can same time every day. When- be more difficult to mainever you do it, whether tain exercise motivation. that’s three days a week or So in September, we talked five days a week or six days a about why a sedentary week, do it around the same lifestyle is bad for your mentime.” tal health and how to bust past a fitness plateau. We also discussed whether it’s

unhealthy to do the same workouts over and over again and gave some tips on tracking and measuring your fitness.

I was so excited this month to talk to ultra-endurance racer Leah Goldstein about what it’s like to rain for an ultra-endurance race:

“You can’t really physically train for an ultra-endurance race because you have 12 days to finish it. So in a 48hour period, you’re sleeping from zero to three hours. In any ultra-endurance race, it’s 30% physical and 70% mental. To give you an example, say you and I went to a race and you were 100% fit and ready, but mentally, you were kind of broken. Let’s say I’m not so fit but mentally 100%. I can guarantee you, hands down, I’ll beat you. It’s a matter of being able to push yourself beyond your limits and learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

October We took the opportunity in October to introduce some different exercise options, High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and Tabata. We also talked about whether walking improves your fitness and talked about how exercise boosts self-confidence. We also talked about whether cardio or strength training was best for dealing with anxiety.

I interviewed award-winning bodybuilder and former Miss Arab USA Nebras Hayek, and when I asked her what attracted her to bodybuilding, she said:

and discussed some simple lifestyle tweaks to improve your fitness. Since not everyone finds working out fun, we talked about ways to combat boredom when exercising and how strength “I was working on this fitness training could improve your show awhile back. When I daily life. first moved to Charlotte, I’d go to new yoga studios or In our article about how to AIR Fit, where you have the get fit when you can’t afford curtain hanging from the the gym, this was one of my ceiling and you do yoga favorite tips: on it, and I started taking on new fitness challenges “One super easy and surand having people record prisingly effective way of them. I’d post the videos on improving your fitness is my YouTube channel just to finding ways to show people experiences I’d become more active as you had for the first time. go about your day. Walk as “Then one person told me, much as you can (e.g., take ‘Why don’t you just do your legs to the coffee/grobodybuilding?’ That was in, cery store instead of driving, like, 2018, and I was like, ‘No, park a short distance away that’s not for me.’ Because from your work building, when I thought of bodyetc.), take the stairs instead building, I’d think, ‘I don’t of the elevator, take your want to look too muscular kids to the park regularly and masculine, I still want and play energetic games to look feminine.’ Then the with them, or sign up for a person said, ‘You can sporting game you enjoy. do bikini.’ So I looked into When done often, any it and said, ‘Actually, that’s form of physical activity that exactly what I do. I like liftgets your heart rate up, even ing,’ so that became my for just a few minutes at a thing.” time, can do wonders for your overall fitness.”

November Understanding that the As we bid goodbye to holiday season can chal2021, we can’t help but get lenge even the most depumped for what’s coming voted healthy eater, in this in 2022. I can’t wait issue we gave readers 10 for you to see the amazing ways to keep holiday stress fitness and diet tips, exercise at bay. We also looked at motivation and inspirational how much exercise it takes interviews and stories we to experience a mood boost have headed your way!

Top 10 Ways to Motivate Your Child to Exercise If you have a hard time keeping your kids physically fit, you are not alone. Studies show that 1 in 3 children today are overweight or obese. And they are not alone. The National Center for Health Statistics released a report in 2009 that revealed a shocking statistic. Since the 1970s, obesity in children and adults has more than doubled in the United States. And the US is far from the only modern country that has this problem.

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The Nielsen Company reports that children as young as 2 to 5 years

old watch more than 4.5 hours of television each and every day. Children 6 to 8 years of age watch 4.0 hours of TV daily, and when your children are between 9 and 18 years old, they are glued to the TV screen 4.5 hours every day. Add the prevalence of smartphones, handheld gaming consoles, laptops, computers and tablets and it is amazing that your child gets any exercise at all.

The deadly negatives of a sedentary lifestyle are many. Obesity, heart disease, poor social skills and a shorter lifespan

are just a few of the downsides of getting little exercise. You as a parent understand the benefits of moving, exercising and working out. Heart health, skin tone, strength, social skills, mental functioning and self-esteem are all improved when human beings get up and get moving. But it is not always easy to keep your child motivated where exercise is concerned.

Employ the following 10 tips with your children, and you will find them ready and willing to exercise and stay fit on a regular basis.

