First Steps Fitness

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How to Include Your Dog in Your Exercise Routine

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Dog performing savasana 🙂

Whether you exercise on a regular basis or want to begin making it more of a priority in your life, one of the best ways to stick with it is by making it fun and interesting. After all, if you look forward to exercising, you’ll make sure it’s something you do at least once a day and maybe sometimes even more! While there are unique classes you can take and easy-to-use DIY equipment for your house, why not let your furry friend in on the fun? Exercising with a dog is one of the best ways to burn calories while letting your pup get their energy out, which is pretty much a win/win for both of you.

Want your Dog to be your Workout Buddy?

Are you intrigued? What dog lover wouldn’t be? To get started, a few easy ways to incorporate your best friend into your exercise routine are listed below.

1. Try Biking

If you’re looking for a unique way to workout with your dog, try biking! However, don’t jump into this without the right equipment. Make sure you have a reflective t-shirt to wear and reflectors on your bike, especially if you’re going out toward the evening. It’s also crucial to have a leash that’s specifically made to be used while riding a bike. To make sure the experience is even safer, do a few trial runs while riding slow before you move on to doing a faster pace.

2. Dance

You probably know you have some fresh moves on the dance floor, but does your dog? Prove to them you could have been the prom king or queen by turning your living room or backyard into a stage. Turn up the music and both of you will be able to jump around and have some fun while you burn calories. Sure, it might sound a little weird to dance with your dog, but it’s very likely that they’ve already seen you do many other “weird” things in the past!

3. Take Them to Yoga Class

If you thought dancing with your dog was out of your comfort zone, prepare for dog yoga (a.k.a “doga”)! Depending on where you live, there should be at least a few options for classes you can attend with your furry friend. The reviews on this are pretty mixed, as it largely depends on the behavior of your pup. However, if you have a pretty content dog that enjoys being active, this type of exercise is well worth a try.

4. Begin the Morning with Tag or Frisbee

For those who enjoy exercising first thing in the morning, walking or running with your dog is an excellent option. However, if you want to mix things up, tag or Frisbee can be fun alternatives. Both will burn calories for you and energy for your dog, making it beneficial for each of you. What’s even better is that you can do these activities right in your backyard or a local dog park, depending on the space you have available.

5. Try a Daily Workout

Looking for something more traditional you can do in the comfort of your own home? This quick workout is effective and perfect for having fun with your furry friend.

  • Squats: While standing in front of your dog with your legs hip-width apart, hold a bone up above his head with your right hand. When he looks up, squat down and bring the treat under your legs. Repeat while your dog tries to get their treat.
  • Jump Ups: Crouch in front of your pup with a toy in your hands. Once they see what they want, jump up like you’re doing a jumping jack. Go back down into the crouching position and repeat 10 times holding the toy in different hands each time.
  • Planks: Get into plank position while holding a dog toy or treat in your left hand. While still in position, slowly bend your arm across to your right arm while your dog slowly walks after their desired treat. Once they reach it, extend your arm all the way out to the side. Repeat on each side before giving your dog their treat for being so good!

Exercising with your Best Friend

Getting a good workout is 100% possible with your dog, you just have to get creative. Fortunately, the ideas above make it easy and can spark some ideas of your very own. Which will you get started with? Whichever you choose, make sure to practice safety for both of you so exercising together can be an everyday thing.

10 Key Traits of a Great Personal Trainer

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Hiring a personal trainer is a big commitment both mentally and physically, as it requires you to put your all into focusing on your health and how you train your body. However, have you also considered the fact that it’s a monetary investment? These experts can be incredibly smart and effective, but they do cost money in order to train with on a regular basis. This is why it’s so important to make sure you’re working with someone who encompasses the qualities that you’d want in this type of professional. To help make sure you select an individual you can feel confident working with, look for the following 10 key traits of a great personal trainer:

1. Friendly Personality

While it might be alright to be treated as just another customer when you checkout at the grocery store, this shouldn’t be the case when you’re working with a personal trainer. They should have a friendly personality that’s genuinely welcoming to you every time your there. They should feel more like your friend than someone who you’re paying to help you. This type of training is incredibly personal, so you want to have someone around who you feel a good camaraderie with. Perhaps this is why it’s recommended to interview at least a few trainers before you select the one that you “click” with the best. Remember, not all trainers have a “let’s be friends” personality, so it’s crucial to briefly talk with them before you get started training.

