GRIPAD ® Blog

Top 3 Excuses to Not Workout and Their Solutions

There are some legitimate reasons for skipping a workout, like nursing an injury, but most of the time excuses are just a way to talk yourself out of exercising. The excuses we come up with, no matter how lame, are a way to make us more comfortable with skipping the workout. When your psyche is throwing excuses at you, follow this guide to overcome the most common gym deterrents.

1. The Excuse: I am too tired.
   This is the top reason people blow off using their workout grips. You feel tired after a long day at work, or you just can’t seem to roll out of bed early enough to hit the gym.
   If getting out from underneath the covers is your problem, make sure you are getting plenty of rest at night, or download the Sleep Cycle alarm clock app. When you set the alarm for a 30-minute window, it wakes you up in the lightest stage of sleep. When the sound blares and you open your eyes, you will feel most rested and ready to workout.
   If you prefer to exercise with your weightlifting gloves at the end of the day, make a killer playlist or recruit a workout buddy to help motivate you.
2. The Excuse: I don’t have enough time.
   Let’s assume you are super busy and work 50 hours a week. If you get eight hours of sleep a night, you still have 62 hours leftover each week for other things. To improve your health, you should get a minimum of 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week. When you break down the numbers this way, it doesn’t sound so impossible to find time to workout, does it?
   Find time by making it. Schedule your workouts like you would a business meeting or doctor’s appointment. If you are short on longer chunks of time, break your exercise into smaller pieces, like taking a brisk walk on your lunch hour or biking to the store instead of driving.
3. The Excuse: Exercise is boring.
   Sure, running on a treadmill for an hour may be boring, but it is a lot more fun when you watch television or read while you are breaking a sweat. And few people would call inline skating, hiking or surfing boring, yet they are all forms of exercise.
   Mix up your workouts and keep them interesting by trying something new. Take a class, join a sports league or take up rollerblading. There is an exercise for everyone.

What excuses do you think of to not use your weightlifting gloves? Fess up in the comments below, then let us know how you overcome them!

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Best Workout for the Arms: It’s All or Nothing

When it comes to working out your arms, it’s all or nothing! This hardcore workout will blast your triceps and biceps, resulting in strong, toned arms. Grab your workout gloves and get going!

Medicine Ball Pushups

Start your all or nothing arm workout with five sets of ten reps of this exercise. Place a medicine ball on the floor, then in standard pushup position, place your hands on the side of the ball. Slowly lower your body down until only an inch remains between you and the ball, then push yourself back up to the original position. To make it even harder, use only one hand on the ball.

Reverse Grip Bench Presses

Put on your workout gloves, then grab the bar with your hands a bit wider than your shoulders and your palms up. Lift the bar, hold it right above your chest, and then squeeze it hard as you arch your upper back. Lower it down to just under your nipples, then push your feet into the floor as it touches your chest. Press the weight up, then repeat for seven sets of three reps.

Cheat Curls

Keep your fitness gloves on for this move, too. Load up a barbell with more weight than you would normally curl. Use an underhand grip to hold it with your hands shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and bend forward at the hips to gain momentum, then curl the weight by extending your knees and hips. Reverse the motion to get back to the original position. Keep adding more weight for seven sets of four reps.

Towel Pull-ups

Place two towels over a chin up bar. Grab one with each hand, let your body hang, then pull yourself up until your chin hovers over the bar. Lower back to the original position, then repeat for five sets of eight reps each.

How do you get shredded arms? Share your favorite exercises with our readers in the comments below!

What is the Best Time of the Day to Workout and Why?

Exercise at any time benefits your body and mind, but morning workouts are especially beneficial. If you are a night owl or find yourself reaching for the snooze button each morning, don’t worry. You can train yourself to enjoy morning workouts more by making a plan and sticking to it.

Stave Off Cravings

According to research conducted by Bringham Young University, morning exercise helps stave off cravings. Participants in the study were shown photos of foods, and those who exercised for 45 minutes each morning had a lower brain response to the images. Hitting the gym early with your workout gloves can help you avoid having a breakfast of donuts and sugary cereal later.

