Achieving your fitness goals

Whether your fitness goal is to lose weight, tone up, or bulk up, there are always standard practices of working out one should apply to achieve their goal. Since not playing sports anymore, my workouts have definitely changed in terms of frequency and content. I started Beach Body Insanity a few months ago and haven't been a gym since, which is so unlike me! In college when training, I would have to do power cleans, lifts, back squats, front squats, kettle ball workouts, free weights, resistance work, med ball work... you name it. But since graduating I haven't really done any hard core weight lifting and, to be honest, I kind of miss it. I always enjoyed lifting weights more than I enjoyed intense cardio, yet I've been doing more cardio lately than weights. Ironic, isn't it?

The Insanity workouts kicked my ass so much that I just figured I would stick with those to give me a great workout, but lately I've been thinking about getting back in the weight room to switch up my routine. And a lot of fitness articles seem to be pushing me in the direction as well.

One article I read lately was really really helpful and reiterated all the training advice I learned and followed in college.

You can read the full article at the link about, but to give you a quick run down it's titled, 10 Things Trainers Wish You Knew About Your Workout.

1. You need to switch up your workouts
2. Cardio isn't the magic bullet for weight loss
3. Wimpy weights will get you nowhere
4. Muscles come in pairs; train them that way
5. Crunches aren't crucial for strong abs
6. A workout doesn't merit a post-gym pigout
7. Bad form is bad news when you're strength training
8. Working out on an empty stomach won't burn more fat
9. A death grip on the cardio machine strains your bod and burns fewer cals
10. The "fat-burning" zone isn't really a fat-burning zone

Something is better than nothing. I even need to remind myself of that every so often. So whether you love cardio, lifting, or both, there's always a workout that you can enjoy. Spinning/biking, running, intervals, circuits, jump roping, skating, resistance, dumbbells, kettles, whatever! The more you mix it up the better, in my opinion. Not only can that elicit better results, but that'll keep your workout more fun.