Nordictrack Coupons

Exclusive Discounts & Coupons For Nordictrack Fitness Equipment

Up the Fun Factor: How to Love Exercise

By

Don’t quit your exercise routine through boredom. It’s easy to maintain an exercise plan when you know how to make it fun.

Ask almost anyone if they would like to become more fit, feel better, improve their body tone and increase their energy levels, and the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’. So why do many people struggle to reach their objectives? Here are some of the most common reasons why exercise can be difficult to fit into a regular routine, along with some suggestions of ways to overcome common objections to exercising that we all have at one time or another.

Exercise Boredom

source

I try to exercise but I find it boring. What can I do?

Exercise is often deemed to be boring when you think about going to the gym for a long time or stepping out for a lengthy walk or run. The thought that your exercise routine, along with all the preparation and travel that go with it, might not be over for a couple of hours can feel like just too much to bear. The idea of spending 20 to 30 minutes or more on a particular cardio machine, or running through the same exercise programme or class, can also fill you with despair. [Read more…]

Should I Use a Heart Rate Monitor?

By

Ever see those people wearing something around their chest when running on the treadmill, or always looking down at one of those fancy watches when running? Well they are not just there for a little extra bling to add to their workout attire, these are devices worn to measure your heart rate.

They can either be watches or chest straps as mentioned, and are great tools to help find your “exercise sweet spot” while working out, yet are they really necessary?! Some say they are and have found them to be more beneficial to their workouts, while others have found them to not be necessary and discovered their own ways to monitor their heart.

First let’s start with why many people wear them to begin with. Many athletes use these heart rate monitor tools to help them find a so-called “exercise sweet spot” to make sure their heart rate stays within an optimal range. This is range is  between where they are pushing their body yet not hard enough to risk any injury or overuse, otherwise known as your target heart rate zone.

Target Heart Rate Zone [Read more…]

Why You Should Cooldown After Cardio!

By

You’ve finally listened to us and realized why you should add cardio into your life, so you’ve just pushed yourself through a grueling cardio workout and are so excited to be done; now with the shower calling your name, the last thing you want to do is spend any more time doing a measly cool down.

We’ve talked before in a previous post about all the steps to take before your workouts, which you can read more about here, yet there are also things you need to be doing after your workouts as well. Many overlook the importance of cool downs after their cardio workouts, when in fact they may be just as important as the warm-up.

Cool Down on the Treadmill [Read more…]

Race-day Nutrition Tips for Runners

By

Here at NordicTrackCoupons.com we know many of you visit our blog in hopes of getting fitness advice and tips to helping you reach your fitness goals. Whether your goal be to lose weight, build muscle, or simple to become healthier, along with exercise, diet is going to play a big role in helping your reach your fitness goals.

Fitness and Nutrition

As we told you in a previous post, eating 60-90 minutes before your workout is going to help fuel your body, giving you energy and making your workout more effective. You are going to want to follow this rule with any workout you do, whether that be cardio or strength training, yet what you eat may differ from workout to workout. [Read more…]

4 Steps to Do Before to Make Your Workouts More Effective

By

No matter what workout you are getting yourself into, there are certain things that need to be done to help you achieve the most from your workout. I know we are all pressed for time as it is, and are eager to jump right into the workout itself, but if you do not take the proper steps before each workout, you could be sabotaging your results, or worse lead yourself into a preventable injury.

If you plan ahead and warm up properly you will have a more effective workout and produce better results, as well as be less prone to injury. This article, 4 Things You Should Do Before Every Workout from LiveStrong.com gives you four quick steps you can take before your workout to help you achieve more effective workouts: [Read more…]

Is Distance Running Safe?!

By

When it comes to cardio workouts, running is one of the most popular forms out there, in fact 36 million people run every year. For some running includes take a fast paced jog on the treadmill for 20-30 minutes, while others take running a bit farther than this– literally!

Boston Marathon RunnersDistance running is becoming increasingly more and more popular. In fact according to this article, “the Boston and New York City Marathons usually attract over 25,000 people to their races.” Yet is going the distance when it comes to running really safe? While we know running provides many health benefits, when is it too much to where you start to cause more harm than benefit to your muscles and joints?

Not only distance running, but running in general has been shown to cause many injuries per year. According to an article Common Running Injuries and How to Recover, the Treadmill Review Guru himself stated that of those 36 million runners a year “40-50% experience at least one injury.” Other than the many Treadmill Review Guru listed in their article, osteoarthritis is also a running linked injury. [Read more…]

3 Different Ways to Do HIIT Without Using Timed Intervals

By

As much as we hate to sound like a broken record here, but we want to make sure our readers are getting the point and here us loud and clear when we say…CARDIO IS CRUCIAL to any fitness regimen, which you can read more about here if you still are unsure why!

Treadmill Sensei states in best in his article Importance of Cardio by saying “if you want to start extending your life by way of exercise, it is not going to be the muscle building that will help you, but rather the cardio exercise.”

Bored on the Treadmil

source

Now as important as we know cardio is for our health, we also know hours spent grueling away on those treadmills or elliptical machines can be about as fun as a visit to the dentist office. This is where those glorious High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts come into play. [Read more…]

Committing to Fitness for Life

By

We all know there is no single exercise plan that is going to work for everybody. Ask anyone who has tried the any one of the millions of “fitness fad” workouts out there; they don’t all share the same success rates. Everyone likes their different workouts, their different routines and have certain programs and plans that work for them.

Yet if you ask anyone who has succeeded when it comes to their fitness goals, they all have one key factor in common that led them to reach their success: consistency. No matter what type of exercises you are doing, the main thing that matters is that you are actually doing it, and committing yourself to your workouts.

Commit to be fit [Read more…]

Strengthen Your Core Muscles and Get Flat Abs with These Cardio Exercise Machines

By

We all want those flat six pack abs, yet who wants or even has time and energy to do endless amounts of crunches day after day to get those results?! Why not get in a core strengthening workout while working out on your favorite cardio machine?! Double Whammy!

Flat Abs with Cardio

source

While any cardio exercise machine that burns calories is going to help you to lose weight and fat blocking your abs from showing; yet if you learn to use these machines in the right way you can strengthen your core muscles even more and get you those flat abs results even faster!

Now whether your exercise equipment machine of choice is the stationary bike, the treadmill or the elliptical trainer; they all have certain moves to help you strengthen your core. Below are a few tips to help you achieve those flat six pack abs: [Read more…]

Benefits of the Stationary Bike for Your Cardio Workout

By

You may get tired of hearing this from us, but we want to make sure all of our readers understand the importance of cardio and that it is crucial to any type of fitness regimen, no matter what your goal may be. Cardio workouts include any workout that gets your heart rate pumped, this can be any treadmill, elliptical or exercise bike workout.

Man Riding Stationary Bike

source

Now we do talk often about our love of elliptical trainers and treadmills, while I know we don’t talk too much about exercise bikes, but this is not because we are not big fans. We apologize for our lack of including exercise bikes, also called stationary bikes, in our posts because they should not be ignored; and in fact stationary bikes do in-deed provide you with an excellent cardio benefits.

Unfortunately stationary bikes often get a bad rap due to the fact they are not providing as much movement as elliptical trainers and treadmills offer. While it is true you do not move your whole body as much on a stationary bike and you may burn more calories per hour when using an elliptical or treadmill, stationary bikes can still provide a very beneficial cardio workout.

FitSugar.com shares their Pros and Cons of the Stationary Bike, which you can read more about here. We’d thought we would share a few of our favorite pros from their list and a few of our own to show you just what we mean when we say stationary bikes provide a great cardio workout: [Read more…]