Knee pain can impact many people, especially if you’re the type of person that rarely skips a workout. That sort of dedication is priceless when it comes to achieving your fitness goals, but it can also be detrimental to your health. Many people who are that committed to their fitness often continue to push themselves long past when they should stop and rest. Knees are some of the first casualties of an overactive lifestyle or improper form.
Given that, how can you tell the difference between when you need to take it easy and when you can just keep going?
The Type of Pain
First of all, no type of knee pain should be completely ignored. Pain’s function is to let us know that something is wrong and to compel us to avoid that behavior in the future. However, different types of pain indicate different things. (more…)
Everyone knows that they should be exercising, yet most people dread the very idea. The sweating and strain aside, working out is just boring. Think about the people you see running or at the gym, they look bored of their skulls. If you are going to keep at any exercise routine, you will need to find some way to combat the mind-numbing madness that comes with it.
Summer is on its way. And that means your workout just got a lot more interesting. Not only can you work out in the gym, but with the sun shining and the ocean calling, the world is your fitness oyster. For the more adventurous of you, there’s no beating the full-body workout of aquatic sports like surfing, diving, and paddling. Today we’re going to talk about the newest member of the water sports fitness family: stand up paddleboarding, or SUP.
What is SUP?
Stand up paddleboarding is in fact just like it sounds. You stand. On a board. And you paddle. It’s an ancient recreation and hunting technique that originated somewhere among Polynesia, Peru, and Venice and has been growing in mainstream popularity since the early 2000s. In the US alone, the number of people doing SUP has nearly tripled in recent years: 2.8 million people participated in SUP in 2014. And the number of new paddleboarders just keeps increasing. (more…)
When it comes to lifting weights, most people have the wrong perception. Weight training does not necessarily equate to bodybuilding and its benefits are not limited to aesthetic muscle growth either. It is a principle that can be used to achieve a variety of goals for both men and women. In fact, all kinds of athletes and sportsmen use different variants of weight training to boost specific aspects of their game. As the general consensus is that the only ones who lift are the people who want to get jacked, let us take a closer look at what else weight training can do to help your health.(more…)
Night owls are in for a treat as many gyms are embracing the 24-hour policy. Fitness centers around the world have realized that the demand is high due to the fact that so many people are working hectic schedules and are unable to exercise with any regularity due to other commitments. By offering around-the-clock service hours, not only can a gym goer can work out whenever he or she likes but it also means that everyone who had used lack of free time as their major excuse not to work out will now be able to work out irrespective of their schedule.
No matter if one is a gym rat or first-timer, 24 hour gyms are now open across the globe to help anyone reach their fitness goals, notwithstanding their schedules and lack of consistent free time. We are well aware that exercise is a crucial part in our daily lives and now people have a much greater chance at reaping the benefits.(more…)
So I was out on the Interwebz looking around at strength training videos and your typical YouTube martial arts fights, and I got to thinking about how annoying the ads are and how much the video quality sucks. There are some cool channels like Muscle Madness and Strength Wars but ultimately most of the videos on the web are slow to load and often the quality makes them hard to sit through. Worst of all is when videos are taken down, leaving dead links and video embeds scattered around the web, including Project Swole best exercises. So where can we go to find a reliable, secure, white labeled video hosting service? The journey begins…
Everybody Should Know About the Advantages of Playing Sports
The average person today does not participate in even 10% of the physical activities that his grandparents were “obligated” to perform. Chopping wood, building and tending a garden, walking to destinations, even washing clothes by hand, where daily habits for folks in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Nowadays, modern men and women spend far too much of their time sitting in the office, in their vehicle or in front of the TV. The gestures of everyday life are limited to pressing buttons to generate heat or cool the air, to wash clothes, to go up or down the floors, to cook food. Long live progress and innovation! (more…)
The results of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor workout are clear for all to see in the media. As the film and the actor remain subject to a great deal of interest, many news and entertainment outlets continue sharing the best traits of Thor. But how did the Australian achieve his impressive physique in time for his work on the fantasy-action film?
