Workout clothes

Speaking of clothes, I’m a bit of a clothing junkie—but not in the way you might think. Really, I don’t have a lot of clothes and I rarely go shopping. I look for bargains and rarely buy anything that’s not on sale. But when it comes to workout clothes…that’s another story! I recently realized that about half of my wardrobe is exercise clothing and I probably have it (in at least 3 colors, thank you). I have more pairs of workout pants than I do regular pants!

I realized that I had a problem when I was shopping for a new pair of jeans not so long ago. I found a perfect pair (which is so rare, am I right?) and I bought them immediately. It fit well and made me feel great. And even though I’d wear these jeans multiple times per week for months on end, after purchasing them, I still had to justify their $60 price tag to myself.  However, just a week prior, I had spent $50 (yes, $50!) on a new pair of Nike (my favorite) workout pants—something I’ll wear for an hour once a week. Am I nuts? (Don’t answer that…haha)

So I started to wonder: Are you like me? Do new, cute, or cool workout clothes motivate you to exercise?

Workout clothes DO motivate me.  I used to wear those baggy sweat pants to the gym, now I only wear them at home as PJ’s. I am much more excited to go to a gym when I’m sporting my great-fitting, sweat-wicking exercise pants that make me feel comfortable and confident than if I threw on any old thing. I call them my “super-woman pants”.  Seriously, as soon as I put them on, I’m ready to go.  You will never see me working out in a random oversized T-shirt or anything made of cotton (it retains moisture and keeps you soggy). I can’t really explain it—I mean, I’m definitely not that into my appearance. For me, buying and wearing nice workout clothes is not about what others think when they see me exercising. It’s about how the clothes make me feel about myself. I like to have the right gear for the job so to speak. Just as a new fitness gadget, like a pedometer, heart rate monitor, or even a bodybugg, can motivate other people to get moving, that’s what workout clothes do for me. They don’t have to be expensive or fancy—they just have to have the right fit, fabric, and style. If that makes me a clothing snob, so be it! (At least it helps motivate me to exercise 4-5 days a week and feel good while doing it.)

How about you: Do you care what clothes you wear when working out? Do new workout clothes motivate you, or do you think these “outfits” are silly}?
I would love to hear your thoughts ladies and gents!!!

Thigh & leg workout

This is a short one from me today. I hope you all had a great weekend.  And I will be back with more next Sunday.

Trouble spots, be gone! Get a longer, leaner look with these exercises and workouts designed to trim your thighs and sculpt your legs.  I know how frustrating cellulite can be, I used to have so called “dimples” and I tried everything, but there’s nothing like the right nutrition plan and the work out routine.  Nothing else works, but you have to commit.

Pendulum Lift

What you’ll need: A step and a pair of 5-pound dumbbells.

• Stand with right foot on step and left foot hanging off back, holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms by sides, palms facing back.
• Keeping right leg slightly bent, hinge forward from hips while lifting left leg behind you until body is almost parallel to floor and hands hang below shoulders.
• Return to start. Do 15 reps.
• Switch legs; repeat.

One-and-a-Half Squat

Targets: Butt, quads, and hamstrings

• Stand on step with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms by sides, palms facing in.
• Squat until thighs are near parallel to floor, keeping knees behind toes and back straight.
• Rise halfway; hold for 2 seconds. Lower into full squat.
• Return to start. Do 15 reps.

Knee Pump

Targets: Hips, butt, and hamstrings

• Stand on step with feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, elbows bent, palms facing in.
• Lean upper body forward slightly and lunge straight back to floor with right leg (don’t bend knee).
• Keep bent left knee behind toes.
• Lift right leg, bringing right knee and left hand up toward chest. Lunge right leg back; lower left arm.
• Do 15 reps. Switch legs; repeat.

Single-Leg Raise

Targets: Calves

• Stand on step with right foot in center, left forefoot on edge (heel hanging off, but not below step level), holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms by sides, palms facing in.
• Balancing on ball of left foot, lift right foot a few inches in front of you. Raise left heel as high as you can, then lower, keeping right leg straight and lifted throughout.
• Do 15 reps; switch legs and repeat.

Due to the success of ResultsBy Fitness Blog, we’ve had a lot of friends and colleagues of ours ask how to go about starting a blog. After helping a few of them get started with varying results, I would have to say that these are a few most important things to keep in mind when starting a blog:

Get your feet wet. I compare becoming a blogger to learning a new language. There is a very specific culture that you have to understand (though, not necessarily follow) in order to be successful. Once you start reading blogs regularly, and more importantly, commenting, you’ll better understand the ethos of the blogging culture, you’ll have an easier time fitting in and becoming part of the conversation.

Worry more about being good than getting traffic. While the blogosphere isn’t exactly a meritocracy, it’s very difficult to be popular without being good.  Start slow, and build a depth of quality posts before you start aiming for link exchanges. If you’re good, people will recognize you. Be passionate about what you write, stay personal and draw in the reader, so they can identify and feel as if you’re writing just for them.  The key is to stay interested yourself, if you’re interested, then will your readers be.

