Maintaining a regular workout routine paves the way to achieving overall health, getting and staying in shape, and having a slim body. However, this routine requires devotion, persistence, and discipline. It is important that, in the first place, you have the motivation to take your workout routine to the next level and to be willing to progress. There are always newer ways to improve your workout routine and to get more satisfactory results. It is necessary to create a plan in order to implement these ways and soon you will enjoy a healthy and fit version of yourself. Guide yourself with our 6 tips to help you improve your routine and make your plan work.

Love What You Do 

You are probably acquainted with the slogan: “Do what you love, love what you do.” Believe it or not, this stands for a workout as well. In fact, one of the major reasons your previous workout routines have failed might be the fact you took workouts only as a burden or an obligation. In order to improve this healthy habit, make sure that you enjoy it the way you want to carry it out. Do some research on what type of workout suits you the best, what part of exercises you enjoy the least, and what the most, what surrounding and what company do you prefer during your workout hours and this will make it more enjoyable. Therefore, you will improve your workout habit and approach exercises as something fun and exciting to fill your day.

Take Small Steps

If you have paused for a long time with exercise, it will be rather impossible to jump into an overwhelming workout routine at once. Instead, set out a few small goals before accomplishing bigger goals. Focus on daily consistency, stick to realistic and time-bound visions. There is no benefit in overtraining, even though it might seem like a good means to improve your workout routine. Not only does it not help, but it can also cause some other unwanted problems. It can completely ruin your routine until you abandon it.

For that reason, motivate yourself by taking small steps and by not giving up on these small steps. Small, but persistent steps lead to results that never leave you disappointed. Whether you exercise at home or at the gym, start with warm-ups and as you progress, you will want to see and try out other exercises and level up your training. Make your workout habit an integral part of your day, as important as eating and sleeping. Schedule your workout and then follow your plan. Start with small, do not get exhausted and big steps will come to you naturally.

Measure Your Intensity

How hard do you exercise? What is the heaviest you can lift up? To follow your weight program as well as your level of advancement, it is a good idea to measure the intensity of your exercise. Measuring repetition maximum is helpful in improving your workout, but again, you have to take it with few precautions. Before you establish your RM and track it, prepare yourself to avoid injuries of muscles and joints.  You can calculate your 1RM at this pull up calculator and test your strength. You can also find out some more information on the downsides it carries along. You need to warm up your muscles in order to prepare them for their maximum without getting any injury. Increase the weight slightly and add episodes of rest between exercises.

Appreciate Your Workout Gear

You might not be able to go to the gym whenever you want, but that is not the reason to skip your daily exercise routine. In fact, there is so much workout gear around you may not notice. Stairs, bicycles, your carpet or bed – all these can be used as your gear, it is up to you to find appropriate exercise for them. Besides, invest in comfortable and enjoyable workout clothes. Do not hesitate on spending a bit more money on gear and clothes, since it is a long-lasting and promising investment.

You become even more responsible if you possess real training equipment at your home. This is a reason more to be conscious of their value and their power to improve your workout routine if you commit yourself as you should.

Have Your Rest Times

Your body gets tired so make sure you don’t put too much burden on it. Once you’re settled and improved your workout routine, insert resting times. Not all exercises are suitable for everyone, and you should be aware of numerous myths regarding exercising. Consider giving yourself a day off, or implementing some resting exercises like stretching, swimming, or yoga. Your body will be thankful to you and you will be able to come back stronger and thus improve your routine.

Reward Yourself 

Ask yourself: why is this routine so important to me? Remind yourself of its benefits. This will motivate you to continue and to sustain the improvement. Together with this, reward yourself from time to time for meeting your small steps and goals. Pick rewards that can be equally beneficial and healthy for you.

Move your workout status from good to great and make this routine a real enjoyment for yourself. Use your daily opportunities for a workout routine in the best way. Be smart in using your time, mindful in exercising your body, and let your motivation live until you move on from small to the greatest steps.

This article was originally published by artofhealthyliving.com. Read the original article here.

Today I have an awesome posterior chain pyramid workout that will get your muscles fired up and your heart pounding in just 20 minutes!

You may be wondering what exactly is your “Posterior Chain” and why is it important to train?

“Posterior” is an anatomical term that refers to the backside of the body, so your “posterior chain” is simply the chain of muscles along the back of your body.

So many movements in our daily life use the muscles on the front side of the body because so much of our activity is forward facing (makes sense, our eyes aren’t in the back of our heads). Our front body muscles can get a little overworked without us even realizing, causing symptoms like rounded shoulders, neck pain and lower back pain.

