Calorie counting and tracking workout intensity through software can often be a bit of chore. FitRabbit is a mobile app (currently only supported for the iPhone) that puts a twist on traditional diet and fitness software by turning your fitness goals into a fun, social game.

Through the app, you can win prizes for healthy activities and share your meals and workouts with your friends. Since it’s mobile (as opposed to being a web or desktop app), it makes it pretty easy to track what you’re doing. It pulls calorie information from the USDA (through an API called FatSecret) and has a heartrate monitor. And finally, the app was created by me, a normal programmer chick who’s just trying to stay fit

Fitness (and everything else, for that matter) is becoming increasingly social with the rise of Facebook, Twitter and now Google+. For me personally, there is nothing more inspirational to me than knowing that Julie and Steph buy delicious and healthy fruit from the Farmers’ Market. Or knowing that Chris lifts weights at the gym almost every day and then has a home cooked meal of salad and chicken cordon bleu. Through FitRabbit, I can see what healthy activities my friends are up to (if they choose to share that info with me.)

The app spices things up a little bit by turning the achievement of your health and fitness goals into a game. The Garden and Moo Prizes, for example, go to users who eat fruits and vegetables four times a week or drink enough milk. The Body Builder Prize (winning requires working out 5 days a week) can give users the incentive to get in that last workout at the end of the week. The capstone FitRabbit Prize can only be won by users who work out frequently, eat enough fruits and veggies, and avoid sugar.

The app tries to strike a balance between being advanced and, at the same time, fun and accessible to ordinary people, who are too busy to track every little thing or pore over multiple graphs and reams of data. Activity entry is pretty easy through FitRabbit. The user can snap photos of their meals and then do the calorie lookup later. I use the app while I’m on the elliptical. With a few taps and zero typing, I am able to track my heartrate while I’m working out. The apps aims to be useful, without being distracting.

I hope others will find this app as helpful as I have. Check it out and write a review! Or contact me at help@fitrabbitapp.com. I am constantly iterating on the app, and I would love to hear your feedback! Thanks!

The word endorphins seems to be one of the buzz words within well-being lifestyles, and it’s for good reason. All of us contain natural feel good chemicals commonly known as endorphins, and when these chemicals are released it makes us feel a sense of euphoria and can greatly influence our outlook on many things.

If you and your partner worked on releasing these endorphins collectively, on a regular basis, absolutely everything in your lives will be positively impacted.

Regular exercise reduces stress hormones such as cortisol. Releasing endorphins, dopamine and serotonin through exercise on a regular basis will literally give you a natural high. The release of these natural chemicals have the ability to mask pain as well as allow people to overcome depression. You’ll perform better at work and have more energy to play with the kids. And of course, your relationship will also reap the benefits. Your sex life is also set to prosper as a result of choosing to lead a healthy lifestyle. Make a commitment with your partner today to stay fit and healthy in unison.

Most couples who remain together for a long period will commonly face several health issues related to lifestyle. 1/ Their diet suffers. 2/ They fail to integrate any form of physical fitness into their routine and will generally find some kind of justification or excuse for neglecting this extremely important life choice.

In order to experience all the wonderful benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle within a relationship, the effort must be combined and not just for one partner. Any health expert or fitness advisor will tell you that a training partner greatly assists in maintaining motivation and consistency.

Getting started is quite often the hardest part, but the good news is that the majority of your efforts should be focused in the kitchen. Think of it this way, 80% of your focus should be aimed at diet and nutrition and 20% on exercise. Cooking and experimenting with food is a great way to spend quality time with your partner, more so when there is a mutual goal being established. Make regular visits together to the local organic fruit and vegetable markets. Map out your meals at the start of each week. The food you eat is the single most defining element to weight loss or weight gain – exercise is just the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Lead by example

Complacency is where you’re likely to fail. One partner must take the lead and be mindful not to resent the other partner if it seems like a one sided affair. Developing a healthy pattern requires more than just a routine, try and mix things up a bit so your routine becomes fun and diverse. You could enjoy fitness workouts like swimming, running at the beach, hiking, bush walking, a fitness class, walking, volley ball and tennis. Exercising does not mean you should have to slog it out at the gym six days a week. Make it fun and mix things up.

Whether you’re in a committed relationship or leading a life as a single person, maintaining your health takes motivation. Motivation can be achieved simply by leaving the house, inspiration then comes easily. Instead of watching TV, go for a run, or read a healthy lifestyle magazine to maintain enthusiasm. Aside from all the wonderful benefits you’re set to gain within your relationship, you’ll also reduce the risk of stroke and diabetes, increase flexibility, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as improve your own self-confidence.

You’ll start experiencing the natural exhilaration of healthy living within the first ten days, it’s quite common for people to become addicted to this lifestyle, and this is one addiction worth having!

Matt Fuller is a contributing author for several leading dating sites in Australia and social network blogs. Matt has been an active contributor to the online dating Australia sector for more than ten years and works as a matchmaking consultant.

If you’re currently on a muscle building workout plan and have been finding lately that you’re seeing less than optimal development, chances are you’ve hit a growth or strength gaining plateau.  This is a very normal occurrence for almost every trainee because as the body adapts to the workload being given to it, it fully manages to overcome it and then no longer sees a reason to change.

If you want to keep your body responding as best as possible so that you can move forward and see greater results, you have to push it back out of its comfort zone so it has a new reason to sit up and grow stronger.

Coming up with innovative ways to shock your muscles into growth is the perfect solution to do this.  Remember, sometimes you don’t necessarily have to completely restructure your workout around to create the change necessary for growth.  Often it’s a matter of a little tweak here or there that can do the job perfectly.

Let’s look at a few ideas for you to consider.

Reverse The Order

The very first way to shock the muscles into growth is to reverse the order of the exercises you’re performing.  Do you normally start out with bench press and then move to incline bench and finish with chest fly’s?

Try doing this the other way around.  In doing so you’re going to be much more fatigued by the time that you hit the bench press, thus your muscles will be forced to work that much harder.

Note that you likely won’t hit any personal bests when doing the larger, compound exercises later, but that’s not the point.  The point is to work through fatigue and grow stronger so that then when you do go back to your usual order, you’re now able to handle more weight.

Utilize Half-To-Full Reps

The second thing to consider is utilizing half to full reps.  This is an excellent way to bring on a high level of fatigue and really get those muscles responding.

To perform these you simply move all the way down through the first half of the movement, but then rather than returning all the way to the start, only come up half way.  Pause for a moment, go back down to the bottom of the movement, and then come all the way back up once again.

Perform all your reps like this in each set of that exercise and you’ll definitely be feeling it by the end.

Change The Grip Position

Third, another good way to bump up the intensity of your workout program and get greater growth is to change the grip position.

For instance, if you always do your pull-ups with an overhand grip, try an underhand grip instead. Likewise, if you’re doing bent over rows with an overhand grip, an underhand grip can be used here as well.

Often this simple change will entirely alter the stress on the muscle tissues and provoke that much greater strength gains.

Do Timed Reps

Another way that you can change around your workout set-up and see greater results is to perform timed reps.  With this technique, instead of doing your normal set of say 8-12 reps, what you’re going to do is see how many reps you can complete in one minute’s time.

Note that the point here is not to reduce the weight so you can lift for a minute straight, but rather, keep the weight at the same level and squeeze out as many reps as possible, even if breaks have to be taken.  If you’ve reached fatigue, pause until you can go again, and then continue on with your reps.

Once the minute is up, switch to a new exercise.

Try Single-Limb Exercises

Finally, the last way to shock your muscles into experiencing better growth is to use single-limb exercises.  In some cases you may have one muscle that’s stronger than the other that’s overcompensating for the weaker muscle group.

For instance if you’re doing a bent over barbell rows and one arm is significantly stronger, the other may not be pushing as hard as it should.

By switching this up to dumbbell single arm rows instead, you eliminate this problem from occurring.

So keep all of these quick and easy changes in mind. It’s vital that you’re constantly seeking out new ways to further stimulate your body so that you can take your strength and muscle growth to the next level.

This article has been contributed by Aishwarya Vohra. She works for Offshore Ally- a leading online source for reliable virtual assistant and SEO link builders.  She is a avid reader and enjoys practising yoga. Connect with her via Twitter.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by Ron Sombilon Gallery

In short my answer is yes but what are the reasons for this and is there any proof to actually back up this claim?

Weather

Well one of the main reasons people take up exercise during the summer months is because it isn’t constantly raining and cold and funnily enough the combination of the last two help to put exercising at the back of everyone’s minds in the winter.

A lot of people cannot afford to go out to the gym all of the time which makes it tough to exercise by running in the winter unless you are seriously dedicated. The summer brings sunshine and this means that people want to go out for that jog in the mornings.

Light

The summer also brings us more light hours of the day which is fantastic and it once again encourages people to go out and take part in physical activity. The great thing about this is that the light is still around at around 7-8 in the evening which means you get the light and the cooler temperatures and in case you didn’t realise this means perfect running conditions!

Vacation

Many people want to drop a size or two when it comes to the summer because they are hoping to get away on their summer break and wear bikinis and other revealing garments of clothing. Confidence really is key when it comes to wearing things like this and losing a bit of weight before you go away on vacation can be key to feeling comfortable around the pool.

Thanksgiving/Christmas

It would seem that people do worry about these events towards the end of the summer and they start to exercise way before the event itself so they can stuff themselves (excuse the pun) when November and December finally arrives.

Water Is Open

During the cold winter months it is safe to say that you will not often come across people swimming in outside pools and in lazing around the beaches with a follow up swim. The summer opens up both of these options to the public and there is not really a better way to cool down than a leisurely swim in the sea. The more of this you do the more likely you are to lose weight because swimming is one of the best things you can do for weight loss. So there is the proof, more people seem not only exercise but enjoy exercise during the summer.

Ryan is a keen internet marketer who represents a company that specialise in SEO. He knows how important it is to keep fit, especially when it is more accessible to do so.

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We all understand how important it is to get fit but there are so many different kinds of programs and classes popping up how do you decide which one to choose?

After taking the time and consideration to research the numerous options for how to achieve your goals, you will most likely stumble upon a few “Fitness Trends.”

Rather than invoking the proven methods of dieting sensibly and exercising over a period of time, fitness gurus have come up with new and trendy ways to work out. While they may be sexy and fun, are they actually producing results?

Here are a few examples.

1. Yoga Booty Ballet. This is a weight reduction system that uses yoga, dance, and body sculpting all rolled into one workout. It’s well known for targeting most women’s problem areas – abs and booty. While this serves as a great cardio workout, it’s not particularly great in refining the body and incorporating a successful combination of mind and body that’s essential to yoga.

2. The Burlesque Workout. This offers a twist onto a straight forward cardio routine of dancing. The Burlesque Workout is designed to slim and tone your body, while also helping you gain confidence and unleash your inner sex kitten. Again, another good cardio workout and a bit of fun, but not great for those unfamiliar with dance.

3. The Pole Workout. This combination of dancing and striptease, involving a strippers pole, offers a radically wild workout that combines yoga, stripping, and ballet. They promote helping women stay healthy while also nurturing their wholesome sexuality. Although it’s a bit fun and naughty, usually women who want to get in shape for their wedding want nothing to do with stripping.

While these trendy workouts offer a good time combined with some exercise, it’s not necessarily going to do the trick to get you in shape for the big day. Working out in any shape or form is always better than being sedentary, but these are mostly just gimmicks trying to get future brides to spend money.

This is a guest post by Sarah Harris who is the Marketing Manager at Adiamor. Adiamor offers a large selection of engagement ring settings, loose diamonds, and other fine diamond jewelry at affordable prices.

First things first, I’m not a fitness expert by any means. BUT if you’re anything like me, you are starting to get frustrated with all of the “experts” out there. Telling you to first “do this,” but then a new study comes out and really, “doing this,” is actually hurting your physique.

As I am a fairly modest person, I hate to even admit that I am actually in good shape. Of course I have the occasional terrible-no-good-for-you-in-any-shape-or-form meal or snack…but hey, I’m not claiming to be perfect.

Although I may fall off the healthy food wagon sometimes, I always at least balance it with a good workout schedule. I am someone who puts fitness as a part of my daily routine. I schedule it right into my agenda so I know I will get it done. Where did I gain this mandatory-workout mindset? I got it from being an athlete.

I grew up with sports. Tennis, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, cheerleading… you name, I did it. For those of you who think kids these days are over-worked, take a good, long look at the obesity totals in children today…I’m sure your viewpoint will change. Obviously there is a fine line of “living through your kids” and just making sure they stay active, but you get my point. I am so thankful that my parents enrolled my sisters and me in sports as children because it taught us that staying active was just a part of life! All three of us continued to play sports throughout middle school, high school, and even through college (two played NCAA DI tennis, while I played NCAA DIII tennis and 2 years of collegiate track & field). Now, as adults, we have the same mindset to stay active and make it a part of our daily schedules.

All sounds fine and dandy, right? No, not so much. I’m human. I get bored with the same workout routine, working out at the same time every single day, and sometimes not having the extra push to get to the gym. Here’s the thing…I can’t let these annoyances or boring workouts get the most of me. So how do I combat them? Below I have provided a few tips that may help you when you find yourself in a workout rut. Keep in mind, just because these tips work for me it doesn’t necessarily mean each will work for you, but I thought I’d share:

1. Spice it up. Try a new activity or sport. Belong to a gym? Sign up for classes. I can definitely say, from experience, this works! I signed up for a 6-week boot camp at my gym. While the 5:15 AM workout did not seem appealing at first, I knew I would feel better and even gain some new tips to enhance my personal workouts! Man, I noticed results after the first two days (no, I’m not exaggerating). Having an instructor push you to try your hardest really put me back in “athlete mindset.” I had a practice. I had a coach. I had to work my butt off to stay on top of everything. In the end? I was ready to sign up for another session!

2. Sign up for a race. Registering for a future 5k, 10k, Half or Full Marathon, etc. will give you the extra “umph” to workout. After dropping some moolah for a race, you’ll be SURE to train your best so that on the race day you will feel SUCH a sense of accomplish and of course get your money’s worth.

3. Make it work. Make working out a part of your daily schedule. Have plans after work? Get a workout in during your lunch. Have plans at lunch? Get yourself out of bed a little early and get to the gym. Making your workout a vital part of your day will ensure that you’re getting at least your 30 minutes of daily activity. Also, with a couple weeks of this mindset, adding fitness to your daily routine will become a no-brainer!

I hope some of these tips will help you increase your fitness activity and help you get moving on a daily basis! I guess I should mention that I also have an additional motive…I’m engaged to be married in the fall. Fitting into that wedding dress and having toned arms for the wedding pictures are a must!

When Ali isn’t running, playing tennis, or trying new workouts, she can be found promoting fitness to all the techie guys in the office. In addition to fitness, Ali also promotes clothing and formal wear such as the prom dresses found at Peach’s Boutique (which is fun since she is searching for bridesmaid dresses for her wedding!!).

Working out and exercising have come a long way since the Jane Fonda days. Instead of having to go to a gym or buy expensive workout videos that will surely begin to clutter the house, those who are fans of working out can now get non-stop access to aerobics, weight training, and pretty much any other kind of exercise they could imagine. The dawn of niche television allows channels like The History Channel, Food Network and FitTV to bring hard-core history buffs, foodies and exercise fanatics their fill and them some of their hobby/obsession of choice.

FitTV shows episode after episode of instructional exercise segments, each geared to a certain exercise style and fitness level. One show may teach belly dancing, and in the next a group of gleeful, spandex- and Lycra-clad Nordic people teach cardio with Kilawea and the Hawaiian coast in the background.

Julie Almeida, the personal fitness guru for the Examiner.com-Birmingham, recommends a show with an up-tempo workout: “Hip-Hop Dance with Madonna Grimes”. The show is a feature of the All-Star Workout Segment. Almeida gives readers a run-down of the workout. She adds the moves are not only good for workouts, but also go from the workout studio to the dance club. She says her favorite move is called the “chicken head”. While most people associate a dance by this name with the dancer moving their head like a chicken, Almeida says this particular move has the dancer moving “like a chicken with your head cut off”. She also adds one of the main benefits is the cardio workout.

Almeida reports the workout is not only fun, but covers the general core areas of the body. With the warm-up, she says, Grimes teaches a move called the “chest pump” which loosens the upper portion of the body for the next phase of the workout, the dance portion. The next segment, Almeida says is longer, and where the meat of the workout is. In this segment Grimes teaches the actual dance routine. Finally, she says, the workout ends with a set that works out the abdominal muscles. The session Almeida tested worked out her oblique muscles, more popularly referred to as “love handles”. She says the continuous movement throughout this portion of the workout is the cause of muscle burn, but better results.

For many people, sticking to a workout routine is not easy. When the workout is enjoyable, it helps. Having a workout buddy is another good way to keep yourself on track. The continuous workouts offered by FitTV promote a healthy lifestyle for those who want to keep in shape. For those with busy or odd schedules, the program line-up allows them to choose when they will “attend” their workouts. This would definitely be an incentive for those who cannot make it to a gym when it is open, or who prefer to workout in the privacy of their own home.

Image courtesy sxc/pacapa
Trina L. Grant is a fitness and social media blogger, as well as a freelance writer and editor. You can find more information about these as well as all things freelance writing on her website and blog.

It may be hard to stick to a daily plan. Some days you just love your jogging, next day you feel you hate it. That’s when you feel you already hate it. And you start forcing yourself into doing that – this is beginning of an end. The moment you start forcing yourself into doing your exercise, you stop getting benefit from it.

Your daily exercise is not only the step to keeping fit and looking good. It should be the way to feel better, to maintain emotional balance, to fight the depression. If your exercise does quite the opposite, if you do not enjoy it and on the contrary feel obliged to do that – it is not going to work.

So how to enjoy your daily exercise? Just stay motivated and creative!

• Always choose your favorite workout music; change it regularly to avoid it getting boring.
• Combine your exercise with some amazing activity. Example: take a photo camera with you when jogging – morning scenes are awesome and you are most likely to collect beautiful photography.
• Set regular tiny goals: “this week that’s 2 exercises, next week it’s 3, etc”

Another option could be just go travel! Try cruises for example: plenty of fresh sea air and new awesome experience will work wonders for your health and body!

Post image by mikebaird

I figured that was a great idea to start this way listing most fun ways to keep fit because that’s the point of this resource: to show you how to enjoy your workouts and healthy life style.

So here we go: only those ways you will enjoy!

1. Dance! I simply love dancing and I believe that’s a best workout ever invented. It is fun to learn new dance styles weekly or monthly to never get bored and I guess I need to list some cool ways to find new dancing tutorials online (good plan!).
2. Go gardening! You get double benefit here: fresh air and exercise. And besides, you make this planet better by caring for its plants (OK, 3 benefits already);
3. Go hiking: workout, plenty of fresh (traffic-free) air and new beautiful places every day – can’t wait when I have my vacation already!
4. Try shell collecting: if you are with your significant one, this one is also romantic!
5. Simply walk more. A good way to turn this one into fun is to take your camera with you and find new places daily where you think you can get amazing photos: urban scenes, people, nature, etc.
6. Start traveling! Do you know that skiing, for example, is one of the greatest workouts you could ever dream of? Try  ski holidays for example and you are sure to see your general health and mood improve greatly after that experience.

There are many more of course but why not start with the simplest and most enjoyable ones? So no excuse for waiting any longer – just start your new fit life today!

Am I motivating? I hope I am

Post image by cmaccubbin