Write for your audience. The obvious thing to keep in mind is that you need to start a blog with a purpose. If you’re just writing about yourself, then “success” is fairly irrelevant. If you’re writing about your business, your industry, your band, or your upcoming film, you need to decide from the outset the type of content you are going to write about, how often you’re going to write and the voice you’re going to take. If those things are inconsistent or incongruent, you’ll lose your reader, you’ll lose recommendations and your blog will be less successful. Audiences want some level of predictability. If you write about advertising almost exclusively and then start writing about your cat, people will get confused and annoyed. Confused and annoyed readers do not stay around long.  Take Tim’s blog for example…we always write with you, the reader, in mind.  Tim started this blog because he wanted to vertually help people with their fitness goals. And he does just that, day after day.  Of course we have since added a few other topics, only because we’re listening to you, and responding to your questions and needs.  Our main goal was to create an online community that is wanting to live a healthier lifestyle.

Connect with your readers through an about page. One of the best ways to make a lasting impact is to connect on a personal level with your readers. That means letting them know who you are and what your background is. You don’t necessarily need an author pic to relate to your readers, but you should find some way to allow readers to connect with you on a personal as well as a professional level to develop some rapport.

Don’t get seen naked: Never launch a blog with fewer than 5 posts. In the blogosphere you typically get just one shot at impressing a visitor or fellow blogger. Too many new bloggers throw up two posts and then start working on promotion. In the world of blogging, you are selling yourself and your writing. If you can’t give people a fully dressed picture of what your blog is all about and what type of writing will be on it, then why should they throw a link your way, or subscribe to your RSS feed? When someone links to you or subscribes they’re giving a vote of confidence that your site is worthwhile, so give them something to grab on to, and let them know your space won’t be “just another abandoned blog.”

Make sure a link to your RSS feed is available above the fold. It should be obvious to anyone launching a blog, but its amazing how many new bloggers do not make a link to their RSS feed readily available. New bloggers often don’t want to devote space on their site to an RSS feed when they could squeeze in a bit more AdSense. While this thinking is understandable, it is simply wrong. The returns of having subscribers are much more valuable because subscribers drive long-term traffic organically, while an additional AdSense block provides at best a marginal short-term gain. We haven’t even started to advertise, because that is not our goal.

Finishing touches:
Ask friends for feedback on your site. Ask some of your webmaster friends to review/critique your site a few days before its official launch. The blogging world is largely comprised people who consider themselves somewhat entrepreneurial, and as a result, bloggers tend to respect (and want to help) people who are out there trying to start up their own site. By asking other bloggers to give you feedback, you put them in the role of expert and create in them a sense of ownership in your site (which means they will be more likely to give you a hand when you need it). Not surprisingly, this technique usually does provide some valuable feedback from people who have experience, if not expertise, in running a blog. But in addition, by putting your peers in the position of expert, you dramatically increase the chance that they will follow your launch and drop you a link once you get off the ground.

Patience. Blogging success does not happen overnight. Be prepared to stay dedicated to promoting your blog for the long haul. Eventually, your hard work should pay off with increased traffic and a significant growth in popularity of your blog. The key is to not give up and to stay true to what you’re writing and why.

Good luck!

Get Fit Kit 

• Resistance band (SPRI flat band, spri.com), $5
• A pair of 5-pound dumbbells (BodySport vinyl dumbbells, fwonline.com), $12.50
• Stability ball (Weider stability ball, kmart.com), $10
• Gliding Discs (spri.com), $17
• TOTAL: $44.50

band biceps curl

UPPER BODY TONERS
Band Biceps Curl

 Target: Biceps 

• Stand with right foot in middle of band, holding one end of band and a dumbbell in each hand (wrap ends of band around dumbbells and place palms over).
• Keeping elbows by sides, turn palms forward and curl both hands up to shoulders. Do 10 reps.
• Next, curl one hand up at a time, alternating sides. Do 10 curls on each side. Repeat combo.

Ball Flye

Ball Flye

Targets: Chest and abs 

• Lie faceup on ball with your upper back on its center, knees bent and feet flat on floor, holding one end of band and a dumbbell in each hand.
• Extend arms straight toward ceiling, directly over shoulders.
• Keeping elbows slightly bent, open arms out to sides, then bring them back to center. Do 15 reps.

Kick-Back

Kick-Back

Targets: Shoulders, triceps, abs 

• Lie facedown on ball with your belly on its center, holding a dumbbell in each hand, legs extended, toes resting on floor. Start with arms by sides and parallel to torso with elbows slightly bent, palms facing up.
• Lower arms straight down until hands touch floor in line with hips.
• Keeping head in line with neck, press arms straight up to back; lower. Do 8 reps. Rest, then repeat.

Hand slide

Hand Slide

Targets: Upper back, shoulders, triceps, chest, and abs 

• Start in full push-up position (balancing on hands and toes) with a disc under each hand.
• Keeping body still, slide left hand forward a few inches; slide back. Then slide right hand forward a few inches and slide back to complete 1 rep.
• Keeping abs engaged, do 5 reps.

Ladies, next Sunday I will come back with more tips on working out at home. 
Here’s what’s in store for you next:
Ab Flatteners 
Butt and Leg Sculpters
Calorie Blasters