It was ex-Navy SEAL Duffy Gaver who trained Hemsworth, and pushed the actor to gain 20lb for the role. Gaver devised an eight week exercise plan, which he split into two.
During the first four weeks, there was a careful focus on helping Hemsworth gain the level of strength appropriate for the God of Sky and Thunder. The second four weeks were dedicated to fat loss…
When it comes to toning the upper body without limits, no exercise works better than push ups. Unlike lifting weights and performing plyometric workouts, they don’t require expensive fitness equipment, can be performed almost anywhere, and the best part, they’re easy! Relatively speaking, of course. Benefits of Performing Push-ups Regularly – Increases muscle density
As you age, your muscle density reduces and alters how your body converts fat into energy. Push ups work well to increase and maintain the muscles of your upper body. This exercise tones your shoulders, chest, triceps, abs, and to a smaller extent the back, biceps, and legs. – Enhances muscles stability and balance Doing push ups every day improve the reaction time of your muscle fibers. During push ups, the fibers consistently react to keep your body balanced. This reaction enables these fibers to react faster when stimulated increasing your speed and balance. (more…)
Pull-ups are simply one of the finest body weight exercises that can be carried out for your upper body. Pull-ups workout your core, back, arms, and shoulders working out almost every muscle in the upper body. Pull-ups can be performed virtually anywhere that you can locate a bar to cling from.
We all know about the normal pull-up; how tough they are! This exercise in itself demands great power, and if you cannot perform at least 20 standard pull-ups in a row, then I suggest you do not attempt any of these advanced pull-up versions until you can. (more…)
Who is Kayla Itsines and what is her BBG workout program all about? Read on to learn more about the Kayla Itsines workout!
With over 5.7 million followers on Instagram and an active and enthusiastic community of fitness-minded women across social media and around the world, you have probably heard of her Bikini Body Guide workout program.
Kayla is a certified personal trainer hailing from Australia and has created the largest exercise community for women in the world, and it’s easy to see why.
The Kayla Itsines workout BBG program makes it easy for any woman, of any fitness level, to reach her goals and achieve the bikini body she has been dreaming of. (more…)
You might have been doing fitness exercises you think are effective in achieving your fitness goals. The truth is that they might do the opposite. It is time to straighten up the facts and reject the myths that could have impeded your goal all these years.
Crunches are effective ab exercises You might have heard several times the advice that you must do crunches in order to bring out those abs. The truth is that they only work if done properly. If not, crunches could just lead to neck and back problems, and a potential spine injury. This exercise also doesn’t target general weight loss which is essential for ab formation.
Sweating means losing weight You might say that you have worked really hard to achieve a great body because you are sweating. This is not necessarily the right way to gauge the effectiveness of your exercise techniques. Sweating is a bodily response to cool your body down. It can be affected by other factors like the weather or physiology. Therefore, you must not presume that you are losing weight or you are doing the right exercises if you are sweating.
Staying longer at the gym helps achieve your fitness goals faster The number of hours you stay in the gym does not determine the effectiveness of your workout techniques. It also has something to do with what you do at the gym. If you stay there and sit for several minutes while taking selfie instead of lifting weights, then it is pretty useless. It is better for you to stay for 30 minutes to 1 hour only as long as you do intense exercises. You can also try high intensity workout training to maximize results.
Eating late at night can make you fat This is not necessarily true. Your body can’t tell the time. It processes calories at the same rate at any point during the day. The issue is on what type of food you eat at night. You might have the tendency to eat less during the day and make it up during the night. As a result, you eat a lot of processed and unhealthy dishes. This is something that you have to avoid. These are foods that are difficult to digest. If you sleep after eating, then the food that you have eaten could get stuck in your body in the form of fats. You also have to take note that eating at night has other unhealthy consequences such as difficulty in sleeping and acid reflux.
