Zumba Tips To Help Improve Your Fitness Quest

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Flirting With Fitness

3 Top Tips For Getting Started With Zumba In The New Year

Unless you have been living on a tropical island for the past year you have probably heard of Zumba. It’s been one of the most popular fitness methods for quite some time now and you can now attend Zumba classes at almost every gym and fitness centre in the country. If you are not a fan of traditional exercise but still want to get fit as part of your New Year’s resolutions, then Zumba might just be the perfect choice for you. In this article I will be discussing why you should try Zumba to help you start the year right, and provide some top tips for getting started with Zumba.

Why Zumba?

As I mentioned above, Zumba is great for people who don’t like traditional exercise because it doesn’t feel like exercise. You just go in, dance like crazy and have fun. Then before you know it you’ve danced an hour away. The best part is although Zumba doesn’t feel like a traditional workout it is actually very effective. Once you get the hang of it an hour-long Zumba class can burn through over 600 calories!

Some Zumba Top Tips

Despite being renowned for its fun, party atmosphere, stepping into your first Zumba class can still be very daunting. Everyone in the class seems to know all the moves whilst you have absolutely no clue. The good news is I have some top tips that will help you get started with Zumba:

1) Sit In On A Class Or Get A Zumba DVD: If you are nervous about getting all the moves wrong in your first class, ask if you can sit in on a class and observe how everything is done. Alternatively, get a Zumba DVD and learn all the basic moves. Preparing in this way will make you feel a lot more confident about your first class and help it go a lot more smoothly.

2) Ask A Friend For Help: If you are still not confident about heading to a class after following the advice above, ask a friend who currently does Zumba for help. They will be able to show you the moves in person, give you a few pointers and build your confidence for that first Zumba class.

3) Get the Right Shoes: Since Zumba requires a lot of moving, spinning and pivoting, your standard gym shoes probably won’t cut it as they will have too much grip. Instead get a shoe that is lightweight, has some grip without making you stick to the floor and if possible has a spin spot. Cross-trainers or dance-specific sneakers are perfect.

Start The Year Right & Have Fun With Zumba Classes!

Once you get over the initial feelings of self-consciousness, Zumba is one of the best ways of getting fit, keeping fit, losing weight and having fun. If you have previously tried and failed with your ‘get fit’ New Year’s resolutions, have a go at Zumba this year. The party atmosphere and the community feeling should ensure that you don’t get bored with the Zumba classes and allow you to keep it up for the full year. Don’t forget to come back and let us know how well the Zumba exercise classes work for you, ok? See you then!

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8 Tips To Help Build Muscle Mass & Get In Shape This Year

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Flirting With Fitness

8 Tips To Help Build Muscle Mass & Get In Shape This Year

So you want to build big muscles? Simple isn’t it? Just join a gym and hit those weights regularly and viola, in a couple of months, you will gain so much muscle mass that you are ready to take on any bodybuilding contest. Is it really that simple to build big muscles? Well, to gain muscle mass, there is much more than just hitting the gym regularly. Here are some muscle mass gaining tips…

a) Eat and Eat - To build muscles, you must eat. Your calorie consumption must be more than your calorie expenditure. If you expend all the calories you have eaten, then where are the calories to build muscles?

2) Protein - Make sure that you eat enough protein. You should eat at least one gram of protein per pound of your body weight everyday if you want to gain muscle mass fast. If you don’t get enough protein, your muscles won’t grow big.

Continue reading here…

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Is Weight Lifting A Good Way To Start The Year Right?

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Flirting With Fitness

3 Top Tips For Getting Started With Weight Lifting In The New Year

As we enter January you are probably starting to finalise your New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps you want to lose some weight this year? Maybe you want to finally improve your fitness? If so then weight lifting can help you achieve both of your goals. In this article I discuss why taking up weight lifting is such a good New Year’s resolution and provide you with 3 top tips for starting a New Year weight lifting routine.

Why Weight Lifting?

As discussed above, weight lifting can help you hit a number of fitness goals. The most obvious benefit of weight lifting is improved strength and bigger muscles. However, it also helps you lose weight by burning body fat when you are away from the gym. A pound of muscle burns 6 calories per day whilst a pound of body fat burns just 2 calories per day. So for every pound of muscle you gain you can burn an extra 42 calories per week. In addition to this, it improves flexibility, reduces your chance of injury, prevents disease and much more.

