The Fun Fit Blog

The Most Overlooked Gym Equipment....

What's the one piece of equipment that should be in every gym and home gym and is often overlooked by most people ?

It's a mirror.

A mirror is extremely important for practicing good form while strength training. Incorrect form can lead to poor results and injuries. Just about any exercise you can perform will benefit by watching yourself in the mirror during the exercise. When you don't have a trainer, a mirror can be your best friend. Even if you know how to perform the exercise correctly, it's easy to get sloppy with a routine. A mirror helps keep your form in check.

Never overlook your form or the value of a good mirror.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

Shake N Blend Protein

Protein shakes are a great aid in building muscle. I typically drink 2 shakes a day, once in the morning and once before bed. Sometimes a shaker works well for making protein shakes. But other times, when the protein powder is more concentrated, a shaker just doesn't do the job well. 

Often a blender is overkill for mixing protein shakes and it means one more container to clean. But a mobile mixer is a neat solution to this blending problem. It's battery operated, often running on 1 or 2 AA batteries. It's also extremely easy to clean and it's very inexpensive.

I like to use a mobile mixer with a shaker for my casein whey shakes because casein whey doesn't dissolve well. I've found the combination of the mobile mixer followed with the shaker is an unbeatable combination for hard to mix protein shakes.

If your shaker is having trouble fully dissolving the protein powder, then get a mobile mixer.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

The Body Shaping Secret

What if I told you there is a really simple rule to understand EVERY strength training exercise that exists, even the exercises you don't already know. And that with this knowledge, you could perform more efficient workouts and get better results. Are you interested?

OK, the secret is.....Wait.... Are you sure you want to know this secret?....You do?...Are you certain?... Ok, I'll tell you. It's simple really and it has to do with opposites.

• Wide grip (for arms) or wide position (feet) works the inner muscles
• Narrow grip or narrow position (feet) works the outer muscles

So if you want to workout your biceps or use the leg press machine, you should change your grip or position of your feet, respectively so that you're training both your inner and outer muscles.

Variety is important for exercise and it's important to know not only which muscle you are working out, but what specific part of that muscle you're working out also. This is really one of the most important rules of strength training to know. And now that you know it, go forth and strength train.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

Your Fitness Day Begins With Sleep

For many, getting a good workout first thing in the morning is very important to keeping on track with fitness goals.

The key to working out first thing in the morning is to get enough sleep the night before. This is crucial. If you can't get out of bed, you can't work out. If you want to guarantee your morning workout, get what you need to get done early in the evening and then go to bed early.

Getting enough sleep will support your workouts and your morning workouts will give you enough energy to get you through the rest of the day. So tonight, go to bed early. Your body will thank you.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

Beat the Heat During Your Workouts - Part II

Today I'm going to talk about ways to beat the heat at both your home gym or your local commercial gym. 

When I'm working out in the summer time, I find cold water really helps cool me down during my exercises.

I especially like to bring my own cold water to the gym. I'll typically exercise after work, so in the morning, I pack a small fabric cooler with six 500mL water bottles and some ice packs.  Next, I'll put this fabric cooler inside a big plastic empty cooler and put the cooler in the back seat of my car. Because the smaller cooler is inside a bigger empty cooler, the water bottles stay cold even while sitting in a car with the windows closed for 8 hours on a 100 degree day. When I reach the gym, I simply put the small fabric cooler in my gym locker. Each time I need a fresh water bottle at the gym, I always have a cold water bottle.

And if you're working out at your home gym, you probably have access to cold water. So you don't need any tips for that. I do want to point out though, that during the summer, the best place for a home gym is the basement. This time of year, the basement is the coolest place in the house. During the summer months, you really don't want your home gym to be on the 2nd floor. If it is on the 2nd floor, you'll probably want a fan or two to help cool you down.

