Circuit Training: The Fastest Way To Fitness!
February 23, 2010 by Rachel
Filed under Fitness for Beginners
If you’re committed to getting in shape and improving your overall health and fitness, the efficiency of circuit training offers a complete solution! Circuits improve overall body strength, including the strength and resiliency of tendons and ligaments, and the integrity of your joints.
A well designed circuit training program will build strength, increase stamina, tone muscles, improve body awareness, burn fat, and improve your aerobic and muscular endurance all at the same time!
Circuit training is my absolute favorite method of fitness training! Circuits can be successfully developed for those desiring to lose weight, conditioning for better athletic performance, and for injury rehabilitation. The fast pace and constantly changing workouts provide a different type of stimulus to the body and keep my clients from getting bored with their workouts.
A professionally designed circuit training routine can be totally personalized to give you exactly what you want. Whether you are a beginner to fitness, recovering from an injury and returning to the gym, or an elite athlete seeking improvement in your particular sport, circuits can be designed to emphasize strength, endurance, speed, weight loss, agility, balance, or any other aspect of your fitness that is important to you.
Traditionally, the circuit training format utilizes a group of 6-10 exercise “stations,” where you complete one exercise right after the other at heart thumping intensity! Each exercise is performed for a specific number of repetitions or for a prescribed time period before moving on to the next exercise.
The exercises within each circuit are separated by a brief rest interval (10-30 seconds), with each circuit followed by a timed rest period of 60 seconds or more. The total number of circuits performed per exercise session will vary depending upon your fitness objectives and training level (beginner, intermediate or advanced).
My Suggested Guidelines When Circuit Training
* A warm up should be at low to moderate intensity for 8-10 minutes. Follow with stretching of all major muscle groups
* Perform circuit workouts 2-3x per week, leaving at least 48 hours between each session.
* Select 6-8 sessions for each workout.
* Arrange your exercises (or stations) so that they alternate between muscle groups (i.e., triceps dips followed by squats), and work each muscle group during the sessions.
* Perform 10-12 repetitions of each exercise, using a weight that is challenging yet allows you to perform each repetition with perfect form.
* Leave time for an adequate cool down of 8-10 minutes at the end of your workout.
* Honestly consider your level of fitness! If you’ve never done any sort of circuit work before (even if you think you are fit and in shape), be conservative. Sore muscles, aching joints and the increased likelihood of injury will be the result if you push yourself harder than your body is ready for.
Cardio Circuit Fat Burning Routine
This is a great circuit training routine that has fat-burning cardio intervals between exercises. You need minimum equipment: a pair of medium-weight dumb bells, a medicine ball, a jump rope and one of those 65 cm Physio balls. You may need to adjust the number of repetitions in accordance with your current fitness level. Watch your heart rate! Rest as you need to with the goal of completing the circuit with little to no rest between exercises.
Cycle through twice, advancing to 3 circuits as tolerated. Do this routine 3x per week for 3-4 weeks, then change to a different routine.
And as usual, please consult your physician before undertaking this or any other exercise program.
Here we go!
* Rope jumps – 50 reps
* Medicine Ball Wood chops – 20 each direction
* Dumbbell shoulder carry squat and press – 20 reps
* Hamstring Bridge / Rolls with physioball – 20 reps
* Physioball pushups – as many reps as possible
* Rope jumps – 50 reps
* Dumb bell alternating bent over rows – 20 reps each side
* Medicine ball stationary lunges – 15 reps each leg
* Medicine ball double crunch – 20 reps
* Medicine ball mountain climbers – 20 reps
* Medicine ball prone jumping jacks – 20 reps
* Bench triceps dips – as many reps as possible
Try adding circuit training to your current workout routine, or in place of 1-2 days of plain old cardio.
You’ll love what you see in the mirror!
How To Do Yoga For Beginners
February 22, 2010 by Rachel
Filed under Fitness for Beginners
several diverse forms of yoga available if you want to learn how to do yoga, but the most common form participated by most people is called hatha yoga.