“Diet” foods are healthier You might fall for ads saying certain products are “diet” foods. This includes crackers, soda, dairy products and many others. Just because you have read the word diet on it does not mean it is healthy. It might be deemed as healthy due to the low calorie content. The truth is that in order for them to make it up for the bland taste, they need to add more artificial sweeteners and chemicals. You might have less calorie intake, but it could lead to other health issues. In short, it is not necessarily an effective way to lose weight. The key is to eat regular foods in moderation.
It is indeed surprising to see that the facts that we were made to believe were true, are in fact pure myths. Therefore, you need to start changing your diet and exercise plans now. In case you wonder why you still don’t achieve your fitness goals despite everything that you have done, then this could be the main reason. You are doing your exercise routines the wrong way or you are eating the wrong types of foods. You need to plan your meals better the next time around and understand the science behind every exercise routine before doing it.
We all know the benefits of daily exercise, but many of us simply don’t have the time to go to the gym or go for long walks. However, the benefits of fitting in just a little exercise here and there can soon add up, making you feel so much better in the long term. When combined with a good diet, even a small amount of daily exercise has big benefits, and you’ll soon start to see the results. Even if you work behind a desk, here are a few things you can do between calls or whenever you get a coffee break.
Quick cardio
Cardio exercise gets your heart pumping and feels incredibly good to do, which is why it’s ideal in short bursts. If you need to wake up, try doing a 5 minute exercise at work such as getting up and power walking around the office, or simply doing a few jumping jacks. Swing your arms when you walk anywhere, or take a few flights of stairs each day. It all soon adds up.
Some of the benefits of cardio include:
Keeping your brain active
Helping keep your heart healthy
Releasing ‘feel good’ hormones that give you more energy
Burning excess calories
Next time you’ve got a lull in your work, think of some ways you can get your heart rate up a little. Just a bit of imagination can make cardio at work fun.
Upper body
If you want to tone your arms and chest, then there are a few quick exercises you can do anywhere that use your body’s own weight as resistance. Instead of lifting weights, try desk chair shrugs and other pilates style moves in your office chair. There are many videos online that show you how to do simple moves with your desk and chair that can help you get more toned arms.
Here’s a video to help give you more ideas.
Lower body
As you age, your mobility declines, and building strength in your lower body helps to slow down this process. Lots of walking is good, as is taking the stairs, but you should combine this with a bit of strength training too. Find a wall in the break room and do some squats, or try the office wall chair pose. This will work both large and small muscles in your legs, and after a while you’ll find that you can hold the poses for longer, and that they’re easier to achieve.
While you may think you’re too busy to exercise, there are plenty of ways to get your body moving when you have a five minute break. You don’t need workout clothing or equipment, simply get in short bursts of cardio and strength exercises whenever you can. You’ll soon see an improvement in how much you can do and the intensity of your exercise, so you can slowly work towards your fitness targets. Whether you’re young and healthy, or are haven’t exercised for years, there’s something everyone can do to stay fitter.
I recently made a post on how to exercise while traveling. Below you will find a few ideas that you can perform. These can be done at home as well, which can save you a ton of cash in gym memberships.
You won’t get nearly the results you’d get from training regularly with real free weight equipment, but certainly it works in a pinch.
Lunges – Take a step forward, bend the front leg until your thigh is parallel with the ground, and step back. Repeat on the other side. Be careful not to come down hard on the knee of the back leg.
Chair Dips – Sit on the edge of a chair, with your legs straight out in front with your knees locked. Place a hand directly under each cheek, and scoot your bottom off of the chair. Slowly lower your body, and when you have gone down as far as you feel comfortable, push yourself back to the top.
Jump Squats – Bend at the knees, back straight, eyes looking ahead. Touch your hands just below the knees, and jump straight up. Land softly, and repeat.
Push-ups – Laying face first on the floor, place your hands on either side of you chest. Keeping your legs, and back straight, push yourself straight up off of the floor. After you have reached the top, lower yourself down.