Free Up Your Day

It can be hard to fit a workout into your busy schedule, but exercising in the morning frees up your day. Make it a first-thing priority so you don’t get sidetracked by meetings, social obligations or unexpected emergencies later.

Increase Your Energy

Exercising helps deliver nutrients and oxygen to your organs, muscles and other tissues. This means your cardiovascular system works more efficiently and you have more energy throughout the day. Starting your morning with training grips and a good workout will help you feel your best all day long.

Jumpstart Your Brain

Working out benefits the brain in both the short- and long-term. A morning workout can help improve your memory recall and executive functioning. The boost you get can even take the place of a caffeine fix.

Boost Weight Loss

Working out before you eat breakfast forces your body to use stored up energy in the form of fats. When you work out in the morning, you raise your metabolism and keep your body in fat-burning mode for the rest of the day. This can be a big help for controlling your weight because you are using fats instead of storing them.

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Should You Exercise If You’re Sick? When to Workout and When to Rest

You have been great about sticking to your exercise routine, rarely missing a day. Then, suddenly, you are thrown off by the flu or a cold. What should you do? Trade the treadmill for the couch or nap through your afternoon Pilates class? The answer depends on what ails you.

If you have a fever…

Stay home. Exercising raises your internal body temperature, and working out with a fever can make you feel even sicker. If the mercury reads over 101 degrees Fahrenheit, don’t even think about reaching for your gym gloves.

If it is just a little sniffle…

Go for it. Listen to your body and stop working out if you feel like you are getting worse, but don’t be afraid to grab your weightlifting gloves and sweat a little. Tune the intensity down a bit or do a lighter, regenerating workout like Pilates or yoga.

If your symptoms are above the neck…

It is fine to exercise. If you are suffering from nasal congestion, tearing eyes, a sore throat and sneezing, it should be ok to workout.

If your symptoms are below the neck…

Stay in bed. If you experience fatigue, body aches, coughing and aching around your body, rest and drink lots of water until you feel better. The cold should be completely gone in about a week.

If you do hit the gym…

Avoid spreading your germs to others by using your GRIPAD weightlifting gloves, and a towel to wipe down every surface you may have touched while not wearing them. Wash your hands before and after you touch any equipment and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer to keep extra clean.

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Staying Hydrated During a Workout: Juice, Water or Sports Drinks?

The most important component of an athlete’s diet is fluids. The body can survive for about one month without food, but it won’t last more than a few days without water. Athletes need to drink extra fluids to replace the body water they lose during workouts or competitions. But which is better– water, juice or another liquid? The answer depends on your workout plan.

Staying Hydrated During Your Workout

1. Length of Workout. The average exerciser does not need a sports drink or juice during a workout because they’re not depleting the body’s store of carbohydrates and electrolytes. If you are working out for less than 1.5 hours, stick to water to stay hydrated. The liquid is sodium-free, which helps the body deliver fluids to the blood and muscles and stay hydrated.
   If you are exercising vigorously, for 1.5 to 3 hours or in extreme heat, you may lose potassium and sodium through sweat. These lost micronutrients need to be replaced with a healthy sports drink.
2. Healthy Sports Drinks. The major brands you’ve most likely heard of are pretty much glorified sugar water and don’t have a real place in a healthy lifestyle. Healthy sports drink alternatives like Owater or Coconut water should replace the overly marketed and fluorescent glowing offerings you’re most familiar with. Coconut water is a natural source of calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and phosphorous, not to mention amino acids, antioxidants, B vitamins, minerals and enzymes.
3. Frequency. Sip it at regular intervals throughout your workout to stay hydrated, fuel your body and replace the electrolytes and minerals lost through sweat.
4. Dangers of Juices & Sports Drinks. Juice is the worst hydrator because it’s packed with fructose. This fruit sugar slows the rate of water absorption, increasing the time it takes for cells to get hydrated.
   If you are a more casual exerciser, a sports drink or juice may do more harm than good. These drinks are often loaded with calories, sugar or artificial sweeteners. Some contain up to 255 calories per serving and an average of 3 to 14 teaspoons of sugar. Some even contain too-high levels of vitamins. While the excess consumed passes through the kidneys, high amounts can change the way other nutrients are absorbed or utilized.
   A series of studies published in the British Medical Journal concluded that of the 431 claims associated with 104 sports drinks, more than half were unfounded.

