8 Surprising Fitness Tips that Can Rejuvenate Your Workout

Some fitness tips are pretty much common sense pieces of advice you could probably work out for yourself. However, there are some pretty surprising ways to rejuvenate your exercise routine and keep your wellbeing in tip-top shape.

 

1. Go Barefoot for Whole-Body Health: Wellness expert Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen details, ‘If you refuse to wear shoes in the summer, you may enjoy better blood circulation, a happier mood, stronger bones and better posture. According to Barefoot in Toronto, a group that promotes a barefoot lifestyle, barefoot walking increases skin health, reduces foot calluses, builds arch strength and enhances sensory stimulation. Going barefoot also creates healthier toenails and reduces foot odour.’

 

2. To Burn Fat, Don’t Sweat it: Pawlik-Kienlen explains, ‘Sweat signals a rising body temperature, not necessarily an increased calorie burn (although most of us will sweat as we work harder).’ Brad Schoenfeld, author of 28 Day Body Shapeover, points out, ‘In the sauna you’ll sweat buckets but you aren’t burning fat. The best indicator of calorie burn is either heart rate or a rating of perceived exertion (RPE).’

 

3. Yelling Increases Your Fitness Levels and Confidence: ‘IntenSati is “active meditation”—a fitness programme that uses the voice and mind to intensify physical workouts,’ says Pawlik-Kienlen. ‘Participants say or shout empowering affirmations while kicking, jumping or lunging. For example, while punching, they yell, “I. Am. Strong. Now!” These motivational phrases boost confidence and distract participants from feeling fatigued, which increases the workout benefits. If you can’t join the programme, you may want to try this one in the privacy of your home gym.’

 

4. Interval Training Gives You the Best Results: ‘You can do too much cardio,’ warns fitness lifestylist Susie Shina, author of 60 Second Circuits: 1000 Ways to Get Your Body Back. ‘To burn fat effectively, one-minute sprint/recover repeats (interval training) on any cardio machine for a total of 20 minutes can be more beneficial than exercising at a steady rate.’ Otherwise, you can tackle your intervals outside by walking, running, biking or skipping.

 

5. Bond with Others to Increase Your Focus and Motivation: Florida-based John Kent, owner of Adventure Boot Camp for Women, notes, ‘It’s not necessarily resistance training, cardio or core work that keeps you fit. It’s meeting with others.’ Pawlik-Kienlen adds, ‘Healthy bonding moments—such as running hills or attending Pilates classes in a group setting—keep you motivated and focused on your fitness goals.’

 

6. Take Celebrity Wellness Advice with a Pinch of Salt: Los Angeles-based fitness instructor Torri Shack cautions, ‘Don’t believe everything you read about how the stars stay fit. Many celebrities work out four to six days a week for up to 90 minutes each time, have professional trainers and eat a clean, very calorie-restrictive diet. They don’t “just” do Pilates or yoga twice a week.’

 

7. Being Too Busy Can Actually Improve Your Workout: Personal trainer Keith Morton, founder of CityWide SuperSlow in Chicago, comments, ‘People are surprised at how little exercise they need to get and stay fit. It’s the quality, not quantity, of exercise that counts.’ Mississauga-based fitness trainer Marc Lebert adds, ‘If I give myself 20 minutes to work my legs, I know I have to increase my intensity. A time limit makes every set count.’

 

8. Diet and Attitude Pack More of a Punch Than Exercise: ‘When it comes to changing the size and shape of your body, exercise is only 30% of it,’ asserts Ariane Hundt, a New York City-based certified personal trainer and instructor at Brooklyn Bridge Boot Camp. ‘The rest needs to come from proper nutrition and a positive sense of self.’

Categories: barefoot, based fitness, boot camp, calorie burn, Celebrity Wellness, fitness tips, Interval Training, pawlik kienlen, Personal Trainer, reduces foot, stay fit, sweat

Boot Camp Classes: Four Tips Every Instructor Needs to Know

When you take a nice stroll through the park, you might expect to see a calm and gentle scene. Perhaps you expect to see signs of family wellness, with parents and children wandering through the park and feeding the ducks. Maybe you suppose to spot an elderly couple getting some fresh air together. However, while you might have this peaceful, idyllic picture of what goes on in your local park, once you get there it’s a whole different story, packed with hardcore wellness buffs. Some are working on their wellbeing with a few park-wide sprints, while others are performing squats on the grass. This is a firsthand look at the power and popularity of fitness boot camps.

