You have your workout planned for today? Do you have your workouts planned for the whole week?
…Commit to be Fit!…
…Motivational Monday…
Infinite Life Fitness
Hard Work Pays Off!
Posted in April 2012 …
…Health and Fitness at your finger tips!…
With all the amazing technology we have today, there are so many tools that you can use that can be helpful and motivational to help you with your health and fitness journeys!
There will be some options listed below that YOU can use to help you! And yes, these tools are literally at the tip of your fingers! I know that today most people have pretty nice smart phones, tablets, or ipads. Mr. Pearlie Davis was kind enough to compile a list of some of the most popular and most used health and fitness apps that you can find on your own devices. Here are some apps that you can use that can be helpful to you and your health and fitness journey:
2012′s Top Health & Wellness Apps
Make your smartphone your workout buddy
The weather is getting nicer every day, and you still have time to tone up before swimsuit season begins in earnest. These apps will help you stay focused, eat right, and power through the slumps.
1. Endomondo Sports Tracker (Android, iPhone)
If competition keeps you motivated, Endomondo might be the system for you. It’s a running, jogging, and cycling tracker built for people who like to push themselves and others to improve. You can input your planned route into the app, and it will track your progress in real-time via GPS, measuring your performance against your personal best and providing audio coaching when you approach or surpass a previous record. You can also share routes with friends and then compete to become the “Champion” of that route (sort of like being the Mayor in Foursquare). It also includes the usual fitness app basics—heartrate monitoring, workout history, and planning. This is easily the standout fitness app of 2012; it’s creative, comprehensive, and most importantly, it’s free. (Cost: Free, Pro version for $3.99)
2. Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker
This app by MyFitnessPal allows you to track food choices, exercises, and long-term fitness and nutrition goals customized to your specific needs. It includes a database of almost 600,000 food items, so you can fit almost any conceivable meal into your dieting math. It’s easy to use and features an attractive interface; but this app really shines in its personalized evaluations of your nutrition and fitness needs, based on your lifestyle, body type, and long-term goals. The app also provides access to the MyFitnessPal social network, so you can share tips and encouragement with friends. (Cost: Free)
3. Instant Heart Rate (Android)
This app is worth downloading just for the gee-whiz factor alone: it uses your smartphone’s camera to detect almost-imperceptible color changes in your skin, measuring your heart rate as accurately as the fingertip heart rate sensor in your doctor’s office (because it uses the very same technology). Use it to check your active heart rate during a workout to make sure you’re working at your potential, or check your resting heart rate as an indicator of your overall cardiovascular health. (Cost: $0.99)
4. Daniel Miller’s Daily Cardio Workout (Android)
If you’ve hit a slump and need a quick, structured workout to force yourself back into rhythm, this app is a good choice; the workouts are quick, simple, and organized. You can target specific muscles by selecting the appropriate workout, or randomize to shake things up. If you’re already motivated and involved in a serious workout routine, this probably isn’t worth bothering with; but if you’re struggling to get motivated and want something to ease you into a new routine, or if you need a filler workout for when you don’t have much time or can’t access workout equipment, this app can help. (Cost: $0.99)
5. JEFIT
JEFIT, on the other hand, is a great option for people who are already on fire with their workout routine and want to make it more focused, organized, and effective. JEFIT includes illustrated workout instructions to help you perfect your form, and allows you to track your workouts in meticulous detail, including customizing a personal routine and syncing your workouts with your online JEFIT profile. The interface is attractive and easy to use, and the depth of features is impressive. This app is intended primarily for strength training, but has good cardio and endurance training functionality as well. (Cost: Free)
About The Author
Pearlie Davis is a staff writer for GoingCellular, a popular site that provides cell phone news, commentary and reviews on popular devices like T-Mobile smartphone‘s
There should be NO excuse as to why you have no assistance or help with getting your health and fitness routines on track! The apps listed above are just a few of the hundreds of applications and other tools that you can find to use!
…Motivational Monday…
Stay committed your workouts!
Try to schedule them at an optimal time that is good for you to complete a full workout!
Stick to it and you will see the results YOU want
…Guest Post: Why do YOU eat Fast Food?…
Well, there have been many times that people stress the importance of limiting or STOP eating fast food.
Being realistic it is hard to give it up 100%. With a family, busy lifestyle, and not enough time….fast food is a great option for most people and families when meal time comes around.
Take a pledge to limit your fast food intake. Try to plan and schedule your menu/meals. This is not only a healthier option, but over time it can help you save money! If you take the $5-$20 you would spend PER MEAL at a fast food place, you can apply that to your grocery bill and get healthy meal options and snacks.
