The entire fitness industry is changing rapidly. Yes, there are still a new detoxes, cleanses, weight loss pills, or exercise gadgets promising EFFORTLESS weight loss. 

They are promoted across social media feeds, using ads that always appear too good to be true.  Typically, they also use “doctor” and “celebrity” endorsements trying to enhance credibility.  My purpose is not to discourage you. Instead, I hope to enlighten and encourage you. It may also save you some disappointment when you don’t end up looking like the fitness model on that supplement bottle.

Mainstream lifestyle

Although transformations take work, time, and dedication, they are happening. Fitness is transitioning from a small subculture of passionate enthusiasts to a mainstream lifestyle. People are steadily reversing Americas’ couch-potato ways.   When it comes to wellness, it’s more than just a routine, it’s a lifestyle.  The numbers say it all.  According to the Global Wellness Institute, the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion business. It grew 10.6 percent from 2013 to 2015, and is expected to grow 17 percent over the next five years.

 

The “Yesterday” look of fitness from the Jane Fonda era.

Access

The recent popularity of easy-to-access group fitness, community walking classes and wearable technology (i.e. the Apple Watch) suggests that individuals today don’t just want to go to a gym to sweat.   It seems that they want to incorporate unique, fitness experiences into their daily lives.  People of all ages are now enjoying fitness for the social benefits as much as the health outcomes.  With a major shift towards mindfulness and time-efficient training, the fitness industry has been changing on a global scale.

Transformation of exercise into daily life

Break up the monotony

Exercise can seem boring when only focusing on anatomical and physiological outcomes.   However, sports-conditioning classes provide us with performance-based outcomes that make the exercises more engaging and fun.  Today’s active-lifestyle fitness is unlike yesterday’s walk on the treadmill. Kickboxing is a great form of exercise and, because of the many advantages, it is a popular fitness regimen today.  Because we are living with incredible amounts of stress in our lives, hitting a bag or throwing forceful air punches using the force of our whole bodies is an amazing release.  This is one reason boxing is the “knock-out” workout of the year! Or, you might want to break up the monotony of jazzercise or spinning classes with a hiking workout.  Certainly, the variety will help put different muscles to work, boost cardio, and burn some fat.

Technology

The innovative technology of 2018 has brought us to virtual reality workouts. Treadmills that seamlessly connect to a game.   This allows you to run, pivot, jump and crouch while wearing sneakers that wirelessly interact with sensors on the treadmill.  It automatically measures your steps and calories, allowing you to track how hard your body’s working (while your mind is busy chasing bad guys!). The introduction of VR fitness means that you can go for scenic runs, travel the world, and compete in global events without ever leaving your living room.

Easier and more practical

The 1960’s was the era of the “crewneck sweatshirt”.  The ultimate ’60s fitness look was mid-thigh shorts, a cotton tee or tank, and a gray sweatshirt. This no-frills outfit was perfect for pumping iron. Today, as part of the active-lifestyle mindset, athletic designs favor a more minimalist look that can go anywhere. Hence, the fabric and fit of fitness clothes has become indistinguishable from typical street wear. The ability to exercise has become easier and more practical.

Benefits from physical activity are not restricted to exercise performed in the gym.  In fact, one of the easiest ways to improve your overall health may be through increasing the amount of low-intensity physical activity you perform throughout the day. Exercise is no longer a curse word!  Fitness and an active, healthy lifestyle represents the new Transformation. We are transforming the way we think about exercise and fitness. As a result, it no longer has to be dreadful, but an uplifting, fun lifestyle!

 

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Which is the King for Mass, While Minimizing Injury?

Developing strong, muscular legs requires you to perform a key exercise, the Squat. In the past, the traditional back squat was the bread and butter of all training programs. The problem is many athletes and competitors do not perform the back squat correctly, hence causing injuries that hinder their use of this proven exercise.

EXAMINING THE “BACK SQUAT” To perform the Back Squat effectively, you must have good shoulder external rotation to be able to place the bar in the correct low position. Many athletes who lack this mobility, place their hands wide on the bar, which causes your scapula to change position, ultimately leading to a rounding position of your spine. An additional problem performing the back squat is the “forward lean”. This causes your paraspinal muscles to become relaxed, because they are stretched and now causes excessive stress on your spine. Ultimately, it can risk vertebral disk damage.

EXAMINING THE “FRONT SQUAT” My favorite bar to use with the front squat is the yolk bar or cambered bar if your gym has one. Performing the front squat allows you to maintain an upright position, placing less strain on your spine and requires less or no use of your shoulders, except to hold the bar across the front of you. The front squat is an EXCELLENT movement to get bigger, stronger quads–probably the best exercise there is. Because your position is more upright, it emphasizes the quads more. Another good quality about front squats is the form is self correcting: If you’re not straight enough you’ll drop the bar… if you’re not holding the bar right you’ll drop it… if you don’t keep your elbows up you’ll drop it. It’s an exercise that pretty much forces your form to be good. Because you’re holding the weight in front of your body, and you must remain upright; your entire core gets a great workout trying to stabilize the weight and keeps you upright.

