Archive for the ‘Fitness’ Category
Grocery shelves have more low fat, sugar free, low calorie foods than ever before and still the weight of Americans is on the rise. We spend over $50 billion on weight loss products every year. There isn’t that one magic pill to help ease our woes of weight loss. Researchers are now looking into the psychological environment that causes people to overeat. When we label certain foods as “good” or “bad” it has a self esteem impact on us.
For instance, let’s say fruits and vegetables are labeled a “good” food. If I have a salad for lunch, “I’m a good person because I had a salad.” However, if I have a Mickey D’s quarter pounder with cheese and fries, “I’m a bad person, because I had fast fried food.” By thinking in these terms, we have taken out the pleasure of eating. Some where along the line we have tied our self esteem into the types of food we eat.
How many times have we been told to clean our plates or thought, “It’s 12:00, I have to eat
lunch”? We’ve been conditioned by the external cues in our world. We have lost the intrinsic ability of eating when we are truly hungry and the ability to recognize when we’ve had enough to eat.
The new eating behavior requires us to get in tune with our bodies, by recognizing when we are actually hungry and concede that it’s ok to be hungry. By recognizing these issues we will have a healthier thought process about food. Knowing when we are hungry, recognize when we are full and eat the foods we want to eat puts us on the right track for healthy eating behaviors. With this knowledge, we have the freedom to choose all kinds of foods for all the right reasons. Will this result in weight loss? Probably, because we will learn more about our selves and the triggers that cause us to eat. Plus we will gain piece of mind.
Another big hurdle to over come to is to accept yourself as you are. Do not compare your self with others, and find your own strengths. Some where along our path we lost the concept of being healthy to looking good.
Advantages of Weight Training
Yes it’s true, we lose 5 pounds of muscle after our 30th birthday. In fact, research is now showing that physical inactivity is the 2nd leading preventable cause of death in the US. That is why we should have a weight training/strength training regimen. There are so many benefits regardless of what age you start. I explained how the muscle actually gets little tears before it can repair and rebuild itself. Now, I’ll share with you the advantages of weight training.
- Research shows that resistance training can slow down or reverse the process of aging.
- It builds muscle to help prevent osteoporosis.
- Weight training raises our resting metabolic rate, that is the number of calories we burn at rest.
- Some evidence is showing that it can lower moderate to high blood pressure.
- Muscle strength and tone can actually help prevent falls.
These are just a few advantages of weight training. So with this knowledge what are you waiting for? Pick up your soup cans and start with some bicep curls. Do some dips during commercials, by putting your legs on the coffee table and hands on the sofa. How about using that 5 pound bag of potatoes for leg extensions. Using your body weight, bands, machines, free weights or elastic tubing plus anything around the house that offers some resistance can be a good start.
Did you know that you lose 5 pounds of muscle every year after age 30? That is why weight training is very important at any age. There are many advantages to weight training, resistance training or strength training. By mentioning this type of resistance training, I’m referring to weight lifting in any manner, using weight apparatus, elastic tubing, or your own body weight, anything that offers resistance.
It is interesting how the muscles work at increasing muscle size or mass. Every time you lift weights in a progression way (increasing weight, lowering reps) you intentionally put microscopic tears in the muscle, this process is called catabolism. When the muscle repair itself, that is called anabolism. When the muscle repair itself, is when growth takes place. The healing and growing actually takes place when the muscle is not working and at rest.
Weight training can slow down or even reverse the signs of aging! There are many benefits to weight training and tomorrow I’ll share them with you. So stay tuned for the advantages of weight training!
The ability to burn fat is directly proportionate to muscular endurance and caridorespiratory conditioning. As you will learn here, the more endurance you have, the more efficient the body will be at burning fat in the aerobic energy systems.
Endurance relies on repeated muscular contractions over a long period of time. Cardiorespiratory conditioning is the efficiency in the way our bodies use oxygen to get to the working muscles. The more efficient the heart can pump blood, oxygen and nutrients to the muscle, the greater your body’s endurance. The way to increase your muscular and cardio endurance is by maintaining your heart rate in its target heart rate zone (between 55-90% of your max heart rate) for at least 20 minutes. The longer time and the more frequently you do that the better your endurance.
The benefit of better endurance is a lower resting heart rate, a higher stroke volume,
which is the amount of blood pumped from the heart. The quicker you will get to your target heart rate and a more efficient use of your aerobic energy systems, for glycolysis and fat burning.
