Fitness for Life

The Beach Body Insanity Challenge

2012-08-16T13:35:00.001-07:00

What It Is

Insanity is a 60 day INTENSE cardio regimen designed to melt the fat right off of your body. It is based on a principle called max interval training which essentially flips traditional interval training upside down- instead of long periods of rest followed by short periods of intense cardio, there are long periods of intense cardio followed by a short period of rest. Insanity was created by Shaun T, a dance and fitness professional.

Shaun T

Shaun T grew up in Camden NJ, and received a Bachelors degree in sports science from Rowan Univeristy. After gaining 50 pounds in his freshmen year of college Shaun T decided to focus his energy on personal fitness and wellbeing. His health career started when he got a job at Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company. He eventually moved to Las Angeles to work as a dancer/ choreographer- he was a dancer for Mariah Carey at one point! While in LA he was approached by a Beach Body representative and asked to record a workout video. He created Beach Body’s Hip Hop Abs, and the Insanity series.

What It Is Not

Insanity is not a “get fit quick with little effort”. Buying the program does not guarantee results- you need to put the ground work in. That being said, it is not a scam either, if you follow the workout and diet plan you WILL see results, no doubt about it. It is also not really a way to gain muscle, it is more geared towards losing fat, which will make you look slimmer and tone the muscles you already have, but will not really add muscle. If you want to gain muscle before starting this program, a traditional weight lifting routine is the best place to start. Bodybuilding.com is a great place to look for advice and routines if you do not know where to start.

The Benefits

-Massive weight loss

-Toned Muscles

- More energy

-More confidence

-no equipment required, easy to start up

-The ground work for a healthy lifestyle

Drawbacks

-Money (only $120 one time fee)

-Time it takes to do the workouts (half an hour to an hour per day)

- Soreness, especially during the first few weeks

-Meals take a decent amount of time to make

How It Is Set Up

Insanity is split into two months- the first month consists of 4 workouts that are about half an hour long each. They are HARD. Really hard. No matter what your base level of fitness going into this program is, you will be sweating, and most likely ask yourself what the hell you got into a few times. But after a couple weeks the workouts get easier- and then it is time for the recovery week! The workouts during this week are easy compared to month one. By the end of the week, you will be feeling pretty confident- until you start the month two workouts. These workouts are an hour long each, and are much harder than month one, which does not seem possible but believe me they are. In my experience, even after doing these workouts for a month, they do not get all too much easier. But month two is where you will really start to see results all over your body.

Diet Plan

The philosophy of the diet is to eat a lot of small meals throughout the day. You eat 5 meals a day, spaced about two to three hours apart. You calculate your daily caloric needs before starting the program, and figure out about how many calories each meal needs to be. The diet plan that comes with Insanity list meal ideas for every meal of the day. Most of the meals are extremely high in protein, a natural appetite suppressant, so even though you will be eating less calories than you are used to, you will not be hungry. The meals in the Insanity diet plan are also very tasty, I would not mind eating them even if I wasn’t doing the program.

Conclusion

Insanity is a great program that is guaranteed to melt fat off you. Try it out!

What is P90X?

2012-08-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

What It Is

P90X is exactly what you think it is- a really intense, 90 day program that will get you in the best shape of your life, if you follow it correctly. But it is more than just a get big or your money back type of program- it is the first 90 days of a healthy lifestyle that you can continue indefinitely. You do not just stop working out or eating good after completing this program, or you would be back to how you were before in no time. This program was created by Tony Horton and is marketed by Beach Body. Beach Body has been around for years, and is a legitimate organization that markets products whose aim is to help mold a healthier you. After doing a couple of their programs myself, I would recommend them to anybody, whether your in good shape, or not in shape. If you have always been healthy, this is a great way to mix things up and keep the trend going, and if not it is a great way to start. The program comes with 12 cd workouts, along with a comprehensive meal plan that is easy to follow. Getting started is really as easy as ordering the program and following the instructions it gives you.

