Machines vs Free Weights
August 26, 2007
I am often asked, what is the best machine for me?, what is the best machine for this or that body part?. The answer that I always give is none. With the exception of a few specialized pieces of functional equipment, machines in your gym or home are designed to fit the mass population. So we go to exercise and are forced to contort ourselves into a machine that forces us to move in a specific pattern. The unfortunate fact is these patterns are almost always single joint movements (bicep curl). The problem with single joint movements is life involves multiple parts of the body functioning together. Any time isolation exercises are performed the joint and surrounding tissues are exposed to high stresses and loads. These stresses cause injurious forces to the tissues exposing the exerciser to joint and soft tissue damage.
Targeting Those Trouble Spots
August 26, 2007
Wouldn’t it be great if you could get rid of that excess fat on your stomach or tighten up those hips and thighs? How many times have you tried diet and exercise to target your trouble spots only to see slow or no progress? How many people do you know that have been down that same path, probably multiple times?
Having worked with hundreds of individuals, mainly women, the two things that I found with almost every client was that they ALL had specific areas of their body that they really wanted to change.
For some it was the back of their arms and for others it was their rear end. And the second thing is nearly all of those people also felt it was impossible to achieve their goals. Oh, I forgot to mention, there was a third similarity among all those individuals?SHOCK! Shock when I told them not only could they flatten their stomachs, lose their love handles, thin out their thighs, and get rid of the flab on the back of their arms, but they would do it with just 15 minutes of exercise just three times a week!
Cardiovascular Training - From the Heart!
August 25, 2007
Cardiovascular training, or aerobics, requires a different approach than other body parts. At the "heart" of cardiovascular training is one basic premise: if you elevate your heart rate to 65-80 percent of your maximum and keep it there for a period of at least 12 minutes it will stimulate the production of fat-burning enzymes. It will also strengthen your heart and increase the capacity of your lungs to re-oxygenate your blood more efficiently. The idea here is not to work yourself to a frenzy and go beyond your target heart rate, but to stay within that magic training range of 65-80 percent of maximum for a minimum of 12 minutes and, optimally, for 20 to 30 minutes.
Smart Tip: Training for longer periods will certainly hasten your improvement, but not on a 1-to-1, linear basis. Research has shown that the first 12 minutes of aerobic exercise produce a more lasting training effect than the second 12 minutes. So unless you’re already in pretty good condition, it’s probably better to do your 12 minutes more frequently (say 4-6 times per week) than it is to train for longer periods of 30 minutes or more but less frequently.
Tae Kwon Do As A Means To Stay In Shape
August 25, 2007
Becoming a martial artist is a fanatastic method of fitness. While there are many martial art forms to choose from, taekwondo is clearly the most beneficial, and the most practical. And while many realize the benefits of such exercise, the simple fact is most have no idea how to begin.
Getting in shape is a committment to essentially change the way life is lived for the better. But knowing this does not make the first step any easier to take, so many just give up.
Beginning a martial arts program obviously starts with choosing either a school or at the very least, an instructor. Both should be done carefully, but simply getting into a program is a must.
Taekwondo is more of a sport than a martial art, but this distinction makes the art form more readily transferrable to the general public. In short, nearly anyone can practice taekwondo, and with dedication, nearly anyone can become a formidable martial artist.
Taekwondo teaches the equal use of hands and feet, with the emphasis on becoming adept at using both the right and left sides of the body for defense and for attack. Perhaps more importantly than anything else, taekwondo stresses stamina and mental toughness, along with using sound techniques and being in control.
Physical Fitness - Is Your Workout Missing Something?
August 24, 2007
Hiking along a rocky trail, two of the three friends carefully picked their way from rock to rock. But one leaped from rock to rock, bounding by the others like a gazelle running and leaping from rock to rock. Never missing his footing, the others wondered at his almost supernatural grace and skill. “How does he do that?” they thought.
When most people think of physical fitness, they think of strength and cardiovascular fitness. If they are really thinking about it, they’ll add flexibility to the list.
But there’s something few people think about when working out, a missing component of physical fitness. You can’t get it just by lifting weights or running on a treadmill.
The missing component is agility.
Agility is what let my friend run rings around us, leaping from rock to rock along the Pedernales River in Texas. Agility is what you see in top athletes who make great skill look effortless. Agility is what helps a ballet dancer make it look effortless. Agility is how Jackie Chan can still do martial arts even while he is rolling over tables, bouncing off walls, leaping between the rungs of ladders.
Play Better Golf Through Exercise
August 24, 2007
Play better golf. Isn’t that what every golfer thinks about 24/7? Golf can be the most humbling game you will ever play?but we keep coming back for more. To play better golf consistently you need to look at the source.
Do you really think it’s your equipment? How much money have you invested on new equipment only to see the same game show up on the course? No it’s not your equipment.
How about lessons? I am a firm believer in swing mechanics to play better golf. If you don’t have a clear understanding of them, you will never improve. But have you taken lessons only to get more frustrated with your game? What I mean is?you just took a lesson and you’re excited to go play. You get to the course and can’t "find your swing". You’re thinking of too many tips and become locked up on the course.
So what’s left?
One guess? You’re looking right at it. YOU!
In order to play better golf your body has to have a reasonable level of strength, flexibility, endurance and ENERGY! You can’t get this hitting more balls; taking more lessons; or buying more equipment.
Why You Must Use The Right Dumbbells For Your Workout
August 23, 2007
A dumbbell exercise program is effective with the right equipment These days, more so that in decades gone by, dumbbells are growing in popularity in fitness centers and health clubs across the United States.
In addition, they are increasingly being purchased by people who want to include them in their personal gyms at home so they can conduct a dumbbell exercise program in the comfort of their own home when it suits them best.
Rubber encased dumbbells are usually the most popular choice of dumbbells as they offer a myriad of benefits to the user.
While they may be made from high quality cast iron material to give the desired weight effect, they are coated with rubber for added protection, comfort during the dumbell arm workouts and style - the rubber is available in different colors.
Not only are rubber encased dumbbells comfortable to use and safe to use but if you accidentally drop one of them on the floor they will not damage the floor or other equipment because of the rubber exterior. Similarly they will also make a softer thud as opposed to a loud crash with an iron dumbbell.
How To Achieve Longer Golf Drives
August 23, 2007
Longer golf drives are the desire of every golfer. Yet this is something that remains elusive to many golfers.
Yet this should not be the case. Achieving longer golf drives is much easier than most people realize. It is really just a matter of improving on your strength and endurance. Some simple golf specific exercises can do wonders in helping anybody to accomplish longer golf drives.
And what is more, exercise does not have to mean long hours in the local gym sweating it out. Actually many strength and stretch exercises that will help you achieve longer golf drives can be done virtually anywhere. Even in a hotel room somewhere as you are travelling on business. Not to mention your office or home.
For example the following simple exercise has helped many golfers tremendously in their quest for longer golf drives. Not only does it improve a golfer’s power and accuracy in the drive, but it has a few other extremely useful benefits.
It usually helps golfers gain more endurance to play golf the whole day while getting rid of the usual nagging lower back problems that are quite common on the course. This exercise also makes such a tremendous difference in your strength that you have to try it to believe and experience the impact yourself.
Proform XP 590s Treadmill
August 22, 2007
The Proform XP 590s Treadmill - Storage Is XPedient
The Proform XP 590s treadmill is one of the XP series treadmills produced exclusively by Proform for Sears.
Proform XP 590s treadmills, along with the 542e, 542s and XP 800VF, are designed for use in the home gym and are suitable for use in fitness, training and weight loss programs.
Proform is one of several brands offered at Sears, but nearly all,Healthrider, Weslo, and Nordic Track included, are manufactured by Icon Health and Fitness, the largest producer of exercise and training equipment worldwide.
Pro Form is known to place greater attention on design and extra features at the expense of quality, but in the economy class of treadmills they are often rated Best Buys.
Proform And Sears - Big Boys Like To Stick Together
The XP 590s treadmill is a larger model in the XP series with a running deck of 19×55″.
That should be especially appealing to larger individuals and those who restrict their fitness training to running.
Otherwise, it largely shares the specifications of the 542s and 542e treadmills: a 2.75HP motor for speeds up to 10MPH with power incline up to 10% and cushioned running surface using the ProShox? system.
Warming Up Properly
August 22, 2007
In our ‘Stretching’ article series (http://optimumlife.co.nz/Fitness%20Articles/Stretching/Stretching1.htm), we discussed why it’s important to stretch as part of your workout. We also touched on the importance of warming up before even *thinking* about stretching. Since that article, I’ve had a couple of questions about warming up, so it seemed like a good topic for this week’s Optimum Fitness News.
When fitness experts talk about ‘doing a warm up’, they generally mean doing some kind of general activity that gradually raises the heart rate. They will happily tell us that doing so reduces the risk of injury during the following workout ? but don’t often explain exactly how. In fact, a good warm-up should involve more than just this ‘general activity’. The second, less commonly described aspect is the ‘dynamic stretching’ we mentioned in last week’s article. And there are many more reasons to warm up than simple injury risk reduction
WHY WARM UP?
When you start moving in any way that raises your heart rate, certain changes start to take place in your body. Your respiratory rate increases. Bloodflow throughout your body increases, which means that the levels of oxygen and nutrients that are delivered to your cells also increase. In effect, all your body’s systems are warned you’re going to be making demands on them, and primed to meet those demands.