The benefits of this exercise don’t end with your legs. In general, squats create an overall anabolic environment in the body that maximizes gains from other exercises in your routine; squats have been long used as an effective training method in just about all sports. Squats involve a large muscle group and require a tremendous amount of energy to trigger the release of extra testosterone and growth hormone in the bloodstream. This powerful exercise is exactly what you need to develop strength and power, which will have a direct effect on your testosterone levels and fat burning potential.

SUPPLEMENTS TO ACCELERATE GAINS You can squat till you drop, but if you don’t have what the body needs, you’re just wasting your time. Always supply your body with a pre-workout supplement; the consumption of a pre-workout supplement delays the fatigue while increasing the muscular endurance and reaction time. My personal choice is Infinite Labs. Juggernaut. HP; it offers a unique creatine blend along with other patented ingredients. The HP represents cutting edge technology in the Nitric Oxide category. A product containing nitric oxide producing ingredients is one of the fastest, easiest and most effective ways to start seeing massive gains of lean muscle mass, with little to no side effects and numerous benefits to your bodybuilding routine and overall health. Juggernaut. HP also includes Agmatine, the new and more effective supplement to increase the Nitric Oxide production. There is no better “PUMP” out there.

GETTING IT GOING WITH THE “FRONT SQUAT”
If using a yolk bar or cambered bar, position the bar as close as possible to your neck to minimize forces pushing you forward causing rounding of your spine.

Choose a stance that is comfortable to you, or vary between feet shoulder width and a wide stance every other workout.

Attack the bar, approach the bar every set as if you have no weight on it!

Once holding the bar, generate power throughout your entire body, starting with locking your muscles in from ground up.

Stay in an upright position (keeping your chest up).Descend in a controlled manner, and then drive out of the hole with explosiveness.

Never sacrifice reps for form, consequences can lead to injury!

Reference:
A BIOMECHANICAL COMPARISON OF BACK AND FRONT SQUATS IN HEALTHY TRAINED INDIVIDUALS
JONATHAN C. GULLETT, MARK D. TILLMAN, GREGORY M. GUTIERREZ, AND JOHN W. CHOW Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Dear ladies of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and experience levels, I want to start by saying I’m a big proponent of advising women to do whatever the hell they want with their body. Your body is yours. I dislike anybody telling anyone what they’re “supposed” to be doing for fitness.

So no, you won’t find me giving any advice unrequested. But I’ll absolutely answer questions from other women, because I get asked them constantly.

As a longtime CrossFit athlete, I’ve been at the receiving end of some vitriolic language. I’ve been told what I do is stupid, and how I look is wrong. But I’ve also seen how simply being a muscular woman who is brazen enough to set foot outside of a gym seems to make other women comfortable asking any and all questions related to the human body, and so I’ve had no choice but to be prepared to respond.

Just a few of the out-of-the-blue questions that I get on a near-daily basis include:   

• “How do I lose weight?”
• “How do I get my arms/shoulders/legs to look like hers/yours?”
• “Should I do keto/fasting/whole 30/the cauliflower diet?”
• “How do I do a pull-up/deadlift/kettlebell swing/get stronger, period?”
• “How should I prepare for my hike in the Andes/walking tour of Barcelona/kayaking trip?”
• “How do I get toned?”
• “How do I get a bigger butt?”

And so on. Every woman who lifts could add to the list based on what they’ve heard. What can I say? Shoulders and biceps are the ultimate conversation starters.

At first glance, this may look like a wide range of questions, each with a unique and personal answer—but it’s not. Deep down, it’s all the same question: What’s the thing that makes all the other things work better?

And my response is always the same: lift weights.

Seriously, that’s it—even in response to questions about diet. Resistance training, and the changes it produces in a woman’s body, mind, and spirit, isn’t just a way of finding the answer—it is the answer.

Yeah, But…

More women than ever hear those two words—lift weights—and nod their heads in agreement. But plenty of others still walk away or offer a mixture of excuses, bad past experiences, or just, “Nah, not for me.”

And at this point, I’m not going to push the matter. A shrug, and an “OK, girl,” is all the argument you’ll get from me if we chat at a party. I usually save the torrent of things left unsaid, and questions unasked, for my poor husband when I get home.

When they ask me questions, here’s what I want to ask them back.

