Fitness & Wellness

Nutrient-Rich Foods To Kickstart Your Year

Nutrient-Rich Foods To Kickstart Your Year

When grocery shopping in Houston, TX, you want to get the healthiest foods that don’t break your budget. Finding nutrient-rich foods isn’t difficult. Just go to the produce section for most of it. That’s where you’ll find food that’s lower in calories but packed with nutrients. There are other types of foods besides fruits and vegetables that are also power-packed. They contain quality proteins and healthy fats.

Look for colorful fruits and veggies.

Choosing vegetables in a rainbow of colors can help you get all the nutrients and phytochemicals possible. The colors of many vegetables come from phytonutrients that provide antioxidants and many other benefits for the body. For example, the anthocyanin that gives blueberries its color also provides cancer protection, lowers blood pressure, and protects the brain and the heart. Swiss Chard contains betalains that slow aging and protect cells. Go for the green. Leafy greens like kale are high in vitamins A, K, and C. Eating kale also can lower blood pressure.

You need quality protein and fat.

You’ll get quality protein and healthy fat when you eat fatty fish. Your body requires protein to build muscle tissue. It also requires healthy fat. Fatty fish provide both. It is high in omega-3 fatty acids that improve heart, eye, and brain health. It reduces inflammation and benefits people with metabolic syndrome. Another quality protein comes from eggs from pastured, free-range chickens. They’re allowed to eat their natural diet and have 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids, 7 times more beta-carotene, and 3 times more vitamin E. Like all eggs, they’re low in calories and contain 6 g protein, 147 mg choline, vitamins D, A, B, riboflavin, and selenium.

Don’t forget the cruciferous vegetables.

Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts are members of the cruciferous family. Crucifers, like broccoli, are good sources of glucosinolate, which has a byproduct called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane reduces the potential of developing cancer and fights inflammation, which can cause heart disease. It’s high in vitamins C and K, folate, manganese, and potassium. Brussels sprouts contain kaempferol, which protects the cells from oxidative damage.

  • Eat red beets to lower your blood pressure and relax blood vessels. Nitrates in red beets convert to nitric acid that relaxes vessels and allows them to widen, making it easier for the heart to pump blood through them and lowering blood pressure.
  • Organ meat such as liver or heart add additional vitamins and minerals. People often refer to the liver as Mother Nature’s multivitamin. They contain alpha-lipoic acid that protects the cell’s mitochondria.
  • Add spices and herbs to your dishes. Garlic and other alliums contain allicin. It lowers blood pressure and helps maintain blood sugar levels. Turmeric is a potent anti-inflammatory. Oregano is anti-bacterial. It also fights inflammation, fungus, parasites, and viruses.
  • Sweet potatoes, without the brown sugar or marshmallows, are a healthy choice. It contains vitamins B6 and C, potassium, and magnesium. It can aid in controlling cholesterol and blood sugar.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


How To Add An Inch To Your Biceps Fast

How To Add An Inch To Your Biceps Fast

Nothing is better than flexing and watching your biceps grow to an impressive size. Who doesn’t want big guns? You can add an inch to your biceps relatively You can add an inch to your biceps relatively quickly by following the right diet and using the best type of exercise. It takes consistency and lifting lighter weights but doing more repetitions to build more muscle.

Start in the kitchen.

Eating healthy is a must if you want powerful arms. You need the right building materials to get impressive biceps. Increase your calories slightly by 250 to 500 calories. That increase should come from protein. It’s necessary for healing the micro-tears that heal by forming scar tissue that builds the muscles. Before you exercise, eat a snack that contains protein and carbohydrates. The protein helps boost recovery. The carbs provide the energy to improve your workout. Do the same immediately following your workout, or eat a meal that’s high in protein.

You can use weights, bodyweight exercises, or resistance bands.

You build muscle when you challenge it with resistance. For bodyweight exercises and weights, the resistance is gravity. If you’re using resistance bands, the bands provide the resistance. Resistance bands allow you to work the bicep in ways you can’t with other types of exercise. Push-ups, dumbbell curls, and barbell rows all do the job. If you’re doing push-ups, you can adjust the width of your hands to closer together or further apart to maximize the way you work the muscles. When you put them closer together, it works the biceps harder. You can also move your hands so your fingers point toward your toes in reverse position. That also is another dynamite bicep builder.

Keep the weights lighter and do more reps.

If you want to build strength, lift heavier weights and do fewer repetitions. To get maximum growth, do more repetitions and lighter weights. Lift a lot lower than your one-rep maximum weight when you’re doing them. Chin-ups build biceps. Alternate the distance between hands and grips. Do an underhand grip, spacing your hands six to eight inches apart for maximum growth.

  • Develop a workout plan that works your biceps once every 48 to 72 hours to give your biceps a chance to recover. Recovery is when the magic takes place. Don’t overtrain, or you could end up losing muscle.
  • Don’t do isolation exercises exclusively. Do compound exercises, kettlebells, or other exercises that maximize your exercise time. Shorten rest periods between sets. Track your results, including reps, sets, and bicep measurements.
  • Always focus on form. Use the bar without weights to learn the form. Have a friend or trainer watch you to ensure you have the proper form. Using poor form can cause injury that sets you back for months.
  • Use a personal trainer or workout buddy for safety. They can check your form and be a spotter. Always check with your healthcare professional before starting any exercise program.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


The Most Important Factors In Building Muscle

The Most Important Factors In Building Muscle

When you’re armed with knowledge of the latest scientific studies and years of experience, building muscle is easier, but it still takes hard work. Before you lift a barbell or do your first squat, you must decide your goal and why you want to build muscles. Do you want to get stronger, or is bulk and size your goal? Is weight loss part of your plan? Do you need to gain weight or only tone your body? Every goal requires a different approach and different nutrition and workout plans.

Make your diet match your goal.

Whether you want to lose weight and build muscles, build big muscles, or get stronger, you need the basics. Good nutrition is part of the basics. It includes quality macronutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Quality protein, like salmon or other fatty fish, also provides healthy fat to aid in the absorption of vitamins A, D, K, and E, the creation of hormones, and the formation of cell membranes. The amount of protein necessary will depend on factors like your weight loss goals, body weight, activity level, and age. Eat clean and choose whole foods.

Maximize your training time.

Vary your workout using bodyweight, weights, and other strength-building exercises like battle ropes. Do compound exercises that work several muscle groups at once. Start slowly, especially if you’ve been inactive for a while. Do bodyweight exercises first and build to weighted ones. Always focus on form when starting anything new. If you’re working with weights, find your one repetition maximum, the most weight you can lift without affecting your form. A personal trainer can help you do this.

Give your body a chance to rest.

More is not always better. If you’re doing intense strength-building, give the muscles you worked 48 to 72 hours for recovery. Exercising to build muscle tissue causes microscopic tears in the muscle. During the recovery period, your muscles heal and get bigger and stronger. If you overwork the muscles, they don’t have time to heal. You may lose muscle tissue.

  • Eat a snack containing protein and carbs 30 minutes before working out and as soon as possible after. If you’re eating a full meal, eat 1-3 hours before exercising, depending on the size and digestibility of the food and the intensity of your training.
  • Get adequate sleep. Your body repairs the tissues when you sleep. It’s when the magic takes place. Lack of sleep can interfere with muscle building. It diminishes leptin–the satiety hormone—and increases ghrelin–the hunger hormone, so you eat more.
  • Include circuit training. Circuit training builds both muscle and endurance. This high-energy workout maximizes the benefits of your workout time. Include flexibility, balance, and endurance exercises in your strength training program.
  • Always check with your healthcare professional before starting any fitness program or dietary change. We can help you develop a fitness program and learn the nutrition to reach your goal.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


What Fasting Can Do For You

What Fasting Can Do For You

Whether you’re trying to lose weight or are searching for other health benefits, fasting may be right for you. There are various types of fasting. Your goal, physical health, and preference will determine the one you use. You can do water fasts, 5:2 fasts, intermittent fasts, and many other variations. A 5:2 fast is where you eat normally for five days and abstain from food or eat a severely calorie-restricted diet for two days. You can do intermittent fasting in several ways, too. One of the most popular methods is to eat during an eight-hour window and fast the other sixteen hours.

Heath benefits of fasting have been known for a while.

Fasting has been part of religious practices for thousands of years. Ancient Greeks used water fasts to improve their health and for spiritual reasons. Many studies were done in the 1900s that found fasting could help with many conditions. Early help for epilepsy was fasting. The scientists realized those with the condition couldn’t do it long. That led to low-carbohydrate diets. Animal studies showed fasting helped keep the animals more youthful. Another review in 2021 identified that fasting could delay disease and increase longevity.

You can reduce inflammation with fasting.

Inflammation can be beneficial. It helps prevent infections and fights off microbial invaders. That’s acute inflammation. Long-standing inflammation called chronic inflammation isn’t. Studies indicate that chronic inflammation can lead to heart disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other serious problems. It helped reduce inflammatory markers. In animal studies, it was beneficial for MS—multiple sclerosis.

It can be beneficial for heart health and blood sugar control.

One study on alternate-day fasting found it lowered cholesterol levels. It can help with weight loss and improve blood pressure. Alternate-day fasting can also improve other cholesterol markers by lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and reducing triglycerides. All those things can help heart health. Many studies have indicated that fasting can help control blood sugar. A 2023 study found that fasting three days a week reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes. It improved insulin sensitivity.

  • Intermittent fasting can help lower risk factors leading to metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome includes five symptoms: a large waistline—belly fat, high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides, high blood sugar, and low HDL (good) cholesterol.
  • Studies show intermittent fasting may increase the amount of fat the body burns. It may do that by increasing human growth hormone. It may beneficially change genes controlling longevity.
  • Fasts can help flush toxins from the body and improve your digestive system. It helps the digestive system by improving the gut microbiome and gives your digestive system a rest.
  • Animal studies on fasting show it may improve brain functioning and provide protection from Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Always check with your healthcare professional before you fast.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


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