What is a good but simple fitness routine that someone can do at home?

Hi, I’m 17 and kinda thin and I’ve decided that this summer I would build up some muscle…
I don’t live close to any good gyms so I’ll only be able to go to one occasionally…
What’s a good but simple fitness routine that can be done at home to build up some muscle? Thanks…

Cardio; your daily therapeutic dose for feeling better

 

Paramount to any gym workout should be cardio. Although this isn’t life changing news, it can be a life changing realization. Cardio not only helps you to lose weight, but it really does help you to *feel* better — about yourself and about the whole situation you may be facing. And during these uncertain times, we could all benefit from a therapeutic dose of feeling better.

Who hasn’t gone outside for a “walk,” or “air” when facing a difficulty at work? Why does this help? A walk will get our heart rate up and an increased heart rate will get oxygen flowing through our muscles. This is the much needed “air” we are seeking. And when this happens, we begin to feel better.

Now, imagine if we were able to *maintain* this feeling? Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise will make your heart stronger. A stronger heart, pumps more blood (I know you remember this from high school biology) and blood is the vehicle which carries oxygen from the heart, to all of the organs in our body. And, guess which organ is responsible for processing thoughts? The brain (an A plus in Biology?).

Essentially, it is your *heart* that is getting a workout. And, in order to maintain a strong heart, to facilitate this much needed “air” we need to engage in cardiovascular exercise with a certain amount of daily intensity. Repeat: “daily intensity.”

I often use plants (they convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, by the way), as an analogy for understanding life’s progression. One way to make a plant stronger, with thicker roots and larger blossoms, is to trim it. Trimming forces it to *heal* and once it heals, it grows stronger, thicker. It’s like shaving. What happens when you shave? The hair comes back, with a vengeance — stronger, thicker and greater. We’ve all heard — and affirmed — the saying “that which does not kill me, makes me stronger.” Muscles that are torn during workouts, ultimately become bigger and stronger, and it is only when we put ourselves through a vigorous exercise, that our heart will get the intensity it requires to maintain our clarity and give us that much needed dose of “feeling better.”

Now, it is important that you know what level of intensity you are capable of. It is best to first consult your doctor to determine this. Armed with this knowledge, take 20 minutes out of your day to engage in an exercise that will get your heart rate up. It should be something you can honestly see yourself doing. Sports and other high endurance athletic activities are exceptional cardio workouts. Sports by their nature offer significant benefits as they build self-confidence and camaraderie, additional nutrition for “feeling better” and enhancing our overall outlook.

As always, I am aware of the proverbial lack of time syndrome. If daily cardio is too much (at first!), then three times a week is a fair compromise. Do it for you and for your heart.

10 Unconventional Diet Tips: How to lose 50 pounds in three months

 

The following are 10 unconventional weight loss tips that worked for me. Between January 4, 2006 and March 31, 2006 I lost fifty pounds. These tips work well because almost every tip is focused around completing a small goal. In my opinion, to stay motivated and lose a significant amount of weight, you should complete many goals in a short period of time. The reason I call these tips unconventional is that I had not seen a majority of them before starting my diet

.

I will start by recognizing the typical “calories in, calories out” schpeil. Yes, to lose weight you have to eat well and exercise. But there is much more to it than that, and I don’t want to spend time regurgitating ideas you’ve heard before. That brings me to the first point:

Buy a digital scale
This seems easy enough. I recommend that before starting a diet, buy a scale that is accurate to .2 (two-hundredths of a pound). I will explain why below. I also recommend either buying a scale that can record your daily weight, or manually logging your weight everyday. I bought a scale that was accurate to .2 and logged my weight at Sam’s Club for $22. It has been a great investment.

Weigh yourself everyday
You’ll find that almost every other dieter will tell you to weigh yourself only once a week. I recommend the exact opposite. I am very goal oriented and I like to see results everyday. The reason I recommend buying a scale that is accurate to the .2 is that there is a very big difference between weighting 170.8 one day and 170.0 the next day. Losing .8 pounds in one day is excellent. However, if your scale is not accurate enough to report the loss and still shows 170 after a day of healthy eating and working out, you will feel extremely discouraged. A more detailed scale makes it easier to keep a positive outlook. The more successes (days with positive weight loss) the easier it is.