What It Is Not

This is not a “get fit with little or no effort” type plan. Buying the program does not guarantee that you will get in great shape- you need to put the work in. You need to dedicate about an hour and a half a day to working out, and dedicate yourself to following the meal plan. This is not an easy button. That being said, this program is not a scam either. If you follow it, you will see results. In 3 months, I gained about 7 pounds of muscle, while losing about double that in fat. I can personal say that it works, and that you should try it! One more note though- P90X is not a way for you to get “jacked or huge”. You will gain a good amount of muscle, and lose a lot of weight, but if you really want to pack on a ton of muscle you should look into a structured weight lifting routine, or Beach Bodies new “Body Beast” program. What you will get from P90X is weight loss, toned muscles, and great general health.

Who is Tony Horton

If you’re thinking about trying P90X out, you will want to know about its creator for sure. Tony Horton is a very experienced fitness guru who started off his career by training at the world gym in Venice California. He has created P90X, P90X+, and P90X one on one training with Tony Horton. He also has a book out titled “Bring It”, his famous P90X catch phrase. He also has a list of celebrity clients, including Bruce Springsteen. Basically, he knows what he is talking about. He will keep you super motivated throughout P90X, and if you do everything he says you really can’t go wrong. Listen to him.

What Results Can I Expect

Expect to slim down tremendously while gaining a little muscle. As I said earlier, I only gained maybe seven pounds of muscle- but lost about twenty pounds in fat. After completing two cycles of P90X, I was ready to hit the beach! My arms look incredible, legs were slim, toned and muscular, and even though I did not exactly have abs, they are getting there. Truthfully I did not follow the diet plan to a T. I ate a lot more calories than was recommended throughout the whole program, and I still had great results. So I know anyone who follows the diet plan will see even better results (aka probably have abs… unlike me). Physical appearance was only half the benefit I achieved though, my heightened energy level was probably worth even more than my appearance. I have ten times more energy than I did when I started. This could be attributed to more muscle, less fat, a healthier diet, etc but the bottom line is this program does wonders for your energy level and mindset. You will find yourself thinking “if I can do P90X, what else can I do?” a lot. I know I do. It really helps you to stay on the positive side of life. Essentially if you do this program you will be able to run faster, lift more, jump higher, and look great while doing it.

Ease of Use

Let me clarify what I mean by this- P90X is not easy by any stretch of the word, but it is very easy to start doing. It only cost $120- while this may seem like a fair amount, when you compare it to the cost of going to a gym for 3 months it is quite a bargain. You do not need that much equipment either, just basic free weights, a pull up bar, and a yoga mat. A good pair of running shoes would also be recommended for the cardio routines, to avoid injury. Once you have the Cds, and all the equipment set up, all you have to do is pop in whichever workout you are doing that day and follow Tony. Another great thing about this program is that anyone, from a beginner to someone who avidly works out, can do it. You just go at your own pace.

How It Is Set Up

Basically you stick to one schedule for three weeks, have a rest week, then switch to the alternate schedule after the rest week. For example the first week is

Day 1: Chest and Back

Day 2: Plyometrics

Day 3: Arms and Shoulders

Day 4: Yoga X

Day 5: Legs and Back

Day 6: Kenpo X

Day 7: Rest or Stretch

Followed by the rest week, which is core synergistics and yoga twice, x stretch once, and kenpo once. After that weeks 5-7 goes:

Day 1: Chest Shoulders and Triceps

Day 2: Plyometrics

Day 3: Back and Biceps

Day 4: Yoga X

Day 5: Legs and Back

Day 6: Kenpo X

Day 7: Rest or Stretch

Every week is three weight lifting days with 2 cardio days, yoga, and a rest day. You also do the ab routine, Ab Ripper X, after each weight training routine. There is a calendar included with the program, and if you lose it or get confused you can look up a schedule online.

Conclusion

This program is the way to go if you want to get in great shape and feel great about yourself. Give it a try-you have nothing to lose except weight!

