If you have just started on your fitness journey or have been at it for awhile, I'm sure that you have heard how wonderful squats are for your butt, but why do you really need to do squats?
1. Improves circulation
2. Great for your core
3. Helps with back strength
4. They work for your digestion also
Those are just a few benefits that you wouldn't think of, that squats do.
There is so much information out on the web about squats so I thought I would touch on questions I had when I started out.
can you get the same results from other exercises
There are plenty of exercises out there that target the muscles in the legs and glutes, usually you have to do multiple sets of different kinds in order to accomplish what you can with squats. A squat targets multiple muscles all at once. Not that you shouldn't do those other exercises, you need those to build a strong foundation. Just start your leg day with squats!
how low and what type
Have you ever heard the limbo song? "how low can you go?" Well, you wanna go as low as you can while being able to keep your form. The saying "ass to grass" helps me to remember how low I should be going. Now when I first started working out I would do a lot of videos and honestly they were not doing full squats, so I didn't realize that I was doing them wrong. I have since lowered my weight and have had to re-teach myself proper form.
I try to do a few different types of squats. Goblet squats and Plie squats. It really doesn't matter what type of squats you do as long as your form is good. Good form keeps from injury.
with weights or without
You don't want to lift heavy weights because you think it will make you look like a man, well,that is OK. Squats are still effective you just use your bodyweight to do them. I can say that you would have to lift really heavy for a long time to start to look manly so I advise that after getting your form down that you should add in a little bit of weight. The weight will help to better build the muscles.
*Do you make sure to do squats?
When I first started lifting, I was so excited when I was able to see muscle definition. It meant that I was achieving the look I thought I wanted. It meant I didn't need to kill myself doing cardio anymore...right.
Then I stopped seeing results because I had so much fat that still needed to come off. How was I going to get rid of some of the fat without getting rid of all the muscle I had managed to put on already?
I would need to get back on the cardio machine again in order to get my heart rate up to burn some fat.
What kind of cardio?
If you are doing cardio it should be something you enjoy or you will be miserable doing it. You will want to so it 2-3 times a week. Say you like to run, well go for that run, just don't go for over 45 minutes a couple times a week. You don't want to put too much stress on your body, that is when it will turn to burning up your muscle.
How do you gain muscle?
By having enough calories and protein for growth. The digested protein like mentioned in this post is needed for muscle growth, so over doing cardio will leave you at a deficit.
Don't forget diet
In an attempt to limit muscle loss when getting in cardio you need to remember that what you fuel your body with matters. Also making sure to start the recovery process right after a workout will help stop the breakdown of muscles.
My takeaway from this is that I need some cardio to be healthy but not overdoing it is the key. Everything in moderation. Helping to drop the fat also needs healthy fuel.
*How much cardio do you do?
There are so many quick fixes out there for everything you could imagine, so why not weight loss too.
You can eat just grapefruits or drink lemon, honey, and cayenne. Then you have your detox's and the diets with the crazy names. What can that kind of extreme dieting do to your muscle gains?
The closest I have come to extreme dieting was doing Keto. That is restricting your carb intake. So what I am sharing is what I have learned because I had been interesting in trying what was called a "Shock Diet" and wasn't sure that it would be worth it.
I did learn that when your extreme diet includes cutting your protein intake then you will for sure affect your gains. You can't even begin to put on muscle until you take in enough protein because our muscles are built from digested protein. If you want to learn more about the right protein read this post.
Extreme caloric deficiency is hard not only on your muscles but your metabolism and hormones as well. People seem to think that if they take in less than they burn you will lose weight and it's all good. Well, really you are just losing water weight at first and then if you keep with it then you will end up losing three times more muscle than if you ate the calories you needed.
Basically, you should not go for an extreme diet if you care about keeping your muscles. There are plenty of healthy ways to lose the fat and keep your muscles. Then your gains will be more predominant when the fat is gone. Losing the fat should be done before trying to grow your muscles.
*Would you try an extreme diet?
If you are anything like me, stretching is the favorite part of my workout!
I have never been one to stretch before a workout. I was told that if you stretch out the muscles too much then they are more prone to injury, but you should make it an important part of your routine.
A good minimum time to spend stretching is 10 minutes and on up from there.
How can you remember to stretch and make it a part of your workout?
1. If you are already using and app for your workout then you can add it to the end of your workout, that way it just flows and you don't have time to get distracted.
2. Set a timer. If you are doing your workout by the time you have available, you can just set a timer to go off a little before so you can squeeze in a stretch.
3. Create a fun stretching list with pictures, like you would a vision board and hang it right where you workout so you have to look at it.
4. Make it a two in one. I do my stretching when I'm doing my yoga\meditation. I take my shoes off, roll out the mat, and put on my meditation chimes.
What are some poses?
1. Downward dog is a wonderful pose that stretches the arms and legs.
2. Pigeon pose works the legs and it can be made easy or more advanced as you adapt to it.
3. Crescent pose is another one that really works the legs and can help to transition into other poses.
4. Reverse warrior is great for the arms, back and legs. All warrior poses are good stretches for your legs and work your balance.
Stretching is so good for you that it should be done even on your rest days. You will reduce your risk of injury and increase your blood flow.
Anyway that you can remember, you should do. It will become a favorite part of your routines you won't forget!!
*How do you get your stretches in?
Are fitness apps there to help us be productive or can they be counterproductive?
In this day and age, it is not uncommon to see people glued to their smartphones or tablets. Of course "there's an app for that!"
I thought that I would explore the pros and cons of the fitness app craze. Do they help our performance or just get in the way?
A very big market
There are so many different apps in the market that are labeled in the health and fitness genera that it can lead to feeling overwhelmed when wanting to find what will work best for you. I am not going to go into detail with all the different specialties, instead, I'm going to just talk in generalities.
I use one...or more, maybe
OK, so when I first started out with fitness I didn't know what I was doing so I turned to YouTube for guidance. Easier to follow along than to go out in uncharted territory. Once I got my bearings and things got going, I wanted to track reps and weight so that I could one up myself the next time around.
What are the benefits
There are many good aspects to using some sort of fitness app. If you are like me and love lists, tracking, and journaling, you can find one that is like that all rolled into one. Who doesn't want a place to keep accountable for some goal they have? If you can see it consistently then you are more than likely to be encouraged during the journey and end up reaching that goal.
Is there a downside
The most important thing I think there is to remember not to get caught up with the numbers and not get down on yourself if you don't reach that goal right away. It should be all about the journey, so if you keep that in mind then actually finding the right app would be your only downside....oh and internet connection!
I use JEFIT on my Kindle and it gives you workout plans that as you go along you can track the reps and weight and it times your rest for you. bodybuilding.com has kind of the same thing per each workout you pick. Now these are for weightlifting, I'm not sure about just general workouts.
*This is just my opinion on fitness apps and do not want you to think that you need an app to get fit, I just happen to need extra help.
** Do you use a fitness app? What kind?