Drink 8 glasses of water everyday
This one is obvious and broadly recommended, however, the reason I recommend it is slightly different. Drinking eight glasses of water per day helps you “feel less hungry.” I can’t prove this scientifically, however, when I am at work, I drink 4 cups in the morning and 4 cups in the evening. On the days that I don’t drink the water, I feel hungrier, earlier. Also, on the days I don’t drink water I feel sleepier, sooner. Don’t feel intimidated by trying to drink 8 glasses of water. Try doing what I do: I have a pint glass I keep at work, it holds sixteen ounces (as all pint glasses do). All I do is drink two pints of water in the morning and two in the afternoon.

Make your diet public
Tell people you’re on a diet. There’s no reason to be ashamed to be on a diet. I found that trying to keep my diet a secret was harder than just telling people. In fact, telling your coworkers, girlfriend, family, etc. will increase your accountability. It motivated me knowing that my coworkers and family knew that I was dieting because I did not want to fail. I also chose a typical “fat picture” and put it on my fridge, in my cubicle, and on my wall. I wanted to have a continual reminder to lose the weight. I know it’s a cliche, but it was important for me to remind myself of my ultimate goal.

I feel I should also note that although I was 50 pounds over weight, when I told people I was on a diet they often said “you don’t need to diet.” I found this surprising because I was obviously overweight. Beware that you will likely hear similar comments. I found it easier to just accept the “compliment” than to try to justify my diet to them. Remember that you are on a diet for you, and that you do not need to justify yourself.

Don’t diet on the weekends
This is another unconventional bit of advice. I was able to lose 50 pounds without dieting on the weekends. I found myself tired, depressed, and unmotivated if I tried to continue my diet into the weekend. I felt that Friday and Saturday (my weekend) was a time to celebrate 5 days of dieting. You may not find this necessary, especially in the first few weeks of a diet. However, as many weeks passed, the weekend became a time for me to celebrate my weekly successes and get myself mentally prepared for another five days of dieting. I considered it a mental recharge.

Don’t sacrifice your life for your diet
On occasion, you will find yourself unable to eat healthy. Whether this is because of lunches with your team at work, birthdays, or special occasions, there will be events that you just can’t (or don’t want to) eat healthy. A diet will feel overwhelming if you have to sacrifice special events in your life. The way I combated this was to exchange a day that I was not going to diet on the weekend. In other words, if I didn’t diet on Tuesday, for example, I would diet on Saturday, instead.

Make the small changes
This is a pretty common tip, however, I have a twist to it. Rather than giving up what most diets say you should give up (soda, coffee, beer, caffeine, etc.) just make healthier decisions. I didn’t want to give anything up, so I decided to make some changes instead. The first switch I made was switching to diet soda. Don’t worry, you’ll quickly get used to the flavor. Before I started my diet, I swore I would never drink diet soda. Now thanks to my girlfriend, diet is the only soda I drink. The second switch I made was to drinking black coffee. Cut out the sugar and creme, and you get the benefits of coffee (caffeine) without the calories. The last major switch I made was to “healthy” beer. I’m a Miller Lite drinker, however, by temporarily switching to Beck’s Premier Light (60 calories per serving) I was able to still enjoy a healthy social life while maintaining my diet.

In addition to making the small changes in your diet, make the small changes in your life: park further away, walk to the end of the train platform and get in the last car, and vow not to take an elevator for an entire week. I also found it advantageous to wear a pedometer and try to compete against myself for how far I could walk in a single day. The furthest I walked in a day was 6.5 miles. I voluntarily walked to work twice a week.

Gain perspective by understanding the fractions
Your diet is an incredibly small fraction of your life. If you live for 80 years, and dieted for four months, that would only be .42% of your life. That’s right, if you diet for four months, it will be less than one half of one percent of your life. On the other hand think of the major benefits you can get from .42% of your life. If it helps you stay motivated, count down the days starting at 120.

Rationalize your workouts
Finding the time to get to the gym can be very difficult. However a 1/2 hour workout is only 2% of your day (assuming 24 hour days). For me, the most motivating thought was comparing my workouts to sitcoms. As a huge Everybody Loves Raymond fan, every time I would sit down to watch an episode, I would remind myself that in the 1/2 hour that I was sitting and doing nothing, I could complete my daily workout.