Debunking Common Excuses People Make to Avoid Working Out

2012-08-05T22:19:00.002-07:00

Its Boring

Yes, working out is not as entertaining as the new Batman movie, or the latest episode of Breaking Bad... but neither is doing your homework, going to work, or doing chores. Yet you still do all those things for one reason-you know that ultimately, the positives of doing those things far outweigh the negatives. If you do not do your homework, you won’t do good in college (or any other level of learning). If you don’t go to work, you will not be able to afford the things you want. If you do not work out, your robbing yourself of a substantially increased quality of life. Just like any unpleasant thing in your life, you find little ways to make it more enjoyable. You can listen to music while you workout- there is nothing more motivational than blasting eye of the tiger when you get near the end of an insanity workout. You can also work out with a friend or family member. I would actually recommend working out with someone else, because not only will you make the workout more bearable, you also make it competitive by doing it with someone else. I always go HAM (hard) when I workout, but if I am working out with my brother, I put in a little more effort to show him what I’m made of- I don’t want him to think I’m weak. Another way to offset boredom is to go to a class at your local gym. Try something new, like cycling, yoga, Caribbean dance, whatever, as long as it keeps you coming back go for it! Its all about figuring out what works for you.

It’s Hard

Damn right it is, it should be anyway. If you want to see real results, you need to push yourself, whether your working out for 10 or 45 minutes. I really think that not working out is harder than working out in the long run. Before I started working out, I would get tired after walking for more than twenty minutes. Running “the mile” in middle school seemed like an impossible feat that could only be performed by a professional “runner”. I could not lift furniture, or boxes, or really much of anything. My baseline energy level was just weak. After working out for over 8 years now, I can say that I never have trouble lifting anything (within reason), it takes a hell of a lot of running to get me out of breath, and my energy levels are just phenomenal. I can do much more in a day than I could back in middle school- so all I have to say is in the long run, working out is actually easier than sitting on your couch.

I Can’t Afford a Gym Membership

If you don’t live near a Planet Fitness, gym memberships can be hard on your wallet. So what? You do not need a gym membership to go for a run in the park, or to work out at home. For the fifty dollars you would have spent at the gym this month, you could easily buy a set of free weights and work out at your house. Another way around this issue is to get a job at a gym that offers free membership to employees. Or stop spending money on extraneous things. “I cant afford a membership” is just another excuse, if you have the will to work out you will find a way to make it work out.

I Don’t Want Huge Muscles, I Just Want to Get Toned

If you don’t want huge muscles, you won’t get them, plain and simple. Bodybuilders, the people who have the huge muscles, dedicate their lives to weightlifting. They count every calorie, take an array of supplements, and workout every day of the week. It is incredibly hard work. Its incredibly hard to get big muscles when you do want them, so if you don’t you really don’t have anything to worry about. And if you’re a girl, you really really have nothing to worry about. Girls don’t naturally produce testosterone, which makes it much harder to build muscle than men.

I’m Self Conscious About What People Think of me at the Gym

Well first, the obvious solution is to just not work out at the gym if it makes you feel too uncomfortable, but there are many other options available. If your deadset on hitting the gym, remember that everyone started somewhere. The most chiseled bodybuilders you see at the gym used to be a skinny kid who wanted to buff up, an obese kid who wanted to slim down, or an average kid who wanted to look better. No one comes out of their mother with “two guns and a six pack” ready to go, that stuff takes time and dedication, a lot of it. And anyway, people will think more of you for making the effort to improve yourself. Plus who cares what anyone else thinks, all that matters is that your taking steps to improve your own health and well being. If other people don’t like that, screw them! Most of the people at any gym are too worried about what you think of them to form an opinion of you anyway.

I Don’t Have Time

Read my last article on quick workouts that anyone can do. Where there’s a will, theres a way. Working out is a great way to wake up. It circulates blood throughout your body, while releasing serotonin and dopamine, two chemicals that are guaranteed to wake you up better than that cup of coffee you normally drink. You can also use your lunch break at work to work out. My dad has been spending 45 minutes of his hour lunch break working out for the last five years, and loves it. After you get home from work, instead of surfing the web or watching tv for an hour, work out! It will wake you up, and who wouldn’t want more energy to do the things they actually want to do after work? You can work out literally anytime you have a half hour free during the day. The only time I would not recommend working out is late at night, before you go to bed, as it can disrupt your sleep cycle.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons not to work out, but no good ones. Just do it!

