In colder climates, walking or running outdoors is often out of the question for several months each winter.
It’s the opposite in warmer climates, when the summer heat can be just about unbearable.
A great way to stay in shape during both weather extremes is to work out on a treadmill.
Instead of packing on the pounds while staying indoors, work in treadmill exercise. It will engage your body and mind.
Here are seven tips to help your treadmill workout:
* The most effective treadmill workouts are ones that will mimic walking or jogging outdoors, stimulating your mind as well as muscles.
* Treadmills are programmable, so keep things interesting by adjusting the speed, incline and-or decline.
* Program a treadmill workout that’s similar to a road or trail in your area. When you get to the big incline, visualize being outside running the hill.
* Play DVD movies while you’re on the treadmill to help pass the time.
* Play a good music CD mix to keep your body energized.
* Follow your workout on the treadmill display screen. Lots of people like to monitor the distance they’ve traveled, calories burned, speed and heart rate, which are all readouts available on most treadmills.
* Stop in at a specialty store such as At Home Fitness in Arizona, or check them out online for more information on the different types of treadmills that are available.
Good treadmills cost a decent amount of money up front, but they are a true investment that will pay off many times over in benefits over the long run.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

Most of us would like to change something about our butt. It’s either too big, too flabby, too small, etc., etc.
Doing the right cardio and strength training activities can help re-shape your backside, depending on your body type and genetics
If you’d like to firm up your backside, here are some simple tips to work your buns back into shape and look better on the beach.
1 Move it, and lose it – If you move more during the day you’ll work some flab off. If you have a busy job, make sure to get up at least every 30 minutes and walk around. Take a walk on breaks – also walk and talk while on the phone if you can.
2 Flex appeal – Contract your glutes from time to time, like if you’re standing in line, walking or even sitting. Working the glute muscles will help them get more toned.
3 Eat right – Make sure to eat right because excess calories will pack the pounds on throughout the body, especially onto the butt for some people.
4 Do cardio – Walking and running on a treadmill or outside, biking and hiking are some of the great ways to work your muscles, especially the glutes. Plus you’ll get in better overall shape.
5. Do strength training – Work with weights, stretches and your own body weight to strengthen your glutes.
Some of the best exercises are squats, lunges, step-ups, hip-extensions and one-legged dead lifts.
Bonus tip – One of the simplest and most effective exercises to strengthen the glutes, as well as the quadriceps, is the Invisible Chair Wall Squat.
It can be done anytime and anywhere there’s a wall. Stand straight with your back against the wall. Keeping your back against the wall, squat down until your knees are almost parallel and imagine you’re sitting on an invisible chair. Squeeze your glutes and quads. Hold for 10-20 seconds, Rest for 10 seconds and repeat five times.
If you’re feeling strong enough try to go for more time in each set.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

To get a summer beach body, most people think about how much exercise they have to do.
However, watching your mouth is just as important. Or, more specifically, watching what you put in your mouth – and why.
Here are three tips to help you resist the food cravings that can lead to spoiling your summer beach body:
1 Don’t use food as a stress reliever – Think about how many times you’ve had a stressful day and used food to help relieve those feelings. Sometimes we eat the worst when we’re trying to calm ourselves down, like devouring half a pizza or going through a drive-through window.
Exercise instead. When cravings start, you should head for the gym, treadmill, exercise bike, walking trail or wherever else you like to exercise. Research has shown it takes just 15 minutes of exercise to increase the chemicals dopamine and serotonin in your body, which will improve your mood.
2 Eat proteins – When you are hungry for a snack, reach for lean proteins. Protein in snacks such as peanut butter and apple slices will fill you up faster – and with good stuff for your body.
3 Splurge smartly – When you do decide to have a treat, do it smartly. But instead of grabbing a snack or dessert loaded with sugar, get in the habit of
making a fruit smoothie with fresh berries and yogurt. Or, instead of french fries or potato chips, instead have hummus and carrots.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

One of the most important things a person can do to stay fit and healthy is to set goals.
If you exercise without goals it can be like driving without a roadmap.
Set goals to help you get where you want to go. Then adjust your workouts accordingly.
It’s important to set short- and long-term goals. I like to recommend that people set several goals – make sure you know that some will be fairly easily attainable, while others will be tougher to reach.
Even if you don’t accomplish the very top goals, even getting close will leave you much better off.
Here’s an example of a goal chart someone may want to set. It may help you think of others goals and, of course, tweak if needed to fit your current fitness level:
* Lose 20 pounds
* Drop your body fat by 5 percent
* Exercise 3-4 times a week
* Be able to jog for 20 minutes straight on a treadmill or outside (add more time if you’re already in decent shape)
* Be able to walk for 20 minutes straight on the treadmill or outside if you haven’t been very active.
* Complete a 5K race
* Bike ride 25 miles
* Increase your bench press by 25 percent
* Eat better
* Keep a workout log
* Fit in a favorite old pair of jeans again.
Keep the list posted at work, on your refrigerator or somewhere else where it’s always handy. If you work hard most goals are attainable, but when it comes to fitness consistency is the key.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

At Home Fitness continues to be one of the best online places in the nation to buy fitness equipment from Vision Fitness.
There is currently a sale featured by At Home Fitness, which is based out of its super stores in Arizona, or on the Internet.
Vision Fitness products are being sold at 20 percent off with free shipping by At Home Fitness, or online at www.athomefitness.com
Vision Fitness is an industry leader in Treadmills, Ellipticals, Bikes and Suspension Trainers.
Although Vision Fitness products can be difficult to find for sale online, because of a partnership with At Home Fitness the Arizona fitness leader is able to bring the products online to people all over the U.S.
One thing that really stands out in many of the Vision Fitness elliptical machines is the ability to easily change suspension level, making the Vision Fitness machines far from ordinary elliptical machines. They are truly hiking machines, that can be raised so the knees go up high and really work the hamstring and glutes in different ways.
Here’s a look at some of Vision Fitness’ elliptical machines:
* Vision Fitness X20 Elliptical
The Vision Fitness X20 elliptical trainer is one of the most eagerly awaited products to hit the market in a very long time. While Vision Fitness has always been known to create exceptional products, there were those who said a $1000 elliptical could not be considered a “high end” machine. They were wrong and Vision Fitness has done it.
Sale Price: $999.00
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Vision Fitness X70 Elliptical Trainer
The X70 boasts an extra-heavy gauge steel frame and top-quality components to withstand years of use in the commercial setting. A motivating console with an oversized LED display features the exclusive SPRINT 8® program, four Heart Rate Training programs, and five custom programs for a multitude of workout options.
Sale Price: $3,299.00
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* Vision Fitness X6200 Folding Elliptical
The X6200 is the top-of-the line elliptical model, featuring a large, stable frame design with patented folding pedal arms that allow compact storage. The long pedal arms with pivoting footplates and 19.75-inch stride give the X6200 its superior motion, while the variable-durometer footpads and multi-position handgrips give you a comfortable workout no matter how long you exercise.
MSRP: $1,599.00
Sale Price: $1,499.00 save $100
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* Vision Fitness S7100 Suspension Trainer
The value-priced Vison Fitness S7100 Suspension Elliptical features PerfectStride technology, which combines an ideal stride motion, ergonomically-correct foot positioning, and optimal incline and stride length adjustments. The unique suspension design provides an exceptionally smooth feel, utmost comfort, and unmatched accessibility. The Vision Fitness S7100?s smaller footprint makes it the perfect addition to your home.
MSRP: $2,699.00
Sale Price: $2,499.00 save $200
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At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

Whether you’re a weekend warrior, stay-at-home mom or competitive athlete, anyone’s workouts can become stagnant.
To help people break through their plateaus, or to get re-invigorated, here are five tips to change up your workout routine:
1. Change your workout length – If your workout normally last 45 minutes or an hour, change it up every few weeks by shaving 15 minutes off the time.
Increase the intensity and amount of weight used for sets, but do fewer sets and take less time between exercises. This will create muscle confusion, force you to step up your effort and make it more interesting because it will be different. And the best part is you’ll get done a little bit quicker.
2. Change your workout time – If it’s getting harder and harder to stay motivated to work out, consider changing what time you exercise for a week. If you usually exercise in the morning, try working out at night after work a few times. Maybe you’ll like one better than the other, but a change even for a few days can make a difference in the quality of workouts.
3. Change your music – A small, but sometimes helpful tip is to change up the music you’re listening to. Take some time and think of songs that will get you pumped up to work out. If you don’t usually listen to music, then consider putting a CD on that will get you moving a little quicker.
4. Switch up your exercises – There are almost a countless number of ways to do presses, squats, rows, curls, extensions and more.
Take advantage of that versatility by tweaking the way you perform lifts of certain body parts. Find a different way to work out the different body parts.
5. Have a ball – One new trend is to sit or lay on an exercise ball instead of a traditional flat bench when doing certain exercises. Give it a try. An exercise ball base will change things up for you and also give an additional workout to strengthen your core. An example is to lay on an exercise ball to do chest presses instead of on a standard flat bench.
At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com