You’ve lost the weight, what now?

Have a red flag weight
Once you’ve lost the weight, you need to keep it off. This is where the red flag comes in. You need to pick a weight and vow to never get heavier than it again. It is normal for your body to fluctuate five to ten pounds. I recommend picking a weight that is ten pounds heavier than what you “normally” weigh and never weigh more than it again.  Setting a red flag weight allowed me to keep off every pound for over 1 year.

Lastly, for the curious out there…I followed the Weight Watchers diet. I did not pay for the diet, nor did I go to meetings. I found out all the information about the diet on-line. The first place to look is at their patent.

All well known diets are available via Google Patent Search.  For the several months that I was dieting, I also gave up red meat and made sure to drink a lot of milk.  The preceding tips worked perfectly for me and they will work for you, too. Prior to creating my own diet plan, I tried to diet several times and failed every time. I swear by these weight loss tips.  What do you think of them? Do you have a tip that didn’t make my list?  Let us know in the comments.  I will be glad to answer any questions or defend any point.

Narural Body Building

When it comes to the subject of amateur and professional body building, only the most naive person would not acknowledge the prevalence of anabolic steroids in the sport.

Needless to say, there is a great deal of performance enhancing drugs in competitive body building, but also there are a number of people who prescribe to natural body building which is essentially a drug free approach to the sport of body building. Sadly, many people who are proponents of natural body building do not always get the credit they deserve in regards to the contributions to the sport.

Understanding Anabolics

So what exactly are anabolic steroids? These are drugs designed to increase the body’s ability to grow muscles by increasing the body’s ability to release growth hormones, reducing the amount of rest one needs in order to grow muscle, and allowing the body to exercise for significantly longer durations than what would be possible without the use of drugs or drug agents.

Needless to say, the physiques that these drugs create are more massive and more defined than what could ever be achieved with a natural body building physique. Of course, there are a host of negatives associated with anabolic steroids as well. For example, excessive use of steroids has been associated with a number of serious medical conditions such as heart disease, kidney failure
and many other problems. As such, sticking with a natural body building program is much better for overall health and safety.

For the Hobbyist…

For the hobbyist, there is really no reason to use anabolic steroids. While there are many arguments for and against the risks associated with taking drugs for a profession in body building, for someone who is simply trying to get in shape or look good the risks associated with drug taking simply makes the risks not worth it. There is an old saying that many gyms use as a mantra: “It is better to feel good than to look good.”

This is a veiled reference to all the problems that are associated with the health issues that can derive from using steroids. If you are a hobbyist, then it is best to stick with natural body building because there are no risks associated with it. In fact, this is a healthy pursuit that can greatly increase a person’s quality of life.

Why would anyone want to do anything different? AgainPsychology Articles, it is best to stick to the natural route.

Take a look at how I did it successfully using "the truth about six pack abs" – the #1 rate fitness program on the internet for anyone who needs to lose weight (and their stubborn tummy fat) and getting a tight, firm and sexy stomach.

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Advantages Of Smart Lipo

Losing fat is usually not a big deal when you go to the gym or spend hours on your treadmill or cardio equipments. But there are always chances that you may lose some fat here or there without losing an inch on the bigger and problematic zones or body parts. How often do you workout hoping to get a flat tummy or respectable looking thighs? Fat when sticks on to the body, has strange outcomes, such as body areas where it just won’t budge off from. SmartLipo is a technology or tool of medical science which works towards removing all that stubborn fatty deposit on your body.

SmartLipo is similar to liposuction, but has greater advantages and is capable of giving smarter results or outcomes. Using a laser technique SmartLipo burns out or melts down the fat or obese body parts causing less or no side effects and distress or soreness. This new method of medical science has proved to be current revolution and is quite popular among people with heavy body sizes that just wont come down, no matter how hard they workout.

Following are some of the benefits or advantages of SmartLipo that makes it a better option than other treatments for reduction of fat from the body:

-Unlike any other treatment (such as Liposuction) SmartLipo has a quick recovery period, thus you do not have to go through those lengthy and time-consuming healing period.