Quick Workouts for Busy People

2012-08-01T10:03:00.003-07:00

One of the more common reasons people cite for not working out is simply “I don’t have time”. Now I could write a whole other article about how working out will actually save you time in the long run- the energy boosts you get from it alone increases your productivity ten fold- but instead I’m just going to go over a few ways to workout in a short period of time. If you can find 45 minutes, or even 15 minutes in your schedule to fit in a quick workout you will see results.

Full Body Weight Training Routine (45 minutes)

One of the easiest ways to gain muscle is to weight train, and while people who want to put on serious muscle will work a different muscle group every day and workout 4 or more times a week, you do not have to. This method, although very effective, takes about 45 minutes to an hour a day to complete, which adds up to about 3 hours a week. This is a big time commitment for someone with a hectic schedule. You can easily make a full body routine that you can do 3, or even two times a week and still get good results. What you want to do is choose 2 exercises for your back, chest, arms, and legs, and complete all 8 exercises in one session. 3 reps of each exercise with 3 minute breaks in between reps. This should take no more than 45 minutes a day, and you only need to do it two times a week! No matter how busy you are, you can find 2 hours a week to dedicate to your health and well being.

Push ups, Sit ups, and Pull ups (15-30 minutes)

If you are really strapped for time, there are no easier exercises to do than simple pushups and sit-ups. Pushups will build and define your chest and arms, and sit-ups do build your back muscles. The beauty of these exercises is that they can be done anywhere, at anytime. I work at a hospital, cleaning up operating rooms part time, and one of my coworkers would stop and do a set of pushups between rooms. You can easily get in a quick set between commercial breaks while watching tv at home, every time you need a break from sitting at a desk, every time you finish a chapter in a book etc. it really doesn’t get any easier. Or you can set aside half an hour, and do 3 sets of each. I would also recommend doing pull ups, as they work multiple muscles on your arms, chest and back. You can buy a pull up bar (called a home gym) from Walmart for about $20. If you don’t have a pull up bar you can do pull ups on tree branches, I have found this to be quite effective. Just make sure there strong enough to support your incredible muscle mass

Running/Walking (NA)

Running and walking are the easiest exercises you can do, and can take as little or as much time as you want them to. You do not need any equipment (besides running shoes or shoes that you can comfortably walk in), and you can do them anywhere. I would recommend devoting half an hour a day, as many days as you want to, to running or power walking. If you do this, assuming you have a decent diet, you will lose weight guaranteed. You will also likely get toned leg muscles as an added benefit. And if you don’t have time to commit yourself solely to walking, you can multitask. It is fairly easy to hold a phone conversation, or listen to a book/speech/ etc on your ipod while walking. My brother used to read while walking- while I can't recommend this (people would yell at me after walking into trees/lightpoles/small animals), it is a good example of how you can multi task.

Insanity Month One (30 minutes)

I put this one last because, quite frankly, if you're having trouble finding the time to work out your probably not ready for this workout! I had to add it though, it is an incredible workout that only takes about half an hour to complete. It is a video too, which means you can work at your own pace, you don’t have to pretend you can keep up with Shaun T. The whole program is $120, but you can buy the month one discs off of ebay for about half of that. Even if the workouts initially seem really hard, if you keep at it they get easier, and even begin to get fun. You do not have to follow the schedule, just pop in one of the cds any time you have half an hour to spare. I highly recommend this option.

I know how hard it can be to work out sometimes. I go to college and work two part time jobs, so finding the time and motivation to fit in a workout is even a challenge for me sometimes. The important thing is to do something. Run a mile. Do some pushups. Check out your local gym. Doing something is a million times better than doing nothing, and once you make working out a habit, even if your only running 20 minutes a day, you will start to see real improvements in a matter of months.

