Brittany asked:


Why is aerobic/strength training used in combination so effective and important for getting fit?

When you exercise you want to be sure to get the best results possible in the shortest period of time. Unfortunately many people handicap themselves unknowingly by making common mistakes that hinder their progress. The good news is that these mistakes can be fixed very easily and they can be avoided altogether if you know what they are. So here are the top 3 home fitness workouts mistakes:

1. Probably one of the worst mistakes made by home exercisers is the use of bad posture while working out. A lot of people are used to slumping and slouching in daily life and they carry that over into their workouts too. That kind of bad posture is not good for you at any time but especially not when you are working your muscles harder than normal. It’s easy for painful injuries to develop as a result of bad posture so let’s review what good posture is instead. Basically imagine a string tied to the top of your head and pulling your whole body straight underneath. You want to keep your spine straight with shoulders slightly back and head held high. Keep reminding yourself before every workout of the need to keep good posture and soon it will become a healthy habit.

2. The second common mistake made in home fitness workouts is to exercise without shoes or in slippers. This is a definite no-no. Your feet need support and if you don’t give it to them when you are engaged in heavy physical activity they will rebel sooner or later. Different types of workouts require different kinds of shoes for support, but for overall exercisers a cross-training shoe can be a good choice. Going barefoot may feel comfortable to you initially and because you are at home you may think it’s OK, but if you are really serious about your fitness you won’t succumb to that temptation. Remember that your feet have to absorb most of the shock made by impact exercising, so protect them well and they will protect you in return.

3. Another mistake is made when exercisers give themselves too much credit for the workouts they do. Many get in to a total rut when exercising and never really push themselves to the point that their body revs up the metabolism and starts burning fat. It a great idea to have a heart monitor to use as you workout and keep track of your actual progress. But another common way to tell if you are working enough is to analyze how easy it is for you to speak while exercising. If you can carry on a conversation easily you just simply aren’t working hard enough. If you have to pause for breath after each sentence, you are in the ballpark of where you should be most of the time. And if you have to catch a breath after each word you are your highest level of activity and should not maintain that rate for very long. You never want to reach the point where you can’t speak at all while exercising.

Home fitness workouts are great for helping keep you in shape while not stealing away too much valuable time from your busy schedule. But make sure that you avoid the three common mistakes mentioned above if you want your workouts to really be productive.



By: Jim Johnson

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fitness workouts

From swinging a hula-hoop in a park to climbing a mountain, there can be innovative ways to step up your heart rate in an outdoor fitness class. Joining an outdoor fitness class has become a growing trend these days. Bored with the same gym routines and fed-up with being stuck indoors, more and more people are choosing the exhilaration of exercising without confining walls. In fact, according to recent research, it is proved that exposure to the great outdoors, even in moderate amounts, can have beneficial effects on health, mood, and even productivity.

There are many other reasons why working out outdoors can do wonders for you. Exercising in natural light, getting free Vitamin D from the sunshine, and breathing in fresh air certainly beats a smelly workout indoors, under harsh artificial lights and inadequate ventilation. It would also be a better choice of fitting the exercise regime into your lifestyle. For instance, if you have just stopped exercising because of the boredom of going to the gym, joining an outdoor fitness class and committing yourself again to a workout regimen that you love will motivate you to stick to it, and thus be one of the best ways of jump-starting a fitness program that has the potential of lasting a lifetime.

Most people just find being outside, doing something they enjoy, pleasurable. When exercising outdoors, you can be part of Mother Nature and all her beauty. You can listen to the birds, enjoy the greenery of the grass and trees, and the colors of flowers, let your senses absorb your surroundings, as you experience the sights, smells, sounds, and textures of surrounding nature. If you live in a neighborhood with views that are not particularly motivating, you could make that an excuse to hike somewhere more inspiring. A greener neighborhood with well kept gardens and homes or a well designed park with a variety of flowering shrubs and trees could give your day just that much needed boost.

