Give the Gift of Health and Fitness I Holiday Sale: Personal Training & Massage
Learn More
✖

NW Women's Fitness

Call Us Today! 503-287-0655


Top 3 Apps for Exercising

By Leave a Comment

You might spend a lot of idle time sitting around and staring at your phone. While it can be hard to stay active when there is so much great entertainment at your fingertips, your phone can also be your best friend when it comes to exercising and getting in shape. The key is to find the right app to track your exercises and motivate yourself to stay healthy. Here are three great apps to consider.

MapMyRun

MapMyRun is a helpful website and app that actually has a number of fitness, calorie counting, and diet assistance features. MapMyRun is an especially great app for — you guessed it — recording your runs. It will give you a detailed analysis of each run, with everything from elevation gain to calories burned. You can set goals, like how many calories you want to burn on a run, and the app will help you create a run that ensures you reach them.

Cyclemeter

Cyclemeter is probably the most popular app for tracking bike rides. It is highly detailed and easy to use. Not only will it track calories burned and distance, it also clocks your maximum and average speeds. It is a fun and useful app, and it can also be helpful to mountain bikers who ride trails that aren’t clearly marked. If you are trying to re-ride a particular route that is not clearly marked, you can refer to your ride log and recall exactly which section you did in the past. This way you are less likely to get lost, but more likely to ride the best trail sections.

Endomondo

Endomondo is a simple app that can be used to track runs and bike rides. It is well-liked because it has a user-friendly interface. It is definitely simpler than Cyclemeter and MapMyRun and many prefer it because it is so easy to use. If you’re looking for a good starter app, begin here. What’s more, an app like this is good whether you’re at the girls’ gym or outside in nature when the sun is shining.

All three of these apps are a great supplement to anyone, whether you workout five times a week or go for a jog when you remember.— all you have to do is push the download button to get started. For more ideas on staying fit and active, talk to the pros. You’ll be moving in no time.

Top 3 Low-Impact Exercises for Women

By Leave a Comment

Whether you’ve recently sustained an injury or high-impact exercises are simply too hard on your body, the right low-impact exercise can give your body all the benefits of working out without the stress. These are just a few of our favorites.

Pilates

Pilates uses special apparatus incorporated with a series of exercises to improve flexibility, posture, strength, and mental awareness. Thanks to a pulley-and-spring system, you don’t put too much strain on your joints and can still get in a complete workout without overdoing it. You can also opt for mat-based Pilates classes, which aren’t as challenging.

Still not sure if Pilates is for you? Sign up for a one-on-one Pilates workout with a trainer or even a small group class.

Water Aerobics

Any type of pool activity is low-impact by nature, which is why water aerobics is such a great option. Also called aquatic fitness, waterobics, and aquafitness, these exercises improve balance, coordination, and flexibility. Water aerobics work so well, in fact, that many doctors recommend that post-op patients take water aerobics classes to regain strength and range of motion.

Moving your body during aquatic aerobics activates muscle groups with the water’s natural resistance. Depending on the facility, you may be able to experience water pole dancing, aqua cycling, and flotation device incorporation.

Rowing

Looking for a great low-impact workout on the gym floor? Head to the rowing machine!

Rowing gets your heart pumping and your joints loosening up much more effectively than the treadmill, and yet few take advantage of this piece of equipment that won’t ruin your knees or ankles. Even if you’re not very coordinated, you can get into a proper rowing rhythm by being mindful of each push of your legs.

Discover other low-impact exercises by visiting NW Women’s Fitness. With our supportive environment, friendly personal trainers, and available massage services, our facility feels like coming home.

Mistakes that Trainers Notice in the Gym

By 1 Comment

Are you worried that you’re making common gym mistakes and are hindering your improvement? Many inexperienced people entering the “gym world” have misconceptions such as being able to get a perfectly chiseled body just for turning up. Here are some of the top mistakes that trainers notice in the gym:

  • Distractions: when you are engaged in intense exercise the body increases the rate at which blood is pumped around the body so that the nutrients can get to the cells to replenish the lost energy. However, if you stop to read/send a text message, or stop for a chat with someone it reduces the momentum of the exercise session. When you start, be locked in until the exercises are complete.
  • High expectation: meeting exercise goals can take many months and even years. You set yourself up for failure when the expectations are too high. Try to pace yourself and set realistic goals. Speak to the trainer at the gym to come up with realistic expectations. They typically have a wealth of experience to draw from to get this done.
  • Not changing the routine: the body will adapt to what routine you are doing if you do it for a long time. Therefore, you need to change your routine after a month or so. Either increase the number of reps or change the body movement.

Proven Ways to Meet Your Fitness Resolutions

By Leave a Comment

One of the top resolutions that people make are fitness related, but ironically by the second month of the year, it’s also the one that most give up on. Sticking to a fitness resolution is nothing more than following a few rules. Here are some tips to consider so that the odds of success are in your favor:

  • 7 days a week: instead of putting off exercise and leaving it only for the weekend, take an approach where it’s 7 days a week. If you try hard enough to schedule your day in an organized way, even the biggest workaholic out there should find some time for exercise. Remember, after doing something for 28 days, it’s proven to become a habit!
  • Activities and sport: the best way to cheat yourself into actually loving the exercise is to play a sport you like or take part in an activity such as hiking or mountain climbing. There are hundreds of sports and activities you could do, so take a good look at what is going on in your local area and take advantage of it.
  • Obtainable goals: the easiest way to make a fitness resolution harder to achieve is a goal that can only be realistically obtained after years of hard work. Having ambitious goals is great, but having something you can reach in a month or even a few weeks is much better.

We’re happy to offer great classes that not only help you workout but also have fun! Come visit our women’s gym in Portland for more details or call us today.

How to Make Fitness a Priority

By 1 Comment

We all know that exercise is beneficial to us, but making it a priority in our lives can be challenging. Research shows that it only takes 20 minutes of physical activity per day for you to start to see the benefits. Furthermore, the links between aging and fitness are so strong that it’s a no-brainer to make it part of your daily routine. So here are the top things that you can do to make fitness a priority in your life:

  • Accountability partner: it is much harder to skip exercise when you have an accountability partner that is waiting for you at the gym. You’ll see that it’s much easier to do the exercise than to face the shame of telling your partner that you are too tired to turn up.
  • Fun factor: to tilt the odds of success in your favor come up with can exercise plan that’s fun. If you hate jogging then don’t do it just because most people in your office are doing it. Try out a few sports or take up swimming – the point is to do something fun because it increases the likelihood of sticking to it.
  • Schedule: regardless of how busy your weekly schedule is if you try hard enough you can easily fit in three 20-minute sessions of exercise. Consider eliminating activities like TV and video games, or reduce the number of trips to the supermarket to once a week.

Looking to get your exercise routine started? Check out our great personal training classes!