Archive for March, 2009
Bowflex SelectTech Dumbbells and Treadclimber – Redefining the Home Fitness Experience
March 11th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. 2 Comments
Bowflex, America’s leading home fitness equipment brand, has helped countless people reach their desired health and fitness goals. The revolutionary Bowflex line of home exercise products delivers gym-quality workouts in your own home, helping you to lose weight, get in better shape or completely transform your body.
In this product spotlight we’ll concentrate on the Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbells and the Bowflex line of Treadclimbers — two extremely popular Bowlex products — and for good reason.
The Bowflex SelectTech Dumbbells embody one of the most ingenious and versatile fitness equipment advances in recent years. You no longer need a rack with multiple dumbbells at various weights. The SelectTech series effectively replaces 17 sets of dumbbells using a unique dial system that lets you to quickly adjust the weight in 2.5 lb, 5 lb or 10 lb increments, depending on the model. The whole system sits on one compact base that takes up about the space of one set of dumbbells.
Bowflex offers the SelectTech Dumbbells in three models – the SelectTech 220, SelectTech 552 (the most popular) and SelectTech 1090.
Available in four primary models, the Bowflex Treadclimber provides an option for every fitness level and budget. They include the TC1000, TC3000, TC5000, and TC6000. Owning a Bowflex TreadClimber effectively gives you a treadmill, elliptical trainer, and Stairmaster combined in one compact home exercise solution. The machine’s distinct combination of movements, utilizing two independently operating platforms, is efficient and highly effective.
The most affordable option, the TC1000 features a 3.8 mph (6.1 kph) maximum treadmill speed, while the highest priced TC 6000 runs at a top speed of4.5 mph (7.2 kph). The TC3000 and TC5000 each top out at 4.0 mph (6.4 kph).
There are numerous other important distinctions to be made among the individual Bowflex Treadclimber models. Starting with the TC1000, all models include 3 basic functions — Speed, Distance and Time. The TC3000 also includes Calories per Minute, Total Calories and Total Steps. The TC5000 then adds two more functions — the Climb Indicator and the Heart Rate Monitor. Finally, the top of the line TC6000 packages all of the above plus additional training programs, including Cross Training, Intervals, Plateau, The Brooklyn Bridge and The Golden Gate Bridge. The Heart Rate Monitor on the TC5000 and TC 6000 lets you accurately monitor optimal heart rate levels using an integrated display and wireless chest strap.
We’ve touched on two popular Bowflex products produced for very specific types of exercise. The Bowflex influence is also evident in their line of complete home gyms. These include the Bowflex Revolution, Bowflex Ultimate, Bowflex Ultimate 2, Bowflex Xtreme SE, Bowflex Xtreme SE 2 and Bowflex Blaze.
Bowflex has become the most recognizable name in fitness. They continue to design and produce home equipment options that will keep you motivated and on the path to achieving your fitness goals.
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Tags: Dumbbells and Treadclimber, Home Fitness, Home Fitness Experience
How To Design Your Own Weight Training Workouts
March 10th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
Weight training programs are getting more and more popular these days. With more and more people with an urge to build heavier and bulkier muscles, these training programs have become a great success in the market today. These weight training programs are not as simple as they look like. People think that they would enter a gym and throw in some weights and they would build their muscles strong and bulky like most of the weight lifters and bodybuilders. But this is only a myth in their mind. The original fact is that bodybuilding requires a lot more exercise and workout to build muscles like those weight lifters and bodybuilders. There is no short cut for building muscles into strong ones until a person indulges himself in rigorous exercise and workout.
Those persons who are quite serious in building their muscles and achieving their goals of having heavier and bulky muscles must join one or the other weight lifting programs or they should be able to manage to organize his own weight training workout at his home or some other place. A person can easily find a weight training program anywhere. These programs make the person aware of the importance of exercise along with the intake of a balanced diet with all the nutrients included in it. If the body would not get sufficient nutrients then the person would not be able to develop good muscles and hence he would not be able to achieve his ultimate goal. But in a self organized weight training workout, one has to be self aware of every fact about weight training and he cannot get any external assistance.