Hatha Yoga
Firstly, this type of yoga concentrates on the practice of postures and the control of breathing to invigorate the subtle channels. Focusing on the third and fourth steps of the eight-fold path of Ashtanga Yoga, this type of yoga concentrates on the practice of postures and the control of breathing to invigorate the subtle channels.
If you believe that hatha yoga most suitable for you and want learn how to do yoga, it is probably a good idea to do a course or class offers hatha yoga. You can visit your local health club, search through your local phone book or local newspaper or use google to find how to do yoga classes nearby to where you live or work.
Additionally, not much in the way of equipment is needed when learning how to do yoga. More often than not yoga mats are provided for free in the classes that offer yoga or you can purchase a yoga map for very little cost.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram yoga is practised in a very hot room and is another form of yoga.
If you want to learn how to do yoga of this type then be warned that it is not for everyone. People who don’t like to perspire or find it too uncomfortable in hot humid environments generally are not keen to learn how to do yoga of this.
Bikram yoga involves a sequence of 26 standing and twisting yoga poses and includes a breathing technique called the Kapalabhati breath. The advantage of Bikram yoga being performed in a extremely hot heated room is that it helps the body to stretch more than it would under normal conditions.
Power Yoga
There also some forms of power yoga which increase the physical resilience of the participants. There is a good reason that it is called power yoga because you will be totally worn out by the end of the class. Power yoga should be undertaken with care as there is always the possibility that you could get an muscular injury don’t do it properly.
Learning how to do yoga is beneficial because it is a good form physical fitness for anyone, regardless of how old they are or what shape their body is in or whatever their fitness condition may be. In addition it is also very good in teaching relaxation techniques and soothing stress.Choosing Yoga Clothes for Beginners Yoga
February 14, 2010 by Rachel
Filed under Fitness for Beginners
We all want to become healthier, happier, fitter, and more spiritual people. This is, after all,the 21st century, and I think I can safely say that the practitioners of yoga are on the forefront of leading the new spiritual revolution. However, do you really want to be spiritual at the expense of being cute? It’s all right to try to be Buddha, but do we really want to look like him? Do you really want to learn beginners yoga without having the chance to wear cute yoga clothes?
For me, you cannot be spiritual without being fashionable at the same time. I know for many people this will sound like a contradiction, but to me it is not a contradiction at all. After all, the level of spiritual knowledge that you possess will show through in your interactions with other people. If you do not wear clothing that flatters you and makes you seem accessible and appealing, you will not be able to share your spiritual experiences as readily. And anyway, what is a better place for cruising for the young, attractive, and sensitive man or woman than beginners yoga classes?
When I wear my yoga outfit, I am making sure that my inner state of bliss finds its counterpart in the experience of anyone who is looking at me. In other words, my yoga clothes make me look hot. One of the best ways to find good yoga clothes is in a specialty store. Their staff will be more than willing to help you with choosing yoga clothes for beginners yoga. Really, almost anything used for sports can be yoga clothes.
There are certain styles that are popular, and it makes sense to stay as close to those styles as possible, but there’s still room to experiment. Any store that sells exercise clothing will be an invaluable source. For example,initially for beginners yoga you can use warm-up pants as yoga pants. That high tech, synthetic shirt that you use for camping? It might just make the perfect yoga shirt. As long as you have a keen eye for fashion and a practical sense of what is required for yoga, you will have no trouble at all making interesting and innovative outfits. Of course, when selecting yoga clothes, you should keep in mind that there is no need to sacrifice comfort for fashion. On the contrary, if you wear clothes that appear to be uncomfortable, they will also be unfashionable.
Yoga clothes have to be comfortable. They need to be stretchy so that they move with your body as you go through the different moves. Look for pants that fit loosely, not tightly. This is not a nightclub or a fashion show. Keep the shape of your thighs to yourself and buy a decent pair of pants. Beginners yoga is really just the start of your new healthy life.
By: Ann Marier -