Weight Lifting Top Tips

Whilst weight lifting is a highly beneficial activity I would recommend you follow the tips below before getting started:

1) Get Some Weight Lifting Gloves: I see quite a lot of people in the gym without weight lifting gloves and to be honest I don’t know how they do it. If I forget my weight lifting gloves for just a couple of days in a row I find the skin on the insides of my hands becomes red, rough, sore and swollen. This makes it really hard to hold dumbbells and lift weights effectively. If you are just starting out I would really recommend that you get yourself a pair of weight lifting gloves before you pick up your first dumbbell. This will help you avoid plenty of unnecessary discomfort and significantly improve your grip.

2) Make Sure You Warm Up: If you are just starting out with weight lifting then your body is not going to be used to the weights or the movements. Therefore, it is essential that you warm up. I find a good warm up is to grab a set of light dumbbells then perform a couple of sets with them before moving on to your main weight lifting exercises.

3) Go For Technique Over Weight: One of the big mistakes that new starters make when it comes to weight lifting is trying to increase the amount they can lift as quickly as possible. As a result their technique suffers, they don’t exercise their muscles properly and they significantly increase their risk of injury. If you are just starting out weight lifting you need to remember that it is a long, process. Building strength takes time and the best way to build strength is to get the technique right and exercise your muscles properly. Stick on your current weight until your technique is 100% perfect – no matter how long it takes to achieve this.

So Is Weight Lifting A Good Way To Start The Year Right?

Weight lifting is a great exercise for you to take up in the New Year. It can help you achieve a variety of fitness goals such as burning fat, building muscle, improving your strength and improving your appearance. If you are looking to improve your fitness in any way at all in the New Year I highly recommend you make weight lifting part of your routine.

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Why Join A Gym To Get Fit This Year?

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Flirting With Fitness

4 Top Tips For Joining A Gym This Year

Joining a gym is one of the best ways to get fit in the New Year. For a small monthly fee you get access to all the equipment you need to stay fit and healthy. In this article I will be discussing why joining a gym is a good choice and providing you with some top tips to follow before joining.

Why Join A Gym?

As discussed above, joining a gym provides you with access to a wide range of fitness equipment for one low monthly cost. Buying all this equipment for yourself would cost thousands of dollars so if you make full use of everything that is available it really is a fantastic investment.

In addition to this, the gym is a great place to learn. There are plenty of trainers who can share their knowledge with you. They can also help you put together a program that will help you meet your fitness goals. Additionally, many of the regular gym goers are knowledgeable too and will be happy to help if you are struggling to use any of the machines.

Top Tips For Joining A Gym

If you are willing to commit to it, joining a gym is a great way to stay fit in the New Year. For the monthly membership fee you get access to free weights, resistance training machines, cardiovascular machines, classes and sometimes a sauna, a steam room and a swimming pool. However, before you commit to joining here are some tips you should follow:

1) Do Your Research: The first thing you should do if you are considering joining a gym in the New Year is do your research. Go online, search for local gyms and jot down a list of all those that are available. Then list a number of pros and cons for each. For example, gym A may have a swimming pool but be 30 minutes away from your home.

2) Ask Friends For Recommendations: Once you have your shortlist, the chances are that you will know people who are members at each gym. Go ask them what they think and add their comments to your pros and cons list. When asking for feedback it’s important to ask people who have similar fitness goals to yourself. There’s no point putting that the swimming pool is very small as a con if you never plan to use it. Once you have finished gathering feedback, reduce your list to a shortlist of the best two or three gyms for you.

3) Go For A Tour Of Each Gym Before Joining: Once you have your shortlist, arrange a tour of each gym at the times you will be using it. This is very important as even if the gym looks perfect on paper, overcrowding is a very big problem at some gyms. You don’t want to pay your membership fee and then find that it’s too busy to actually use at the time you want to use it. Additionally, going on a tour will help you get a feel for the gym. Is all the equipment good quality and in full working order? Are the staff friendly and helpful? If not you may want to take your business elsewhere.

4) Negotiate: Once you have toured each of the gyms it’s decision time. However, before you hand over your cash try negotiating. The worst thing that could happen is they won’t budge on price and the best thing that could happen is they give you a nice discount. Most gyms are really desperate for new members and are willing to slash the price to secure your custom.

Summary
If you are willing to commit to regular sessions, joining a gym is one of the best ways to get fit in the New Year. Just make sure you are diligent with your research and follow the top tips above before joining. I know you are eager to get started but following these tips can save you a lot of time and money.

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