Home workouts can feel less effective than a group class or a trip to the gym. Make sure you’re getting the most out of your workout by incorporating the following tips into your home exercise routine!
1. Sleep
According to WebMD, research has found that starting your day as late you can manage will make you more relaxed and increase the level of cortisol that your body produces throughout the course of the day. This can help decrease stress and blood pressure over time. The study stated that may also be important to maintain a normal sleep schedule. It should be noted that this study was based on people that had to get for work, sleeping in until 3 p.m. may not be helpful.
2. Eat Breakfast
Eating a healthy breakfast before 8 AM and within 30 minutes of waking up will help your body crave less food during the day. A Harvard study found that people who ate a morning meal were 1/3 less likely to be obese. A breakfast with 300 or less calories that is loaded with grains, protein, and fruit is ideal.
3. Drink a Cup of Coffee
Drinking coffee before a home workout can speed up your metabolism and give you a boost that can help you focus and experience a more intense workout. It has also been found that caffeine can trigger muscles to use fat as an energy source, although this effect is short-lived and varies based on a person’s resistance to caffeine. It should be stated, however, that studies have also shown that there is no conclusive evidence that increasing your consumption of caffeine will affect weight loss or prevent obesity, rather that consuming caffeine vs. not consuming caffeine may have those effects.
4. Do a Short Workout in the Morning (10 Minutes)
Doing a quick 10 minute workout in the morning will kick-start your metabolism for the day and allow you to burn more calories during the day.
5. Workout in Afternoon
According to WebMD, late afternoon is the best time to workout. The reason for this is because this is when your body is the most warmed up and the hottest (actually at the highest temperature). This has the effect of giving you more strength and stamina, allowing for a longer and more efficient workout. Your lungs also reportedly use oxygen more efficiently when your body is the most warmed up.
There’s one reported catch to this, though – people who exercise in the morning are reportedly 90% more likely to stick to a consistent routine than those who work out at other times of the day.
Christina Stoltz, Owner, Ploome Pilates
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About the Author: Christina Stoltz is the owner of Ploome Pilates, a fitness studio that celebrates fitness, body diversity, and promoting social responsibility. Ploome is one of the top providers of Pilates classes in Philadelphia. Christina is a frequent author and speaker on all things fitness.
This week we are learning from fit Moms who have it all! You know who I’m talking about…. the Moms that balance children, work, home, spouse, fitness and still have the energy left to smile about it all! Take a look at these Moms who have mastered the art of making “me time” and learned that it truly is time well spent.
Prioritize, Manage Your Time, and Refuse Excuses
Being a mom is about learning to prioritize. Moms are often torn choosing between putting their family first or putting themselves first. As hard as it is, I try my best to balance between the two. And giving yourself some “me time” makes you a better mom, because you have more patience, energy and enthusiasm for everything you do for your family.
I am a mother of two (Alexander 7.5 and Zosia 5 years old), and for the last 7 years I devote my mornings 100% to my family. I used to wear sneakers and run with my stroller. Now that they are older, once I drop them off to school, I rush to workout. Every day I could find thousands of excuses not to workout, but they are the worst excuses. I learned to refuse to make them.
I make calls and emails when I am shopping and walking on the street, I choose markets that can deliver to my house so that groceries get delivered and I can stay out and finish my errands. Time and task management is critical. I plan everything in my head before I leave the house. I noticed that being content with myself and my body there is one less thing to worry about and I can focus on other things.
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About the Author: Sylwia Wiesenberg, a mom of two, is the founder of Tonique Fitness. Tonique is an intense workout that uses multidirectional movements that target every part of your body, working every muscle at every angle. Sylwia developed Tonique with her own goals in mind – to stay fit, firm and remain youthful forever. After years of perfecting her moves and developing new routines, she realized that she shared dreams with many women around her. She began training them and they achieved amazing results with her Tonique method. Most of her clients are moms. read more →
As we set into our workout routine, it can even become monotonous. Avoid falling into a workout rut and learn from our expert guest blogger how to keep your workout routine challenging!
