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Do You Need a Gym for an Effective Workout? – A Fit Mom’s Experience
As a young, broke mom, I worked out at home for five years before ever joining a gym. I developed a six-pack for the first time a month after giving birth to my son, and a few months later, my legs were toned for the first time. I had my first taste of muscle growth and progress with exercise. I developed so much strength and solid conditioning that when I joined the military a year later, I was awarded Top Female Physical Readiness Trainee and Warhawk. I created my own exercise schedule, starting at just three days per week, then I gradually moved up to doing something every day. My…
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2020 Self-help Message
I’ve been part of a superficial industry for a long time now: the fitness world. After seventeen years of people criticizing my body shape or exercise goals, I came to realize what I wrote below, which is intended for anyone struggling with rejection, minimization, or insults regarding their health and fitness goals. The message: don’t seek validation outside yourself I’ve learned that in all areas of life, it’s important to focus on your unique journey and not what others think or say about you. Doing otherwise can lead to a negative self-image and poor mental health. Only you know all your starting points: the struggles and obstacles you broke through…
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How I Raised My Credit Score as a Broke Single Mom
Financial literacy wasn’t a topic in my family home while I was growing up. By my early twenties, my mind was pretty much programmed to believe the financial odds were stacked against me. I never looked into building my credit because I didn’t understand the value of doing so, and after gross mismanagement of my first credit card, I was hesitant to ever get another. My debts at the time were composed of over $9k in student loans from a for-profit college (yes, I fell for one of those) and a $500 interest-gathering balance from my first credit card. In my twenty-one-year-old mind, I had simply too much debt to…
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7 Reasons Why I Don’t Compete
Bodybuilding seems to be gaining in popularity, and many die-hard gym rats train with the ultimate goal of competing. This goal provides purpose and motivation to train hard. But there are a fraction of fitness enthusiasts who have no intention of competing – at least not in an aesthetics-based competition like bodybuilding. These people don’t care who finds their body to be attractive or not. They push their physical limits for the fun and love of it. They are performance and skill-driven and do not seek recognition and approval from others. I fall into that camp, but I haven’t always. As a fitness newbie, I was sucked into the superficial world…
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Standing at Work
Many people sit at work, sit in the car, then plop down on another seat when they get home. They may even get a meal via a drive-thru, when they can, instead, get out of the car and order inside. This type of lifestyle can adversely affect one’s overall health, not just one’s body composition. A sedentary lifestyle interferes with athletic goals and can have serious consequences on progress by creating a body that is prone to injury. In addition, sitting for long periods isn’t heart healthy. Below is more information on the negative effects of sitting for prolonged periods. Muscle Imbalances The seated position encourages poor posture and can create muscle imbalances, e.g., tightness in…
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A Word for New Year’s Gym Goers
I have to share this image every year because it’s the same story e v e r y year. Here’s some tough love: DON’T BE A STATISTIC! If your resolution is to get fit this year, stick to it. Don’t be part of the temporary crowd that is a detestable nuisance to gym regulars everywhere. Regulars count the days until the yearly health craze is over, so they can finally regain access to equipment; equipment they know how to use and the flood of new years newbies misuse. How do I know this? I’m a gym regular. I get annoyed by the yearly crowd too. But I wouldn’t get annoyed…
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January 2016 Photo Shoot
SylviaAs an athlete for over 18 years and a broke single mom for most of that time, I created this site to aid not only broke single parents to a life of fitness, but anyone who believes the road to fitness requires a lot of cash or time. In reality, the way to fitness is paved with knowledge and firm principles; teaching readers how to master both is the goal of this site.
