Five Factors that Could Decrease Your Workout Energy

Everyone has those days when they just do not feel like getting out of bed; however, if you begin to notice that these types of days are becoming more regular, it may be time to look at your routine and try to figure out what may be causing this. It can be easy to try and pass some of it off as aging as we get older. However, there are many factors that can affect your workout energy. Here we will look at a few of these factors to help you discover if any of them could be draining your workout energy.

Medication

There are many medications that are widely used that list fatigue as a side effect, such as diuretics, antihistamines, blood pressure medications, steroids and even some antibiotics. You could easily be affecting your workout energy by simply taking your everyday prescriptions and not even know it. If you do believe that your medication could be affecting your energy level, you should ask your doctor for a different type of medication. (Note: never switch your medicine without first consulting your doctor!)

Dehydration

Hydration plays an important role in our workouts. It takes days or longer to get the body correctly rehydrated once you reach a dehydration state. So, you need to make sure you are staying hydrated before, during and after your workout. You should drink plenty of water throughout the day just to be sure that you are staying hydrated. You should also consume 12-16 oz of water with every meal and snack you eat throughout the day as well!

Recovery time

Your body needs to have some down time to totally recover from your workout. It can be different for everyone, and we may notice that as we get older it may take us longer to recover from our workouts. The best thing to do is to listen to your body and make sure that you are getting enough sleep at night because this is the perfect time for our bodies to recover. If your body does not feel fully recovered, it is best to take another day off or perform some low impact exercises until you feel back to normal.

Improper breathing

Many of us do not know the proper way to breathe as we exercise, and it can have adverse effects on our fitness routines. If you do not breathe or breathe in fast, shallow breathes you can end up hurting yourself. Your muscles need oxygen, so be sure to breath in through your nose and out your mouth. Don’t take lots of short breaths or this may lead to hyperventilation. Correct breathing regulates your heart rate as well, which directly impacts your workout!

Eating habits

Most of us aware that what we eat affects our energy levels. We need to keep our blood sugar stable in order to keep our energy levels from dropping. Therefore, we need to eat small meals every 3 hours throughout the day that contain lean protein, carbohydrates and dietary fat. There’s a myriad of ways to combine these 3 macronutrients correctly! Remember, alcohol has a major factor as well in our ability to perform. Even one drink will affect the next morning’s workout, so be very mindful of limiting adult beverages if you want to see real results.

There are many different factors that can affect our energy levels. Be honest with yourself and  manipulate these variables to get the best results possible.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/five-factors-that-could-decrease-your-workout-energy/

Four Workout Tips for Fitness Newbies

Most of us know that we have to exercise and eat well to live a long and happy life; however, there are still many of us that do not exercise. We may not know how to start, or once we start a fitness routine we may find it hard to stick to it. We can come up with multiple excuses for not exercising, but we need to find the willpower and discipline to stick to our fitness routines. It can be quite simple with the help of some of these guidelines.

Scheduling is a must

One of the main reasons people quit their fitness routines is because they think that they can not fit a complete workout routine into their hectic schedules. This is not true, especially now when most workouts are being centered on shorter periods of time. You have to view your workout as a top priority and make sure that you set aside the time needed to fit in about thirty minutes a day of some sort of physical activity. It can also work in your favor if you are able to set aside the same time everyday to workout. This way your body will fall into a routine and will be ready to workout before you even realize what is happening. Making exercise a habit will ensure that you never miss a workout without a good reason. What’s one of the most fantastic things about 9round? There are NO class times. A workout is just one step away. Anytime is the right time to walk into your local 9round and get a workout. In 30 minutes you’ll be smiling and sweating as you leave this convenient fitness routine.

Ease into your fitness routine

Most of us think that in order to get the results that we want we have to start out big or go all in. We think that the more intense we can be in our fitness routines the better. However, if you want to get the most out of your workout, you need to ease into it. You should always take your time when learning a new fitness routine. You want to make sure that you have the correct form and posture and give your body a chance to get use to the movements. You also want to avoid any unnecessary injuries that may sideline your fitness plans. At 9round a trainer is included with every plan so there is no guess work. You don’t even have to think, just walk in, enjoy the music and get a great workout.

Stay Motivated

It is extremely important for fitness newbies to stay motivated. If you want to establish a consistent fitness routine, you must stay motivated, and there are many different ways to do this. You need to remember that everyone is different, and you need to find what motivates you. Some people need the help of others, like a workout buddy or a certified trainer, while others just need to keep a fitness journal tracking their ups and downs in their fitness routine. Some people take before and after pictures to document their journey. It does not matter what you use as long as it motivates you to stick with your fitness routine.

Find something you enjoy

For many people who are new to the fitness scene, the lack of stimulation has a lot to do with them quitting their fitness routines. It is a rather lame excuse when there are many different types of fitness routines out there that you can choose from. All you need to do is find one that you like and keeps you coming back for more. When you find a fitness routine that makes you look forward to your workout, it will make it much easier for you to stick with your fitness routine. A workout can become boring for anyone if they do the same thing over and over, so choose a fitness routine where you can easily mix it up a little. 9round has a new routine every day. Since it changes daily, there is no chance of boredom. Our 9Round certified trainers will guide you through each step, and mix up your workouts daily so you never get bored.