2. Encouraging

The last thing most clients want is for their trainer to just give them instructions and count their reps, as this won’t motivate them to push harder. This is why it’s important to look for a trainer who is going to encourage you every step of the way and root you on to do more. With them cheering you on while you’re lifting weights or running, you are going to be much more likely to reach your goals. Are you the type of person who gives up easily, especially while tired? Then you’ll want a trainer who is dedicated to motivating you to push yourself and reach every single goal you have in mind.

3. Enthusiastic

Your entire state of mind can change when you walk into the gym and are greeted by a trainer who is excited to see you. With a big smile on their face they’ll get you started with the routine for the day and help you do more with your body. This trait isn’t one that all trainers have, but with those who do, it can make a big difference in your experience. An enthusiastic attitude can even brush off on you and give you more excitement for your training sessions.

4. Educated

You wouldn’t see a doctor who hadn’t been to medical school, so why would you see a trainer who didn’t have a fitness certification? This is one of the first things you should ask about, just to make sure your trainer is truly a professional. In addition to knowledge on training, this will prove that they have knowledge of exercise procedures, body anatomy, physiology, nutrition, and management of weight. All of these things are going to provide you as the client with a much better experience because you’ll get more solid advice.

5. Experienced

Just like with any job, the more experience you have the better you’re going to be at what you do. This is especially true of trainers, as the more time they have working with clients, the better they get at catering to their needs. Not to mention a trainer who has experience is likely to have many stories of success, meaning clients they’ve helped reach all types of different goals. Of course it’s always an option to take a chance with a new trainer, but if you’re looking for the best, then experience is very important.

6. Punctual

Training sessions can be expensive and take up time in your schedule, which is why punctuality is a trait every trainer should have. They should be there on time for every session, and if they are going to be late for some reason, that’s something they should tell you ahead of time. On the flip side you should make sure you work to encompass this quality as well, because your trainer won’t want to train you if you’re constantly running late.

7. Understanding

Whether you believe it or not, there are a lot of emotions that can come up when you’re pushing your body and mind to their limits in the gym. This is why it’s beneficial to work with someone who will take the time to understand where you’re coming from, why you feel the way you do, and how your emotions may be mentally blocking your progress. Sure this might feel like a therapy session, but a good trainer will be able to roll with it and help you overcome hurdles.

8. Communicative

Guiding you through exercises is important, especially as you first begin in the gym. Your trainer should have open communication about what you’ll do, how many reps you’ll do, and what’s expected of you. In addition to this, they should take the time to openly discuss your goals and what you want to achieve in the coming days, months, and even years.

9. Attentive

Are you doing a lift the right way? Is your posture correct while you’re doing pushups? These are things you need to know in order to make sure you are being safe and minimizing your risk of injury. When doing any exercise your trainer should be right there next to you, giving you advice, encouraging you to continue, and giving you motivation for pushing yourself harder. If they are not attentive, then what’s the point of working with them?

Motivational Fitness Quote

10. Patience

When working with a personal trainer, patience is one trait you will be most grateful that they have. Otherwise if you’re not as fast as other clients or need to do things over again, your trainer may become frustrated and eager to push you along more quickly. If you instead work with someone who is patient, they’ll be excited to see you progress and motivated to determine what changes they can make in your regimen to create a more effective workout.

These 3 Simple Changes Will Maximize Your Fat Loss

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Losing weight is something that takes time, whether you’re doing it through diet, exercise, or a combination of both…as well, whether you’re on this journey alone or have a trainer that can guide and support you on your path.

While there’s no way to rush this so it happens overnight, what if there were ways you could maximize your fat loss so your efforts went even further? The good news is that this may be a reality if you’re willing to change a few things about the way you live and workout. If you’re curious about what you can do to get started, keep reading to learn the top three simple changes you can make listed below. They have been effective for helping many people burn more fat and may be helpful for you as well.

motivational fitness quote

1. Work on Building Muscle

Even if aerobic exercise is what you stick with on a daily basis, it’s important to try to fit in some muscle-building workouts as well. Why is this important? Because your body will burn more fat while resting when you have more muscle within it. In fact, studies have shown that hours after you finish a muscle-building workout you burn more calories than you would doing any other type of exercise. What’s even better is the fact that the muscle can help ramp up your metabolism so you continue to burn fat and calories at a faster rate all throughout the day.

