We start all our clients very gradually and the workouts are fun. The Exercise Fitness Servicestrainers are experts at motivating you to reach your goals. We bring individualized one on one fitness services directly to you or you can go to one of their training studios.

Personal Training Associates specializes in working with clients who:

1. Do not feel comfortable in a regular gym

2. Have not exercised in some time, or ever

3. Have medical disabilities or other limitations

4. Are over the age of 35

5. Are involved in rehab of some kind

When a personal trainer comes to your home for the first time, or if you schedule an appointment at the fitness studio in Herndon, a full health and fitness assessment will be filled out. Then during a consultation with you, both short term and long term goals will be defined. The trainers are all nationally certified and experienced professionals that will keep you motivated to achieve your personal fitness goals. A Certified Dietitian is on staff to provide nutritional guidance, and a Massage Therapist is available to offer a soothing massage after a workout.

Health and fitness should be a fun and manageable part of everyday life. Our Custom Fitness Personal Training Services prides itself on providing a positive approach to exercise and nutrition, and puts the personal back into personal training. Let’s face it, we all have unique personalities, and can differ in our likes and dislikes and what we are looking for in a health and fitness program.

You may want to put on muscle, lose pounds and inches, improve your flexibility, regain lost energy and/or improve your cardiovascular fitness, or simply relieve pent up stress. Taking a personal approach to health and fitness instruction is much more than simply showing someone how to use a machine or lift a dumbbell. It is about understanding individual goals and objectives, and putting together a complete, customized plan of action tailored to fit those needs. For more details http://www.soundbodytrainer.com



By: baji

About the Author:

Being in the Grupo Mayan country known as Mexico does not really mean that you have to leave fitness behind. What is a 30 minutes’ worth of jogging or brisk walking on the beach or in the walkways? Most of the Grupo Mayan resorts have their own fitness center, not to mention spa and swimming pool, where you can burn those excess calories and keep yourself in shape all throughout your stay.

But you may have to bring along your own health kit with you. Here are some of them:

1. Towels. Though most of the Grupo Mayan hotels are equipped with gymnasiums, a number of them do not supply you with your own supplies, including a towel. Thus, you have to bring yours when you exercise. Ensure that this is completely different from the ones you utilize when taking a bath. The towel, specifically a small one, is meant to wipe away your perspiration when you are doing the treadmill or any strenuous activity. Sweat can get into your eyes, and it will prevent you from seeing things a lot clearer. To avoid losing your towel or, worse, used by another, embroider your name into it.

2. Bottle of water. Most of the Grupo Mayan fitness areas have their own purified water for free. You simply have to grab your own cup. Some even have their own mini-café, selling healthy snacks and beverages. However, if you happen to be outside doing your daily fitness routine, bring along a bottle of water with you. You can never be so sure of the quality of water in Mexico. You can buy it in stores you see near the area or from the hotel.

3. Extra shirts. There are a number of reasons why an extra shirt is needed when you are doing your fitness regimen. First, you may smell, and the odor will stick to your shirt. You thus have to change it when you are getting all too sweaty. Second, it is a not a good idea to allow the room’s air-conditioner to get into you while you’re perspiring. You may suffer from respiratory illness. Since Mexico is generally a tropical country, you can go with cotton shirts. They can also provide you with proper ventilation. Sweatshirts are really not necessary.   

4. Medicines. Why do you need medicines in Mexico? There’s a possibility that the medication you’re taking or need is not available in the Grupo Mayan clinic or even in nearby drugstores. There are also possible accidents that can happen while you’re doing an exercise, such as when you sprain an ankle or get nauseous. You don’t have to bring your entire medicine cabinet with you. Usually, generic ones can be easily obtained. You may also have to bring your vitamins with you, as you need the energy to sustain the exercises.

Health kits must be one of your primary considerations when traveling to Mexico. In fact, they must be packed and ready to be used once you arrive in the country.



By: irinaM

About the Author:

Following are the Components of Physical fitness :

1. Speed: Speed is the ability of a person to execute motor movements with high speed in the shortest period of time. It is equal to the distance covered per unit of time. the element of speed is involved in most of the athletic skills such as in sprint running, some skills of soccer, basketball, etc.