The body also needs anaerobic conditioning as well, for those short bursts of high energy needs. This anaerobic energy system uses ATP, Creatine Phosphate, and glycogen within the first 2 minutes of your immediate high energy needs, and then converts to the aerobic energy systems which burn fat.
The best way to achieve muscular strength, power and endurance, is by interval training. Interval training requires maximum amount of energy for a small finite period of time, followed by a submax, or recovery period for a longer period of time, alternating between max and submax conditioning. Refer to my web site, www.fitnessfromthepro.com for more on interval training.
The more flexible we are the less risk of injury, because we will have a greater range of motion. Although, that ROM is joint specific and direction specific. No matter how flexible we are, our knees and elbows will NEVER bend backwards. Our flexibility, is genetic which determines the length of the ligaments and tendons. Flexibility is also based on lifestyle, and past athletic history. Flexibility becomes limited with age, so it is good to incorporate stretching into all workouts even if they don’t burn fat!
There are several fat burning workouts you can do to lose weight or just increase your endurance. The key to fat burning, as we discussed before, is the length of time you are in your target heart rate zone. We talked about your body using Glycolysis as your energy system using carbohydrates for the first 20-30 minutes. It’s not till after at least 30 minutes, your body starts to burn fat for energy.
You can always use the cardio apparatus in the gym, like the treadmill, elliptical, arc trainer, stepper, or the rowing machine for the fat burning workouts. You can work at different levels, by increasing the speed, intensity, and the time. There is also the Cybex apparatus that you can use for a circuit training session. I don’t know about you, but for me if I don’t have good songs on my MP3 player, I get bored really easy with these workouts.
As an alternative to apparatus, there are challenging classes I attend. One which is
incredible for fat burning is Spinning. It is usually a 45-50 minute class, that puts you in your target heart rate zone and keeps you there and burns major calories. The key thing for me in a class like this is the music, it’s gotta be good and upbeat!
It’s back from the 80’s and it’s back with a vengeance….Step!! I love it, I enjoy the speed, the combinations and of course the music.
Another really popular class is Kickboxing!! The music is awesome, the moves are fun and the energy is high! The instructor usually stays with the same routine for awhile adding to it, so the more you go, the better you get. Everybody hoots and hollers and has fun.
There are boot camp classes, Zumba, aqua aerobics, jazzercise, and interval cardio classes. There all kinds of different cardio classes to get and keep you moving. As with everything else you do, it’s all about what you put into the classes you take! Just have fun and burn those calories baby!
Exercise to Lose Weight
Have we stuck to our New Year’s Resolutions of weight loss? Did you sign up at a gym resolving to exercise to lose weight? March is under way, and spring fever is coming. As soon as we get some spring like days, you will flock out doors and shed some clothes. Realizing, that uh-oh, you’ve gained a few pounds. Naturally, you’ll want to starve yourself and maybe exercise one day really really hard and be sore for the next week. Sound familiar? This seems to be the MO (method of operandus) for many folks in the spring.
First thing, NEVER, EVER starve yourself! In reality you are sabotaging your weight loss efforts. What you should be doing is snacking or eating several small meals throughout the day. Let’s say, eating something nutritious every 2-3 hours. By eating often you keep your metabolism optimized. It’s when you don’t eat, the body thinks there is famine and slows down its metabolism to help prevent starvation.
The second thing, please, please, please, don’t try to do a year’s worth of workouts in 1 day! Not only will you be extremely sore, but you won’t feel like exercising again and defeating the ultimate weight loss goal.
My suggestion, do 15-20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise the first week or 2, about 2 0r 3 times a week. Some good cardiovascular exercises, are just walking on the treadmill, or
working on the eliptical or arc trainer. Gradually, add in weight training, with 1 set per exercise, and do 12 repetitions. When you’re beginning to feel stronger, you can increase the length of time for your cardio exercises. This “prescription” for exercise to lose weight is a healthy and safe way to help achieve your goals.
Tomorrow, we will discuss some excellent classes to take, if you get bored on the cardiovascular apparatus, or want to add some spice to the cardio routine.
There are several kettlebell workouts that are very similar to the workouts you use with dumbbells. However, the kettlebells adds a new twist. That twist is instability! Pretty much everything you can do with dumbbells or free weights can be done with kettlebells.
