Fitness & Wellness

Why Is It Important To Have A Regular Exercise Schedule?

Why Is It Important To Have A Regular Exercise Schedule?

People in Houston, TX often put exercise on their schedule to ensure they do it daily. Not only is it easier when it’s considered an appointment but doing it at the same time daily also makes it a habit. It helps ensure the potential for success and consistency. You won’t lose weight if you only eat donuts and one salad occasionally. The same is true for getting fit. You have to be consistent to see the changes you desire. It often takes weeks to see changes, but you’ll feel the difference quicker than that.

Schedule the gym as you would any other important appointment.

One reason that working with personal trainers works so well is that they hold you accountable. You know someone is waiting for you and will miss you if you skip your workout. Since it’s an appointment, you won’t schedule anything else. If it’s not on your calendar, something will always get in the way of exercise, making you more likely to skip it.

Scheduling a workout increases your commitment.

It mentally makes your workout more important. It becomes a habit similar to brushing your teeth before you leave the house in the morning. It makes it automatic. You won’t have to think about it or whether you want to go or not. It will feel strange when you don’t exercise once it becomes a habit. Habits are hard to break, whether they’re beneficial or harmful.

Scheduling your workout puts more structure in your life.

Life has enough surprises. You don’t need more. If you have a regular base schedule that includes your daily needs, like exercising, it gives your day more structure. When you aren’t in the gym, plan for activities that get you moving. They could include a walk in the park with the kids or bike rides. It might be a special class, like Zumba, to keep it interesting.

  • Working out at the same time each day can make it more social. You’ll often be with the same group in the gym. The longer you stick with the schedule, the more apt you are to make new friends.
  • Just because you schedule your workout at a consistent time, it doesn’t mean you have to do the same set of exercises each day. Varying your workout is necessary to work all muscles and improve all types of fitness.
  • If you don’t use a personal trainer, get a workout buddy to hold you accountable. Exercising with a friend makes it more fun, too.
  • Always check with your healthcare professional before starting any exercise program. Whether you exercise with a personal trainer or want to join a fitness class, Rising Fitness has a program for you.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


How To Stay Fit On A Budget

How To Stay Fit On A Budget

It’s hard to stay fit when prices rise and cause your budget to stretch to its maximum. It can be done. It starts by finding ways to do it. If you already belong to Rising Fitness and pay directly, you can save money by having your membership directly taken from your checking account. Group sessions are also good ways to save money. Finding menus that are healthy and can feed the whole family for less is another important way to save.

Choose more vegetables.

One thing that can drain the pocketbook is the price of fresh fruits and vegetables. You don’t have to buy fresh ones to get the benefits. Frozen vegetables and fruit are not only as good as fresh. They may even be better. The produce is picked at its ripest. It’s then cleaned and frozen on-site. Fresh produce in the grocery store is often picked early. It takes days to transport it to the store. Canned vegetables and fruit without added sugar aren’t far behind fresh in benefits.

Meal planning and inexpensive protein sources can keep grocery spending low.

When you plan meals for the week, you can include the food on sale. Meal planning uses the same ingredients for several dishes. If you bake a chicken, you can use it for baked chicken breasts one day, chicken salad another, and chicken soup on the third. You shop on the second day and cook all the meals for the week on the third. Pack the meals for the week. There are no leftovers that you eventually toss. Many of the meals can be meatless to save even more money.

If you’re short on money, use free forms of exercise.

You can exercise at home using bodyweight exercises. Make sure you start by doing them in front of a mirror so you can check your form. Your workout should include all types of exercise: strength-building, cardiovascular, balance, and flexibility. Track your workout so you can check the progress you’re making. You can also walk, hike, bike, or run to supplement your program.

