Squatting Barefoot?

The other day I was in the gym, It didn't happen to be my leg day but I saw an older guy who was squatting and he was doing it barefoot. My immediate thought was that's disgusting do you know how much sweat is on that floor!!! Once my moment of disgust passed I wondered why is he squatting barefoot? I came home and did some googling and found a few discussions boards on the topic. 

From the discussion boards I found that alot of bodybuilders like the barefoot because it helps their stability and balance which I guess I could understand how being more grounded could help with your balance. I also found that some people found the barefoot at the gym just as gross as me and some of them would squat in socks rather than barefoot, which is better hygiene wise for sure. 

While I did find many supporters of the barefoot their were many people who suggested that if you are going to be lifting frequently go out and buy chuck taylors or lifting shoes because they are worth it. I also found that if you are truly going to be doing alot of lifting then running shoes are an absolute no no. My brother who has been lifting for awhile has shoes made for lifting he hasn't gone the chuck taylor route because he doesn't do any crazy Olympic lifting however he found that nikes that were geared towards lifting worked much better for him in the gym all around compared to his running shoes. 

This is where so research  in to journals comes in. In (THE EFFECTS OF WEIGHTLIFTING SHOES ON SQUAT KINEMATICS  Dave Fortenbaugh1, Kimitake Sato2, and J. Kyle Hitt2) they found that shoes that are made for weight lifting are best to use they help in keeping the best form while squatting.

So what am I to do? I currently have running shoes, why after reading all of this you might ask... personally I spend alot more time doing cardio and hiit intervals then I do squatting and dead lifting (I dead lift like never to rarely). If I ever feel that I am lifting more or doing much more in the weights area of the gym I may splurge on some lifting specific shoes, and I can guarantee you will never see me lifting barefoot, I'm still alittle grossed out to be honest.   

What do you think? Barefoot? Lifting shoes? Running shoes? let me know your opinions in a comment below! 

Stephaniexx

Any Women Who are Interested in Health and Fitness Should Read This!

I found this article on the bodybuilding.com website and I love it! it has really dispelled a lot of female training myths for me and helped keep me motivated. They past few days I have been struggling wondering if I am lifting to much or over doing this and starting to look like a man but this article has really helped me through my nervous slump! One of my favorite things about this article is that it promotes resistance training for women now I have been using resistance training for the last month and I enjoy it I feel stronger I feel like I am toning and not bulking!! and this really helped to dispel my fear that I will. 

So you can read this article Here >> 8 Ladies Fitness Myths

Now as I have said recently I have been really looking for motivation and my tumblr has been the key! There are many motivational quotes on this site that have been really helping me through and for those of you who do not have a tumblr and are not interested in one I have created a motivation tab  which I pan on really working on and building up for all of you! Below's a quick preview 

Let me know your opinions on the myths I would LOVE a discussion with anyone on this one!! 

Stephaniexx

My Favorite Fitness App of the Moment

As someone who is just begining my look in to health and fitness and trying live better by living healthy one thing that I have been doing alot more recently is downloading any and all free fitness apps trying them out seeing what I do and dont like about them. My favorite of these apps at the moment is the bodybuilding.com app, I really like the layout and the accessability of this app not to mention that it is a free app and I can honestly say that I rarely pay for an app I'd rather my money go towards music. 

Any way so In general I love using bodybuilding.com and I am not what I would call a body builder and you dont have to be to use this site there is alot of good information about nutrition and exercise that you can get out of it, I would recomend signing up for an account and even if you dont use it religiously as I do its something to look in to in my opinion it has a wide range of programs and something for basically everyone my entire family has accounts and me and my brother use the app all the time especially at the gym and I will tell you why shortly

This is the main page of the app 

The My bodyspace, stats and goals, workout tracker, friends, and photos are all links to your own profile I like the stats and goals section as well as photos because they go by measurements and pictures rather than the scale because the scale is the enemy when it comes to trying to lose weight and be healthy 

My favorite section of this app is the exercise section 

When you click on exercises the first page you will come to lists different categories of exercises so strength training, plyometrics, ect. I also really like to use the streching section the variety of streches and exercises you get from the tab keep your workout changing and your body guessing so its not getting in to a groove with exercises its getting to experience different things. 

Once you pick a category of exercise it then narrows to the body part you want to target which I find very helpful in figuring out what muscle exactly a exercise is working out so you are not under or over working any particular muscle group

lastly once you pick your muscle then youre given a list of exercises when you pick an exercise you get images of how the exercise is done, a description of how to do it and what its working on, as well as the option to view a video of how to do it

I love this part of the app because It is handy at the gym If I want to try a new exercise or am not sure what to do to work out a specific muscle then I grap my phone bring this up and I am set I know the muscle I am working and I get to see and read the exercises before I do them so I know I am doing them correctly. 

Another part of this app that I love are the forums where both experienced trainers and unexperienced athletes can post as they wish the trainers have great in sight and the athletes are there to ask the questions that maybe you didn't think of but could be alot of help for you and your goals. 

I really hope you enjoyed this outline of my favorite fitness app of the moment and I hope you take advantage of this awesome app. 

Let me know in a comment below what you think of this app? If you use it? If you like a different but similar app better? 

Stephaniexx

Squat Challenge

I hope you all had a wonderful monday!! I actually dont mind mondays its back to a schedual and a plan usually by wednesday I am dying for friday lol but for now I'm happy with my mondays. However this post is not about mondays al though today as long as the start to the week is the start to a challenge that I found on tumblr yes I have a tumblr it is pushhardermovefasterbestronger if you want deffinitly go check it out!! Anyway so after my morning workout I was eating breakfast and browsing tumblr and came across this awesome challenge and decided I could use to tighten up my butt up a bit so he goes nothing 

I am sorry for the huge butt picture lol 

I have completed day one of the challenge lets just hope that a few more days in a can actually do a squat lol If you decide to do this challenge with me deffinitly leave a comment below!! 

Stephaniexx

In need of a Gym free workout!

So as you may know if you have seen my recent posts I am graduating this week so I have alot of things going on which also means that I have been eating horidly and have had not much time to get a work out in. So I browsed some fit blogs and came across an awesome workout by sarahfit! Now this is an outdoor workout which I really enjoyed because it has been pretty nice out so I was excited to do a workout outside which didnt require me to get to the gym. Outdoor workout Just click that link and it will bring you to her youtube video! she also has alot of imformative workout videos and such that I would deffinitly recomend checking out too!! This work out is a whole body workout and the only weights you will need is your own body weight, it is 5 sets of 4 different work outs completed in a circuit. 

First is me pre work out then me post work out and finally the time it took me to complete the circuit. If you take on this challege work out be sure to let me know in a comment below as well as your time I cant wait to do this challege agian and try to beat my time!

Stephaniexx