The bottom line is that fluids are an important part of any workout, just like GRIPAD gym gloves are essential to weightlifting. Drinking enough fluids protects the body like GRIPAD weightlifting gloves protect your hands.

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Healthy Workout Gone Bad: 5 Ways to Get Hurt at the Gym

Learn how to keep injuries at bay while working out.

While working out in the gym can help you get in better shape, doing the wrong things can inevitably lead to unwanted injuries. Since no one wants to get hurt while trying to tone their thighs, flatten their belly or build muscle, you need to know the most common ways you can injure yourself so that you can effectively prevent making these mistakes. So, what are the easiest ways to turn your healthy workout into a disaster? Here are some of them:

1. Skipping your warm up. It may be tempting to skip the warm up part of your routine and dive head-on into your workout, especially when you’re pressed for time. Well, to tell you the truth, you are putting yourself in harm’s way if you choose to do this. Keep in mind that warm up exercises are there for a reason. They work by preparing your mind and body for the task ahead and by improving the elasticity of your muscles to prevent injuries. This is what a healthy workout is all about.
2. Not using the proper form. Using bad form not only compromises your workout, it also puts you at a greater risk for injury.  So, whether you are doing cardio workouts or weight training exercises, you need to use the proper form at all times. When lifting weights, keep your back straight when bending at the hips, don’t lock the joints or bend your knees excessively, and keep your head and neck as still as possible. Also, consider using proper fitness gloves since they provide additional comfort as you perform these muscle building exercises.
3. Going past your limit. To get the most benefits from a healthy workout, you need to know your limits. Don’t try to make up for lost time by overexerting yourself. This won’t do you any good and may cause harmful strain to muscles and tendons that can lead to pulls, tears, or snaps, not to mention dehydration and nutrient deficiencies.
4. Lifting excessively heavy weights. This can increase your risk of straining your muscles and/or injuring your back, shoulders and knees. Weight training is not a sprint, but rather a marathon.  You need to work your way up to heavier weights in a gradual manner to build true strength and endurance.
5. Doing the same routine. Doing the same exercises over and over again can lead to overuse injury so consider varying your workout. Try to modify your moves, or work only certain muscle on alternate days, or revamp your total workout routine. Not only will it prevent boredom, but also prevent overuse injuries.

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Hand Protection: Crucial for an Effective Workout

You’re ready to hit the gym and start an effective workout routine that will help you gain strength and drop extra pounds. You’ve got your gym membership in hand, you’re fully motivated, and you have the shoes and workout gear you need. But what about your hand protection? If your workout plans involve strength and resistance training—which they should—protecting your hands will be a vital part of your success. You need good quality workout gloves for your hand protection as well as to get optimum results out of your workout plans. Damaged, blistered hands can mean the difference between great results and no results. Here’s why.

The Value of Great Hand Protection

1. Unprotected hands diminish your range of motion. When your hands aren’t comfortable, they tend to compensate and compromise your movements in ways you may not even realize. A blistered hand hurts, and even if you think you’re pushing through the pain, the slight tension caused by your injury can undermine your overall technique.
2. Unprotected hands can become infected. As you may know from experience, even the smallest injury can sideline an athlete for a week or more, and a lost week can reverse the effects of countless hours in the gym. Don’t let a small cut or blister become a major setback.
3. Unprotected hands spread germs. Injured hands aren’t the only thing that can sideline an athlete. Think of all the cold and flu germs that accumulate on weights and other shared gear and consider putting a barrier between yourself and these germy surfaces.
4. Protected hands mean a tighter grip. Bars and weights can be dangerous if they slide out of control, which can easily happen when hands are unprotected and sweaty. Always choose superior quality Gym grips to avoid unwanted accidents and injuries.
5. Protected hands breathe better, feel better, and work harder. Just sliding on a pair of quality Gripads Gym gloves can help you enjoy your workout more, and when your workout routine is enjoyable, it’s more likely to last.

