Guide to the Better you

  Memorial Day is a solemn and significant day in the United States, observed annually on the last Monday of May. It is a day dedicated to remembering and honoring the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the U.S. military. Beyond the barbecues and the start of summer, Memorial Day provides us with an invaluable opportunity to reflect on the profound sacrifices made by those who fought to safeguard our freedom and to pay tribute to their extraordinary valor. The Origins of Memorial Day: Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day emerged after the American Civil War as a way to commemorate the fallen soldiers. The first official observance took place in 1868 when General John A. Logan, the commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, designated May 30th as a day for decorating the graves of the war dead with flowers. In 1971, Memorial Day became a federal holiday, and its date was moved to the last Monday in May to create a three-d...

Embarking on a fitness and nutrition journey can be a transformative experience, providing countless benefits for our overall well-being. However, the key to long-term success lies not just in the physical actions we take but also in the mindset and motivation that drive us. In this blog post, we will delve into the importance of finding your "why" when it comes to fitness and nutrition, and how it can empower you to overcome obstacles, stay committed, and achieve sustainable lifestyle changes. 1. Understanding Your Personal Motivations: The first step in finding your "why" is to reflect on your personal motivations. Ask yourself: What drives you to pursue fitness and nutrition goals? Is it to improve your health, increase your energy levels, boost your self-confidence, or set a positive example for your loved ones? Understanding your unique reasons behind wanting to make a change will provide a strong foundation for your journey. 2. Aligning with Your Core Values: ...

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a complex mental health condition that affects millions of people worldwide. The symptoms can be debilitating, disrupting daily life and overall well-being. While there are various therapeutic approaches to managing PTSD, exercise has emerged as a powerful and natural ally in the journey of healing and recovery. In this blog, we will explore the profound benefits that exercise offers individuals with PTSD, shining a light on the transformative potential it holds for their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. 1. Reducing Anxiety and Depression: One of the most prominent symptoms of PTSD is the high prevalence of anxiety and depression. Engaging in regular exercise releases endorphins, often referred to as the "feel-good" hormones. These endorphins act as natural mood elevators, promoting a sense of well-being and happiness. Exercise can effectively alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression by reducing stress levels and improvi...

  Good nutrition is as important as the exercises we perform. By eating wisely we are assisting our body to perform better in our chosen fitness program or sport. The food we choose needs to be of high nutritional value to supply us with the necessary building blocks, in the form of vitamins and minerals to aid in recovery after strenuous workouts and to give us the energy to perform better during our exercise time. Not only do we need to be supplying our body with the right vitamins and minerals but they also need to be in the correct balance. When any one of these are out of balance and we are getting more or less than we should be, there will be an imbalance that will affect our progress. This imbalance can even lead to illness, so buying good quality supplements is essential and knowing how much to take is also vitally important. Another thing that needs to be addressed is your calorie intake as this will determine whether you are getting enough fuel to benefit your workout...

  If you are unsure what to do, or maybe need someone to motivate you, it might be time to consider hiring a trainer. A personal trainer can give you attention that you wouldn't get with your membership from a gym. Personal attention will ensure that you follow through and perform all the exercises that are set for your fitness program. In addition to the motivational factors of having a fitness trainer, they will also be able to determine if you are performing any exercises incorrectly. If you have your own home gym they can work with you to devise a program that is best suited to your body type and the improvements that you want to make. Knowing that the trainer will turn up at a certain time each week will also ensure that you are ready for a workout and more likely to continue with any program that you have started. To find the best trainer in your area you should try to get recommendations from others as this will be the only way you will know whether they will be worthwhi...

  We all have the ability to make major improvements to our health and fitness but there is one thing that stops more people than anything else. It is not our genetics or the access we have to the best fitness equipment or training facilities. The thing that stops most people from getting a good physique and optimum health is when they don't set goals. Setting goals is a fast track to success and it is the only way that you will stick to a plan and follow through to completion. By having a predetermined plan of action before we start a training program and knowing exactly what we want to get out of the program we will have a goal to aim for. With this goal in mind we can track our progress and watch as we build towards that goal. Along the way we will often change our expectations and this is a good thing, as progress gives us a different perspective on what we can achieve as we improve and gain in confidence. By writing these goals down they become a lot more powerful and w...

  By being consistent in all aspects of our training, from the time of day that we train, to the type of training that we do on those days is one of the keys to being successful with any training program. The more often we do something, the more likely we are going to continue doing it, whether it is a good or a bad habit. To make fitness a habit that we do on a regular basis will help to ensure that we succeed without it being a struggle. It is human nature to avoid pain and finding fitness training a chore is a pain that we will seek to avoid. This will result in missed training days and eventually refraining from training altogether. By getting a training program that targets, not only our desired physical outcome, but also our personality type will make the training less painful to endure. We will find it easier to train more often and eventually is can become a habit where we get to the stage that we actually fell like we are missing something if we don't get our fitness ...

  The fastest way to improve your fitness is to challenge yourself daily to make improvements no matter how small they might be. These small improvements not only help your fitness but they also help you to develop a winning mindset where you know that every day you are getting better in some way. Even if, in the course of a whole resistance training workout you only manage to do a few more repetitions in one exercise or lift a few pounds more weight in one exercise you have made an improvement that is another step up the ladder of fitness success. Naturally there will be days when you are low on energy, or are feeling lethargic for one reason or another. On days like that, just accept that simply going to the gym or exercising is a bonus in itself and sometimes it is wise to have a workout on a day like that without recording the details. We all have 'off' days and that is something that we need to accept. If we get these days more often that not then it is time to look a...

  Fitness training, like most other things should always be based on expert advice. Without using proper techniques we can become susceptible to injury and this is counter productive in the least. The biggest mistake most people make when they start a fitness-training program is let their enthusiasm get the better of them and over do their exercises in an attempt to reach their goals as soon as possible. This can be a fast track to disaster where muscles that might not have been used much in years are subject to intensive workouts. Or alternatively, we decide that we need to reduce weight and eliminate fat and want results like yesterday. It is also common for people to have a goal that might be completely out of reach for any number of reasons. While we might like to have the body of a professional bodybuilder, there are factors that might make this impossible like the genetics that we have been born with. There is also the time involved to get to that level of condition and the...

  One of the best ways to reduce stress is to start a fitness-training program. Many diseases and illnesses are the direct result of stress, and exercise helps to counter the negative effects that stress has on our mind and body. Even a light workout or a walk in the park can be beneficial for stress reduction. By increasing the intensity of the exercise our body begins to release endorphins, which makes us feel happier and this counters the effects of stress. As our levels of fitness increase we are able to handle more stress both in body and mind, as being physically fit also leads to a more positive outlook on life and less problems are likely to influence this outlook. We become more alert as we get fitter and tasks that might have been difficult become easier to achieve. This ability to perform more in a day with less effort has a dramatic effect on our stress levels. In addition to this, when we exercise outdoors we get the benefits of fresh air, which is something that m...