The official start of summer begins this weekend. If you have put off your “get in shape” plans, now is the time to start. Answer is Fitness, with locations in North Attleboro and Springfield, can help. With a 30 day fitness pass, see what we have to offer to help you reach your fitness goals.  With personal training and an expansive group exercise schedule, you will surely find an exercise program that is exciting, challenging and fun; which is exactly what you need in an fitness routine. Here are just a few examples:

Group Power:
Group Power is an hour of power! This 60 minute barbell program strengthens all your major muscles in an inspiring, motivating group environment with fantastic music and awesome instructors. With simple athletic movements such as squats, lunges, presses, and curls. Group Power is for all ages and fitness levels. Discover results, Discover Group Power.

Group Kick:
Group Kick brings it on! This electric 60 minute fusion class of martial arts and boxing movements will kick your cardio fitness to the next level while defining and shaping your body and self confidence! Energetic music, awesome instructors and a group environment will keep you punching, kicking and smiling! Group Kick will knock you out!

Cycling/Spinning:
The Cycling program is the original and most popular group cycling class. And it's not just because Spinning is an unmatched way to make your fitness goals a reality. With no complicated moves to learn, top-notch instructors and music that begs your legs to pedal, getting into the best shape of your life has never been more fun.

National Women’s Health Week is an effort to raise awareness about manageable steps women can take to improve their health. The focus is on improving women's health and the importance of incorporating simple preventive and positive health behaviors into everyday life.

Women are the caregivers: for spouses, children and parents, and they often forget to focus on themselves. However, research has proven that when women take care of themselves, the health of the entire family improves.

Maintaining regular health checkups is one of 5 health habits that can improve women’s health. The others are physical activity, a healthy diet, not smoking and engaging in safe behavior.

For regular health appointments, a bone density scan is very important. Having healthy bones is important at any age, but as we age our bones get thinner. Healthy eating habits, regular cardio exercise and a strength training routine are imperative to healthy bones. Osteoporosis is a concern for women, as women are four times more likely to develop this disease than men. To limit the risks of Osteoporosis, women should definitely engage in weight-bearing exercises. Eating healthy and possibly taking calcium supplements also aids in prevention.

What are those weird-looking weights with handles? They are kettlebells and they are worth meeting on a weekly basis. It has recently been discovered that people who did an intense 20-minute workout with kettlebells burned, an average of 400 calories, or 20 calories a minute.  If you need help with the math, that is like running a six-minute mile. Most likely, this is because kettlebell workouts combine cardio and strength training and use several muscle groups at once.

Using a kettlebell burns 70 percent more calories than a typical strength routine. There certainly is a lot of strange looking exercise equipment, but kettlebells you've gotta try. A 20-minute kettlebell workout is worth about an hour on the treadmill! They sculpt every part of your body. Most exercises with them involve swinging the kettlebell up or across the body. All of the weight is below the handle, so your core has to work hard to counteract the momentum. So as a result you will lose inches and while getting stronger and leaner.

If you want to learn how to use kettlebells, work with a personal trainer who can help you design a workout to achieve the goals you want, in a realistic time frame. A trainer at Answer is Fitness can help you get a feel for using kettlebells and burn about 400 calories while you can sculpt your entire body with a fun and different routine.

Learn how to Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, and Cha Cha! Zumba starts March 3rd at 6:30 pm at Answer is Fitness. Come join Jessica for a whole hour of dance party fun! 

All levels welcome, and no coordination needed! Easy to follow! 7 weeks for only $69 (non members $79).

You must sign up and prepay at the front desk. JOIN THE PARTY!!

Eating five meals per day, including the traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner along with two snacks will keep your energy levels stable throughout the day. In addition by eating every few hours, you should never be too hungry or too full before working out.