It can be challenging when to start your new fitness routine; however, you have to find a way to make it easier for you. You need to find that special formula that works for you. It may be one of the tips that I mentioned above or something totally different. The most important thing is that whatever you choose to do should make it easier for you to get off the couch and start working out.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/four-workout-tips-for-fitness-newbies/

How to Keep It Real During Your Workout

Many of us start our fitness routines out with unreal expectations. We may not know our limits, try to achieve results too soon or want to achieve perfection. This false sense of having to be perfect can end up being very harmful. We need to stop seeking perfection and realize that our fitness routine is about being a healthier version of ourselves. In order to remain happy with our body image and our fitness routines we need to focus on being the best that we can be and not being what we or others may view as perfect.

Set realistic goals

Many of us think that it is easy to set goals; however, once it comes time to decide on a realistic goal we find out that it may be harder than we thought. We want to set a goal that is achievable. It can not be too easy or too hard to reach. If it is too easy you may find yourself becoming bored with your workout and in the end, quitting. If your goals are too hard, you may become frustrated and feel as if all of your hard work is for nothing, and just like before, you will probably end up quitting your fitness routine. So, you need to set a goal with a proper time limit and a realistic outcome. This may take a while to perfect, but do not rush yourself or judge yourself too harshly in the beginning. Remember it will take some time to see the results that you want, so keep pushing yourself and do not give up.

Work at your own pace

Today’s fitness trend is to push yourself as hard as you can in short bursts; however, you have to be extremely careful when practicing this intense form of exercise. You do not want to push yourself too far past your limits too quickly. Also when we first start a fitness routine we need to take it slowly to learn the correct ways to perform each movement, and when most of us workout too hard or too fast we tend to lose sight of our posture and the proper form needed to safely perform our fitness routine. You can easily slip up and injure yourself this way, which will cause an early and unplanned end to your fitness routine. You need to work at your own pace and learn your body’s signals, and when your body tells you to slow down you should listen, if you want to avoid any unnecessary injuries.  That’s why at 9round we offer a certified trainer at no additional charge every workout.

It can be hard starting a fitness routine and not knowing what you should expect. Many of us do have unrealistic expectations but do not know it. The hard part is learning our body’s signals and trying to determine just how far and how fast we can push ourselves without causing ourselves an unnecessary injury. However, we need to let go of our ideas about achieving perfection in just a few days after starting our fitness routine and realize that our fitness routine is about making ourselves feel better and achieving a healthier body.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/how-to-keep-it-real-during-your-workout/

Four of the Most Common Diet Mistakes

We have all been there. We try and try to lose those excess pounds, but they just won’t come off. We may think that there is a shortcut or a fast and easy solution. If we just cut out this one certain type of food or take this pill, then everything will work itself out. However, this is just not the case. You have to put in a lot of hard work and do your research to properly understand how to reach your weight loss goals. There are a lot of mistakes that we can make along the way, but this is why we have to do our research and talk with trained professionals before we become disgruntled with our results. Here we will take a look at four of the most common weight loss mistakes.

Crash diets

Many women turn to crash dieting in order to lose weight. They like to think that if they limit the amount of food they eat or only eat certain types of food, they can easily drop those pounds. However, this is not the case, and crash diets can wreak havoc on your health. They can cause nutritional deficiencies, not to mention damage to your kidneys, brain, heart and other organs. It can cause you to lose muscle mass and slow your metabolism. If you frequently crash diet for long periods of time your metabolism will be extremely slow, and once you start eating again you will gain back the weight you lost and then some.

Diet pills

This is another common cure all for weight loss that women seem to love. For some reason we are always looking for that one wonder drug that will magically make all of our fat melt away. However, most of us come to find out that after spending tons and tons of money on these little wonder drugs that they do not work. Many of them have also been proven to cause many dangerous side effects. So, we end up not losing any weight, wasting money and endangering our health all because we thought we could lose weight the easy way.

Paying too much attention to the scale

A lot of us do this. We exercise, then we hop right on the scale to weigh ourselves. All we have to do is look in the mirror, take before and after pictures or look at our dress size to see a difference. However, we seem to ignore these and go right for the scale. We need to remember that the scale is not the end all to our workout routines. A scale can only show so much. You need to look at the entire picture. You may not see the scale moving, but you may still feel healthier and have a better toned body. So, stop paying so much attention to the scale and start looking at your body.

Piling on the cardio

When people think about exercising to lose weight, they immediately think they need to up their cardio. While cardio is a great addition to any fitness routine, you need to add other types of exercises to get the most out of your workouts. If you want to lose fat and also tone, you need to  focus on strength and increase your metabolism. Resistance training and interval training are more effective than cardio at doing this. Try adding some planks, burpees or push ups to your routine to see how much faster the weight will come off and how toned your body will become.