• Have you given it a real chance? Have you tried to get past the first week or two of soreness, or followed a program for longer than three weeks? If not, then sorry, you have no idea what you’re capable of.
• Have you pushed yourself to lift more, heavier, and differently each week—again and again and again? If not, then you don’t really know what’s “for you.” Because honestly, all the CrossFit versus bodybuilding versus powerlifting chatter is just nonsense. We’re just lifters, and we’re all part of the same conversation.
• Have you felt the overwhelming pride when you can lift something you never thought you’d lift? Because there’s no feeling like it—and it feels just as triumphant each new time it happens.
• Have you felt—not seen, but felt—the incredible benefits of resistance training? Because simply adding some lifting to your life—and doing nothing else—can single-handedly give you the fat loss, health boost, and stress relief you say you want.
• Have you watched the unbelievable and unexpected changes that gradually occur in a body when you lift consistently and progressively over a long period of time? They’re different for every woman, but they’re mind-blowing, impressive, and totally addictive.
• Have you seen the piles of research showing how lifting weights can make things that aren’t your muscles stronger? Have you heard what it can do for your mind? How about your self-esteem? And let’s not forget your lifespan.

The writing is on the wall, ladies. There are studies showing all these things and far more, but let’s be honest, studies have never been enough to make people implement meaningful changes in their behaviors. But you know what is? Seeing and feeling results in your everyday life.

So here are eight things that I want to tell women—all women—about lifting, and that they can only find out once they do it for themselves.Revel ProteinWith 25G Protein Per Serving to Support Muscle Building & RecoveryGO NOW

8 Truths About Lifting That No Study Will Tell You

1. It makes you better at everything else you like to do. There is nothing wrong with that yoga/barre/Zumba class you’ve been taking, or even that marathon you’ve been training for. But it’s only one side of the equation. Strength is the other. Adding strength to these activities makes you a stronger runner or yogi, and a better athlete, period. It’s the missing ingredient between “I do what everyone else does” and “Everybody keeps asking me how I got better.”

2. It completely changes your mindset about food. Muscle and strength take a lot of energy to build and maintain. Know what that means? You get to eat more. In fact, you have to. Instead of being a problem to solve, food becomes a positive force that moves you toward your goals.  Those calories and macros begin to mean something.

3. There’s an unbelievably positive community of strong women waiting for you. This can be surprising to a lot of women who carry unpleasant memories about fitness and exercise from their adolescent years, but seriously—it’s not like junior high anymore (and if it is, then that’s a problem with your gym, and you need a new one). Women who lift can be competitive and encouraging at the same time—in the best way. They legitimately want you to do better, both because it makes them better, and because it just feels great to watch other women get stronger. My lifting friends are 100 percent proud of me, as I am of them—no matter if the result is a PR or a total fail.

4. Fears of getting “bulky” are unfounded. Women lack the hormonal profile to grow the same amount of muscle as men by accident. Unless you’re actively training and eating (especially eating) with the precise goal of getting large and in charge—which, to be clear, I totally applaud—you just aren’t going to gain that much size.

5. If you want anything to get bigger, you might need to make everything bigger. This is the flipside to the “bulky” thing. If you want to get in on the big-booty craze, then you’re going to need to grow a little in places other than your glutes, too. You’ll need to put your glutes—and the rest of your body—through some tough workouts, and fuel those workouts with solid nutrition.

But here’s the thing: Once you start training and seeing how adding just a little more muscle can pay off immensely, you take pride in every extra inch. I’m proud that my shoulders and back are too big for most clothes, and if you start straining a few seams here and there, you should be proud, too.

6. Lifting can be as difficult or as easy as you want it to be. Lifting isn’t something you need to live up to, it’s something that can meet you wherever you are now. If you can’t lift a barbell over your head, there are still ways to build stronger shoulders—many, many ways in fact. If you’re injured, there are ways to work around it. If you feel like you can’t do anything, a smart trainer can prove you wrong, and help you keep moving forward.  

7. Lifting weights makes the human body more capable. Plenty of people obsess over how “functional” their training is. You don’t have to. Simply lifting consistently and incrementally getting stronger trains your body to do more, be more, and to transcend its old limitations. Going across the monkey bars with your kids, being able to help move a couch, even changing the jug at the water cooler—they’re small but meaningful ways you can use strength to take ownership of your life.

8. The longer you train, the better it gets. The fitness goals I have for myself at 33 would have astounded my 23-year-old self. I have a better, more authentic relationship with myself because I constantly push myself to be better. I know all my excuses. I know all my weaknesses.

And after nearly a decade of doing this, I keep coming back for more.

I want to scream from the rooftops how lifting weights has changed my life, in ways I get to enjoy every day. I want to yell how it’s made me view my body as a badass tool that can do anything I need it to. I want to show women just how much confidence I’ve gained from being strong, and watch them feel it, too.  

And I want to encourage them—and you—to just start, no matter where you’re at now. Because you don’t know where it will take you until you do. Women have more styles of lifting—and strength sports, if they choose to compete—available to them than ever before. But they all start in the same place: lifting consistently for months and years on end.

Respect your limits, but nudge them forward. Make strength training a priority in your life, as high on the list as sweating, stretching, nutrition, or any other type of self-care.

Find a workout program that suits your needs, and just start it. You’ll never regret the time you spend with a dumbbell, kettlebell, bar, or barbell in your hand. You’ll never regret pushing boundaries. You’ll never regret trying.