Blog Posts by Passionate about Fitness

REST is time spent free of action points, or tick-lists. Rest gives you time to slow down, and just relax. Restful activities include slow walks in nature, leisurely hot baths, relaxing massages, journaling, practising qi-gong or yoga, creative visualisation, meditation, or simply taking a quick power nap. Restful activities do NOT include watching television, going to the pub, or going for a run. These activities are not considered truly restful.

Rest promotes the parasympathetic nervous system which is known as the body's 'rest and digest' response. The parasympathetic nervous system balances the sympathetic nervous system which is the body's 'flight or fight' stress response.

The frantic pace of modern life pushes the sympathetic nervous system - we need to be seen to doing, rushing, achieving, and responding. We want to balance this every day stress by building some rest into each and every day.

Symptoms of sympathetic dominance include:

• Poor sleeping patterns,

Having an injury is VERY annoying as you usually have to take some time off from your training, and your fitness level inevitably slips. By adopting the following simple common-sense tips, you should be able to avoid most injuries occurring.

1. Fully warm-up your body before you start each training session. You can warm-up by running at a moderate speed for about 5 minutes on the treadmill. This will promote blood flow to your muscles and tendons, increasing the flow of oxygen and nutrients, preparing them ready for your workout.

2. 100% concentration. Even a lapse of concentration for half a second can lead to an injury. Therefore, avoid training when you are too tired or distracted to fully concentrate. It simply isn't worth it. You want to train in a calm and collected manner.

3. Make sure you have enough space to carry out your exercise safely. Watch out for other people in the gym, and make sure you have enough space to safely carry out your exercise. Assume those

Overeating is most often a symptom of an underlying problem. Once you realise why you are overeating, you can deal with the real issue behind your eating habits. The following list outlines my top 10 reasons why you overeat:

1. High Stress ~ 'The Corporate Animal'

'The Corporate Animal' spends twelve hours a day at work and thrives on the adrenaline rush. Over time their body struggles to produce cortisol, a stress hormone, if the stress is prolonged. This can lead to overeating as their body craves fat, sugar and salty foods. It is vital to manage your stress load if you want to keep your appetite under control.

2. Emotional Eating ~ 'Comfort

If gaining muscle mass is a goal with your fitness training, the following 10 tips should be of interest:

1. You want to aim for Progressive Overload when you are training. That means the volume of your training has to be increased as you add muscle mass, this ensures you are continually improving.

2. You want to get the right Exercise Selection. The exercises you select should target all of your main muscle groups, and promote muscular balance. Free weights and body weight exercises are preferable over machine training. Good exercises include deadlifts, squats, lunges, pull-ups, and push-ups.

3. Training at the Right Intensity is important

The following list of points outline what I think resembles good social grace in the gym. The points focus on creating a safe environment, but also on creating a supportive one, too.

Creating a Safe Environment

1. Avoid walking in front of someone who is using the mirror to check their form during an exercise. If the exercise is new to them, or weight especially challenging, they might need to use the mirror. By blocking their view, it can lead to a serious injury.

2. Remove the weight plates from the squat rack, or Olympic bar, after you're done with your exercise. The next person to use the equipment might not be as strong as you, and might injury themselves trying to remove them. If you see someone struggling with removing weight plates, please help them if you can.

3. Don't talk to someone in the middle of an exercise, whatever the weight they are lifting. The weight might seem very light to you, but to them it could be very challenging. Distracting them can

There are many benefits to keeping up with your fitness regime whilst pregnant. By exercising it will help your body deal with the changes associated with pregnancy, and be better prepared for the labour itself. It will also be easier to recreate your pre-pregnancy body after your baby is born.

Some of the practical benefits of exercising whilst pregnant include:

1. Increased vitality

Exercise increases the amount of energy-producing mitochondria in our cells, which is why people who are very active have more energy, not less. In your first and third trimesters you are likely to feel more tired than usual, so exercise is more

The following list represents my top 10 reasons to exercise. There are many other reasons, however, I consider these to be the most important ones:

I have listed the reasons to exercise in order of importance. The first two reasons have longer term benefits and this is why I consider them to be the most important.

1 Creates a healthier body

It is said you are less likely to suffer from many diseases including arthritis, type 2 diabestes, osteoporosis, heart disease or stroke if you regularly exercise. The benefit to your long term health and vitality has to the

These are the 10 most common reasons given for not exercising:

Do you ever hear yourself using any of these reasons, and if you do, what are you REALLY saying to other people?

1. REASON GIVEN - "I don't have enough time to exercise!"

WHAT YOU ARE REALLY SAYING - "I can't manage my time properly"

This is by far the most common reason I hear from people for not exercising (yawn!). What they are really saying is that they can't manage their time effectively. Don't be fooled by this reason, most of these people will spend several hours a week down the pub, or even glued to the tele. If