Exercise Without Equipment

Whatever sport you do, warming-up exercises are important. The warm-up should start slowly and systematically gradually involving all muscles and body parts that would prepare the athlete for training and competition. Let’s check what physiological benefits warming up can bring.

Any active and physically demanding game needs warming-up sessions. The importance of a warm-up prior to exercise can not be overemphasized. A warm-up raises the body temperature and prepares the muscles, nervous system, tendons, ligaments and the cardiovascular system for upcoming stretches and exercises. Remember, the chances of injury are greatly reduced by increasing muscle elasticity.

Warm-ups help:

* Raises body temperature
* Increases metabolic rate
* Increases heart and respiratory rate
* Prepares the muscles and nervous system for exercise

The warm-up is tailored for the activity to follow. Warm-ups consist of active motion leading up to more vigorous motion to elevate heart, respiratory and metabolic rates. The total warm-up period takes at least 25 minutes and immediately precedes the training or competition.

Stretching

A warm-up period will include the stretching. Stretching is a very safe and effective. It is extremely beneficial for overall flexibility. During this part of the warm up, stretching should include all the major muscle groups, and this entire part should last for about five to ten minutes. Stretching is one of the most under-utilized techniques for improving athletic performance, preventing sports injury and properly rehabilitating sprain and strain injury. Don’t think lightly of stretching as being not that effective exercise just because of its simplicity.

Filed under: Exercise General

No other exercise matches with good old push-ups that would build strong upper body. It’s not easy, but if you believe “No pain, no gain” slogan, this is the way to do. Push-ups will strengthen your arms, chests, and shoulders at a time. Your back and bottom should be kept straight as you engage in push-ups.

Beginners should start by executing the push-up on their knees and progress to the full push-up (on your toes). Breathe in as you go down, and breathe out as you push up. When you begin to fatigue, you will tend to push your bottom in the air. If this happens, try the push-ups on your knees. Also, the narrower your hands are placed, the more involved your triceps will be, and you can adjust in the way you like to more focus on triceps.

Proper push-up form

It is better not to place your hands flat on the floor. Instead, use a cushion or pillow to support your fists. As you position your fists, fingers and thumbs should face to your body, slightly wider than shoulder width apart. With your shoulders directly over your hands, straighten your arms. Move your feet back, placing your toes on the floor for full push-ups. (Your knees should be off the floor and your legs be straight.) At this point, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Try to keep your body straight throughout the exercise. Keep your head and neck in line with your body so that your are looking down toward the floor. This is the starting position.

Lower your body down toward the floor, bending your elbows until your body is nearly touching the floor. Then push your body up away from the floor, straightening your arms until you have returned to the starting position.

Filed under: Conditioning Without Equipment

Endurance exercise is more important than simply building muscles. If your exercise program lacks some cardiovascular exercise, you will never be “fit”.

The simplest and easiest way to gain more stamina without using any equipment is jogging. Treadmills are just too expensive. Jogging can be fun, too. Enjoy the fresh air out there in the morning instead of sweating in a closed room. It is much better workout psychologically too. You can look at scenery, people or just beautiful mother nature.

Make sure to have a bottle of water and towel. You can invite a friend to jog with you. That would be even better. Motivate each other to get the good morning jogging going everyday.

Picking a good pair of shoes is also something you shouldn’t think lightly. You don’t want to injure yourself or have sore feet. You should pick ones that are slightly bigger than your feet. Make sure that shoes have good cushion so that you can protect your knees. It is good idea to use knee supporters if you want to protect your knees better. The weight of shoes should be light. Don’t use heavy shoes for jogging when you start it.

It is highly recommended to jog in the morning even though some people prefer some other time. Getting up early in the morning is a good habit for anyone to have. If you continue to do it in the morning, you will notice that you have more energy in the rest of the day. A great way to start a day, really.

Beginners:

Try to jog for a mile. Don’t jog more than that. It’s important to get used to the routine first. Let your body, especially legs, get used to jogging. It can take time depending on your health condition and age. Remember, don’t push yourself too much as you begin jogging. It is ok to walk when you get tired. In fact, it is ok to walk for a mile for the first two or three days. Then jog for a half mile if you can. Jog longer gradually as your body and legs get used to the stress. Ideally, you should be able to jog for a mile without resting in a week.

Once you are able to jog for a mile, try two miles. You don’t actually need to jog for more than 5 miles unless you really want to get a lot of stamina for a sport competition. 3 miles is enough for maintaining your stamina and health. The key is to do it everyday, at least 5 times a week.

Filed under: Exercise General

It seems that many people think that working out at home is expensive. Buying all sorts of equipments itself is very intimidating. Not only that, exercise room at your home should be a good environment if you must have those equipments. That’s why many people go and join health clubs, but they don’t realize that they don’t have to pay a lot to buy all kinds of machines.

Unless your goal is becoming a body builder, you probably don’t have to join a fitness club. You can do it at your home. All you need to know is good planning and exercise programs. Yes, you will need some tools, but they are not expensive machines. Even if you have money, don’t fall into the trap of purchasing random fitness equipments because of their attractive advertisings on TV. Those equipments would end up being just dust collectors in your garage. This could happen because you don’t have enough room for them as you quit using them. If you must buy, buy only one or two and stick to a good exercise program using the equipments you have. Don’t keep buying new machines!

To avoid having a basement filled with expensive dust-collecting equipment, keep these points in mind when deciding to purchase:

• Your fitness goals - do you need an equipment for your fitness goal?
• Cost of the equipment - can you afford?
• Long term plan of usage - can you continue to use the equipment to exercise?
• Variations that the equipment provides - will the equipment meet your needs as you get more fit?

For as little as $100, you can have a very effective total fitness equipment. Even for as little as $50, it is possible that you can create an effective workout that will tone your entire body. And of course, you can do exercise without any equipment at all. But let’s talk about some good exercise equipments that are very useful for you workout.

A total body workout program (cardio, strength and flexibility) is the ideal, but equipments of these are rather expensive. You must have a budget of at least $1000, consider the following recommendations:

• Treadmill – The best for cardiovascular exercise. You can use it for running, walking, and even some leg strength training.
• Full dumbbell set with weights ranging from 5 pounds to 50+ pounds. – Less expensive than machines and usually provides more flexibility and variety in workouts.
• Fitness Ball – For toning, strengthening and stretching.
• Resistance Band – For strength training. Free weights for a great challenge that will help prevent plateaus.
• Step Bench – For both cardio workouts and strength training workouts.

These equipments are very affordable. And for a total-workout plan, we recommend that you should have these above.

If you want equipments for building muscles mainly, and can afford at least $100, consider the following recommendations:

• Dumbbell set
• Fitness Ball
• Resistance Band
• Jump Rope – Offers very challenging cardiovascular fitness workouts at a very low price.

Now, let’s see what exercise you can do at home without using any equipment.

• Stairs - Great for cardio. Go up and down on stairs. It could be better than treadmill!
• Chairs - Many ways to use a chair. For sit-ups or use it as a bench.
• Bottles - Create your own weights filled with water.
• Push-ups can build many muscles at a time. One of the best muscle building exercise.

What are the benefits of working out at home? See below:

• No driving to and from a fitness club
• Workout on your schedule
• No expensive monthly membership fees

Filed under: Exercise At Home