Add Team Competition to Your Healthy Workout

As you put together your healthy workout plan, you’re doing the best you can to make sure it’s sustainable over the long term. That means making sure your workout goals are realistic and your plan is well adapted to your schedule and personality. Since you’re a night owl, you know better than to pin your plans on a daily run at 5 am. And you aren’t signing up for an inconvenient gym on the other side of town only open during hours when you aren’t available either.

But what about the social aspect of your nature? Do you find it easier to work out and stay on track when you’re surrounded by other people who are doing the same? Do you make friends easily and find it a struggle to work out alone? Does an element of competition motivate you rather than turn you off? If you answer yes to these questions, consider joining a CrossFit studio, neighborhood tWorkouts and healthy lifestyle changes go hand in hand. As you put your healthy workout plans together, consider joining an organized sports team. eam or local adult sports league.

Workouts and Lifestyle Changes: Joining a Team

There are many benefits to joining a local team but, most importantly, a team can help keep your healthy workout plan on track. When you miss a workout or stay home on a gym day, you usually don’t harm anyone aside from yourself. But the prospect of letting your team down can be a bit more daunting and can help you summon the energy to get off the couch. Teams are also a great way to surround yourself with fit new friends and place energy and activity at the center of your social life.

Joining a team is easy and rarely costs more than a minimal fee. Find team and league information by typing your location and preferred sport into a search engine.

Or you could start your company’s first softball league. Just because it doesn’t exist, doesn’t mean you can’t create it yourself!

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Hydration and Your Workout

In order to bring fast, sustainable results, a healthy workout requires the support of an overall healthy lifestyle. This means great nutrition, plenty of sleep, well-managed stress, and the right amounts of hydration. But when it comes to water intake, how much is enough? Is it possible to drink too much, and is water the only healthy source of fluid for serious athletes?

Healthy Workout Tips: How Much Water Should We Be Drinking?

The most common recommendation for water intake has been about eight glasses per day. In average temperatures and humidity with only mild exercise, 6-8 glasses may be more than enough for most of us. But when the heat rises and our workouts become more intense, eight becomes the minimum.

But, as health counselor Laura Wald, says, “Who can really keep track of how many glasses they drink each day? And with everyone’s glasses being different sizes, how many ounces is that?” She thinks better advice is to keep track of water bottles. Laura advises that it’s an absolute must for everyone to own and carry a stainless steel, glass, or BPA and phthalate free plastic water bottle. She says, “The general rule of thumb is to take your weight, divide it in half, and that’s how many ounces of water you should be drinking. So, for a man of 180 lbs, his average water intake is about 90 oz. or about three 32 oz. water bottles. Increase your workouts (i.e. sweat more) and you need to drink more. Plus, since caffeine dehydrates your body, for every ounce of coffee or soda, you need to add that many more ounces of water. So, drink 8 ounces of coffee every morning? You need to drink 8 ounces more than your daily average water requirements.” Laura also advises that “there is no perfect formula, but rather paying attention to your body is the best way to figure out what you need. If you are well hydrated your urine will be clear or a very pale yellow. Dark yellow? Most likely you are dehydrated and need to increase your water intake. Other contributing factors to a dark color can be medications or excess Vitamins and Minerals like Vitamin C provided by supplementation.”

If we don’t drink enough to replenish the fluids we lose through perspiration, we can develop headaches, joint pain, dry skin, and irritability, and our athletic performance can suffer. It is actually possible to drink too much water and suffer a condition called water toxicity, in which our electrolyte levels drop, but this very hard to do and therefore rare. If you are participating in a high endurance workout or competition, be sure to sip gradually instead of huge amounts of water all at once. Your kidneys need time to process. Most of the time, the more water we drink, the better.

Healthy Workout Tips: What about Sports Drinks?

Sports drinks can replace carbohydrates that we lose as we exercise, but this kind of carbohydrate loss typically happens after two or more hours of sustained, intense activity. If you’re an endurance athlete, switch to sports drinks after your first two hours of working out. As for the rest of us, water will meet our hydration needs perfectly and, in fact, many sports drinks are glorified juice and can often contribute to excess daily sugar intake which can undermine health and athletic performance. Read the label on your sports drink carefully and if in doubt, choose pure, simple water.

