Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Boost Your Brain Power with Exercise

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A healthy body begins with a healthy brain. This organ is responsible for all of the functions needed to keep your body healthy and fit. Your brain controls your muscle coordination, balance, and movement and you can keep this vital organ healthy and strong with a regular exercise routine.

Exercise not only strengthens your body, it also has been proven that regular exercise boosts brain power. As it turns out, people who spend their time engaged in physical activity are also doing wonders for their mental capacity. Exercise is the key to living a healthy life.

It has been proven that working out regularly when you are young will improve your cognitive function as you reach middle age and even protect you from dementia, as you grow older.

We all know that a sedentary lifestyle wreaks havoc on the physical body, causing muscles to weaken, including your heart muscle. New studies have shown that the brain, too, suffers without regular physical activity. The good news is that it’s never too late to get back in the game. Whether you are 17 or 70, you can improve your body and your brain when you engage in a regular exercise routine.

But what is it about exercise that makes it so good for the brain? Exercise causes the brain to release certain hormones that actually help improve memory. It also increases circulation, regulates respiratory and improves cardio functions, all of which attribute to a healthy brain.

As little as 20 minutes of resistance training can improve long-term memory nearly 10%. Working out at least 4 times a week, alternating cardio exercises and activities with resistance training can reduce the risk of depression by nearly 20%. Staying fit builds confidence and self-esteem. Even for beginners, completing their first exercise class can make them feel stronger and more confident. That reason alone is why many participants return for their next session.

Exercise is mood altering, too. You may have noticed that taking a walk, playing tennis or getting busy in the garden can lift your spirits when you are feeling angry or depressed. Exercise increases the body’s production of endocannabinoids resulting in an endorphin rush to make you feel happy.

Fitness has been proven to add so much to our health and to be completely honest–it is so much fun. An important part of the body’s requirements, exercise builds muscles, increases stamina and boosts brainpower. Reasons enough to make exercise a priority for a lifetime. Be smart; start exercising for a better body, mind and soul.

Start A Cool Kid’s Exercise Club

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Start your own exercise club and keep your friends close by your side. If you are looking for a sure fire method to keep you committed to your exercise plan, all you need to do is enlist some of your friends to workout too. Start an exercise group with neighbors or coworkers and make everyone else envious. When exercise looks like a fun outing, everyone wants to join in. Before you know it, your group gets bigger and everyone wants to be a part of it.

Members of your Cool Kid’s Exercise Club can gently coerce you into exercising even when you don’t feel like going. You will be less likely to complain of being too tired or too busy to exercise. If you’ve ever talked yourself out of exercising or going to the gym, then you know how easily you can persuade yourself to give in. However, when a group of your peers is all-in for exercise, you will be less likely to whine and complain about having too much to do.

Social support encourages physical activity. An exercise group of your friends makes such support even more personal. Being part of an exercise group, comprised of people you know, may help you achieve and maintain your fitness goals. You will feel more comfortable discussing your achievements. Your friends will know how far you have come and will be able to appreciate your accomplishments. The same goes for their achievements, too. Remember to congratulate your workout buddies as they work towards their goals. Everyone needs recognition and appreciation for a job well done.

We all need a bit of motivation every now and then. Especially for exercise, motivation is the powering force that drives us to do things even when we don’t feel like it. Staying motivated is an important component to any workout program. A positive attitude that is easily motivated is the basis for a successful fitness plan. Having a group of friends who are committed to working out with you is one of the most powerful forms of motivation there is.

Having a small group instead of just one workout buddy will ensure you always have someone to work out with. Many times, if you have just one exercise friend, you will forego your workout if they don’t want to go. It’s less likely that the whole group will stand you up.

Having friends to exercise with keeps your workout from getting too boring. The time goes by quickly and makes exercising much more fun.

Slim, Strong and Sexy

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Slim down, get strong and look sexy with regular exercise. No matter your age, exercise can help you manage your weight, strengthen your muscles and make you look and feel as sexy as ever. Combined with a healthy diet, exercise helps to keep your body fit.

Exercise can help you slim down and maintain your weight. Muscles burn fat. The greater muscle mass your body has, the quicker it burns up calories, even at rest. People who have little fat and more muscle will burn twice or three times the calories of someone with less muscle development.

One of the best benefits of exercise is how it strengthens and energizes the body. With each exercise, you become stronger and can last longer. Strength and stamina increase every time you workout. Even if you don’t notice it right away, each time you work your body, you help it to grow stronger.

A slim, strong body is a sexy body. The confidence that comes from someone who exercises regularly is also quite sexy. People will notice the difference in you when you make exercise a necessary part of your life.

