There Are No Guarantees!

The payoff of exercise and eating right is good health! We spend many hours walking, lifting weights, stretching etc. to keep the excess weight off and muscles strong. Along with that is a healthy diet. The saying you can’t out exercise a poor diet is very true! Especially the older we get, it becomes more important to watch what we eat for many reasons.

What we eat will fuel the workout. Pay attention next time you exercise as to how you feel. Then go back to your food diary and see what you ate prior to that workout. I can almost guarantee that on the days you feel good, your eating habits were solid and when you weren’t as energized, you ate poorly.

More importantly, a healthy diet will give our bodies what they need to fight off disease. We get all these nutrients from whole foods, not processed. So many packaged foods make the claim that they add in antioxidants or enhance with vitamins. All of these are found naturally in whole food!

The problem with eating healthy and exercising is that we can get lulled into thinking we will never get sick. There are no guarantees that this will be true and we see examples all the time. There are many factors that can lead to illness and disease, some of which are genetic. What exercise and a healthy diet will do for you is put you in the best position to fight off that disease. Eating the right foods will power your immune system and that is the best disease fighter you have! And, it is proven that medications can be more effective when coupled with a healthy lifestyle. Having surgery? Your recovery time can be shortened dramatically if you go into surgery with a healthy body.

Don’t think you are guaranteed a disease free life with a healthy lifestyle. What you can guarantee is a much better quality of life!

Until next time…

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Take Your Strength Equipment To The Park!

There are many pieces of home exercise equipment that are effective for your overall health. When it comes the building strength, I love the Functional Trainers from Hoist and Bodycraft! They give plenty of options and great variety for a full body workout.

If you like getting outside, like I do, it can be a bit challenging to get a good strength workout. There are a few pieces that I like to take along with me to the park, such as TRX and the LEBERT EQUALIZER. TRX can be a bit limited in use because you need an anchor point, such as a tree branch or pull-up bar. Lebert Equalizer can be put anywhere!

I have been using this many years for myself and with clients, with great results! What I love about this type of equipment is the simplicity of it, yet you can be very creative and add your own style! Check out the video above and get one for yourself HERE! Use the code BETTAG40 to save $40 on your purchase!

Even if you are investing in a home gym, this can be a great compliment to the gym that you can throw in the trunk of your car!

Until next time…

I Love The Sounds Of Nature When I Exercise!

Let me start by saying I am a HUGE music fan. More specifically, classic rock and 80s-90s music (unfortunately for me that can be classified as classic). When I was a Spinning instructor, I loved putting together new play lists, although I think the class participants didn’t always agree with my selections :).

As I got into doing more outside cardio such as jogging and cycling, I made the decision to go without music in my ears for a number of reasons, especially with cycling. It has always bothered me to see cyclists with earbuds in their ears while they ride. There are enough distractions on the road and when you can’t hear cars coming up behind you, I think that is detrimental. Add to that when you are on the trails, such as Grants Trail, you really need to hear someone when they yell “on your left” so you don’t blindly turn around to go the other way. I have had many close calls because of this.

The safety part aside, I have come to enjoy the sounds of being outside during that activity. Especially when you are up early or out for a late run, the sounds of the birds chirping, dogs barking, kids playing and so forth make you realize there is a lot of beauty around you! You miss a lot when you are just plugged into music. I understand there are times you just want to be to yourself, and having those buds in your ears let people know you are focusing. What I recommend is give nature a try! You may find you enjoy that too!

Until next time…

Workout Smarter, Not Longer!

There are many times I leave the gym only to hear from someone I know say, “leaving already?” I never take offense to this because I feel I have a pretty good grasp on what I need to do.

Many feel like you have to spend hours in the gym lifting weights. How many times do you read a Facebook post about leg day, when you should be close to not being able to walk after doing your legs. You shouldn’t be able to lift your arms over your head after an upper body workout right?

I am a firm believer that you need to challenge yourself in order to make gains. I also feel that soreness is one indicator of a good workout however you can be sore after doing everything wrong when it comes to form. You can also have a good workout and not necessarily have a lot of soreness.

When I am at the gym, I look to get in and out of there while still getting a quality workout. For me, it isn’t about the amount of time you spend if you are doing the right exercises. If you focus on the bigger muscle groups, chest, back and legs, especially when using multiple muscle groups, you are getting many muscles worked with a few exercises. You can then work your way down to the smaller groups. If you warm up properly and use weights that are challenging, you can get a good workout in a decent amount of time!

Until next time…

Some Days It Is a Mental Game To Exercise!

 

Make Some Homemade Healthy Chips

Make yourself some homemade healthy chips!

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins!