Are You Working Out Hard Enough?

There are a few ways to measure whether you’re working hard or not. Well, there are a lot more than a few ways, but there are only so many that are relatively accurate. When it comes to exercise, the best way to measure progress is over time. We can watch our strength and conditioning grow as we can do more pull-ups or as we can see more abs in the mirror. As our mile time decreases and our lean muscle mass increases, we receive positive feedback from our body and it feels good. But what about during that painful workout? What can keep you going during the hard times?

Let’s go back to the first statement made in this post and reconsider the two most popular options. The first one is called perceived exertion, which basically makes you subjectively rate how hard you’re working on a scale of 1-10, or 1-20. It usually takes me a few minutes to explain it enough to your average fitness enthusiast before they get the general idea. It could take them weeks, months, or years at that point to fully understand it and apply it. It’s not reliable enough for most people. It’s too qualitative and not quantitative enough because of its subjectivity. So what is the second option?

Oct242014

AMPY: A Charger Worth Running For

Recently, I learned about a new gadget in the fitness industry and I am quite excited about it. I have not tried it yet, but I thought I would share the news with you because I’m excited for it! I found it through a fitness newsletter I receive and learned more about it on Kickstarter. It’s called AMPY. It was created by a few PhD students from Northwestern who met together in a class. They had a great idea and ran with it. Do you know about those flashlights that turn on after you shake them? It uses kinetic energy. And guess what? So does AMPY.

You’re probably wanting the specifics. So I will give them to you! AMPY is a device charger that uses energy from motion. How freaking cool is that! Kinetic energy–pure and simple. This personal, clean energy, folks! You might be asking, “HOW?!” Well, AMPY is a wearable device in many different formats. You can strap it to your arm while you run, you can put it in your pocket as you walk, or around your leg while you bike! AMPY will literally generate energy while you bustle your way around town. Once you get to your destination, you can take it off yourself and charge whatever needs charging–anything with a USB port. I seriously can’t get over what a creative and useful idea this is.

Besides being totally awesome and useful by generating clean energy for our personal use, AMPY also comes with a pretty neat app. It will tell you how much energy you’ve generated, how many calories you’ve burned, and your carbon footprint offset! You can then share the daily info with friends on social media. Although the app isn’t necessary for the device to work, it still looks pretty cool to use.

This is the perfect tool to have on you (literally) at all times because we know what a bummer it is to have a device run out of juice when you really need it. With AMPY, you can just plug in easy, peasy. Now remember, I have not used it yet as it’s not out to the public. I am simply bringing the knowledge that I have learned researching this product. It’s something I want to back–it’s only on Kickstarter for a few more weeks now. I’m always interested about the newest fitness gadget and I am absolutely thrilled when they are creative like this. I am looking forward to trying it out! You should take a peek at it and see if it’s worth your money. And as always…stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: Are you interested in AMPY?

Oct172014

Flex Belt Review

There are a lot of interesting products out there. Some of them are bogus, some of them are legit. It’s hard to determine what really works and what’s just a scam. As we were being sent the Flex Belt, we felt a little wary, because it had the “get fit quick” feel that we aren’t huge fans of. However, as my mum says, try everything once! You never know about something (truly) until you try it. So, we went ahead and agreed to review the product. You never know! And we can do what’s right for others and let them know if it actually works or not. Let’s get to it.

This has been tried by about four members of the “family.” We all have our different views, but it also shows more than one person’s experience with the product which is helpful in deciding for yourself. Let’s get to the how it works part of this review. First off, read the manual to make sure you do the steps properly. Basically you attach gel pads to a belt and wrap it around your stomach. Connected to a device, the belt uses electricity to stimulate your muscles. The gel sticks on your belly button and each of your obliques in attempts to get a large area of the abdominal. It feels like you’re wearing a bomb strapped to your torso, which is slightly alarming, but you get used to it. You can easily put a shirt over the belt. The belt stimulates your muscles in contractions. It will stimulate, then rest, stimulate, then rest, over and over until time is up. The higher the intensity level, the longer it will contract and the more intense it will be.

Does it work? I can’t honestly say yes or no. I could definitely feel my muscles contract on level 70 (it goes from 1-150) and I could definitely see Chris’ abs dramatically pulling as he put it on level 150. We’ve done it a few times throughout a few weeks. Sophie’s abs were sore the next day. Although mine weren’t, I could still feel the muscles pulling. So we know it works the muscles in some form, but does it chisel them? Does it make the muscles stronger? We aren’t sure. But I know that I will continue to put the belt on from time to time just because it’s kind of fun. It’s also good to stimulate your muscles in that way. Ever hear of stims? It’s an important part of muscle recovery. So we will be using it at the minimum for that.

Should you try it? Why not? Give it a try because it might work for you. Everybody’s body is different. If we could feel our muscles contracting, maybe it does work in a way. We will leave it up to you. At least check it out–you can just click here to learn more. Be open-minded, be critical, let your body try it for about 2 weeks before you make a solid decision. We are obviously in the middle of the road. It’s always fun to try new products! And as always, stay hungry and fit!

Mar072014

Giveaway: Gold-Plated Bassbuds

If you want some bling that’s actually useful, look no further. Yes, we are giving away 24-carot gold Bassbuds. If you want to be styling with some earbuds in, this is your giveaway! These are a limited edition that have not been released yet. Hungry and I are always searching for more pairs of headphones that suit our mobility but provide quality sound.

If those characteristics are important to you, you’re in luck! Bassbuds has provided you all with a giveaway for these simply awesome earbuds. If these don’t make you a boss, I’m not sure what will. All you have to do is enter in the raffle below and you could win these 24-carot gold Bassbud earbuds! This giveaways is running for the next 31 days, so don’t miss out! The winner will be chosen at random through rafflecopter.

And as always…stay hungry and fit!