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Weight Loss Exercise

Free Weights or Weight Training Machines



Should you do only free weights at the gym or use weight training machines? Something you need to keep in mind and never forget is that when you exercise, you are training for life. You still may spend an hour a day in the gym, although that will still leave another 23 hours or so for your muscles to function without using any fancy equipment.

Whenever you do any type of exercise, the movement of your body during the exercise is known as the range of motion. The more difficult the range of motion is, the more effective the exercise will be, because your body has to work twice as hard to perform the movement.

Bicep curls – Free Weights or Weight Training Machines

Take for the instance the classic dumbbell bicep curl. If you aren’t familiar with the exercise, it is performed by standing up straight with your palms facing forward, and a pair of dumbbells held down by your sides. You’ll contract your biceps to bring the dumbbells up to your shoulder height, then repeat the exercise as many times as you wish.

Using that same movement for exercise on a bicep curl machine, you should sit down, brace your upper arms on a pad, grasp 2 handles that are in front of you, then perform the same movement as above to move the handles in an upward motion.

Now, looking at the muscle contractions in this exercise, you are contracting essentially your biceps if you are using the curl machine, and that is pretty much all you are doing. When you use the machine you are sitting down, which will limit just how much your shoulders give. The machine has several muscles used in this exercise limited to the biceps, as well as the muscles in your forearms and fingers.

Limited Range of Motion with Machines

Free Weights or Weight Training Machines

Weight Workout Machine

Most of the time, when using machine weights, you will always be limited as to what type of exercise you can perform. You must always follow a strict procedure, which is pretty much the same with free weights. Unlike free weights, machine weights offer a certain degree of resistance.

One of the best thing about free weights is the fact that you move a little chuck around to select the weight you want to use. Instead of dragging it over to your exercise area, you simply select it on the machine. When you are tired during a workout, this can be a blessing.

A lot of people argue in the fact that free weights are the best for your body. While this is normally true, many people out there feel that machine weights are the best. There are pros and cons with both machines, although free weights have been around a lot longer and have been proven time after time to achieve dramatic results.

Body builders for example, have used free weights over the years to build very impressive bodies. If you ask most of them about machine weights, they would probably laugh at you and tell you that you need to quit joking around.

Should You Use Free Weights or Machines?

In a nutshell, free weights will use more of your muscles than the weight training machines do, which makes them more effective overall. This doesn’t mean that the machines are a waste of use, as they offer some great advantages. In some cases, it is best to stabilize the muscles that are being used in a movement, which is where machines are the best to use.

The decision on which to use for you should be based on what you hope to achieve with lifting weights and where you plan to use the equipment, such as home or at a gym. Both systems are great for your body, although the free weights are best to use if you want the best possible workout, and always ensure that your muscles are getting the right workouts they need.

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Weight Loss Exercise

Day 2 and Go to food and exercise



Well I seem to have somewhat snapped and made this blog about me as much as you…maybe even more me. But today is day 2 of my 30 day fitness challenge and I want to keep you up to speed so that you can glean some of the things I am doing and hopefully they will help you too.

What did I do?

First of all yesterday I ate quite well except for an ice cream cone. Smoothy for breakfast, left over chicken and asparagus for lunch, and chicken and a veggie stir fry for dinner. And lots of fruit and water throughout the day.

And for exercise a long bike ride to just chill and get myself ready for the week this week.

Today I am back to Oatmeal for breakfast (steel cut oats just take too long) and I had some home made pizza for lunch before a killer chest, shoulders, triceps workout. I am feeling pretty good and am really tuned in to everything to make sure I don’t slip at all. I hope you didn’t notice but I never made any goals for these 30 days even though I will ramble on and on about how important they are. I think my motivation is really strong since a few thousand people arrive here at the blog every day to keep me in check.

Go to Foods and Exercise

One thing I was thinking about today was riding and oatmeal, and yogurt. I always have my go to foods of oatmeal, protein powder, and a fridge full of fruit so I never have an excuse not to eat well. I hate yogurt but most people really like it and it is a super easy and fast meal replacement if you add some fruit, try the Greek yogurt since it is higher protein and stay away from the yogurt high in sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

For exercise I always fall back on riding or weight lifting. I know there are a lot of types of exercise out there and some people may have another goto exercise like tennis or swimming but a couple is good enough.

I know that everyone runs into eating and exercise problems and when you get lazy or tired or just busy you don’t want to have to think about it you really just want to have go to foods and exercises that you can fall back on.

If I get stressed out I tell my bike I am going for a bike ride. If I am stressed out at work I go down to the gym and have a weight workout.

Same with food. There is no thinking in the morning for me, I don’t go to a coffee place so I know that it is Oatmeal and tea that I make and I do not get strayed off to bad eating decisions.

So try to think about these things. What can you rely on and what do you always have to fall back on?


Day 2 and Go to food and exercise, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

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Lower Your Stress With These Tips



Not all stress is created equal. You can feel stress from work, home, family, friends, and yourself, but you can also experience stress from winning the lottery and moving into your new mansion. Long term stress, however, can even contribute to health problems if not dealt with.

While it is normal to have some stress, most of us tend to have too much of it. Here are some suggestions for relieving your stress. What is relaxing to one person may not be so relaxing to another, so use the techniques that appeal to you.

1. Laugh – What makes you laugh? Your puppy, a funny movie, a comedy routine? Make some time to laugh; it can be an instant stress reliever.

2. Exercise – Perhaps a brisk walk in the park or a game of tennis with a good friend. Fire up those endorphins while enjoying nature or companionship.

3. Massage – See a professional. Better yet, have one come to your home. If you can’t afford it, get a 15 minute shoulder massage at the mall or coax your spouse into doing it.

4. Music – A fast beat can make you dance, and it’s hard to feel stressed while you’re dancing. At the other end of the spectrum, calm music will help you feel calm.

5. Discussion – Talk out your problems with the people who can help you solve your problems, whether it be your spouse who IS the problem or a professional who can give you coping methods.

6. Yoga – This combines several stress relieving modalities including breathing, meditation, and stretching.

7. No – Learning to say no to people and situations will help you to stop heaping so much on your plate. Step back and look at your 24 hours and decide where you want your priorities to lie. Weed out everything else.

8. Deep-breathing – Breathing deep can bring quick relief from an immediate stressful situation and allows you to focus. Plus it oxygenates the blood.

9. Entertainment – Let others take the stress on their shoulders as they entertain you. Get out of the house or office, and away from the stress and take in a movie, a nice restaurant dinner, a tour of the city, or a concert.

10 – Journal – If you don’t want to talk about it then write about it. Keeping a journal of your concerns and stresses will help you get a clearer picture of your issues and might help you come up with a plan to get to a place of less stress.

Even if you can’t remove all the stress in your world, you can certainly lower your stress levels when you try some of these tips.