My bicycling experience! + Cycling benefits ♥

Hi everyone! Yesterday my best friend Anna and I went on one of our biggest adventures yet. We have been talking about co owning a guinea pig or getting a couple hamsters, the only problem is, my dad is off camping so we had no ride and her parents won't warm up to the idea of a pet until she actually brings it home, so there was no way they'd willingly take us to get a pet. Anna and I are both impatient and bored and always looking for something fun to do. So we grabbed some money and our bikes and decided to travel around town and see if we could find a pet store. Little did we know, we would end up traveling MUCH farther than we intended! 

Here is the distance we traveled! I'm not sure if this was our exact route or not because we made a ton of short cuts and turns and remember, we didn't have a clue we're we were going! We remembered there was a pet store some where around Turtle Run but other than that we were just having fun and looking around. 

We biked really far in the HOT sun. We kept saying how absolutely crazy it was to be so far from home on bikes with no real clue we're we were headed! We made a lot of stops for drinks. One of the downsides for the trip was our tans. We love getting nice tans but we (mostly Anna LOL) got boarder line BURNT. We had to stop and switch pants because he knees were getting burned! Other than that we had a ton of fun and we did find a pet store and we got to hold a guinea pig! Weee~

While bike riding, it occurred to me that this much have a ton of benefits to your body! I've always know that it was great exercise but what else does it do? Here's what I found!

• For those of you wanting to burn calories, bike riding burns them like crazy! 
• Bike riding has been linked to improving mental health and it helps strengthen your immune system!
• You develop killer legs! You work your quads, gluts and calves while pedaling. Who doesn't want toned legs? Judging by my sore legs, my muscles were getting pretty worked!
• It boosts energy! This is one of my favorite benefits because I hate feeling tired after doing nothing for days. Riding bikes improves you energy level by 20% and decreases fatigue by 65%. If you're feeling tired and sluggish, grab your bike!
• Its good for you joints! But remember, don't over work your body! Its never good to do too much that's its dangerous.
• Not only your legs get toned but your whole body! Working the handle bars can really do good for your arms.
• Its great for your heart! Riding bikes can lower you blood pressure and cholesterol.

See? Tons of great benefits to simply riding around on your bike. But a side note: always wear a helmet. I didn't wear one but its extremely dangerous not too. Make sure to keep yourself hydrated! Drink a lot of water and drinks with those good electrolytes in them (ex: Gatorade, Powerade) so you don't suffer from heat exhaustion or dehydration. Don't pedal too hard and if you're new a biking don't go too far. I haven't biked in a long time and I'm paying the price for it now! I went way farther than I'm used to and now my thighs are so sore I can barely walk! (no biggy! lol) Make sure your bike is in good condition and I recommend going with a friend or family member to play it safe. Wear sun screen so you don't get burned while out in the sun!

Hope you give biking a try! Thanks for reading and look forward to more posts!

YOGA ♥

Hey readers! Recently I've been a tad bit into exercise. I just hated feeling so lazy and tired and seeing my boyfriend so energetic when all I wanted to do it lay down, watch a movie and sleep because the reality is even though I'm skinny, I'm OUT OF SHAPE. I used to love being active but ever since my knee dislocation during a soccer game over a year ago, I've become more and more lazy. But even though I can't take part in fast paced activities I can still keep myself in shape! People always tell me "You're too skinny already! Why would you work out?" The thing is, you don't have to be big or over weight to work out! Its all about keeping your body health! 

First, I started out with an app for sit-ups since I've always wanted a toned, flat stomach. Its called SitUps to Six Pack - 0 to 200+ SitUps Training. I think the app is very well designed and effective IF you use it 3 days a week like you're supposed to, but with my varying sleeping habits and over all laziness, I never went passed day 3. (I should really get back into it!) 

I also tried doing squats because what girl DOESN'T want a nice looking butt? I did 55 squats in 1 day and I felt great! The next day I felt sore and eventually it got so bad that I could barely bend down! Now I try to do 15 every other day.

SO! That brings me to my main topic: YOGA! I've always hear about yoga being so good for your body and how it can improve your posture, flexibility and strength and since I'm still looking for my preferred workout exercise I decided to give yoga a try. I thought it would be easy, like meditation with a little more stretching but I was WRONG.

I went on YouTube and clicked on the most viewed yoga video, which of course starred Jillian Michaels.

 

So I busted out my yoga mat, put on a comfortable pair of shorts and started the video. I didn't even bother getting water because I didn't think I would break a sweat! Watch the video yourself or even try it out and you will FEEL MY STRUGGLE!  I didn't even go as hard as the girls in the video were and I still felt it all over my body. I don't usually sweat but this had my huffing and puffing, falling over, sweating all over my back and chest and making faces like I was being beaten! BUT! Don't let that turn you away. Even though it was hard, for once I actually feel like I WORKED OUT. I know there are different levels of difficultly when it comes to yoga and any other workout but if you do it right and really push yourself to hold it for 15 seconds or stretch you feet a bit wider than usual, any level should give you the result you want. And I'm just saying this from one session! I felt the "burn" in every literal sense of the word. 

I felt my thighs, calves, abdominal muscles, back and arm muscles all working to their fullest. But it is only because I really pushed myself. When you work out, you always have to be mentally prepared to try your hardest or you won't get the results you want. Even though you definitely should work hard, don't push yourself TOO hard.

I  know I'm going to keeping doing this exercise and other yoga work outs and hopefully with a lot of practice I'll become more toned and health over time!

BUT WAIT!

Any type of work out always comes with risk of injury! Yoga may have tons of health benefits but you NEVER want to over work yourself because that could lead to injury! If you're a beginner, do beginner work outs. Make sure to wear comfy clothes, stay hydrated, listen to your body and go slow. Always warm up before hand! For more information about yoga go here: yoga info!

How do you work out and if you do yoga how does it work of you? 

Thank you!~