P90X vs. Insanity

2012-04-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Having done P90X and Insanity, a question a lot of my friends bug me with is “hey, I want to get in shape. Which ones better?”. The best answer to this question is another question, what are your goals? P90X and Insanity are two very different beasts, comparing them is like comparing Mitt Romney to Obama- they’ll both get the job done if elected, but in completely different ways. But people still like to compare them anyway, just like they will continue to compare P90X and Insanity, so I will do my best to compare them accurately.

Time- How long each workout will generally take

One of the most common excuses people come up with as to why they do not work out is “I don’t have enough time in the day!”… I could go on for a while about how untrue this statement is, but that’s another article. Time wise, Each P90X workout is about a little over an hour long, and Yoga X is a whopping hour and a half. Doing this program takes up about a total of 7-8 hours a week if you follow it to a t, which is a substantial time commitment for anyone.

Insanity workouts are generally between 30 and 60 minutes, with no workout going over an hour. The first month has shorter workouts while the second has the long 60 minute ones. From a time commitment stand, insanity is better. It is much easier to squeeze a half hour workout in your schedule then an hour or longer one.

Equipment-What you need to bring to each workout

Once again, P90X loses on convenience big time in this category, let me tell you. In order to do P90X correctly, you absolutely need a pull up bar that attaches to one of your doorframes, and a wide variety of free weights. Weight bands and a yoga mat are optional, but imo, very important. Go ahead and see how your body feels after doing yoga on a concrete, or even wooden floor! Overall, the equipment adds about a hundred dollars to the cost of P90X, or more, unless you already have it.

Insanity, on the other hand, is all body weight exercises. This means you do not need a single free weight or band- The only equipment you need to bring to each workout is your own body. ‘nuff said.

Motivation-How Tony/Shaun T keep you going

This is another area where I would crown insanity as the clear winner- Tony Horton, the P90X trainer, while obviously very well built and educated in the art of body building, is just well, kind of goofy. He makes dumb jokes every couple minutes, and although some of them are actually pretty damn funny, they are far from motivational. If you want to see what I’m talking about, just go to youtube.com and type in Tony Horton P90X. His commentary also tends to get boring fairly fast. After I learned all the cds, I generally just blasted my own music through every P90X workout rather than listening to Tony’s commentary. The background music in P90X also leaves much to be desired.

Shaun T from Insanity is the opposite. He motivates you by screaming at you every couple seconds. The style in Insanity is more like a bootcamp, which is great for motivation. The music in Insanity is also very compelling- I would describe it as rock. It gets more intense/motivational as the workout gets harder, and dips out as the intensity starts to fade. In short, the music is designed perfectly to keep you going when you feel like stopping, and it does. I have never felt the need to put In my own music when doing an insanity workout.

Toughness

Although a lot of people seem to be under the impression that Insanity is the “next step up” of P90X, that is not really the case. They are both equally difficult, in different ways. Insanity is entirely cardio based, while P90X has more of a focus on weight training. When it comes down to it, you can put as much or as little into every workout you go through in each of these programs. How hard you push yourself is entirely up to you.

Results

Although both of these programs are meant more to trim your body down than bulk up, you get different results out of them for sure. While you will never get huge doing P90X, you will gain some muscle mass, as well as tone up any muscle you previously had. You will also lose a considerable amount of weight, if that is your goal. With Insanity, You most likely will not gain that much muscle at all, but you will lose a crap load of weight as well as completely toning up your entire body. Once again, rather than comparing these two routines, it is better to ask yourself what you want out of working out and then choose accordingly. In my honest opinion, neither program is better, just different. Although I am pretty obviously biased towards one of the options… I firmly believe that they are both excellent programs, and if followed correctly, both will get you in the best shape of your life. And with roughly 2-3 months to go before summer… you better pick one fast!

Gaining weight, when you can't gain weight

2012-04-07T17:21:00.001-07:00

Growing up, I was always the skinny kid. My friend’s parents would always force me to eat whenever I showed up at their houses, apparently convinced that my parents did not feed me enough. In middle school many people were envious of my ability to down large portions of food with little to no weight gain… I would actually lose weight a good amount of the time. People considered me lucky, while I thought the opposite. I wanted more than anything to gain weight, and more importantly, muscle, but it seemed impossible! Yet here I am today, 21 years old, 6 foot weighing in at over 200 pounds. I am going to outline how it is possible for someone with an ultra fast metabolism to gain muscle.

Eat More

I am going to start with the most obvious, and by far the most important thing to remember when trying to gain weight. Its really a very simple concept- You need to take in more calories than you are burning off. To do this, you need to eat. A LOT. When I first started working out, I would eat 3000 calories a day, and would still end up losing weight, so what did I do? Upped my consumption to 3500 calories daily. And when that was not enough, I started eating 4000. You need to get rid of the notion in your mind that says you cannot gain weight, and replace it with I need to make more food. You can gain weight, and if you eat enough, you will, without a doubt. If you want to stop reading this post now, go ahead. You have all the basic knowledge you need to gain weight. One more note, although ideally you should be eating high quality, expensive food, most people do not have the money to afford to buy all organic. Instead, just use your best judgment and try to eat as healthy as possible within your budget, the important thing with gaining weight is to eat a massive amount of food, so inadvertently you may be getting some of your calories from fast food or other less than desirable options. If that is what you have to do, do it.

Shakes

Eating 4000+ calories a day would be a daunting task for someone who watched tv all day, let alone a college student with a part time job. Or a single mom. Or essentially anyone who has a life, aka things they have to get done every day. A great way to get a lot of quality calories, in a quick, convenient, and portable manner, is to drink protein or carbohydrate shakes. Meal replacement shakes, like ensure, are also a viable option. Not only can you down a shake in a matter of seconds, you can also bring them with you to work, to school, or anywhere else. I drink about 800 of my calories every day in the form of protein shakes- its a lot easier than cooking a meal, and although I would not recommend shakes over regular food, they are a great supplement to a normal diet that does not give you enough calories.

Weight train

Weight training is another important aspect in the weight gain process. You should be doing low reps with as much weight as you can handle, so that you are not weight training for too long, which would burn calories and fat that you want to convert to muscle.

Minimize cardio

This is another obvious point- stay away from cardio as much as you can until you reach or exceed your ideal weight. Cardio burns a tremendous amount of calories, and you will have to eat all the calories you burn later just to break even. If you are trying to gain weight and do cardio, I question your mental health. But one thing people do not always take into account is amount of calories you burn in your daily activities. For example, if you have a part or full time job that requires you to be on your feet for hours at a time, you are getting a moderate cardio workout for long stretches of time-this burns calories, and you need to eat them back. So make sure your accounting for your daily activities as well as actual cardio workouts when you decide how many calories you need daily.

Conclusion

Despite what you might think, it is not impossible to gain weight, even with an extremely fast metabolism. Everyone must overcome obstacles in order to achieve their fitness goals. A fast metabolism is just another obstacle, that can be overcome with a little determination.

Weight training, cardio, or both?

2012-04-06T10:15:00.002-07:00

Its hard to choose

Today I am going to address a question that a lot of people ask themselves after making the decision to begin working out- should they do weight training, cardio, a combination of the two, or what? Before you can answer that question, you need to decide what your goals are. If you focus on cardio, you are never going to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, and if you focus on weight training, you will not win any marathons. I am going to outline general advantages and disadvantages to each.

Cardio

I personally love cardio! There is nothing like feeling endorphins running through your veins, and the sweat pouring off of your back after an intense cardio workout. Everyone who has ran on a treadmill, in the park, or anywhere knows how amazing you feel after doing cardio. Also, everyone who has stuck to a cardio regimen long term knows of the many positive effects consistent cardio has on your body. The most obvious benefit, at least to me, is a stronger heart and stronger lungs. After doing cardio for a while, you will certainly notice that it takes a lot longer for you to run out of breath when doing just about anything. That long walk from the car to your office? No problem. Walking up four flights of stairs? Cake walk. Cardio trains your lungs to more efficiently send oxygen throughout your body, which means your heart rate and breathing will return to normal a lot faster than if you did not do cardio. This means you can do all the physical things you love to do for a longer period of time, and you will enjoy them more because you will not have to worry about catching your breath or tiring. Doing cardio is also easily the best way to burn calories and fat. Although you do burn calories while weight training, your heart rate is higher for a longer period of time when doing cardio, which leads to more calories being burned. Although cardio will not usually make your muscles bigger, it will burn all the fat off of the muscles you have, which gives them a toned look. A lot of people prefer this toned look over bulging muscles anyway, and for most people it is much more practical to have decent sized muscles than huge ones. Some cardio, like swimming, can even build muscle, although not nearly as much as a weight training regimen.