In designing a self organized weight training workout, the first thing that should be kept in mind is the place. The place where the person would perform exercise should be comfortable for that person and it is better that the person is familiar with that place. The person should not strain himself very much in the beginning as it takes some time for the muscles of the body to open up for rigorous stress. A little stress is enough for the beginning which can be increased slowly. When the body becomes fully stretchable then only rigorous part of the exercise should be applied to the body. Along with the exercises, a balanced diet should also be taken by the person so as to supply proper nutrients to the body. Without proper nutrition the body would not be able to develop good muscles.
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Tags: Own Weight Training Workouts, Weight Training Workouts
Designing Your Way to Weight Loss
March 9th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
Any effective weight loss plan needs to incorporate cardio activity to help burn calories. Why not design your own weight loss program?
Here’s how… whether you go to the gym, the great outdoors, or workout classes at your local college or community center.
The Basics of Weight Loss Design
The most important factor about designing an exercise program is knowing some of the basics and why they are important.
Determine Max Heart Rate
Before you begin, determine your maximum heart rate.
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology recommends using 208 minus .7 times your age to find your maximum heart rate. This is also known as your target heart rate zone. It is the pulse rate, or your beats per minute, that allows you to safely exercise while getting the best results.
Exercise Intensity
Once you know what your maximum heart rate is, you can determine the exercise intensity you need to reach your weight loss goals.
If you are just beginning a fitness program, physicians recommended that you exercise at 50-60 percent of your maximum heart rate. If you have been at it for a while and get regular exercise, you should target 60-70 percent of your maximum heart rate. Those who are involved in intense fitness programs, generally conditioned athletes, the target should be 75-85 percent maximum heart rate.
The Talk Test
An easy test to know if you’re working beyond your safe heart rate level is the talk test. If during your workout, you struggle to talk, you’re pushing yourself too hard and you should take down the intensity level. Varying the intensity levels of your workouts is a good prescription for success. First, it will keep you from becoming bored with the routine and giving up. Secondly, more injuries occur during highly intense workouts so it’s important to monitor how your body reacts during the workout and not overextend yourself. Lastly, an effective workout will raise your cardio level which burns fat, and include strength training to develop muscles.
Muscle Group Targeting
If your goal is overall body conditioning, focus on activities that use large muscle groups. Examples include swimming, running, walking, stair climbing, cycling or treadmills. For developing more specific muscle groups, you can use weights and incorporate more strength training activities, which target certain parts of your body.
Workout Frequency
The frequency of your workouts will have a direct impact on the results. You can improve your general fitness level with a simple 30 minutes three times a week. For more pronounced results and higher fitness level, you should exercise 3 to 5 times each week, hitting your maximum heart rate during the workout, with no more than 48 hours between workouts.
Stretch It Out
Be sure that you stretch before you begin exercising, and as you cool down after the workout. You should warm up and cool down for at least 5 to 10 minutes. You’ll run less risk of injury during the workout, and you won’t suffer from muscle fatigue.
Keeping these basics in mind will help as you “design” your way to weight loss. Keep moving and you are sure to have success!
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Affordable Home Gyms: Your Own Body!
March 8th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
As a certified fitness trainer, I usually get asked what’s the best type of equipment for a home gym. In the past I’ve informed the person that such and such a brand is good for various reasons. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great quality pieces of affordable home gym equipment that will get you in fantastic shape, but lately my answer to people as to the best piece of equipment for a home gym has been.. your own body using bodyweight exercises.
When one thinks of bodyweight exercises they usually think of pushups and perhaps chinups. They also think that bodyweight exercises are good to “just stay in shape.” Nothing can be further from the truth.
Bodyweight training can completely transform your physique when done correctly. If your goal is weight loss, bodyweight training can get you to that goal. If your goal is to build muscle, bodyweight training can do that as well.
One of the benefits of bodyweight training is that the gym is always with you. Anywhere you go, you have access to “the gym.” I’ve done chinups on playground monkey bars while my daughter plays. There is always something available to push off of or pull up on.
If you have the room in your home, I highly recommend a piece of equipment usually called a “power tower.” This is a self standing unit that allows you do chinups, dips, pushups and leg raises for your abs. This one lone piece of equipment, which doesn’t take up much room, can transform your body.
It is the one main piece of equipment I use in every workout session. As a matter of fact, I’ve sold most of my home gym equipment and rely mainly on my power tower for a complete upper body workout. In my opinion there is no other exercise that compares to dips and chinups for the upper body.
