1. Gyms are too far from home. After working ten or twelve hour shifts, I have enough energy for a workout, but that starts changing when I get into my car and drive across town to the gym. The drive makes it easy for me to talk myself out of going to the gym at all.
2. I don’t really need most of the equipment. I don’t need a lot of special equipment for my workout- a good elliptical, a few free weights, and some room to stretch and do floor exercises is all it takes. There are so many intimidating, complicated machines that seem like too much work to figure out, so I stick do the simple stuff anyway.
3. Gyms are boring. I get distracted easily, and working out in the same gym on the same machines with the same view gets old fast. It’s hard to keep motivated when I’m going to gym that has nothing new to see or do.
4. The gym crowd. You know who I mean- the same group of people that comes in every day to work out a little and socialize a lot. I don’t go to the gym to pick up guys or make a new best friend, and I don’t really want to talk to anyone in the middle of my workout.
5. The ick factor. I’m not a clean freak or anything, but the things that go on in gyms are just plain gross. I get tired of messy locker rooms, dirty showers, and smelly equipment. After a long day at work, I’d rather enjoy some fresh air instead of smelling the heavy guy that worked out right before me.

These are just a few of the big reasons I dropped my gym. The high pressure membership sales, pushy personal trainers, and long contracts didn’t help either. But even after I left my gym, I still needed a way to stay in shape. I thought about my exercise routine and what I wanted to get out of it, and realized that I can do everything I need to at home. Here are the things I do now to stay in shape at home:

• Get outside as often as possible. It’s hard to be outside and not do something athletic. I walk my dogs, I jog and run, I even get on my bicycle now and then. I get all the cardio I need while enjoying fresh air and exploring everything from my neighborhood to local wilderness areas.
• Get a kettlebell. This simple piece of equipment has replaced weight training for me. I can work out in any room of my house that has a TV, and now that I know the routine from my DVDs, I can even go outside. The strength training is dynamic and great for the real world, and I don’t need a bunch of free weights or a bench to work out.
• Get a heavy bag. I hung a heavy bag (a punching bag, in other words) in my garage, and it is now my go-to workout for relieving stress and getting in a fast full-body workout. A fifteen minute session of punching and kicking the bag provides a muscle workout as well as a cardio workout and is also great for relieving aggression.

I’m in great shape, and I’ve found that by not confining my workout to the gym, I actually work out more often than I did before. I’ve even been known to put dinner in the oven and then head out to the garage for a quick session with the heavy bag. I can workout anytime I want to, and I don’t have to drive across town to do it. Your health is important, and working out is the best way to make sure you live a longer, healthier life, but working out shouldn’t be a pain.

I told a friend I was interested in selling it. She believed me! Haha, It was a priceless moment.

But then I noticed how many had seen it by now and it has clocked nearly 28 million views when I just looked. So I decided to investigate further

Here’s the ingredient list I managed to track down:

Sugar, Citric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caffeine Powder (190mg/package), Ascorbic Acid, Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate, Niacinamide, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Yellow #5,Pyridoxine HCl, Blue #1, Sodium Benzoate, Vitamin B-12.

I’ll just end with a little note to say that I will never have anything to do with a product that has an ingredient list anything like that chemical concoction. Whole, natural and as close to raw as possible is what I try to adhere to. About the most natural thing about that drink will be the water you add to it.

Still the video had to have been created as a joke, at least to start with right?

Some of you have been trying to go to the gym for years. Some have been and never entirely got on with it. Others have suffered injury, had a pregnancy, enjoyed too many liquid lunches, been a smidgen too lazy or generally feel so bad about your body that you’re not sure you want to ever show it it tight clothing in public again.

Or you are a generally a fit person, with your activities, healthy eating and sports, that staring at a wall of televisions or mirrors in a room of sweaty strangers doesn’t quite draw you in.

I was never a particularly sporty person. I was always chosen last on school team because everyone knew I hated participating. I made that part very obvious. To everyone!

But then I found something.

It wasn’t ethereal, a mentor, a lover, nor even some new fangled product shoved in the last few pages of a magazine. Remember those Charles Atlas advertisements? It was something far simpler and it resonated with me internally. And it was called ‘life’.

I loved the outdoors. I’d often walk for most of the day barely remembering to eat. Rain, hail or shine I loved them all. I loved meeting people. Awfully shy to begin with I found other people far more interesting than myself. I loved learning from them. More often than not it was learning from their mistakes. I loved searching for answers. I wanted to help people out. I was frustrated with their problems that often had left them scarred of stuck. It took some time before I realised that I had my own. Everybody did. And That FASCINATED me!

I’ve had some very tough times in my life. The toughest I am still recovering from right now. But the one thing that has resonated through my very soul via my enthusiasm for life and pursuit of a positive angle on EVERYTHING?

Four simple words: DO NOT GIVE UP.

