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Try Turmeric To Fight Inflammation

Published by superadmin on February 25, 2022 | Leave a response

There’s a reason we help people with their diet at Iron Fit in San Antonio, Texas. It’s a key factor to weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. A healthy diet helps lower inflammation, which is one of the leading causes of many serious illnesses and conditions. Some foods and spices are anti-inflammatory. Turmeric is one example. Just sprinkling a little on your food each day won’t eliminate it completely but will aid in helping to get inflammation under control and help the body, rather than harm it.

Inflammation is necessary to fight off infection.

However, chronic inflammation can cause serious conditions. Heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, metabolic syndrome and diseases that are degenerative, like arthritis, all get worse when there’s chronic inflammation. Studies comparing the inflammation fighting properties of turmeric to pharmaceuticals show that it matches them but doesn’t have side effects. In fact, studies also found that the curcumin in turmeric slowed the inflammation and oxidative stress found in Alzheimer’s. It also aided in clearing the beta-amyloid that occurs in the brain when the patient has Alzheimer’s.

The curcumin in turmeric brings the healing benefits.

Curcumin is a phytochemical that appears naturally in turmeric. It’s the reason turmeric is effective as an inflammation fighter. It does many things besides reducing inflammation. It helps in depression, can boost recovery and even may help performance in the gym. Studies show that turmeric helped depression as much as Prozac and combining turmeric with Prozac for depression, boosted the effectiveness for both.

Liberal use of turmeric can add life to your years.

That’s right. You’ll feel younger and look better. Since it’s anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant, it helps prevent free radicals to protect your cells from damage that can cause aging. Aging occurs from oxidation and free radicals going unchecked. Reducing inflammation can also help you move easier and that encourages being more active, which also improves your appearance and keeps you younger looking. By increasing anti-inflammatory and antioxidants in your diet, you can slow the damage of the years and look years younger.

Only three percent of the weight of turmeric is curcumin, the active ingredient. So, it’s not the final answer if you’re simply sprinkling it on periodically. Consuming more anti-inflammatory foods and reducing those that cause inflammation, like sugar, is also important.
If you’re adding curcumin in your diet to help reduce inflammation, use it in conjunction with black pepper to help the beneficial ingredients absorb better.
Some great ways to use it is in soup. It gives a golden color to the mixture. Adding it to homemade egg noodles or rice dishes also improves their presentation. That golden color, however, stains. Make sure you have an apron to protect your clothing.
Tuna, salmon, leafy greens, apples, beets, broccoli and blueberries are just a few of the other anti-inflammatory foods you can add to your diet. Foods with added sugar, trans fats, red and processed meat, refined carbohydrates and foods high in omega-6 cause inflammation.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Benefits Of Not Eating Meat

Published by superadmin on February 15, 2022 | Leave a response

If you want to lose weight, enjoy better health and even save money at the grocery, try not eating meat. It’s true that much of the grocery budget is often spent on meat. Consider the difference in price between a bag of navy beans and sirloin steak for a family of four. Beans are the better buy when you want inexpensive protein that also has other benefits, like fiber.

Going meatless can improve your health, besides benefiting your budget.

As mentioned before, beans and other sources of plant based protein come with the benefit of fiber. It often has both types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Insoluble adds bulk and makes going the bathroom easier. Soluble fiber feeds the friendly microbes in your gut that boost your immune system, help provide brain health, aid in weight loss, aid in heart health, control of blood sugar levels and improves gut health.

Meat is harder to digest.

Meat, particularly red meat, is harder to digest than plant protein. It’s all protein and fat, with no carbohydrates, like the soluble fiber in vegetables. That alone slows the digestion. While it’s one reason that you feel fuller longer, but it also can cause digestive issues. Proteins from animal sources can take as long as two days to digest, while fruits and vegetables pass through your digestive system often in less than a day, thanks to the fiber they contain.

If you want to lose weight, go meatless.

Sure, meat keeps you feeling fuller longer, but there are also far more calories too. Quinoa, which is a plant source of protein that’s complete can be the base of a meal that’s far lower in calories. The nice thing is that you can keep it on hand to save the budget or for those days when shopping is out of the question, without worrying about spoilage. It has a long shelf life and even last as long as two to three years beyond its use-by date. Watch your belly disappear when you cut out meat. The fiber in the vegetable sources of protein slows down the absorption of carbs, so you don’t have spikes in blood sugar levels and insulin. That helps prevent insulin resistance, which can lead to a Buddha belly.

