A Beginner’s Guide to Cardio

Walking may very well be the perfect fitness activity and—judging by its enormous following—it may also be the most popular. The healthy benefits derived from regular walking have been proven in numerous studies, and it is easy and low risk to start.

One particular eight-year study that included 13,000 people found that daily 30 minute walks greatly lowers risk of premature death when compared to people who rarely exercise.

 

Other Benefits of Walking Include:  

•    Lower blood pressure 

•    Increase in cardiovascular condition 

•    Reduced blood cholesterol 

•    Calorie burning and weight loss –yippee! 

•    Increase in bone strength

Getting Started
Never before was a fitness program so low maintenance to start—no fancy clothes, shoes or equipment necessary. All you need are a pair of comfortable shoes, clothes that are easy to move in and a bottle of water.

Before you begin your walk it is a good idea to perform a short warm up and stretching routine. This doesn’t have to be anything complicated—a walk around the house and a few simple stretches will do just fine. The key here is to warm and loosen your muscles to keep them safe from injury.

The Basics
Keep the following pointers in mind as you set out on your inaugural walk:

1.    Set Small Goals: Don’t pressure yourself into walking around the entire block just because you know your neighbor goes that far. The fact is that it will take awhile for your endurance to build, so take baby steps! Start with a simple 5 minute stroll, and increase your walking time from there.

2.    Be Comfortable: Whoa—this isn’t a race! Take your first few walks at a leisurely pace. Remember, this is a new activity for your body, so take it easy. Walk at a pace that feels comfortable, and focus on perfecting your posture with head lifted and shoulders back.

3.    Breathe: As you walk be sure to breathe deeply. If you find yourself huffing and puffing—slow down. Your body needs plenty of oxygen to propel you along, so focus on your breathing.

4.    Enjoy...How about these great outdoors? Beautiful, isn’t it? The birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and fresh air fills your lungs.

Walking is a great way to enjoy nature while getting a great workout. Don’t be afraid to have a little fun!

Your Fitness Solution
Don’t believe the common misconception that walking is only effective for beginners—with a few small changes in speed and intensity you can dramatically increase the challenge level of your walking workout. When your daily walk becomes a piece of cake add a hill to your route, or increase your total walking time.

Most experts recommend that you walk at least 30 minutes each day for optimal results. Fit your daily walks in before breakfast, on your lunch break or after dinner. Any time is the perfect time to improve your health and fitness level by taking a walk.

A Beginner’s Guide to Resistance Training

Still not convinced from Fridays post to pick up a set of weights?

A recent study, done by the American Heart Association, concluded that women who lift weights twice a week are able to prevent or slow weight gain and fat deposits around their waists. Since the release of this information, women everywhere are flocking to their local gyms to pump iron.

Before you begin a strength training program it is important to understand proper lifting techniques. When strength training exercises are performed correctly the benefits are countless, however, when improper techniques are used the result is often injury and frustration. Take the following tips and really make your workout count.

Breathe: You cannot emphasize the important of proper breathing enough, when it comes to lifting weights. Most people do not pay attention to their breathing pattern, and as a result they hold their breath throughout an exercise. For the best results, exhale during the exertion phase of an exercise and inhale as you return to the starting position. For example, during a bicep curl, exhale while you curl the weight and inhale as you lower the weight back down.

Pace: A common mistake among novice weight lifters is to perform exercises with quick, jerky movements. Instead, focus on making your movements fluid and controlled. Remember, you are working your muscles throughout the entire movement when you control your pace. If you move too quickly, on the other hand, you are simply using momentum, and not muscle, to get the exercise done.

Too Many: Who says that you need to match your sets and reps to the gym rat on the bench next to you? A key to avoiding injury is to start your weight lifting career with a slow and steady increase in both sets and reps. When you learn a new exercise start by only doing one set and 8-12 reps.

Too Much: When you start lifting weights for the first time it is important that you lift weights that feel light. Lifting weights that are too heavy will lead to muscle tears and strains. Injury is the number one reason that new weight lifters throw in the towel. Avoid injury by building up the weight slowly; don’t let your ego get in the way of your overall weight lifting success.

Balance: Your body is made up of 7 major muscle groups. These include your legs, abdominals, back, chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps. Many weight lifters get caught up with one or two muscle groups, namely chest and biceps, and as a result their body lacks balance. Not only does it look funny to have only one or two muscular body parts, it also sets you up for injury. Take the time to incorporate all of your major muscle groups into your weekly workouts.