Cardio is also very convenient. You do not need any weights or equipment to start a cardio routine. All running requires is a good pair of running shoes and a little determination. It does not even have to be time consuming. Running for half an hour a day is enough for some people- and if you decide to do intense cardio, like the Insanity program or high intensity interval training (HIIT), then some of your workouts will be as short as twenty minutes, and you will still be getting in great shape. In short, cardio makes you feel great, and is very simple to start up.

The only real disadvantage to cardio is the possibility of injury. Always make sure to warm up and stretch before doing cardio, and cool down after. Too much cardio and not enough food can also make you look emaciated, which is not good, not good at all. Just know when enough is enough.

Weight Training

Having gone through periods where I focused solely on weight training, and solely on cardio, I can say that there both great in their own respects. The obvious advantage of weight training, the reason that almost everyone starts a weight training regimen, is simple- it builds muscle. There is absolutely no better way, in my opinion, to put on muscle mass than lifting heavy objects up and putting them down in a systematic manner. As long as you are doing it correctly, you can see huge gains in as little as a couple months, regardless of your body composition. But huge muscles are not the only big advantage to weight training! A side effect of having bulging biceps and terrific triceps is improved self esteem. After putting on some muscle, you are going to feel good about yourself whenever you look in the mirror, guaranteed. You cannot put a price on self esteem; this is by far the best part about weight training to me. But physical activities that require lifting will become easier as well. For instance, I work at a hospital cleaning operating rooms, and we are required to move heavy equipment daily. If I had never taken the time to build up my muscles, I would tire very quickly at my job, but I am able to keep working hard for my entire shift. My productivity would go vastly down if I had to stop and rest multiple times. Things like lifting furniture and doing yard work also become easier, life is just easier when you have muscles. Weight training also improves your circulation, which has many, many benefits. But one of the best things about building muscle is that muscles burn calories even when you are not working out. It takes energy for your body to maintain your muscle mass, so you can kind of think of muscles as little fat burning factories that are working around the clock to keep you looking fiiiiine. It is also not very time consuming, as you should only be weight training for 30-45 minutes at most at a time unless you are a professional athlete.

There are a few disadvantages I have found for weight training. One, injury is very common among beginners, and even among seasoned weight trainers. The reason is because people will either use too much weight or overwork their muscles when beginning a weight training routine. People try to do too much. Once, when I was starting my first cycle of P90X, I went to my chiropractor. He told me he loves P90X- it gives him more business than any other workout program. Point is, do not bite off more than you can chew. Another disadvantage is decreased flexibility, really all you need to do to fix this is stretch out a lot. Yoga really helps when it comes to flexibility.

Can you do both?

Yes! It is fairly easy to incorporate cardio into a weight training regimen, or vice versa. Or even make an even mix of both. For example, I used to use a weight training regimen where I would work out a different muscle group four days a week, and do cardio twice a week. If you are into beach body products, you can do a P90X/Insanity hybrid. P90X focuses much more on weight training than cardio, while insanity is pretty much all cardio, so you can just mix in a few Insanity DVDs with the P90X weight training days. There is really no good reason not to get the best of both worlds.

Working out at home vs. the gym

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For my first post I have decided to take on a debate I have overheard many times at work- should you workout at a gym or in the comfort of your own home? I will compare the two on four dimensions, cost, motivation, convenience, and equipment, so that you can make your own informed decision. At no point will I state that one option is undeniably greater than the other, so if you’re looking for a yes or no answer, gym or house, your knocking on the wrong door.