Just having meatless Mondays can even help lower the risk of diabetes, colon cancer, and other serious conditions. In fact, people who eat less meat often live longer.
With today’s shortages, keeping a few bags of dried beans and brown rice on hand for a complete protein source is a good idea. Both can be stored for over a year without a problem.
Turn a salad into a complete meal by adding beans, quinoa, rice or other type of plant protein. In fact, those are easy to make ahead and refrigerate, so all you have to do when you get home is serve and eat.
The meat sitting in the intestines for as long as four days is one reason it increases the risk of colorectal cancer. Meat also has a higher cholesterol and saturated fat content that adds to the potential for cancer.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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Is There A Healthy Coffee Alternative?

Published by superadmin on February 5, 2022 | Leave a response

Not everyone has the same tolerance to the caffeine in coffee or the acidity. In fact, even though it’s used as a pick-me-up, it also increases the stress hormone cortisol and that can lead to weight gain. It can over stress the adrenal system with short bursts of energy but leaving you with chronic low energy. Coffee affects the absorption of iron in your stomach, limits the storage of calcium, zinc, magnesium and more. It also can interfere with your sleep at night, leaving you even chronically tired. If you’re looking for a healthy coffee alternative, there are several.

Water should be your first choice of alternatives.

If you’re feeling tired, try a bottle or glass of water. You’ll be amazed at how it can be the “quicker picker-upper.” Exhaustion, headache and the inability to focus all come from mild dehydration. Thirst is actually the last symptom of dehydration and occurs after you feel fatigue. If you don’t like regular water, try infused water that puts the natural flavor into the water, without the extra calories.

Macha tea or green tea are good options.

While both are a form of tea, the way the two are processed is quite different and have different health benefits. In the final weeks of growing, macha tea is grown in the shade. Instead of sun or oven drying, pan frying, tumbling, steaming or basket firing like green tea, macha tea is deveined and destemmed, then lightly steamed, then stone ground. Both are high in antioxidants, L-theanine and polyphenols. However, since macha tea is ground, you get more nutrients, since you swallow the leaf powder. Matcha tea is higher in antioxidants, but does have more caffeine as well, so it’s not as good for anyone sensitive to caffeine.

Have you ever considered yerba mate?

Yerba mate tastes a bit like green tea, but it comes from the leaves of the yerba mate plant that grows wild in South America. It produces a bit of a buzz, since it has about three-fourths of the caffeine as coffee, but it adds to focus without as much impact on your sleep and isn’t as likely to give you the jitters. It also has slightly more antioxidants than green tea. It contains seven of the nine essential amino acids that are necessary for the body to function and almost every vitamin and mineral necessary for the body.

Why not make a green smoothie or make yours a protein based one to boost your concentration and alertness? It increases the production of chemicals in the brain that do that. Add some veggies to make it even healthier.
Roasted fig coffee and Masala chai are two options that are healthy, packed with nutrients and caffeine free. Fig coffee is high in potassium, iron, vitamins A and E.
Capomo is a coffee substitute that looks tastes and even smells like coffee when you’re brewing it but has no caffeine and tons of health benefits. It’s one of the richest sources of amino acids from plants.
Roasted dandelion root is ground to make dandelion coffee. Dandelion coffee gives you a boost of energy, without the caffeine. It’s often combined with other ingredients for even more health benefits.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

Anti-Inflammatory Teas

Published by superadmin on January 25, 2022 | Leave a response

All aspects of a healthy lifestyle are important, including healthy eating. At Iron Fit in San Antonio, Texas, we focus on the benefits of exercise and how to train your body to become the best possible you. Exercise is important for good health, but so are the other hallmarks of a healthy lifestyle, such as healthy eating. A diet high in sugar causes inflammation, which in turn can damage your body. When inflammation functions as it’s supposed to function, it helps prevent illness and infection. However, chronic inflammation can cause a number of health conditions. To avoid that, eating a healthy diet, which may include anti-inflammatory teas, exercise, stress control and adequate sleep can help.

One anti-inflammatory tea is easy to find and relatively inexpensive.

If you go to a restaurant, you’ll often find this tea as one of their beverages. It’s green tea and very easy to find on the grocery shelf. Studies show that people who drink green tea frequently often lose weight and look younger than those who don’t. That’s because green tea has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It can reduce the markers of inflammation, level out blood sugar and help lower cholesterol. For some benefits, you need three to four cups a day, but for others, as little as a half cup a day will help.