Rest: Even though you are ‘pumped up’ about your new weight lifting routine, don’t overdo it! Your body needs time off to rebuild and repair muscle tissue after every workout. Start by weight lifting no more than 3 times a week, with a day off in between each workout. As a rule of thumb, never lift weights when you are still sore from your last workout. With time you will develop a routine that gives your body the proper rest time, while still getting you the results you want.

When in doubt, hire a local fitness professional to teach you the ropes. Not only will they instill proper technique, but they will also help you target and achieve your personal goals.

Come Back Tuesday to find out how to Shrink Your Waistline, and Strengthen your Heart!

Challenging Home Workout

Here is a killer home workout that won't take too long nor require a lot of equipment to do it.

What you Need:
Stop watch, I like the Gymboss timer
Kettlebell or Dumbbell
If you want to make this an entire body-weight workout, perform mountain climbers or jumping jacks or skip rope, instead of swings. 


Make sure you Warm-up - 5-10 minutes

Take a 10 second break in between exercises if needed.

The Workout:
60 seconds Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings or choose any body-weight cardio listed above
50 seconds Lunges
50 seconds Push-ups
50 seconds Crunches

60 seconds Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings
40 Lunges
40 Push-ups
40 Crunches

60 seconds Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings
30 Lunges
30 Push-ups
30 Crunches

60 seconds Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings
20 Lunges
20 Push-ups
20 Crunches

60 seconds Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings
10 Lunges
10 Push-ups
10 Crunches

Cool down and Stretch

Balance a Healthy Lifestyle

Balance training is important for everyone, from athletes to casual exercisers.

Good balance and a strong core go hand in hand, and a strong core usually means better posture, less back pain and improved performance during exercise and athletics. Plus, the better you balance the less likely you are to fall or injure yourself. If you haven't thought much about maintaining—or enhancing—your balance, now is as good a time as any to start.

1. Change Your Base of Support. Balance is your ability to maintain your center of gravity over your base of support. When you're standing up, your legs are your base of support. The wider your legs are, the wider your base is and the easier it is to balance. The closer your legs are together, the narrower your base of support is and the harder it is to remain balanced. One of the easiest ways you can challenge (and therefore help improve) your balance during any standing exercise is to gradually narrow your base of support until your feet and legs are together while you perform your exercise. Bring your legs closer together while you do standing biceps curls, shoulder raises, squats or other upper body moves. Be sure to keep your abs pulled in tight and make sure you're not leaning backward as you perform your exercises.  Note: You can also widen or narrow your base of support while lying on or sitting on a stability ball to perform exercises, so try this progression when you're on the ball, too!
2. Try It on One Leg. Once you've mastered doing an exercise with a narrow base of support, you're ready for the next challenge: balancing on a single leg. Instead of standing on both legs during some of the same moves above, try it on a single leg. Start by just lifting one heel (keeping your toes on the floor) while doing your upper body moves or working up to a single leg squat. As you get better, lift that foot off the ground completely. From there, you can play around with the position of your lifted leg—holding it behind you, in front of you, to the side or, for a greater challenge, moving that leg while you balance on the other leg and perform upper body movements. Just be sure to alternate legs to keep your strength and muscle tone balanced between both sides of your body. Tip: You can also experiment with momentary one-leg balances. For example, on a forward lunge, lift your front or back leg for a moment each time your push up out of your lunge. 
3. Close your eyes. Your sense of vision is a big part of the balance equation. It works hand in hand with the vestibular (inner ear) and proprioceptive systems to maintain balance and prevent falls. By staring at a single focal point (minimizing your head and eye movement), you'll balance more easily. If you move your gaze or take vision out of the equation altogether, it's harder to balance. This option is definitely a challenge—not something for beginners and not something you can do in any given situation. You'll want to make sure you're in a controlled environment and that your body is planted (don't attempt this while walking or hiking or moving through space). You can start by just standing up tall and closing your eyes without moving. Over time, combine the narrow base of support with some one-leg balances while closing your eyes. You might be surprised how challenging it is to simply stand with your eyes closed, let alone stand on one foot or while doing a biceps curl. Just be sure to use your best judgment and listen to your body when trying this technique. Safety first!

Easter Workout - Burn off those mini eggs!

If you DO have better things to do over the long weekend, try combining exercises into combination sets to get more work done in less time. It'll
skyrocket your results!

Choose exercises that allow you to work one movement pattern or
muscle group while allowing relative recovery of another. Then
alternate back and forth from one to the other.