If you enjoy a morning session of exercise, be sure to eat before heading out to the gym. It's best to eat about 30 minutes after waking up in the morning, so just get up early enough to have a light breakfast beforehand. Keeping your body energized in advance will stave off hunger and may prevent that feeling of famine after exercise. The following foods are great examples of healthy proteins or carbs that supply vitamins and nutrients, are easily-digestible, simple-to-prepare and easy-to-eat within a short amount of time.

1.  Oatmeal will boost your energy level and help you have a better workout. If you love working out it's best to stop in your tracks and have a steamy bowl of oatmeal to give you the power you need to get up and get moving and keep going throughout the day.
2. Fruit provides natural sugar that your body can convert to sugar and then use as fuel. The easily digestible properties of fruit allow the nutrients to be absorbed rapidly by the body and help to sustain it throughout your workout. Combined fruit with yogurt for an energy boosting snack that will keep you satisfied throughout just about any physical activity.
3. Peanut Butter is rich in protein and easily digestible. Just two tablespoons can have as many as 9 grams of protein. A good choice of protein especially if you will be working out within the hour.
4. Yogurt contains both protein and calcium so is an exceptionally good food to eat before your fitness workout.
5. Green Tea is full of antioxidants. In addition to drinking water, green tea is effective for helping to rid your body of toxins and will keep you hydrated during your exercise program.

Eating healthy and staying fit is a smart way to having a long life and being happy while you do other activities. If you are worried about eating right, then join our gym and you'll be eating the right foods in no time. It as been proven that when people begin an exercise routine they also start to eat healthy to maximize their results. So contact us today to learn more about our fitness programs and how you can become a member.

A good beginner type of calorie burning and strength gaining exercise is that of resistance training. It is common for many individuals to direct their energies to weightlifting exercises but it is also acceptable to begin with an exercise program based on body weight. Whichever exercise program you choose, begin at a slow pace until you have learned the correct way to practice the strength training exercise designed for you.

There are many different exercises that can be included in a strength based exercise plan. It's a good idea to include exercises that use various muscles. Begin slowly and gradually increase the weight. There are several different methods you can use to vary your exercise routine. You could do a complete body workout routine one day, your legs and abs on another day, and your arms on yet another day. Always give yourself one complete 24 hour period of rest before focusing on that same muscle again. To increase circulation, make sure you warm up your muscles at the beginning of your exercise routine.

It is not necessary for a beginner workout routines to be so hard to follow. Always begin by adding calorie burning cardiovascular exercises in conjunction with helpful strength training exercises. You should see yourself losing weight by exercising at least three to four hours weekly. After you have advanced, you may want to consider a more strenuous routine based on weightlifting or body weight. Contact us today should you have any questions about starting a workout plan.

While you are under a weight reducing diet, there are certain times of the day that are better for eating because the energy provided by food is better used by your body. The times of the day when is better to eat are not tied to specific hours, but to the kind of activities that you have. This means that for example it is not important that you always eat breakfast at exactly 7AM, but you should always eat breakfast in the morning.

The first time to eat during the day is in the morning. This is especially true if your workout routine is in the morning as well. About 30 mins before you workout is the best time to eat a good breakfast. It is important to eat a good breakfast, one that stops the urges of eating for several hours. The breakfast you eat should be balanced, because when you wake up all the nutrients in the blood are already depleted.

After working out is another good moment to eat. This is so because after you eat your metabolism is still accelerated, which makes it easier for your body to use the energy that comes with your food. This makes it less likely for your food to get deposited as fat in your body.

This is the same reason why it is recommended to eat a light dinner. Since while you sleep your body burns less calories, if you have a heavy dinner all the extra energy will get deposited as fat. A good advice is to eat your dinner at least three hours before going to sleep and to eat a light dinner. In that way you will give your body time to burn some calories while awake.

Staying on a fitness plan while eating healthy will not only help you lose weight but turn it into lean muscle. If it proves to be too difficult try doing group exercises such as the ones we offer  or use a personal trainer. Be sure to contact us should you have any questions regarding fitness and being healthy and we'll be happy to help.