-With the local anesthesia, the procedure of SmartLipo is less traumatic and less discomforting.

-The after effects of bruising or any swelling in SmartLipo is quite restricted and is there for a short period of time.

-SmartLipo also tightens or binds that lose skin on your body.

-This technique of reducing or removing fat from the body can be used to treat more than one fat loaded are on a body in one session.

-SmartLipo is also good in treating areas which were not possible to be treated for fat removal. Such as, knees, stomach and areas around it, face as well as under the armpit or forearms.

-The downtime or rest session required after the procedure of SmartLipo is minimal or very less, as compared to the downtime required by other treatment procedures, that is you can come back to your daily routine in a day or at times even on the same day. velashape works

SmartLipo has proved to be quite safe and effective method for removal or reduction of the stubborn and rigidly stuck body fat, but to utilize these benefits and the outcome of the technique you need to follow some simple instructions given by doctors.
And more than anything else, you always need to remember that this technique acts as a benefit only if you keep a healthy lifestyle, disciplined eating habits and a fitness regime on an active mode.velashape cellulite

Starting an Exercise Program for Better Health

 

We are all well aware of the importance of exercise. Studies
constantly come out showing that exercise can reverse many
serious health problems and increase our longevity. Americans
spend more on health and exercise equipment than any other
country. Yet few of us follow through on an exercise regime. The
main reason for this is time. It can be hard to find time in a
busy schedule to include an hour or more at the gym. By starting
with a manageable schedule and choosing something you enjoy, you
can begin an exercise program and stick with it.

Be sure to see your doctor before you begin your new exercise
program, especially if you have not been active in a long time.

Start Small

Begin your exercise regime slowly. Jumping in too fast can lead
to injury which will definitely decrease your desire to stick
with it. Do not expect too much too fast. Start out with small
goals that you can measure.

Choose a small amount of time each day such as 10 minutes and
schedule it into your daily routine. Do not let exercise to be
the thing that gets cut out of your schedule when you get busier.
Think of it as a regular part of your daily duties such as
brushing your hair or flossing your teeth.

Before you begin, remember to do some warm-up exercises. Warming
up prepares your muscles for the exercise and helps to prevent
injury. Do about 5 to 10 minutes of jumping jacks or a slow jog.
If at any time during your exercise you begin to feel pain, just
stop. If you keep going it could lead to injury. Drink plenty of
water before you start and have an extra glass if it’s a hot day.
Don’t exercise on an empty stomach especially if you do your
routine first thing in the morning.

Make It Enjoyable

The most important thing you can do when starting an exercise
regime is to choose something that you enjoy. If you have always
wanted to learn to dance, sign up for dance lessons. Take a
beginner aerobics course at a gym or join a tennis league. Aim
for about 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

One of the best exercises for the beginner is walking. You can
easily adjust the intensity and length of your workout, and
increase both as you become more fit. It can be done at any time
that best fits into your day. Studies have shown that walking can
combat health problems such as diabetes, high cholesterol and
high blood pressure.

Exercising can be especially valuable for women in combating bone
loss which comes with age. As women get older they begin to lose
about 1% of their bone mass per year. Following menopause it
increases to 3% per year. Weight bearing exercise stimulates the
bone to make new bone cells.

To enjoy the health benefits of exercise you have to make it part
of your daily routine. Start by doing something you enjoy or even
began with walking. Schedule exercise into your daily routine and
do a little each day. Before you know it you will be healthier
than ever before!

24 Hour Fitness

 

24 Hour Fitness is the world’s largest (by memberships) privately owned and operated fitness center chain, and 3rd in number of clubs behind Gold’s Gym and Fitness First of the UK. It currently has 425 clubs in the U.S.A. The company’s corporate office is located in Carlsbad, California. The operations’ headquarters is in San Ramon, California in the Bay area. 24 Hour Fitness has over 19,000 employees. The founder is Mark S. Mastrov and current CEO is Carl Liebert III. 24 Hour Fitness is currently a subsidiary of the private equity firm Forstmann Little & Company, since its acquisition in a $1.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2005.