Exercise is a necessary part of your life. It should be treated as an important part of every day when you consider how great an effect it has on your health. As necessary as eating, drinking, sleeping and working, exercise should become a normal function. Start adding it to your calendar as a reminder; it will serve as a visual commitment to keep you focused on your new goal.

If you are struggling to make exercise a habit, there are a few things you can do to implant this new activity into your life. Try one or try all, but be sure to make exercise a priority.

1. Start a fitness journal and write down your exercise goals.
2. Make a written plan, such as a weekly calendar, of your planned exercise activities.
3. Keep a clean exercise outfit ready to go at all times.
4. Find an exercise buddy to keep you motivated.
5. Go for a walk every day and get some fresh air.
6. Take the stairs every chance you get.
7. Park further away when it’s safe.
8. Try to go faster, harder, further.
9. Write down every goal that you accomplish.
10. Wear comfortable shoes.

Five Ways To Motivate Yourself To Exercise

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We all know that exercise is beneficial to our health and helps to burn calories. Exercise is good for our cardiovascular and respiratory functions. Exercise keeps our bodies flexible and strong. Regular activity improves our circulatory systems. It should be as much a part of our daily lives as eating. Yet, everyone experiences times when they just don’t feel motivated to workout.

An occasional change in your workout schedule is probably fine, but if you find that you are making a habit of not working out, it’s time to have a talk with yourself. Everyone can use a little pep talk every now and then to get them up and going. I have outlined five ways to motivate yourself to exercise, to keep you committed to your workout plan.

1. Remind yourself how good you feel after your workout. I get a rush when I exercise and it lasts long after my workout. It’s a natural high. Even if I’m tired and I start out slow, I start to feel so good from a vigorous workout that I end up exercising for a longer time than I intended. You know the saying, “Time flies when you’re having fun!”

2. Think about the calories you will burn. If you count calories, you know that the more you exercise, the more calories you burn. When you burn more calories than you consume, you start to lose weight. The added benefit of exercise is that your muscles continue to burn calories after the workout has ended.

3. When you just don’t feel like going to the gym, think about how great you’re going to look as you continue to exercise regularly. Imagine the fat melting from your body. Look at your muscles in a mirror. Visualize a slimmer, trimmer you. See yourself at your ideal weight.

4. Start the day with positive affirmations. These powerful words of encouragement will motivate you to take action. Repeat them to yourself during the day for motivational reinforcement. Say them at night before going to bed and make a promise to yourself to exercise the next day. Remind yourself again how much you enjoy exercising.

5. Schedule a standing workout with a buddy on a regular basis. The commitment to your friend will help to keep you reliable and accountable. You won’t want to disappoint your friend and vice versa. Plus, exercising with a friend keeps your workout from getting boring.

Show Off Your Beach Body and Have Fun

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It’s summertime and the best time to head to the beach. Set up the umbrella, pull off the cover up and slather on lots of sunscreen. Now, get up and enjoy the beach. Go for a walk and hunt for seashells or shark’s teeth. Take a jog along the beach and check out the scenery. Grab a bike and go for a ride, you can go for miles before you know it. The important thing is to keep moving and have some fun.

Don’t just sit there baking in the sun. Sure, it’s nice to relax but the beach is a great place to get out and have some fun. Plenty of shoreline and tropical breezes make the beach an ideal place for fun activities. Get in on a game of volleyball or dodge ball to keep things exciting. Keep a Frisbee tucked in your bag and practice your throw, you never know who might come up and want to join you for a quick game. If you already have a partner, be sure to include games you both can get involved in.

You will build confidence every time you choose to do an activity other than just sitting or lying in your chair or on the beach. Exercise will help to improve your self-esteem and make it easier for you to move about freely.

Get in the water and walk toward the waves. This bit of resistance will help to build your leg and stomach muscles as you struggle to move past them. Try riding the surf on a boogie board or surfboard, it takes balance to stay on and works those core muscles for a nice, easy workout.

Swimming in the ocean is also very good exercise. If you are new to swimming at the beach, you may want to swim parallel to the shoreline. Be wary of riptides and stay safe, this is an ocean and does not come with the controlled boundaries of a swimming pool. Still, you can have lots of fun swimming at the beach and the resistance of the waves provides a nice workout.

After an active day of fun at the beach, you will probably be ready for a nice long nap. Indulge yourself with some restful sleep and you will awaken feeling refreshed and sun kissed. It’s the perfect way to unwind, get some fresh air, warm sunshine and plenty of exercise.