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.

There are many reasons why AFAC gym members work with our personal trainers. Some need a program to support their weight loss goals, while others are hoping to build muscle. Our newer members often want to learn how to use our gym’s many equipment options. Regardless of the reason, there’s no doubt a personal trainer can be a great addition to your fitness program.

Occasionally, however, people hesitate to invest in a personal trainer at the gym. They might worry about cost or scheduling constraints. They may even be a little shy about working with a pro.

Whether you’ve just started on your fitness journey or have been grinding at the gym for a while and would like to see better results, the certified personal trainers at AFAC gym are a fantastic option. In this blog, we’ll introduce you to our team of personal trainers and list all the benefits you can enjoy while working with them at our gym in Thornton, Colorado. Make sure to ask us about our Christmas special!

Who doesn’t want a strong set of abs? Or a nice, flat, washboard stomach? Six-pack abs are all the rage these days. And, even though abs are mostly made in the kitchen, that doesn’t stop people from searching for the best ab exercises to do at the gym.

With this in mind, a study investigated the most common ab exercises and ranked them from best to worst. In this blog, we’ll dive into this study’s findings and reveal what could be the most effective abdominal exercises you can do at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

Have you ever walked into a gym and felt lost or out of place? Like you just didn’t belong there, didn’t know what to do, or even where to begin?

This is a common feeling in many gyms. But at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado, we strive to be different. To be a place where members feel like they belong and are welcome. Where the coaches encourage you and teach you how to build a healthy body, in spite of that awkward feeling.

If you’d like to be part of a gym where you’ll meet people who were just like you at one time and will encourage you on your fitness journey, read this blog and you’ll find out what makes AFAC gym better than other gyms!

When you look in the mirror to judge your progress at the gym, which muscles do you focus on? If you’re like most people, you probably look at your forward-facing muscles like your abs, chest, biceps, and quads. And that makes sense because they’re the muscles you see first.

While those muscles are important, don’t forget the muscles in the back! The secret to maximum strength and a balanced physique is to pay attention to the muscles on the other side of your body, too, including your trapezoids.

What are the trapezoid muscles, and what exercises can you do to build them? In today’s blog, the team at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado, provides answers to these questions and more.

Have you been going on daily walks for years but always dreamed of running? Or were you a runner long ago and wish you could get back into it?

Either way, you’re probably full of questions. As a beginner, you might wonder, how far should you run and how often? Should you do anything special to avoid injuries?

In this blog, your friends at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado, provide some guidance on how to turn your regular walk into a run you’ll feel great about!

Picture it … You arrive at the gym feeling excited about the great workout you have planned. Today, you’re going all-out with cardio and weightlifting on the same day!

This is a marvelous goal, but you might wonder, which comes first, cardio or weights? Does it even matter?

Some health experts say yes, it does matter, but which you should do first can depend on a few factors. In this blog, we’ll discuss those factors so that you’ll walk into AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado, with the information you need to make the best decision for your fitness goals.

Your triceps make up about two-thirds of your upper arms, so if you want bigger arms, building your triceps is a must.

When it comes to developing the tris, every weightlifter has a different approach. Two of the most common triceps lifts you’ll hear about are skull crushers and lying triceps extensions. Some of your gym buddies might even tell you these two lifts are identical.

Are they right? In this blog, we’ll discuss the triceps muscles, the similarities and differences between lying triceps extensions and skull crushers, how to do each exercise, and the advantages of adding these lifts to your repertoire at AFAC’s gym in Thornton, Colorado.

Two of the most common goals at the gym are to lose fat and gain muscle. On the surface, these might sound like separate, mutually exclusive goals, but they don’t have to be.

With careful planning, hard work, and patience, it is possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. The process is called body recomposition, or “recomping.”

There are lots of opinions on this topic and it can be confusing for those who are just starting their fitness journey. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss what it takes to achieve body recomposition at AFAC’s Thornton gym.

We’ve all heard the strength training rule that you should wait at least 48 hours in between training sessions for the same muscle groups, which will give your muscles time to recover and grow.

If you’re in a full-body strength program, this could be spread across three sessions per week. For example, working out all your muscle groups on alternate days like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

This is a good rule to follow in a perfect world. But what if you don’t live in a perfect world? Maybe you’re working 12-hour shifts Sunday through Thursday, leaving only Friday and Saturday open for your gym time. Or maybe most of your week is dedicated to child care and you can only go to the gym on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings.

Whatever the case may be, sometimes a hectic schedule forces you to strength train on consecutive days. Does that mean you still can’t train the same muscle groups two or more days in a row? Is that a waste of time?

Conventional wisdom would say yes, but many trainers have questioned the 48-hour rest rule, and there are several studies to back them up. Read this blog to learn more about the advantages of working out the same muscles multiple days in a row at our Thornton gym.