It’s time to learn how to lunge! The lunge is a perfect bodyweight exercise that doesn’t require any equipment, so I’m excited you want to learn more about them. When we design workouts for our coaching clients, we often include lunges so they can train their lower body ANYWHERE. Today, we’ll share with you the goods on how our clients perform their bodyweight lunges. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Let’s jump (lunge?) right in! What Muscles Does the Lunge Train? (Why Do Lunges?)If you’re doing bodyweight exercises, lunges are a great addition. With a lunge, you work your:
Lunges are what we call a “compound exercise,” which means they recruit more than one muscle group as you perform the movement. We’re big fans of compound exercises around these parts, because they more closely resemble how your body evolved to move. If you’ve ever heard the term “functional fitness,” it’s the same idea here. A “functional” exercise is something that will help you in day-to-day life. For example, when leaning down to tie your shoe, you’re probably doing some sort of lunge variation. Since you have to hold yourself upright throughout the movement, performing lunges will help you achieve better balance. This is going to help in all sorts of ways as you go about your day. Outside of a squat, there’s no better bodyweight exercise to train your lower body. Plus, with a dumbbell or a kettlebell, you can easily add some weight to make them more difficult: So let’s show you how it’s done! How Do You Perform a Lunge?In the video above (from Nerd Fitness Prime), Coach Jim and Staci demonstrate how to perform a bodyweight lunge. To perform a forward lunge:
It’ll look something like this: If a normal lunge is too much for you right now, no problem. You can still get started doing assisted lunges, like so: The only real difference with the assisted lunge will be your hands. You’ll need to grab something to support yourself. It could be a weight lifting rack (like shown in the video), a doorway in your home, or even just a sturdy chair. A park bench could also work well here: Another option to get you going would be a split squat (assisted variation shown below): This exercise keeps your feet in place the entire time and can be easier to balance and manage when starting off. The split squats may also be a better option for those of you with knee concerns – as it can often be easier to control the depth of the movement and keep you moving pain-free. Now, let’s talk about lots of different lunge forms you can try. The most popular variation would be the reverse lunge, which we’ll devote an entire section to next. What Is the Difference Between Front Lunges and Reverse Lunges?The difference between a front and reverse lunge is all about the direction your leading foot is moving. The front lunge has you stepping forward. So with a reverse lunge, you’re stepping…wait for it…backward! To do a reverse lunge:
Much like the assisted front lunge we discussed above, a sturdy chair or doorway can help as you grow strength in this movement. Why do a reverse lunge over a forward lunge? The reverse lunge might be easier for a beginner than the forward lunge.
The difference in shifting weight may make balancing with a forward lunge more challenging. Plus, for those of you with knee concerns, the reverse lunge may also feel kinder on the joint. The forward lunge requires the knee and leg to decelerate the body in a certain manner (think of slowing yourself as you walk down a hill), which may cause discomfort. The different movements and mechanics of the reverse lunge may be a better option for you! So feel free to start performing reverse lunges before you start lunging forward. Now, the fun doesn’t stop once you get the hang of the forward and reverse lunges. Let’s discuss some more variations you can try out. 15 Lunge Variations to Try (How to Scale Lunges)Depending on your current experience level, try some of these lunge variations on for size. #1) One Leg Balance We mentioned earlier that lunges will challenge your balance. If this is tricky for you, start by just balancing on one leg until you get a little more comfortable. #2) Assisted Forward Lunge When you’re just starting out, go with the assisted forward lunge to help you build some strength. #3) Forward Lunge When people say “do a lunge,” they probably mean the forward lunge, as shown above. #4) Reverse Lunge Once a forward lunge ain’t no thang, turn it around and try going backward (for funsies). #5) Lateral Lunge Forward and backward aren’t the only directions for our lunges! To perform a lateral lunge:
#6) Split Squat The difference here from a normal lunge: you step one foot forward and the other back, keeping them in place for the duration of the rep. That means your center of gravity is “split” between both legs. #7) Step Up Just when you thought we couldn’t add any more directions, we’re mixing things up with a whole new dimension: up! You can increase or decrease the height of the box to make the exercise harder or easier. Max box/bench height should put your thigh at parallel with the ground at the start. #8) Bulgarian Split Squat This squat/lunge variation is really going to challenge your quads and mobility in your hips. To perform a Bulgarian Split Squat:
#9) Split Squat Jumps To perform split squat jumps:
#10) Walking Lunge If you have a little room to maneuver, you can do walking lunges: To perform a walking lunge:
#11) Pendulum Lunge We’re going to really challenge your balance here. To perform a pendulum lunge:
#12) Goblet Lunge It’s now time to add a little weight into the equation: This exercise is just like a normal bodyweight lunge, but you hold a dumbbell between your hands as if it were a goblet (keep it upright so it won’t spill). If you can’t maintain good form, decrease the dumbbell weight. #13) Overhead Lunge This is much like the goblet lunge, but you hold the weight over your head. This will provide a full-body workout as you maintain the weight above you. #14) Barbell Lunge Once you get accustomed to performing lunges with a barbell, there’s practically no limit to how intense this exercise can get: To perform a barbell lunge:
#15) Split Squat, Front Foot Elevated. This will be a more challenging variation for your hip and ankle mobility – since your foot is elevated they’ll be required to move a bit more as you sink deeper into the exercise. As with other lunge variations – this can be done assisted, unassisted, or with weights! How to Include Lunges in Your Workout (Next Steps)The only question left to answer is when to do your lunges. For that, it’s time to build a workout routine. We generally recommend our coaching clients complete a full-body strength training workout 2-3 times per week. Such a full-body routine would include your:
Lunges would cover your entire lower body. So would bodyweight squats. If you went with a Monday-Wednesday-Friday workout schedule, you could do:
All you’ll need are some pull, push, and core exercises and you’ll have a full-body program. For suggestions on these, make sure you read our guide on building a full-body workout routine. Want a little more help getting going? You seem like a nice person, so I’ll share with you our top suggestions for next steps: Option #1) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on the equipment you have available, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program! For example, let’s say you find yourself stuck indoors during a pandemic, and you want somebody to custom-build you a workout program based on the equipment and furniture you have. That’s where an online coach is a game-changer! Personally, I’ve been working with the same online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the box below: Option #2) If you want a daily prompt for a functional fitness workout, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). You’ll learn how to do awesome bodyweight exercises like lunges, all while earning XP! Sa-weet! Try your free trial right here: Option #3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out from home” guides.
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Alright, now I want to hear from you and your experience with lunges! Do you include lunges in your bodyweight training? Any lunge variation I’m missing? What are your questions on how to get started with lunges? Let me know in the comments! -Steve PS: If you’re interested in more no-equipment workouts, check out The 42 Best Bodyweight Exercises. ### Photo Source: Fencing, A good Sunday to you, Yoga Sunset. The post The Ultimate Guide for Performing Lunges (Forward & Reverse) first appeared on Nerd Fitness. The Ultimate Guide for Performing Lunges (Forward & Reverse) published first on http://smokecignals.tumblr.com/ via Tumblr The Ultimate Guide for Performing Lunges (Forward & Reverse)
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It’s time to learn some yoga poses! Whether you’re comfortable on a yoga mat or you think a downward dog is just something your puppy does, you’re in the right place. We teach yoga in our Online Coaching Program where some of our clients have used it to improve their back pain…like Brain here: He also switched up his diet and lost 75 pounds! I can’t wait to help you get started. Today’s yoga poses will be broken out into three levels, for you to progress in difficulty. What can I say, we love leveling up here at Nerd Fitness. Most of our poses are basic, Level One, in case you are completely new to yoga. However, we’ll include a few more advanced poses for further advancement. We’ll start by discussing a little Yoga 101, in case you are totally lost right now and don’t know yoga from yogurt. If you wanna skip to your desired video or pose, just click on it. Super Sweet Sequence Covering Basic Yoga PosesBasic Yoga Poses (Level 1)
Beginner Yoga Poses (Level 2)Intermediate Yoga Poses (Level 3)Yoga Stretches for Desk WorkersRoll out the matt! Let’s do some yoga. WHAT IS YOGA EXACTLY?Yoga means lots of different things to different people… like Windfarm Yoga apparently, to the woman in the photo above. As one commenter from Cracked pointed out: “The only thing I know for sure about yoga is that whatever you’re doing when you practice it, you’ll be assured by someone that it isn’t “real yoga.”[1] I’m not interested in that particular aspect of the yoga debate: people need things to argue about and get offended over…because Internet. What’s important to me is getting more people interested in trying yoga out because it’s damn fun and can really improve your life. After all, as Vox explains:
Science is essentially telling us: Yoga can help you become more flexible like Black Widow, improve your strength like the Hulk, extend your life like the elves of Rivendell, and give you mental awareness like Yoda. The jury is still out as to whether or not it grants us telekinetic powers. Please email me if a yoga practice helps you levitate rocks. When I approached yoga years ago as an attempt to improve my flexibility and to combat poor posture, I was initially worried about looking foolish or finding some aspect of the exercise that didn’t sit right with me. Instead, I found a complimentary, enjoyable activity that helped improve my flexibility and mobility, alleviated my lower back pain, opened up my hips to combat a lifetime of sitting, and even helped me quiet my overactive mind! Plus, it was like a power-up for my strength workouts. It’s now an activity I do with regularity throughout my week, incorporating yoga stretches during the day in between desk sessions, after working out, and attending the occasional class to level up. WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT YOGA?If you read Nerd Fitness, you’re probably a skeptic. After all, one of the Rules of the Rebellion is to question everything! So you might be thinking: “Steve, you’re not going to ask me to start speaking in mantras, chanting OMMMMMM, and work on improving my spiritual chi.” As somebody who started yoga with the exact same reservations, I sit before you a changed man. For starters, if you decide the spiritual aspects of the practice aren’t for you, you’re not alone: research into yoga’s history can lead down an internet rabbit hole of controversy that is bottomless.[3] So we’re not going to jump in that fight. Instead, what you will find when it comes to yoga is study after study showing that this form of exercise is incredibly beneficial: 1) A body prepared to handle anything: at Nerd Fitness, we are huge fans of strength training, and yoga is its perfect compliment. It elongates your muscles, improves your flexibility, can release tension in your neck and shoulders, and helps you do things like touch your toes![4] It can help you build stronger muscles, improve balance and stability (especially for our older rebels[5]), and make you more “antifragile” (one of my favorite terms). As one study points out:[6]
2) Yoga is great for lower back pain: If you’re one of the 31+ million people like myself who struggle with lower back pain, yoga can help.[7] Yoga really helps those of us stuck at a computer all day long as well.[8] 3) Yoga can help meet weight loss goals when combined with a healthy diet. Look, we all know our diet is responsible for 80-90% of our success when it comes to weight loss. The other 10-20% of the equation is participating in physical activities that push your body outside its comfort zone. Yoga is a great way to burn a few extra calories and keep your brain focused on “I am doing healthy things and thus I should be eating healthy foods!” It can help improve our fight against cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and obesity.[9] It’s also a great rest day activity to keep you on track when you’re not doing your other workouts. 4) Speaking of which…yoga can be done every single day, and can be done anywhere. No gym required, no equipment required – no excuses! On top of that, because it’s a low-impact activity and doesn’t overly tax your muscles like a powerlifting session, you can do yoga every single day, anywhere you can find a soft place to sit down: your living room, a park, a beach, your bedroom, on the moon, etc. 5) Yoga can quiet an overactive mind: We live in a world with a distraction around every corner; we read Facebook or our favorite blog while checking email and texts… while trying to work a day job. If you’re anything like me, your mind races a million miles an hour, and trying to develop a sense of control and calm over your mind is like herding cats. We’ve already explained the benefits of Meditation for Nerds; yoga can be tremendously helpful with becoming more aware of our bodies and help with reducing stress and anxiety.[10] Lastly, if yoga is good enough for badass Dhalsim from Street Fighter II, it’s good enough for me: Alright, I’m going to assume at this point you are on board with yoga. If being able to completely demolish a car with your bare hands doesn’t convince you, nothing will.[11] So let’s go over some yoga poses and routines. A YOGA ROUTINE FOR BEGINNERS YOU CAN DO AT HOMEWe’ll start out our explanation of different yoga poses by showing you what the end result can look like. Here’s a complete routine covering some basic yoga poses: The above video (Water Series – A) is taken from our course, Nerd Fitness Yoga (a part of Nerd Fitness Prime). If you like it, I’d encourage you to go browse the page and check it out. Nerd Fitness Yoga is a course you can follow along within the comfort of your own home, and it’s built specifically for members of the Rebellion: easy to follow instructions, an inviting attitude, and as you can tell… some corny jokes from yours truly. This course will work for men and women of all shapes, ages, and sizes, giving anybody the confidence to get started IMMEDIATELY. Follow it regularly and you can expect the benefits of the dozens of studies I linked above when it comes to yoga practice. In addition to a HUGE pose library and step-by-step instructions, it also contains all of the following full-length yoga sessions filmed in HD:
All of these videos can be streamed or downloaded to any device as many times as you’d like so you can practice yoga wherever, whenever. 10 BEGINNER YOGA POSES (LEVEL 1)Seated Cross LeggedOne of the most popular yoga poses is simply Seated Cross Legged. A seated position helps relax, reset, and open your hips up a bit. Bring yourself down to a seat on the floor, whatever is most comfortable. Cross one ankle of the other in front of you and sit cross-legged. Take a big breath in and straighten your spine as if there was a string pulling your head and neck up to the ceiling. Breathe out, but keep that upright posture. Hands can rest on your knees, but shouldn’t push out or pressure your legs. Table Top Cat-CowThis is actually a series of a few poses (Table Top, Cat, & Cow) that is used in almost every yoga session to help reset your spines and warm up your back. Start in Table Top, with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Your spine should be parallel with the floor to start. Exhale and slowly press into your hands as you abs up towards your spine. Round your spine to the ceiling as you bring your chin towards your chest. Gently push out your shoulders. Inhale and relax your abs while you bring your hips back down. Lengthen your torso as your head comes up and looks towards the ceiling. Your chest should come forward slightly and your lower back should push into your pelvis. Relax and return back to a neutral Table Top position. Child’s PoseChild’s Pose is considered a resting position. This means that any time you feel overwhelmed, overheated, or stressed about a particular pose or variation while doing yoga, STOP what you are doing and come slowly into a Child’s Pose to rest. This pose helps lower stress, refocus your mind, and lightly stretch primarily your lower back, hips, and thighs. Start by kneeling on the floor with your toes touching behind you. Widen your knees so they are just a little wider than your hips. Gently lower your body between your knees and hips. Your arms will stretch out lightly in front of you and you can drop your shoulders to the sides and down. A variation you can use (which may be easier or harder for you) is to tuck your toes under your feet, instead of having the tops or side of your feet against the ground. Do whichever variation is most comfortable and natural for your body. Forward FoldForward Fold is another one of our most popular yoga poses. It’s primarily focused on stretching the lower back, hips, hamstrings, and calves. Start standing and gently bend forward as you lengthen your torso and spine. As you fold towards the ground, keep your knees straight (but not locked out). If you can, grab the back of your calves and gently pull yourself deeper into the fold. As you breathe in, you can lift slightly and extend your torso and spine forwards. As you exhale, you can fold forward again into the stretch. To scale this down, you may use blocks to help raise the floor. Keep your knees straight and your spine long, and fold as far as you can comfortably go. StandingStanding pose is a resting and centering pose in yoga, but don’t take it for granted. Even when we are standing in between poses, be sure to stay strong, active, and rooted through your feet. Your feet should also be flat and not rolled in or bowed out. Activate your hips to prevent locking out your knees and keep your posture and spine tall and elevated. Finally, your shoulder should be open and your chest broad. Neck in line with your spine (not hunched forward). Stretch tall from your hips through your head. Standing MountainStanding Mountain is a great pose to warm up our shoulders and spine. Start by staying strong and rooted through your feet (which are flat on the ground). Legs active, but not locked out. Shoulders open and neck in line with spine. As you take a deep breath, bring both arms straight out in front of you and up overhead towards the ceiling. Make sure your shoulders aren’t hunched and close to your ears, but rather relaxed and released down. Rooting through your shoulder blades, pull your spine and arms towards the ceiling. CobraCobra is a popular pose that almost always follows Plank as a transitional sequence in many yoga sessions. This pose primarily stretches the shoulders, chest, spine, and stomach. Start by laying flat on the ground on your belly, with the tops of your feet on the floor. Your hands should be positioned under your shoulders (much like you would imagine starting a pushup). Slowly push down through your hands and straighten your arms to lift your chest up off the floor, but unlike a push-up, keep your hips, thighs, and tops of feet rooted and pushing down towards the ground. Move your shoulder blades back, lift your chest, and look forward and slightly up. Hold for several seconds and then slowly release down. To scale this pose down, only raise your chest and head to where you are comfortable. Be sure to keep your hips and thighs pushing down to the floor, even if that means you can only raise your chest a little. Low LungeLow Lunge is a variation of Lunge that is a building block for several more advanced poses. It’s most commonly thought of a Lunge with your knee on the ground. This pose will primarily stretch and strengthen the groin, hamstrings, and hips. Often, you’ll get into a lunge by starting in a Forward Fold and slowly stepping one of your legs back behind you. If you need to, you can scoot your foot back several times until you are able to have your front knee directly over your front ankle. As you bring your leg back, drop your back knee to rest on the ground. This will help support some of your weight, but the majority of your weight should stay pushing forward through your front knee and hips. Bend your torso over your front knee and lengthen your spine forward. Your weight should be pressing down through your heels. To scale down, you can use blocks on each side to balance yourself more without having to reach all the way down to the floor. Knee HugThis pose is used to compress and tighten your body. It’s often used right before Corpse Pose at the end of sessions to reset. Start this pose by lying on your back with your arms and legs straight out. Take a deep breath and slowly bring your legs together and your knees lifted toward your chest. As your knee comes up, wrap your arms around them and clasp your hands together. If you can’t quite wrap your arms you can reach down each hand and gently pull in your kneecaps. Gently squeeze your knees into your chest, keeping your back flat on the ground and dropping your shoulders down. You can focus your eyes down the center of your body. If for any reason you have trouble doing this, simply raise your knees towards your chest as far as they will go. Hold for a few seconds and release back down. Corpse PoseEveryone’s favorite yoga pose, and often a way to end a complete session! And while at first, it can seem like just lying on the ground, there’s more to it than that. This poses is fantastic for calming the mind, relieving stress, and relaxing the body back into a neutral position. You’ll have a desire towards the end of a session to skip over Corpse Pose and move on. Don’t! Spend a few minutes coming back down and resetting your body in each session. Start by laying on your back. Your arms should stretch down comfortably to each side, slightly away from your body. Both your legs stretched out and with a little space, as well. Do your best to “release” your shoulders and neck and let them fall neutral as well (even when on our backs we tend to engage our necks). Focus on your breathing and on relaxing any tight or sore areas of your body. If you need to, turn onto your side and bend your knees (laying on your side completely). Wiggle your toes, ankles, hands, or wrists as needed. 8 BASIC YOGA POSES (LEVEL 2)Downward DogThis pose primarily focuses on stretching the shoulders, hamstrings, and calves. The first few times you get into Downward Dog, you’ll want to start on your hands and knees (what we call Table Top), but with your arms a little bit forward of your head. Pushing into your hands and toes, slowly lift your knees off the ground. If you can, slowly straighten your knees (don’t lock them) as you gently stretch your heels down to the ground. Once comfortable, you can work your shoulders back toward your tailbone. To scale this down, you can lift your heels further off the ground and/or bend your knees for easy modification. You can also use blocks to elevate your arms as another alternative. Crescent MoonCrescent Moon is a variation of Low Lunge where we stretch upright towards the ceiling. This pose primarily stretches and strengthens the groin, hips, chest, spine, and shoulders. To start this pose, you’ll want to get into a comfortable Low Lunge. Usually, this means stepping one leg forward from Downward Dog or stepping one leg back from Forward Fold, and then dropping your back knee down rooted on the ground. As you take a deep breath, bring your torso up from lunge to upright and stretch both hands straight up toward the ceiling. Instead of arching your back, draw your hips down and forward and lean your shoulder back (keeping it straight and engaged). To scale this pose down, you can just stay in Low Lunge and work on stretching without extending upward. BridgeBridge is a backbend pose that primarily stretches and strengthens the back and spine, but also the chest, shoulders, and neck. Start by laying flat on your back. Bring your feet flat on the ground as close to your butt as they comfortably sit. Arms should be flat and down to your sides. Pushing down through your feet and arms, slowly lift your butt off the floor and into Low Bridge (around when your spine is straight with your legs). If you are comfortable, you can bring your hands together under yourself. Continue to slowly push your hips and butt towards the ceiling, making sure to keep your knees over top of your ankles. Work towards parallel with the ground for the full Bridge pose. To scale this down, stop in Low Bridge if going further is uncomfortable. If Low Bridge is difficult, just practice moving your hips slightly off the ground from the starting position. As you gain more flexibility, you’ll work to hold in Low Bridge. Half SplitsThis pose primarily stretches your hamstrings, hips, and lower back. To start this pose, get into a Low Lunge. Your back knee should be firmly rooted on the ground. Slowly shift your weight as you move your hips and torso over your back knee. As you do this your front leg will go from bent at the knee to fully extended straight in a line. If you need them, you can use blocks or a supporting prop on each side now to support your weight (if you can’t reach the ground here). Slowly fold forward over the top of your extended front leg, with your hips staying rooted back and over top of your knee that’s on the floor. To scale this down, use blocks on each side as suggested above. You can also stay upright (instead of folding towards the end). Stop in the progression whenever you lose comfort. LungeThe Lunge is a major building block for all sorts of yoga poses. Many poses are variations of or come in and out of the Lunge. This pose will primarily stretch and strengthen the groin, hamstrings, hips, and knees. Often you will get into lunges starting in a Forward Fold and slowly stepping one of your legs back behind you. If you need to, you can scoot your foot back several times until you are able to have your knee directly over your front ankle. Bend your torso over your front knee and lengthen your spine forward. Your weight should be pressing down through your heels and your back knee should be active with your knee straight throughout. To scale down, you can use blocks on each side to balance yourself more without having to reach all the way down to the floor. At any time, you can also drop the back knee down to the ground coming into Low Lunge instead. NinjaOne of the most fun poses to make sound effects while doing, Ninja is actually a series of movements rather than a single pose. You might also have heard it called a Side Lunge, but this is Nerd Fitness, so we’re going with Ninja. This pose helps strengthen the entire lower body and stretch out the hamstrings. Start by lowering yourself into a half squat (Frog Prep). Choose a foot and turn your toes out a little wider. Walk your hands over to your foot. Bend deep into that side’s knee as you lift up onto the heel of your opposite foot. Point or flex that foot up towards the ceiling. Bring your hands to prayer in front of your chest. Extend both arms out in an upward-facing arc and look towards your extended leg. Hold the pose and keep your leg muscles engaged. Slowly come back up to Frog Prep (body in the middle) and slide over to the other side repeating the steps above. Seated Side FoldSeated Side Fold is a good, simple combination of a fold and a side stretch in one pose. Sometimes referred to this as “Half Dragonfly” as a nickname. This pose primarily stretches your spine, lower back, hamstrings, and groin. Start in a seated position, with your legs outspread wide in a V shape in front of you. About a 90-degree angle between your legs. Bring one of your feet over to your other thigh, so that the bottom of your foot rests tucked in and touching your thing just above the knee. Keeping your hips rooted down and your spine extended tall and towards the ceiling, you can gently fold over and use your arms to walk down your chest towards the ground next to the thigh and knee of your fully extended leg. You should be slightly off-center, in line with your straightened leg (rather than a traditional fold which would come straight to the center). To scale down this pose, you can stay in the original seated position with both legs out in front of you in a V. Gently fold forward a little to each side and you warm up. 3 INTERMEDIATE YOGA POSES (LEVEL 3)Chair PoseChair pose is the basis for many of the more advanced moves found in yoga. It primarily stretches the chest and shoulders, while helping