1 - Practice what you preach and lead by example

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If there is a dog park in your city, this becomes a fun way to get your child socializing with animal Your children often act like lovers and others their age, they want to have nothing and Fido benefits as well. to do with you. But the truth is, all kids look up to The daily habit of walking their parents, as long as the dog can also work as mom and dad are acting a physical fitness exercise as positive role models. when it is adapted to When your child sees you other pets as well. Just begin to transform your 15 minutes of play time body and energy levels by with your cat does both exercising, she wants to your child and the animal get involved as well. a lot of good. And if you have an outdoor cat, this If you begin exercising provides your child a regularly, you will also find chance to get a healthy opportunities for healthy dose of sunshine and fresh conversation. Explain to air. your child that you work out and exercise even 3 - Get their friends when you don’t feel like involved it, because of the rewards.

Remind them how good There are countless they feel after they have studies that show the exercised, and lead by power of working out or example. Your chances exercising with a partner. of keeping your child Both parties motivate each motivated to enjoy some other, and excuses are not type of physical fitness will usually accepted. You can improve dramatically. use this motivational tool with your child also. Host a 2 – Get Fido involved backyard game of kickball or badminton for your Why not turn taking children and their friends. the dog for a walk into a chance for a physical If you have a nearby fitness lesson? The dog park, baseball diamond has to be walked every or soccer field, volunteer day anyway, so get your to spend a Saturday kids involved. This is also sponsoring a day of fun a great way to teach your competition. Provide children responsibility. healthy drinks and snacks,

take care of the driving duties, and you will find you are a big hit with the parents of your kid’s friends, while also earning the thanks and admiration of your children.

4 - Make it a family affair This is really an offshoot of the first tip. By making exercise a family activity, you ensure that your children do not want to be left out. Don’t forget that exercise can mean a simple walk around the block, scheduling a fun picnic on a sunny day, or playing catch in the backyard.

Each member of the family should be allowed to choose a particular physical activity that the whole family takes part in once a week, or once a month. When you join your children in working out, exercising and keeping fit, you strengthen your bond as a family.

There are obvious physical benefits for sure, but the bonus of becoming closer as a family unit may be the best benefit of all.

5 - Use older siblings as role models Children often times look up to their older brothers

and sisters. If you have older children that excel in sports and love exercising and getting outdoors, their younger siblings may look up to them. Use that older child as a positive role model for exercise.

You can even get them involved motivating their younger brothers and sisters.

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as proper motivators for instilling consistent behavior, even with kids.

Instead of browbeating and using negative comments with your children when they do not exercise, encourage them with positive statements when they do. You may also attach the performance of This ensures that your proper behavior to how children spend time many hours per week together. It also provides your children can watch your older kids with a TV or spend time on wonderful mentoring their computer. Children experience. The younger do crave discipline and child wants to emulate the structure, and punishment positive behavior of the in some form will always older sibling, and the older have its place. But positive child enjoys taking his little motivation makes both brother or sister under you and your child feel his wing. This situation better, and boosts selfprovides excellent esteem as well as physical bonding and emotional health. rewards, as well as physical ones.

7 - Take the family camping 6 - Motivate with a carrot instead of a stick When you mention the words “exercise” and There is an old idiom that “working out” to your refers to a “carrot and stick” children, they sometimes motivational approach. make a face like they just The idea is to use both ate a lemon. Structured punishment and rewards exercise is excellent for to get the type of behavior your child’s health. But an you are looking for. But in activity like camping for almost all scenarios, you a weekend can easily be will catch more flies with viewed as physical fitness. sugar than you will with And we are not talking vinegar. Rewards generally about spending the time outperform punishments away in some plush resort.

Pitching tents, collecting firewood, setting up and breaking down camp, these are all activities which are very physical in nature. Just about every part of camping is physical. So your child benefits from exercise, but your family strengthens in other ways as well.

Teamwork is encouraged, and you have a wonderful opportunity to teach your children about nature.

Taking the family camping or fishing can provide so many more lifetime benefits than just physical fitness.

8 – Play dirty If you want your child to get fired up about exercising, let them get wet and dirty. Biking or running through water and mud is usually a nono. From a very young age, your child remembers you preaching to them to stay out of puddles. You are always telling them to keep their clothes clean, and this goes against what most kids inherently

enjoy doing. So why not promote a play date were getting dirty, muddy and filthy is encouraged?