  • At Rising Fitness, we provide a wide range of beneficial services, but we keep the frills down to help save you money.
  • People often forget the recovery phase of their fitness program. Make sure you get adequate sleep by creating a sleep schedule. It helps reset your circadian rhythm. Keep it even on weekends.
  • Include what you drink in your fitness program. Carry a bottle of water with you, especially when you work out. Sip on it throughout the session. Eliminate soft drinks, including diet drinks, from your diet.
  • We can help you with a customized nutrition plan and a fitness training program. Staying fit is the best way to save money. You’ll save on Dr. visits and medication.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Improve Your Running Technique And Avoid Injury

Improve Your Running Technique And Avoid Injury

Many people at Rising Fitness in Houston, TX, stay active and exercise on their day away from the gym. They might walk, dance, or bike on their days away to boost their progress. One popular exercise is running. It’s exhilarating and fun to compete against yourself for distance or time. They can experience problems if their running technique needs help. Those issues can affect their health and ability to do their regular exercise program. When you improve your running technique, you can avoid injury.

Your posture plays a big role no matter what your fitness routine is.

Whether you’re lifting weights or running, good posture is vital. Good running posture allows the body to work more efficiently. If you have a desk job, you spend long hours sitting. It can deteriorate your posture and cause rounded shoulders with hips flexed. That creates tight hip flexors and causes other muscles to weaken. That affects you when you run. Your body needs to have the ability to flex fully, but your posture doesn’t allow it. It only allows you to run with your hips in a semi-flexed position. Do hip flexor exercises to help with an anterior pelvic tilt.

Check your stride.

People who workout regularly are often surprised at how sore or tired they get when they begin a new fitness regimen. Running is just that. Just like any fitness routine, you need to focus on your form. If you’ve been running for a while, pull back a bit and identify areas where you can improve your form. Avoid over-striding. Your knee should be flexing right above the ankle when contact is made. If you can see your ankle ahead of your knee, you’re over-striding. It helps to increase your stride frequency. It encourages your body to make the stride shorter.

Improve your core strength.

A strong core improves your stability and balance. That reduces the potential for injury. Improve your glutes. Both muscle groups directly affect your running. They help maintain lower body stability. Muscle imbalances and weaknesses can cause hip, back, and knee injuries. It can affect lower leg muscles while you run. Our trainers can help you build core strength with a personalized routine.

  • Learn proper breathing techniques. Your breathing pattern should match your running rhythm. Breathe in through both your mouth and nose simultaneously. Take full breaths to maximize your oxygen intake.
  • Focus on your body as you run. Run in a straight line. Don’t rotate your body from side to side as you run. It slows forward movement and depletes energy.
  • Find the perfect cadence. If the cadence is too slow, it causes over-striding and bouncing. You want to reduce any bounce. If you bounce one extra inch in a marathon, it’s like adding one extra mile.
  • Keep your upper body tension at a minimum so you can swing your arms easily to maintain power, balance, and rhythm. Your arm motions should match your speed. The faster you run, the bigger your arm motion should be.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Tips For Training For A Marathon

Tips For Training For A Marathon

When you’re training for a marathon, you’re attempting to get the maximum endurance from your body. It takes stamina and the best training to go the distance. It is even harder to go fast enough to win. One of the best tips for training is being consistent. You won’t improve if you train a lot in one week and do nothing the next. Finding the right blend for your routine that leaves you feeling good and one you enjoy is the best way to ensure you’re consistent.

Don’t limit your run. Focus on cross-training as a supplement.

Most people run shorter sessions during the week, saving the long run for the weekend when they have more time. Running four or five times each week is good, but one of the midweek runs should be longer, too. Running will build endurance, but you need balance, strength, and flexibility training. Our trainers will help with a program that works the body to keep all muscle groups strong and limber. Tight hip flexors or a weak core can drain you of energy and diminish your speed.

Push yourself and pace yourself.

It might seem that statement is contradictory, but it’s not. You need to push yourself during training and include sections where you run at top speed. It’s similar to HIIT—high intensity interval training. Include your normal pace, but every half hour, up the ante, and run at marathon speed for five to ten minutes. Build on that and extend the high-speed sessions. Doing this will help you push yourself into longer, higher-speed sessions and lets you pace yourself.

Run on various inclines.

