Gym Etiquette guidelines to follow

Whether you are new to the gym or a seasoned gym rat, here are some common gym etiquette guidelines that you should be sure to follow:

•No muddy shoes on gym floor – you are sharing this gym with a lot of people, and nobody wants a dirty gym.  In most cases, the gym will provide a rug for you to wipe off your shoes.

•Must wear gym shoes while exercising – typically, you will not be allowed to exercise wearing  sandals, slippers or flip flops. This is obviously for safety reasons, and should be followed.

•No gym bags on gym floor – It’s never fun tripping over someone else’s gym bag just after you had an intense workout. Most gyms will have a policy in place to keep gym bags off of the floor, which is for everyone’s safety.

•No alcohol, smoking, or drugs allowed on premises – this should be an obvious, but it still must be mentioned!

•No offensive or abusive language – you are exercising around a lot of people, and should respect the fact that others will not want to hear your offensive language.

• Don’t talk my ears off! – Most people want to go to the gym to exercise rather than engage in social hour. Nothing’s worst than having to listen to someone else’s conversation about anything and everything for your entire workout. Respect the fact that other people are around you and don’t want to hear about your problems. If it’s just you and your friend at the gym, that’s another story. Then again…how can you have a successful workout if you are talking the whole time?

•Before changing TV stations, see if others are watching the TV or not – It’s OK to change the TV channel only
if nobody else is watching the channel that is currently on. If you change the TV channel without prior approval, it’s just plain rude.

•Share equipment – allow others to use the equipment during your rest period. Unless the equipment has your name on it,  you have to share.

•Share the lane – If your gym has a pool, be sure to share the lane with others. Just because you got there first, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share the lane.

•Stop working out on a defective machine – If you are on an elliptical machine that keeps squeaking like crazy, get off and get onto a new machine. This is respectful to those around you who don’t want to hear the squeaking, and respectful to the gym so that they can have the machine repaired for future use.

•Return weights to the racks or plate trees after use – This is necessary for several reasons: 1) Everyone wants a clean gym rather than having weights laying around 2) You are sharing the equipment, and having a standard location to find the free weights makes sense

Now that you know the appropriate Gym Etiquette, you are ready to hit the gym!

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

Tags: equipment, etiquette, exercising, Fitness, gym, gym rules, machine, share, shoes

Elliptical Machine

I first started using the Elliptical Machine after I was recovering from hurting my knees while running (soft and uneven ground- don’t recommend it). As you might have guessed, the Elliptical Machine is low impact, and easy on your knees. I thought of this machine as a temporary step while my knees were recovering, and found that I loved this machine and the workout I was getting.

Purpose

If you are looking for a great cardio workout, this is the machine for you. Within 3 minutes of using this machine, you can get up to your cardiovascular heart rate level and stay there for the duration of your workout. This machine will get your heart rate pumping, so it’s best if you slowly work your way up to either a more intense level and/or a longer workout. when I first went on this machine, I focused on doing short, but intesnse workouts. Once I finally got a heart rate monitor, I realized I was allowing myself to let my heart rate going higher than I should have. Not good. Be sure when you exercise you have a good heart rate monitor, and know your limits. Exercising is very healthy and good for you, but if you aren’t careful, you can hurt yourself too. Always consult with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Benefits

Your lower body is mostly what gets worked out, but since your arms are on the handle bars, you get an upper body work out (think cross country skiing). With this full body workout, it gets your heart rate going, and calories are in turn getting burned. It burns quite a bit of calories actually. Be sure to increase your levels of intensity so that your body doesn’t get used to it, and still gives your body a workout. Start slowly, and depending on how your body is feeling, start increasing the intensity.

I have found success with this machine, but I would like to hear other people’s reviews and what they think about the ever so popular Elliptical Machine.