2.Strength: Strength is the ability of a muscle to expert or release force by contraction enabling a person to overcome resistance or to act against resistance.

3. Power: Power is the ability of muscle to release maximum force in the shortest period of time. It is equal to force multiplied by speed. It is the combination of strength and speed. Speed and force must be combined for effective performance in activities like baseball throw, jumps for height, football kick, boxing punch,etc.

4. Endurance :Endurance is the ability of the person to perform movement of moderate (Sub-maximum) contractions over prolonged period of time under conditions of fatigue or tiredness. It is the product of all psychic and physical energy of human body.

5. Flexibility : Flexibility is the ability of a muscle to perform movements with large range of motion.

6. Agility : Agility is the ability of a person to change positions in space or to change directions quickly and effectively e.g. football player quickly changes direction or giving dodge to opponent, hurdle crossing over the barrier or hurdles, zig-zag running, etc.

7. Balance : Balance is the ability of a person to control human body or to maintain equilibrium under static and dynamic conditions e.g. hand stand, skating, skiing, catching a fly in baseball, etc.

- By Body Health Blog .



By: Body Fitness

About the Author:

As we come close to yet another new year all those who have decided to finally commit to

regular exercise and stay fit raise your hands. Wow, that is a lot of people!

That’s great! Now, how about a gym membership, that sounds like the way to go right? All

that equipment that works, so many gyms to choose from, Golds, Bally Total Fitness, LA

Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and the multitude of smaller gyms, means you have everything

available to achieve fitness through exercise.

Tight tone body, great lean strong muscle, a seemingly unending supply of natural non

chemically induced energy, increased health and a positive outlook to go with the new

powerful confident healthy you.

Gym memberships are actually up 23% since 2001 based on a recent report by Smart

Money Magazine and according to the International Health, Raquet and Sportsclub

Association (IHRSA).

Sadly those new year healthy fitness commitments go up in smoke for most people within the

first 90 days according to Alan Marlatt, the director of the Addictive Behaviors Research

Center at the University of Washington.

In fact, gyms count on a drop out rate of at least 20-30% based on Meg Jordan, the editor of

American Fitness magazine.

So what do you do if you want to beat the odds? What do you do if you do not want to be

one of the great majority who will end their healthy fitness commitment within the first 90

days?

You get the Habit Braker On The Go Exercise Support System! 20 different quick play audio

messages, give you the boost you need, right through your cell phone, iPOD, MP3 player, to

stick with your fitness commitment for 30 days, 90 days, and for the rest of your life so you

can finally achieve your fitness dream.

No one has to try to stay motivated on their own to their commitment to get that tone healthy

body and all of the other benefits that regular exercise provides. The statistics prove that

trying to stay motivated on your own is not only unlikely it is a plan set up for failure.

By using your cell phone, iPOD, MP3 player you can avoid the most common pitfall of losing

motivation and get to the new fit you. Everyone can achieve that fit physique with the right

consistent motivation. Now it is easy and convenient to get that needed consistent

motivation. By pushing a button on your cell phone, seconds later you will experience

another day of success towards achieving your fitness goal!

American innovation does it again and through Habit Braker Enterprises Inc the solution to

achieve total fitness through regular exercise has been created. A new age has arrived

where everyone can now finally achieve their healthy fitness dream.



By: Landa Marsili

About the Author:

exercise fitness

is is why these health centers are a thriving industry by themselves and continue to grow in popularity with changing perspectives of having basic to exclusive facilities – all under one roof, with the benefits of a social environment too.

Visiting a fitness gym on a regular basis also helps create a positive change in a person’s lifestyle as it is a meeting point for people of all ages, from different walks of life besides being a motivational center for staying in shape; with so many fit people about, from trainers to counselors and other members successfully sticking to an exercise regime in the fitness gym, the new members are likely to get inspired to do the same, too.

Thus, staying active and physically fit thanks to the lifestyle changes endorsed by the fitness gym instructors and counselors who are professionally trained to give advice and actual help with a beneficial fitness program that is customized according to a person’s healthcare needs, is easy once you sign up with a good quality health center.

From tips and help on losing or gaining weight, to toning up specific body parts to re-shaping up after an accident or pregnancy or even a health problem, there’s a lot of hope and support to be gained by joining a fitness center.