to strengthen your core and legs. Start in Standing with your arms out in front of you. Slowly bend your knees, moving them gradually more forward away from your toes. At the same time, drop your hips and butt back as you try to achieve a 90-degree angle with your thighs and calves. As you sit down, your arms will come straight above your head (next to your ears), pointing up with palms facing in. To scale this down, you’ll find it a little easier to keep your arms out in front of you – or coming towards your chest forming a “ball of energy.” Like in Dragonball. Drop your hips only as low as you can comfortably maintain for a stable hold. Warrior 2This pose primarily strengthens your shoulders, arm, thighs and opens up your chest and shoulders. Starting in Standing, exhale as you step one foot back. Align your back heel behind the other heel and then turn your back foot out 90 degrees. Turn your hips out and align your forward thigh with your forward knee. Slowly raise your arm, one forward and one back, both parallel to the ground. As you exhale, bend the right knee forward until it lines up straight over your right heel. Press your heels into the floor. To scale this pose down, you can bring your legs slightly in closer together. You also have the option to bend forward a little less or bring your hands back down onto your hips. Extended Side AngleExtended Side Angle is one of our broader Warrior-sequence poses, often done together in pairs or sets with other poses from the same group. This primarily stretches your groin, back, and torso. It also strengthens your thighs, hips, and legs. Starting in Standing, spread your legs slightly apart with hips facing forward. Choose one side and rotate that foot outward about 45 degrees. Bend the knee over the rotated foot and shift your weight to that side. Keep your stretched-out back leg in place and keep pushing down through that foot. Bring your elbow (same chosen side as the bent knee), down to rest on your bent knee. Your hand and arm coming out in front of you. Your opposite arm now extends high into the air straight overhead. To scale this pose down, you can narrow your stance a little bit more and bring your hips a little higher in the air. Move deeper down as you get more comfortable. If you are comfortable enough here to scale up, you can switch your eyes to look at your arm overhead and gently stretch that arm to the side (so it falls in line with your torso and spine). This will deepen the stretch even further. Rebel WarriorRebel Warrior is another pose in our Warrior-sequences that are often used in pairs or sets as transitions to one another. You’ll sometimes hear it referred to as “Peaceful Warrior,” but, you know… This pose primarily stretches the groin, hips, and shoulders. Start in Warrior 2. Bring the rear hand down to the back leg, palm facing down. Turn the front palm facing upwards towards the sky. On an inhale, extend the front arm up towards the sky, palm facing towards the back of the room. Keep your hips open, but reach your heart up towards the sky. Keep the back of your neck long and your eye gaze pointing in the same direction as your heart. Keep bending deeply into your front knee; try to keep the weight evenly distributed on your front foot. To scale this pose, bring your legs in a little closer together to shorten the depth of the stretch. As you get comfortable you can ease back down into the full pose. YOGA STRETCHES FOR DESK WORKERSWork a desk job? Consider these two additional videos: Wrist MobilityWrists are an often overlooked area of stiffness and soreness for many people. Whether you type on a keyboard daily or are looking to improve front squats and handstands you’ll benefit from this 6-minute yoga session: Proper PostureHours hunched over a computer, stuffed into a car, or playing various games can cause some pretty awkward posture habits. This 6-minute yoga session will help you reset and improve your posture as you go through your day: When you’re able to escape from your desk for a few, these short sequences are perfect to help stretch out your body and help prevent injury. If you do find yourself stuck at a computer for most of the day, with seemingly no time to work out, we can help! We offer a 1-on-1 private coaching program to help busy people just like you level up their lives. We will get to know you, your goals, and your lifestyle, and develop a workout plan that’s specific to not only your body, but also to your schedule and life. We can design workouts for at your desk, or a quick session before dinnertime. If you want to learn more about the program, click on the big image below: TRY A YOGA POSE TODAYIf this kid can do Yoga, so can you! I don’t care if you’re at home, in a cubicle, or an office, I want you to use 3 minutes of courage to hold a few of the poses above! Which ones? Find a quiet place and go through: Even if you’re not interested in checking out NF Yoga and never attend a yoga class, try these four movements right now. Like, this very moment. A big reason Nerd Fitness and the Rebellion are successful in getting people healthy is that we encourage people to take action immediately. Not tomorrow, not after breakfast, RIGHT NOW! Try to hold each of the following positions for 30 seconds. Yes, even if you’ve never done yoga before and have no intention of doing it again… I’m challenging you to give this a shot right now! I personally get up every 15-20 minutes and go through a few movements (Downward Dog is my favorite) to stay limber. Crushed those four poses? Take it to the next level and run through our full sequence from the Water Series. It’ll take you a little over 20 minutes. Want a little more help getting going? You got it! I have three great options on how you can continue your journey with us: Option #1) Liked the yoga videos contained in today’s guide? Want to follow them in an app that also allows you to build your own superhero? Then check out Nerd Fitness Journey! Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). Plus, you can join our Yoga Adventure so you can learn poses and grow strong while battling wiley supervillians! Try your free trial right here: Option #2) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on your experience level, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program! For example, let’s say you have an old injury and couldn’t perform one of our flexibility exercises. A Nerd Fitness Coach can work with you to create a customized routine for your exact situation. Personally, I’ve been working with the same online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the box below: Option #3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out from home” guides.
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Alright, your turn: I’d love to hear from you: did you REALLY complete the 4-movement yoga routine above? And where did you do it? An office? In your cubicle? Remember, who cares if your coworkers think you’re weird – getting judged for doing something healthy is a badge of honor you should be proud of! …and Downward Dog! -Steve PS: If you want some tips on how to increase your mobility, check out The Ultimate Guide for Improving Flexibility. ### All photo sources can be found right here.[12]
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The post 21 Basic Yoga Poses for Beginners: Plus Videos of Complete Routines first appeared on Nerd Fitness. 21 Basic Yoga Poses for Beginners: Plus Videos of Complete Routines published first on http://smokecignals.tumblr.com/ via Tumblr 21 Basic Yoga Poses for Beginners: Plus Videos of Complete Routines Before you step foot in the great outdoors, read this guide! There’s nothing more embarrassing than a city slicker getting lost in the woods, so let’s make sure you know where you’re going, what to wear, and what to bring. That way your first hike will be fun, adventurous, and more importantly safe! Today we will cover:
I’m happy you’re excited about hiking and I can’t wait for you to get started! I took the above picture while hiking through Killarney National Park in Ireland many years ago, and every time I look at it, I can’t help but think of Tolkien’s Middle-earth masterpiece, so I apologize (not really) for all of the Lord of the Rings nerdery running throughout this post! Our community members love hiking too. In fact, one of our recent success stories specifically cited hiking as one of the fun activities she loved to do to help her lose 50 pounds: By the end of today’s post, my goal is to have you pick a trail, pick a date, and identify a fella or gal to join your fellowship (galship?). Before we jump in, are you here because you’re learning to hike to lose weight? Did you hear it’s a fun way to exercise and get your body moving? If so, you’ve come to the right place! As I mentioned, some clients in our uber-popular 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program used hiking as part of their weight loss training. These folks would rather head outside than jump on a treadmill, and our coaches designed a program so they could do just that! Here’s how it works: your NF Coach will build a custom workout plan based on your experience level and goals. Training to climb up a literal mountain? Maybe you need to get rid of an old ring? We’ll create a plan to get you to the top! Alright, let’s get you hiking! How Do I Find Hiking Trails Near Me? (How to Start Hiking)When you think of hiking, you might imagine a bunch of road-tested perma-travelers with oversized backpacks, hiking through epic mountains for weeks upon weeks at a time. Or maybe, a pair of hobbits setting out on a worldwide adventure to destroy a ring of awe-inspiring power. If you’re just beginning your journey to a better lifestyle, just thinking about serious hiking can be enough to keep you inside your comfy hobbit hole. Although hiking can be an epic undertaking, it doesn’t need to be! A hike also can be super simple and fun:
Here’s my definition for hiking: A person (or halfing, or self-aware robot) exploring their surroundings and their feet are on the actual ground. Like, dirt. And grass. Some might say it needs to be difficult, have a certain elevation change, require a blah blah blah. It literally doesn’t matter. What matters is that you go outside and do something you wouldn’t have done otherwise. Here in the Nerd Fitness Rebellion, hikers would fall into the Adventurer class. If you’re looking for a fun “cardio” activity and want to exercise in a way that’s exciting, hiking is a great way to get your legs, feet, and body used to some strenuous activity. You get to pick your speed and difficulty, and you can always find the right amount of challenge for you. HIKING 101: 5 STEPS TO PLAN OUT YOUR ADVENTURE 1) Decide how long you have to hike. This is a beginner’s guide to hiking, we’re not looking to hike the Appalachian Trail. Instead, we want to start with trails that can be done in less than a day, that won’t require you to pack a tent, or bring an extra change of clothes. Pick a hike based on how much time you have – do you have the entire Sunday? Or do you just have a few hours on a Tuesday afternoon? It took Frodo and Sam 6 months to get to Mordor, but you probably don’t have that much time. However, if you DID want to “walk to Mordor,” I got you covered there too. You’re welcome! 2) Decide if you’ll be hiking solo or with a friend/group – I love hiking solo – it’s mobile meditation for me. However, it’s also more dangerous should anything happen while you’re out on the trail! If you’re heading into the wilderness, I’d recommend buddying up with a friend or your significant other for your hike. It’s the perfect bonding opportunity. This is especially true if they have more hiking experience or they know the area that you’re hiking in. 3) Determine your level – if you are a hiking newbie and horribly out of shape, sending yourself out on an eight-hour hike through the unmapped wilderness is incredibly unintelligent. And as your mom has probably told you before, “I thought you were smarter than that.” Start slow, and pick places around your town that will allow you to stop when necessary and get back to your car or home quickly. No need to be a hero; it’s always better to come back excited and say “wow that was easier than I expected!” than to realize you’re six hours from home and out of steam. Well, being a hero is cool. But not THAT kind of hero. 4) Pick your hiking location – Keep it simple! Go to AllTrails.com, put in your zip code, find your hiking trail! Or pull up Google Maps and look for big green plots of land. We call those “parks.” Google the park name, learn about it, and decide if that’s where you want to go. Do not overcomplicate this step. Just get started. Ask your active, adventurous friends or coworkers if they know any good spots. The world is FULL of hiking trails and awesomeness – you just need to know where to look. 5) Regardless of where you are going, let somebody else know where and when – if you are out hiking alone, take the time to email or call somebody and let him know that you’ll be hiking and when you expect to be back. We don’t want to hear about any 127 Hours[1] stories on NF…that would make playing video games way more difficult. You don’t need to tell them the brand of your underwear (please tell me you’re wearing underwear) or how many almonds you’re bringing, but let them know the important details so if they don’t hear back from you by a certain time they know to alert the proper authorities. So right now, you should have answers to the following questions:
That last point is about our fun new habit-building app, which allows you to level up (literally) by going on walks or hikes. You can try it for free right here: What Shoes Do I Wear Hiking? (Proper Footwear)This is simple: stilettos, your favorite mini skirt, a fishnet halter top, and a vest made out of raw meat. You’re welcome! Wait, don’t do that. I’m a big fan of being comfortable without breaking the bank. Like, you probably already have most of the clothing you need to go hiking. WHAT SHOES SHOULD I WEAR TO HIKE IN? We cover footwear extensively in our healthy feet article, but I’ll cover shoes specifically in the case of hiking here. We at Nerd Fitness are huge fan of Merrell products – Merrell shoes of various types have treated me well for the past decade. Just don’t let a lack of quality hiking boots keep you from a hike. If you’re concerned, pick an easy-paced hike with your current shoes to be safe and ramp up when you can ramp up your gear! Some people hike the Appalachian Trail in their bare feet (must be part-Hobbit), so whatever you do: don’t let your footwear options keep you from getting started. Just make sure you break your shoes in and take them on test drives! Don’t take the tags off a new pair of shoes and then go on a multi-day hike – that’s a recipe for blisters and a miserable time. Okay, let’s look at our feet. Now that we’ve done that, let’s look at some shoe options: LEVEL ONE: Hiking shoes – “hiking shoes” are great if you’re going to be doing simple day hikes or hiking occasionally: they have a good grip on the bottom, give you enough support, but aren’t too heavy that they are a hindrance. Here are my favorite options if you are in the market for some new basic walking/hiking shoes:
Oh, what’s that? “Steve, I don’t have hiking shoes! Is this the end of the world?” Well, do you have any sort of athletic shoe? Depending on the grip on the bottom, they could be decently okay for you to get started with when it comes to a basic hike. If sneakers are your only option, lace em up, pick a beginner hike, and see how they do. Just be careful on slippery surfaces – your kicks might not give you the grip you need to get over them. LEVEL TWO – Hiking boots – I don’t hike enough or do enough multi-day hikes to justify the cost of hiking boots, but again I would point to Merrell boots if you’re in the market. “Why boots over shoes, Steve?” Although many prefer trail shoes (like yours truly), I can absolutely see the value in a great pair of hiking boots if you’re going on a serious hike, traveling for multiple days, or more. They have more ankle support, thicker tread, thicker shoes, and provide your feet with significantly more protection. REI has a great article helping you pick between Trail shoes and Trail boots. My advice? Start with what you currently have before deciding whether or not to invest in big boots. Once you build up the habit of hiking and decide you want to make it a bigger part of your life, you can make the investment. My advice? If you are going to buy boots, go to a professional store, get fitted properly, and then break them in over many weeks before going out on a trail. WEIRD BUT FUN FOR SIMPLE HIKES: Vibram FiveFingers – I hiked all around the globe, in various situations, wearing my Vibrams for close to 4 years. They made me feel like a ninja monkey and a hobbit. I got weird looks, but something just felt right about being able to feel the contours of the ground beneath me. I will say, when hiking in Vibrams it can be easier to twist an ankle when stepping on a root or rock, stepping on sharp rocks can hurt, so I found myself watching my feet much more than expected. These days, I’m much more of a trail shoe kind of guy, but some still swear by Vibrams! If you’re in the market for buying new boots, this quick video is a good primer: WHAT SOCKS SHOULD YOU WEAR? If you’re wearing boots or sneakers, you want to wear socks that aren’t going to give you blisters or make your feet all sweaty and gross. Depending on how long the hike is, how serious you are about hiking, and your budget, you can look into merino-wool socks. Like the rest of your outfit, what you wear on your feet will largely be dependent on a few things:
Here’s Switchback Travel’s best hiking socks of 2018, and here’s a great article from Art of Manliness on proper feet care after a hike or ruck! What Do I Wear While Hiking? (Clothing)SHOULD I WEAR PANTS OR SHORTS? Pro tip: Don’t go pantless through the wilderness. I cannot stress this enough. The real advice when it comes to pants/shorts is heavily dependent upon your environment. If it’s going to be cold, shorts might keep you shivering. If it’s going to be hot, pants might get too uncomfortable. Jeans? Ehhhhh. Sure. ONLY if it’s going to be a comfortable temperature and you have no other option. Being sweaty and hot while wearing jeans isn’t very fun. I’m a big fan of my nerd pants – the Columbia Silver Ridge pants. Although they look kind of goofy, they’re incredibly lightweight, dry quickly, and can transform from pants to shorts in mere seconds! Traveling through woods, not sure what you’ll encounter? Wear lightweight pants. I am horribly allergic to poison ivy and who knows what else, so I like to keep as much of my body covered while hiking to make sure I don’t make contact with anything I’m allergic to. [2] WHAT TYPE OF SHIRT SHOULD I WEAR? My favorite options are merino wool long shirts and t-shirts: they’re light, wick away moisture, hide odors, and breathe well – though you will be paying top dollar for them. If you’re just starting out, pick an old t-shirt and rock that – you can work on optimizing performance once you’ve got a few hikes under your belt. If you’re on a multi-day hike in various conditions then having lightweight merino wool shirts you can layer and not need to wash would be great. But just going for a hike in the woods in your backyard? Whatever you would wear while running, training, etc. Aka whatever won’t chafe! SHOULD I BRING A JACKET? I’ve been wearing this Mountain Hardware jacket on most of my hikes and it has been awesome (10 years and counting) – very lightweight so packing it isn’t a hassle, waterproof so it keeps me dry when it rains, and heavy enough to block the wind to keep me warm when it’s chilly. Don’t go out of your way to buy a new jacket if you have a decent windbreaker, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of hiking or you’re in the market for a new coat, here’s my advice: go to a local store and try out all of the jackets until you find one you like. Once you find the perfect jacket, go home and check online (you can sometimes find the same jacket for up to 60% less) – then, ask the local store if they’ll price match or just buy it online. SHOULD I WEAR A HAT? You should definitely bring a hat. I’m usually rocking my Nerd Fitness hat or my Red Sox hat (booo Yankees), but while hiking in Australia I wore a hat with a giant floppy brim to keep my ears and face protected from the sun. The tops of your ears and back of your neck are highly susceptible to getting burned while on the trail, so either get some sunscreen or wear a hat that keeps them covered. The same is true for keeping pesky things out of your hair, the sun from burning your ears and face, and keep you a bit cooler. WHAT KIND OF BACKPACK SHOULD I BRING? Digging into the ins and outs of backpacks is far beyond the scope of this article. I’d recommend you check out my friend Chase’s Bag Review Youtube channel – guaranteed to be the most fun you’ll ever have learning about bags. So what would I recommend for a beginner on a hike? The bag you currently have! If you’re going on a short hike, you can start with simply whatever bag you have. The lighter and comfier it is, the better. Multi-day hikes where you’re living out of your bag, packing up, and building a tent each day – this is beyond the scope of this article. I have rocked a Kelty Coyote bag that I’ve lived out of for months at a time, and have also used on multi-day hikes. If you have the means and the time, and you’re planning to go on certain hikes, go to an outdoor specialty store, speak with a professional, and get fitted for your body type and the type of hike you’re doing! THE MORAL OF THE STORY: VERSATILITY If your weather forecast is “75 and sunny,” and you’re hiking for the afternoon through a gradually sloping wooded forest, you can severely limit what you’re bringing with you. If it’s questionable or looks like things might change during the day, versatility is your best bet – a jacket, pants that can become shorts, a long sleeve shirt that you can take off or roll the sleeves up, etc. Don’t go out and buy all new stuff until you’re sure hiking is an activity you want to invest in. Borrow from friends, make do with what you have Just get started. BY NOW YOU SHOULD HAVE A ROUGH IDEA OF WHAT YOU WILL BE WEARING! In your head you should be saying, “Steve how can you read my mind?! I just decided:
I feel like I’m good to go!” Perfect.
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How Much Water Should I Bring On My Hike?If there’s ONE thing you should not leave home without, it’s a water container so you can stay hydrated. “How much water should I be drinking on my hike, Steve?” Great question. I knew you were smart from the moment you started reading this article. You should be drinking 1 liter of water every two hours as a rough guideline. Increase this amount if you are hiking in very warm/desert climates. FAVORITE WATER CONTAINERS: I’m partial to stainless steel bottles or aluminum bottles over Nalgene or reused plastic bottles, but make do with what you have. Just make sure you bring enough water with you to keep you hydrated through your adventure. Going on longer hikes? Get yourself a hydration backpack (which can double as your hiking pack!) to transplant water more conveniently. Not only that but make sure you have been consuming water before you go hiking so that you’re not starting at a hydration deficit. Hangovers + early morning hikes – water = bad news bears. What Gear Should I Bring on My Hike? (Sunscreen, Knives, and First Aid Kits)If you’re just getting started, I’m going to guess you won’t be climbing to the top of a mountain in Alaska, but rather going on an introductory hike that will help build your confidence and get you rolling. Here’s what I’d recommend you bring with you on your adventure:
If you’re going on a longer hike, bringing a lightweight phone charger that you can use to charge your phone up quickly is usually pretty easy. What Food Should I Bring Hiking? What Should I Eat on a Day Hike?FOOD! You know, the stuff that keeps us alive. The answer to this will vary greatly depending on how long you plan on hiking for, the time of day, your love of snacking, so the advice here is going to largely mirror the advice we give in our nutritional posts! Although by no means a complete list of snacks, this is usually what I like to pack in my bag before a hike:
What about trail mix or granola bars? You’d probably think granola bars and trail mix are synonymous with hiking, but I’m actually not a fan of either unless they’re homemade – these products are usually loaded with salt/sugar and processed grains and are pretty damn unhealthy. If you’re gonna go with trail mix, make your own with dried fruit and raw unsalted nuts. If you DON’T have other options, tossing a few granola bars in the bag isn’t the end of the world. More food advice here: A book (optional) – I LOVE READING (more than I love lowercase letters), so I always travel with my Kindle. Although hiking with friends can be fun, I also get a huge thrill out of hiking out to a remote location overlooking a valley or sitting on the edge of a river with a book so that I can spend a few hours getting lost in a story. If it’s a multi-day hike and you’re avoiding technology, then bringing a dead tree book is worth the extra weight in your bag! A camera (optional) – Although I have a camera that I travel with, most of the pictures I’ve been taking recently have been done with my iPhone using apps like Camera+ or ProHDR (which I freaking love). Both apps are worth the price. You don’t need to be a great photographer, just need to capture the moment to look back on fondly as a crotchety old grandpa. Obviously, if you’re a serious photographer, you’ve already planned to pack your DSLR so I won’t get into that. Seven Hiking Tips for Beginners
Not all those who wander are lost (sTART hIKING tODAY)This article is just a primer, meant to whet your appetite and make you excited to go hiking and exploring the wonderful world around us. Here are a few other resources on hiking if you want more information. Feel free to let me know more in the comments: I challenge you to plan a hike for this upcoming weekend. YES, even if you’re in the opposite hemisphere and it’s really cold out! Get some great snacks, strap on your shoes, grab a friend, and go explore. I’d love to hear from you about the place you’re going hiking this weekend. Leave a comment below and let me know:
-Steve PS: Still unsure if you’ll be ready for your big hike? I’ll again remind you of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. We have clients who successfully used the program to train for hiking up large mountains, and we’d love to see if we can help you too! PPS: If Coaching ain’t your bag, you can always use our new app to jumpstart your new adventures! ### photo credit: 77krc Mixed Nuts All other photos from my Photostream
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The post A Beginner’s Guide to Hiking: Everything You Need For Your First Hike! first appeared on Nerd Fitness. A Beginner’s Guide to Hiking: Everything You Need For Your First Hike! published first on http://smokecignals.tumblr.com/ via Tumblr A Beginner’s Guide to Hiking: Everything You Need For Your First Hike! Let’s get you up and rolling on a bicycle! Whether you’re using it for exercise or transportation, biking is a great way to stay active and explore the world around you. That’s why we encourage it in our Online Coaching Program when we discuss fun exercises! Here’s what we’ll cover in today’s guide:
What Are the Benefits of Cycling?There are a lot of excellent reasons to take up riding bikes:
Cycling has a magical ability to be whatever the rider wants it to be. Fun, challenging, scary, romantic, social, silly… you name it and there’s a type of cycling for it. You can even change what type you are doing to suit your mood on any given day, which is why most avid cyclists end up with several different bikes. Some Rebels in the NF Coaching Program have even used cycling as a tool to help them get in shape, as demonstrated by Kyle here: Note: Kyle also switched up his diet for his result. The world can use more cyclists, so I’m stoked you’re interested in getting started. The 6 Different Types of CyclistsLet’s spend a few minutes thinking about what type of rider you’d like to be. The below list is not mutually exclusive, mind you. You can flip back and forth, contradict yourself, or mix and match them to suit your own needs. #1) Mountain Biker No one loves the outdoors as much as these guys do. If you’d rather ditch the pavement for a trail, mountain biking may be for you. #2) Roadie As the name would suggest, these riders are going to be found pedaling down your street. They often wear bright colors to make them easily seen by commuters. If you go this route, you can pretend like you have a sweet superhero costume to wear! You can take this idea too far. #3) Track Track cycling is a racing sport where riders zoom around a velodrome. If you’re a beginner, this is probably too advanced for you, but something to think about as you gain more cycling experience. #4) Triathlete A triathlon is a multisport race where participants run, swim, and bike their way to the finish line. They’re not a bad event to train for since you have to condition yourself for a few different sports. There are many triathlon events designed for beginners, some of which you can check out right here. #5) BMXer Generally when people do lots of tricks on their bike, it’s a BMX bike. BMX is an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross. BMX bikes were originally modeled after dirtbikes (minus the engine). They’re popular with kids, but also good for adults who are looking to perform a stunt or two. #6) Casual Rider This is, in my opinion, the easiest way to get started. Just do whatever you want to on a bike and enjoy yourself in the process. How to Buy a BikeTruth be told, the best bike for you to buy is whatever one you like the best. I think it’s wise to get a bike shop’s help in buying a bike that fits you. Even though you can adjust your bicycle to fit (more on this next section), it could still be potentially too large or small. Here’s how to find a bike shop in your area. If you are going to select a bike on your own, you’ll want to consider its height:
Shown here from REI’s guide to bike fitting: Now, bikes do cost money. Expect to spend a few hundred bucks minimum at your bike shop. You don’t have to spend thousands, but you’ll have more fun on a decent bike than a heavy, crappy one from a department store. If you must buy as cheaply as possible, in my opinion, most people are best served with a steel-framed 80’s road bike. They’re cheap, nearly indestructible, and easy to find on Craigslist. Don’t be afraid to make counter offers and haggle a bit. You can also search the bike on Bicycle Blue Book to make sure you’re getting a fair deal. If you do buy a used road bike, steer away from 27” wheels, since 26” have become standard and will be easier to replace. Lots of people get mountain bikes for their first bike, and I think it’s a mistake unless you plan on riding through dirt. They are heavy and slow because they’re meant for trail riding on mountains. There’s also a cheaper bike option called bikesdirect.com. They sell off-brand frames with name-brand components, and seem to have good customer service. Remember: get the bike you like. If you like it you’ll ride it. Keep that in mind as you’re reading the flame wars and conflicting advice. After all, it’s just bikes. It ain’t rocket surgery. How to Setup Your BicycleWhile a professional at a bike shop can be a lifesaver when it comes to proper setup, you can totally do it yourself too. #1) Saddle Height A “good enough” way to determine proper seat height is the heel-to-pedal method. It might help to have someone hold your bike while doing this. Take a seat, then have one pedal go completely down in the six o’clock position. Your knee should be completely straight here when making contact to this low pedal. If your knee is bent, you need to increase the saddle height. If you lose contact with the pedal, lower your seat. #2) Saddle Angle For the most part, you’re going to want your seat angled so it’s parallel to the ground. Try this first, then you can adjust it slightly if you find different positions more comfortable. #3) Handlebar Reach While handlebar reach can be a bit more personal, in general you don’t want to strain yourself to control the bike. When seated, you should easily be able to reach the brakes and shifters. Your elbows should have a slight bend, not locked. Adjust your seat first, get that dialed in, then adjust the bars themselves for your ideal setting. What Gear to Purchase for BikingAfter initially purchasing a bike, there are a few other things you should consider. #1) Helmet – In my opinion, it is imperative to own and wear a helmet when cycling. I don’t think it should be a law that everyone has to, but I think everyone should of his own volition anyway. What kind of helmet should you buy? Giro, Bell, and Specialized all make good helmets. Try a few on and get a bike shop’s help with how it should fit. #2) U-Lock – One of the most awesome things about riding bikes to get places is that you don’t have to park a car. You can just ride right up to the place, lock your bike, and go inside. You will need a lock if you’d like your bike to be there when you come out, though. Read up on locking strategy here. #3) Blinky Lights – Get yourself a good set of blinky lights for your bike. I like the Blackburn Flea set, but also own the Spok LED light set, and the Planet Bike Superflash rear light. All are fine choices. Outside has the unmitigated gaul of getting dark without our consent. It’s wise to have lights in these cases, so that you can be as visible as possible on the roadway. #4) Clippy Shoes – If you’re going to ride often, eventually it’s wise to switch to clipless pedals and shoes. If you’re worried that they’ll make you fall over, rest assured. You will definitely fall over in them at least once. It’s called a zero-mile-per-hour fall, and it’s a rite of passage. It’s also completely worth it. #5) Lycra – If you’re doing any amount of riding at all, I recommend getting yourself a pair of bibs. Cycling shorts are nice too (they both have a chamois) but bib shorts are the ultimate in comfort. What to Bring on Your Bike RideWhen setting off on a ride, carry these things:
Everything except the tube fits nicely into a little canvas bag that can slip into a center jersey pocket, which eliminates the need for a seat bag, which has a tendency to fall apart after a few hundred miles. Don’t buy an expensive bike tool to carry on your rides. Any repair you can’t do with the above kit is a ride ender. Take a cab with the $20 instead and spend your tool budget on nice tools to keep at home if you want to wrench on your bike. Also don’t buy a frame pump or mini pump – they don’t work well at all. Get a floor pump for home and carry CO2 with you. How to Ride a Bike
Kidding. Here’s exactly how to ride a bike: Let’s explain some more tips for smooth bike riding: #1) Use your rear brake to check your speed and your front one only if you really want to stop. If you grab a handful of front brake on a modern bike it might become a catapult. #2) Remember when I said clippy shoes were worth it? It’s because they allow you to apply power throughout the whole revolution of the pedal, and to use your whole leg and butt to apply said power. They’re awesome. #3) Keep in mind also that it’s more efficient to spin than to mash. This means that you’ll be able to deliver more power for longer if you ride in a smaller, easier gear at a higher cadence (RPM) than in a bigger, harder gear at a slower cadence. The ideal cadence is said to be 90rpm or so, which is the exact tempo of Cake’s song The Distance. One foot should make a revolution for each beat of the song, or in other words, your foot is a quarter note. Your other foot will be offset, of course, so as a pair your feet will play eighth notes. And you didn’t even know you were a musician! #4) Your body should be pretty much still when you’re riding. Your knees should be in line between your hip and ankle, not out as if you’re trying to climb a pole: How to Improve Your Bike Riding SkillsCycling is beautiful and amazing, but the best cycling is also social. Having some friends who are into it will help keep you into it. Mind you, it is ten buh-jillion times easier to meet people who already like things you want to do than to convert people you already like into doing something new. So, go do your local group ride. There’s guaranteed to be a beginner one near you that runs out of a bike shop. Ask at the bike shop once you feel comfortable returning. Yay for socializing! You can also check out Meetup for a riding group. Bike Riding Etiquette for NewbiesThere’s a tendency for new riders to want to express their liberation from the metal cage of the automobile through a certain free-spirited attitude toward traffic laws. Please don’t do this. Whatever we do while riding in traffic will be remembered by every driver who sees us and counted either for or against cycling as a whole in that driver’s mind. Many new riders adopted a Me-Vs-Cars attitude, and it’s always a mistake. Figure out what the laws regarding cyclists on the road are in your area and follow them always! Google “bicycling laws + [ your state ]” You’ll also have a much easier time in traffic when you ride like traffic. It’s Time to Hit the Road (Next Steps)Above all, remember that cycling is a fun, social activity. Wave to other riders. Say hello to them when you pass them. They’re nice folks! Well, except “serious” roadies, of course, but only other roadies listen to them! Okay, that’s about it for this guide. Find a bike, wear a helmet, and get ready to roll: If you want to continue your journey with Nerd Fitness, there are three great options for you. Option #1) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on the equipment you have available, check out our Online Coaching Program! Some of our clients are avid cyclists and their coaches design workouts around their biking schedule: Option #2) If you’re looking for fun way to stay active, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you move more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). We assign fun missions daily to get you to exercise in a way that doesn’t feel like exercise…because it’ll feel like a side quest instead. Try your free trial (no credit card needed) right here: Option #3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out from home” guides.
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Have fun out there, and ride safe, cycling friend! -Steve ### photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo The post A Beginner’s Guide to Biking: How to Cycle for Fitness first appeared on Nerd Fitness. A Beginner’s Guide to Biking: How to Cycle for Fitness published first on http://smokecignals.tumblr.com/ via Tumblr A Beginner’s Guide to Biking: How to Cycle for Fitness So you want to learn about Olympic lifting? I get it! I could use a gold medal hanging off my wall too. I kid, I kid. Even if you don’t have plans on competing, performing the Olympic lifts can be a great way to build strength and power. It’s why we teach them in our Online Coaching Program for those that are interested. And you DON’T even need a barbell or dumbbell to get started. Here’s what we’ll cover today:
Let’s do this! What are the Olympic Lifts?In the video above, I show you exactly how to start performing Olympic lifts (even if you don’t have any equipment). This may bring up a question: What the heck are the Olympic lifts? Olympic lifting aka Weightlifting (all one word) is a sport where athletes train and compete in the snatch and the clean & jerk. We’ll cover variations that can be done with dumbbells (or even soup cans!) then explain how to progress up to barbells. Either way, the basic techniques will remain the same. OLYMPIC LIFT #1: THE SNATCH The Snatch is where the athlete grabs the bar with a wide grip, then lifts it from the ground to overhead in one strong motion. This is a HUGE simplification of a very technical lift, but it gives us a quick definition and lets us identify the exercise when we see it. OLYMPIC LIFT #2: THE CLEAN & JERK The Clean & Jerk is two movements done back to back in competition:
Let’s break both of these down a little. The Clean: The clean is where the athlete grabs the bar with a grip slightly wider than shoulder-width grip, then lifts it from the ground to the front of their shoulders. If you’re interested in performing the clean, getting comfortable with the front squat will help your technique. We have a great video about it here: The Jerk: The clean may be performed by itself in training, but in competition the athlete must follow up the clean with a jerk. And not like that… The jerk gets the bar from the shoulders to overhead and completes the lift. You’ll often see the athlete take a staggered stance when they get the bar overhead, in order to increase stability, like so: The difference between the two Olympic lifts comes down to the number of movements:
For both Olympic lifts (the snatch and the clean & jerk), the athlete must hold the weight steady with their feet underneath themselves until a judge gives them the command to drop the weight. Basic Technique for Olympic LiftsThe basic technique for all the lifts is to explode upwards with your entire body, then quickly change direction to get underneath the weight. I promise we’ll get under the weight safer than that. This is the same concept whether you’re lifting 5 lbs or 500 lbs. (Oh also – weightlifting is normally discussed in kilos – so whether you’re lifting 2.5 kg to 227 kg!) If the thought of exploding upwards and quickly changing directions seems odd, we also do this every time we box jump! There’s an explosion upwards, then a quick change in direction for the legs in order to get underneath the body and up on the box. We cover the ins and outs of performing box jumps in this video: This is also why some will describe the Olympic lifts as “jumping with weights”. Again, as always, a huge simplification but it gets your mind around them a bit more! What’s the Difference Between Olympic Lifting and Powerlifting?Olympic lifting is NOT powerlifting – a term you may have heard before. Powerlifting is training and competing in the three lifts: #1) The squat: #2) The bench: #3) The deadlift: In both Olympic lifting and Powerlifting, we’re trying to lift the most amount of weight. It’s just that the lifts are completely different. We’ve got a great article on powerlifting from Coach Staci if you are interested in that too! What Are the Benefits of Performing Olympic Lifts?Olympic lifting is often described as “gymnastics with weights.” Athletes perform fast, powerful lifts that seem to display superhero levels of strength. According to this review from the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Olympic lifting improves one’s vertical jump.[1] But you don’t need a study to tell you that. Just watch some Olympians jump! Like this: Or check out the jumps from this team: Even if you’re not interested in improving your dunking skills, the Olympic lifts will still build plenty of strength and coordination while providing a lot of fun variety in your training. Is Olympic Lifting Safe?When you see these fast, powerful movements you might immediately think these exercises are dangerous. However, the movements are quite controlled and predictable. As opposed to pick-up sports which are inherently unpredictable. In addition, just like any exercise, one would start light and build up slowly to maximal weights. A study out of the U.K. from Brian P. Hamill actually shows that within 100 hours of participation, weightlifting incurs the lowest injury rates at only 0.0017 injuries during that time.[2] Weighting lifting is safer than badminton!?! This is as opposed to schoolyard soccer which incurs a rate of 6.20 injuries during that same time, yet we think nothing of letting a kid kick around a soccer ball with friends. 5 Exercises to learn Olympic Lifting TechniqueLet’s cover 5 exercises that will help you conquer the Olympic lifts. #1) The Pop and Drop So if you recall, the basic technique for all the Olympic lifts is exploding upwards, then quickly changing direction. We’ll work on that with a drill we’ll call “pop and drop.” Olympic lifting Coach Don McCauley has taught this as the “dirty dancing” drill too, but because we didn’t want to omit or misrepresent any cues from his original drill, we’ll simply call it the “pop and drop.” This drill starts with something called the power position. No, not that power position! This power position: After a few warm-up squats, here’s how to get into the power position:
Think of this position like a loaded spring ready to be released.