Planks– Start off in a push-up position, except this time place your elbows, resting on your forearms. Simply hold this position for 30-60 seconds.
There you have it. Do two to three sets of this routine, with 10-15 reps per set, and you have just done a body weight routine that will build muscle and tone up what you already have.
I read a blog post about how Tori Spelling recently lost weight simply by eating a balanced diet. This kind of ticked me off. Not because she is successful using this method, but because a common sense approach like this is news.
I have written about the “evil” diets before, you know the ones that tell you to eat no carbs, or no fat, or all protein and fat… or better yet, only eat this food that we happen to sell. I am not a fan of these, largely because as soon as they are over, the weight comes back on.
The best approach to diet and exercise is the simple one. I love the K.I.S.S. theory of Keep It Super Simple. The bottom line is to always maintain balance. The very second that we lose our balance, we go crashing face first to the floor.
We all have hectic schedules. That is just how our modern society is. Finding time to take care of ourselves sometimes takes a backseat.
Of all daily activities, fitness is often the priority that is sacrificed first when the going gets tough. If you have desire to get or stay fit, you can do it. There is always a way if there is a will.
Here are some ideas to help squeeze in some exercise that will not have a light impact on your schedule, but will also help you burn fat throughout the rest of the day.
Plan your workout: Write it all down, and know exactly what you are going to do, and how you will get it done.
Circuit training: Work the whole body and get the heart rate rocking by doing one set of exercise for each body part with no rest. When you have completed all, rest for one minute and do it again. Twenty minutes is not an unreasonable goal here.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): Sixty minutes on the treadmill will drive anybody mad. Vary your speed every minute, working from a jog (slow/medium intensity) to a full sprint or at least 90% max intensity. A good rule of thumb is to maintain your sprint for 20-30 seconds, then reduce to Every five minutes, drop back down to the slow speed again. Twenty to thirty minutes of this will do the trick.
There is no excuse to slack off on exercise. Project Swole has just given you two workouts that when alternated will whip your body into shape in no time at all. Think about it, if you do this six days per week, you only spent a grand total of three hours out of your busy schedule for the whole week.
Josh Hanagarne recently sent me a great piece of work. Enjoy. BTW, the quote in title is from Abraham Lincoln.
I got into grip training for two reasons:
Number one, it looked fun and people I liked were doing it. Monkey see monkey do.
Second, I was getting strong enough that my hands were starting to become my limiting factor. This was a sobering realization which took place at the intersection of Lame and Weak.
Like most things I like right off, once I jumped in, I jumped in all the way. Grip training was addictive for me. Better yet, it gave me one more way to make progress, which is usually the major ingredient in how happy I am. I could either set aside dedicated days for grip work, or, the more I learned, I could squeeze it in to my normal workouts without much of a headache.
Before I tell you how I work grip training in, I just want to give you a quick look at four different types of hand strength so that you don’t overemphasize anything or neglect anything that could be useful to you.
The sun was starting to burn off the clouds that had been lingering all morning, and was going to make itself known.
Two Pintail ducks land in the lake to the west, no doubt looking for a meal and to cool off. Green grass, lined with some old trees. Overall, it’s a quite early afternoon.
This was my experience at a recent company golf tournament.
I don’t play a lot of golf, even though I have a good time when I do. Recently I was invited to play in this tournament, and they’re usually a ton of fun.
Golf, in and of itself, isn’t exactly intense exercise. However, consider that we played 18 holes, and even while we were using carts, I still logged 18,000 steps on my pedometer.
Throw in the “explosive” nature of your basic golf swing, and you have some muscles being activated.
Because I don’t play on a regular basis, my lower back, and oddly, my left hamstring were soar for a couple of days after.
Golf requires flexibility, core rotation, and explosive strength. Without these, your basic swing goes to pot.
How to Look Like Thor
Why Should I Add Push Ups to My Workout?
You might have been doing fitness exercises you think are effective in achieving your 
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