If you’ve recently bought an indoor rowing machine, congratulations! You are at the start of a fun-filled journey into the fitness world. Perhaps you’re thinking about taking some of the indoor rowing classes at your local gym but are afraid that you’ll look or feel out of place. And what are these strange words you keep hearing such as split time and SPM? If any of the above is true, then this article is for you! My name is Petra Amara, and I’ve been rowing on the water almost since I was born. Lately, however, I’ve been doing lots of workouts on my rowing machine(s) (Yes, I have more than on ..read more

Hi readers! My name is Petra Amara, and I’ve had a real passion for rowing since I was just a child. I was born into a family of rowers, so I had a lot of experience early on. I am frequently asked if using an indoor rower is good for overall fitness, and what can I say, except that— Yes! Yes to rowing machine workouts! They are incredibly good for fitness! Since I was handed an oar at 3 years of age you might think that I’m prejudiced, but I like to think of myself as a realist. I didn’t start off rowing to lose weight, gain muscle, or to get in shape, but over the years, I’ve discovered that ..read more

Want to make life difficult?   Try starting a new exercise and diet plan at the same time.   A new exercise regime can fire your urge to eat, making low calories eating less challenging.   The solution is to avoid starting a diet and exercise plan at the same time.   Instead, it may be better to stagger them a week or two apart.   But what if you’re already training and want to eat keto to kick-start a little extra weight loss?   This scenario is even trickier because carbs offer energy but are the enemy of weight loss.   The whole process seems to go against ..read more

Sometimes losing weight feels like an ass-backward exercise. It starts with you feeling miserable because there’s a little too much of you. Maybe you got there by eating too many of the wrong foods that helped you feel better. Most likely, this didn’t work. You ended up feeling uncomfortable in your own skin. This solution was to dietarily deprive yourself of the foods that make you happy so you could feel comfortable about your body. Huh? It doesn’t make sense. Pasta makes almost everyone happy. So, telling yourself you can never eat it again is the surest way to be downright miserable. The d ..read more

The world and the ketogenic diet have an understanding. The former believes the latter is purely for weight loss. The latter knows better. How? Well, eating a ketogenic diet makes you lose weight, so you feel better, have more energy, and rock more confidence. Sure, but that’s only part of the truth. When your body goes into ketosis, things change for the better in a huge way. Your body’s systems work together to improve many areas of your life. If your motivation to stick with it ever wavers, read this to get the big picture of how ketosis improves every part of your world.   Keto Health ..read more

How can you be a little better today than you were yesterday? It’s easy–just do something little yet significant. A tiny step, when done regularly, creates endless opportunities for a leaner, healthier body. Take a moment to consider how that healthier YOU might look and feel. Perhaps you’d feel more positive and could improve many aspects of your life. Much of this starts with a micro-change to some of your daily habits. To help you along, here are three of the latest scientific advancements in health and fat burning. You can use them daily to ensure each brings you closer to your target weig ..read more

If I were to inform you that there is one method you could employ in your training routine to advance performance in all areas, you would at the very least give your attention. Truth is that the majority of the fitness industry has done a great job at disclosing all available training styles to guarantee results. However, for whatever reason, agility training still takes a backseat even though real-world evidence and research are there to support its inclusion for literally anyone involved in fitness. First, let us look at some basic terminology to kick things off.   What is agility train ..read more

“My bad!” Positive life changes require this brand of ownership, right? But what if it’s not all on you? You likely have a few other people in your life who may have a hand to play in your health. You know them well. That work colleague who brings in a weekly tray of irresistible homemade cakes. The loved one with a midnight sweet tooth. The kids who don’t finish all their food, leaving you obliged not to waste it. You don’t want to be that person who blames others. But hey, if you’re a people pleaser, it can be tough to say no to emotionally loaded calories that carry social pressures. It’s c ..read more

The elusive concept of structural health remains a mystery for many in the fitness industry, and those individuals scour the web in hopes of locating the right information to alleviate their stress, worry, and specific injury or ailment.  The focus should always be to simplify everything when dealing with complicated matters such as injury prevention and treatment.  Outside of working with your assigned medical practitioner, and following his or her specific recommendations, the next best thing you can do to always safeguard against future injury, and expedite the healing process is ..read more

Have you ever stopped to wonder: what is a calorie? You may devote significant time, effort, and even guilt toward them. However, calories aren’t something tangible you can touch or taste. A calorie is a unit of measurement. A metric. A line in the sand. The way a foot tells you how long something is, a calorie tells you how much energy is in that plate of pasta you just inhaled. Sometimes they’re good. Sometimes they’re almost evil. Until you fully understand what this energy measurement means for your weight loss efforts, you may be shortchanging your ability to look your best.   The Sk ..read more