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child that loves to play basketball, but he does not have his own basketball goal. Or it could be that your kid loves bike Playing flag football, riding, but her bicycle is baseball, softball or soccer old and beaten up, an on a rainy, messy field is an embarrassment for her to activity that many children be seen on, and is always dream of. The thought breaking down. In some of slipping and sliding cases, your child shows around in dirt, mud and an inclination to exercise. water with your blessing is Count yourself lucky if something so intoxicating this is the case. If you are children dare not dream the fortunate parent of it could happen. This also a child that wants to be plays on the theme of not active but can’t, tighten using traditional exercise up your budget and make routines as the tool the appropriate purchase which provides physical to encourage your child’s fitness. Just be prepared healthy pastime. when your kids’ parents complain that your messy Your child’s lack of play encouragement has motivation to keep their children begging to moving might just be get involved as well. relieved with a simple purchase, so make it 9 – Break out the plastic happen. Sit down and have a conversation with Maybe you have a your kids. Ask them what

type of sports or exercise equipment they would use on a frequent basis.

Then you can make an intelligent purchase that will keep your child motivated to stay active and healthy.

10 – Keep track of their progress Any time that you exercise on a consistent basis, you should track several physical metrics.

Depending on the particular exercise or physical activity your child is enjoying, you want to measure and record things like amounts of time, how fast they ran, how many goals they scored and other applicable factors.

This can help motivate your child greatly when they see themselves enjoying physical improvements on a regular basis. You will also want to note your child’s accomplishments in school. Consistent exercise has been shown to increase your child’s mental abilities as well as physical.

Youth Boxing: A Great Cardio Workout

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Boxing teaches not only physical strength but also mental strength.

While they are moving in the ring, they are always thinking about their next working. Over time, they’ll find out that they run out move. This takes focus, which many young people of breath less easily and are able to stay in the ring don’t have the hang of yet.

Learning how to focus is longer. helpful in the classroom.

Boxing is a great resistance They concentrate on what the teacher is saying and With the incidence of workout. Just practicing do their work instead of childhood obesity on the on the bag, doing pushrise, something has to ups, crunches and sparring participating in distracting be done to get our kids teach young pugilists how behavior. moving. One of the ways to perfect their stance that kids can get a good There is also an element and use their muscles. In workout and have some addition, they get to have of discipline in boxing. fun is through boxing. Kids fun with kids their own You have to know when love to hit things when we age. to strike and when to hold don’t want them to. How back. You also have to about encouraging them What about the emotional listen to your coach. This to hit for a change? is useful when it comes to benefits of boxing? Kids using the same courtesy are constantly learning Youth boxing programs and manners with and growing. While they work for kids of all ages. are trying to discover just teachers and parents.

Once seen as a way to who they are, their selfchannel anger in kids confidence may take a hit. Besides all of these with emotional or societal benefits, kids love to issues, boxing can help Learning to master their compete and succeed. any child to make great body provides a boost Boxing teaches success strides in their lives. for their self-esteem. on a personal level. Even As they learn more and if you only win a few First, let’s talk about the accomplish more in the matches, you have learned physical health benefits. ring, their self-confidence how to master your body When you box, you are increases. They also and your emotions. Visit a always moving. That is learn how to manage boxing gym near you to how you stay away from their stress and anger see if this sport is right for your opponent’s blows. for a better emotional your child.

That constant motion adjustment in social keeps the heart and lungs situations.

Many kids these days are too sedentary.

Technology has kept them indoors watching television and playing video games. For a kid, as well as for the rest of us, getting proper physical exercise is important.

Have you ever considered boxing?

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How to Get Over Your Fear of Going to the Gym

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Gym intimidation - the fear one feels when first stepping inside a gym to exercise. It is real for some people and can be so powerful that people experience symptoms ranging from anxiety to a full-blown panic attack just by walking through the doorway. For those people, going there one time is enough and they quit, which is a shame because for many it could be their ticket to finally making the decision to get healthy.

Let’s start with the last one first. If you are significantly overweight and out-ofshape because you have been out of the exercise game for a while, it is easy to get intimidated by seeing all of the fit bodies sweating it up in their tight-fitting workout clothes.

But in most gyms, it doesn’t matter what you look like in workout clothes because they … don’t … care. As a matter of fact, you can use their looks as motivation of In cases of apprehension, it what you could look like is the person experiencing in a few months from now. So put on that tight it and usually not the moisture-wicking colorother people inside the splashed exercise outfit gym. In most gyms, the people working out are so and get started! After a few times of going to the self-centered (and not in gym, your fear should a bad way) in what they are doing, that they never subside knowing you pay attention to you. And deserve to be there as if the truth be known even much as anyone else. if they would notice you, they would admire you for 2) Not knowing how to use the machines and coming in to try to lose a few pounds, tone up and equipment get healthy.