Run threw the following paired up movements 3 times
Jump Squat with a Push up
Rear Lunge together with a Hip Bridge
Mountain Climbers with T-Plank
180 rotational squat jump with V-sit

This is an excellent opportunity to use the Tabata Protocal - all-out-intensity!

Round 1: 20 seconds work for each exercise, with 10 seconds rest in between
Round 2: 30 seconds work for each exercise, with 30 seconds rest in between
Round 3: 45 seconds work for each exercise, with 15 seconds rest in between

FYI: 12 mini eggs are 190 calories

Circuit Training Helps Fight Fat

Circuit Training Helps Fight Fat
by Mark Kravjansky


Circuit training involves doing a series of weight and callisthenic exercises rapidly — you do an exercise and then proceed quickly to the next. It’s a great training method because it develops strength and endurance fitness at the same time.

But, how effective is it for cutting the fat? Dr. Robert Haltom and colleagues studied the number of calories people burn during and after circuit training. They also studied the effects of rest time between exercises on overall calorie cost.

Their subjects did two circuits of eight upper and lower body resistance exercises of 20 reps. Subjects rested for either 20 or 60 seconds between exercises. The researchers found people burned approximately 260 calories from doing the circuit workout and the rest interval between exercises didn’t make much difference.

Though 260 calories might not seem like much, it only took 20 minutes of time, and when you consider this kind of training also builds and tones muscle, circuit training could turn you into a calorie burning dynamo. Those calories will add up!

(Med Sci Sports Exer, 31:1613-8,2000)

Leg and Core Day

This is what I did today at the gym - enjoy!

Leg and Core Day

Warm up
Treadmill 10 minutes
3 minutes: shoulder shrugs, arm circles walking at 3 speed
2 minutes: jog at 4 speed
5 minutes: 4.5-5 speed jog/run

Super set #1: Repeat 2 - 4 times

1A: Assisted Pull-ups – 12 reps
1B: Sumo Squat with 20lb DB – 20 reps


Cardio:
Spin Bike Adjust Resistance
peddle as fast as you can 1-2 minutes

Superset #2: Repeat 2 – 4 times

2A: Leg Curl – 12 reps
2B: Heel Drops – 12 reps each side

Cardio:
Treadmill 15 minutes
2 minutes: incline: 0 speed 4
30 seconds: incline: 1 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 2 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 3 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 4 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 5 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 6 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 7 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 8 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 9 speed 4.5
30 seconds: incline: 10 speed 4.5
* Decrease incline by 1 every 30 seconds until back at zero incline
1 minute incline: 0 speed 4
1 minute incline: 0 speed 3.5
1 minute incline: 0 speed 3

Superset #3: Repeat 2 – 4 times

3A: Donkey Kicks – 12 reps
3B:Hip Bridge – 12 reps


Cardio:
Rowing machine 2 minutes

Superset #4: Repeat 2-4 times

4A: Lunges with 20lb DB – 12 each side
4B: Side Bends with 20lb DB – 12 each side


Cooldown:
10 minute treadmill – speed walk speed 3.5

ABS – repeat sequence 1-3 times

Plank with alt. side tap – 12 each side
Plank knee tuck – 12 each side

Side plank with leg lift – 30 seconds each side
Front plank – 30 second hold

Superman – 30 seconds

Stretch!

Build Stronger Bones!

Types of Exercise

There are several types of exercise, each with a specific target for improving your physical health:

• Range-of-motion exercises, which move each joint through its full range of motion daily
• Strengthening exercises, which build muscle strength and improve joint stability
• Endurance exercises, which bring heart rate up and improve cardiovascular fitness

Two subcategories of strengthening exercise are weightbearing exercise and resistance exercise. Weightlifting is an example of resistance exercise. Right now, let's focus on understanding weightbearing exercise.

What Is Weightbearing Exercise?

Weightbearing exercise is essential for building and maintaining healthy bones. Weightbearing exercise is any activity you do while on your feet and legs that works your muscles and bones against gravity. During weightbearing exercise, bone adapts to the impact of weight and the pull of muscle by building more bone cells. Consequently, bone becomes stronger and more dense. The risk of fracture, osteopenia, and osteoporosis decreases.

Weightbearing exercise includes:

• walking
• jogging
• hiking
• dancing
• step aerobics
• soccer
• baseball
• basketball
• tennis, racquetball
• bowling
• golf
• stair climbing

Exercises that are non-weightbearing (although good cardio) include:

• swimming
• bicycling

Boot Camp is a GREAT workout with lots of weight bearing exercise!