Tag: Cardio

Train Hard Rest Well

As an aspiring athlete (I think anyone trying to get in better shape is an aspiring athlete), your need to recover from your workouts and let your body heal. Resting, not relaxation becomes critical. As you sleep your body recovers instead of just recovering from the food that we eat and the quiet times that we are not working out.

For people that live a quiet and mostly sedentary life resting tends to mean sleeping. Hopefully this was just a past life for you but one of the main things that people do in a couch potato lifestyle is just exist, you probably know what I mean, wake up groggy, coffee, maybe food, work, watch TV, eat lots of snacks and then sleep.

As an active, health concious person a lot of this gets turned on its head. We wake up feeling more rested and before or after work we will workout and find different ways to fill our time. I always find though that I am questing for a better way to get the rest that I need.

Why Do We get Muscle Soreness?

I find that my main recovery problems are muscle soreness and muscle weakness after my workouts. There is a major food component in this but I wanted to deal with rest and recovery today only. After any kind of overload to our muscles they are broken down and we lose the glycogen and at the same time the stress on the muscles can cause some pain.

The main problem that you are dealing with when you have muscle soreness is lactic acid buildup in your muscles and the microtrauma to your muscle fibers. Everyone that has worked out has felt this and although it can be painful, you will recover in a few days after resting correctly.

Rest and Recovery after Exercise

There are a few ways to recover after a good workout of any kind, we it a cardio or a muscle workout.

1. Stretching – Stretching should not be done before working out as it can cause you to pull cold muscles. What I find works best is to warmup the muscles and do my workout and then after every workout I stretch all of my muscles for 5 to 10 minutes. This really is the minimum as it helps build flexibility and you are in much better shape when you are flexible.

2. Sleep – as we know sleep is really really important. I know that I need 8 hours of sleep a night and the more you workout the deeper your sleep will be. There are a few things that we can do to get better sleep. I find that having quiet time for the hour before I go to sleep helps, studies actually show that if you have no TV, computer, or iPhone then you will fall asleep easier and I have to agree even though I will usually listen to a podcast as I am falling asleep. Also the darker your room is the better you will sleep, and keep the temperature down in your room.

3. Baths – Having a warm bath after you have cooled off will work well for your muscles. Baths are very soothing and many people say that having a bath with epson salts will help soothe sore muscles even better.

4. Meditation – I am very bad for neglecting this but there are many great changes in your physiology that happen when you meditate on a regular basis. The act of meditation also puts your mind in a more sleeplike beta level which helps concentration and restfulness as well.

These are a few of the things that you can do to improve recovery after your workouts. Why not add some of your own in the comments below?

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2013 Goals and Plans

I sent this email out to the subscribers of the blog (sign up is below this post). I got a great reception for this and I think it is probably becasue people like to see other peoples goals to see if they are going in the right direction or if they are pushing hard enough.

So I thought I would share it on the blog so you could see it as well.

2013 Goals and Plans

Here we are in 2013 and it probably looks a lot like last year. But I hope after the last few emails that I sent that your head is in a great place to make changes in your life and to expect and push for more this year then last.

I expect this year to be a great one for me as well.

The key is to make sure everything you do is in manageable chunks. You have to break up different parts of your life, have S.M.A.R.T goals for each of those parts of your life, and finally your next task to get yourself towards these goals.

This shouldn’t be complicated and it should make sense but I find so often that people just lose interest or get scared of the change that will happen in their lives.

So here are my goals for this year – see if they make sense

Career/Money – Build up the fitness website to be world class and earn a full time income so that I can concentrate on just helping as many people as possible and not get distracted by things that don’t help and are just busywork.

Family – Cut my time online in half so that I spend more, and better time with my family, more outings, more camping, and more experiences

Mental – Read more books. Break this up to reading a book each for Fitness, social media, and family/relationship book a month. Also I want to pick up a new skill every month so that I can keep growing and using my brain. Learning guitar is one of the first for me.

Physical – Move away from just weights and cardio and more Yoga, crossfit, tennis and more other sports. Clean up my diet more with more raw food and less junk. And really I suspect I could probably lose a bit of fat but expect that if I do it will come off with changing up my exercise and eating schedule

Social – For this I am the worst. I don’t get out enough and spend too many nights at home. I am going to push myself to get out one night a week actually being social with others!

I have been reading John Acuff’s blog quite a bit lately http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/ and he has this whole thing broken down into 7 things for 52 days which also seems to be a great idea

I know that this is more about me than you. Sorry. I just feel like if I get this information out there is keeps me grounded to what I really need to focus on and at the same time give you some ideas of how easy and important it is to make changes to improve yourself.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle
is an exercise and diet program. My review of Burn the Fat shows that it is designed and written by an ex-pro natural bodybuilder but is a system that was written for regular guys and gals. Teaching you how to workout and eat to lose weight.

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Is Running Healthy?

Is running healthy? There are many reasons why people start running. Some run in order to become fit or lose weight. Others like the challenge of competing in a race. Running is one of the best cardio activities and provides many health benefits.

I know that we all know someone that hurt their knees or hips running but really these drawbacks to the sport are usually due to just using poor form Ask any of these people that have hurt themselves is running healthy and they will tell you that is certainly is.

Why is Running Healthy

Running makes you healthy and fit. It is a great way to strengthen your cardiovascular system and keep your heart and lungs healthy. It reduces your risk of having a heart attack. When combined with a healthy diet, running can help normalize your blood pressure and lower your cholesterol level. It also improves your immune system so you don’t get sick easily. To get the best cardio benefits, run at least 30 minutes a day for four or five days a week.

Running helps you lose weight. When you run, your body burns a lot of calories. Running is an excellent cardiovascular exercise and helps you shed excess weight. It also builds lean muscles and boosts your metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories.

Is Running Healthy

Running give you more energy. When you’re feeling tired or physically drained, a good cardio activity like running can give your energy level a boost. This may seem counter-intuitive but if you feel sluggish after sitting at your desk all day, running will give you back your energy. Running in the morning can also improve your energy level during the day.

Running relieves stress. One of the best reasons to run for health is to remove stress and even mild depression. Running lowers your stress levels. It provides a sense of accomplishment and makes you feel good inside. Studies show that people who exercise regularly are generally happier than those who don’t.

Running improves your mood. When you run, your body releases endorphins. These are hormones that make you feel good and provide a sense of euphoria, commonly called “runner’s high.”

Running keeps you young. High impact activities like running help you prevent bone and muscle loss as you age. Running is a physically demanding exercise and will allow your bones and muscles to grow stronger. It is better than an anti-aging product or procedure. Cardio exercise improves blood circulation and gives a healthy, youthful glow to your skin. Staying young is one of the top reasons to run for health.

Running is cheap. Many forms of exercise for health reasons require expensive equipment and/or a gym membership. Running, on the other hand, is one of the cheapest forms of working out. All you need is a pair of running shoes, shorts, and a t-shirt.

These are all great reasons to start running or to continue running. This is a great sport that will help you improve your health and fitness and make you proud of how you are getting better all the time.