Archive for the ‘Exercise Equipment’ Category

How to Run Interval Sprints on a Treadmill

Friday, March 10th, 2017

The High Intensity Incline Treadmill Workout

treadmill sprintsIf you’re looking to keep your cardio fitness levels running high throughout the year regardless of weather conditions or other hindrances, then the incline treadmill workout is the best training option.

Incline workouts offer many benefits.

For starters, it’ll help you simulate hill running, thus burn off colossal amounts of calories without having to go outside and stomach the bad weather. In addition, incline workouts are great boredom busters, hence if you dread indoor cardio training, use the incline to your advantage and make your workout more challenging and fun.

As a result, if you’re not doing an incline workout—at least once per week—then you’re doing yourself a big disservice.

Here are a few practical tips that can help.

(more…)

Share the Swole!

How to Achieve Better Gains Using Push Ups

Friday, December 2nd, 2016

Push Ups at HomeWhy Should I Add Push Ups to My Workout?

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…)

Share the Swole!

Should You Purchase New or Used Fitness Equipment for Your Home Gym?

Sunday, August 25th, 2013

When you finally decide that you’re fed up with making the trek to your local gym every day and dealing with hassles like waiting in line to use equipment or getting bumped in classes that are overly full, not to mention paying for the pricy monthly membership, you might be ready to set up your own home gym facility. And if you have an extra bedroom, an open basement, or other unused space, you’re already ahead of the game. With some good lighting and a couple of full-length mirrors in place you can start assembling the equipment you need to make a home fitness center that is suited to meet your particular needs. But don’t get ahead of yourself; fitness equipment is not cheap. Luckily, you don’t necessarily have to buy everything brand new. In order to spare expense you might want to consider buying some items used. You’ll simply have to put some thought into the pros and cons of new versus used gym equipment.

(more…)

Share the Swole!

5 Ways to Save Money on High-End Fitness Equipment for Your Home

Monday, January 28th, 2013

Setting up a Home Gym on the CheapHome Gym Girl

The major benefit of signing up for a gym membership is that you gain access to a facility that houses the many large and expensive pieces of fitness equipment that you want to use, from cardio machines like the treadmill and Stairmaster to weight-training options that let you work specific muscle groups without the onus of lifting free weights. And yet, there are also drawbacks to going to the gym.

For one thing, choosing a popular and well-appointed facility means that you may have to wait in line for machines, or else frequent the gym during oddball hours, like the middle of the night. And once you finally get your turn, the machines could be a mess of sweat and germs. Yuck. Of course, you also have to go through the time-wasting hassle of actually driving to the gym, yet another deterrent to your motivation.

Wouldn’t it be better if you had the equipment you needed at home? It might be pricy, but there are definitely bonuses to having a home gym, and there are all kinds of ways to save when you purchase the high-end equipment needed to help you get fit.

(more…)

Share the Swole!

How to Create a Home Gym in Your Tiny Apartment

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

Work, Life, and Stress Keeping You Soft?

Sexy Pair

Just because your apartment is the size of a postage stamp doesn’t mean you are any less inclined to create a personal workout space that allows you to squeeze in some exercise at your leisure, rather than having to cram in a session at the gym during their daytime hours. Most of us hold down full-time jobs that result in long hours and high stress.

The hassle of having to schlep over to the gym before or after work can put the kibosh on even the best-laid plans where fitness is concerned (as can a minimal budget). When having the equipment in front of you, ready to go at a moment’s notice (not to mention staring at you accusingly every time you decide to skip your workout), you’re much more likely to stick to the game plan. So here are just a few ways to get the home gym you want even when you live in a tiny apartment.

(more…)

Share the Swole!

Will the Right Athletic Apparel and Accessories Improve Your Performance?

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012

Armband ChickWe all know that having the right fitness equipment on hand is essential to achieving the results we seek when exercising. For example, you can’t continue to bulk without increasing the level of weights you lift, and a baseball game played without bats and balls would be pretty useless.

But what about the clothing we wear and the accessories we utilize when working out?

  • Do they have the ability to improve our performance?
  • Will a lack of such products hinder us in our attempts to reach peak levels of fitness?
  • Do pricy athletic garments really make a difference?

Honestly, the answers to these questions depend entirely on you. But here are a few things you may want to consider before you run out and spend a fortune on apparel and accessories, or alternately, write them off altogether.

(more…)

Share the Swole!

The Secrets to Constructing Your Very Own Home Gym

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

HOW TO BUILD A REAL HOME GYM

You might, at one time or another, have considered building your own home gym but gave up on the idea because you were somewhat unsure of how to go about it. Constructing your own home gym is actually simple once you concentrate on acquiring the basic essentials and developing from there.

Home Gym

(more…)

Share the Swole!

Motivation is Important

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Stay Motivated Using Apps Like Watch Me Change

Motivation. It’s the silent workout partner that every successful diet or muscle building program must have to succeed.

When you build a workout plan you probably spend a lot of time deciding what supplements to take and what routines will do you the most good. It is just as important to build a motivation plan to help you power through the plateaus and lulls that are part of reaching fitness goals.

(more…)

Share the Swole!

Exclusive Coupon Code for Fit Girl Gear

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Exclusive Fit Girl Gear Coupon Code!

Daria Holcomb
Daria Holcomb

Some of you may remember the guest post by Daria Holcomb about her sweet lines of workout clothes for women. Daria was so happy with her guest post, that she done gone and provided a coupon code that y’all can use to save some dough when you order workout clothes from her site.

