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Welcome October with a Full Body Fitness Challenge

It’s a new month. With the dawning of a new month, it’s a good idea to create some new fitness goals and, also, to spice up your Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym routine with some innovative workouts.

Let’s start with the first. List at least 5 fitness goals for the month. Maybe it’s to get to the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym more often. Maybe it’s to concentrate on a particular area of the body, be it the abs, arms, etc. Maybe it’s to try something new; perhaps a Yoga, Pilates, or cycling class – something unexplored and fresh. Whatever it is, write it down. Post it to your fridge. Make the list visible. Make the goals accessible and achievable. No one expects you to gain 30 lbs. of muscle in 30 days. Although, this is supposedly possible according to fitness expert Tim Ferriss. Let’s aim at something more reasonable.

Now that your list is complete, let’s explore a quick workout you can churn out during your time at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. This routine, entitled The Special K Routine, is inspired by Krissy Cags, personal trainer at Rise Above Fitness and Creator of BAMfit. Do each of the following exercises for 25 reps, then run through it 5 times. Ready, set, work it.

Exercise 1: Sit-up to Bridge. Move from a full sit-up to a full bridge. Lift the hips all the way to the sky and engage the gluts with a tight squeeze. This movement targets the booty and the tummy, so you’re killing two birds – butts and guts – with one stone.

Exercise 2: Dive Bombers. Begin with your hands and feet on the floor and your hips raised, so your body resembles an inverted V. Lower your shoulders, then glide your chest forward. Send your chest in between your hands and then up toward the ceiling. Then, reverse it. Bring your hips back toward the ceiling. That’s one. 24 to go. Ouch.

Exercise 3: 180 Squat Jumps. Simply do a squat jump, but up the ante with a 180-degree turn each time you jump. Hey now! Keep your chest open and your core engaged. Be sure to get low on each squat. Don’t cheat yourself.

Exercise 4: Superman to Hollow. This is a bit tricky. Start like superman (on your stomach), with your legs and arms lifted off the floor. Engage your core, then roll over to your back without letting your limbs touch the ground into a hollow position. On your back, in the hollow position, your arms and legs are still lifted and you have a space (hence hollow) between your lower back and the ground. Hold for two seconds after each roll. This exercise is no joke.

BOOM. There’s a quick, intense, full body challenge for you to master at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. It will surely murder your muscles…in a good way.

*All photos courtesy of Krissy Cags.

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Elliptical vs. Treadmill

At Pivotal Fitness Greenville sports club, we’re often consulted about what’s the better workout: treadmill or elliptical. Sometimes new members are trying to choose their preferred equipment to get started at the gym while others want to add an item to their home so that they can continue their fitness routine that they’ve developed here.

The first thing that’s important to know is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on your fitness goals as well as your health. For example, if you’re training for a marathon on flat pavement or sidewalks, you may be better off training on a treadmill that can simulate those conditions for you. And if you have hip, knee or other joint weaknesses, you may not want to put extra strain on them by using the treadmill. Although the elliptical replicates walking up the stairs, it also supports those motions and puts less pressure on your muscles and tendons. You can also use a treadmill with an incline feature to replicate the additional challenge of striving uphill.

Some people also argue that the treadmill requires more energy on behalf of the user, because the elliptical actually helps you lift your legs and bring them back down again thanks to the motorized movements. Meanwhile, walking forward on the treadmill requires more of your own power and strength despite the fact that the machine also scrolls forward with you. The flip side to this argument is that the elliptical provides more of a full-body workout and engages more muscles throughout your legs as well as your upper body. So in the same amount of time, you might be able to work out more of your muscle groups even if it is less strenuous on some of them than the treadmill would be.

But how are people actually spending their money? In terms of gym equipment purchases intended for the home, most people prefer treadmills over ellipticals by an almost 40% margin, as of 2009. That being said, from 2007-2011, elliptical sales have been growing strongly every year and might one day catch up to the more traditional treadmill.

In the end it really comes down to your preference. The best way to figure out what will work best for you is to come by our Greenville gym and try out these machines – and many more – to determine which equipment and what routine feel most comfortable to you and will help you accomplish your weight and health goals.

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