This fear is almost as

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strong in people who People are scared of gyms are afraid to embarrass for various reasons, but the themselves by not two most common are: knowing how to use the equipment or are 1) Ashamed of physical afraid they will break the appearance equipment.

First, you won’t break the equipment, however not knowing how to use it properly can result in it breaking you, meaning if not used properly, gym equipment can be dangerous. But fear not – just ask a personal trainer to show you how to use each piece you are not familiar with the first time. Fear gone as you now know how to use it safely and know you won’t embarrass yourself or break something.

So with those two intimidations resolved, what is holding you back? If you find the gym not friendly toward you, try another one. In the U.S. two different gym companies advertise themselves as not being intimidating, so they cater particularly to people who are scared of the gym environment at first.

There really is no valid excuse not to join a gym and start your journey toward a healthier you.

Just think a few months from now, you could be one of the role models in your gym for others to admire!

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4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Overdo Your Exercise

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more pointedly why do more to try and break through it. What is needed you over exercise? You should work out because is less training. you want to get fit and healthy, not because you The body has a built-in want to fit into size 2 jeans mechanism where it will stall weight loss if it thinks when you are a size 12 losing more weight could now. be detrimental. Rest or Be realistic in your goals. at least back-off on your No amount of working training as the remedy.

Give your muscles time out will get you to an to recover unrealistic goal. The end Prevent burnout result of overdoing your exercising will be burnout When we exercise, Some people train so – both physically and especially strength hard in an effort to reach mentally. The body cannot training, small tears called their fitness goals that sustain overtraining. micro-tears occur in the they actually do not muscle fiber. As these look forward to training repair themselves, the anymore. Everything in life Instead, train realistically muscle becomes stronger is about moderation and if and eat healthy nourishing and bigger. However, if training is taking up much food in the right portions. you don’t give the muscle more than its fair share By maintaining a rest, it won’t have time 500-calorie per day deficit, of your time, eventually to recover. Most experts you’ll lose about a pound you will start avoiding agree that one day of rest working out altogether. per week. Once at goal, per week is needed to rest The remedy? burn the same number and repair muscles. of calories as taken in to maintain your goal weight.

Include at least one day If you keep your training Prevent a stall in your of rest per week as part of regimen the same this weight-loss efforts your workout schedule. means adding in about As far as the length of a 500 more calories per day By exercising, people think workout, do what is right to your diet. that is the best way to for you so that you can burn more calories than still look forward to each they eat and as a result Fitness should not be workout. lose weight. But in reality, about a number on the one can over-exercise scale, but about having Working out for the and actually hit the toned muscles, being wrong reasons infamous plateau. When healthy and feeling good this happens, the general about oneself.

Why do you exercise or tendency is to train even In an effort to lose weight, build muscles, or any other reason why you exercise, sometimes you may overdo it … intentionally or otherwise. Doing so can have some serious side effects. Exercising realistically can provide these benefits.

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5 Reasons to Get Your Workout Done Early in the Day

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Some of us are morning people and some are not.

However, morning is the best time of day to get in a workout for several reasons. Here are five you may want to consider: Reduce stress Exercising regardless of the time of day releases endorphins and dopamine, and reduces the amount of cortisol in your bloodstream.

By doing your workouts in the morning, you’ll go to work in a better mood and happier because of the “endorphin rush” which can last up to 39 hours. Not only will your coworker relationships improve, but so will your productivity.

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as we all know in the end sap our energy and raise havoc with our waistline.

Sleep better Studies have proved it over and over. Those who exercise in the morning sleep better than people who exercise at other times of the day (or not at all). Both your quantity and quality of sleep will improve. Researchers are

Another day slips by without exercising. Soon, not exercising becomes the norm instead of the exception and it gets harder and harder to get in a workout.

Spend more time with family

This is perhaps the number one reason for exercising early in the day. If you get up early, why not get your workout in right away or on the way to work. The rest of your family is still sleeping and won’t miss you. By trying to get a workout done on the way home from work, you are missing out on quality time with your wife and kids. It may not sound like a big deal now, but it is Have more energy not sure why this happens, something you’ll regret but why fight results. We as you get older – not A workout first thing in can all use better sleep. spending more time with the morning ramps up our your family. metabolism and keeps it You won’t run out of at a higher level for up to time These are just five of the 24 hours afterward. Not more important reasons only does this increase Doing a workout right why you should get your your energy level, but away in the morning locks workout done right away burns more calories than in time to get it done. If in the morning. There if you would not have hit done late in the day or are others too numerous the gym. Exercising in the after work, you might to mention here; be morning has also proved not have the time or assured you’ll be better off to reduce cravings, which energy left to do anything. exercising in the morning.