It does not have to be a long journey to lose those excess pounds, if you do not give in to those weight loss “shortcuts”. If you do, you’re always starting over. Do it the smart, healthy way, and the weight will come off and STAY off.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/four-of-the-most-common-diet-mistakes/

Five Tips to Holding a Longer Plank

Planks can be a difficult exercise to perform. It does not take long for your body to feel the burn; however, this burn tells us that it is effectively working out our bodies. It is a perfect way to tone your arms and strengthen your core. In order to get the best results you need to try to hold your plank for as long as you can. Most of us like to try to hold our planks for thirty seconds or a minute, but if we do not watch the clock and take away these time limits, we may find that we can actually plank much longer than we ever thought we could. Here are just a few tips to help you get started on a holding a longer plank.

1. A plank a day. Try to work planking into every one of your daily fitness routines. Each day you perform this exercise the easier it will seem. It is just like with everything else, practice makes perfect.
2. Don’t watch the clock. Turn away from the clock or turn over your stopwatch. You will still be able to time yourself, but you will not be able to see how long you have been holding your plank until you can no longer hold it. This will put an end to you having a preset length of time to hold your plank and make you focus on how long you can actually hold your plank.
3. Distract yourself. When you are focusing too much on how long to hold your plank, you tend to make it harder to plank. However, if you distract yourself you may not notice how long you have been holding your plank. You could read a magazine article or listen to music. Anything that will keep your mind off of how long you have been holding your plank would be perfect to try.
4. Push your limits. When you start feeling as if you can’t go any longer, push yourself to go ten more seconds. Each day try to push yourself to hold your plank a few seconds longer. You may not add on to your plank everyday, but as long as you keep seeing progress over time then you have something to be proud of.
5. Do not lose your form. You have to stay focused on your form, especially if you are new to planking. This is where we get all those great results. You do not want to waste all your time and energy on incorrectly performing a plank. This may lead to less than stellar results and maybe even an injury. A neutral neck is important (not chin down or chin up). Keep your body in a perfectly straight line (don’t allow your hips to go up or sag down) Suck your stomach muscles in tight (like your at the beach in a bikini and someone hot just walked by!) All these techniques are necessary as one unit in order to have good plank form.

Planks work your entire body. It can help you tone and tighten many problem areas. However, it can seem hard for many of us to correctly perform this exercise, but the benefits we can get from this exercise makes it all worth it. So, get out there and challenge yourself to hold the longest plank ever.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/five-tips-to-holding-a-longer-plank/

Five Fitness Habits You Should Start in Your Thirties

As you age, you can begin to see a difference in how your body reacts to things. When you were younger it was probably much easier for you to stay healthy and maintain a perfect figure; however, the older we get, the harder it may seem to sustain these ideals. This is why we need to get in the habit of maintaining our health through the best means possible before we hit that certain age. So, here are a few fitness habits you should start in or before your thirties.

Drink more water.

In order to keep our bodies healthy and youthful, we need to drink a lot of water. There are many problems associated with not drinking enough water like water retention, a slow metabolism and skin aging more quickly. If you make it a habit to drink more water when you are younger, you will able to easily combat these ill effects and have an overall healthier and more youthful body.

Strength/resistance training

We all know that when we get older we are more susceptible to losing muscle tone; therefore we need to build up our muscles on a regular basis. Remember if you do not use it you will lose it. You should start strength training early to get in the habit of always having it in your fitness routines. Did you know that the more muscle you have the more calories you will burn?…even while you’re ASLEEP? So, if you want that perfectly toned body, it is time to start strength training.

Using the proper form

When you are young it may seem almost impossible to get injured; however, as you age, you are more prone to injuries. You need to make sure you are always playing it safe by using the proper form during your workouts. You want to achieve the best results possible and avoid any unnecessary injuries in order to get the most out of your workouts. If you put in the necessary time and effort, it should be worth it, so do yourself a favor and learn and follow the proper form now.

Do not be afraid to mix it up a bit

Not only can doing the same fitness routine over and over become monotonous and boring, it can also lose its effectiveness. Your body will become use to the workout, and you may even start putting in less energy and paying less attention to your movements, which can lead to an injury or a decline in your results. Therefore, if you want to achieve a more well-rounded and overall healthier body you should switch up your routine on a regular basis.

Make your workout fun

It can be hard trying to fit in a regular and consistent fitness routine now, so imagine trying to fit it in as we get older when we have more responsibilities and less energy. So, the best thing to do is find a workout you enjoy and stick with it. You need to find ways to make it fun and exciting, so that you will want to find the time and energy needed to maintain a regular and consistent fitness routine that can give you the results that you want.

If you want to be healthy in your thirties and beyond, you should start changing any bad habits you may have as soon as possible. The sooner you can develop good fitness habits the better. I know that for some people in the younger generation may think that none of this applies to them, but if you want the best chance at living a long and happy life, you need to pay attention to your body’s needs today instead of tomorrow.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/five-fitness-habits-you-should-start-in-your-thirties/