Go ahead and reread her post now:

3 Features Women Should Look For in Performance Athletic Wear

Then visit her website here: Fit Girl Gear and order some clothes for yourself, your wife, your daughter, or your girlfriend.

Christmas is fast approaching!

Use the following coupon code at checkout to save 20% off any order until the end of the year.

Coupon code: ProjectSwole

Visit Fit Girl Gear today!

Share the Swole!

Training with Bands and Chains Increases Strength and Power

Friday, June 4th, 2010
Benching With Bands
Benching with bands

I recommend training with bands specifically in the Werewolf Training routines, but also in any routine you might currently be following.

Recent studies investigating the effects of training the bench press with added bands and chains, have confirmed that strength and power increased faster by using bands and chains than by using free weights alone.

The Study

In this 13 week study on the effects of training with elastic tension on the bench press, 11 men in their early 20s started with a 1 rep max (RM) baseline strength test.

(more…)

Share the Swole!

Gyroscopic Fitness Machines?

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

I received a press release the other day and wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

Gyro Core Trainer
Gyroscopic Core Trainer?

A company called DynaFlex International has apparently used gyroscopes to create some grip training devices and now I guess they have a core training device.

After browsing to the company website and reading up on some of their products, I’m still not sure what to make of it. It appears to be a grip trainer of some sort, although now they have a core trainer too. Interesting.

Have any Project Swole readers tried this thing? If so, please leave a comment.

I don’t quite get it. If anyone from DynaFlex is reading this, send me a free sample so I can figure out exactly what the heck you are selling. I will review the product in a separate post if you do.

Anyway, let the press release begin:

(more…)

Share the Swole!

How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate

Thursday, June 11th, 2009
Healthy Female Jogger
Female Jogger

You are trying to lose fat and you want that adipose tissue to just melt off your body.

Option #1 is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which uses both anaerobic training to build muscle and elevate the metabolism, and aerobic training to burn fat and increase cardiovascular endurance. This is the option I typically recommend. However, some people are either not able to, or not willing to, even attempt HIIT training.

This then leads us to option #2: cardiovascular endurance training. While I don’t recommend it, I know people will do it, so here’s how to do it right…

(more…)

Share the Swole!

Working Out With a Heart Rate Monitor

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

This is an old post. For more and better information, check out How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate. You can also score a sweet Reebok Strapless Heart Rate Monitor on that page.

Girl Athlete
Female Athlete

Do you own a heart rate monitor? If not, then you are not alone. However, heart rate monitors are becoming increasingly popular, especially among athletes and those with certain health conditions.

In the days before heart rate monitors, people would have to stop and manually count a pulse by placing fingers over the carotid artery. Not only would this pressure on the artery distort the reading, but would cause some to get light headed by their pressing too hard in an attempt to find a pulse. Now, with a heart rate monitor, one doesn’t even need to stop to get an accurate reading.

The most important reason to buy a heart rate monitor is for safety.

Most fitness professionals will tell average clients to keep their target heart rate between 55% and 85% of their maximum heart rate. In order to calculate one’s maximum heart rate, simply subtract your age from the number 220. Next, you can then use this number and multiply it by 0.55 to get the lower end of the target zone and by 0.85 to find the cut off point.

Those with threatening conditions would be advised to exercise in the 55-60% range.

Still, let it be known that heart rate monitors are also a vital tool for the endurance athlete. Not only do heart rate monitors make readings simpler, they also make monitoring progress a lot simpler as well.

With a heart rate monitor, an athlete can better determine how to set the pace in an effort to optimize race performance. Without one, endurance athletes would run the risk of either over-training and exhausting the body or under-training and not pushing the body hard enough.

One thing is for certain though, heart rate monitors are useful tools that can simultaneously help and protect both the fittest of the fit and those at extreme risk.

Those trainees that regularly participate in cardiovascular activities can benefit by constantly gauging their heart rate, thus targeting their intensity to more effectively burn fat.

Again, this is an old post. For more and better information, check out How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate. Get more info about the Reebok Strapless Heart Rate Monitor on that page too.

Share the Swole!

Building a Home Gym with Used Exercise Equipment

Monday, July 9th, 2007

There’s nothing better than to be able to walk outside, or go down stairs, and lift some weights. Sometimes it is expensive to build a full home gym set up. This is why I am starting to build my arsenal of used exercise equipment for extra workouts around the house. Clearly I will need more, newer, and better equipment that I currently have, but this is a start.

To date I have the following equipment:

  • two 45 lb Powerblocks
  • two ab rollers
  • springs
  • one rusty 45 lb olympic bar
  • one rusty 20 lb e-z curl bar
  • 200 lbs of old plastic weights that only fit on the e-z curl bar
  • one big ass heavy bag hanging from a hook in the shed + gloves
  • two pullup bars, neither of which are currently up
  • one grassy park with a river across the street from my house, which I will use for sprinting, doing pull-ups in the trees, tree climbing, boat rowing, and a variety of other activities
  • one piece of really awkward driftwood that is useful for lifting and carrying in various ways

I shall take some pictures and post them shortly. It is only July, so Project Swole is still in effect for the next two months. This will be my first week of being 100% my own boss and I anticipate weight training to resume in a 3-workouts-per-week schedule.

Share the Swole!