 

Fitness Trainer Ryan Halvorson, director of group training at Bird Rock Fit and creator of Fat2Fitin30.com, explains, ‘Boot camp classes have become a solid contender in the fitness world. According to information from the 2010 IDEA Personal Training Programs & Equipment Trends report, 41% and 25% of respondents offer small-group boot camps and outdoor boot camps, respectively. The data also show that 63% of those offering these programmes expect their growth to continue. For individual professionals and fitness facilities alike, boot camps can be a significant profit centre.’ Most things you read will tell you the benefits of boot camps to get you to attend one of these classes, but why attend a class when you can run one?

 

‘These days, boot camps are varied and appeal to different types of people,’ says Halvorson. ‘Many follow traditional methods with “screaming-sergeant” instructors, while other classes are more like playtime or recess. While it’s an inspiration to see so many exercise groups at your local park, a challenge arises: How do you set yourself apart from the pack? Starting a boot camp business can be a lucrative opportunity for fitness professionals. In many cases the overhead is minimal, if nonexistent. Classes can be held in parks or at recreation centres for a small fee. Equipment adds variety to the programme but isn’t necessary to produce an effective workout.’ So how do you create a boot camp programme that works?

 

1. Get an Early Start on Your Brand: ‘Once you’ve decided to start a boot camp, you’ll want to come up with a good name,’ says Cat Smiley, owner of Canada’s first and longest-running fitness boot camp, The Original Boot Camp. ‘Check with local and national government agencies to determine whether the name is available before you spend any money on graphic design and website.’

2. Be an Individual: While you may have the traditional view that boot camps are for those who want to be screamed at for 30 minutes, it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, doing things your own way can set you apart from the pack. ‘Use your own confidence and creativity to make your programme your own,’ Smiley instructs. ‘Many trainers don’t have it in them to do the “tough-as-nails” boot camp. Instructors are most successful when they use their own personalities and styles while teaching.’

 

3. Don’t Give Away the Farm for Free: Smiley warns, ‘Other trainers might call you and ask for tips and advice. Trust that you can be friendly and give advice without giving away trade secrets. Similarly, clients will sometimes want you to spend extra time helping them with exercises or nutrition advice after class. These are additional services that you can sell.’ You might be tempted to drop your prices to compete with other professionals, but stand your ground. ‘Set your price and stick with it,’ Smiley instructs. ‘Have confidence that you are worth what you ask participants to pay.’

Categories: boot, boot camp, boot camps, bootcamp, branding, camp, camp classes, camps, fitness boot, instructors, local park, smiley instructs

Extreme Exercising Becomes New Craze – But at What Cost?

The reason why celebrities look so great in films or on the red carpet is simple; they work very hard, very quickly, in preparation for big events. It’s quite satisfying to realise the amount of effort celebs put in within a short space of time just to look that good, and it’s good for your wellbeing that you don’t have to worry about the paparazzi whenever you leave the house. In fact, wellness experts agree that this kind of high-intensity fitness makes you more likely to get injured, sick, or burnt-out than reach HD-ready perfection. So why are we engaging in extreme exercise more than ever before.?

 

According to nonprofit Running USA, since 2000, the number of people who finish marathons has soared by almost 50%. There has also been a surge of interest in yoga, with practitioners going from four to 20 million in the US alone over the last 10 years. This has gone alongside an explosion of interest in vigorous forms like Bikram (hot yoga) and Ashtanga (an athletic series). Plus, you can’t go into a gym these days without seeing offerings of high-octane boot camp sessions, Spinning classes, and barre workouts. And the people that take up these offers are forming their own kind of fitness enthusiast cult.

 

Tina Craig, a fashion blogger who takes back-to-back kickboxing and Pilates classes three days a week, raves, ‘I’m back in my size-24 jeans. I felt like an old milking cow most days. My exercise regimen was validation that I had some sort of control over my life, which had been taken over by an adorable but demanding little bundle.’ Tracy Stern, a Philadelphia- and New York-based tea entrepreneur followed a gruelling workout schedule that included several yoga classes, two aerial gymnastics lessons, and boxing and Pilates classes — all in one week. She says that she felt under pressure from friends to strive for an unnatural ideal of perfection. ‘I was under the influence,’ she remembers, adding that after one exceptionally strenuous period ‘I couldn’t even brush my hair after.’