When you always run on level ground, if the marathon path has hills, you’ll fail. If you run on hilly ground and your marathon is on level ground, you’ll improve your chance of success. Running up hills gives your body a tremendous workout. You can’t go wrong by preparing for the worst conditions. Running hills builds endurance and strength. It helps you focus on form as you run. That can help cut time and save energy.

  • Focus on fueling your body before race day. Try various breakfasts, snacks, and meals during training to find which fuels you best without digestive upsets. Test ways to fuel mid-race, like gels.
  • Work with a trainer to ensure your muscles aren’t tight and have adequate strength. You might think all you need to do is run, but that’s untrue. If your hip flexors are tight, it affects your form. Weak core strength diminishes your form and endurance.
  • Get adequate sleep. Sleep is necessary for recovery and maintaining muscle strength. The quality of sleep is just as important. Have a sleep schedule and keep it. Sleep in a dark, cool room. Turn off all electronics about a half hour before bedtime.
  • Get a good mindset. Mindset is about staying relaxed, focusing on form, and following through with good technique. When your mind turns to negative thoughts, replace them with ones to improve your run.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


The Benefits Of Cross-Training

The Benefits Of Cross-Training

People who focus on a particular sport frequently only train the muscles used in that sport. There are benefits to adding cross-training. When you cross-train, you use other types of exercise besides your sport. If you’re a runner, foot or baseball player, or cycler, cross-training gives you unlimited ways to train when the weather is foul and training outdoors is limited.

You’ll strengthen muscles you use and don’t use in the sport.

Core muscle work may not seem to help runners or cyclists, but it builds strength and helps posture, which increases endurance and can help cut minutes off your time. Strength training doesn’t seem related to swimmers, but it improves leg muscles. Strength training helps improve your overall health and muscle growth throughout the entire body. The stronger your muscles are, the more endurance you have. If you’re strength training, doing yoga can help improve your flexibility and prevent injury.

You can do cross-training exercises as active recovery workouts.

On days after an intense workout, you need to rest your muscles for recovery. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should sleep all day or skip exercise. Recovery exercises that don’t use the same muscle groups increase your circulation and help boost healing. Doing upper-body workouts helps people who use their legs primarily in their sports. If you did an intense total-body workout, walking at a moderate pace or swimming are acceptable cross-training workouts to speed recovery.

Cross-training can keep you fit on off-seasons and keeps you mentally in the game.

Athletes don’t train as hard during off-seasons as during their most active time. Having a go-to form of fitness that isn’t your chosen sport keeps you fit when you want to take a breather. Alternating training helps prevent burnout and keeps your head in the game during your sport’s season. It keeps you in shape without making you weary by doing the same old moves. You’ll have to focus more on something new, which trains your mind and body.

  • Cross-training helps you keep or get into shape while reducing the risk of repetitive strain or stress injuries like shin splints or tennis elbow. You can avoid overuse injuries to joints by introducing cross-training in your routine.
  • Cross-training improves your mobility and your range of motion. That helps prevent injuries you might otherwise experience. It helps build skills your regular program doesn’t.
  • Varying your workout makes it more fun and allows you to socialize with various groups of people. That boosts your social life and presents an opportunity for new experiences.
  • Our trainers will help you with a program designed to improve your performance and build other muscle groups to ensure your body has balance. We offer a variety of exercise experiences to broaden your fitness program.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Ways To Prioritize Sleep And Recovery

Ways To Prioritize Sleep And Recovery

Getting fit and living a healthy lifestyle involves more than being active and eating healthy. A good mental attitude, staying hydrated, and avoiding overindulgence in alcohol are important. You also must prioritize sleep. Most people understand how mental attitude and eliminating unhealthy substances help but fail to identify where adequate sleep is part of the picture. We’re a country that honors burning the candle at both ends. Sleep is vital to recovery and part of the process of building muscles. Without adequate sleep, you’ll never see the results you want.

Exercise and eating the right type of food start the process.

You need the right fuel to boost your energy and build muscle tissue. Exercise is also vital. It causes micro tears in the muscles that need to heal. That’s where sleep becomes important. Recovery takes place at that time. It’s when the body builds muscle tissue. Human growth hormone—HGH—increases during sleep. It stimulates the production of muscle tissue and increases bone density. Sleep also increases testosterone levels, which boosts muscle tissue formation. Getting adequate quality sleep is vital to the process.

What is adequate, quality sleep.

Your body goes through four to six sleep cycles every night that vary in length. Within those cycles are three non-rapid eye movement stages—NREM—and one rapid eye movement stage—REM. The body heals during the NREM stages. You dream during the REM stage. During NREM, breathing slows. Blood pressure drops, allowing more blood to flow to the muscles. The tiny micro tears heal in the muscles, which causes muscles to become larger and stronger. The brain reorganizes during REM sleep, improving memory. Your body creates the hormones necessary to build muscle tissue during deep sleep.

Create a healthier sleep environment.

Start by creating a sleep schedule and keep it, even on the weekend. Everyone’s sleep requirement is different. The average number of hours is between 7 and 9. It requires a dark, quiet room that’s slightly cooler. Turn off your computer and phone a half hour before bedtime and get plenty of sunshine during the day. When you get up in the morning, open the shades or curtains and get sunlight. Studies show that getting adequate sunlight has a bigger effect on sleep quality than the blue light from computers. It affects the sleep cycle more.

  • Keep your room cooler. Ideal for most people is between 60 and 68 degrees. Make sure your mattress and pillow are comfortable and suited to your needs. If you take power naps during the day, make them 20 minutes or less.
  • Learning to calm your mind and relax is necessary for quality sleep. Use deep breathing techniques and meditation. A warm shower or bath at night is also relaxing.
  • Don’t use stimulants or alcohol before bedtime. If you’re susceptible to caffeine, cut out colas, coffee, and other drinks with caffeine. Nicotine is also a stimulant. While alcohol may relax you, it diminishes the quality of sleep.
  • Adequate sleep is vital for other functions besides recovery. Your immune system functions better when you have enough quality sleep. Sleep reduces inflammation and improves physical and mental performance.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Can I Work Out With An Injury?

Can I Work Out With An Injury?

An injury can put your workout program on tilt. People in Houston, TX, often believe that rest and avoiding exercise is the best solution for healing or whether modifying their workout to accommodate the injury is okay. The good news is that exercise helps injuries heal. There’s no reason not to do it. You won’t want to run on a broken ankle, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sit and lift weights. If you sprained your wrist, it shouldn’t stop you from walking, running, or doing squats. Be more mindful of the muscles you use when you workout with an injury, but it’s worth it.

Assess the injury and the location.

If you have an injury to your chest or abdomen that requires medical treatment, check with your healthcare professional first before doing any exercise. You may be able to take walks to boost healing. For injuries to your limbs, work the muscles that aren’t injured and don’t work those that are. Plan an upper-body workout if you have an injured ankle or a lower-body workout with an injured arm.

You don’t have to give up exercising that area of the body.

If you have a leg injury on one leg, you can still work the other leg. The same is true for your arms. People used to believe that working the opposite side of the injury would cause a noticeable difference in muscle development. The exact opposite is true. New studies show that if one leg or arm is injured and you work the other side using exercises that elongate the muscle—eccentric exercises, it benefits both sides. It slows the muscle wasting on the injured side while helping you maintain muscle strength on the uninjured arm or leg.

If you can’t get out of a chair or bed, you still can’t exercise.

If you can move, you can exercise, even if you can’t get out of bed. You can move your arms above your head, do stretches, and mini leg lifts. Keeping your body moving helps prevent muscle wasting and keeps the joints lubricated. You can maintain grip using a tennis ball, do light lifting both seated and laying or do arm exercises while sitting in a chair. Pilots and astronauts squeeze a tennis ball to keep their blood pressure from dropping. Studies found that the same activity done for a long time helped lower blood pressure by adapting the body and allowing for a larger release of nitric oxide.

  • Increasing circulation should be your primary goal, regardless of where your injury is. You may only be able to do small things, but each movement counts and helps you make bigger gains.
  • Pace yourself. Don’t move the injured area too much once given the okay. Always do warm-up and cool-down exercises before starting any workout.
  • Always check with your healthcare professional before doing isometrics, especially if you have high blood pressure.
  • If you have a cast and do pool exercises, make sure your cast is designed for use in water or a cast cover.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


The Benefits And Dangers Of Outdoor Workouts

The Benefits And Dangers Of Outdoor Workouts

One of the many benefits of outdoor workouts is avoiding pollution. It’s also one of the dangers. Pollution can trigger respiratory disease and allergies. On average, air quality is better outdoors and less polluted than indoors. Indoor air pollutants are two to five times more than they are outside. The more greenery you have, the less prone you’ll be to respiratory disease. The more greenery there is, the better the air quality. The danger arises when air quality outside is poor. Air quality alerts tend to occur in crowded cities with less greenery.

Exposure to the sun boosts vitamin D and relieves depression.

Sunlight benefits both the body and the mind. It helps relieve depression and increases the body’s vitamin D. People in northern areas often use light therapy to overcome SAD—seasonal affective disorder. It occurs in late fall. Seasonal change and less sunlight trigger it. Even though the sun is beneficial, too much sun isn’t. Use sunblock. Overexposure to sun rays can lead to skin cancer.

Mother Nature can restore good health, but there are still dangers.

Getting outside boosts your immune system and makes you healthier. If you spend all your time indoors, you’re not only more susceptible to diseases, but you also have more exposure to them. The open spaces dilute the quantity of viruses in the air. One study in 2021 showed that diseases are transmitted 18.7 times higher if you’re indoors compared to those outdoors. What’s the danger? The weather. Excess heat and cold cause health issues unless you plan carefully. Even then, on days of extreme weather, exercising indoors is recommended.

Whether you do calisthenic, walk, or run, you’ll lift your mood when you do it outdoors.

Exercise, whether it’s indoors or outside, improves overall mood. When done outside, it boosts that feeling and helps you relax more. Mother Nature provides a nurturing environment. It offers insights into the world of plants and animals. You do need to plan your run, walk, or exercise time in a safe area. If you’re running, carry a cell phone and allow a friend or family member to track your steps or have a running or walking buddy. If you’re injured, someone knows your location. Always be aware of your surroundings and the potential for danger.

  • If you’re running, biking, or walking outside, let the weather guide you. If it’s hot, run in the coolest part of the day, in the morning or early evening. Wear reflective clothing. If running in cold weather, wear layers.
  • Exercise helps you sleep better whether you do it outside or inside. Exercising outside exposed to the sun improves circadian rhythm, making you feel more tired, reducing the time it takes to get to sleep, and boosting sleep quality.
  • If you exercise outside in cold weather, it helps convert stubborn white fat into brown fat. White fat accumulates on the belly and thighs. When brown fat burns, it heats the body and causes thermogenesis, burning calories.
  • If you do your exercise routine outside, do it on grass. Take off your shoes so your feet touch the ground to experience earthing. It helps you relax, slows aging, improves blood pressure, and reduces chronic pain.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Best Yoga Exercises For Mindfulness

Best Yoga Exercises For Mindfulness

Mindfulness is an awareness of the present moment, leaving the past in the past and not fretting on the future. Many yoga exercises and breathing techniques promote mindfulness. Those poses—asanas—and techniques also build strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance. The physical movements during yoga provide the same benefits as all exercises. Increasing focus and relaxation improve brain functioning.

Mindfulness affects the body positively.

Learning mindfulness through yoga can extend to other areas of your life. It can reduce stress, slow brain aging, improve well-being, lower anxiety, aid depression, and benefit weight loss efforts and the quality of life. Mindful eating slows food consumption and gives the stomach time to signal the brain it’s full before you overeat. You enjoy the food more because you savor the flavor, appreciate the texture, and make each bite an experience. It aids digestion and causes you to eat less,

One form of yoga is mindful yoga.

In traditional yoga, the primary goal is achieving the correct movements for each pose. Mindfulness acts as an aid to reaching the goal. Mindful yoga reverses the two. You use the poses to achieve mindfulness. The difference is all about the primary objective. Mindful yoga focuses on bringing the mind into the present. It relieves stress, reduces anxiety and depression, and improves pain relief. Your awareness is on the body, feelings, mind, and worldly ways or dharma.

Start with deep breathing exercises and the easy pose.

Belly breathing is often the first breathing technique used in yoga, but there are many others. Sit in the easy pose—Sukhasana asana. It’s the most basic seated posture. Sit with your legs extended and back straight. Widen your knees as you cross your legs at the shins. Slide your feet up with each foot under the opposite knee, leaving a space between the pelvis and the feet. Put your hands on your knees and look forward as you clear your mind with the breathing technique.

  • The lotus, half-lotus, cow face, and eagle poses are mindful poses used for deep breathing. They are meditative movements. Beginners should choose the one they can do best and work toward the others.
  • Yin yoga is another type of yoga that focuses on mindfulness. It’s slower and more focused than other yoga. It starts seated with the feet folded and on top of the opposite thigh, bending the body forward.
  • A difficult pose that promotes mindfulness is the stork or tree pose—the vrikshasana. You shift your weight to your left leg. Lift the right leg and place the sole of your foot on your inner left thigh while focusing on each minor movement.
  • The child pose is often used for relaxation and increasing mindfulness. You can use almost any pose to develop mindfulness by focusing on the present.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Good Exercises For Reduced Mobility

Good Exercises For Reduced Mobility

Whether bedridden, chairbound, or using crutches, reduced mobility doesn’t eliminate the need to exercise. Reduced mobility can be due to frailty, balance issues, or other physical problems. It doesn’t why you have limited movement, exercising is vital. If the situation is temporary, maintaining your endurance and muscle mass speeds recovery and back to your active lifestyle. Whether temporary or permanent, exercise helps you stay healthier and improves your endurance and self-reliance. Never start an exercise program without checking with your healthcare professional.

Identify your limitations and start with exercises they don’t affect.

If you can’t get out of bed or are limited to a seated position, upper body exercises are excellent. Raising your arms in the air and crisscrossing them is also good. You can even use resistance bands to maintain upper body strength. If you have leg or foot movement, pull your toes toward your head by bending your ankles and pushing your heels forward, then reversing the action and pointing your toes to keep leg muscles more flexible. Simple lower body exercises like lifting one leg, holding the position, and slowly lowering the leg can be beneficial.

If you’re just starting to exercise, take it easy and in short sessions.

Limited mobility isn’t necessary for that advice to be appropriate. If you’re in shape and mobility issues are recent, find ways to modify your old workout to your new circumstances. If one arm or leg is immobile, exercise the other side. Studies show that the side you don’t use also benefits when you do that. Focus on your posture and keep your head erect.

People with limited mobility get a better workout in water.

When your body is in water, it’s more buoyant, and there’s less pressure on your body. Water is denser than air, so it works your muscles more. The resistance is 12 times that of dry land. If you can’t swim, use floating devices when you do exercises. Go slowly and stop if it hurts. Water exercises are excellent for people with arthritis and joint pain.

  • Always check with your healthcare professional to make sure it’s safe for you to exercise. If your injury is on your lower body, exercise your upper body. Resistance bands are perfect for this situation.
  • If you’re in a chair and need some assistance getting out of the chair, upper arm strength can help. Practice pushing your body up using your arms. You don’t need to lift off the seat at first, build to that point.
  • If you’re in a chair and need some assistance getting out of the chair, upper arm strength can help. Practice pushing your body up using your arms. You don’t need to lift off the seat at first, work to reach that point.
  • If you have a physical therapist, ask for extra exercises you can do in your room. Do short sessions throughout the day. The more you move, the more you improve circulation. Improved circulation helps heal and build muscles.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym