Fuel your fitness with affirmations

The path to losing weight and getting fit lies within you and what your mind can create. Learn to use your own positive energy to gain positive results.

It’s not a secret. Nor is it a new discovery. As a matter of fact, it may be as old as your old hat, and just as comfortable. For years, people have been using the pure and simple process of affirmations to achieve their personal and fitness goals and with great success. Anyone can do it, why not you?

What are Affirmations?
When a friend is sick, we speak a wish for them, “Get well soon.” When a loved one wrestles with self-doubt before his important presentation, we write them a note: You can do it! I believe in you. When you are about to embark on a difficult task, you think to yourself, “I can do this.” All these are affirmations.

“An affirmation is a strong, positive statement that something is already so,” says Shakti Gawain, best-selling author of Creative Visualization.

Affirmations communicate love, positive belief and good energy. These three ingredients are what you need to keep you on the path to losing weight and getting fit.

The Power of the Word
The Ancient Greeks – think Olympics and the movie “300” – were the first to recognize the power of the word. Logos (translated into English as “word”) was used to refer to “something said.” In Greek thought, logos also means “the inward intention underlying one’s speech.”

Take a look at that phrase “inward intention.” If your innermost desire is a healthier, fitter you, then you must express that intention with the power of the word. This releases tremendous power to realize your dreams. Affirmations give you access to that power.

Using Affirmations
There are three common ways of using affirmations. One is simply to speak it. The good thing about verbally declaring your affirmations is you can do it before eating a meal, before your workout at the gym, really anywhere. Try these affirmations now:

Everyday, in every way, I am getting healthier and fit!
I enjoy taking care of myself.
I am a fountain of youthful energy!

When you speak your affirmations, say them as if they have already happened. Notice how each affirmation is in the present tense. It touches your mind’s sense of the now, of the immediate moment. That’s what makes it powerful.

When you say, “I will lose ten pounds! I will exercise. I will quit overeating…” you are procrastinating. Worse, you are scolding yourself. Self-reproach is counterproductive. Speak positively and speak now.

I am losing weight.
I exercise and I love it.
I eat right.

Another way is to write a chosen affirmation 15 times in a row every day. This is a powerful process as the act of writing is the act of righting, making things right. Writing provides you a visual record of what you intend to achieve, written in your own penmanship.

Finally, you can listen to affirmations. It is best to use your own voice. Read the affirmations below into your digital or tape recorder, and set aside a time where you can be silent and focused. Listen to yourself speak loving, kind words.

Fitness Affirmations
I love my body and I take good care of it.
I eat healthy and right.
I feel great! I feel fabulous!
I look great! I am fabulous.
I am able to control my eating.
I am able to make wise decisions about my diet and my health.
I wake up each morning feeling younger and more vibrant.
As I eat more fruit and vegetables, I get healthier and stronger.
I drink water. Water is life.
I feel stronger. I am stronger.
I am able to face the day’s challenges.
As I take care of my body, my body takes care of me.
A long, healthy life is my gift.
I listen to my body. I treat myself right.
I am infused with health.

Trust and listen to your voice. You are your own best motivational coach. Affirm your fitness and get positive results!

Carve a six-pack with a pack of cards

I promised to get myself a six-pack by my birthday. Here's my game plan.

Here’s what I need to carve a six-pack: a pack of cards. Play a game of Six-Pack Solitaire!

Shuffle a standard deck of cards. Include the Jokers. Each Suit corresponds to a particular exercise, which is described below. You will do the same number of repetitions as indicated on the number of the card. If you get Face cards, you’ll do planks. Jokers mean 10 jumping jacks. Here’s the complete list to print out and use whenever you want to tone your abs while having fun!

King → Plank, 30 seconds
Queen → Plank, right obliques, 30 seconds
Jack → Plank, left obliques, 30 seconds
Joker → 10 Jumping Jacks
Aces → Six breaths in Down Dog Pose
Spades → Sit-ups
Hearts → Push-ups
Diamonds → Squats
Clubs → Squat Thrusts (Assume a Squat position, then drop your hands on the floor. Jump your feet as far back as you can to a Plank position. Hold for a second and jump your feet back between your hands. Go back to the starting squat. That’s one rep.)

Deal a row of four cards, face up. You will perform the exercises indicated by each card. After the fourth card, rest for 45 seconds. Then deal another row of four cards. Keep doing this until you work through the rest of the cards on the deck. That’s your workout for today.

For example, you get a King of Hearts, 5 of Diamonds, an Ace and 9 of Hearts. That means you’ll do a 30-second plank, Squats for 5 reps, six breaths in down Dog position, and 9 push-ups. Rest, and deal another four cards.

You won’t get bored with this challenging workout routine since you never know what four-card combination you’ll get. This keeps your body and mind working. Let the cards guide your fate into a perfect six-pack in no time. Have fun!

Don't have a deck of cards? Try this random card dealer online from Random.Org

Super charge with super sets

Find out how Super Sets double your gains in half the time.


Are you tired of doing the same workouts week after week? Do you find yourself moving through your usual menu of training sessions with less-than-optimal enthusiasm? Has your performance reached a plateau? If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, it's time to learn about Super Sets.

What are Super Sets?
A Super Set is a series of intervals or exercises which are carried out without any recovery. See if you can do two exercises back to back without any rest in between. This increases the intensity of work in a specific muscle group, making it develop faster. Super Sets also make your workouts time efficient.

Very few other forms of training can test your limits as much as Super Set training. When you carry out Super Sets, you challenge your boundaries. You begin to look forward to your workouts because they are so challenging - and so different from what you usually do. It basically requires you to keep working at your relative maximal intensity over the duration of your workout. You challenge your muscles to work as hard as they possibly can for an extended period and a maximum improvement in strength takes place.

Check out the different kinds of Super Sets you can do:

Single body part Super Sets let you perform back-to-back exercises for a particular body part. If you’re working your biceps, do Biceps Curls followed by Hammer Curls.

Antagonistic Super Sets work on opposing muscle groups. An example would be doing chest press and cable row for your chest.

Pre-exhaust Super Sets let you do an isolation exercise followed by a compound exercise. An isolation exercise works one muscle group while compound exercises move the body through more than one joint. Try cable rows followed by a deadlift to exercise your back.

Giant Sets are like doing back-to-back super sets, which means you do three or more exercises. Do a bench press, a dumbbell fly, push-ups and a cable crossover to work out your chest.

In-set Super Sets let you do two different exercises for a particular area, doing one after the other. For example, do one rep of front raises followed by one rep of lat raises, alternately. This combination works your shoulders.

A unique three-body part combination utilizes the in-set style for three different body parts, say your biceps, shoulder and triceps. A classic example would be doing one rep of bicep curl followed by a rep of Arnold press then progressing straight to a rep of triceps extension, and counting all this as one rep, starting again with the bicep curl for the next rep and so on.

Precautions
While you may combine any of the above Super Sets for a unique workout routine, be sure not to subject the same body part to two different kinds of Super Sets. If you do a Single Body Part Super Set for your biceps, be sure not to include it in an Antagonist Super Set with the triceps. This will avoid placing too much stress on the muscle and keep you from getting injured during your workout.

While Isolation Exercises have their benefits, our bodies are designed for our muscles to work together. It only makes sense that we exercise these muscle groups together. If you are interested in gaining serious muscle, chat with your online coach today and ask about Super Sets. Your body will never be the same again.