 

So what motivates people to exercise to extremes? Sheenah Hankin, a psychotherapist in Manhattan, argues, ‘It’s fear. They think, If I don’t exercise, I am going to gain weight, lose my muscle tone. It’s emotional, not rational. It’s a terrible trap.’ Loren Bassett, whose namesake boot camp is taught in 100- to 105-degree temperatures, echoes, ‘It’s about control…The main thing is looking at the mind-set of the person. If you’re feeling anxious when you can’t exercise, that’s a sign you’ve crossed the line between healthy and compulsive.’ This was the case with Cassidy Vineyard, a Brooklyn-based production coordinator for a fashion company, who trained twice a day, swimming in the morning and riding her bike or going for a long run after work. ‘I missed my former roommate’s bridal shower,’ she admits regretfully. ‘That definitely burned a bridge.’

 

The truth is, even if dedicating your time and energy to fitness does give you the body results you want, you may be putting other aspects of your wellness at risk. For Stephanie Hirsch, a Manhattan-based artist who used to Spin five times a week at SoulCycle, some results of the gruelling sessions were ultimately positive. She recalls, ‘It lowered my stress and increased my energy level. I also noticed it in my stomach and arms.’ That said, once Hirsch lots 10 pounds, she scaled back her routine to three or four times a week. She comments, ‘I do feel guilty. I see a difference in my body, which I don’t love, but my kids are my top priority, work is second, and things like Spinning sometimes have to fall by the wayside.’

Categories: boot camp, classes, control, exercise, Extreme Exercising, fitness, nbsp, Obsession, pilates classes, week

The Absolute Best 30-Minute Boot Camp Workout

There is an increasing popularity of the so-called ‘boot camp’ workout. There isn’t necessarily a specific way of pinning down exactly what a boot camp workout really is, but generally it will be a fitness regimen that is supposedly based around techniques used by those in the military to stay in shape so that they are adequately prepared for combat with enemies. This sort of ‘hard’ training is touted as the ideal way to lose weight or tone up for those people who have always felt like they need to drop a few pounds. But with so many supposed ‘boot camp’ workouts around, how do you which one is the right one that will really stand and deliver?

 

Ken Weichert, master fitness trainer for the U.S. Army has created a system that could potentially be the perfect system for staying in shape or slimming down. His plan allows you to burn off fat and build muscle with this cardio and strength workout that does not require any sort of special equipment. The plan encourages the idea of short but intense workout sessions including cardio intervals, full-body strength workouts and some extra moves for your abs in order to get the payoff you’re looking for. It’s the perfect way to slim down, tone up your muscles and tighten your stomach.

 

To get the full effect of the workout doing the business for you, it’s vital that you follow the proceeding steps so as to maximise the amount you get out for the effort that you have put in. You need to complete the circuit of the workout, which will take approximately ten minutes. To get the best out of it you should do it three times. This means you’ll be getting a fantastic workout for your body that takes just 30 minutes out of your day.

 

The first aspect of the workout is a short period of skipping without a rope. Simply stand as if you are going to be skipping, but do not hold a rope in your hands. Failure to execute this precise aspect of the move correctly will result in you skipping with a rope. Jump up and down on the spot while rotating your arms and shoulders. Continue this at a level of high intensity for around a minute and a half. Next you’ll move on to squats.

 

To perform a squat you must stand with your feet a shoulder width apart and, keeping your back straight, bend down as if you are sitting on a chair. Then you must slowly return to the standing position. Do this for two minutes before moving on the next move, which is the lunge.

 

Once again start with your feet a shoulder width apart and your hands on your hips, then broadly step forward with one foot. As you do this you should bend the other leg downwards, as if you are trying to take one long step. Repeat this with both legs for a minute. Next you must move on to crunches, which you must do for the remainder of the ten minutes.

 

Then it is the time for you to take a break for a couple of minutes. While this might seem pointless, it gives your body time to recover so that you have the strength and energy to do the next set of exercises properly. You then repeat this whole routine twice more. So this routine  every single day and it won’t be long until you stay seeing real progress in your life and you’ll understand why you have been going through with it.

Categories: 30-minute, boot, boot camp, camp, camp workout, minutes, nbsp, shape, shoulder width, Workout

Which Cardio Fitness Class Should You Try Next?