Current Operations

24 Hour Fitness has about 3 million members and nearly 400 clubs in 16 states, and over 20 clubs in five Asian countries. Besides the USA, it has centers in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei and Taichung in Taiwan, Beijing and Shanghai in China, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) through its wholly owned subsidiary California Fitness. Its European clubs closed in the early 2000s. Its major competitors in the US are Anytime Fitness, Bally’s, Gold’s Gym, and LA Fitness . Its main competitors in Asia are also the same, plus the Fitness First Chain of Australia.

Its rapidly expanding affiliate California Wow Xperience (CEO is a former Cali Fitness executive), is a California Fitness offshoot, has member swap agreements with both chains, and runs 15 gyms located in Seoul and Daegu, Korea (4) and Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya, Thailand, including one female only club(10). In Asia, its major chain competitors are Fitness First and Gold’s Gym.

24 Hour Fitness plans to have more than 1000 clubs in the next five years. With sponsorships with various celebrities and athletes such as Jackie Chan, Lance Armstrong, Shaquille O’Neal, And Andre Agassi.

The call center for 24 Hour Fitness is run by NARS (National Asset Recovery Services, Inc.), with 24 Hour Fitness Member Services being in the Republic of Panama. Collections services were once handled by Alliance One up until March 2008, when NARS took over collections for 24 Hour Fitness. The NARS collections department is out of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

There are more than 300 locations nationwide, and these popular clubs are known for being open 24 hours/day. Most clubs offer just about all the amenities you could want, including cardio machines, weightlifting equipment, and group fitness classes. However, they vary from location to location. There are four types of 24-hour fitness clubs:

Active: Includes free weights, machines, cardio and may include group exercise.

Sport: May include all of the above and may also include basketball, whirlpool and heated pools.

Super-Sport: May include all of the above and may also include massage, sauna, and steam room.

Ultra-Sport: May include all of the above and may also include day spa, racquetball courts, and Executive locker rooms.
 

Best Secrets Of Weight Training Fat Loss – Good Result

You will not get toned muscles only by lifting weights! Weight training fat loss is the thing which comes only after the time till you are eating lots of calories (and generally excess of calories). And even then the average women (for example) are not predisposed to have physically large toned muscles.

Today in this generation many body-builders are using much type of steroids, supplements, and pills. And many female bodybuilders take large units of male hormone. It is not true that you will get nice body from a typical steroids and pills you have to go for proper weight training and fat loss program.

Change your diet

When you decide to take weight loss training you choose to lose weight, many people only change their diet. Maybe some will know that with diet they should also go with good aerobic exercise. But too many people don’t know is that weight training also useful to fat loss. Muscle tissue burns fat, and the process of increasing muscle, large the rate at which the body can metabolize energy, and finally burn fat.

It is 100% true that just lifting a few weights by themselves will not give fat loss – but the combination of the right diet, exercise and weight training will give you the fantastic chance of getting your weight loss target .by proper weight training and fat loss program

Simple exercises will do!

Weight lifting and fat loss does not mean you have to go and join a gym! You need to understand what is nice and works for you. Weight lifting and fat loss can be done just by buying a few barbells and dumbbells and a bench. So simple it is no huge expenses of gym. There are, of course, gym machines there which will let you to perform another range of exercises.

You should aim to do your weight training and fat loss program 2-3 times per week. More than this is not suggested for beginners. There are a many types of books in market describing various weight routines – including tom venuto’s excellent e-book burn the fat. His program is all about diet and exercise for fat loss.

Tv- gives you lot of information

I’m sure each and everyone have seen that adds shown on tv exciting infomercials selling the latest abs machine. With a single machine, it shown that we can turn into a muscle-bound hunk (if you’re a man), or have a wonderfully sculpted and tanned body (if you’re a women). It feels like wonderful your dream come true. Well it is.

Abdominal exercises

But doing abdominal exercises will strengthen your stomach muscles, and can even build some small muscles. But if it is covered with fat, who will see that fabulous six-pack? So weight training fat loss program is necessary.

Abdominal machines cannot strengthen your thighs, give you big biceps, or burn all your excess tummy fat. However, increased lean muscle mass – leading to a fat-burning metabolism, healthy eating, aerobic exercise, and a variety of weight training fat loss – will help you lose. Read more other articles about Walking For Weight Loss and Instant Weight Loss.

