Fix Your Form: Seated Leg Press

Is this what you look like when using the squat machine? 

Fix your form! Using the machine this way can lead to injuries and puts unnecessary strain on your joints. Your legs should be bent at 90 degree angles with your shins parallel to the ground.

You should look like this!

It's easy to misuse the seated leg press machine, so make sure to check your posture next time you use one of these!


Read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/fix-your-form-how-to-exercise-leg-press_n_1833521.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

8 Signs You're Overtraining

If there's a goal you're driven to achieve you might do whatever it takes to get it. When it comes to fitness, that motivation just might lead you to push your body a little too far. While frequently training to exhaustion might make you feel accomplished, the effects of overtraining will actually be working against your goals. Take care of yourself and listen to your body's warning signs.
Mark's Daily Apple has a list of 8 symptoms of overtraining that you should be taking seriously. It's important to leave your body enough energy to protect and maintain itself.

"When you spend some time among the ever-growing circle of evolutionary-based health writers, thinkers, bloggers, and doctors, you notice a curious thing happening. Conventional Wisdom is becoming turned on its head. Saturated fat is generally healthy and excessive endurance training is generally unhealthy become the presiding narratives. Grains are either unnecessary or have the tendency to attack the gut lining, even guts with “clinically undetectable levels of sensitivity.” You don’t need six square meals a day to keep your metabolism up and running, after all; one or two a day will do just fine.Less is more – as far as exercise goes – is becoming another accepted truth, especially when you understand that 80% of your body composition is determined by how you eat..."

Read the rest here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/overtraining/#ixzz24UcLu0qZ



Remember, your health and well-being should always come first. That's what fitness is all about, after all. Happy training!

Eat More Carbs!

All carbs are not created equal! Carbs should make up a good half of your diet, so make sure they're coming from a good source. Loading your diet with healthy carbs is a good way to keep weight off. Get a couple of good ideas for carb-rich meals on Self!

"Your Daily Carb PlanPasta lovers, put on your party pants: To keep pounds off, you should get up to 65 percent of daily calories from carbs—45 to 55 percent for meat eaters; 55 to 65 percent for vegetarians getting protein from carb-rich stuff. Here's what a perfect day of carb eating looks like, complete with tasty ideas."

http://www.self.com/fooddiet/2012/09/daily-carb-plan-slideshow#slide=1

4 Things Before a Workout

Do you jump right into a workout or do you take the time to prepare your body? It's important to be properly fueled and warmed up before you begin an exercise. Making sure you do these four things before you train will keep you safe and energized!

See them on LiveStrong: http://www.livestrong.com/article/557765-4-things-you-should-do-before-every-workout/

"There’s a natural tendency to want to leap right into a workout. After all, who isn’t pressed for time? But failing to take the proper steps before each training session can sabotage your results, if not lead to injury and long-term ailments.
By planning ahead and warming up properly, you’ll have a more effective workout, be less susceptible to injury, and produce the results you desire. Here are four quick steps you can take to do just that."
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/557765-4-things-you-should-do-before-every-workout/#ixzz23AvoXMG6

10 Strategies to Burn Fat

Losing weight requires a complete lifestyle change that includes a cleaner diet and more movement. However, if you're looking to adopt a few habits and strategies to help speed up the process, Fitness Magazine has got 10 tips for you! Keep yourself nourished and diet-minded and you'll be sure to get the results you're looking for.

No crazy gimmicks or deprivation diets here. These 10 smart new strategies will help you shed fat and keep it off.
Use fat to burn fat.
Trying yet again to lose those last 10 pounds? We hear you. In fact, 50 percent of women say that within six months they gain back any weight they've managed to ditch. And more than a quarter have dieted so many times they've lost track of the number. Well, get ready to stop the endless yo-yoing: Science has finally come up with simple, groundbreaking solutions for lasting weight loss. We checked in with the top experts in the field and scoured the latest research to bring you the skinny on everything you need to reach your slim-down goals and stay there.
Make your fat burn fat.Seriously: Your flab can help you shed pounds. How? Just as there's more than one kind of fat in food, there's more than one type in your body. White fat is the bad stuff you want to zap. But a second kind, brown fat, actually torches calories. "Up to 80 percent of adults have brown fat deposits in their bodies," says Aaron M. Cypess, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School. This good fat is powerful because it's packed with mitochondria, the parts of cells that generate heat. When activated, as little as two ounces of brown fat can gobble up as much as 20 percent of your body's calories.
Exercise is one of the best ways to get your brown fat in gear. In a study, scientists at Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute discovered that working out releases a hormone called irisin, which converts white fat to brown. Exercise for a half hour at least five days a week to turn up the burn.

Read the 10 tips here: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/tips/diet-tips/how-to-lose-fat-for-good/?page=1

Eat This Before You Run

Do you know what snacks are the best to eat before you go for a run? FitSugar has a chart of the foods you should and shouldn't consider as well as when to eat it!

Read more here: http://www.fitsugar.com/What-Eat-Before-Run-24108225

Time	Food Ideas	Foods to Avoid
2 hours before	300- to 400-calorie meal containing carbs, protein, and healthy fats: Cooked quinoa and grilled chicken Whole wheat pasta with cheese and veggies Peanut butter and jelly sandwich Greek yogurt with blueberries and sliced almonds Wrap filled with grilled fish, avocado, and mango	Tons of fibrous veggies: Broccoli, onions, beans High-fat foods that are hard to digest: Burgers, fries, ice cream

Keep reading to find out what to eat (and what to avoid) an hour or 15 minutes before a run.

Time	Food Ideas	Foods to Avoid
1 hour before	150-calorie snack containing easily digestible carbs and a little protein: Whole wheat toast with nut butter Whole grain crackers and hummus Small bowl of cereal Half a fruit and nut bar Cheese stick and carrots	Gas-producing fruits: Pear Apple Melon
15 to 30 minutes before	Small serving of easily digestible carbs: Banana Applesauce A few saltine crackers Raisins	Large serving of protein and carbs, and high-saturated fat and high-fiber foods: Pasta Bagel and cream cheese Fried chicken Granola bar (high in calories and fiber)

Mixing Weight Training and Aerobics

Do weight training and aerobics interfere with one another? Many athletes dodge this questions by doing each exercise on separate days. Is the phenomenon of “muscle interference” or “exercise antagonism” actually true? A study shows that there is no interference and that mixed training can actually bring extra benefits to your workout. See it on The New York Times.

"Is it wise to practice weight training and aerobic exercise on the same day?That issue is surprisingly contentious in the sports world. Many competitive athletes, their coaches and athletic trainers have come to believe that aerobic exercise, if practiced in close proximity to strength training, reduces the ability of muscles to strengthen and grow. Conversely, many contend that weight training performed on the same day as aerobic exercise blunts the endurance training response.This phenomenon, known variously as “muscle interference” or “exercise antagonism,” is a frequent topic on fitness-related chat boards. But to date, most of the discussions have been based on anecdotal evidence or simple conjecture. There has been little science supporting or challenging the existence of interference.

So, independently, groups of researchers at McMaster University in Ontario and the Karolinska Institute and other institutions in Sweden recently recruited volunteers to test the idea that you get more physiological benefit from performing only one type of exercise on any given day..."

Read more about the study here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/mixing-weight-training-and-aerobics/?ref=nutrition