When you go to the gym, you might feel overwhelmed by the complex exercises you see other gym members performing.

Have you ever looked around and thought, “Am I doing all the exercises I should be doing? What if I’m missing something important?”

While the sheer number of exercises seems endless, if you look closely, you’ll notice that almost all exercises fall into 10 basic movement patterns. Once you become familiar with these fundamental movement patterns, you can make sure your training program is well-rounded.

Regardless of the latest fancy move people are showing you at the gym, there’s no substitute for mastering the basics of exercise. This blog will walk you through the 10 foundational movement patterns and how you can ensure they show up in your program at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

What’s the best time of day to work out at the gym? Most of us have such busy schedules that our answer is, “Whenever we can!”

That might mean we go to the gym before or after work. Or we could show up in the afternoon when our kids are in school. Or we may go when our favorite personal trainer is teaching the group class we love the most.

So, it really boils down to each person’s individual choice and needs. And, if the results are the same, does it really matter what time of day we go to the gym?

Yet some studies seem to indicate that the results aren’t the same. Read this blog to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of working out at various times of the day so that you can make the best decision about when to work out at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

You hear the word “core” thrown around a lot at the gym, so you know it’s important.

But when you stop to think about it, you still might wonder, what exactly is my core? Why is it so important to train my core muscles? And what exercises can I do to strengthen them?

This blog has some answers. Read on to learn all about the value of core stability and how to stabilize your core at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

If we asked you to name the best abdominal exercises, you’d probably list workouts like sit-ups, crunches, and planks.

And, if we asked you to name the best dumbbell exercises, you’d probably list workouts like bicep curls, goblet squats, and bent-over rows.

Those are all good answers, but what if we asked one final question — What are the best dumbbell abdominal exercises?

That one might stump you because dumbbells are not typically thought of as ab blasters. But, when used properly, these weights can give you big gains as you work toward the perfect six pack.

Read this blog to learn about why it’s important to keep your abs strong, as well as some of the best dumbbell ab exercises you can try at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

By now, you’ve heard many tips on what you can do to improve the results of your gym workouts. Things like eating lots of lean protein, drinking water, and getting plenty of rest.

On the other hand, some of the things you’re doing might have the opposite effect. You could be sabotaging your fitness journey before you even take the first step.

If you’re going to put in time and effort at the gym, you might as well make the most of it by avoiding some routine mistakes! In this blog, we’ll list some of the worst things you can do before a workout at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado, and how to correct them.

The team at AFAC gym does everything possible to keep our gym sanitary and prevent the spread of illnesses like COVID-19. Several times per week, we fog the gym and ventilation system with hospital-grade disinfectant. We also provide sanitation stations throughout the gym where members can disinfect their hands and gym equipment before and after each exercise. AFAC gym also cleans and sanitizes all common areas multiple times a day.

In addition to sanitation, there are other ways to avoid the health risks of COVID such as vaccinations and booster shots.

And, on top that, doctors believe regular exercise can decrease the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes like hospitalization and death. While that’s great news, healthcare professionals have never explained exactly how much exercise people need to reduce their risk.

Will a couple workouts a week be enough to lessen our chances of severe COVID? Or do we need daily workouts?

A new study gives us some answers on how different amounts of exercise can affect one’s COVID prognosis. Read on to learn more about what the study found and other benefits of regular workouts at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

It’s one of the most common mantras at the gym – “You can’t out-train a bad diet.”

When most people hear it, they think in terms of calories. In other words, they hear, “Just because you go to the gym doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want and not gain weight.”

But what about when you exercise for longevity and disease prevention? Can you eat unhealthy foods but still save yourself from serious health problems by exercising at the gym?

Some recent research attempted to answer this question. Read on to learn what science says about whether you can cancel out the effects of a bad diet by exercising at our gym in Thornton, Colorado.

Did you know that one of the best exercises you can do may only take a minute or two?

It might feel like the longest minute of your life, but spending just 60 seconds doing a plank can pay big dividends.

There’s a lot of debate, however, about how long one should hold a plank. A few seconds? One minute? Two? Five whole minutes? The Guinness World Record for holding a plank is 9 hours, 30 minutes, and 1 second, achieved by Daniel Scali in Australia on August 6, 2021! Is that the kind of planking time we should all be striving for?

In today’s blog, we’ll discuss what a plank is, how long and how often you should plank at our gym in Thornton, Colorado, and the benefits you can enjoy from this grueling exercise.

Your quadriceps, or “quads,” are some of the largest and strongest muscles in your body. Quads are the crown jewel of your legs, filling out the entire front of your thigh. And, if you’ve been training your quads diligently, you’ll notice them bulging out from under your pants or shorts.

But strong quads can give you more than a set of shredded-looking legs. They’re also important for optimum performance in most sports — plus a muscle you must train for greater overall athleticism. In addition, quads are essential for many everyday functions like walking, running, getting up from a chair, climbing the stairs, and lifting something off the floor.

In this blog, you’ll learn the anatomy of your quads, reasons why you should train them, and the most efficient exercises for building bigger and more powerful quad muscles at our gym in Thornton, Colorado.

If you’ve never joined a gym before, are new to a gym, or are coming back after a long break, it can be intimidating to walk in the front doors.

Deep down inside, we all realize no one is judging us at the gym. But it’s normal to feel self-conscious about how we look, our form (or lack thereof), and our inexperience with the gym equipment.