What about exercising your legs you may ask? Bodyweight squats are great for your legs and for a challenge you can do them one leg at a time. There is another little torture device I own called the Roman Chair Squat Bench that allows amazing bodyweight squats to be done with little space. That is for another discussion however.
Although all you need is your bodyweight to get a good workout, there will come a time when your own bodyweight doesn’t offer enough resistance to make the workout challenging enough to promote muscle building for example.
Sure you can just keep doing more and more reps each workout but if you goal is to build some muscle you will need to keep the reps under 15 and if your bodyweight is not enough, you’ll need to add resistance somehow.
This is where a weighted vest and/or dip belt comes in handy. A dip belt is just a leather or fabric belt that hangs around your waist with chains in the front to hold weight plates. This will allow more than enough resistance to be added to make dips and chinups more challenging. The weighted vest can be used for pushups and squats.
So for a few dollars you have all you need to get in tremendous shape. I can hear some people now wondering where are the curls, the tricep exercises, and so on. How will I get huge biceps if I don’t do my million curls?
Trust me, if you can do chins with your bodyweight plus an additional 50lbs – 100lbs around your waist, I can guarantee you will not have small biceps.
All that’s left is to design a routine based around pushups, squats, dips and chins. Although there are other great bodyweight exercises, these are the most basic for most people to do safely and easily. Other bodyweight exercises like handstand pushups will blast your shoulders but that is a bit more advanced and out of the scope of this article.
A routine can consist of bodyweight squats, dips and chins done 2 – 3 times a week. Just like any weight training routine, more is not better. You need time to let the muscle recover so 2 – 3 times a week is more than enough. Especially when you start to add resistance to the exercises.
If your goal is weight loss, bodyweight training can do the trick while still buidling some muscle along the way. All you need to do is take less time between sets in order to activate the fat burning process in your body.
For example, if you do bodyweight squats for 5 sets of 25 reps with very little rest between sets, I guarantee your heart will be up and you’ll be burning fat. Same thing goes for dips and chins. Take less time between exercises for fat burning and take more time to recover when muscle building is your goal.
I hope you can see the benefit of bodyweight training in terms of overall health and cost effectiveness. You don’t need the latest home gym or infomercial product to get in fantastic shape. As a matter of fact all I do these days are bodyweight based routines and at 45 I’m in very good shape as you can see if you visit my website.
Now go and pull yourself up on something.
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Tags: Affordable Home Gyms, gyms, Home Gyms
Get Personal Trainer in your Personal Fitness Training Program
March 7th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
You have made the decision that now is the time to get fit and drop those extra pounds that you have been carrying around. Good for you! The next step is to create a workout program that will meet all of your needs and help you meet your fitness goals. How do you do that? It can be easier said than done, especially if you have never been a serious fitness buff before. Some people have found that the best way to develop the right personal fitness training program is with the help of a personal trainer.
A trainer has the education, background and knowledge necessary to help you design a personal fitness training program that will address your unique needs and your individual goals. This person can teach you how to use all of the equipment at your fitness center safely and effectively. And trainers generally charge a reasonable price for their services. Many folks decide to continue working with their trainer on their personal fitness training program after the initial work is done. There are many good reasons to continue to work with a professional trainer throughout the course of a personal fitness training program.
Motivation and Efficiency One of the biggest roadblocks to sticking with a personal fitness training program long after the honeymoon phase is motivation. One day you wake up and realize it’s just too much effort to don the workout gear and head to the gym. One day off won’t hurt, right? Except that one day can turn into a week, and then a month. And then it’s really hard to get back into the swing of the personal fitness training program.
A trainer will keep you motivated over the long haul, until exercising becomes as automatic as eating breakfast and brushing your teeth. After all, you will be much more likely to leave the comfy warmth of your bed in the morning if you know your trainer is waiting for you. Especially if you are paying that person to show up and help you through your workout! Your trainer can also help you to ensure that your workouts continue to be efficient, by constantly challenging you to your physical limit and making sure you don’t get lazy with your reps. This is by far the best way to see positive results from your personal training program.
If you are ready to begin a personal training program, consider hiring a trainer to help you meet your fitness goals. Many people have found that having a professional on their team makes all the difference in achieving better health and a more beautiful body.