Today Mr. Tony Shin was kind enough to submit a graphic to be shared with you guys!
Created by: MedicalCodingCareerGuide.com
…What Are You Eating Today? Fast Food vs Home Meal…
When cooking meals at home you have to also be mindful of HOW you are cooking them! Just because you buy healthy food…you also have to cook it so you do not add more calories!
…Guest Post:High Intensity Interval Training…
When deciding on what kind of workout you are wanting to do there are so many different types of programs you can choose from!
You can join a fitness class or fitness challenge at a local gym or with your job
You can attend or create your own boot camp
You can create or find a fitness routine that you can complete at the gym OR if you can not afford a gym membership you can complete it at home!
Today’s post will be talking to the followers who are a step above the beginners but who are looking for something to add or supplement their fitness routines with.
Today I would like to introduce you to Erik. Mr. Smith has his own website at: www.workoutdesigns.com
He is here to discuss some higher intensity workout options for you:
The key to high intensity interval training is speed. This enhanced form of training typically means you do more in a short amount of time and is popular among those who are trying to lose as well as for others with all kinds of fitness and exercise needs. High intensity interval training workouts usually last less than 20 minutes and burns fat faster than similar cardio workouts. There are many different kinds of high intensity interval training routines and each has their own kinds of benefits.
30 and 60 Second High Intensity Interval Training Workouts
When you are just beginning high intensity interval training, you can start with 30 second routines. After you have stretched and warmed up properly, you can work on your 30-second routine. You should feel every part of your body burning when you work out. No matter your fitness level, you should try to push yourself to finish.
Beginners need to do 30-second sprints with 90-second rest phases in six to eight sets. Those at an intermediate level can do 30-second sprints with 60-second rest phases in eight to ten sets. However, those at the advanced level can do 30-second sprints with 30-second rest phases in ten to twelve sets. No matter what level of your high intensity interval training routines, you also need to make sure you warm down properly after your sets.
Tabata Training
There are also other forms of high intensity interval training if you want a more structured or official workout. In fact, Tabata is said to be the most effective form of training as well as the most intense. This is a four-minute routine is supposed to produce better results than aerobic training. The interval training is also supposed to help you build muscular endurance better than you would if you were undergoing normal cardio training.
The Tabata intervals are simple to follow. You have to push yourself to do as many reps as possible for 20 seconds then rest for ten seconds. This has to be repeated eight times. With Tabata training, it is best to use a timer so that you do not have to think too much as you are working on your intervals. Beginners at this level should choose lighter weights and gradually increase as they progress.
While this routine is quite intense, one of its appeals is that it is adaptable to various kinds of exercises. Exercises such as front squats and push presses work very well with this routine. You can also use kettlebells or other kinds of weights that will make you use your largest set of muscle groups. You should remember that this is not an everyday routine and you may end up doing it only once or twice a month.
Body for Life Training
You can also try other high intensity interval training routines such as the Body for Life routine that has four sets of increasing intervals each one minute long. Part of the secret to this routine is that it starts out at an already high intensity than challenges you to increase intensity with each minute. Finally by the last-minute, you have to push yourself to reach maximum intensity.
You can use accessories such as timers as you work on high intensity interval training workouts if you need some help in keeping up your pace and checking on your progress. You can also use workout music to help the time pass faster and keep your mind off the burn. You may not perform these routines every day, but you can still get the kind of results you want if you perform them correctly.
We starting a new health and fitness routine you have to be mindful of you physical limits! It is OK if you start something new or add new things to your workout and it is hard for you to finish them or you can not finish them at all! It will take you some time to build up your endurance and your strength to be able to accomplish tougher higher intensity workouts. It is OK to try or add something new to your routines! It is actually suggested that you change-up your routine every 6 – 8 weeks. This will allow your body to not get use to all the same exercises and it allows you to work out other muscles in your body to help you shed those unwanted calories and reach your fitness goals.
…Motivational Monday!…
Be mindful of the food you BUY and the food you EAT
There are SO many healthy food options…
…More Portion Control…
When it comes to health and fitness related topics, the two topics that I am passionate about are
- food/drink portion controls
- adequate exercise routine
The two things listed above are some of the most important when looking at creating health and fitness goals and they are usually the two things that are either overlooked or not properly applied to health and fitness plans.
Portion control is important because without it, you will not see the results that you are looking for! A frequent questions that is also asked when talking about portion control is “I do not know if I ate enough”…”I do not know if I ate the suggested portion sizes”…”I do not know if I am eating as frequently as I should be”.