In today’s blog, we’ll share some tips on how to get familiar with AFAC gym and feel comfortable with any workout you choose to do.

One of our top tips is to take advantage of AFAC’s personal training special! For just $50, you can receive a session with one of our trainers who will show you everything you need to know to get started like a pro at our gym in Thornton, Colorado. Read this blog to learn more.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 34 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes. Another 88 million adults have prediabetes, a condition that, if not treated, can lead to type 2 diabetes.

These are grim statistics, but several studies have found that exercise can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes by a large margin. But what kinds of workouts work best? Read on to learn more about what type 2 diabetes is and the exercises you can do at our gym in Thornton, Colorado to fight against this serious condition.

Do you remember the last time you crushed a tough workout at AFAC gym? Maybe you ramped up the loads you were lifting, or raised the number of reps, or tried a brand-new activity. As soon as you were done, you felt amazing!

But, when you woke up the next morning, you were so sore that you struggled to get out of bed.

Regardless of how much it hurt, you wore the aches and pains with pride. Those were hard evidence that you pushed your body to new limits.

That deep muscle ache the day after a workout is known as delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS for short. What is DOMS, and is this discomfort required to make gains at our gym in Thornton, Colorado? In today’s blog, we’ll talk about what DOMS is and the role it plays during your fitness journey.

Do you know what anaerobic exercise is? Even if you don’t, chances are you’ve done anaerobic exercises without even realizing it.

Anaerobic means “without oxygen.” Being without oxygen doesn’t sound like a good thing, but anaerobic exercise is when you work out at such a high intensity that your heart and lungs can’t deliver oxygen to your muscles fast enough to fuel the movement. This can help you increase your muscle strength and endurance.

Read this blog to learn more about how anaerobic exercise works, its benefits, and examples of anaerobic exercises you can do at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

When you go into the gym to strength train, you need a plan to get the most out of your workout.

A workout split — also known as a training split or just a split — is a strength training schedule that you follow throughout the week. A split ensures that you train every major muscle group at least once during the week and allows for recovery time in between sessions.

There are splits that cover individual body parts on certain days, particular lifts on certain days, and various combinations in between.

In today’s blog, we’ll break down what the most common splits are so you’re more informed to determine which split fits your fitness goals at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

We all know the benefits of regular workouts at the gym — they improve muscle strength, build endurance, reduce the risk of serious diseases, and prevent obesity.

What most of us don’t know is that regular gym exercise builds and maintains our bones, too. Many of us are also not aware that failing to exercise causes the loss of bone mass.

Once we become adults, we can expect to slowly lose bone and muscle mass with every passing year.

Thankfully, regular workouts at the gym can help us maintain bone and muscle strength. In this blog, we’ll discuss why we lose bone and muscle as we age and the workouts you can try at our gym in Thornton, Colorado, to keep your bones and muscles stronger.

Exercise is an important part of staying healthy at any point during our lives, no matter what our age. Some of us might think that we’ll slow down when we’re seniors, but for people older than 65, exercise is more crucial than ever.

Why is exercise so vital for older adults and what exercises are best for people as they reach their senior years? Read this blog for answers to these questions and examples of exercises that seniors can do at our gym in Thornton, Colorado.

Now that a new year is upon us, many people have resolved to lose weight. Often, it’s a specific amount they want to lose like 10, 20, 50, or more pounds. Or sometimes there’s a certain number they’d like to see when they step on the scale.

Whether you dream of weighing 120 or 250 pounds, focusing on the scale can prevent you from appreciating other positive health changes that are just as important.

How do you learn to celebrate non-scale victories that can keep you motivated and lift your spirits at our gym in Thornton, Colorado? Read on to learn more.

‘Twas the week after Christmas and all through the gym,

The members were moving to try and stay slim.

The dumbbells were stacked by the mirrors with care,

Ready for gym members to lift them from there.

The treadmills were filled, folks had left their warm beds,

Because visions of fitness danced in their heads.

The holiday season brings us many stories, songs, and images of St. Nick with his jolly face, snow-white beard, and signature red suit. In addition to his twinkling eyes and nose like a cherry, we can’t forget Santa’s ample round belly. It shakes when he laughs like a bowlful of jelly!

There’s no doubt that Santa Claus looks adorable on Christmas cards, but in real life, having a large gut like his can be bad for your health.

If you want to look and feel your very best, it’s important to melt your Santa belly. But that’s tough after a holiday season filled with tasty treats and beverages. Thankfully, AFAC is here with some post-holiday tips to help you burn calories and build a strong core at our gym in Thornton, Colorado.

Do you want bigger biceps? Then you need to do preacher curls at the gym.

Preacher curls are not meant to replace standard biceps curls, but they are an exercise that hits your biceps in a different way. For maximum gains, you should include both variations in your curling routine.

Keep reading this blog to find out what preacher curls are, their benefits, and how to perform preacher curls at our gym in Thornton, Colorado.

What are your favorite lower-body exercises at the gym? Squats? Hip-thrusts? Deadlifts? Leg presses?

All of these are solid choices, but many personal trainers point to lunges as the most beneficial workout you can add to your leg day.

Continue reading this blog to learn about the benefits of lunges, the muscles they target, and a few variations you can try at our gym in Thornton, Colorado.