BTW –  you’re looking for more ways to incorporate balanced training for your workouts and everyday movement, check out the Free 14-day Foundations of Functional Fitness Workshop right here!

Posterior chain workouts are great to consistently add to your workout rotation so you can have strong, upright posture, create a solid base for functional movement and enjoy all the benefits of a balanced physique – not to mention sculpt strong legs, a lifted butt and strong back.

So let’s get right to it!

Did you enjoy that workout? Now let’s get you a plan! Check out the 30-Day Abs and Booty Challenge for a home workout program that will strengthen your posterior chain and sculpt and define your abs, legs and glutes. Plus this program works your entire body using minimal equipment and will get you on track to feeling and looking your best!

Amazing job Rockstar! I am so proud of you for showing up today! Check in with me and let me know how you liked the workout and anything else you want to share – I love hearing from you.

The perfect follow up to this workout is the 30-Day Booty and Abs Challenge!

This program targets and strengthens your abs and glutes from multiple angles so you not only get a beautiful sculpted shape, but improve your body’s function as well.

Define your abs and sculpt your booty and legs with this time-saving 30-day workout plan that can be done at home or in the gym!

You can check out the entire program right here!

The post Posterior Chain Pyramid Workout appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

This article was originally published by thebettyrocker.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.

Build strength and balance with this amazing low-impact barre sculpting workout!

I get a lot of requests for this type of training in Rock Your Life, because barre workouts are so fun. But did you know that they also help strengthen the stabilizing muscles that give you power, balance, and alignment?

Not only does today’s workout develop and strengthen your glutes and legs, it’s also important for your day to day functional movements such as standing, walking and maintaining good posture. 

Check out the Free 14-day Foundations of Functional Fitness Workshop right here!

When it comes to posture and alignment, many movements in our day to day life use the muscles on the front side of the body (makes sense, we see in front of ourselves!) so it’s important to actively balance out your body by working your “posterior chain” as well.

Your posterior chain is simply the chain of muscles along the back side of your body and Barre workouts like this help to isolate, activate and strengthen them. Since virtually every workout you do calls on your posterior chain, it makes good sense to focus on training those muscles. 

Follow along with me for form cues and modifications and remember low-impact doesn’t mean low intensity or that this will be “easy” – you’re going to feel this!

This workout will be sure to give you an awesome burn, so let’s get right to it! 

Did you enjoy this workout? Then you will LOVE the Raise The Barre Challenge inside of Rock Your Life! The Raise The Barre challenge is a low-impact, high energy challenge that incorporates my favorite barre-style workouts with yoga flows. If you are looking for increased flexibility, booty building, core work and intensity without the impact, you will love this one!

How was that for you? Check in below and let me know! Share this with a friend, and keep me posted on your progress!

One-off workouts are great, but having a PLAN to follow is even better!

Join my online home workout studio and women’s fitness community, Rock Your Life, and get access to 30-day Challenges, a powerful support network unlike any other, new workout classes added every week you can do from the comfort of your own home – and share the journey while we help you reach your goals!

Click Here to get a 30-day Trial to Rock Your Life!

The post Low-Impact Barre Sculpt Home Workout appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

This article was originally published by thebettyrocker.com. Read the original article here.

Let’s strengthen our entire body in 20 minutes! Today I’ve got a fun, fast and efficient pyramid workout for you.

This is one of the training styles I always get requests for in Rock Your Life (my online home workout studio that you can totally join anytime) – so I know you’re going to love it!

Pyramids are a special kind of timing sequence where we focus on one move at a time, and repeat it at timed intervals that go up and then down in length.

They are a great way to build endurance and master the form for each move. I also threw in an optional power move during the rest periods so you can get even more out of this fast, effective workout!

Grab some weighted objects like dumbbells or water bottles for extra resistance, and let’s get strong together!

Love having workouts you can do ANYWHERE, ANYTIME – and a well-designed plan to follow so you get the BEST RESULTS?  Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!

Full Body Strength Pyramids

Click to expand and see all workout move descriptions

Equipment: Weighted Objects (water bottles, dumbbells, household objects).
Format: Round 1: 15 seconds | Round 2: 30 seconds | Round 3: 45 seconds | Round 4: 30 seconds | Round 5: 15 seconds. Resting 15 seconds between each movement.