There are a wide variety of activities offered as part of outdoor workouts; choose something that you like doing. Joining an underwater ballet class, a dancercise or kickboxing class by the pool, peddling through a park trail or even a forest trail, or surfing under expert instructions on mastering the art of riding waves on a surfboard along with other surfing neophytes; all of these can be great ways of putting fun back into exercising. Many fitness professionals and gyms offer personal fitness training sessions and outdoor fitness classes these days. The growing popularity of these specially designed outdoor fitness exercise routines has inspired personal fitness trainers to create programs that include a wide variety of activities like surfing, adventure racing, cycling and hiking.

Of course, the type of activity varies according to the place you live in. Many certified exercise trainers conduct exercise sessions for groups which include strength and cardio circuits, along with biking and hiking up mountains or on beaches. Some innovative trainers make it even more fun and exciting by offering one-on-one programs such as kayaking to an island, running on the beach, or clambering up sand dunes. Some even include sports like volleyball and tennis.



By: Kris Koonar

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Exercise

Regular exercise is vital to help maintain good health. Exercise burns up extra calories in food and reduces the likelihood of these being converted into fat. Regular exercise makes you fit, gives a general sense of well-being, improves appetite and sleep and makes the heart and circulation, lungs and respiration work more efficiently. Exercise carried out for about 20 minutes three times a week is beneficial for the body.

Physical Fitness can be measured in various aspects such as your balance, stamina, strength and flexibility. It is often assessed by measuring heart rate after exercise. Fitness can also be measured in terms of the strength of specific muscles required to perform a task such as lifting weights. optimal Physical fitness requires both aerobic exercise and muscle - strengthening exercises.

There are three main types of exercises that can be included in your exercise program. These are- flexibility, strengthening, and fitness.

 

Flexibility exercises involves stretching, loosening up and bending. These exercise helps muscles and joints to perform their full range of movement with suppleness and ease and help to reduce stiffness and keep your joints flexible. Strengthening exercises include both flexibility and fitness exercises as well as the use of weights and specially designed equipments in a gym. These exercises help maintain or increase muscle strength, leading to firming up of the body and an improvement in posture. Fitness exercises help increase your endurance and stamina. Vigorous activities (Aerobic activities) such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling, dancing, swimming along with many sports like football, tennis, badminton etc. improve fitness. The improvement can be seen after a few weeks of regular, fairly, hard exercise i.e. 30 minutes of aerobic activity every day. However, the level of fitness soon declines if the exercise regime is abandoned. Walking: Walking is the best form of moderate exercise. Brisk walking help circulation of blood throughout the body. Walking can help people avoid a heart attack, peel off pounds and even develop a hard body.

 

An ideal walking schedule for beginners is 20 minutes 6 or 7days a week. As you develop endurance and loose weight increase your walking time gradually. If you don’t need to lose body fat, you can stay fit by walking 20 to 30 minutes 3 days a week. Research has shown that brisk walking regularly 3 days a week gives a 15 percent boost in mental functioning

Running or Jogging : Running improves cardiovascular fitness, promotes endurance and stamina and gives complexion a super fit glow. However, over exertion can cause fatigue, insomnia and rapid heart beat after the exercise.

Cycling : Cycling strengthens legs and thighs, heart and lungs and improve circulation. Fresh air, speed and sense of freedom allow the mind to soar. Ride at an even speed, instead of exhausting the energy by pedalling hard. The continual pumping action benefits the heart.

Aerobics : This vigorous form of exercising which is generally accompanied with music, will slim you down and improve the efficiency of your heart, lungs and circulatory system.

Swimming : It tones all parts of the body symmetrically. The crawl, butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, all of them firm buttocks and thighs, broaden shoulders, slim torso and lift *******. Swimming also gives a beautiful back and pressure tones the skin to a smooth polish.

Tennis , Badminton and squash : These sports help develop strong buttocks and leg muscles, strengthen wrists, reflexes, eye hand co-ordination and foot work ability. Warm up before you play. Drink plenty of liquids after play.