Cost

I’ll start with working out at home. Obviously, if you’re just doing pushups and sit ups, the only cost you will incur at your house is time. Basically the cost can be very low, or astronomically high, depending on what kind of exercising you want to do. I would recommend buying a variety of free weights, a pull up bar that can attach to your door frame, and a weight bench. Although all of these items do cost a fair amount of money, you only buy them once, and you really don’t need any really fancy bands or workout machines to get going. You can also purchase workout DVDs, like the famous (infamous) Beachbody products like P90X or Insanity. Once again, it all depends on what you want to do. If you just want to go for a run in the park, the expenses are nonexistent.

The main expense you will incur at a gym is the monthly membership cost, which can be anywhere from $10 at planet fitness to $70 or more at a fancy fitness club with basketball courts and pools. Personal trainers, while incredibly useful if you are just getting into fitness, do cost a lot of money per session. Gas is another issue… as gas prices are rising to almost $4 a gallon, even a twenty minute round trip to and from a gym every day will start to put a dent in your wallet. Another expense that is also overlooked is time, as you need to drive to and from the gym whenever you go, and during peak periods you might need to wait for machines to open up.

Gym

Or home?

Motivation

This is one area where the gym seems to have a definitive advantage. Nothing motivates better than seeing a guy walking around with biceps on his biceps, or a toned woman sporting a six pack. Just the obvious fact that people are watching you at the gym is enough to motivate most people. Nobody wants to look weak. Basically the sense of community you get from being part of a gym gives you motivation to keep working out. Personal trainers are also another great way to get motivated. When you’re at your house, by yourself, it is fairly easy to let yourself just coast through a workout, rather than push yourself. This is not an option if you vie for a personal trainer- they will push you beyond any limits you have placed on your own abilities, and you will learn to love them for it.

When working out at your house, motivation has to come from within. You need to be able to remember at all times why you started working out, and what you want out of the workout, or you will tend to just coast through. Getting a friend to workout with you at your house is an excellent way to stay motivated. If you are short on friends that want to work out, then workout videos are a sure way to stay motivated. The upbeat music combined with the encouragement of the trainers in them make you feel as if you’re in a class at a gym, and keeps you going.

Convenience

This is an area where working at a home has a clear advantage. Everybody is at their house for at least a couple hours a day, so there is no real excuse not to work out. All you have to do is go to your basement, garage, shed, or wherever your gym is set up and get to it. Your house does not have hours of operation that you must adhere to, and your house will never shut down in inclement weather. You can also wear whatever you want at your house, hell you can work out naked as long as you don’t do it near any windows. Its less of a hassle than going to the gym, plain and simple.

Gyms, on the other hand, actually are pretty convenient. Most gyms are open seven days a week, from early in the morning until fairly late at night. Unless you like to work out at 3 in the morning, getting there within the hours of operation is normally not a problem, except maybe on the weekends where the hours tend to be shorter. But in order to go to the gym, you do have to make yourself look half decent, as very attractive members of both sexes are likely to be there, and you do have to get in your car and drive through traffic to get there, two problems that are nonexistent at your house. Also if it is snowing or raining, the gym may close, or you might not feel like driving in those conditions. Walking to your garage will probably be much more desirable than driving to a gym if there is a foot of snow outside.

Equipment

Unless you are rich and can afford to buy a lavish in house gym complete with machines, free weights, mirrors, etc, gyms have a clear advantage in this department. Most gyms have all the standard machines that people tend to use, along with many free weights, benches, exercise balls, bands, you name it they will probably have it. You are paying a monthly rate essentially for use of their equipment, so they better have exactly what you want.

Although gyms have all the equipment you could ever wish for, like I said before, you do not need a lot of equipment to exercise. At your house you can buy what you need to do what you want, and be done spending money on it. You do not have to pay a never ending monthly rate for equipment that you own, just a onetime cost.

Conclusion

Both working out at home and at the gym have their own advantages and disadvantages, it is up to you to decide which option better fits your needs. There is no right or wrong answer, the important thing is to just keep working out!