When it comes to eating the right portion sizes you just have to learn what is the right size and what is the wrong size. When it comes to knowing how often to eat there is no magic answer for that. That is something you will have to figure out. Everyone’s body is different. One important fact…DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF! If you are hungry between meals have a small, nutritional, low-calorie snack! My go to snack is yogurt and a handful of nuts…If I am between snacks and I get a craving I always go to yogurt because it will give me the satisfied feelings and allow me to make it to my next meal. This is just something you will have to learn with your body. Learn what will leave you feeling satisfied for longer periods of time.
You can check at the following links for some great healthy low-calorie snacks:
http://infinitelifefitness.com/2011/10/18/the-perfect-snack/
http://infinitelifefitness.com/2012/01/17/more-healthy-snack-ideas/
http://infinitelifefitness.com/2012/02/02/more-healthy-snacks-part-3/
http://infinitelifefitness.com/2012/02/23/more-healthy-snacks-part-4/
http://infinitelifefitness.com/2012/03/07/100-calorie-snacks/
I have also found some great aids to help those who are still needing a little more help with mastering the art of portion control:
This item you can find online to help you when applying salad dressing (or any other kind of liquid) to your meals.
For only $7.99 this is a great buy and an amazing find!
This item can be found here: http://www.organize.com/portion-control-dressing-cruet.html
Here are some more visual aids to help you with the correct portion controls:
More Portion Control Tips:
- Split up food into bags or Tupperware. This will allow you to pre-measure your food and have it ready when you need it. It can save you time and allow you to grab something if you are in a hurry!
- This can be a great thing to do for the family! Put family members names, dates, or even times on the bags/containers so children will know what is OK for them to grab then they are in the kitchen!
Portion control is also about eating the right things for you. Yes it is OK to have a piece of chocolate or your favorite ice cream…but only ONCE IN A WHILE! Achieving your health and fitness goals requires you to understand what you are putting in your body and what your body needs. Once you start to eat better, combine that with a great workout routine and you are on your way to achieving your goals!
…Motivational Monday…
Happy Monday!
Hope you guys have your goals set for this week!
Hope that you have your menu planned for this week!
And most importantly, I hope you guys have your workouts schedules/planned out for this week!
…Goals and Achieving Them…
With most aspects in life you have a goal
…positive goals at work…
…positive financial goals…
…positive health and fitness goals…
But how do you stay focused to achieve these goals?
Do you write them down? Do you review them on a regular basis? Do you think of personal rewards when you achieve these goals?
When it comes to health and fitness goals it is a good idea to have one main goal. For example, you would like to lose 50 pounds. That is a great overall goal to have in mind. When you have your overall goal in mind the next thing you need to do is set mini goals. Here are some examples of mini goals:
- I will work out 3…4…or 5 days a week
- I want to lose at least 5 pounds a week (which is realistic but you have to work hard for it!)
- I will stop having cokes and switch to water
- I will limit how many times I eat fast food
- I will create a menu for each week and stick to what I have on that menu
When you have your main goal and your mini goals set there is one more step you should take!! You should set a reward for yourself! YES A REWARD! What is better motivation to reach your goals than to reward yourself with something you have wanted but have put off getting yourself.
If you give up sweets for a certain period of time, yes you can reward yourself with ice cream after achieve so many of your mini goals. But the best reward you set should be for reaching your overall goal. Here is a GREAT idea a friend send to me…
For each workout that she has done, her husband will place $1 in her workout jar. Currently her goal is to lose 30 pounds and she has estimated this to take about 8 weeks to achieve this goal. Working out 5 days a week for 8 weeks will allow her to rack up around $40! Wait there is more! If she reaches her goal BEFORE the 8 weeks is over her husband will DOUBLE the amount of money that is in the jar on the day she reaches her goal. Talk about motivation! She is allowed to use that money on WHATEVER she wants…new clothes…new shoes…or a night out with her and her friends to celebrate her fitness success.
When it comes to reaching your health and fitness goals, having motivation is so important! You have to have something that will push you to work hard and dig deep during your workouts. You have so have something that will push you to stay away from the wrong foods and eat foods that will nourish your body!
Along with that motivation you need support from those around you and encouragement.
Other than the positive physical benefits you will achieve from your health and fitness goals, it is important to have something that you can reward and treat your self with.
Any day is a great day to start your new health and fitness routine….why not start today!
LOOK FOR Infinite Life Fitness writing articles these other websites!