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

Tags: burn calories, cardio, elliptical machine, exercise, good for your body, gym, Healthy, Lose Weight, low impact, review, success, toned muscle, Weight Loss

Why you should give Yoga a try

There is a lot of hype about Yoga, and the health benefits of doing Yoga on a regular basis. I have been a bit reluctant to try it out for several reasons. First of all, I like to do cardio works outs that make me sweat (funny how I used to not like that part of exercising), and something where I feel like I am burning a ton of calories and making some progress in my weight loss or maintenance. I tend to do exercises like running, swimming, and the elliptical machine. After those work outs, my body just knows that it worked out. This again shows me that I am making some progress, and I feel good about what I have done. So now back to Yoga. When I think of Yoga, I have to admit, I thought it was just a little boring and maybe a little too easy?

I went to my first Yoga class a couple of months ago. Let’s just say all of my previous thoughts about Yoga were pretty much dissolved. I realized I wasn’t nearly as strong as I thought, and by the end of the class, not only did I sweat because of the amazing workout, but I was calling myself a “pansy” for not being able to do some of the “simple” and “boring” moves that I thought Yoga was all about. By the next day, the way my whole body felt, I knew this was something my body needed and wanted more of.

Not to my surprise, I wanted to do some more research on the benefits of Yoga.

Flexibility

I thought this was a bit of an obvious find, but still wanted to mention it. Not a lot of exercises will help with flexibility like Yoga does, and I believe that by gaining some more flexibility with Yoga, it will help out with your other exercises that you are doing. Worried you aren’t flexible enough? No need to worry. Do the poses the best you can, without causing yourself pain. You will soon find poses you couldn’t do, with time and practice, eventually you can do them. Everyone is at a different level, and you don’t need to feel like you have to be a pro your first time around.

Strength

If you want and all over toned body, Yoga is for you. Remember how I said I felt like a “pansy” after Yoga? There is a good reason for that. You have to use your muscles for the poses, and if you aren’t strong enough just yet, you can be by doing yoga on a regular basis. If you can’t do the pose yet, don’t worry. Keep practicing on a regular basis, and you will find you can start doing poses you couldn’t do a month ago. You can see your progress right before your eyes! If it makes you feel any better, there were strong guys in the class who were still struggling with some of the poses, which leads me to my next benefit of  Yoga.

Balance

Yoga will help you with your balance, which is one of the reasons some guys who were very strong still had some struggles- they were learning how to balance their bodies, and use their muscles in ways they never had to before. You will notice the more you practice these poses using your balancing techniques, you will start to get a little better and better with each practice.

Reduces Stress

Even though your first Yoga experience may be more difficult that you could have imagined, it might just surprisingly be quite relaxing all at the same time. If you are in a class setting, usually the Yoga instructor will put on some soft and relaxing music, and may even dim the lights (depending on type of Yoga). With Yoga you get to focus on breathing, flexing, relaxing, holding positions, all at the same time. If you ever have a tough day at the office, Yoga might be a good way to relieve the stress, which is obviously something good for your body-inside and out.

“Where can I do Yoga?”

-If you have a gym membership, that might just be a great place to start. A lot of gyms will have Yoga classes, as well as others like Spinning, Aerobics, and Dance. Find out what classes your gym offers, and if you are new to Yoga, feel free to talk to the Instructor before or after class and let them know if you have any questions, or if you need help with some of the poses.

-You might want to try a Yoga Training DVD, which is great because if you want something convenient, you can do this in the comfort of your own home. It can be like having your own personal trainer at whatever time of day you want to do Yoga.

-The Internet not only has plenty of reading material on Yoga, but it also includes Yoga videos. Try doing a search on Yoga in your Search Engine, or even go to a site like YouTube for Yoga instructional videos. Just realize the instructor may not be licensed, but still may know what they are talking about. Take it for what it is.

If you haven’t already given Yoga a chance, I urge you to now. If you are already reaping the many benefits of Yoga, feel free to comment about your experiences with Yoga.

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

Tags: benefits of yoga, burn more, calories, cardio, dance, elliptical, every day life, exercise, flexibility, gym, gym membership, gymnastics, Healthy, motivational, personal trainer, progress, running, Skinny, spinning class, stay active, strength, sweating, swimming, toned body, training dvd, Weight Loss, working out, Yoga, yoga poses