There are distractions and excuses all around us to put off being fit. Getting and staying motivated for physical fitness can be extremely difficult to do at times.
Here are five tips to get you moving again and attain the fitness level you desire:
1. Log your training – If you write down your workout activity it will serve several purposes. You’ll be able to chart your progress and you’ll feel good looking back at your results. You can also make notes on what workouts you liked or didn’t. It should also serve as a motivator because you’ll feel like a slacker if several days go by without working out and your notebook is bare.
2. Set short- and long-term goals – Depending on your fitness level, these goals will be extremely different. If you’ve put off fitness for a while, then set short-term goals of just making positive strides each day. It could be to take a brisk walk, ride a bike, or do a light weight workout.
If your fitness level is good but motivation is a problem, setting goals can help. Pick a target weight you want to achieve, try to up the amount of weight you’re lifting or maybe try to ride farther on your area bike trail.
3. Seek variety – Change up your workouts to avoid getting burned out and keep things interesting. It is also healthier if you don’t always work out the muscles the same way. If you use free weights a lot, on occasion try kettlebells. Try to mix in a form of cardio you don’t usually do, such as an elliptical machine or exercise bike.
4. Schedule time to work out – This tip seems simple, but many people don’t free up enough time for fitness and then use it as an excuse that they’re too busy. If you say you’re too busy to work out then you’re definitely too busy to get sick. Sure, there are going to be some days when it really is impossible to get a workout in, but if it’s a big enough priority you’ll do it. Cut out a few video games, or watching a reality TV show and get on the treadmill or elliptical instead. Or you could set up a TV in front of the treadmill.
5. Find a workout partner – This can be one of the toughest things to do, but if you can find a reliable workout partner it can be one of the biggest pluses possible. You can push and learn from each other and it can just flat out make working out more enjoyable. If you’re married, find some activities you can do together. The biggest key to having a workout partner is that it will be important to someone else that you get your workouts in, too. Don’t leave your buddy hanging.

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

If you’re too tired or unmotivated to work out, or both, I have a simple tip to get you back in the swing of things. I call it the “five-minute plan.”
Even if you really don’t feel like exercising, start on the treadmill, http://www.athomefitness.com/Ellipticals-p-1-c-273.html, exercise bike, free weights, or whatever else you generally do to exercise for five minutes.
Walk, jog, climb, ride or lift at an easy pace for five minutes. Your heart rate will start to increase and your body chemistry will start to get you into the mood to workout.
Ninety percent of the time, you’ll follow through with a near-complete or complete workout.
If after five minutes of this little warm-up you’re still not in the mood, then it obviously wasn’t your day to exercise. Take the day off.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Just try to get back on track the next day.
In all likelihood, though, you’ll be in the mood to at least get a decent workout in if you try the five-minute plan. Oftentimes getting your body in motion is the hardest thing to do, but once you get a little sweat going it’s easier to keep going.
The single hardest thing about following a workout plan isn’t having a great workout. It’s having good workouts day after day, week after week.
Consistency is the key and the five-minute plan is a great tip I’ve learned to help people stay on track.

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 <a href="mailto:aaron@athomefitness.com

There are two basic movements people performing Accelerated Vibration Training (AVT) will use: static and dynamic exercises.
It is important to know the differences between the two before you begin your workout program on the 3G Cardio 5.0 Accelerated Vibration Plate or 6.0 Accelerated Vibration Plate.
The Accelerated Vibration Training plate works in an up-and-down motion to literally accelerate training.
It allows safe exercise with a greatly increased external load compared to traditional methods. 3G Cardio’s extensive research into testing and engineering has made the 3G Cardio 5.0 AVT Plate and 6.0 AVT Plate one of the most exciting new additions to the fitness industry in years.
The vibrations cause the muscles to contract in response to the plate movement – up to an incredible 25-50 times per second – resulting in rapid contractions and accelerated results. This leads to a near instantaneous “progression of muscle fatigue,” a term coined by 3G Cardio designers to explain the stimulated to near peak capacity of the muscles. It maximizes muscle strengthening and flexibility, along with a host of other positive effects on your body.
Which brings us back to the two main exercises a person will perform during an Accelerated Vibration Training workout.
Static exercises – Static exercise, also known as isometrics, exert muscles at high intensities without movement of the joints. Holding a squat position, calf stretch or pushup position on the AVT trainer is an example of static exercise.
Static exercise improves strength. If you perform static exercises, don’t hold your breath as this can drive up blood pressure. Make sure to breathe throughout the exercise.
The stretch is generally held steady for 30-60 seconds for an Accelerated Vibration Training workout.
Dynamic exercises – These involve slow and controlled movements through a complete range of motion. Dynamic exercise activities keep joints and muscles moving. Examples in Accelerated Vibration Training are full squat, pushup, bent-over row and step-ups (moving on and off the platform, which adds to the cardio component). Blood circulation, strength, and endurance are improved by these continuous movements.
Find out through a medical checkup what your activity and exercise restrictions are.
One of the best things about the 3G Cardio 5.0 Accelerated Vibration Plate or 6.0 Accelerated Vibration Plate is that many doctors do use these machines for medical reasons to help people improve things like muscle tone, bone density and circulation.

We’ve all heard lots of fitness advice over the years. Tips we wanted to hear and unfortunately lots we didn’t ask for.
But how much of what we hear is really true, even from so-called experts?
Here are five fitness myths that are repeated over and over, but really aren’t true:
* No pain, no gain — This is especially popular with coaches, and can hold some merit. However, just because you’re not keeled over in agony doesn’t mean you’re not helping your body when exercising.
The reality is working doesn’t have to be painful to get results. The truth is that pushing yourself too hard, too fast can backfire and lead to an injury.
* You can target specific areas to lose weight — Although some tummy trimmers on infomercials will try to tell you they’ll help you lose your belly, the truth is that no exercise can burn fat in a specific area. Weight loss — or gain — occurs across the entire body, although some areas show more than others. You can, however, target specific muscles for strengthening.
* To benefit from cardio, you have to do it for a long time — Many people say that you have to get on a treadmill or elliptical machine for a half hour to an hour to get good cardio results. That’s simply not true. You can get a good cardio workout in in as little as 15 minutes if you do interval training or go at a high rate. It’s actually better to train hard for a shorter period of time than to slog along at a slow, easy pace.
* If you lift weights, you’ll bulk up too much — I had a neighbor growing up whose dad wouldn’t let him lift weights because he said, “It will put a crimp in your baseball swing.” Translation: He told his kid he’d get too bulky.
Again, that is simply not true. While strength and resistance training helps you maintain your lean muscle mass, and add some muscle, building substantial amounts of bulk is very difficult.
Unless you’re a bodybuilder following a program designed to increase your muscle mass, odds are you won’t bulk up too much. And even if you are adding muscle, if you are doing proper stretches along the way you should be fine.
* Machines are safer for exercise because you’re doing it right every time — It may seem that an exercise machine automatically puts your body in a correct position to do all the movements right, but that’s only true if the machine is properly adjusted for your weight and height.
You also need to use proper posture – don’t slouch or lean on a military press machine for instance.

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

If you develop an injury as a runner there’s really no place to hide it, unlike some other sports where you can “play hurt” and gut your way through.
If you have common runner’s problems such as shin splints, runner’s knee or Achilles’ tendonitis, it will be magnified as the miles add on.
That makes nipping these problems in the bud even more imperative for runners, or else they will likely be sidelined for a while.
There are some easy ways to fix common problems. Here are six common sources of pain for runners and the solutions to relieve them:
* Shin splints – Overpronation can cause the connective tissues to tug on the lower leg. Running barefoot for 10 minutes a week can help reduce the foot collapse. Others solutions are to stretch out the calf muscles more and run on softer surfaces to ease the shock, such as switching from pavement or a track to trails or a treadmill.
* Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome – The hip-to-knee connective tissues can get tethered to surrounding muscles and pull on the knee when unstable hips cause a side-to-side motion. A great fix to this is to lie on your side with a foam roller under your hip. Slowly roll the roller back and forth from hip to knee.
* Achilles tendonitis – If you are experiencing Achilles’ tendon discomfort, stretch your calves and Achilles more thoroughly. Use a slant board to get a better Achilles stretch.
* Hip pain – Strengthen your glute muscles and core to alleviate hip pain. Also, make sure to emphasize good, proper running form. Work out on an elliptical machine if you need to give your Achilles’ a break.
* Ankle sprain – If you should happen to suffer an ankle sprain, it’s extremely important to ice the injury and also give it proper time to heal. Theraband stretches can help regain mobility and strengthen the ankle and other lower leg muscles.
* Runner’s knee – Overuse or leaning too far forward or backward when running can lead to pain in the knees. Lean slightly forward from ankles when running to shift weight a little more to the balls of the feet.
Sometimes knee pain can also result from quad or glute muscles that need to be strengthened.

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

It can be a tricky balance to improve your distance running while battling nagging aches and pains, but it can be achieved.
Here are five tips to improve your running without getting injured:
* Quality, not quantity – If you are experiencing minor discomforts that come with distance running, such as shin splits, knee pain or IT band issues, then run a little less. Perhaps just do three runs a week instead of four or five. Take those runs with lots of intensity, and then allow for added rest time.
* Stretch out your training program – If you were on a 15-week training program to run a 10K or marathon, but are dealing with some minor injuries, then stretch it out to 20 weeks. Take your time in the beginning to build up your base.
* Cross-train – Get cardio workouts in other ways, such as swimming or an elliptical machine, that are less demanding on your joints.
* Scale back mileage – Every third week or so reduce the mileage you run by half. You’ll still maintain the level you’re at, but it’s always good to give the body a bit of a break. You can’t always push it to the brink and by backing off now and then you should come back stronger for the next big run.
* Run on a treadmill – A treadmill can provide an excellent way to put in lots of mileage and it also offers a safer, less rigorous landing for your body.
It is considerably easier on the joints than running on pavement.
Many marathoners actually put in a good part of their training on treadmills.
If pain intensifies or becomes chronic then seek medical advice.

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

The ElliptiGo is a recent fitness phenomenon that looks guaranteed to last, unlike some other “here today, gone tomorrow” gimmicks.
It’s an outdoor bike with eight speeds that’s a cross between an elliptical trainer and a bicycle.
It takes the traditional elliptical motion outdoors to get a running experience like never before.
The ElliptiGo’s pedals move in a forward motion that’s very similar to a runner’s stride, but minus the hard impact from bouncing up and down on the road or track.
The reason it’s guaranteed lasting popularity is because the ElliptiGo provides an extremely thorough workout and, of course, it’s fun to do.
When riding the ElliptiGo you are constantly moving. It provides an excellent cardiovascular workout, but because you also have to push with your legs and pump the handles with your arms, you also get a good strength workout.
And it all comes without stressing the joints anywhere near what you would while running.
A stress-free workout for the joints is the reason the ElliptiGo bike was invented by former Ironman triathlete Bryan Pate, who wanted to help runners avoid beating up their bodies through repeated impact.
Pate, a former cyclist and triathlete, who suffered hip and knee injuries, said the ElliptiGo is a low-impact, high-output, cross-training bike that combines running and cycling. It weighs just 40 pounds.
Depending on your leg strength, you can cruise at about 15-25 mph on the ElliptiGo. Hand levers that connect to rim brakes on the front and rear wheels help you slow down or stop and give you the feel of riding a bike.
The ElliptiGo can take a short while to get used to, but is actually pretty simple to ride. Once you find the right stance to ride it and work on turning corners, you’ll find you can actually get some good speed going.
Even going up hills is pretty easy.
It can accommodate people of just about all sizes, with a weight limit up to 250 pounds.
Made of sturdy, but lightweight material, the ElliptiGo weights 40 pounds. The bike retails for around $2,000-2,400.
I highly recommend trying the ElliptiGo. It will be a great way to cross train – and you’ll likely become the hit of your block if you get one. For more on the ElliptiGO stop in at At Home Fitness in Arizona. or visit their website.

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