Fitness trackers are awesome little devices that can help you to gain a substantial amount of information about your habits, body function and workout intensity. That said, unless you actually use them, they don’t do anything for you. Just putting one on won’t make sure that you’re getting fitter and leaving it in a drawer will do even less. A fitness tracker is one of the weight loss products that really work, if you use them correctly that is. To make a fitness tracker work for you, you’ve got to use it like a tool, not expect it to do something for you. Furthermore, you need to keep using it, not just pay attention to it while it is still new and then tuck it away once the novelty has worn off. I’ve had several different gadgets over the years. They’ve come a long way even in the last five Read More
Tag: exercise
Are You Competitive? How I Harness This Fitness Advantage
I’m competitive. I’ve had people accuse me of it like it was a crime and I’ve had times when it has been used as a kind of praise. I can admit that it has its good side and its bad side. When it comes to fueling my drive to reach my workout goals, it’s a definite fitness advantage. Being competitive to reach fitness goals doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m competing in any formal way. I don’t need to be signed up for a competition or race – though these can be great, too. In fact, being competitive doesn’t even necessarily mean that I’m competing with someone else, though again, that has its benefits. I can be competitive with myself, trying to break my previous personal bests, I can compete with someone else at my gym or my girlfriend, or I might sign up for a local event. They all have Read More
How I Power Up Before & After A Workout
I like to use power up methods when I’m not feeling 100%. One of the things I love the most about exercising is that it gives me a lot of energy overall. On days that I exercise, I’m less likely to experience that droop in the middle of the afternoon that is so hard to kick and very frustrating when you want to get stuff done. Still, immediately after a workout, I can still feel drained for the first bit if I don’t take the right precautions. Sure, I’m more energized overall, but I still have a rough time getting started again with what needs to get done. After all, I’ve put a lot into my workout so when I’m done, I feel like flopping into a chair for a bit. Not every day, but some days. When my workout leaves me feeling like I should be spending the rest Read More
Interval Training is Working for Me: Here’s Why
I get asked a lot if high intensity interval training (HIIT) is any good and if I would recommend it. I’m all over HIIT, and I feel that every fit person should consider this type of workout. There are a lot of reasons I feel it works and that more of us should be giving it a try. The idea behind this kind of interval training is that your complete workout is made up of bursts of rapid, intense, exercise where you put everything you have into your performance, but split them up between recovery periods that are short but may be active or inactive. This kind of training helps to make sure your heart rate stays high and you blast through more body fat in a shorter period of time. This works because it raises your body’s need for oxygen during the times when you’re really going intensely into Read More