iRenew – Official Blog
4Jan/120

How to Stick to Your Fitness Resolution this New Year for a New You

January is the month when resolutions are at their strongest. Whether it's finding a new hobby, planning trips for the year, or quitting a vice like smoking or drinking, you can be sure that people are most determined to attain their goals at the beginning of the year.

Sure, making a list of resolutions is easy; all you have to do is look for things in your life you want to improve on, write them down, and do something about them. However, the problem arrives after the first few weeks – come February, some give up and go back to their old ways. This is especially true when it comes to fitness resolutions since diets can easily be broken and workout routines put on hold for a variety of reasons.

If you plan on losing the holiday gut by including it in your New Year's resolution, then here are a number of tips that may help you stick to it:

Find a friend. Whether for working out or following a diet plan, having a friend or family member with the same fitness goals can help you stick to your weight loss resolution. In fact, it would be best to find someone who's at the same fitness level as you are. According to studies, we tend to view the success of people similar to us as the more attainable option as opposed to dieting with a friend who already has a six pack. Sure, your fit friend can give you helpful tips, but it may seem too intimidating and unrealistic.

Diet in secret. If you want to stick to a diet, it's very important that you don’t announce your plans to the world. This is because telling others about your diet plans will garner countless praises and compliments from your peers even if you haven’t even started the diet yet! Because of this, your brain gets tricked into thinking that you've accomplished the task, making it more susceptible to giving in once a huge dessert plate is set in front of you.

But if temptation does come by, always keep in mind that balance is the key to keeping your fitness under control. Try not to stuff yourself too full and always try to squeeze in some physical activity every day.

Know any more techniques that can help people stick to their fitness resolutions? Feel free to leave a comment – we'd love to hear from you!

Tagged as: , , , , , , , , No Comments
2Jan/121

2012′s Holiday Pound Busters: Diets That Will Ensure a Fitter You

With countless celebrations and the most irresistible foods served, packing on the pounds is inevitable in the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. In this span of time, most people drop their diets and indulge in the festive spreads, assuring themselves they'll lose the extra pounds right after. However, this is easier said than done.

Holiday nutrition can be one of the most challenging feats to accomplish. If you can maintain it, then your weight will be in control and you deserve congratulations for your iron-clad willpower; but if you give in to all the delicious holiday treats, then you can be sure that getting back on any diet will be even harder, if not impossible.

Whether or not you're able to keep away from the holiday temptations, be confident that the coming year will present a lot of opportunities to make amends for stuffing your tummy with, well… stuffing, among other things.

As early as now, there are a number of diets recognized to be some of the best for 2012. Here are some examples of diets you can consider as part of your New Year's resolutions:

The DASH Diet

Originally created to lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease, the 28-day DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was also found to be an effective weight-loss regimen. This is attributed to the low-salt, whole food meal plans it requires people to follow. For example, instead of stuffing yourself with salty foods, you may have a sandwich with soup and veggies on the side, or a large salad with chicken, followed by a frozen yogurt sundae.

This diet is best for people with time to cook since it involves a number of recipes that will need kitchen work.

The Paleo Diet

Also called the Caveman Diet, The Paleolithic Diet is a modern dietary regimen that consists of foods presumed to be the main sources of nutrition during the Paleolithic era – or in short, caveman food. The general approach to this diet is to avoid processed foods, cereal grains, legumes, dairy products, refined sugars, and starchy veggies. Although not originally designed to be a weight-loss plan, the Paleo diet proves effective because it eliminates excess carbohydrates from your diet.

Meal plans include fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruits, roots, and nuts. What's more, this diet is naturally casein and gluten-free, making it a great choice for people with milk or wheat-based food allergies.

These are just two examples of the coming year's most recommended diets. So, lose that holiday gut and say hello to 2012 with a well-balanced dietary strategy for a healthier you!

Know any more diets we should watch out for this coming 2012? If you do, feel free to leave a comment – we'd love to hear from you!