To get started with building muscle you don’t have to spend hours at the gym lifting things that are far out of your comfort zone. Instead you can do something like push-ups, pull-ups, or squats so your own body weight provides you with resistance. If you want to stay in the gym and utilize those tools, consider working with a trainer to learn more about lifting weights. They can teach you the basics as well as the proper posture to use while lifting. By incorporating this a few days per week, you’ll likely find that you burn more fat and feel better as well!

2. Monitor Your Heart Rate

When you’re working out, how much attention do you pay to your heart rate? While you might know it’s elevated, it’s unlikely you know how fast it is unless you’re regularly tracking it. The benefit of paying more attention to your heart rate is he fact that you’ll know when you’re in the fat burning zone. To determine when you’re in this zone, it’s beneficial to start with having a heart rate monitor. This makes things a lot easier and takes much of the work out of tracking your own pulse. Once you have this, figure out your max heart rate and fat burning zone, which can be done in the following steps.

Step 1: Calculate 220 – Your Age (for example 220-25 years old is a maximum heart rate of 195)
Step 2: Multiply your max heart rate by .7 to determine the highest your heart rate should go (using the example above, 195 x .7 = 136.5).
Step 3: Multiply your max heart rate by .6 to determine the lowest your heart rate should go (using the example above, 195 x .6 = 117).

Once you have these numbers, you’ll know the range that you have to stay in (which is 117-136 beats per minute using the example above). When you begin working out, track your heart rate to make sure it’s staying within this zone and you’ll be maximizing the amount of fat that you burn. However, watch closely because if you go above this you will only burn off what you’ve recently eaten and if you go under this you will be burning as much fat.

3. Try HIIT

HIIT, otherwise known as high intensity interval training, has become popular with everyday exercisers as well as professional athletes. This is because it’s an effective way of boosting workouts to build endurance, strengthen muscles, and maximize the rate that fat is burned. Before you learn how to do this type of training, it’s important to know that it can help you burn abdominal fat very well if you stick with it. However, most experts recommend that you only do this twice per week in order to allow your body the time it needs to recover.

To get started with this, you’ll need to do short periods of fast-past exercise during your workout. For example, if you were out jogging for an hour, you might want to sprint for 30 seconds every 2 minutes followed by one minute of fast-paced walking. The amount of time that you do your intervals will depend on what you’re comfortable with, but they should become more intense as you become more conditioned in the future. The good news about HIIT is that you can do it with any type of exercise out there, so it’s something you can easily incorporate into your workouts.

Getting Started with Changes

To get started with these changes, start by creating a schedule of workouts that you enjoy doing. For example:

Monday – Treadmill running for 60 minutes with HIIT intervals every 3 minutes
Tuesday – Weights for 30 minutes
Wednesday – Rest Day
Thursday – 1 hour of swimming
Friday – Treadmill running for 60 minutes with HIIT intervals every 3 minutes
Saturday – A long walk with pushups
Sunday – Rest Day

By having a schedule like this, it will be easy to fit in the changes that are listed above. You can change the schedule every week or as you explore different workouts, which means having a lot of flexibility with the way you workout and how you maximize fat loss. Just make sure to track your heart rate with your most intense exercises so you stay within the fat-burning zone and make the most of your workouts.

Maximizing Fat Loss in Daily Life

The three options listed above for helping to maximize fat loss have been found to be effective for many people who exercise and practice healthy eating on a daily basis. However, it’s important to remember that they do not produce pounds and pounds of extra fat loss per day. By having realistic expectations you’ll be able to enjoy your progress and the little boost that these changes may offer. The key is to stick with the exercise and diet that you’ve selected so that even without these changes you’re still working towards a healthier body that’s conditioned and in shape. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s always good to consult with a fitness or personal trainer, as well as your doctor to ensure that whatever plan you implement is done safely.

11 Things That Happen When You Stop Working Out

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Getting into the habit of working out on a daily basis can be easy when you find something that you like, whether that’s running, lifting weights, or just walking on the treadmill before work. Making it even better is the rush of energy that’s often experienced after working out, which can help make the habit easier to keep. However, even with as easy as it is to fall into a workout regimen, it can be even easier to fall out of one. Whether this happens because of a busy schedule, change in work, or just an interruption in life, you may find yourself struggling to pick up and go back to where you last started.