With just a few easy changes, you can make working out in the summer heat a breeze.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

Beat the Heat During Your Workouts - Part I

Summer temperatures are here and exercise endurance becomes more of a problem this time of year. Besides drinking lot's of water, there's one simple thing you can do to beat the summer fitness heat. It's changing your workout clothing. The best clothing I've found to cool off in at the gym is the Adidas ClimaCool brand.

ClimaCool allows me to get more done in my workouts because I can cool off quicker compared to wearing regular gym clothes. Being able to quickly cool off really helps with exercise endurance. My typical gym outfit consists of a sleeveless ClimaCool top and ClimaCool gym shorts. I'll typically wear ClimaCool clothes all year long because my workouts will work up a sweat very quickly. But I especially notice the benefits of ClimaCool clothes during the summer time.

If you're looking for a way to beat the summer heat during your workouts, give ClimaCool clothes a try.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

Bigger, Muscular Arms

Tricep muscles have a lot to do with the size of your arms. Unfortunately, many people overlook working out their triceps. In addition, tricep exercises are not as intuitive as the bicep or shoulder exercises, so it's easy to have bad form with tricep exercises.

The mainstay of tricep exercises consist of:

• Overhead tricep exercises
• Dip exercise
• Kickback exercise

If you're new to tricep exercises. Focus on your form for the overhead triceps first. Here are some tips for performing overhead tricep exercises:

• Use a mirror
• Keep your upper arms as stationary as possible throughout the exercise
• Go slow on both the extension and return of the exercise
• Keep your back and head straight
• Avoid using your back muscles, shoulder muscles, and neck muscles (In other words, don't cheat)

With some practice you'll find that these tips can be applied to other types of tricep exercises. Good form can make all the difference with your fitness results.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

Choosing the Right Stability Ball

The stability ball is a great way to work your core. Today I want to go over some basics for choosing a stability ball.

Generally, you should pick out a stability ball based on your height.

• Up to 5'4" tall use a 45cm ball

• 5'5" to 5'7" use a 55cm ball

• 5'8" to 6' use a 65cm ball

• Over 6' use a 75cm ball

I'm 5'11", so I use a 65 cm ball for most of my stability exercises. However, I sometimes go with a smaller ball when I'm not sitting on the ball. For example, I've used a smaller ball for exercises where only my heels or my upper back were on the ball. If you're a beginner, start with the size that's right for you and get lot's of practice before you venture out into other stability ball sizes.

Also, a great feature to have in a ball is "burst resistance". In the event of a puncture, this feature causes the ball to slowly release air, giving you time to safely get off of the ball.

Having the right equipment is important in fitness. Choose the right stability ball and you'll have a great core in no time.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

The No-Fad Diet

Here's a diet with the perfect name. It's the No-Fad diet by the American Heart Association (AHA).

This diet involves 3 essential concepts:

• Think Smart!
• Eat Well!
• Move More!

For more information click on the above link. There are a lot of diet plans out there. Some are healthy and some are not so health. If you're look for a diet plan, check out the No-Fad diet.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

Fitness Inspiration

It's been a long day. My dogs happily woke me up at 4:30 AM and I had trouble going back to sleep.  I came home, it's hot in my house, and I just didn't feel like working out. Plus I had some things to do around the house tonight. It's getting later and I'm looking for some sort of inspiration to help me get out a workout before I go to bed.

Then, reading the paper, I see an inspirational quote

"When you are in any contest, you should work as if there were — to the very last minute — a chance to lose it. This is battle. This is politics. This is anything." Dwight Eisenhower, 34th U.S. president

I think this quote works well for fitness. It's so easy to just stop exercising or stop eating healthy that once you go down that path it's very easy to lose all your fitness gains.

So I decided to go down to the basement where my home gym is located and do 4 sets of lunges while I watched TV. A Rocky movie just happened to be on. Two inspirational events in 1 night! I only worked out for 10 minutes. But in those 10 minutes, I got a great leg workout and I feel inspired again.

Motivation is an important component of fitness. When you're not in the mood to exercise, look for ways to stay inspired.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
""Functional Marc"