The Secret to Loving Exercise

Want to hear a fun exercise tip?

Don't exercise, pick a sport you find interesting instead.

Same thing goes if you're dieting.

Don't eat vegetables that you know you hate. You eat the vegetables that you know you love because it is easier to stay motivated in your diet by eating things that you love.

So for example let's say that you want to exercise and lose weight, but you hate going to the gym, jogging, hiking, etc. Well, there is a solution: Find a sport that you find personally interesting (eg. Archery) and then learn how to do that sport (possibly by getting Archery Lessons).

This way you are still exercising, but you are doing a sport that you find enjoyable. With luck you will then fall in love with that sport and do it regularly. 

What to do if you later decide that this particular sport isn't for you? Try a different sport! Keep doing it until you find a sport that you love.

The next thing you will know you will love exercising, because for you exercising = a sport that you love.

Same thing goes with your diet. Try new foods that are healthy for you! Keep trying new foods until you find healthy foods that you love to eat.

10 Fashionable Heart Rate Monitors for Exercising and Swimming

Heart Rate Monitors Change Lifestyles

Anyone who wants to learn more about heart rate monitors will find out that these heart rate monitors are the best thing for people who are working out and trying their hardest to lose weight and make better life choices. While many people have a hard time getting started, wearing a heart rate monitor as a watch or on the wrist is a great reminder of how the user should get back to the things that they need to do in order to make sure that they are losing the weight they want to lose and being as active as they possibly can. This means that people have to make changes to their lifestyle, but these items often make it very easy for people to learn how to change their lifestyle and keep that change because the reminder is always on their wrist.

Most often, these heart rate monitors are going to be used by people who need help tracking their fitness goals and understanding what their body will respond to. The person who is not sure how effective their workouts are is going to have to find something that is going to tell them what these workouts are doing and which ones are going to work the best. The best way for this to happen is to use a heart rate monitor or activity tracker that tells the user all of the things that they did that day, how many calories they burned and what that will entail against the diet that they had that day. Many of these trackers even allow people to keep their diets logged in the watch or monitor so that the activity for the entire diet and exercise regimen is cataloged. This makes it much easier to lose weight. However, this also brings everything into one place so that the user will not have to organize a lot of paperwork or numbers.

When the heart rate monitor or activity tracker does most of the work for the user, there is no reason for the user to do anything other than work out and use the information the heart rate monitor gives them to make decisions about how much they should be working out and what exercises they should be doing to make the most of their time at the gym or running. These heart rate monitors make life easy for everybody who wants to reach their fitness goals.

Archery Fashion Chic

Archery has been a big thing ever since all the archery movies that came out in 2012.

But frankly it only seems to be getting started. The sport of archery has seen a renaissance since the mid-2000s and all the recent archery movies and TV shows are just jumping on the bandwagon and pushing the sport into hyperdrive.

Actors like Jennifer Lawrence (photo on the right) are doing a lot to promote the sport of archery, and especially for women this means an activity women can excel at without having to worry about what the rest of society thinks of them.

eg. Like the stigma around female weightlifters and bodybuilders. So unlike bodybuilding women archers can exercise and have their cake too. (Although try to keep the cake to small portions, we are watching our waistline.)

But what about fashion and archery?

ARCHERY FASHION TIPS

#1. Tight Fitting Clothing.

Why? So the bow string doesn't rub against your clothing while you are taking a shot. Don't think of this as a limitation either. Think of it as a way to liberate yourself and explore your options.

#2. Dress for the Weather.

My advice? Wear tight fitting layers so that you can shed those layers whenever you want, depending on whether it is too hot or too cold.

#3. Wear a Sports Bra.

If you are a very busty gal this is going to be a must. The sports bra will flatten your breasts out more and the bowstring won't be rubbing against them in an awkward fashion.

#4. Arm Guard.

Leave space on your bow arm for an arm guard to protect your arm. You can even make your own arm guards (also known as bracers) using rawhide leather. Just cut out the shape of the armguard, poke holes in it with a knife, and then use a shoestring to stitch the sides of the armguard together like you would ice skates.

#5. Gloves.

You will need archery finger gloves or a release tab for your arrow hand, but for your bow hand some people like to wear a glove. My recommendation is to buy either weightlifting gloves or cycling gloves - because they will give you more grip and be fairly comfortable. Try them on in the store to make sure they fit and only buy gloves that feel comfortable to you.

#6. Hat.

Keeping the sun off while doing archery is a big deal. Baseball caps work, but they are a pain because you have to take them off every time you shoot. Feel free to experiment with floppy hats that fold back while you are drawing it back.

#7. Shorts or Skirts?

If it is very hot outside you are going to be tempted to wear shorts. But skirts work equally well, depends whether you want a tan or not. I don't recommend wearing pants or jeans if it is super hot outside however. The good news is that none of these below the waist fashion choices really matter for archery. You can wear a ballerina tutu if it makes you feel good.

#8. Shoes / Boots.

Wear footwear that gives you lots of stability. Archery is a sport about form and you want to be perfectly still and balanced while you make your shot. Wear shoes that give you the ability to balance easily - which means anything with heels is automatically not an option. (The photo below of the Asian girl wearing high heels is ridiculous!)

#9. Get a jacket that is tight fitting.

This goes back to #1 at the top, but basically many jackets are rather bulky and not suitable for archery. Try on a number of jackets in stores and try to find one that is comfortable, fashionable and form fitting.

#10. Costumes!

For fun you can also try medieval costumes - but try to follow the tips above so that the clothing is still suitable for archery and the weather / etc.

If you are looking for archery lessons in Toronto I recommend hiring a personal trainer from CardioTrek.ca.

Also check out the following pages:

Archery Equipment

Archery Lessons

Archery Rules

Toronto Archery Range

Toronto Archery Clubs

Toronto Archery Blogs

Sports Bras for Running

Are you into running or jogging? Or maybe just exercising in general?

Then you probably will want a good quality sports bras.

And by quality I don't mean the cheapest thing you can find - I mean the best quality you can afford. Set yourself a budget and then go look for a sports bra that actually lives up to its promises.

There are lots of sports bras on the market and some of them are very good. Some of them are okay, but depending on the size of your breasts you will want something that is more heavy duty.

For example the Shock Absorber Run B5044 is not just a sports bra, it’s a running bra. It was specially developed in conjunction with Portsmouth University in the UK with their goal of trying to make a bounceless sports bra - really is impossible, but they got pretty darn close. It is billed as the first ever ‘bounceless’ sports bra, although they admit in their own studies that it is really only 78% less bounce.

The good thing about a quality sports bra is that you can breath while wearing it (that comes in handy while running!), and it’s very comfortable and will you fit you better.


I also recommend comparing different sports bras and looking at reviews online. The Shock Absorber Run B5044 for example has 4.5 stars out of 5 on reviews on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The company Shock Absorber has also developed sports bras specially designed for different kinds of activities so even if you aren't into running you can check out the other things they have to offer. Other similar companies have similar bras too and I highly recommend trying out 2 or 3 different companies to see which one you like best.

The best place to buy a Shock Absorber is Figleaves.com (UK/USA only) or Amazon.com. Prices start at about £18 or US$43.