Walking Workouts for Effective Weight Loss

Ready to get off the couch but not sure where to begin? Feeling a little overwhelmed by workout advice and trying to find a way to start small? Try walking! Walking is easy, simple, free, doesn’t require a gym membership, doesn’t involve fancy moves or equipment, and can offer a steady and enjoyable path to better health and a leaner body.

Here’s how to launch into a program of walking workouts for weight loss:

Walking Tips for Weight Loss and a Healthier Body

1. Choose your route carefully. To get the most out of your walking experience, choose a trail through a scenic area or a place you enjoy spending time. Or just map out a pleasant path around your own neighborhood. The more you look forward to your walks, the more likely you are to stick to your plan. If you start to get a little bored, change your route!
2. When you can, walk with a buddy. Companionship often makes a walk easier and more fun, and when you feel your willpower fading, a partner can keep you motivated and on track.
3. Wear the right shoes. Comfortable, sturdy walking shoes are widely available and can make a world of difference.
4. Engage your arms. Make sure your arms are keeping a steady rhythm as you go. Arm motion increases oxygen uptake and helps you maximize the benefits of your walking routine.
5. If you put more energy in, you’ll get more advantages out of your routine. A leisurely walk is great, but putting just a little bit of speed into your pace can activate muscles that otherwise wouldn’t feel much tension.

Try carrying light weights as you walk. This will help you think about the motion in your arms and will add a toning element for your upper body.

Easy Workouts You Can Do At Home

If you’re trying to build up a regular exercise habit, but you don’t have the time or money for classes or the, you can still stay healthy on the cheap!  Just keep your own schedule and work out at home. Healthy home workouts are simple, free, and don’t usually require much more than some floor space, a few weights (which can be made of anything), and maybe some resistance bands. Here are a few moves that you can incorporate into easy workouts at home.

Healthy Home Workouts:

1. Body weight workouts use simple gravity to create the resistance you need for muscle development. When your own body acts as your workout equipment, you can take your gym anywhere—you just may need to modify the moves a bit if your strength is disproportionately high when compared to your weight. Try push-ups, crunches, bicycles, and planks.
2. Cardio workouts can happen anywhere. Try a run or light jog every morning, and if you don’t live in an area suitable for running, try DVDs for dance or kickboxing.
3. Stretching should be part of all healthy home workouts, and flexibility is often the most overlooked aspect of being in superb physical health!  Simple stretches you can do in your living room are available on the internet, as are instructions for easy yoga moves like the downward dog, the warrior pose, and the triangle pose.  Remember, big muscles without flexibility does NOT equal optimal health.
4. If body weight workouts don’t generate enough resistance, make simple weights out of anything you can find. Just stay safe. If you lift something heavy, make sure the weight is well balanced and you’re able to keep a tight grip. A pair of GRIPADs can help!
5. Pay attention to your clothing and gear. In addition to GRIPADs, easy workouts at home may also require appropriate shoes and tight-fitting, moisture-wicking clothes.

Body Sculpting: Streamlining or Bulking Up Targeted Areas

Many of us embark on a workout plan in order to get healthy, prevent cardiovascular disease, or improve our performance on the sports field. But some of us just wake up one morning, take a look in the mirror, and decide to make some changes to what we see.

You’re beautiful just as you are. But there’s nothing wrong with launching a workout plan because you’ll like to change the shape or tone of specific areas of the body. Exercise is healthy, no matter what your personal reasons may be. Just make sure you keep your body-sculpting expectations reasonable and take an approach that’s likely to bring results instead of frustration. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Body Sculpting Workout Plans

1. Fat loss is not a site-specific process. Losing fat on any area of the body will happen as you burn more calories than you take in. So if you’re trying to trim the pad of fat that covers your stomach, crunches won’t help any more than pushups and cardio exercises. When it’s time to metabolize fat and burn it away, the body alone decides which fat reserves to tap into, and its decisions are unique to every person.
2. At the same time, muscle tone and shape are highly site-specific. If you’d like to build big arms, focus on the arm area and use the burn down method. Lift heavy weights to the point of failure, then take a 30 second break and start again. The same applies to the chest, legs, and other areas.
3. Definition, or the deep lines that show the outline of toned muscles, come from a combination of both strength-building and fat loss. Six pack abs, for example, don’t come from crunches alone, nor do they come from fat loss alone. They result from a focused workout routine involving both approaches. And even then, they don’t always appear on cue. Genetics can also play a role in how tightly our skin adheres to the muscles underneath.

Get Started: Workout Tips For Beginners

No matter who you are, how old you are, how busy you are, or how much you weigh or don’t weigh, the decision to exercise is always positive and healthy. Always. If you have a specific health concern like high blood pressure, you’ll need to consult with a doctor before you begin a workout plan, but for most of us, the act of getting up from the couch and off to the park or gym can only lead to good things.

So if you’re taking control of your health and starting an exercise plan, good for you! You’re making an excellent move for yourself and those who care about you. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you tackle the fun and fulfilling challenges that lie ahead.

Tips for Exercise Beginners

1. Set goals, but keep them realistic.Even without clear goals, exercise is fun and it feels great. So don’t feel obligated to turn your exercise plans into a pass-fail endeavor. But if you do, make sure your goals are balanced. They should provide the challenge you need to stay motivated while still being attainable. If you’d like, get goal setting help from a professional coach or trainer.
2. Be steady.

   When it comes to a healthy relationship with exercise, steadiness wins the race. Don’t burn yourself out by overreaching then then stop due to boredom or discouragement. Pace yourself.

3. Get support.

   Find a gym with an atmosphere you like, and surround yourself with supportive workout companions. And remember, the only thing that feels better than receiving support and encouragement is giving it.

4. Make things easy.

   Schedule your workout for the time of day that best fits your schedule. Don’t force yourself to head to the gym on your lunch break when it’s easier to go at night.

5. Pay attention to your lifestyle.

   Working out is easier and more fun if the rest of your lifestyle is built on healthy foundations. Try to eat well, drink plenty of water, and get at least six hours of sleep every night.

Body Weight Workouts

Body weight workouts are built around exercises that use our own body weight to create resistance. These include any exercise that challenges our muscles and our sense of balance against conflicting muscle groups, stationary objects, and constants like gravity. We’re engaging in body weight exercises every time we complete a simple move like a sit-up, push-up, or dip.

Advantages of Body Weight Workouts

Using your own body weight as your gym equipment can be convenient and fun. Body weight workouts are simple, portable and cheap, and they can be done anywhere, from a backyard to an office to a hotel room while traveling.

Floors are all around us, walls are everywhere, and gravity is free. But before you start relying exclusively on body weight exercises, remember that all workout routines should be just one component of a healthy lifestyle. Don’t just trust the floor and your own body to keep you fit—you’ll also need plenty of sleep, adequate stress management, and a healthy diet. You should also bear some of the following considerations in mind.

Body Weight Workout Considerations

Body weight exercises offer plenty of resistance as long as your strength-to-body weight ratio stays low. But as you become stronger, pound for pound, you’ll need to find ways to increase leverage and place your muscles at a greater mechanical disadvantage to get more out of your body weight workout. This is especially true for strong, lighter weight athletes like gymnasts.

Clothing and gear can play an important role in a good body weight workout. Since many of these moves involve parallel bars and floor work, hand protection will be key. In general, clothing for a body weight workout should be loose enough to allow a full range of motion but tight enough not to get in your way.

Also, you’ll need to pay attention to safety.  Body weight exercises tend to be unstructured, so monitor your moves and stop doing something if you feel off balance or experience pain in your back, neck or joints.

Choosing the Right Gear for Your Winter Workout

The right gear is an essential component of a successful workout plan, no matter the season. But during the winter, staying warm and wicking moisture away from your skin while maintaining a full range of motion can be a challenge. It’s also a good idea to protect your face and hands from dryness and chapping. Chapped dry hands and abrasive gym equipment can lead to blisters and injuries that can get in the way of a positive workout.

First, consider your clothing and shoes. Modern synthetic fabrics can provide powerful protection while staying close the body and adding very little weight. During the summer, it’s always a good idea to choose natural fabrics like cotton whenever possible, but in the wintertime, synthetics may be a better fit. If you’re working out indoors, make your decision based on comfort. But if you’re planning on going outside for a run or a turn on outdoor exercise equipment, choose your gear carefully and dress in layers. Make sure your socks are warm and your shoes are suitable for the weather. And don’t forget to protect your ears. The heat of a workout can make you forget about your extremities.

Second, consider your skin. This means moisturizer for your lips and face, and suitable protection for your hands. Even indoors, dry air can increase chapping and make your hands vulnerable to abrasions. Your palms deserve the protection of a workout glove that’s durable, lightweight, moisture wicking, and easy to slip on and off. Gripad weight lifting gloves can protect your hands in ways that regular gloves can’t. While providing a tough neoprene pad that stands between your skin and rough equipment, Gripads also allow your hands to breathe freely and move naturally. Forget about sweat build-up and bacteria growth, and stay focused on your workout goals. Try Gripads this winter, and keep your exercise routine on track.

Adjusting Your Eating Habits to Maximize Your Workout

Getting and staying in shape requires dedication, patience, and a willingness to push the limits of your comfort zone. It also requires a few adjustments to your lifestyle that carry beyond the borders of the gym and the weight room. To get the most out of the time you spend weight training and working on your cardio health, you’ll also need to make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, getting adequate sleep and making wise decisions about healthy, balanced eating.

A healthy diet may represent a change from what you’re used to. But contrary to what fad diet proponents would have you believe, healthy eating isn’t terribly complicated. A few general basic tips can help keep you on track. First, green leafy vegetables are never a bad idea, and there’s no such thing as too many of them. We only have so much room in our stomachs each day, and the more you maximize vegetables as a component of your calorie intake, the healthier you’ll be.

But we can’t quite live on vegetables and fruit alone. We also need carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. Find the best carbohydrates in whole grain breads and cereals, and get your protein from nuts, beans, eggs, and lean meats like fish and poultry. Try to keep your meat choices as lean as possible, since too much beef and pork can undermine the gains of an otherwise healthy diet. And make an effort to steer clear of sugary soft drinks, corn syrup and other calorie sources that offer energy but no nutritional value.

Balance your eating habits with your workout routine. Don’t skip breakfast, but if your workout goals include weight loss, recognize that you may feel hungry as you burn more calories during the day, and resist the urge to add those calories back into your routine by eating more.

Finding the Right Hand Protection for your High Intensity Workout

You’ve been making the most of your cardio routine for a while now, and you’ve recently added a session of weight training a few times a week. You’ve seen how even short weight training sets can have a noticeable impact on your muscle tone, your strength, and your overall motivation. You’re ready to take your workout to the next level.

Awesome! And congratulations. Your determination and willingness to push the limits of your comfort zone will definitely pay off. But bear a few things in mind before you take your resistance training routine up a notch. First, make sure you have enough supervision and guidance to keep your technique on track and help you avoid injuries. If you’re lifting weights without the benefit of a machine, keep safety in mind and always lift with a spotter.

And second, you’ll need to protect your hands. Sessions of just a few reps a few times a week won’t cause problems, but if you plan to lift with intensity, you’ll need to place a layer of protection between your palms and the rough surfaces of bars, ropes and equipment. Otherwise you’ll end up with blisters and abrasions that can really hurt and will certainly drain your motivation.

Gloves are fine, but gloves can restrict your natural movement and can prevent your skin from breathing properly. Gripads make a great alternative to gloves, since they only cover the surface of your palm, allowing the rest of your hand to breathe and move naturally. Gripads place a soft, super-tough neoprene layer between your palms and rough surfaces. And while you focus on your goals and technique, your Gripads work just as hard as you do, wicking away moisture and protecting your skin from abrasions, blisters, and bacteria. Gear up, slide on a pair of Gripads, and get moving!