Other people have been in the exact same position you’re in right this second. Your highest ecstatic peaks and your lowest, even suicidal, lows. There are still people in this world that care about others. And I mean REALLY CARE, not just stand there and nod like their head was being controlled by some string and a puppeteer.

But let’s get one thing straight: do you think honestly, whole heartedly, or even catch yourself thinking just when it’s full moon, that you care about yourself?

Sometimes it’s hard. Trust me, over these last 2 years I have had to pull myself from the depths of tears and sorrow and look at myself in the mirror. To really see myself crying and feeling sorry for myself. To open my eyes to the reality that I was creating right there and then. And that’s when I rediscovered that old thing called ‘life’ again.

As long as I was alive, things had the possibility of getting better. I had LIFE. Heck that had to amount for something, right? So every time I feel frustrated or at a loss with direction I silently (in my mind) say those four simple words to myself. Almost as if I’m telling my non-believing self off or something. And for that brief moment the inner me believes that outer me in the mirror. ‘Do not give up!’

..and I don’t.

For some people it can truly be a tough phase when you have to cut back on weights due to an injury. But that doesn’t have to mean that you can’t workout. After seeking advice from your health professional that it’s OK to get into bodyweight exercises, you might be amazed at just what levels of overall improvement you can achieve. Functional fitness that will strengthen your ability to protect yourself in the future. Heck even have you doing crazy moves that will have your friends astounded you can even do ONE!

When I injured myself the best device that I had in my arsenal to relieve some of the built up pressure was an inversion table. One of those devices that you strap your ankles in and you safely hang up side down on. Even a small angle at around 30 degrees will give you incredible relief. Eventually I realised that potentially a more structural problem was at hand and whipped myself off to the osteopath. After just one session this guy sorted me out. Finally I was free to get back into training without pain. But I wanted to do it safely and gradually.

And that’s when the bodyweight workouts or routines floored me.

Picture me in on holiday Australia experiencing unseasonal heat as far as my northern hemisphere body was concerned. Sweat dripping from every pore. Bodyweight leg exercises. Upper bodyweight exercises. At home ab workouts for men would never be complete without drawing in my whole core. That whole core of my existence. To banish that strength training back pain forever. Still, not a pretty sight.

My journey was helped with a suspension device called the USA. Stretching from Pavel Tastsouline at Dragondoor. P90X and a couple of sets of resistance bands. I soon found out those things can tear. But that’s another story.

These workouts were HARD. In that Australian heat I could barely finish the sessions at times. But it’s the turning up that counts. Listening to your body for those signals of pain. Rest well when you need to. There’s no prizes for injuring yourself again just because you wanted to push it harder Listening to your body when you see the great results that are possible if you just stick it out. Take close notice of your movements and be sure to be PRECISE with your form. Try to keep your body at full tension throughout the whole movement. You’ll have that next day muscle soreness in areas you never knew existed before. But in the words of one Tony Horton you do indeed have to “Bring It!”

Many people do not realize the importance of Vitamin D in human body. They take it as a sunshine vitamin as our body naturally absorbs it when we are exposed to the sun. However in today’s world we generally do not get that much of sun exposure due to spending most of our times in houses, workplaces, cars or shopping malls. Many people develop Vitamin D deficiency for the same reason. Studies have shown that there are some high vitamin D foods also that provide efficient amount of this vitamin. Keeping in mind the health problems that the deficiency of vitamin D can cause to the body you should take proper diet that enables vitamin D intake in sufficient amount.

The most common and widely known source of vitamin D in food is through animal products like milk and eggs. Egg yolk is considered to contain Vitamin D in moderate amount. If you take an egg daily then it will provide you 10% of Vitamin D in your diet. It can also be found in fish oil. Sardine fishes that are found in tins easily nowadays can provide you almost 70 % of Vitamin D daily. Fresh caught tuna in 3 ounces can be taken to supply about 50% of Vitamin D that your body requires daily. Herring and cat fish are also found to be good sources of Vitamin D because they feed on plankton which is a part of sea life and creates Vitamin D from sunlight in good amount. Some other sources of this vitamin are mackerel and sockeye salmon.

Studies have also proved that vitamin D can also be found in dried shiitake mushrooms in excessive amount. These mushrooms are rich in Vitamin D because of sucking sunlight. But for using shiitake mushrooms to supply Vitamin D to the body make sure that you get mushrooms that have dried up under the sun naturally and not by any artificial means. Only shiitake mushrooms dried under the sun will enable you to take benefits from Vitamin D effectively.

Hence we need to take in high vitamin D foods to fulfill our body needs. Our body needs Vitamin D for bone growth and development and for maintaining calcium in the body. It is also responsible for leveling blood flow. Vitamin D deficiency can cause certain health problems and diseases in your body and can even form cancer in some parts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5873428

If you are keeping up you’ll know for the next 3 months I’ll be doing a couple of tests on myself and monitoring the results. 4 Hour Body is the way I’ll be training but I’ll be eating another way that will be revealed in 3 months time.

The trainer I have has his own facilities which is an incredible change from the queues at my regular gym for equipment.

It’s going to take a little time to work out the weights I shall be using but getting to failure with perfect form here is the aim of the game. Interestingly I found it pretty hard work.. going as slow as required. Any new routine is a shock to the body so I’ll get to grips with it yet.

I will not be entirely open about how I am eating until the 3 months up.

My training though will be hard. I’m testing out Tim Ferriss’ workout for muscle building that was devised in his ’4 Hour Body’ book.

Should be interesting and at the end of it all I’ll be having my blood tests done too to see just how overall healthy I am.

Watch this space.

question:

Exercise ball?? I just got one yesterday, and I’ve been going to the gym and running for at least an hour a day, doing 3-5 miles.. but since i’m at home for half of the day, i’m planning on using the exercise ball.. so i was just wondering how fast i would see results if i worked on the ball for an hour a day?..

answer:

All depends on your diet, your body and the consitency of doing exercise. I have one, but honestly I end up not using it, unless I definitely can’t go to the gym that day.

question:

exercise ball..?
So for the past couple days I’ve been trying a new way of doing crunches, on an exercise ball. I used to do 500 crunches a night, and I didn’t see any results. I lost the weight, but I didn’t notice it at all around my stomach. I was watching an exercise show one time and they said that an exercise ball really helps show more results, and you only need to do around 3-4 sets of 12 crunches. Has anyone seen any really good results with an exercise ball?

PS; I don’t exactly diet, but I don’t overeat, and I don’t eat really unhealthy things.
oh yeah i forgot to say what i do. hm, its hard to explain but i hold the ball between my legs and when i go into a crunch i bring my legs and the ball towards my stomach. Im not sure if that helped to explain it

answer:

Yeah! I think you’re right. Keep the intensity HIGH on every exercise for the best results.

question:

Exercise Ball.. what are the effects of useing one?
I ditched the chair and started using an exercise ball instead.
Are there any benefits from bouncing on it about an hour a day?

answer:

Oh for sure! An exercise ball or even a rebounder will cause the lymphatic system in your body to work more efficiently. It doesn’t have a pump like the heart of your circulatory system does. When you exercise on these things for about 20 minutes each day it improves the performance of the lymphatic system greatly. Assisting the body’s ability to detoxify

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I’m looking to lose weight and am trying to find a database of nutrition data. I am aware of the free database provided by the USDA, but it seems to lack data for restaurants and pre-packaged food you would purchase at a grocery store.

answer:

In the UK check out  http://www.foodfocus.co.uk/ and in the US go over to  http://www.fitday.com/

question:

Can fastfood nutrition data be trusted? Can I trust the nutrition data posted by places like Subway and KFC, or is there reason to believe those places are inaccurate? For example, if Subway says that it has 420 calories in a tuna sub with no condiments and italian bread, can that data be trusted?

answer:

Surprisingly – fast food is the most tested and analysed ‘restaurant’ food available. There is no reason to believe the information they give out is going to be any less accurate than any other nutritional label data.

HOWEVER – you need to use your brain and understand what those numbers mean and how they were calculated. All nutrition data varies. Even the most standard product – say a poptart or a cracker – will vary somewhat.

question:

Why do some sports and juice drinks have the statement “shake well” on the nutrition data? Is there really any relevance to that advice?

answers:

The ingredients may separate so the nutrition for one part could be different to the whole product.

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Bradford – 10 bootcamp sessions fot £19 – http://bit.ly/kaixgI

Birmingham – Physiotherapist and 30 minutes deep tissue massage – http://bit.ly/j1momX

Bristol – (for 4-16 year olds) Choice of 4 hour long dance classes £9 – http://bit.ly/jNxLsw

Derby – One hour golf lesson with PGA professional £17 – http://bit.ly/j9TBvy

Essex – 18 holes of golf for 2 plus a full English breakfast £15 – http://bit.ly/io9J5z

Leeds – 10 bootcamp sessions for £19 – http://bit.ly/lDSbrI

Liverpool – High ropes course for £11 – http://bit.ly/mvDfxo

Manchester – Consultation and 3 treatments with chiropractor £39 – http://bit.ly/lkIgRE

Nottingham – High ropes course £11 – http://bit.ly/iBLlPy

Norwich – Half day equestrian experience £35 – http://bit.ly/laVikR

Reading – Consultation and 2 chiropractic treatments £36 – http://bit.ly/kigOCy

Stoke-on-Trent – 1 hour golf lesson with PGA prefessional £17 – http://bit.ly/lfF70Z

York – 10 bootcamp sessions for £19 – http://bit.ly/muhgcz

I hope to have these lists updated as and when deals become available. You want to have a place to view them in one spot then like my Are You Fit Enough fanpage http://on.fb.me/llxvrX