Exercising Fun Facts...is it possible, or is that an oxymoronic statement?

So, as I try to motivate myself, I thought a good way to go about it would be to write some more useful tips on exercising!

Did you know that 30 minutes before or after you work out (I tend to go with after as I don't want to make myself sick) is when your body absorbs the most out of your food.  You can do what I (sometimes) do and have a glass of superfood after working out to make sure your body absorbs all it needs.

Busy mom or dad?  Work a lot? Only 20 minutes in your day to work out?  Try working TWO muscle groups together...WHAT?  It's easy, and very tiring, but very beneficial as you will get your heart rate where it needs to be in order to burn of calories, PLUS you build muscle which will more efficiently burn away those pesky pounds!

So I, like many a militant trainer out there, recommend doing at the very minimum, a 20 minute circuit routine.  Why do I recommend it?  Because I've done it and it works relatively quickly.  Why should you trust me?  You shouldn't!  I only know what I say works because I do it - I've not done any training to train others.  Just take my advice and try it out if you want.

First start with a 2 minute warm up.  Loosen your muscles so you don't strain or pull anything.  This includes arm, knee and hip circles and a few jumping jacks to elevate your heart rate.

Now what you are going to do is THREE minutes of strength training.  Usually you do 1:30 of two different exercises so you don't get too tired.  Now for this, you MUST work a large muscle group and a smaller muscle group.  What does this mean?  Work your arms and legs - squats and shoulder presses; side lunges and lateral raises; lunges and biceps curl.  Whatever you do, be careful.

Next, TWO minutes of cardio.  Don't want to use a machine for two minutes?  That's fine.  Here are some ideas for cardio: butt kicks (run in place and kick your butt), jump rope or double jump rope, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, etc.  Loads of stuff to do without a machine.  Figure out what you want to do and again, pick two different exercises and perform them for one minute each.

For the last cycle,  ONE minute of abs.  That's right, core lesson - can't have a well balanced healthy body without throwing some core workouts in there.  Don't forget not just your upper abs (crunches).  You absolutely have to do your oblique and lower abs to get rid of everything.  Reverse crunches especially get rid of that weird lower pooch.

Rinse. Repeat.  Well you don't have to rinse yet, but repeat the THREE, TWO, ONE system for 20 minutes (about three cycles), and you will feel great.  In a quick amount of time you will feel stronger, which makes you feel better, which will keep you on Motivation Express...maybe!

If you want to challenge yourself, or loose weight at a more rapid pace, you can do this cycle for longer than 20 minutes.  With this type of exercise you will burn about 200 calories, which doesn't seem like a lot.  You can work that off on a treadmill or an elliptical just as fast.  HOWEVER, the cool thing about this workout that you can NOT get from the machines is muscle buildup.  Muscle buildup is one of the key things for your metabolism to speed and keep at a higher fat burning rate for a longer period of time than just running.

Of course a combination of a circuit workout and other things (like running) is what would probably be the ideal workout, but if you have to choose, the THREE, TWO, ONE 20 minute system is more beneficial long term.  Plus it's not as hard on your knees as running on a treadmill.

That is my other helpful tidbit of workout knowledge; it is better to run outdoors than in on a treadmill because of the damage a treadmill can cause to your knee joints.  But it is better to run indoors than not do anything at all; after all a healthy body means a healthy mind, which results with your happiness in life.

Don't forget to cool down and stretch!  I read somewhere that stretching helps sluff off body fat faster than not stretching.  Whether that's true or not, it's important to stretch your muscles so you don't tear or damage yourself!  Happy workout!