When You Run Out Of Time For Your Fitness Routine

Sometimes we feel that we just don’t have any time in the world to spare for our own (exercise training). With the pressures of work and family it seems that every hour of the day is taken doing something other than improving our health. Maybe, just maybe there are solution to this hectic lifestyle after all that can give you the benefits of improved health and get the same amount done in the day.

Right off the bat there are a number of things you can during your everyday lifestyle to increase your fitness or get some physical exertion into your routine. If the dog needs a walk, then how about taking it for a run instead. You will still be out for the same amount of time but you will be getting increased benefit from running rather than walking. Or, if you don’t like running, you can step up the pace of your walk. Not only will you be getting fitter, but your pet will also be healthier.

And if you have to mow the lawn on the weekend then try walking faster with the mower, or if you have a big property run with the mower. Now that will give you a good workout and you will have more time for relaxation in the time you have saved by mowing the lawn faster.

Try walking to work rather than driving the car or park the car a little further from your office and walk the extra distance. Go for a walk or run at lunchtime rather than sitting in the lunchroom or your office.

If you are sitting in an office all day working at a desk try doing leg extensions as you sit there. Even without weight resistance you will still be exercising your legs and you can add weights if you like to get more benefit from these exercises. Lastly, drink water rather than coffee and tea to boost your energy and you might just find the energy to spend a little more time on yourself.

Remember, eFitness for Life’s online coaches can ALWAYS help you create simplified routines that can work for anyone, anywhere, with or without equipment. We build fitness and nutrition programs for everyone from the stay-at-home mom to the busy executive. No need for scheduling gym time or setting aside hours at a time, we work around YOUR schedule and create online fitness and nutrition programs that are sure to help you reach your goals.

When you lack the time or energy or get your regular routine in, push and prod yourself to find just 10 minutes to rev up your engines in some way….jumping jacks, jump rope, jog/sprint intervals, push up/squat supersets, etc. Anything to get your heart rate up and your metabolism moving each day!

It doesn’t have to be hour long sessions to be a benefit! You can ALWAYS find the time if you make your HEALTH a priority!

Challenge Yourself Daily

Fitness is a lifelong endeavor. Unfortunately, in our society today, with the speed of the world as we know it, even fitness goals are often set with expectations of overnight improvement. Just like fad diet programs, this is a sure-fire way to failure.

The fastest way to improve your overall fitness is to challenge yourself daily to make improvements no matter how small they might be. Understand from the outset, your health and wellness is a marathon, not a sprint! These small improvements not only help your (Fitness) but they also help you to develop a winning mindset where you know that every day you are getting better in some way.

Even if, in the course of a whole resistance training workout you only manage to do a few more repetitions in one exercise or lift a few pounds more weight in one exercise you have made an improvement that is another step up the ladder of fitness success. Naturally there will be days when you are low on energy, or are feeling lethargic for one reason or another. On days like that, just accept that simply going to the gym or exercising is a bonus in itself and sometimes it is wise to have a workout on a day like that without recording the details. Each and every one of us has ‘off’ days and that is something that we need to accept.

If we get these days more often that not then it is time to look at other aspects of your lifestyle and ask what is lacking that makes this happen. It could be something as simple as not drinking enough water during the day or possibly not getting enough sleep at night. It could also very well be from over training where the body isn’t getting enough time to recuperate between training sessions.

If you can’t make some small improvements to your fitness on a weekly basis then it is time to start looking at your training program to determine whether it needs changing. Small changes that seem minor at the time can produce outstanding results over the period of a few months or more. These same small changes can add years to your life so they are well worth aiming for.

Jason J. Horsley is the CEO/Founder of eFitness for Life an online fitness and nutrition coaching solution that provides an affordable, convenient alternative to conventional, expensive dietitians and personal training. Through both eFitness for Life and Health and Wealth for Life, Jason is using his 15+ years in the fitness industry to help individuals across the globe not only look better, but feel better and live longer. The eFitness for Life team is made up of coaches/trainers around the US, working with clients throughout the world via the World Wide Web and the state-of-the-art eFitnessTracker software!

Take advantage of The Future of Fitness today!

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