Happy Halloween

Just a quick entry today. Today is Halloween and I just wanted to say have fun, inspect your kids candy before they eat it (I appreciated my grandma doing that more than I did when I was a kid). Stay safe and have a good time today and tonight.

Effects of Exercise on Your Mental State

Today I'd like to talk about the positive effects that exercise has on our brain and mental health. For years I've noticed that if I'm stress out or upset about something it helps when I work out. Afterward, I do feel better and seem to think a bit more clearly about what is bothering me or causing me stress.

I found an article on WebMD that taled about how regular exercise can increase the amount of endorphins in your brain (they make you feel good) and decrease feelings of depression and sadness.
"Regular exercise has been proven to help:
-Reduce stress
-Ward off anxiety and feelings of depression
-Boost self-esteem
-Improve sleep "

If you want to feel better mentally, if you've been stressed out about work, school or perhaps something in your personal life a bit of exercise will help put you in a better mood and assist you in thinking clearer. I notice that a lot of people in business field unrelated to exercise work out on a regular basis and this could be due to what the article talks about.

Go for a run or play a sport or lift weights. Do something because exercise will make you feel better.

New week to begin working out

So today is Monday which means it is a great day to start a week of exercising. It's a fresh start for people that might have indulged in the weekend a little bit too much. Too much pizza or beer or burgers eaten while watching football on Saturday and/or Sunday means that the gym will probably be packed today. This seems to happen every Monday. I think it's because people feel guilty about how much they ate or drank on the weekend.

Due to the fact that the gym is going to be packed today, Mondays are usually good days to run outside or due some sort of workout at home. Pushups and situps are great exercises and can be done anywhere. Find two chairs and you can do tricep exercises like this one:

The most important thing is to realize that Monday may be a start of the new work week but it can also be the start of a new workout week and that provides motivation for me and it can also do it for you.

The Importance of Nutrition in an Exercise Program

Nutrition in an Exercise Program

While working out is important something that is of equal importance is watching what you eat and when you eat. Our bodies need a certain amount of calories to maintain our day to day activities. In order to lose weight a person needs to take in less calories than is burnt through exercise and normal activity.

Running traditionally burns the most calories so if a person wants to take a couple pounds off, eat less calories and run.


How to Lose Weight -- powered by eHow.com

It's as simple as that. It can be hard but the thing that makes it hard is to be able to be consistant with working out and taking in less calories.

Eating the right things at the right time is important as mentioned in the video clip. It's important to drink about 8 cups of water a day. That can be very hard but it is important because it flushes your system out of the bad toxins that are harmful. Stop drinking sodas as they are bad for you due to the excess sugars contained in the soft drinks.

Hopefully this will help people start to eat better and give them another reason to go work out. If you eat better and combine it with excersize the weight will come off and you will begin to feel better.

Good Exercise Links I View

Some exercise links of note
Since I've been working out I developed an Excel Spreadsheet to track my progress while working out. I also like to go to a few websites and check out the latest information on exercising and working out. Below are some of those websites that I find useful.

---

Here's a good place to look for running highlights.This site has a lot of good information concerning running and training for competitive runs.

Here's a good personal web site with a man that has had success in losing weight.

This is a website I visit for a lot of good articles on working out and tracking progress.

RUNNING IN THE RAIN

Today I went running after doing some yard work and it started raining. Although it cooled me off I was wet all over and my shoes got wet and the wetness got to my socks. I hate that feeling.

It just goes to show you that you have to plan for anything. Just because it rains doesn't mean you need to stop running. If it were lightning then that would be a different story because it would be a safety issue. Lightning is very dangerous and nobody needs to run that bad that they risk getting struck by lightning.

When running in the rain you just need to be a little more cautious about footing and you will probably get your clothes dirty as it's wet and you'll probably get grass or some sort of debris on your legs or clothes. Either way it's ok to run in the rain.

Weekend Update

This weekend I only got to work out once and that wasn't much of a work out. I was at work and then hung out with friends watching highlights of football games on Saturday and then Sunday worked until 8PM. It's hard sometimes to find time to work out. Sometimes we need to have a day off from exercising and just enjoy a day off from working out. Enjoy the off days you have because you'll be working out hard again and get back into it.

Monday and Tuesday I work in the early afternoon so I can workout in the morning before I have to go to work. If that is not going to happen for some reason I also have the option of working out after work. The important thing is going to work out. Making time to work out is very important, especially if you have a busy day or quite a few responsibilities at work.

Running Time

I was recently asked how long is a good time length to run for. I would suggest that people run for at least 20 minutes. This doesn't need to be constant running (although that would be very effective) but a good jog for 20 minutes or so is effective for getting the heart rate up and burning fat.

One of the ways I train is the HITT training I've talked about in the past. HITT training involves changing speeds and elevations on a treadmill every minute or so to change the intensity of your workout. By the end of only 10 minutes you'll have gotten quite the workout and you get much stronger cardio functioning and will be able to last longer.

I play soccer and the HITT training is very effective for soccer and other sports where you go from jogging to running quickly and then back to jogging. Believe me, your legs will feel it the next day and you will build up a good sweat.

Jogging is great for relaxation or if you need to think about something you are preoccupied on (work, plans to do something that is important to you, ect.) When jogging I like to do 2-3 miles, or a 5k (3.1 miles). The longer you run the more calories you burn and the quicker it will take to get you into shape.

Running Again

Well it's a great day to start running again. I went to the gym and focused my attention on cardio. When a person starts working out for the first time in a while he or she needs to start slow. My goal today was to be able to do 1 mile. I accomplished that plus I did some biking too.

What's the best way to get back to the fitness level I was at before I stopped working out? My plan of action is to try to run at least a little bit every day or so. I know I will be sore if I run every day and in the long run it is not healthy or smart to run every day as the legs can't take running every day. I'll also watch what I eat more closely. How many people out there have stopped working out for one reason or another and decided to start again? What makes people get back to working out? Let's hope things continue in the right direction and I can make it a habit again!

Fell off the horse and now back again

A few months ago I had joined a group that played soccer every Tuesday evening. I suffered a pulled groin muscle and had to quit running for a while. Well, groin pulls take time to heal and after a few weeks it was better but by then I had stopped working out on a consistant basis.

Work has been busy. I have gotten a promotion recently and have been busy learning and getting comfortable with my new roles and responsibilities. My mind has been on learning the new roles of my new position and not focussing on working out.

Either way, I have got to begin working out again. I have a gym membership and don't want to waste my money by not going to the gym. So I am beginning to work out again and need to focus on running and cardio to cut down on my calories and lose weight. I put the weight on that I had lost so now I have to start over.