Customers signing up with a quality health care center have added benefits of discounts on various newly introduced or altered fitness packages and programs, besides flexi-timings for work-outs and even customizing an exercise and rejuvenation plan as per their own needs in conjunction with fitness instructors at the gym. Since the high quality sports equipments is staring one in the face for many hours at a stretch when at a gym, it does mean getting influenced to sweat it out, especially when you see the great results around you – in the bodies of all those who working out around you.

Thus, the quality healthcare establishments today offer scope for much more than simply instant fitness; from socializing to healthcare awareness to achieving long term fitness goals, they are doing it all!



By: Abhishek Agarwal

About the Author:

In order to understand exactly what fitness is, or what it means to be “fit”, we have to define it so that we can have a precise understanding of what, how and why. Right? It almost drove me mad trying to find a definition for fitness and being fit! I searched the internet and writings of leading industry organizations and found very odd, misleading and confusing definitions. It’s no wonder everyone struggles to achieve a state that has no clear definition!

If you took the time to search yourself, you might find definitions for fitness such as:

in good physical condition; in good health or sound physically and mentally; healthy; to conform correctly to the shape or size of (1): to insert or adjust until correctly in place (2): to make or adjust to the right shape and size; Capability of the body of distributing inhaled oxygen to muscle tissue during increased physical effort; the genetic contribution of an individual to the next generation’s gene pool relative to the average for the population, usually measured by the number of offspring or close kin that survive to reproductive age. (Huh!!)

Wow! Even the NSCA, the National Strength and Conditioning Association who is one of the most respected authorities on exercise physiology doesn’t even attempt to give a definition of fitness.

How’s that for maddening? Well let me share with you what my definition of fitness is. You see, creating a fitness program without clearly defining what it is that the program must deliver would be ambiguous and leave you unclear about what you had to do to achieve the outcome you want. I believe that defining fitness plays a crucial role in your success. The keys to understanding the methods and achievements of the perfect fitness program are embedded in our view of fitness and in some basic exercise science.

At Ultimate Potential we use five different principles or systems for evaluating and guiding you in achieving your Ultimate level of fitness. These five systems define our view of fitness perfectly. All of these systems combined creates a holistic body (or being) and lifestyle.

Each system is a vital component and each has a distinct importance in understanding your overall fitness level or that of a program’s effectiveness in serving you to achieve a higher level of fitness. Mastering each of these 5 systems combined create what we define as world-class or elite level fitness.



1st System - Train All 10 of Your Basic Physical Skills



The first system identifies and outlines the 10 generally recognized basic physical skills you must train your body for. They are defined as:



Cardiovascular



Stamina



Strength



Flexibility



Power



Speed



Coordination



Agility



Balance



Accuracy

- the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity. - the ability to control the placement of your body’s center of gravity in relation to its base of support. Balance gets harder as you get older unless you train to keep this skill sharp. - the ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another. - the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement. - the ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement - the ability of your muscles to apply maximum force in minimum time. - the ability to maximize your range of motion at a given joint and not feel 90 when you’re only 40! - the ability of your muscles, or combinations of muscles, to apply force. - the ability of your body systems to process, deliver, store and utilize energy.- the ability of body systems to gather, process and deliver oxygen to your entire body.

The truth is, you’re only as fit as you are developed in each of these 10 basic skills. And like a chain, you are only as strong as your weakest link. Improvements are always made with training and practice. Keep in mind that all of these skills have one common theme: if you don’t use them, you will lose them. All of these skills make a contribution to your quality of life. Identifying where you are weakest in these 10 categories and then choosing the right fitness training program that allows you to develop and achieve balance in all of these skills is YOUR goal in the first system.



2nd System - Functional Training means you train for life



The second system is based upon the fact that your human body is meant to perform in functional, multidirectional movement patterns using multiple joints and muscles at any given time. This is why we train your body with primarily Functional Training using the right intensity and methods in our Fitness Training programs. If you think about your functional movement patterns in a day, they might include: squatting, overhead reaching, twisting, bending, pushing, pulling, lunging, quick multi-directional movements, stepping, climbing, etc. Imagine not being able to do any of those when you needed to the most? Imagine having a better body and quality of life because you’re stronger and capable of handling anything that comes your way!



Life is a consistently unpredictable event!

You never know what will be thrown your way or how you will have to respond at any given moment. Having a higher level of fitness means you must be able to execute physical tasks, especially those that are unusual movements and combined in infinitely varying combinations.

Here’s a big myth that I want to dispel. The myth is that in order to achieve the perfect body you have to work out doing the same consistent exercises, with a specific number of reps and sets on the same days of the week. Let me tell you how wrong that is! It’s extremely important to know that following a routine with a set number of reps, sets, exercises, order of exercises or routines is not an effective way to train your body! Back and shoulders one day…arms and legs another. That’s right! The best way to train your amazing, beautiful human body is to constantly mix up training techniques, use combination movements, keep your workouts varied and challenging and always push yourself to the next level. Routine is the enemy!

You will make progress toward achieving a fitness goal when you are consistent and engaging yourself with fun, challenging and diverse exercises that you enjoy. Mix it up at least five or ideally six days a week for at least an hour at a time at varied intensity levels.

In our Outdoor Fitness Training programs, we never have you do the same workout twice and you never know what you’ll be doing until you get there! You see, no predictability means you keep your body guessing, keep it on the edge and keep making progress toward your goals. This is what you must do as well if you are planning to embark on your own fitness program.



3rd System - Understand how to use your energy systems to your max fat and calorie burning advantage!



The third system is the secret to burning the maximum amount of fat and calories you can while increasing your level of fitness faster.

What the secret, you want to know? The secret lies in the right prescription for magic “metabolic conditioning.”

I have to get a little scientific on you here for a minute but don’t worry this will all make perfect sense to you in a moment. I’ll bet no one has ever taken the time to explain to you how your body’s energy systems work and why it’s important to know and understand how this information is going to benefit you.

There are three distinct metabolic pathways that provide the energy for all of your actions. These metabolic engines are known as the:

The Phosphagen pathway

The Glycolytic pathway

The oxidative pathway

If this all sounds too technical to you, relax, because I’m going to break it down for you…

Your phosphagen and glycolytic pathway supply the majority of energy used in moderate to high-powered activities that last less than several minutes. So, think weightlifting, sprinting, circuit and interval training here. These activities are primarily called anaerobic. Anaerobic activity causes the biggest increase to your cardiovascular fitness level, allows you to develop muscle tone faster and gives you the biggest decreases in body fat, surprisingly more than aerobic activity. Anaerobic conditioning gives you the biggest bang for your buck by creating the body you want faster and more efficiently. Anaerobic activity will also develop your level of aerobic fitness without losing valuable muscle tone that often occurs with long endurance aerobic exercise where your heart rate is kept at a steady, easier rate. Decreased muscle tone means increased body fat. No one wants that!

The third pathway, the oxidative pathway supplies energy for low-powered activities, those that last in excess of several minutes. Think fast walking, jogging, running (whether it’s around the block, long-distance or ultra endurance), biking, swimming etc. there is no argument that aerobic training builds your cardiovascular engine and decreases body fat. But what’s important to know is that if you only train your body aerobically you will never develop a higher level of fitness without training anaerobically. Aerobic exercise is important for reducing body fat and developing your cardiovascular baseline of fitness but without developing muscle you will struggle to increase your metabolism. Without balancing aerobic and anaerobic exercise you simply will not create the results you want to see.

You must tap into all of your body’s energy pathways while doing the most effective combinations of fitness training that gives you the greatest results in the minimum amount of time. The secret to your success lies in higher intensity circuit and interval training techniques and in always mixing things up! Remember, keep your body guessing, and always keep upping the ante!

 



4th System - The Magic of the Right Nutrition



This system is one of the most critical and often neglected. And it’s the one system that people seem to struggle with the most. But I’m going to make it easy for you.

Your nutrition plays one of the most critical functions in achieving your health and fitness success

. Let’s be honest and straight up here…simply choosing exercise alone in an effort to lose weight or become fit or healthy without eating right will not get you where you want to be. Period! Exercise and nutrition are not mutually exclusive of each other. Also, having the mindset that because you’re working out means you can eat whatever you want will only leave you frustrated and with a lack of results. That doesn’t work either. What does work?

The only thing that works is adopting a complete fitness and eating lifestyle that embraces the right exercise, a winning nutrition plan and consistent action and effort to engage in both every day.

Only this combined effort will bring you to the highest level of fitness success and create the body you dream of having.

What does a winning nutrition plan consist of? One that actually increases your metabolism and helps you burn body fat? Only real whole foods that create a balanced nutrition profile (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, mineral), help you burn fat and increase your metabolism. The bottom line is if it comes in a box, wrapper, can and isn’t living, whole food it doesn’t belong in your body. You want to think live food vs. dead food, more raw foods vs. cooked. Organic versus conventionally grown…you definitely don’t need to ingest more pesticides or be exposed to more toxic substances than you already are. Your body spends a lot of time trying to detox itself as it is. Eating more raw vegetables and fruits will also create the right pH balance in your body.

What should your nutrition plan look like? All vegetables, small portions of fruit, berries, nuts and seeds along with beans and peas, certain whole grains, flax and chia seeds, wild fish, eggs, high quality whey protein powder and the right nutritional supplements.

If you want to see progress and permanent changes to your body, you have to give up dairy, sugar, very little alcohol (even wine!), any and all processed foods, refined grains and starches and eat in a way that supports high energy and even levels of blood sugar stabilization throughout your day. This means eating six small meals spread out throughout the course of your day and not eating after 7pm. The most important focus has to be on eating only enough calories to support your level of physical fitness and not increase body fat by eating in excess of what your body burns in a day.

Know that eating the wrong foods, especially in the wrong proportions, will squash every attempt you will undertake in trying to make progress.



5th System - Fitness Success isn’t necessarily what you do to your body…it’s what you do to your mind!



The fifth and final system is the single most important one of all! It’s all about creating a powerful mind.

Every morning as you begin your day, practice visualizing yourself exactly as you want to be as if you have already achieved your goals.

Start each day by focusing on exactly what you want to create for that day and exactly how you want to be and what you want to achieve. See it happening exactly the way you want it. With practice it becomes reality.

Your mind is the most powerful tool you have. Always know that you are the one who’s in control of all of your thoughts, feelings, emotions and their resulting actions. If you are always telling yourself that you are fat, ugly, unlovable, unsuccessful, unwanted etc… then this is exactly what you will create as your reality. On the other hand, if you start your day telling yourself how much you love yourself, how you admire the way your body is taking on a new shape, noticing all the new small little changes and appreciating your body as it’s developing and loving yourself for who you are, not only will you be magnetizing yourself toward your goals, you will experience a profound level of inner peace and satisfaction. It’s all about changing your vibration and focusing on creating positive results for yourself and your life. Bottom line is…you have to LOVE living in your own skin!

All of these systems combined will lead you successfully toward achieving an elite level of fitness success. Having a coach and a mentor to help you set goals and navigate successfully toward them is invaluable. Studies have proven that Coaching is a powerful and effective tool that has helped more people reach a higher level of success than they could possibly achieve on their own.

If you are still doing the same thing in the gym you will always get the same results, plateau, struggle endlessly to reach goals or eventually burn out or get bored!



By: Michelle Van Otten

About the Author:

Michelle van Otten is an Elite Fitness Trainer, Life Coach and Wellness Coach. She is also the founder of Ultimate-Potential.com, a leader in helping others achieve their peak potential. (408) 379-0500
www.ultimate-potential.com

Golf fitness exercises and golf fitness training can increase the cluhead speed in your golf swing. The utilization of golf specific exercises in a structured golf fitness training program can benefit your golf game in numerous ways.

The golf swing is undoubtedly one of the most difficult athletic actions to perform in sports today. It requires you to draw the golf club on a specific swing path, in sequential order, and with the correct timing. Any error in path, order, or timing creates compensations in your golf swing leading to frustrations on and off the course.

Compensations in the golf swing are often categorized as “swing faults”, indicating that an error exists in the actual mechanics of the golf swing. The normal approach to correcting “swing faults” is through instruction from a qualified teaching professional and follow up practice. This is the correct approach in the development of the golf swing, but one must also understand the role their body plays in the game of golf.

The amateur often times is unaware the role in which their body plays upon the execution of the golf swing. Essentially it is your body (i.e. bones, muscles, and nerves) executing each and every phase of the golf swing.

In order to execute each phase of the golf swing correctly certain levels of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power are required. If a golfer is lacking in any one of these physical parameters required of the golf swing. Compensations will occur within it. Not from the actual biomechanics of the swing, but rather from the body. 

For example, if you are lacking the proper levels of flexibility to perform a full shoulder turn. Compensations will occur in the golf swing directly related to this lack of flexibility in the body. Often the amateur fails to realize the compensation is a result of their body and fails to ever “fix” or improve their golf swing as a result.

Bottom line, the golf swing requires certain levels of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power to execute correctly. If the amateur desires to improve their golf game some attention must be focused upon developing these parameters within the body.

The development of these physical components for the swing can be achieved through the implementation of golf fitness exercises in a golf fitness program. Such a program will develop the requirements of the body relative to the swing. Allowing you the ability to execute the golf swing correctly. Golf fitness exercises train the body to the positions, movement, and requirements of the golf swing. Over time these types of golf specific exercises will improve your flexibility, balance, strength, and power relative to the requirements of the golf swing. To learn more about golf fitness training and golf exercises go to my website www.seancochran.com where you will find an abundance of information on golf fitness and the golf swing.



By: Sean Cochran

About the Author:

The life style of every age group is different from one another so the health problems faced by all the individuals follow a very different pattern for all the age groups. Where the youth of tog=day encounter different healthy problem, the adults health problem follow a completely different pattern and similarly the seniors face very different problems. With specialization in every field the gyms offer specialized trainers for different set of age groups. Senior fitness trainers offer specialized service to to the seniors keeping in mind their lifestyle, need and requirements.

The number of senior fitness trainers in San Diego region is very vast. These trainers provide the services which cater only to the older adults keeping in mind their old bodies. As the number of senior population is increasing the number of senior fitness trainers is also increasing in San Diego. These specialized trainers with their expertise and knowledge make a diet and exercise plan for these people who are meant just for their bodies keeping in mind the age factor and their life style. One of the best thing offered by San Diego gyms is they provide the services of senior fitness trainers at home also. If a person is comfortable in the home environment and he doesn’t feel like stepping out of the house then a senior fitness trainer avails his services in the client’s home gyms also. So it is very convenient for the individual who cannot gout of the house because of health reason or some other reason.

Senior fitness trainers are specialized and skilled to deal with the older adults only. This specialization helps to work in a better way because the requirements in terms of exercise and diet are completely different for all the age groups. Where these seniors follow a completely different life style the life style of a youngster is completely different form him. So the fitness training programs of these two cannot be mingled in any sense. Like a doctor advices different dosage of medicines to the different age groups the exercises and diet pattern is also completely different for all the age groups. While one set of exercise suits one age group the other set of exercise will suit different age group even for the same type of problem. San Diego offers a different set of gym for different age groups also. Since the trainers for different age group is different some of the gyms offer services for different age groups. Where a child trainer has different set of dos and don’ts a older adult has completely differ

ent set of do’s and don’ts. So keeping in mind the age factor one should go in for the senior fitness trainer in San Diego. Since everybody have different body requirement only these specialize trainers can help you make an effective plan to achieve a fit and healthy body. Only these senior trainers can understand the bodies of old adults. So opting for them is a sensible decision which we help you to achieve long-term goals.



By: Robert

About the Author:

Have you ever asked the question “Can I lose weight from hula hooping?”, if you find yourself asking that question, then good news. I have some great tips here to get you started on how to include the hula hoop into your fitness workout.

Let us first look at how to select a suitable hula hoop to use in your workout. Size does matter, choose the correct sized hoop. Forget those that you find in Toys R Us, they are kid sized hoops, unless of course you are kid sized. So, get an adult sized hoop, if you are a beginner to hooping getting the wrong sized hoop will make it harder for you to pick up hooping.

As a general guide, with the hoop placed upright on the floor in front of you, the top of the hoop should reach your chest. Of course the size of your waist has to be taken into account. So the bigger you are, the bigger the hoop has to be. The speed of rotation is inversely proportionate to the size of the hoop. Bigger hoops will rotate slower and smaller hoops faster. Bigger hoops that rotate slower will make it easier for you to learn hooping initially. Faster rotating smaller hoops are great for doing tricks with and harder to master, but are excellent of exercise.

Try to strike a balance on the rotation speed and difficulty level of the hoop that you pick. Try them out in the store, get a feel of the rotation speed and how hard it is to use. You wouldn’t want to get something that rotates slow and doesn’t provide a good enough workout or something so fast that you ended up giving up hooping because it is too hard.

To get you started on your very first hoop workout, try this:

1. stand with one foot in front of the other

2. Hold the hoop against your back, slightly above your waist

3. Push the hoop around your waist

4. Shift your weight back and forth on your feet

Try to find the momentum of the hoop’s rotation in relation to your body movements. You might find yourself trying to move your hips in a circle to follow the hoop, it is easier if you shift your weight back and forth. As for which way to rotate the hoop, try out both ways, you will instinctively find out which way is more comfortable for you.

Well, that is basically what you need to get started. Once you have mastered these simple steps there are many more advanced and fun techniques that you can try.



By: Alan Tan

About the Author:

When we begin a new fitness program, we are energized to work out and optimistic about achieving our goals.  As the weeks pass, our enthusiasm may fade.  Workouts may become less frequent and eventually cease altogether before we reap the anticipated benefits.

Studies show that 50% of individuals who start a self-monitored fitness program will stop exercising within six months. The dropout rate is very high when a fitness program is begun at a very high intensity level and when self-motivation to exercise is low.  (1)

Following sound principles and practices can reduce exercise missteps, produce better results, and encourage fitness program adherence.  The following are 7 common fitness training mistakes and suggestions for correcting them.

1. Vague goals. Goal setting is a key motivator for exercise adherence. Well-defined goals guide decisions about the types of exercises and regimens that will produce the intended results. Set both short-term and long-term goals that are specific, realistic, challenging, and achievable. (2)

 2. Beginning fitness levels not assessed. When individuals begin exercise programs, they seldom take inventory of their initial health and fitness status. Assessments offer baseline measures on which to show progress. Test yourself on items related to your goals so that you have clear training targets and can establish reasonable time lines to achieve them. Reaching each milestone demonstrates success and inspires greater self confidence to continue exercising.

 3. Loosely focused training program. Without appropriate exercise regimens that specifically target goals, results can be haphazard. A well-designed fitness program can streamline the path toward your expected outcomes while preventing the frustration of slow progress or no progress at all. Unless you are familiar with exercise principles, you may need to rely on professional guidance to develop a well-planned program.

 4.  Program not individualized. No two individuals are alike, nor do they respond in exactly the same way to exercise.  Fitness level, gender, posture, medical history, personal goals, and many other factors provide a basis for individualizing exercise programs.  Personalizing your program to fit your needs and preferences will yield faster results. 

 5. Working too hard. The “more-is-better” philosophy of training is not as effective as you might expect. Training with variations in workout routines produce better results than training to failure or exhaustion. Adequate recovery periods are necessary to prevent dropping out of exercise activities due to overtraining.

 6. Not working hard enough. If exercise is too easy, you will be frustrated by the lack of results. A general guideline is to work out within a target zone of 60-85% of maximum effort. As you adapt to specific exercise regimens and your performances improve, you must gradually and progressively increase your work load so that you continue to train within the 60-85% range. (3)

7. Insufficient stretching. As muscles become stronger and tone improves, it is important to stretch prior to and after workouts. Maintaining adequate flexibility is essential for preventing aggravating injuries that can contribute to quitting exercise programs.

Fitness training mistakes are avoidable.  As you learn more about exercise and apply sound principles, you will encounter fewer disappointments and realize more consistent gains.  If you continue to work wisely, diligently, and safely, you can ultimately achieve your fitness goals.

References

1. Sullivan, P. (1991). Exercise adherence. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED330676). Retrieved from ERIC database.

 2. Schmidt, R.A. & Wrisberg, C.A. (2000). Motor learning and performance: A problem-based learning approach (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

 3. McArdle, W.D., Katch, F.I., & Katch, V.L. (2000). Essentials of exercise physiology (2nd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins.

 

 

 



By: Denise K. Wood, Ed.D.

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