Make your belly feel better with ginger tea, while you reduce inflammation.

Ginger tea contains gingerol, which has anti-inflammatory benefits. If you’ve ever been given ginger ale for an upset stomach, you probably already realize that ginger can provide stomach soothing benefits. However, it also can help control blood sugar levels and cholesterol levels. It can reduce chronic inflammation with the gingerols and phenolics it contains. While you can prepare ginger tea from fresh ginger root, it’s far more expedient to simply buy tea bags that are ready-to-use.

Turmeric tea has a peppery taste.

Not everyone loves the flavor of turmeric tea, but it isn’t horrible. It has a bit of a peppery taste. It’s often mixed with other ingredients to create a more pleasing flavor. One ancient recipe called golden milk tea has been used for healing. It helps improve immunity, reduce inflammation and joint pain, promote sleep, reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and more. There are a number of recipes, but all of them include a pinch of black pepper, which enhances the properties of turmeric that come from curcumin.

Peppermint tea is anti-inflammatory, antiviral and anti=microbial. It has long been used for respiratory and digestive issues, but beware if you have acid reflux. It can where it might aggravate the situation by relaxing the esophageal sphincter.
Chamomile tea has anti-inflammatory properties. It’s been used for thousands of years to promote relaxation. It actually lowers pain and inflammation, making it a natural pain reliever.
When you hear that yerba mate is an acquired taste, you immediately know it doesn’t taste good. However, it is rich with nutrients, containing a number of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, antioxidants and amino acids. It protects the DNA from oxidative stress.
Holy basil isn’t the same as sweet basil used in cooking. It has a wide range of health benefits, including its anti-inflammatory properties. It has compounds that inhibit enzymes producing inflammation and can reduce uric acid levels that cause some inflammatory conditions.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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Reasons You Should Eat More Citrus

Published by superadmin on January 15, 2022 | Leave a response

Just working out isn’t enough to look and feel your best. You have to eat healthy, too. At Body Sculptors Personal Training in Louisville, KY, we focus on both working out and healthy eating, since you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. During the winter months, getting adequate vitamin C is important, so it’s important to eat more citrus. What is citrus fruit? You probably recognize the grapefruit, orange, lemon and lime as citrus, but maybe not the yuzu, pomelo or calamondin. There’s a number of citrus fruit, but they all have a leathery skin and grow on flowering trees or shrubs. They all have high amounts of vitamin C.

Not only are citrus rich in vitamin C, they have many other nutrients.

Vitamin C is important to keep your immune system, blood vessels and skin healthy. However, citrus fruits also contain other nutrients that are important for the body. They have B vitamins, phosphorous, potassium, copper, and magnesium. Citrus fruit contain phytonutrients, too. It contains flavonoids, carotenoids and essential oils. The vitamin C helps synthesize collagen, which helps blood vessels, skin, bones and basically all the body. One orange has enough vitamin C to meet your daily requirement. The folate (vitamin B-9) in citrus aids in the synthesizing of DNA and is linked to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and depression.

You’ll fill up, not out when you eat citrus fruit.

Not only are citrus fruit low in calories, they’re high in fiber and fluid. Those juicy fruits can help add to your liquid intake, while tickling your taste buds in the process. Just a cup of orange segments can provide over an eighth of the fiber you need daily. Fiber also fills you up and helps feed the beneficial bacteria in your gut for digestive health. The fiber also helps lower cholesterol levels. Meanwhile, all that goodness doesn’t come with a high calorie price tag. A half grapefruit is just 39 calories, while a medium orange is 62. One study found that people who ate more citrus fruit weighed less. It’s easy to see why.

You’ll lower your risk of kidney stones when you eat more citrus.

Kidney stones are extremely painful. They’re mineral crystals that form when you have high amounts of stone forming minerals in your urine or have very concentrated urine. If it’s deep yellow, you could be primed for kidney stones and need to drink more water and eat some citrus fruit. Kidney stones can develop when you have lower levels of citrate in the urine, which is contained in citrus fruit. Even drinking the juice provides benefits. It can be a natural alternative to chemical means of raising citrate levels.