For instance, take a barbell and put kettlebells at each end, and do squats or chest presses. It requires a little more work on your part, because the kettlebells will be swinging with the momentum. If you do this type of training, stay safe and it’s probably a good idea to have a spotter. There is a risk of the kettlebells falling off the bar. A spotter can help prevent that, making the exercise safer.
How about a basic push up. Hold a kettlebell in each hand and as you push away from the floor, use one hand and lift the kettlebell toward your chest and place it back on the floor. We’re talking some serious stabilization from the core here. This exercise could also be down with dumbbells.
Whether you choose kettlebell workouts or not, it’s a good thing to change up the routine and give the entire body a big surprise with kettlebells!
Yesterday, I mentioned we would talk about good form when it comes to the basic abdominal crunch for a flat stomach. As promised, here are a couple of things to remember.
The one and most important thing: Keep the low back into the mat!!! We all have a tendency to arch the back. As soon as that arch takes place you release the abdominals. Think of it this way, when you are laying on your back and you crunch up, concentrate on bringing the ribs to meet the hips. The low back automatically sinks into the mat. Plus you get a little more bang, by tilting the hips up, you are working the full range of the abs.
A second thing to remember: Don’t pull on your head! With our hands behind our head there is a tendency to pull the head up to ease the crunch. This is incredibly bad for the cervical spine. Instead, gently/lightly place your finger tips by your ears and lift.
Another thing to concentrate on is: Keep a fist distance between the chin and chest! Place one of your fists under your chin to get a feel for where that distance is. Or get an
orange, place it under your chin and do a crunch that way.
Finally, I see some folks who want to make the abdominal crunch harder, by lengthening the levers. They have both arms extended over head, which is fine except, they use their arms as momentum to help lift the upper body off the floor. This is called Angular Momentum. You are transferring the real work your abs should be doing, to the swinging the arms. Instead, control the upper body from your abs as you lift with arms extended.
Always remember, GOOD FORM IS EVERYTHING for all exercises, even for a flat stomach!
Abdominal Exercise Equipment
The thing that is great about abdominal exercises is that you really don’t need equipment, and you can do them anywhere even if you are on vacation. Those of you who feel, that you need abdominal exercise equipment to get a more intense workout, let me help.
One of my very favorite abdominal exercise pieces of equipment is THE BOSU. Then again this is a multi-functional unit. It can be used for a full body workout, not just your abs. The Bosu is one of your more expensive items. No matter where I shop, they are always at least $99. I have them for sale on my website at www.fitnessfromthepro.com. The Bosu does come with a DVD which gives you ideas on exercises.
Another fabulous abdominal exercise equipment is the stability ball. This too can be used
for a full body workout, from your abs, to your glutes, to your calves. Stick with the 65cm size ball if you are between 5′3-5′10 ish. If you are 6′ or taller go with the 75 cm ball. The petites should use a 55cm ball. Keep in mind, the firmer the ball, the harder the exercises will be, use that challenge!
Then you have the Pilates Ring, another excellent piece of equipment. You can hold the ring between your hands, or place the ring between your legs, or feet. They are not that expensive and do come with instructions.
A chin up bar with straps are a great way to target the lower portion of your abdominals. You can buy the bar and place over a door frame, and attach the straps to it, or not.
Finally, the use of a good ‘ol dumbbell or plate, placed in between your chest and collar bone is another way to add resistance to your abdominal workout. However, my suggestion to you is master the abdominal basics first before moving on to equipment. I always, always say in my classes, that it’s better to do a few good abdominal exercises, than alot of bad ones. As you probably already know, I’m a real stickler about using proper form. Tomorrow I’ll review, proper abdominal exercise form.
How about the push up!! It’s a great upper body workout, chest, shoulders, back, abs, just about everything. Today, I’m going to give you a new twist, literally, on the push up, so you can add this to your push up workout routine.
This push up exercise is called Fly Push Ups. This is performed just like a regular push up on the toes. The hands are directly under the shoulders, abs tight. Inhale on the way down
and exhale as you push up. When the arms are extended, you’ll want to lift the left arm off the floor, and rotate the body left, into a side plank. Rotate the body, facing down and execute one regular push up. Then lift the right arm and rotate body to the right into a side plank. Repeat and do as many as you can. It is imperative to keep the abdominals tight for control.
To modify this push up exercise, it’s ok to put your knees on the floor. As you lift your left arm and rotate your body to the left, keep the right knee on the floor and extend the left leg above it. Just reverse legs as you rotate to the right, left knee stays on the floor, and extend the right leg above it. It is important to maintain a straight hard body.