A fitness class is great for adding some much-needed variety to your workout routine and these days there’s no shortage of classes to try. While the offerings may somewhat depend on your local gym, most fitness facilities will cater to universal wellbeing by offering what is, essentially, the same kind of classes as everyone else. This is especially the case with fitness class-trends, such as Zumba, as well as your classics like spinning and Pilates. Let’s take a look at some of the cardiovascular classes on offer that can help you to keep your wellness on track:

 

1. Zumba: There’s no denying the power of Zumba, at least in terms of popularity. Zumba is currently one of the hottest and most popular group fitness classes out there, combining fun Latin music and dance-inspired movements to bring you cardiovascular activity that you can enjoy. In fact, this class feels more like a dance party – albeit a high energy one – than it does a hardcore workout. Still, if you’re just starting out, don’t let the high energy demands of Zumba put you off. Zumba is appropriate for any fitness level, whether you’re a seasoned fitness enthusiast or you’ve never set foot in a gym. Anyone can obtain a challenging workout from the class and, because it’s so popular, I almost guarantee you’ll find Zumba classes are available at your local gym. If not, check out Zumba’s official website to find a class near you.

 

2. Kick Boxing: Not for the light-hearted, Kick Boxing is a great option for people looking for something high impact. As you might expect, a good portion of each class is spent focusing on various punches and also different kinds of kicks – which is great self-defence training as well as a way to get your cardio needs fulfilled. Not only this, but Kick Boxing is also good for toning your muscles, providing arm-sculpting techniques through the punches you do throughout the class, and leg-and-bum definition from all that kicking.

 

3. Boot Camp: This is really an aptly-named class – Boot Camp classes are an intense session of Boot Camp-style activity. Again, if you’re easily put off by high-intensity workouts or you’re brand new to the concept of fitness routine, Boot Camp classes may not be the ones for you. However, if you’re up for the challenge, Boot Camp can target every muscle in your body thanks to an intense set of drills, such as sprints, push ups, jumping jacks and squats. Even the sections in which you’re toning your body will elevate your heart rate, meaning you’re getting top-notch cardio, G.I. Jane-style. Basically, Boot Camp is an interval class in which you switch from toning exercises to cardio drills in order to enable the maximum level of calorie burning possible. Adding this class to your workout routine once or twice a week can help you kick your workout up to a higher level.

 

4. Spinning: This class is great if you’re looking to build your endurance. Spinning is a group fitness class where you spend the entire length of the class on a specially designed stationary bike, varying your speed and resistance as and when the spinning instructor cues you to. This class can seem a bit intimidating, but don’t let that put you off what can be a great cardio workout. The bike might take a bit of getting used to if you’re new to spinning, but the great thing about this class is that – more than any other group fitness activity – the intensity of spinning is really up to you. You manually change the settings on your bike, so you can make it as difficult or easy as you’d like.

Categories: boot camp, camp classes, class, fitness class, group fitness, high energy, Kick Boxing, local gym, Spinning, workout routine, Zumba

How to Burn Off Those Extra Calories With a Bootcamp

There are all kinds of ways to help you lose weight and boost your fitness, but a new craze that is springing up – called boot-camp – could be the best way of all. Not only will the strength, agility, resistance and cardio moves from the workout help you burn some serious calories, they will also help you to tone up and get the body that you deserve.

 

The best news of all is that you don’t actually have to go to a boot-camp session. You can do your very own boot-camp at home, just by following these simple moves.

 

First of all, do you live near a beach? If you do, then you absolutely have to make use of this in your workout. Working out on sand is a lot harder than working out on a flat surface as you are constantly having to adjust your stability, and the sand also makes the surface a lot less buoyant. You really have to work hard when you run across sand!

 

The best way to incorporate the beach into your workout is to do some strength and cardio training together, like little mini drills on the beach by yourself. You can do short-distance runs (50 – 200 yards for example) and then intersperse these with a few reps of something like lunges, squats, mountain climbers and so on. The cardio and strength training combined is the best way to burn fat and get lean muscle.

 

There are also plenty of things that you can do around the house, if you don’t have a handy beach nearby. For example, when watching television you can try some simple but very effective resistance moves, such as the plank. In the plank, you get into a push up position but with your arms further in, underneath your shoulders, and then push up and hold for as long as you can. You could also stand up and do some lunges whilst watching TV, ironing or doing the dishes, as these are great for toning the thighs and bum area.

Categories: beach, boot, boot camp, bootcamp, calories, camp, exercise, nbsp