Citrus fruit may lower your risk of specific types of cancer, such as lung cancer. One study showed that drinking one serving of grapefruit juice each day lowered the risk of lung cancer and other studies showed increasing citrus reduced the risk of breast, stomach, esophageal and pancreatic cancer.
Improve your heart health with citrus fruit. Studies show that people who ate more citrus reduced the rate of stroke and heart disease. Eating more citrus can lower bad cholesterol levels and blood pressure too.
Citrus fruit can help protect the brain. The flavonoids help reduce inflammation, which is believed to be part of the cause of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The hesperidin and apigenin in citrus protects brain cells.
The best way to increase citrus is to eat the fruit, rather than drink the juice. Too much juice can increase your blood sugar, since there’s no fiber to slow the absorption. You’ll also feel less full and consume more calories.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

Posted in Fitness & Wellness

The Benefits Of Dandelion Tea

Published by superadmin on January 5, 2022 | Leave a response

Dandelions are often unappreciated, but in ancient times, they were highly praised for their medicinal properties. They existed throughout history as a medicinal plant. It’s part of Chinese traditional medicine, Greek, Roman or Egyptian medicine and even came over with early settlers of America as a plant that provided both medicine, dye and food. While there are two varieties of dandelion that are native to America, the most common varieties came from seed the early settlers brought. Dandelions are packed with nutrients and many of the benefits of dandelion tea occur because of that fact. They contain vitamins A, C, D and E, plus the minerals-calcium, potassium, zinc and iron.

Dandelion tea can be made from the roots or the leaves.

If you drink a dandelion tea made from the roots of the dandelion plant, you’ll be drinking a tea that was made from the root, it’s often used as a substitute for coffee. If you just use the leaves you get a lighter colored tea that also has many health benefits. People often call dandelion tea made from the roots, dandelion coffee. It is far less bitter than regular coffee and has no caffeine. Just like dandelion tea made from leaves, it contains all the same nutrients. When the root is roasted, probiotics and antioxidants are added to the impressive list of nutrients. It acts like a diuretic, which can help lower high blood pressure, aids digestion and improves circulation.

Dandelion tea made from leaves and stems also provide benefits.

The darker the color of the tea, the more root is used to make it. If you use the flowers and stems, it creates a light yellow tea that provides benefits similar to the root. It also is a diuretic and can aid in ridding the liver and kidneys of toxins. If you have type 2 diabetes, you also should consider drinking dandelion tea, since it can help boost insulin tolerance and level out blood sugar.

Dandelion tea is a potent antioxidant.

Antioxidants help protect you at a cellular level. Dandelion tea is high in beta-carotene that neutralizes free radicals in your body. Not only does that help protect the cells and contribute to good health, it slows the signs of aging. In ancient times, dandelion tea was used to detox the body and drinking it daily was important for good health. Today, it’s often used to help lower the risk of liver disease and boost the health of the liver.

One study in 2012 showed that dandelions could reduce hyperlipidemia. Hyperlipidemia is a term used for high fat levels in the blood, which include cholesterol. Drinking dandelion tea could reduce cholesterol levels.
Studies done in Korea show that drinking dandelion root tea could help weight loss as well as many weight loss drugs. It helped reduce pancreatic lipase, which aids in fat absorption. The diuretic properties also aid in weight control.
The anti-inflammatory properties of dandelion tea can help with all types of infections. It’s especially good for UTIs when combined with uva ursi.
Besides boosting the immune system, dandelion tea can lower the risk of cancer and shorten the length of influenza according to studies. It also improves gut and skin health. In fact, it’s often found in skin care creams.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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Yoga Poses You Can Try At Home

Published by superadmin on December 25, 2021 | Leave a response

Yoga poses have become a good way to work muscles that helps build flexibility and strength, but is still mild enough to be good recovery exercises. You can do these when you’re at home, between those tough days at the gym.

One easy pose combination that will make your back feel great is the cat/cow pose.

Not only does the combination of the cat/cow pose increase circulation, it also almost massages your back muscles as you stretch them in all directions. You start by getting on your hands and knees. Then you arch your back like a cat as you lower your head and exhale. Hold and then return to starting position. The second half of the combination is the cow pose. In this case, you lift your head so you can look straight ahead as you drop your back, allowing your belly to drop toward the floor with a dip in your back. Hold and then return to the starting position. You’ll limber up your back and feel like you got a massage, so it’s a good pose to do the first thing in the morning.

Get rid of the stress of the day with this yoga pose you can do at home.

Your workout at the gym can definitely burn off the hormones of stress, but what about the days you’re not working out? The child pose is a good beginner yoga pose. Get on your knees with your palms touching the floor, as you did with the cat/cow poses. Exhale and as you do, lower your hips until your bottom touches your heals and your chest touches your thighs. Your hands should be stretched in front of you and forehead should touch the floor. Put your hands under your forehead or down by your sides. Sit quietly for a few minutes and feel the stress reduce.

You may know it as the plank, but in yoga it’s the phalakasana forearm movement.

You probably didn’t realize you already know yoga, but if you’ve ever done a forearm plank, you know at least one pose. Start on your hands and knees, feet out behind you. Bend your elbows until your forearms are on the floor and clasp your hands together. Move one foot back as you straighten your leg and then follow it with the other foot. Push back your heels as you lift your kneecaps. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds, then slowly lower your body and reverse each step.

The tree pose starts by lifting one leg and putting your foot on the inner thigh of the opposite leg, then press your palms in front of you. Relax as you try to maintain your balance.
If you’re ready for a tough core workout, try the locus pose. Lay on your stomach with arms outstretched in front of you and legs straight behind. Lift your arms, legs, feet and head and hold.
An upward salute is a basic yoga pose. Stand straight, with shoulders drawn backward and chin level with the floor. Raise your arms overhead, shoulder width apart, palms facing each other. Touch them together above your head and look up. Hold and reverse movements
If you have gas pain, this yoga pose works great. Sit on the floor and bring your knees to your chest. Tightly wrap your arms around your knees and hold. Breathe deeply and for more benefit, rock from side to side.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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How To Get Started At The Gym

Published by superadmin on December 15, 2021 | Leave a response

You know you want to lose weight, but haven’t been able to do it on your own, but feel a little intimidated when it comes to going to a gym. You can overcome that intimidation and get started at the gym by following a few steps. The first is to make sure you have selected the right gym, one that has a friendly atmosphere. It’s one reason we offer a free session. You get a sampling before you commit. You’ll realize it’s a welcoming place.

Maybe you aren’t ready to workout in front of others.

Some people are embarrassed that they’re so out of shape, but they shouldn’t be. Gyms were made to help people get into shape. If you want to build a little extra confidence, start working out before you start. Go for walks or do mini workouts at home. After a few weeks you’ll feel more confident and be ready to workout in the gym. While your progress at home will be slower, you’ll still have a bit of a head start and be able to see the difference working with a professional makes.

If you don’t want to workout alone, bring a buddy with you.

There’s nothing better than having someone you know that’s also a beginner. That’s why our classes are perfect for people who want to bring a workout buddy. You’ll find it easier to stick with your workout, since your buddy holds you accountable, by simply going with you each time—just as you hold your buddy accountable.

Make sure you have appropriate workout clothes.

Appropriate workout clothing doesn’t mean high priced sports wear designed for working out. It means having clothes that are loose enough to be comfortable, also ones that allow you to move easily. It can be as simple as wearing a light weight sweatshirt or t-shirt made of cotton, nylon, or polyester that wick sweat. Shorts or sweats are good options for pants, but if you’re opting for shorts, they shouldn’t be longer than an inch below the knees. Most important are comfortable shoes that are sized properly and absorb sweat appropriately.

Pay close attention to form when you’re first starting. Doing more reps isn’t nearly as important as having the right form. Go slowly until you can do each exercise correctly.
Don’t worry about what others think. Most are so focused on their own progress, they won’t notice you during the workout.
If the gym offers healthy eating plans, take advantage of it. You can’t out-exercise a bad diet. The combination of healthy eating and exercise will boost your progress, no matter what your goals.
Just do it. There’s never a perfect moment to start a workout program and begin at the gym. Start tomorrow if possible. Our free session makes it even easier to begin.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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Best Workouts For Fat Loss

Published by superadmin on December 5, 2021 | Leave a response

The best workouts for fat loss are ones that also build muscle tissue. At Iron Fit in San Antonio, TX, we focus on building muscles, since the more muscle tissue you have, the easier it is to lose weight. Muscle tissue requires more calories than fat tissue does, even when you’re not working out. That means building lean muscle tissue can boost your metabolism. It’s one reason we focus so heavily on HIIT and circuit training.

Cardio burns calories, but so does strength-building.

So which one is best? There is a difference. When you’re doing cardio, such as running, the calories come from burning both muscle tissue and fat tissue. That’s not true of strength training, since you’re also building muscles as you burn calories. Compound exercises or whole body workouts that involve several joints and muscle groups are also fat burners, since they involve more muscles. While you need cardio, there are better ways to boost your cardio strength.

Circuit training is one way to go.

You need four types of fitness, balance, flexibility, strength and endurance. Circuit training addresses both cardio—endurance—and strength training. In circuit training, you have between eight and twelve different stations. You work different muscle groups at these stations. You either spend a certain amount of time or a do a specific number of reps at each station and move on to the next, with little resting in between. That gives you a great cardio workout at the same time you’re burning calories and building muscle tissue.

HIIT training make the benefits even bigger.

Both circuit training and HIIT—high intensity interval training—are not specific exercises, but ways of combining exercises to maximize the benefits. HIIT is a type of circuit training, but not all circuit training is HIIT. HIIT varies the intensity of the workout. You workout for a short period at high intensity, followed by an equal amount of time or longer working at a recovery pace. Then revert back to high intensity and repeat. You can do a HIIT version of any exercise, including walking. Not only is HIIT a great way to boost cardiovascular fitness, if you’re doing strength training, it builds muscles fast, while also burning tons of calories from fat.

When you do HIIT training, it’s easy to modify the workout to your own level of fitness. You can do shorter intervals of high intensity, with slightly longer recovery periods. As you get fitter, the recovery period can become shorter.
HIIT exercises are more efficient. You get more accomplished in a shorter time frame. By varying the intensity, you’re burning the body’s reserve, plus your metabolism stays high for hours after your workout to repair muscle proteins and replace energy, so you’ll be burning even more calories.
The body burns fat during HIIT workouts and continues burning that fat store after the workout. HIIT workouts also elevates HGH—human growth hormones. HGH is known as the anti-aging hormone that decreases body fat and increases muscle mass.
Fat burning exercises don’t have to take a long time. You can get results by just working out three times a week for an hour. If you’re doing strength training, you need to vary muscle groups and give muscles time to heal between intense workouts.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

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Strength Training 101

Published by superadmin on November 25, 2021 | Leave a response

There’s no one exercise that’s perfect. You need to exercise all parts of the body, plus include all types of fitness, which includes cardio, flexibility, strength and balance. If you’re simply doing cardio, like running, you’re only working the lower body muscles and getting aerobic/cardio training. All types of training are important for different health reasons. For instance strength training not only helps you build strong muscles, it helps you build strong bones. If you’re new to strength training, here’s a strength training 101 course that can help you with the basics.

Lesson number one, strength training is equipment optional.

You don’t need a lot of equipment to do strength training, even though most people think of barbells, kettlebells, weight machines and dumbbells when they think of it. You can achieve great results with bodyweight workouts. It’s all about pushing your muscles to the maximum, lifting your body in a pull-up or push does that. If you want to use equipment, but don’t have a lot of money, resistance bands can be great for strength training.

You can do strength training anywhere, but form is important.

If you want to get stronger, lift, push or pull something heavy. They key is to have to proper form and not overdo. Someone that moves furniture as part of their job or carries heavy loads will be strong, but it takes even more. You have to work all the muscles of the body to achieve balance that can cause injury or make muscles on one side of your body larger, stronger, smaller or weaker than the other side. Proper form is important. If you don’t have proper form, it can minimize the benefits or even cause injury.

Your fitness level determines the number of repetitions.

While having a personal trainer can be a big benefit, some people are too intimidated or not close enough to a gym. You can start with a routing that combines push-ups, squats, walking lunges, a plank, jumping jacks and dumbbell rows. You can start with sets of ten to twenty and turn your workout into circuit training, doing one after another. If you’re out of shape, consider doing modified forms of the exercise, such as knee bent push-ups.

Focus primarily on form at first, even if you only do a few exercises and it takes a while. Once you improve, do a circuit of exercises, take a 30 second break and repeat at least two more times.
As you improve do more repetitions per set and if you’re doing a modified form of the exercise, switch to the harder form.
Always warm up before you workout and cool down afterward. Warming up will help prevent injury. You can swing your arms, run in place or ride a stationary bike. Do what it takes to get the blood flowing.
Don’t overdo strength training. Never do it two days in a row. Strength training makes microtears in the muscles, when those heal the muscles are stronger. Your body needs time to recuperate and for them to heal.

For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio

Posted in Fitness & Wellness