Tagged as: , , , , , 1 Comment
14Dec/110

The Right Program: Finding the Best Gym Routine for Your Fitness Goals

With so many workout options available today, it can be difficult to choose which one is right for you; in fact, it can be overwhelming. One of the worst things you could do is randomly pick a set of exercises and just perform them without thinking twice.

Although this seems like the most practical thing to do in the gym, winging your program can end in two ways: first, getting the wrong results; and second, getting no results. Depending on your body type and the physique you're gunning for, there are different techniques you have to incorporate to create an effective exercise regimen.

So, before compiling a week's worth of exercises from the net or from your favorite fitness magazine, think about your goals first. If you know how you want to end up, you'll know how to look for the right exercises as well.

Here are a couple of result-based workout techniques you could try:

Be a lean, mean, lifting machine. Besides going on a diet, attaining a lean, ripped, Hollywood physique requires a different approach to working out as opposed to those with different fitness goals.

To get ripped, it's recommended you cut back on the total number of sets and reps per exercise. This is because you won't have enough fuel to recover from heavy workouts if you're on a limiting diet; you could be burning muscle mass instead – and this isn’t the best way to get the results you want.

For example, if you used to bench press four sets of six reps at 180 pounds, you should decrease your set count to two or three while still retaining the bar's weight. You can do this together with other compound exercises.

Just like He-Man. If you prefer to bulk up or gain mass, your gym routine should incorporate more sets per exercise, with low reps. This is known to be the most efficient way of building muscle since high-rep exercises won't stimulate as much muscle growth. Doing less reps will have you use all your energy and strength in those few reps, while high-rep exercises may have you losing focus after the first half of the set, rendering the workout ineffective.

For example, instead of your regular full sets of 15 reps each, you can choose to do five to seven reps; and instead of changing the number of reps per set, you can change the amount of weight you lift to keep the rep-count the same all throughout.

These are just some of the different workouts you can do based on your fitness goals. Achieve your dream body by knowing the correct exercise programs to follow.

Got more weightlifting tips for specific fitness goals? Feel free to share your gym techniques – we'd love to hear from you!

Tagged as: , , , , , , , , No Comments
9Nov/110

Swim, Bike, Run: A Triathlete’s Guide to Effective Training

Whether or not it's your first time to participate in a triathlon, preparation is essential to get yourself in shape for the event. With this in mind, the key to being an effective triathlete is shaping up your endurance. After all, that's precisely what the sport aims to test.

To improve your endurance, you need to train your mind and body for the challenging yet exhilarating task of completing three continuous and sequential endurance events that usually consist of swimming, biking, and running. With proper training, you can improve your personal time in each of these sports, as well as the chances of climbing up the ranks for the best overall time.

Here are some tips you could do to prepare for this sport:

Get your body moving. Training for a triathlon involves doing "practice runs" for each event involved; you'll have to run, bike, and swim to allow your muscles to get used to the movements. However, you can't just randomly choose which sport to work on; you need a training plan that will improve your endurance, strength, and flexibility through the weeks before race day.

The training plan that you create should allow you to work on your weaknesses. For instances, if you aren’t the fastest swimmer, you can focus on improving this, and then working on the other exercises after. This way, your skill level in all three sports can balance out, allowing you to do better in the race.

Eventually, you'll be able to spend the same amount of time practicing all three sports once you've strengthened your weak sports.

The closer you get to race day, the more rest you should incorporate into your training; a rested body will definitely perform better. Remember not to push yourself too hard while training as you wouldn’t want to risk injuring yourself before the triathlon – that would be a waste.


Fuelling up correctly. Before the triathlon, most athletes improve their endurance by carbo-loading. But this isn't simply stuffing your tummy with pasta, rice meals, and other carbohydrate-rich foods; it's still about eating right. Do this by adding small servings of low-fat protein food like yogurt, beans, lentils, turkey, or chicken to your meals.