Other daily activities like climbing stairs, gardening, carrying groceries etc all count towards moderate exercises which help in burning calories.

 



By: Dr. Ripudaman Singh

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exercise fitness

Syra D asked:


I have to talk about aerobic fitness. I have no idea what it is.
I have to do it for the fitness part of my p.e class. Its annoying. Can anyone help.

aerobics fitness

Fitness workout program is used either on its own or as a supplement to people’s dietary plan to achieve a sexier body. In the latter case, we all understand that our body will slow down its metabolism after we diet for some while and low metabolism means difficulty to lose further weight.

Without a doubt, the best fitness workout program should be the one that suits you most. Not everyone has the same build and health condition, so you need to first check out your fitness level. This is why you should check out your needs first. You can do so by having your pulse and blood pressure measured by your doctor and talking to him about what exercises are best for you. If you have no special medical conditions, you may simply follow the instructions by a fitness coach or a fitness guide. At this stage, what you are doing is learning the basics and come up with your own version of fitness plan which you believe will produce results for you.

Then, what are the features of a good fitness plan?

1. It needs to be realistic, otherwise you will not be able to stick with it in the long run. There is no point in exercising your **** off if you are only going to do it for a few weeks - you will eventually gain all the weight back and more this way.

2. A good exercise plan should be progressive. Keep a diary as you move on, as this will help you understand your regimen better and improve it when necessary. It is also a good idea to record any achievements along the way - this will give you sufficient motivation.

3. A good fitness program should consist of varied forms of exercises to maintain your top interest level. For example, you can start each workout by doing a 30-minute cardio exercise, such as walking, jogging, running, cycling and aerobics. Cardio exercise can always prepare your body for more intense activities. You may then spend another 30 minutes with strength training, such as weight lifting, crunches, sit-ups, etc. When you finish, you can cool down yourself with some stretches or de-stressing exercises. According to fitness experts, this type of exercise can give you enormous benefits both physically and emotionally.

Beside fitness workout program itself, there are a few other things you can do to achieve better results. For example, you may like to find yourself a fitness buddy to have more fun and motivation. After you follow the routine for some time, you may give your exercise a twist from time to time.



By: Nikki Davila

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One of the biggest obstacles to staying on track for fitness is losing motivation. People are just starting an exercise program can find themselves quickly tired of the same routine. Keeping exercise appealing and maintaining a good fitness perspective is key to long-term success.

If you have to watch the exact same episode of your favorite television show every day for the rest of your life, you would probably be banging your head against the wall by the end of the week. You would change the channel, pick up a book, or do anything you could to avoid something you once enjoyed.

Yet, many people starting on a fitness program feel compelled to follow the same routine, day after day after day, and consequently fall off the exercise wagon due to sheer boredom.That is why, most people would want the services of a fitness trainer in order to provide them the different portions of the fitness program in a more livelier style.

Fitness trainers are actually those who are expert in analyzing and creating a fitness program that is right for you. They are the ones who will calculate your appropriateness to a certain program with regards to your fitness level,create the program according to your specific needs, and keep you stimulated and inspired by giving you activities that will not bore you.

But then again, as with other entities included in the fitness world, not all fitness trainers are created equal. They may vary from the different trainings that they have, the health education they have acquired, and the skills that they have learned.

Hence, it is important to consider some factors that will determine if a certain fitness trainer is right for you. Here is how:

1. Certification

Like any item or product, the quality is sometimes measured and determined through the certification that goes with it. Hence, before you choose your fitness trainer, it is important to verify if the trainer is duly certified by a highly regarded fitness association.It is also best to choose a trainer that has a CPR certification or first aid qualifications.

2. Education/Trainings

Be sure to choose a fitness trainer who had acquired an adequate training and education as far as health and physical fitness is concerned.

Even though it is not necessary, trainers who have acquired education connected with health or any other related field will definitely have an edge over the others.

3. Knows how to give the right attention

A good fitness trainer should know how to provide his or her client an undivided attention whenever their session is going on. In this way, the trainer will be able to focus more on the details that needs attention and immediate considerations.

