USA Takes the Gold in the Olympics!

All of the athletes have put in their hard work, physically and mentally waiting for this day to come.

Lets go get the gold USA, you've earned it!


Watching their extreme dedication to doing what they love, makes me want to strive even harder towards my goals.




One more day. One more set. One more rep. 

This is a Great Learning Tool

If you are looking for a fun, easy, and entertaining way to learn about the different muscle groups, I really recommend this site:

http://www.kongregate.com/games/anatomyarcade/poke-a-muscle

Check it out when you have a minute!

Try this ball crunch

This is a very effective exercise for both men and women to do, in the comfort of home, or at the gym.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Lay down flat on your mat with your arms extended above your head, and put your workout ball between your ankles.

Step 2: With the ball between your ankles, crunch your body up with both your arms, and ankles meeting in the middle. At this point, you will be taking the ball from your ankles into your hands, and laying back down to your starting position.

Step 3: Repeat this motion from hands to ankles, ankles to hands with 3 sets. Start with a number that you feel comfortable with, and add more to each set later. Believe me these will burn tomorrow!

Enjoy!

GREAT advice from www.everydayhealth.com

Do You Need a Fitness Intervention?

Does it seem like your will to get up and exercise has gone out the window? If you answered yes, don't abandon your fitness efforts! Try something new: A trainer may be able to help you refocus, or it may be time to switch up the intensity and challenge your strength and endurance.
Find ways to shake up your fitness routine.


www.everydayfitness.com

Make Any Recipe Healthier

More than half of the battle with getting into shape is diet. I understand it is hard to give up our favorite recipe's, but what we can do is make them a healthier version. Here are 5 easy changes that you can do to lower your fat intake and calories:

• Use egg whites instead of whole eggs
• Use wheat pasta instead of white pasta
• Use non-fat milk instead of whole milk
• Use 1/2 cup of cheese when it calls for a full cup (it will still be tasty!)
• Use ground turkey meat instead of ground beef

I promise you that your recipes will still be tasty, and you wont feel guilty easting them!

Word(s) of the day - Eccentric, Isometric, Concentric

OK, since I did not post a word of the day yesterday, I will be doing three words today to make up for it. The three words today are eccentric, isometric, and concentric.

Eccentric - When a muscle contraction is exerting less force than is being placed on it.


When this happens it results in the lengthening of the muscle. Do not think of lengthening as in being stretched. In this case, lengthening is referring to the muscle's return to resting length. Eccentric is also known as "a negative". This meaning that the work is actually being done to the muscle rather than by the muscle.

Isometric - When a muscle is exerting force equal to that placed on it.


When this happens, no lengthening of the muscle takes place. Isometric actions are used to stabilize the body. An example of this would be during a dumbbell bench press. The rotator cuff musculature stabilizes the shoulder joint.

Concentric - When a muscle is exerting more force than is being placed on it.


When this happens it results in the shortening of the muscle.

It is easy to think that muscles predominantly work concentrically, but this is wrong. By thinking this way, you are really limiting yourself  and your workouts. You have to view muscles functioning in all planes of motion. By doing this, you will be able to design a program for yourself that trains, reconditions, and rehabilitates.

Word(s) of the day - Training Volume

Todays word of the day is actually two words and I believe everyone should think about this when developing an exercise program for themselves. The word(s) of the day today is Training Volume.


Training Volume - The amount of physical training performed within a specific period.


Understanding training volume is so important that I cannot stress it enough. By understanding training volume, one can prevent overtraining. Many people, including myself, have had many workouts where he or she has overtrained a muscle. It is easy to get excited in the gym and overtrain (especially for guys). This is what I like to call " the pump disease". Most guys love when their muscles start to warm up and fill with blood because it gives them a pump. They look at themselves in the mirror at the gym and feel like Hercules. This gets them excited. Instead of thinking about the fact that their muscles are tired, they keep going to pump up even more. Now ladies, this doesn't mean that you don't have a tendency to overtrain as well. Only instead of looking for that pump, maybe your spending two hours on the elliptical to get that butt in shape. Training volume varies for each individual and is based on seven different factors. These include:

*Training Phase (power, strength, or stabalization)
*Goals
*Age
*Work capacity
*Recoverability
*Nutritional Status
*Injury history

Training volume is adversely relating to intensity. One cannot safely do high volumes of high intensity workouts for a long period of time. In other words, when working with weight loads that exceed 90% of your maximum, you rarely will exceed a workout volume of 20 reps (four sets of three to five reps). On the other hand when working with weight loads that are 60% of your maximum, you can easily do a workout volume of thirty six to sixty reps (three sets of 12 to 20 reps). These numbers may vary depending on how often you exercise. What phase of training you are in (power, strength, or stabalization), and your goals dictate the reps, sets, intensity, rest and tempo. All of these things dictate the volume.

So before going to the gym, think about what it is that your trying to achieve and don't overdue it. Listen to your muscles. If you don't, they will fight back and they always win.