Why Hand Protection Should be Part of Your Resistance Workout

When you head to the gym for resistance training or weightlifting, your hands play an integral role in the success of your workout. It’s easy to underestimate the importance of protecting them, but if your hands are in good shape, you can get the most out of your routine. And if your hands are uncomfortable, confined, sweaty, or injured, you may be giving less than one hundred percent without even realizing it.

Proper hand protection means two things: 1. maintaining a tight, effortless grip on weights, handles and bars, and 2. keeping your hands safe from blisters, calluses, injuries, and germs.

A tight grip allows you to stop thinking about your hands and keep your attention where it belongs: on your technique and on the amount of weight you’re lifting or pulling. Chalk can help, but chalk is messy and wears off quickly. You still need to watch out for unstable grip that can come from excess sweat, and you still aren’t fully protected from blisters and small injuries that can hold you back.

Gloves offer an improvement over barehanded lifting, but our hands like to breathe and have access to an unrestricted range of motion. Gloves can be confining and sweaty. They can also collect grime and moisture that can provide a breeding ground for odor and bacteria.

So what’s a dedicated resistance trainer to do? Keep your hands safe and your grip strong with durable, breathable Gripads. Gripad’s soft but powerful pad stands between your skin and the bar or weight. And while the neoprene layer wicks moisture away from your palm, the rest of your hand is left exposed and comfortable. Gripads are tight, flexible, and tough. They’ll help you maintain your grip without losing focus on your workout.

Staying Hydrated During an Intense Workout

Summer is nearly over, and the weather is cooling. But we may still have a few hot days left, and even when the weather seems mild, it’s important to pay attention to how much moisture we’re losing during a workout. These fluids need to be replaced, or we can become dehydrated and our performance and progress can begin to slide. Many workout beginners are surprised or caught off guard by the broader signs of dehydration, during the summer months but also during weather that doesn’t feel especially hot. Dehydration doesn’t always bring feelings of thirst. It can also bring mild headaches, fatigue, irritability, and reduced performance at the gym.

When the weather is hot, make sure you pay active attention to how much fluid you take in. Don’t let thirst be your guide. Take a drink of water every ten minutes or so. And if your workout is intense and long (over two hours), choose electrolyte drinks instead of water. These can replace the salt and other minerals that are lost with sweat.

When you head the gym for your workout during the late summer and fall, bring comfortable breathable clothes, neoprene Gripads to protect your hands, a friend to keep you motivated and on track, and plenty of water or non-sugary sports drinks. Keep your source of hydration close and stop every ten or fifteen minutes to drink even if you don’t feel thirsty. Your skin and muscles will thank you, and your general sense of well-being will stay in top shape throughout your routine.

And remember that hydration is only one part of peak performance. You also need to eat well, maintain a balanced schedule, and get plenty of sleep. If you can stay on track, it won’t be long before you see positive results.

Your Workout: Staying Motivated to Get the Results You Need

What do sports psychologists, ancient philosophers, public speakers, military generals, and elementary school teachers all have in common? Each of them have made and continue to make contributions to the endless volumes of information available on the subject of motivation. Motivation is an art and a science, to be sure, and anyone who discovers the secret to at-will motivation gains enormous power over his or her own destiny. But the reason motivation fascinates us so much is simple: it isn’t simple. As much as we’re doing to move our lives forward, most of us seem to know, deep down, that we could be doing more. And almost all of us recognize that if we could only figure out how to reach those untapped reserves of energy and will power, we would be nearly unstoppable.

I don’t know the secret to attaining money, love, power or perfect athletic performance. If I did, I would certainly share it with you. But I do know one thing: That our goals are easier to achieve if we do as much as we can to smooth the path that lies in front of us. Only a trainer can tell you how to push past your physical limits and do more reps than you thought possible. But anyone can tell you three ways to make your gym experience positive: Choose the right gym, choose the right partners, and choose the right gear.

Why use Gripad? Because when your hands feel good, you feel good. And when you feel good, you give your workout 100 percent and come one step closer to achieving your goals. And when your workout ends, you leave the gym feeling stronger, happier, glowing with confidence, and ready to face the day that lies ahead.