3 Reasons Why Walking Makes Great Exercise if You’re Usually Sedentary

Walking is without a doubt the ideal exercise for sedentary people to do. Not only does it help one improve his/her health, but also results in weight loss with little to no investment in equipment.

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1) Improved Health Results of several studies have all proven the same thing – a regular walking program reduces the risk of getting diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosisrelated falls.

Sedentary people tend to have elevated blood sugar levels when uncontrolled. However walking, when coupled with a sensible healthy eating plan, reduces the risk of high blood sugar, known as pre-diabetes, and in many cases the individual can come off of the medication necessary to control it.

Even moderate intensity exercise like walking, lowers the risk of heart disease. However oddly enough, intense walking does not lower the risk much more that moderate walking, proving that just getting out and walking at a brisk pace reduces the risk.

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While walking does not cure osteoporosis, it does counteract the effects of having it – namely reducing the risk of falls which can result in bone breakage. Walking strengthens the muscles supporting joints and improves balance and flexibility, thus increasing

stability and reducing the chances of falling.

2) Weight Loss As far as weight is concerned, part of being sedentary usually ranges being at least overweight to obese. As you know, this brings on a range of health problems itself, however exercising like walking helps burn off calories. If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight. A weekly deficit of 3,500 will result in a pound lost. Broken down, this averages out to 500 calories per day.

A 200-pound person walking 30 minutes per day at 3 mph will burn about 150 calories. The other 350 calories are easily attained through healthy low-calorie food choices.

3) No Equipment Required

lot and walk in the rest of the way. This works whether at work, the grocery store or shopping mall.

If you take public transportation to work, get off a stop or two before or after your closest stop and walk in the rest of the way. When faced with the choice of taking the elevator or stairs, choose the stairs.

Other Reasons No membership required - Unlike many other forms of exercise, no gym membership is required either. Walk for free in a local park, hiking trails or just around the block in your neighborhood.

Walk with a friend - If motivation is an issue, start walking with a friend or neighbor that wants to exercise too. Being responsible to each other is a great motivator to not missing a walking session because each of you don’t want to let the other person down.

Walking can be done almost anywhere. All you really need is a good pair of walking shoes fitted to your feet. A pedometer is nice to have to track how many steps you are taking Because of its simplicity per day, but not necessary. and the health benefits derived, walking makes With some thought, it a great exercise to start is easy to maximize the with when coming number of steps taken off a sedentary period each day. For example, and getting back in the park at the far end of the exercise game.

Are Low Impact Workouts Still Effective?

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Low impact workouts are easy on your joints, but that doesn’t make them easy on fat cells! If you’re wondering whether or not low-impact workouts are still effective for muscle building and weight loss, have no doubt. Low impact does not equate to low intensity. You can workup quite a sweat while burning calories and even toning your muscles-all without putting a lot of impact on your joints.

Low impact workouts are all about going easy on your joints, which is especially beneficial for people with joint pain and mobility issues as it is. However, low impact workouts remain the favorite type of exercise for people across every ability and age group because they’re thought to be better for your body 23

can imagine how many overall. After all, why put undue stress on your joints calories competitive swimmers burn during a when you don’t need to? tournament or even their All of this in mind, warm-up. Swimming is while some low impact actually one of the best workouts are certainly low workouts you can do, intensity, not all of them professionally or in your have to be. A popular free time. example of a low impact, Aside from walking and low intensity workout swimming, other low could be an easy stroll through the park. Even this impact workouts of will burn calories, without varying intensity include yoga, pilates, and any type elevating your heart rate of mat-based exercise too much or putting where you won’t be doing stress on your joints.

However, you can also go a lot of jumping. Running and jumping are the two easy on your joints while effectively burning calories highest impact moves you can do and, while effective fast. One example of a low impact, high intensity at burning calories, they’re best avoided if you want workout is swimming. to avoid impact. However, In fact, any exercise you do you can actually make in the water is generally most any high-impact low impact since the water move a low-impact works to cushion your one by simply doing it movements and, therefore, on a rebounder (mini protect your joints from trampoline) or another impact. Of course, you cushiony surface.