Training your abs is a easy task. However its best to know which exercise is best and that there is a distinct difference between our abs and our core. Our "abs", or what we refer to as our abs is actually one muscle- our rectus abdominus muscle. It is one small part of the whole area between our rib cage and our pelvis that we know as our "core". For now let’s talk about that six-pack, or your abs. This may be the area of the body where most people make mistakes in training. So we will go through a few basic ground rules for training our abs:

• More is not better! Your rectus abdominus is made up of fast twitch muscle fibers. That means that it responds best to low reps such as 8-10 at a time. Your best bet is to do 3 or 4 sets of 8-12 crunches for your 6 pack. That's it. You can train your deeper core muscles after these surface ones are tired but that’s a whole discussion in itself.
• Abdominal training should always come LAST. Some people think that you should train your abs first while they are "fresh" in order to get the best results. It’s o.k. if that’s the only thing you are training that day, but if you are doing another body part- do that first. Your abs provide structural support for other exercises. If you tire them out, you will not be able to perform your best and may hurt yourself in the process.
• Remember diet is the key. No matter what you are doing in the gym, the only way to really get definition in your middle is by watching what you put in your mouth. Eating smaller meals often throughout the day will help turn your keg into a 6 pack!

Keeping your mind focused and making sure you stay consistent with your workout routine is the best way to get results fast. If you feel as though its a bit harder to get motivated then check out our excellent group exercise programs. They provide a lot of support and fun activities to get you into the spirit of working out. Contact us today to find out how you can join our gym and get started on being more healthy.

Getting into great shape isn't necessarily hard, it just requires a few fitness tips. A little discipline, a little motivation, and a little will to act. Once you have those, all you have to do is adjust your diet and change up your exercise routine and you're on your way to get into amazing shape. Of course, it always helps to have a little advantage, which is why we want to offer you 3 tips to help you get into amazing shape:

Don't get caught up in diet details. One of the biggest mistakes some people make is they get caught up in the details of their diet, and forget the overall goal of just plain losing weight (or gaining weight, for the muscle builders). Don't worry about whether your diet is low carb high fat or high fat low carb, just concentrate on caloric reduction. Eat 500 calories less than your maintenance amount per day, and you'll lose one pound of fat a week.

Have a support group. Using a support group of like minded people is a great way to get in amazing shape. It will help keep you motivated to know that there are people just like you going through the same kinds of challenges to meet their goals. A support group that we offer is called our group exercise program. We have many extensive exercise programs that a lot of our members are a part of.

Enjoy exercise. For instance, you might enjoy our group exercise Zumba dance or our martial art program more than doing a treadmill, so why not do it? These fitness tips may seem like common sense but sometimes people need to see how simple certain steps are to achieve fitness happiness. Contact us today to learn more about fitness routines or join our gym.

Cardiovascular exercise simply means that you are actively participating in something that will raise your heart rate to meet your target. Before you start a cardio routine, it is important to be aware of your personal target rate. This means that during your cardio routine, your heart rate should be within this zone. If it goes above the zone, you need to slow down. If it goes below the zone, you should pick up the pace. A simple tip to remember is that during your workout, you should be breathing heavier but still be able to have a conversation without stopping your exercise.

Cardio is very important for many reasons. First, it is a way to burn calories in a short amount of time and help you lose weight. It also helps you maintain your weight once you have reached your weight goal. Second, cardio strengthens your heart so it does not have to work as hard to pump blood in your body. Third, it increases your lung capacity. Fourth, it reduces the risks of heart disease, heart attacks, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. These are all health issues that affect so many men and women in American today. Just think, many of these cases could be prevented with some simple cardiovascular exercise. In addition to helping reduce risks of health problems, cardio also just simply makes you feel good, helps you sleep better, and reduces stress.

Contact us today to learn how you can become a part of our friendly gym. Membership is always available and we would be happy to answer and questions you may have. Be sure to check out our group exercise programs as well here!