Need reasons to get back into the routine you were once passionate about? By learning about what happens to your body when you stop working out, you may be motivated to do just that. Some of the surprising changes that are most worth learning about are conveniently listed below.

1. You May Experience Withdrawal

While most people associate withdrawal symptoms with quitting an addiction such as smoking or drinking, it’s not only attached to those types of health issues. Withdrawal can also be experienced by those who completely stop working out, especially if they were heavy duty exercisers. Although this may sound odd, a study done by the Counselling & Psychological Services Department at the University of California Santa Cruz proved otherwise. They found that individuals who exercised heavily and stopped completely ended up experiencing withdrawals symptoms such as difficulty to sleep, low energy levels, trouble concentrating, and aches and sores.

2. Your Body Will Store Additional Fat

When you stop working out and develop a sedentary lifestyle, your body will not be as conditioned as it was before. Unfortunately this can lead to a weakened body that is much more likely to store fat that would otherwise be burned through working out. If you are trying to lose weight with diet alone, this could make it incredibly difficult.

3. Loss of Muscle

Muscle is something that requires maintenance in order to keep, which means stopping a workout regimen can result in the loss of strength. This observation was found when a study was done by the Faculty of Sport Sciences at the University of Murcia in Spain. When looking at power and endurance athletes, they found that muscle was lost at a faster rate when they stopped working out completely.

4. Slow Metabolism

Working out helps to ramp up metabolism, which is responsible for the amount of calories you burn in a day. Unfortunately this means that if you stop working out completely, your metabolism is likely to slow down quite a bit. If you don’t adjust your calories accordingly, this could lead to rapid weight gain. This has been seen in countless studies that looked at athletes who stopped working out for a certain length of time. In these studies the majority of athletes had a higher body fat percentage by the time the study ended, largely as a result of decreased activity.

5. Your Mood Will Change

Do you notice that you feel good after you workout? This is largely due to the endorphins that are released when you exercise, which are a type of “feel good” hormones released by the brain. While these are less likely to release when you are not exercising, that’s not the only reason why your mood might change. Without exercise your body also won’t get as much oxygen, which can mean it’s not able to suppress chemicals that can make you feel sad or depressed. Unfortunately this can lead to feeling irritable while being gloomy and tired.

6. Your Blood Pressure Will Rise

As soon as you stop working out, your blood pressure is likely to soar. This is especially true when compared to days that you would otherwise work out. This is because as you become sedentary, your blood vessels get used to a slower flow running through them. Just a month later the arteries and veins will begin to stiffen and go back to where they were before you ever exercised in the first place.

7. You’ll Get Tired Quickly

While you might have been able to run miles without losing your breath, once you stop working out, you might get winded just walking up your stairs. This is the result of the amount of oxygen your muscles using decreasing, which is around 20% just 2 weeks after quitting working out.

8. Blood Sugar Increases

Although it’s common for blood sugar to rise after you eat a meal, it normally drops soon after you’re finished. However, as you become more sedentary, your blood sugar levels will continue staying elevated for much longer. Unfortunately this increases your risk of heart disease as well as diabetes, making it even worse for your health.

9. You Won’t Feel Like Yourself

If you’ve ever noticed you don’t feel like your normal self when you don’t workout, that’s because the connection between your muscles and your brain have likely weakened or diminished. This can leave you feeling “off” and is more formally known as neuromuscular adaptations. The good news is that once you get back to exercising regularly, this feeling should go away completely.

10. Reduced Sensitivity to Insulin

As you continue to stay away from the gym your sensitivity to insulin will likely decrease. While this in itself can mean difficulty losing weight it can also lead to high blood pressure, obesity, and even diabetes. If you have an unhealthy diet in addition to not working out, this can create even more health problems, which is why it’s important to watch what you eat while you’re staying out of the gym.

11. Your Joints May Ache

As your muscles begin to degenerate because you haven’t been working to maintain them, your joints and ligaments are likely to ache. This can make everyday tasks a lot more difficult, such as walking to the grocery stores or just doing everyday cleaning around the house. This is even easier to see in individuals who are older, as their muscle degenerates more quickly which makes it much easier to notice joint problems.

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