4. Knows how to track development

It is best to choose a fitness trainer that knows how to track his or her client’s progress as far as fitness is concerned.

In this way, the trainer will be able to generate new activities and trainings designated for a particular result of the client.

5. Good Personality

Since you will be dealing most with your fitness trainer, it is best if you will look for somebody with a pleasing personality, somebody whom you can be comfortable. It is best to hire the services of somebody whom you can easily get along with.

Boiled down, the services of a fitness center and the contributions it can give you while working out on those belly fats, are, indeed, one of the best help that you can get from a professional person who knows what he is doing.

Hence, it is best to choose the best person who can give you the best services that you need so that you will never get bored again.



By: Paul Hata

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fitness trainer

There are quite a few things to consider when choosing the right gym for you and it’s not just about the price. Frequency of use, location, type of equipment, quality of personal trainers, ambience and assorted facilities are all important factors when considering which gym to join. After drawing up your shortlist you need to whittle it down to a couple that you might want to visit before making your final decision on which gym will suit your lifestyle best.

The first thing to consider is ‘location, location, location’. What is most important to you? Should the gym be near your home, close to work or somewhere in between? Or perhaps being near your children’s school is the key. Remember to consider how your gym visits will fit into your current daily schedule as that will also help you decide the location.

Next, ask yourself how often you will be using the gym - and be totally honest! There’s no point signing up to a ‘four times a week’ fitness plan if your commitments simply prevent you from getting there more frequently than once a week - you’ll simply be wasting your money. Perhaps you need motivation and want to attend gym with a friend so you can spur each other on. In that case, is the location the most convenient for you both?

Additionally, what type of fitness equipment do you need? Are you likely to concentrate on weights, the latest cardiovascular machines, or perhaps you want to undertake a mixed programme. Will your chosen gym have the right equipment for you to undertake your fitness regime? If your plan is for a structured and supervised fitness programme, are there qualified, reliable and friendly trainers available at the gym ready to attend to your needs?

Once you’ve finished your work out, will you be able to change in comfort and then have a chat with your friends in a comfortable coffee shop or bar? Or perhaps you want to do more, such as have a swim or pamper yourself in a spa. Lastly, it’s very important that you feel comfortable in the gym and its surroundings. You will want the ambience to be suited to you. In this instance, you’ll have to decide whether you prefer loud and energetic music, or perhaps a more sedate environment.

Once you have answered all those questions, honestly evaluated your motivation and all your needs, you’ll know whether you want to go for the ultimate health club in Kensington offering the full works or whether to choose a specialist fitness gym with less add-ons closer to home. You know what you want - now go for it!



By: Elisha Burberry

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fitness gyms

The growing interest in fitness and health makes it a great time to take the step and become a personal fitness trainer.

There are gyms and workout centers for men and women (and both together) springing up everywhere. A couple of years ago I was the only personal trainer in this rural area, but now there are several within a few miles and yet my small business has not felt any pinch and is still growing.

The reasons are many, but chief among them is the recognition that a fit lifestyle is much healthier and less prone to illness and disability than the sedentary, over-weight, sit-on-your-butt-all-day lifestyle that seems to be everywhere.

That and the fact that baby boomers are into or nearing retirement age and beginning to feel their mortality. Fit people simply live longer and happier lives.

If you are one of those, at any age, who works out regularly anyway, and enjoys helping people and can’t understand why everyone isn’t exercising, why not have a long think about becoming a fitness professional?

If you are reading this, perhaps you have already thought about a career change and simply want to be sure to do it the right way.

To that end I have put together a few pointers about getting your fitness trainer education and becoming a personal trainer and I have also published a list of Fitness Trainer Schools in the US, and online., on my website for reference purposes.

The decision to become a personal trainer must involve a decision to obtain the necessary education and certification and is an imperative step in being recognized as a competent practitioner in this discipline.

Reputable fitness trainer schools will help you become a personal trainer by providing the following training in their courses. Make sure that any school you are considering will deliver the following:

You’ll learn the critical areas of Fitness Assessment, Program Design, Upper- and Lower-body Strength Training and Flexibility Training.

You’ll learn how to effectively administer a health history screening, which simply means you will learn to assess a clients current physical condition through testing so you have all the information necessary to develop a safe and effective exercise program and more.

You will learn to become a fitness trainer for one-on-one or small group training. It’s worth bearing in mind that small group training in the form of ‘Boot Camps” can be highly effective at recruiting new, ongoing clients as well as producing a great income source. This is important whether you work at a club or on your own.

You will learn to empower, motivate, challenge and retain your clients.

The schools curriculum should be continually evaluated and updated to ensure that it includes the most current exercise science information to keep the graduates ahead of the competition.

You will have demonstrated your knowledge of exercise science, nutrition, fitness assessment, exercise programming, and training and instruction techniques.

You will be required to do real-life situational evaluations. Given a (hypothetical) clients problems, goals and limitations you will assess and design an appropriate program for exercise and be tested on your performance.

Generally, you must meet the following eligibility requirements to become a personal trainer.

* You must be at least 18 years of age.

* You must hold current adult CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) certification at the time of the exam. Candidates registering for online courses must have current CPR prior to registration.

It certainly helps if you understand fitness science and don’t just memorize it. This is a case where you can really help people if you have a good understanding, or you could do harm if you don’t. After all, being a fitness trainer is not just about memorizing program design, but understanding the fundamentals of exercise science so that fitness can be prescribed to many unique individuals.

Look for a program that includes alot of hands-on teaching. This will help you know you are doing things right and will increase your confidence.

The right personal trainer course will help with your belief in yourself, and will give you confidence in your ability, and trust in your knowledge.

Deciding on a career, or changing careers can be a little scary, but will be less-so if you do a little ground work first.



By: Cindy Brotherston

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Buying a health club or gym membership can be quite expensive as anyone knows who has joined a gym in January. There’s a good chance you are paying more than at any other time of the year. Getting in shape is always a good idea, but in order to make sure it is your body and not your wallet that’s getting the workout, consider the following advice on gym membership and low cost exercise alternatives.

Trial gym membership - It’s a good idea to start with a trial pass to give yourself a chance to be honest with yourself about how motivated you are. Fitness clubs may offer one-week or one-month memberships on a trial basis. Remember, the harder the club is to get to, the easier it is not to go. Visit at least two or three easy to reach club close to your home or office and choose the one that’s best for you. Don’t sign a contract right away by someone pressuring you to sign on the dotted line, no matter how attractive the membership package. Read the fine print on the contract to determine your cancellation and automatic renewal clauses. Most clubs offer an opt-out clause for three days after signing in which you can cancel the contract without a penalty. Never sign a contract that includes interest charges.

If you absolutely can’t afford a gym membership and your home is not exactly well-stocked with the latest home exercise equipment, Garretson suggests these low cost alternatives.

Outdoor Exercise - Instead of wasting your money on a gym membership, why not buy a $100 road bike that will give you as much exercise as you want. Or you might buy a good pair of even less expensive running shoes and take the dog for a walk.

Exercise Tapes - Here’s another great alternative to an outrageous gym membership: Rent or buy some exercise tapes or DVDs, turn on the TV and start exercising. It’s like having your own personal trainer at home. You can do Yoga, step aerobics, weight training routines or whatever else the trainers suggest.

Used Exercise Equipment - Consider purchasing used exercise equipment available from online merchants specializing in reconditioned machines. Check garage sales and your local paper for used, or maybe even “never-used” equipment that is still in top shape. It’s better to put your money into your own home fitness gym instead of a gym membership.

Join A League - No gym membership is needed when you join group activities through community centers, churches and work such as bowling, softball, volleyball, soccer and flag football. They offer a great way to exercise while having fun with your friends.



By: Kevin Urban

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fitness gyms