Even better, create a meal plan that will incorporate all the good food you need for the weeks prior to the race, and allow your body to get accustomed to the healthy fuel you are filling it with. Come race day, your body will have everything it needs for that extra energy boost you need during the triathlon.


Keep it cool. Don’t forget to keep yourself hydrated. Make sure you drink enough water or fruit juice. Depending on your sugar levels, even soda will help. On the other hand, avoid beer and other alcoholic beverages as they will do the opposite.

These are just some of the tried and tested ways of preparing for a triathlon. Got any more tips? Feel free to share them by leaving a comment – we'd love to hear what you do to stay in shape for endurance events!

Tagged as: , , , , , No Comments
23Oct/115

Balancing Out Your Fitness

There are many ways to train your body to become faster, fitter and stronger. In the course of training your body, though, there may be things you might be neglecting. One of these is developing a sense of balance. It might seem like a small thing compared to building tougher muscles and a leaner shape, but it plays a vital role in your speed, stamina and strength in the long run.


Balancing your Body

Did you know that with a better sense of balance, you can actually avoid sports-related injuries by a good deal? Surprisingly enough, even professional athletes tend to run into the problem of not having a perfect sense of balance. You might have the tightest abs and a perfect beach bod, but if you can't have balance, you may be more susceptible to fall-related injuries.

So how do you work out your balance? First of all, you can begin by performing all your workouts with both of your feet on the ground. Contrary to the belief that working on an unstable surface develops a sense of balance, working out on even ground enhances your balance proficiency and can help you develop power, speed and jumping ability.

Other tips to keep in mind include trying out more activities and avoiding sitting for very long periods of time.

 

Balancing your Mind

While you can train all you want to develop your muscle tone or sense of balance, overtraining can be incredibly counterproductive. Overworking your body can lead to stress, strain and increased susceptibility to illness. While you might think that resting makes you feel lazy, you need to keep in mind that you're doing your body a favor by giving it time to recuperate from the strain of your fitness regimen.

Listen to your body and understand when it needs to rest. In the long run, this will help you develop your body in a more balanced manner.

You can also keep your body balanced while contributing to a good cause. We're currently offering the limited edition pink iRenew bracelet in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month. 15% of the proceeds from these bracelets will be going to the Donna Foundation's 26.2 with Donna National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer.

How well do you think you can balance? Is there any aspect of your wellness that you want to work on? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Tagged as: , , , , , 5 Comments
17Oct/111

Little Steps to Finding Your Daily Balance


It's terribly easy to get swept away into a busy lifestyle. With so much activity around you, from the daily bustle of work to the constant buzz of your phone alerting you to everything, there may be instances where you feel like something is missing. When this happens, it might be a sign that you need to find a sense of balance in your life.

While it might seem daunting at first to bring yourself away from your busy schedule, taking small steps can actually go a long way in getting that balance you need.

First of all, it pays to create a break from your routine. It doesn't have to be an all-out vacation, though. Even small breaks can do a lot for the way you look at life. Spend your lunch breaks away from the desk or keep all work away from you at the end of the workday. If you're finding it hard to pull away from your phone or your email inbox, schedule your rest. After all, there's a huge difference between making a living and actually living.

For some of us, a "workout" is a scary word and is only relevant for people who want to lose weight. Getting active isn't only for losing weight, though. Giving your body some time for activity every week gets your blood running and helps you feel rejuvenated. Depending on the activity, you might get extra benefits like a calmer state of mind after a yoga session.

Finally, believe that there is such a thing as quality time. Allow yourself to think positive! Whether it's spending a day in the company of loved ones or simply soaking in a warm bath for an hour, finding time to let go of stress takes as much dedication as making a presentation for an important meeting.

How do you find your sense of balance? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Tagged as: , , , , , , 1 Comment
   Older Entries »

Blogroll

iRenew Categories

iRenew Pages

iRenew Post Archives

iRenew Recent Posts

iRenew Tag Cloud