You’ll see this same position in the snatch, the clean, and the jerk exercises we’ll do later. For the “pop and drop”, once you’re in the power position you’ll then explode upwards, quickly shuffle your feet out to squat width, and drop down into a squat. Like so: Once you’ve popped and dropped – then stand up, get your feet back underneath you, get set into the power position, and try it again! You’ll notice that while we are exploding, we are *not* trying to jump as high as we can. This would not allow us to have a quick change in direction. There is a RHYTHM to this exercise: the quick upwards movement followed immediately by the quick squat. Feel it, practice it, get comfortable with it! #2) Dumbbell Snatch We’re going to take that basic concept of popping and dropping to an exercise called the dumbbell snatch. Now, the end of a regular barbell snatch has the athlete catching the barbell in a squat with arms wide overhead: For the dumbbell snatch, we’ll be catching the dumbbell in a squat with one arm overhead: Give this squat a go right now – with or without weight – lift your arm overhead and squat five times on each side. Go as low as you feel comfortable – you do not have to go as low as you might normally go in a regular squat. Next, let’s practice the explosive dumbbell snatch exercise without weight in slow motion: To perform this beginner snatch variation:
When that feels good, practice the movement without weight at regular speed. Pop and drop! And when that feels good – add some weight! It doesn’t have to be much (could even be a soup can). #3) Dumbbell Clean At the end of a regular barbell clean, we have the barbell up on the front of the athlete’s shoulders. For the dumbbell clean, we’ll be catching the dumbbells in front of the shoulders in the dumbbell front squat position. Lift up your dumbbells to this position and give this squat a go right now for five reps. Go as low as you feel comfortable. We’ll follow the same progression as the dumbbell snatch, so let’s practice the movement without weight, in slow motion first (Zack Synder style). To perform this beginner clean variation:
When that feels good, practice the movement without weight at regular speed. Pop and drop! And when you have that dialed in – as before – add some weight! Again, it doesn’t have to be much. Look for a strong, smooth movement! #4) Dumbbell Jerk We have learned SO much so far. You’re doing awesome. It’s time for us to learn the dumbbell jerk. Now, the end of a regular barbell jerk doesn’t usually end in a squat…although there are athletes that do that: The athlete is usually landing in a staggered stance, like so: For the dumbbell jerk, we’ll drop into the same staggered stance, with dumbbells overhead. But first, let’s try just getting the leg position right: When you start to feel good with your leg position, get your arms involved like so: To perform this beginner jerk variation:
And when that feels good – just like before, add some weight: #4) Dumbbell Clean & Jerk Time to go for the gold and combine these two movements – the dumbbell clean and the dumbbell jerk. If you’ve made it this far, I know you can finish. Here’s how to perform the clean & jerk with dumbbells:
That’s the dumbbell clean and jerk! When to Train With Olympic LiftsBecause Olympics lifts (and the variations covered here) are technical and require you to explode powerfully, they are best done near the start of your workout when you’re first learning them. When you train with Olympic lifts:
Once you’ve developed some proficiency, you could also do some Olympic lifts with lower weight, higher reps (10 reps+) at the end of your workout as a conditioning exercise. For more here, check out our guide How to Build Your Own Workout (for the Gym or Your Home). Want to Progress Further? (Next Steps)Have we whet your appetite for the Olympic lifts? Well, the next step would be to get a coach! Getting a coach in person would be ideal, to be able to watch your technique time and time again. But we understand that’s not necessarily possible for everyone (here’s how to hire a personal trainer if you do go that route). If you are unable to find a coach in person, check out Nerd Fitness Online Coaching – where you’ll exchange videos with a qualified coach who can help you, no matter where you are and what equipment you have. Ready to progress up to a barbell? Then check out these great tutorials on Olympic lifts: #1) How to Do a Barbell Clean: #2) How to Do a Barbell Snatch: #3) How to Do a Barbell Jerk: California Strength crushed these three videos. Alright, I think that about does it for our guide. Now, your turn:
Let me know in the comments! For the Rebellion! -Coach Jim PS: Have fun with the Olympic lifts! Start off with lighter weights so you don’t get too intimidated. ### Photo source: Olympic rings, cetkauskas © 123RF.com, alohaflaminggo © 123RF.com, Sorry but I really can´t see anything in your radiography, man lifting barbell in gym, Day 2 Weightlifting (16 Aug 2010)
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The post Can I Teach Myself Olympic Lifts? (5 Exercises to Do at Home!) first appeared on Nerd Fitness. Can I Teach Myself Olympic Lifts? (5 Exercises to Do at Home!) published first on http://smokecignals.tumblr.com/ via Tumblr Can I Teach Myself Olympic Lifts? (5 Exercises to Do at Home!) 10 super Foods That Naturally Cleanse Your Body published first on http://smokecignals.tumblr.com/ via Tumblr 10 super Foods That Naturally Cleanse Your Body How Many Calories Should I Eat Every Day? A TDEE Calculator for Total Daily Energy Expenditure7/18/2021 “Steve, how many calories should I eat every day? I have goals!” Great question. Knowledge is power. So today, we are going to make you more powerful by calculating your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). Of course, “knowing is half the battle.” The other half is using your newfound knowledge to achieve your goals! Fortunately for you, we’ve helped thousands of Online Coaching Clients lose weight and get healthy, and TDEE is just one of many factors we consider when building a specific strategy for somebody’s goals. Okay FINE, I’ll share the other factors and strategies below too. Simply click on the section below for quick reading, though I’d recommend you read the whole enchilada to properly apply your TDEE to your life:
THE NERD FITNESS TOTAL DAILY ENERGY EXPENDITURE CALCULATORWe’re going to start off by doing some math. Don’t worry, our robot calculator (beep boop boop) will do all the hard stuff for you. We will need to know your height in inches, your weight in pounds, and an estimate of your activity level. (Use the metric system? I wish we did too here in the States! Click right here for our Metric calculator). Although you can adjust it, I want you to set your “Activity Level” as “Sedentary,” (I’ll explain why in a minute): Nerd Fitness Total Daily Energy Expenditure CalculatorIf you’ve ever asked yourself “Am I doing too little or too many reps and sets?” then this guide is for you. This article is part of our Strength 101 series, and we’ll show you exactly how to determine the number of repetitions and sets for specific exercises, so you can build your own workout routine. It sounds easy, but depending on your goals, the answer to “How many reps and sets should I do?” can vary greatly. We work hand-in-hand with our Online Coaching Clients to create the correct workout program that suits their goals, needs, and available equipment In today’s guide on workout programing, we’ll cover (click each to get right to that answer):
The Correct Number of Reps and Sets for a WorkoutAs Coach Jim mentions above, “Rep” stands for “repetition” and defines one complete motion of an exercise. And one “set” is a consecutive number of reps without stopping. And one “smorgasbord” is a buffet of food. This has nothing to do with this article, but it’s a fun word to say. As we mentioned throughout our Strength Training 101 series, how many reps and sets you should do is really going to be dependent on your goals. For example, is your goal to improve:
Depending on what your goal is, the sets, reps, and rest intervals will change. Oh, you’re just starting your strength training journey? Well, make sure you grab our free guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. I’ll send it to you for free when you join the Rebellion (that’s us!).
Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Alright, let’s break down reps and sets for you, because I can see you still have questions. How Many Reps Should I Do?Remember, “Rep” stands for “repetition” and is more or less one complete exercise. Like a push-up: So “2 sets of 5 reps of push-ups” means, “5 consecutive push-ups, a rest, then another 5 consecutive push-ups.” Cool? Cool. When deciding on how many sets and reps to do, it begins by asking “What am I trying to get out of this workout?!“ We’ll group different rep ranges into different goals, for:
I’m going to share with you the commonly accepted answers, but they ALL come with a HUGE caveat that I’ll share at the end of this article. I’m going to start with the “widely accepted numbers here.” Let’s chat about the following: 1) MUSCULAR ENDURANCE (long-lasting muscle) – Endurance means encouraging and training your muscles to perform for an extended period of time. This means doing a LOT of repetitions. People targeting muscular endurance will aim for a range from 12 to 20+ reps. Obviously, you won’t be able to lift heavy amounts of weight for 20+ reps, so you’ll be lifting lighter loads. Also, because you’re targeting endurance improvements, you want to decrease the amount of rest between sets: 30 seconds to a minute.[1] If you are a runner or cyclist, strength training with higher repetitions can help your muscles develop more endurance as well![2] Reps for increased muscular endurance: 12+ 2) MUSCLE SIZE (“sarcoplasmic hypertrophy”) – This is for guys or gals looking to build larger muscles. The scientific term here is “sarcoplasmic hypertrophy,” as it focuses on increasing the amount of sarcoplasm, the non-contractile fluid found in your muscle. Up to 30% of your muscle’s size is attributed to the sarcoplasm, so focusing on this type of hypertrophy helps build overall size (i.e., increased cross-sectional area of the muscle). If you’re looking to get bigger:
Reps for increased muscle size: 6-12[3] 3) STRENGTH AND POWER (“myofibril hypertrophy”) – If you’re training for specific sports and just want to get stronger with more power – but not necessarily get bigger, this is the strategy for you. This type of training focuses on strengthening the myofibril, the contractile part of the muscle, hence the name “myofibril hypertrophy.” For this, target reps in the 1-5 range. And yep, that means you’re going to be picking up heavy weights, focusing all that concentrated effort into just one or a few reps.[4] Something to note when lifting for strength and power: not only are you shocking your muscles, but you’re also putting a lot of pressure on your body’s central nervous system (CNS). So what does this mean? In a way, it means your body’s ability to communicate with its muscles has grown fatigued, and performance may suffer. That’s why you may want to rest between 2-5 minutes in this range. Oh, and your CNS will adapt and become stronger, which will be critical for building strength and power.[5] This is how powerlifters train:
Since powerlifting really taxes the central nervous system, you may be waiting 3-5 minutes between sets when training in this fashion. TO RECAP, these are the rep ranges you should be considering:
I realize this is a lot to figure out, so if you are somebody – like me – who just wants to be told what to do and outsource all the worry of “am I doing the right workout for my goals?” I got you covered! I’d love to learn your story, and then build a custom program that fits your goals. We’ll help you with your nutrition, your workouts, and even check in regularly to keep you accountable! How Many Sets Should I Do?As explained above, a “set” describes a group of repetitions performed for an exercise without stopping. For example, if you do 10 squats right now, you just did 1 SET of 10 reps of squats. So let’s talk about the “correct” number of sets per exercise. The simple answer: “Do 3-5 work sets of a given exercise.”[6] Just make sure you’re not compromising your form. At least he’s trying! The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) will break this down, suggesting the following set ranges:[7]
“STEVE, JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO.” FINE! Pick a weight that feels light to you, and then do 3 sets of 10 reps. (Learn how much weight should I be lifting”). And then next time? Do more than last time:
That’s the key to progressive overload, as Coach Jim explains in this article: If you’re not sure if “3 sets of 10” or “5 sets of 5” is right for you, we got you covered. We’ll build a program that fits your goals, and then adjust it each month based on your progress. Never guess or wonder what you should be doing again. How to Build a Workout Routine!Now that you have “edumacated” yourself on how your specific goals influence the number of reps per set, and what sets actually are, you can build your workout program around this info. TO RECAP, aim for 3-5 sets in the following rep rangers per exercise based on your goals:
Two points worth mentioning:
What this means: studies suggest targeting heavier weight with fewer reps for big lifts like squats and deadlifts to build muscle, while targeting high reps to absolute failure with bodyweight exercises for muscle building. Just remember to rest enough between sets so you don’t fatigue your central nervous system too bad.[10] One last point: Nutrition is still 90% of the equation! Your rep range doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think, so don’t overthink it! Here are some examples:
This brings me to my final point: because nutrition is 90% of the equation, your sets and reps don’t matter nearly as much as you think they do! All that matters? Doing MORE this workout than the last workout. Remember, how you build muscle and strength and burn fat: “progressive overload.” One more rep than last time. Doing one more set than last time. Picking up a weight that’s 5 lbs. heavier than last week. So get out of your own head, and START TODAY: 1) GET HELP: If you want expert guidance and accountability so you don’t have to figure out all of this stuff on your own, I got you. Click the red button below to get the details about our amazing online coaching program: 2) FIGURING IT OUT OUT ON YOUR OWN! Download our free Strength Training 101 Guide! You get it free when you join our Rebellion (the name of our awesome free online community). Sign up in the box below:
Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!
3) WORKOUTS YOU CAN DO NOW:
Remember: the goal should be to get stronger each workout. Write down what you did last time, and then do MORE this time. By continually challenging your muscles to do more, they’ll have to adapt by getting bigger, stronger, burning more calories, etc. There’s a lot of different truths and fallacies on plateaus and how your muscles can get “used” to working out and stop growing. If that’s something you’re battling, here’s a way to continue making progress:
This will introduce a little chaos into the system, which could be a good thing…unless you’re Batman. What we’re talking about is muscle confusion theory, which is a preplanned period of variation.[13] Not, you know, wandering into the gym with no plan and just doing something different every time (whatever you feel like doing at that moment). That won’t help. But spend a week deliberating mixing it up. Then go back to your regularly scheduled routine and you’ll be right back on track. Make sure you know what you want, and then design a plan to get there. -Steve PS: If you want a nice shiny app to tell you EXACTLY how many seps and reps to do, our shiny new app will do just that! You can sign-up for a free 7-day trial to Nerd Fitness Journey, which will build a workout around your experience level! Jump in right here: ### All photo citations: Evel Knievel, Me riding a bicycle, Bicylelifter, Project Story 1/3
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The post How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do? (Building The Correct Workout Plan) first appeared on Nerd Fitness. How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do? (Building The Correct Workout Plan) published first on http://smokecignals.tumblr.com/ via Tumblr How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do? (Building The Correct Workout Plan) Ugh, it’s time for yet another attempt at losing weight. For some, losing weight is as simple as just looking at a vegetable. For the rest of us mere mortals, it feels like running through quicksand. Fortunately, helping people lose weight in a way that doesn’t suck is what we do! And gosh darnit, we’re really good at it: we have thousands of success stories and 1 million+ people tune in each month for advice on this stuff. We help our Online Coaching Clients lose weight without dieting, and these are the exact tactics we use. Want to lose weight WITHOUT hating life? Learn how we can help: I’m going to cover EVERYTHING you need to know about losing weight quickly, sustainably, and without hating everything. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Let’s jump right in! Why Diets Don’t WorkIf you’re reading this guide, you probably:
Whether we try popular diets like the Paleo Diet to Keto, or Plant-Based, to Intermittent fasting (I do it), to terrible diets like the Military Diet, juice cleanses, or the Cabbage Soup Diet, we’re all looking for that master key that unlocks effortless weight loss. Some of these diets are certainly more effective/healthy than others, but they all come down to two truths for losing weight: Truth #1: Nearly every diet works in the short term. Truth #2: Nearly every diet fails in the long term. So why does every diet work in the short term? Every diet you have ever tried has a clever way of restricting calories which leads to weight loss[1]:
99% of the reason why these diets result in short-term weight loss is that they get us to eat fewer calories. The problems arise when we get to Truth 2: “Nearly every diet fails in the long term.” Put another way: “Temporary changes create temporary results.” If somebody “goes Keto” for 60 days, they’ll probably lose weight, and might even feel healthier. This is cool. HOWEVER. If they spend those 60 days dreaming of carbs, counting down the days until they can “go back to eating like normal,” they will put all of the weight back as soon as they stop their diet. This is why I hate the term “diet” or “going on a diet”: In order for a diet to create permanent results, the diet needs to be adopted PERMANENTLY! You’ll lose weight in the short term with any diet, so long as you reduce your calorie intake. Today, we’re going to focus on weight loss that’s::
So, as you read about the 5 rules of weight loss below, I want you to be honest with yourself. You need to make changes you can stick with for at least a year. If a change seems too drastic or too scary, start small. Here’s how we help our coaching clients: we work with them to pick ONE change per week that we can implement: one less soda, try one new vegetable, etc. In other words, we STOP thinking about “How many pounds can I lose in a month?” and instead “What can I do today that isn’t scary, but will make me better off a year from now:“ Dieting sucks. Let us help you fix your nutrition and lose weight without being miserable: Rule #1: Lose Weight Without DietingThere’s only ONE big-ass rule you need to follow when it comes to weight loss: Eat fewer calories than you burn. (Yes, I realize this article has 5 RULES, but the other 4 all build on this one.) Study[2] after study[3] after study[4] shows that our bodies obey the laws of thermodynamics and that in order to lose weight, we need to burn more calories than we consume regularly. Every day, our body needs a certain number of calories to carry out its daily functions: making your heart beat, your brain function, getting your body to move, and all sorts of other stuff. This is called your total daily energy expenditure, and you can calculate your TDEE here.
So, in order for us to lose weight, we need to find a way to tip the energy balance in favor of “burn fat, sucka!” Simplifying this really complex topic, we need to eat less and/or move more to get our bodies to start using our fat stores for energy. Unfortunately, that’s where the problems start. We humans are REALLY good at:
When we accidentally eat more calories than we realize, and then burn fewer calories from exercise than we assume, we think we “can’t lose weight” because of our metabolism or genetics. Nope. It’s because we are eating too much. And as we lay out in our MASSIVE Healthy Eating Guide, the most important factor in fat loss is eating fewer calories than you burn on a regular basis. The best way to do that is to focus on the right kind of food:
These foods are full of vitamins and minerals while also lower in calories, compared to ultra-processed foods that are easily overconsumed.[6]. They fill us up but aren’t overly calorie-dense. Which means we feel full while reducing our calorie intake. If we can do this consistently and sustainably, we will lose weight. To drive this point home, compare 200 calories worth of these two foods (courtesy of wiseGEEK): 200 calories worth of a bagel: …and 200 calories worth of broccoli: Which one do you think you’ll be more likely to accidentally overeat? The bagel, duh. Who eats only 2/3rds of a bagel? Literally zero people. So here’s how we’re going to lose weight: eat fewer calories without realizing it, and then burn extra calories without being miserable:
Let’s dig into these 3 things next: Rule #2: Prioritize Protein and VegetablesIf we want weight loss that doesn’t suck, we’ll want to build meals with foods that fill us up and make us feel good! PART A) PRIORITIZE PROTEIN FIRST: Protein is fuel for our bodies to rebuild muscle. It’s also nutritious, delicious, and satiating. How much protein should you eat? As we cover in our Protein Guide, aim for 1g per lb of bodyweight (2g per kg) every day (with an upper limit of 250g). Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
Not a meat-eater? Read our massive plant-based guide! A serving of protein is about the size and thickness of your palm. *The 4 oz serving is for an uncooked piece of meat. Cooking reduces about 25% of the weight, bringing it down to about 3 oz. When building a plate, aim for the following amount of protein:
PART B) HALF OF YOUR PLATE SHOULD BE VEGETABLES: When it comes to weight loss, veggies can make the difference between success and failure. Vegetables are nutrient-dense and low in calories. So you can eat lots of them and feel full without overconsuming calories (remember that mountain of broccoli was only 200 calories!). A serving of veggies is about the size of your fist, and 2 servings of veggies should take up ½ the plate! Here’s a quick, non-complete list of veggies that can fill your plate:
“But Steve, I don’t like vegetables…yet!” That’s cool, I didn’t eat vegetables until I was 22. Now, they’re a main staple of every meal I eat. If this is you, read our guide on “how to make vegetables taste good.” RECAP: In our quest for weight loss that doesn’t suck, we should focus on foods with fewer calories that still make us feel full, satisfied, and happy. Always start with protein and vegetables, and then the rest of your plate can have fats and carbs. Speaking of which… Rule #3: Know Your Carbs and Fat Portion SizesIf ¾ths of our healthy plate is occupied by protein and vegetables, where do fats and carbs fit in? You can still lose weight while consuming fats and carbohydrates, as long as they’re consumed in the right quantities. Remember how I said earlier “we UNDERestimate how many calories we eat every day?” Fat and/or carbs are almost ALWAYS the culprit. Let’s discuss. PART C) HEALTHY CARBOHYDRATES FOR THE WIN. Everybody loves carbs, but most people overeat this macronutrient without realizing it. Here are some examples of healthy carbohydrates that are less likely to be overconsumed:
This is a list of REAL foods, minimally processed, that also have plenty of fiber[9]. This then puts them in the “healthy carbs” category: when consumed in appropriate amounts, these foods can help you feel full and give you energy and all that jazz. Just make sure you know your portion sizes! EVERYBODY accidentally overeats carbohydrate-heavy foods, even healthy ones, and then wonders why they aren’t losing weight. To help you get better at eyeballing carb serving sizes: 1 serving of a starchy carbohydrate is 1 cupped hand (uncooked), or two hands forming a cup (cooked). Here are some images to help you learn proper portion sizes (thanks to SafeFood): PART D) DON’T FORGET ABOUT FAT! Dietary fat used to be vilified, but now it’s considered a superfood by many. Here’s the truth: dietary fat is neither a superfood nor evil. It’s just a macronutrient that we can eat that can help us lose weight when consumed in the right quantity, or keep us from our goals if we eat too many calories of it. Healthy fat can be found in foods like:
Saturated fats – consumed in moderate quantities[10] – can come from things like:
To help you gauge: a serving size of fat is roughly the size of your thumb! THIS is a single serving of almonds (162 calories): THIS is a serving of olive oil (119 calories, taken from Runtastic): What about cheese? Cheese is fine, provided you consume a proper sized portion of it! This is a portion of cheddar cheese (116 calories): So bringing them all together, here’s the healthy plate for weight loss (from our Healthy Eating Guide): If you prioritize protein and vegetables, while consuming appropriate amounts of fats and carbs, you’ll likely lose weight. “But Steve, what about low-fat diets? Low-carb diets? No-carb diets?” Low carb diets like Keto and Paleo are all the rage right now, but are they healthy and will they help you lose weight? Maybe! It depends on how your body regulates glucose (blood sugar)[11]: Studies show that people who follow EITHER a low-fat OR a low-carb diet will lose weight, as long as they are in caloric restriction and can adhere to the diet for at least a year[12]. So, it comes down to: “which strategy are you more likely to stick with for a year or longer?” If you think you can go Paleo or Keto or follow another low carb/low fat strategy for over a year, go for it. Otherwise, make small changes! MY ADVICE: Stick with changes that aren’t too scary. Work on reducing portion sizes or adding a new vegetable each week, and don’t get dogmatic, all-or-nothing about your diet! If you can find a way to reduce your total calorie intake without being miserable, you WILL lose weight over time, AND keep it off. There’s one other piece of the puzzle I HAVE to address. Rule #4: Exercise for weight loss (Strength training and cardio)Although exercise isn’t necessary for weight loss (nutrition being the most important part), I would HIGHLY recommend you exercise. There are three forms of exercise that I’ll cover when it comes to weight loss, and ALL three of them are important:
#1) Fun cardio is doing any sort of exercise that gets you off your butt and moving. It makes our heart healthier, AND it can serve as a reminder that we’re doing things differently now, and that we need to eat better so we don’t ruin our efforts! (Whatever you do, DON’T say: “Welp, I exercised – and thus I earned this donut and Coca-Cola” – you’d have been better off NOT exercising and skipping the donut and Coca-cola). Here are 40 fun ways to exercise without realizing it. Feel free to do a fun activity as often as you can! #2) High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) burns more calories per hour than steady cardio, so you get more “bang for your buck” when it comes to efficiency. If you’re limited on time and trying to burn more calories, 20 minutes of HIIT burns more calories than 20 minutes of steady jogging. Here are 3 HIIT workouts you can do today, no gym required! Both of these activities can help tip the energy balance in favor of “weight loss” when combined with calorie restriction. When you’re in a “caloric deficit” for weight loss, the hope is that your body will mostly pull from fat stores, though depending on how you are exercising it will also break down muscle too.[13] Said again: when you are eating a caloric deficit, your body will pull from both its fat stores AND existing muscle for energy. From a physique and health standpoint, obviously we’d prefer that we don’t break down muscle when in a caloric deficit, and instead get our body to use ONLY fat stores.[14] Your goal in fitness shouldn’t only be “weight loss,” despite the common vernacular used. The goal instead is to reduce body fat while also keeping the muscle you have (or even building more muscle). Which brings me to the most important form of exercise for weight loss: Rule #5: Strength Training For Weight Loss#3) Strength training is the prizefighting champion when it comes to weight loss. You can find study[15] after study[16] after study[17] that shows you the benefits of strength training for weight management, when combined with calorie restriction. Let me explain it here quickly, borrowing from Harry Potter: (You know, the wizard.) At the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when each student arrives they put on the “Sorting Hat,” an actual hat that determines which House (group) that child will join for his/her time at Hogwarts. The hat acts like a traffic director: “Harry, you will go to Gryffindor! Draco, you will go to Slytherin!” Your body operates in a VERY similar fashion: every day, it receives new calories (when you eat), and it needs to decide what to do with them! It’ll sort those calories into one of three Houses:[18] A: Burn for Fuel. B: Rebuild Muscle. C: Store as Fat. There’s a number of calories your body burns each day just existing: to keep your liver functioning, your heart pumping, your brain operating, and so on – it burns a good chunk of calories just keeping the lights on. Here are two quick examples (from our BMR calculator!):
When you start strength training, actual wizardry starts to happen. When you do push-ups and pull-ups or do a strength training workout, your muscles are “broken down” during the exercise itself, and then they rebuild themselves stronger over the next 24-48 hours. Guess what happens during those 24-48 hours? Your body diverts as many calories as possible to “Rebuild Muscle!” It also diverts additional calories to “Burn as Fuel” to handle this increased “muscle rebuilding” activity. Which means two amazing things:
There are significantly fewer calories available for “Store as Fat.” AND THEN IT GETS BETTER. When you consume fewer calories than your body burns each day, strength training will cause your body to get even more efficient. Your body can pull from “Store as Fat” to make sure all the work still gets done, including your daily functions as a human, and rebuilding the muscle. This is the Tri-wizard cup[19] of physical transformation victory:
This would be a “win-win-win” according to Michael Scott, Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin Scranton. So NO, you don’t need to lose weight first before you start strength training. You will lose weight BY strength training (and keep the muscle you have). Here’s how to start with Strength Training:
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER: Regular strength training is the most efficient type of exercise to do for losing fat and looking great naked Adding in intervals or fun exercise on your off days is a fantastic supplemental activity to strength training. Want help learning how to strength train? You can absolutely build your own workout, or you can work with one of our coaches who can create a custom program that’s specific to your goals and lifestyle. We’ll even make sure you’re doing the movements correctly via video, because we’re nice like that ? 25 Tips to Supercharge Weight LossThe 5 Rules above gives you the best chance to lose weight in a way that doesn’t suck. Changing your nutrition is like playing a video game: if you attack too many high-level bad guys at once, you’re going to lose. Instead, you’re better off picking 1-2 smaller bad guys (changes) that you know you can win, and level up slowly. THAT’S how you make changes that stick. No more temporary dieting for temporary results! Permanent changes create permanent results. Here are 25 other quick tips that are supplementary to the above important ones! 1) Consider low-carb OR low-fat diets. Studies show BOTH low-carb and low-fat diets will result in weight loss, IF you can stick with it.[20] Lots of people lose weight quickly on low carb, but they also tend to abandon the diet. You don’t need to do Keto or Paleo if you don’t want to. 2) Consider intermittent fasting. Fasting helps you reduce your calorie intake by limiting your daily eating window – it entails simply skipping meals or occasionally fasting for 24 hours. It affects men and women differently, but has tons of benefits and is backed by science. Read our Guide on Intermittent Fasting. I’ve been skipping breakfast since 2014! 3) Minimize liquid calories. Beverages with calories in them are probably sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Cut out the sodas and lattes and high-calorie smoothies (unless you account for them in your calorie goal!). Stick to sparkling water, black coffee or tea, or other zero-calorie beverages. 4) Cut back on alcohol. Yes, you can still drink alcohol and lose weight, but you still need to account for the calories, of which there might be many! And if you make poor food choices while drunk, it’s going to be tough to lose weight. Read our guide on alcohol and stick to low-calorie beer, whiskey neat, or vodka with club sodas. 5) Know your condiments and cooking oils. Just because you’re eating grilled chicken and vegetables doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to lose weight! If those foods are smothered in sauces or covered in 1000 calories of healthy olive oil, the calories still count! Keep an eye on the sauces and oils you use to cook with. 6) Know your next meal. Most of our coaching success stories plan in advance what their next meal is. Because it’s a pre-made decision, it removes emotion and makes them less likely to make a bad choice while hungry, sad, or angry. Think of it this way: you can still eat unhealthy foods with this strategy because you plan ahead and can eat a healthy meal before and after. No harm done! Want help implementing these tactics to lose weight? Learn more about our Online Coaching: 7) Look at restaurant menus before going. Restaurants serve notoriously large portions of food, often with hundreds of hidden calories. Give yourself the best chance to succeed by looking up the menu online before going and decide BEFORE you get there. Also, consider taking HALF the entree and boxing it up for an additional meal (a tip we mention in our Guide to Portion Control). 8) Eat the same foods over and over. The healthiest, most successful coaching clients we have tend to eat the same handful of meals over and over. Once you learn portion sizes and calorie counts of your favorite meals, you’re much more likely to eat within your goals for the day. 9) Learn to batch cook. Read our guide on batch cooking! If you can prepare all your healthy meals ONCE at the start of the week, you’ll set yourself up for success. Why? Because now your default, easiest, laziest option is to simply reheat and eat the food you have at home – much less work than ordering takeout or driving to fast food! Win-Win-Win. Here’s how I batch cook chicken for the week: 10) Employ the “Never 2 in a Row” rule. If you ever eat an unhealthy meal, simply make the next one healthy. One bad meal doesn’t ruin a day, so letting an unhealthy breakfast derail you for the rest of the day isn’t smart. Simply eat a healthy lunch and get right back on track. 11) Ask “What would Batman do?” If you’re not sure what you should eat, ask what would Batman do. A study showed that children were more likely to pick an apple instead of candy when instructed to ask this question.[21] And we’re all kids at heart, right? 12) Track your calories. If you can’t lose weight, it’s most likely because you’re accidentally eating more calories than you realize. Use an app or spreadsheet and track your food for a week. You can calculate how many calories you burn every day too. 13) Weigh your food (advanced): STILL not losing weight? It’s time to get your portion sizes fixed too. Get a cheap food scale and weigh your food for 2-3 days. Doing this, I discovered I was eating an extra 400 calories without realizing it. Struggling to lose weight? Let us help. Learn more about our Online Coaching: 14) Eat more slowly! If we’re not careful, we can eat more than we realize because we eat too quickly for our body to understand it’s full! Tactics to help with this include consciously working on chewing your food more frequently before swallowing. Studies show eating slowly can help reduce calorie intake.[22] 15) Use smaller plates and forks! If we have big plates and big utensils, we’re more likely to pile more food on our plate AND consume it more quickly. Throw out your big plates and get smaller ones. Get smaller utensils, and you’ll trick yourself into eating smaller portions without realizing it. 16) Don’t “Eat AND [activity].” Just “eat.” We eat more food if we’re eating while doing something else (watching TV, scrolling through our phones, etc).[23] Why don’t you try JUST eating? Enjoy each bite. Savor the food. Make it an experience. You’ll tend to eat less. 17) Stop snacking. All calories count. Instead of snacking throughout the day, why not eat 3 regular sized meals that you truly enjoy? As we cover in our Guide to Intermittent Fasting, it doesn’t matter WHEN you eat, it only matters HOW MUCH you eat. Not snacking between meals gives you more leeway during your actual meals! 18) Seek professional help if necessary. If you struggle with your relationship with food, consider reaching out to a therapist or doctor. We believe mental health is really important here at Nerd Fitness, and we know food can be an emotional trigger for lots of people that struggle with their weight. You don’t have to do this journey alone! 19) Fidget more! From tapping your toes to getting up frequently, fidgeting (small micromovements) can burn hundreds of additional calories per day.[24] It all counts. So get wiggling! 20) Move more. From parking farther away at the grocery store to taking the stairs instead of the elevator, do whatever you can to MOVE MORE! Get a cheap fitness tracker and try to get more steps than you normally do. Important note: don’t rely on the tracker for calories burned (they’re all notoriously inaccurate, some by as much as 90%[25]). We show you just how inaccurate these fitness trackers are for calories burned in this infographic: However, these devices are often a great ‘trend tracker.’ Do more than you did before and you WILL get results. 21) Find ways to exercise in a fun way! ANY sort of movement helps, so check out our 40 ways to exercise without realizing it. Dance, yoga, wrestling with your kids, rock climbing, hiking, it all counts! Just like your parents told you when you were a kid, “Go outside and play!” Exercise doesn’t have to suck. Let us build a workout you’ll ACTUALLY do: 22) Get strong as hell. Pick up heavy weights. Our bodies have to burn tons of calories to recover from a heavy strength training session. Plus, you get to keep the muscle you have and burn the fat on top of those muscles. As Coach Matt explains in the video below, that’s how you lose weight AND gain muscle at the same time: 23) Hack your Batcave: We are creatures of our environment, so use that to your advantage! Stop relying on willpower, and instead get smarter. Increase the steps between you and the activity you’re trying to avoid (eat junk food), and decrease the number of steps between you and the NEW activity you want to do more of (eat healthily):
24) Surround yourself with people who are healthier than you. We’re the average of the 5 people we associate most with. Join a running club. Eat lunch with healthier people than you at the office. We subconsciously adopt the traits of the people around us, so use that to your advantage! 25) Forgive yourself. We are all flawed. If you eat a bad meal or have a rough weekend, who cares?! The month is not ruined. Make the next decision a healthy one and get right back on track. Remember “never two in a row.” I know this is a lot to absorb, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re totally overwhelmed! If you want help implementing these tactics and supercharge your weight loss journey, that’s what we do best. Click below to learn more! How fast can I lose weight?There are MANY factors that are involved in how quickly you can lose weight, but here are the big ones:
First Week Weight Loss Expectations: Depending on how poorly you eat now, if you swap out unhealthy food for protein and veggies – reducing your calorie intake significantly – you might lose as much as 10 lbs (5 kgs) in your first week. It’s awesome to see the scale drop by that much in the first week, but it’s important to note that this type of weight loss won’t be typical week to week. If you normally eat a lot of carbs and sodium, your body is carrying a lot of extra bloat and water weight. When you switch to mostly protein and veggies, you’ll lose TONS of water weight and some fat initially. We’ve seen many Coaching Clients lose 5-10 pounds in their first week, again mostly due to the reduction of water weight with SOME fat loss. First Month Weight Loss Expectations: Depending on how strict you are with your nutrition – you can lose 1% of your body fat, or 0.5-3 pounds per week after that (heavily dependent on how much weight you have to lose). We have seen people (who have a lot of weight to lose) lose 20 pounds in their first month, mostly due to large water weight reduction in the first week, with a steady consistent drop after that. (Curious how quickly you can lose weight? Use our Total Daily Energy Expenditure TDEE Calculator.) There’s nothing wrong with losing weight quickly, provided you’re doing it in a healthy, SUSTAINABLE way – like following the rules and strategies laid out in this article. Quick weight loss doesn’t guarantee long-term success. It comes down to making PERMANENT changes! If somebody reduces their calorie intake by 1000+ calories a day, they might be so damn hungry and angry all the time that they abandon their journey after a week or two. This is bad news bears. They would have been better off reducing their calories by 200 calories a day for 6 weeks, and then by another 200 6 weeks later, and so on. We want sustainable, permanent weight loss. So it doesn’t really matter how much weight you lose in your first week or first month, but rather how much weight you have lost after 1 year, and how you feel after that year. As we cover in our “Why can’t I lose weight?” guide, this is a lifelong journey. You should think of this as a lifestyle adjustment – not a temporary diet change. Put your focus on building the habits and fixing your environment. Focus on the changes you can make on a day to day basis, and with each meal. And over time, your weight WILL drop in a way that’s sustainable and healthy. How to Lose Weight Quickly“STEVE JUST TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT TO DO TO LOSE WEIGHT QUICKLY.” Fine! But you don’t need to yell at me like that! Here’s what I would do if I needed to lose weight quickly but ALSO didn’t want to hate life:
I’ll leave you with some final words of wisdom: this is NOT all or nothing. If you can implement just ONE change and stick with it, that’s a victory. That’s better than doing 10 things and giving up after a month. I know I just threw a LOT of information at you. But I hope that you can implement this stuff in your day-to-day routine, because it WILL lead to sustainable weight loss ad change your life. If you are looking for more guidance, support, and instruction, we have 3 options for you to level up: #1) JOIN OUR COACHING PROGRAM: We provide nutritional guidance, constant feedback and support, customized workouts for your goals, and keep you accountable wherever you are. We are really good at this stuff and would love to help you reach your goals. Our Coaching program changes lives. Learn more here! #2) If you want an exact blueprint for how to eat better and get in shape, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). Try your free trial right here: #3) Join The Rebellion (it’s free)! Sign up for our biweekly newsletter and join the Nerd Fitness Rebellion! I’ll send you tons of free nutritional guides and bonuses to help you get started on your journey today. Sign up below: Download our free weight loss guideTHE NERD FITNESS DIET: 10 Levels to Change Your Life
If you were just trying to start building healthier habits and lose weight sustainably, instead here’s what I would do: Make 1 change per week. Change ONE meal a week, or cut back on ONE soda. Make a change that’s so small that it doesn’t make you sad or scared. And then repeat. What’s the ONE change you’re going to make this week to make your weight loss journey SLIGHTLY easier? -Steve PS: Make sure you check out the rest of our Sustainable Weight Loss Content:
### Photo Source:[26] Footnotes ( returns to text)
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Being an avid follower of many modern self-help authors and experimenting with a variety of self-improvement mind techniques, including meditation and self hypnosis. I have distilled my knowledge and defined the best self-hypnosis scripts and enjoys passing on my knowledge by writing informative articles. Until now I was offering my advice only to paid members, now you can benefit from my resource free at my Lifestyle blog and Hypnosis for Self Improvement website. One of the main agenda of my talk is how you can quit smoking and most effective method to quit smoking cigarettes fast and forever..
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