I was put on bed rest when I was pregnant with my son, and long story short, I gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of muscle tone. I had spent 5 months on the couch sitting and wasn't allowed any form of exercise. Then to add insult to injury, I had to have a C-section, so I was restricted even longer. After the birth of my son, I had baby weight to lose and then some, and I wasn't in the greatest shape to get started. I didn't have a lot of time to spend at the gym...

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As a self-professed sloth, I recently made the mistake of looking at my own backside in a mirror. If you ever want to find a way to give your exercise routine a jump start, just do what I did. Of course, because of my previously mentioned slothness, I was unsure of how to start getting in shape. I mean, I haven't exercised voluntarily since high school. For a long time I didn't need to exercise. I worked in a job that involved lots of walking, lifting and climbing ladders. Then I began writing for a living...

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The cold, wet, fluffy, white stuff that has been a part of my landscape for the past five months is finally melting! It’s time to get outside and stretch the muscles that have been cooped up all winter. (Okay, I’ll admit, I’m a wimp when it comes to exercising in the freezing cold!) It’s easy to want just to jump into those fun outdoor activities we’ve been waiting all winter for. Be careful though—accidents or illnesses can happen without proper precautions. * Warm Up: Before you embark on any exercise, make sure you warm...

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As everyone knows, it's good to breathe while you exercise. You know, that whole providing your body with oxygen thing or doing that action that tends to keep you alive? So, we agree that breathing is important, but is it so important that it is something that you should consciously pay attention to while you exercise? The answer is yes! Research has shown that your breathing patterns during exercise should change depending on what activity you are doing. Breathing the correct way can make cardiovascular training more efficient, it helps with power and stability during strength and endurance training, and it...

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I have never played a sport before that involved a racquet of some sort. Even in gym class, when we played tennis, I wouldn’t play. You see, hand and eye coordination is not something that I am amazing at. However, my friend convinced me to come play racquetball at the local YMCA. First of all, let me just say that if you don’t have membership to an amazing facility, such as the YMCA, you should. I believe that it is such a...

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