In our continued series on eating to fuel your workouts, today’s guest blogger gives us some good rules of thumb for planning meals around workouts and workouts around eating.
See what he has to say about when to eat and what to eat: (more…) read more →
So, if you haven’t tried yoga yet, it’s probably because you feel like you don’t want to “waste” a workout hour on just stretching. That’s normally what people like us (Pretty Hard Workers!) think about yoga… before trying it.
But, when you arrive at class and see others doing poses like the one above (crow pose), you can’t deny that yoga has some intense benefits. What other kind of workout would help you hold your body in a balancing pose like that?
Today’s guest blogger drives home the point – if you haven’t tried yoga yet because you think it’s too easy… it’s time to change the way you think about this age-old practice:
There are many outside variables than can effect your health and weight. Stress, lack of rest and inflammation, are a few symptoms that warn us it might be time to slow down. Exhaustion can have the opposite effect on our healthy living efforts and if we don’t address these warning signs, our bodies will.
Learn the best way to take care of your body during times of stress and intense training.
Rest and recovery are an important part of your intense training routine. Learn why taking the necessary downtime from your training will help decrease your recovery time and how to know when your rest time is long over-do.
You’ve pushed yourself hard. You’ve finished the marathon, you’ve gone down a jean size, you’re ready to move up to the next size of weights….
Whatever it is – you’ve reached your goal. Yay for you!
But, now what?
Today’s guest bloggers tell us about the importance of celebrating our successes and how to take the next steps to create new goals: (more…) read more →
Using a variety of exercises to enhance your training is important for a number of reasons. We are discussing the benefits of including a yoga practice in your training routine. Yoga is much more than a series of stretches and poses. Learn how a yoga practice will help you maintain balance through your body and training.
You may have been where I was last week – getting your mat ready for an intense yoga workout, mentally prepping for the 70 minutes of deep twists and grueling poses you’re about to hold and hydrating one last time before sweating through your clothes in the 90+ degree room… and you see HIM heading your way…
…the stinky dude.
You know… that guy that smells like he hasn’t bathed – probably because he didn’t have time after smoking eight packs of cigarrets and rolling around in rancid meat… and that’s just my take on his odor before the aforementioned intense yoga workout in the 90+ degree room.
Dang it! I got stuck next to that guy last week. This isn’t fair!
Wait…
Mentally Checking Out
I almost did it. I almost mentally checked out before one of the best workouts (in my favorite class!) of the week.
I almost did it…
But, despite the fog of stink that started form around me, I started to think:
Am I really going to let the stinky guy ruin my workout? Am I going to let him be the deciding factor in which bathing suit I choose this summer? Is a bad smell worth straying from my goals?
When I thought about it that way – it seemed pretty silly.
Accepting Challenges
Pretty Hard Work requires accepting challenges. So, I decided to accept the challenge of doing my best and getting the most from my yoga-kickboxing fusion class that night and to not let some stinky dude ruin it for me… he and his natural perfume weren’t worth it!
I turned my head towards my friend to the right of me (who had thankfully just put on some China Gel!), took a deep breath and set my intention for a great workout for the night – and I had one!
Get Over It
Get over it – really!
Whether it’s a stinky dude in class, a rainy day when you were supposed to run outside or any other deviation from your plan – get over it.
These kinds of things will happen – but getting and staying fit requires you to find a way to either get around the issue (like running inside, or moving your mat away from the stinky dude) or deal with it head on (grab a rain parka, or take a deep breath of your friend’s eucalyptus-infused gel).
Don’t let obstacles become bigger than your goal.
If humor helps… just picture me in a downward facing dog with a plume of hot, stinky guy-odor surrounding me… if I could get through that, you can accept the challenge of any obstacle that comes your way!
Remember, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. This is Pretty Hard Work – and you’re doing it!
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