Pyramid 1

Sumo Squat to High Pull Row

• Begin standing with your feet wider than hip distance. Allow your feet to turn out naturally.
• Hold your weighted objects in your hands, arms hanging straight down in front of you with your shoulders back and down to counter balance the weights pulling you forward.
• Send your hips back behind you, pulling your belly button in and up to engage your core, keeping your chest up tall (don’t bend forward), weight back in your heels and knees tracking in line with your toes.
• Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes as you power back to standing, drawing your weighted objects up and back evenly for a high pull row. Notice the muscles working between your shoulder blades.
• MOD: Use no weighted objects as you begin.

Bonus Move: Lateral Leg Lifts

• Begin standing, holding onto the back of a chair or tall object for support and engage your core.
• Brace yourself on your right foot and raise your left leg laterally, initiating this movement through your glute. (Be sure to keep your hips square and your core engaged rather than opening your hips or arching your back.)
• Optional: Hold a weight in your hand and rest it on your outer thigh, or use a mini band to increase the resistance.

Pyramid 2

2-Way Bicep Curl

• Holding your weighted objects in hand, turn your palms out to face in front of you and pull your shoulder blades back and down with your core engaged.
• Keeping the upper arms stationary, perform a bicep curl with both arms by curling the weights up to your shoulder while contracting your bicep (ending palms facing you).
• Reverse the movement to return to the starting position, externally rotate your arms, keeping your elbows by your sides to perform a wide bicep curl.
• Return to center and repeat a regular and wide curl back to back.

Bonus Move: Weighted Calf Raises

• Begin standing with feet hip distance apart, holding a weighted object in each hand.
• Lift up onto your toes and then slowly come back down (be sure you’re not rocking back and forth).
• MOD: Perform these with no weight.

Pyramid 3

Skater Lunges

• Begin in a standing position with your core engaged and chest upright.
• Perform a curtsy lunge by stepping your right foot back behind you and over to the left as your left knee bends behind you and reach your right hand down to touch the ground.
• As you stand up, power through your front heel and hop or step laterally (sideways) to switch legs.
• Alternate back and forth for the prescribed time.
• MOD: Take the hop out or do alternating reverse lunges.
• Optional: Hold a weighted object in each hand for added resistance.

Bonus Move: Standing Triceps Kickbacks

• Stand with your core engaged, chest up and weights in hand.
• Hinge forward at the hips into a chair pose, pull your shoulder blades down and back so they’re not rounding forward, allow your dumbbells to hang beneath your chest and keep your gaze neutral.
• Pull the weights to your sides, keeping your elbows close to the body and squeezing your back muscles like you’re pinching the base of your shoulder blades together.
• While in this row position perform a tricep kickback by kicking your arms straight back and contracting your triceps.
• Return to your row position with control, and repeat.

Pyramid 4

Bent Over Box Row

• Stand with your core engaged, chest up and weights in hand.
• Hinge forward at the hips into a chair pose, pull your shoulder blades down and back so they’re not rounding forward, allow your dumbbells to hang beneath your chest and keep your gaze neutral.
• Pull the weights to your sides, keeping your elbows close to the body and squeezing your back muscles like you’re pinching the base of your shoulder blades together.
• While in this row position, externally rotate to end in a wide row position with your palms facing behind you.
• Slowly lower your weights back down to hang below your chest.
• Pull the weights back up to your wide row position and while in the row position, pull the weights back to your sides, keeping your elbows close to the body and squeezing your back muscles.
• Bring your weights back down to your hanging position and repeat the sequence of narrow row to wide row, wide row to narrow row.

Bonus Move: Plie Calf Raises

• Begin standing with feet hip distance apart and toes pointed out, holding a weighted object in each hand.
• Lift up onto your toes and then slowly come back down (be sure you’re not rocking back and forth).
• MOD: Perform these with no weight.

FINISHER

Heismans (90 Seconds)

• Begin standing with your core engaged and drive your right knee out to your side as you bring your right elbow to meet it, performing a side crunch.
• Return to standing and repeat on the other side.
• Try to keep the knees driving up high at a fast pace, alternating back and forth.
• MOD: Take the run out of it to lower the impact and alternate driving your knees to your elbows focusing on the crunch portion of this move.

Awesome work! Looking forward to hearing how you liked that workout – be sure to comment below with any questions and to check in.

I’d love to see YOU inside Rock Your Life…

…so I can support you in ROCKING your body AND your life! Get stronger and healthier with a community of rockstars to support you, home workout challenges for a fit body, and fresh new workout classes each week to keep you motivated!

Take it for a Test Drive with a 30-Day Trial!

Having a plan to look forward to and people to cheer you on is a huge component in seeing lasting results, and rocking not only your fittest physique, but your inner sense of strength, confidence, and capability.

Members who complete more than one challenge and turn this into their lifestyle experience the greatest success. Check out the amazing progress of Rock Your Life member Denise, completing two challenges in Rock Your Life…

What could you do in 30 days? How about in the next 6 months? What about in the next year if you finally had the support, the programs and all of the resources you need to reach your goals?

Join us in Rock Your Life and find out! Click here for your 30 day Trial pass!

The post Full Body Strength Pyramid Workout appeared first on The Betty Rocker.

This article was originally published by thebettyrocker.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.

As we tackle our new exercise routines, whether we’re building muscle or aiming to improve our stamina and endurance, we can increase the effectiveness of these workouts with certain supplements. Not only are these beneficial for every workout regime, but they can also help to smash you through that plateau you may have reached in which you’re seeing no more changes to your body. A plateau like this happens once your body has reached a sort of equilibrium with your caloric intake and exercise intensity. Stepping up your workouts is only beneficial if you can match it with an increase to your nutrient intake, especially with essential things like protein. Here are 8 supplements that have been proven to help with exercising and gaining muscle mass.

Creatine

This wonderful little supplement is actually naturally occurring in our bodies and helps to provide our bodies with useful energy during exercise. Its role is actually twofold as it also helps in the repair and growth of muscles that have been put under stress, such as from a heavy workout. Many people swear by creatine to help them in pumping out a couple more reps than normal, edging their performance over the line.

Cod Liver Oil

Joint care is incredibly important when it comes to exercising, and not only is it going to be incredibly painful to sustain an injury to a weak joint, but you’ll also find yourself out of action for a significant amount of time. Cod liver oil supplements helps with a myriad of things in our bodies, as its packed with essential vitamins and minerals that the body can make good use of. Not only will it strengthen joints, but it will also improve bone strength as well as improve your immune system and reduce inflammation.

Amino Acids

These are some of the most vital chemicals when it comes to muscle growth and there are many different types which serve varying purposes. They predominantly play a large role in growing and repairing our body tissue such as organs and muscles as well as things like our skin and hair. Our bodies won’t be able to survive without these, and that’s why they’re found in just about all of our foods. However, there are some huge benefits to increasing the amount of amino acids in our systems, and while it can be hard to figure out whether to choose between leucine vs isoleucine or glutamine vs tyrosine, there are plenty of resources online to help you choose the ideal ones for you, such as this Ingredient Optimized article. As with all supplements, do your research and consider discussing your plans with your doctor before taking them.

Glutamine

Speaking of amino acids, and glutamine in particular, this handy supplement is perfect for maintaining your muscle mass. Getting enough of this into your body via fish, red meat, and nuts is not always feasible, and getting a boost to your glutamine levels may be necessary if you’re concerned with loosing performance during particularly intense and heavy workouts. It’s important to note the added fats that foods like nuts and red meat can put into your body and replacing some of these with a supplement can both maintain those levels and help you to avoid gaining too much body fat.

Protein Powder

While protein is basically made up of amino acids to help your muscles repair and grow, there are some benefits to taking protein in the form of whey powder, and this will ultimately help when you’re looking to gain mass in general. All bodybuilders will understand that it’s important to at least reach your recommended daily calorie intake to maintain muscle mass, and to surpass that level to grow. Or caloric intake is based on our metabolism, which is how quickly and efficiently our body converts food into useful components for energy and growth. If you’re not reaching these recommended levels, you may find that your body will begin to conserve energy in the form of fat, and you may even experience muscle loss. A good quality, weight-gaining protein powder is a great choice for hitting those calorie limits and giving you that added boost if you’re struggling to eat much more.

Vitamins & Minerals

Getting the right number of essential vitamins and minerals into our bodies is so important, and this is why a balanced diet full of healthy vegetables, fruits, and protein-rich foods is key to a healthy lifestyle. Vitamins and minerals are often known as micronutrients, in that they are in such small quantities, but fill some very important roles. These nutrients do jobs such as helping to create oxygen-carrying proteins, strengthening our bones, and regulating our immune systems, to keep us going strong. They also help in breaking down certain foods to help with the distribution of other useful chemicals throughout the body. For example, vitamin B helps to release energy from carbohydrate-rich foods keeping us alert and active.

This article was originally published by artofhealthyliving.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.