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=900090
Tags: Fitness, Fitness Training Program, Personal Fitness Training Program
Home Gym Equipment: The Smith Machine
March 6th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
The Smith machine is a piece of gym equipment that is designed to increase the safety and efficiency of using a barbell with weights. These are ideal for the home gym where you maybe exercising alone and therefore safety is a big concern.
A Smith machine is a metal frame that allows the barbell to be lifted in a vertical movement but only allows straight up and down motion. This helps guide your movement and also helps prevent you from dropping the bar if you start to fatigue.
As an additional safety device, many Smith machines also have adjustable safety stops built into them, which prevents the barbell being lowered beyond a certain point. This will prevent injury if you accidentally drop the bar.
The Smith machine can be used for any exercise with a vertical lift such as bench presses, overhead lifts and squats. It is not suitable for lifts where an arc is made such as bicep curls.
The Smith machine was originally invented in America by Jack La Lanne, the renowned fitness and nutritional expert who is sometimes referred to as the ‘godfather of fitness’. In the 1950’s it was spotted by bodybuilder Rudy Smith who made improvements to the design and installed them in a gym he was managing. By the end of the 50’s the machines were being manufactured and distributed.
An alternative to a Smith machine is the power cage. This is useful if you are going to be doing plenty of barbell work without a spotter. The power cage is generally a heavy metal frame that has a number of hooks where the barbell can be placed. Unlike a Smith machine it does not restrict movement to just a vertical motion. You can also perform exercises that require an arc motion, using this equipment.
If you are setting up a home gym, a Smith machine is worthy of consideration. It allows you to exercise safely and minimize the risk of injury.
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Tags: Gym Equipment, Home Gym, Home Gym Equipment, The Smith Machine
Exercises with Resistance Bands Better then Free Weights?
March 5th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. 2 Comments
Exercises with resistance bands provide all the workout of free weights, and more. How? The disadvantage of using free weights is that the majority of the work is done when you first begin moving the weight. By the time the motion is complete momentum has taken over some what. When exercising with resistance bands the opposite is true. The resistance of the tube increases with it’s length, meaning that as you push through the motion the work actually gets more difficult. Pushing your muscles to work even harder.
Beyond the benefit of the workout from fitness bands is the benefit of their portability and light weight design. They are easy to store at home, and take with you on vacation or a work trip. There are two main types available, close loop and open loop bands. The closed loop bands are generally more expensive as they often come with handles and attachments, while the open loop bands are just a hand on their own that you must hold onto directly.
Example Resistance Band Exercises
<u>Chest Press</u>
Ensure the band is wrapped or connected to something secure behind you (some resistance band kits come with door anchors)
Hold handles (ends) one in each hand, with the tubing running under your arm pits
With palms facing each other squeeze the chest and press the arms out in front of you
This works the chest muscles, and is similar to a bench press with a bar bell or dumb bell except in a standing position.
<u>Overhead press</u>
Place both feet on top of the center of the tube.
Grab a handle (end in each hand) and bring the hands up over the head
Palms should be facing each other and your elbows slightly bent
This is a great shoulder exercise, and similar to a shoulder press with dumb bells
<u>Bicep Curl</u>
Similar to the overhead press place your feet over the center of the tube (the wider your feet are apart the more resistance you’ll have for the exercise)
Hold both ends of the tube in separate hands
Bend the elbows and curl the hands up towards the shoulders
This exercise is the same as a bicep curl with free weights.
These are just three examples, but in each case you get the same movement and isolate the same muscle groups while getting more resistance through out the movement. Exercise bands provide a great sculpting workout in a very portable and affordable package. If you’re considering a switch from the health club to a home gym, or are looking for a home gym system I suggest you consider resistance bands.
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Tags: exercise, Exercises with Resistance Bands, free weights
Losing Weight After Pregnancy – Top 10 Tips To Easily Lose Weight Quickly And Safely
March 4th, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. 1 Comment
During your pregnancy your body has been changing shape dramatically over the past nine months. In most cases your body weight will have reached a higher level than ever before, you may have stretch marks, your pelvic floor muscles will be much weaker, you may notice more cellulite and varicose veins popping up here and there and you will certainly have increased your dress size by at least 2 or 3 sizes? This is all natural and part of your body’s attempts to cope with this major change and growth of your baby in your body. Your body has been equally as well designed to recover from such an event. It will readily strive to return to the fitness, health level and shape you were in before pregnancy.
If you weren’t in the best shape before, don’t worry because of the change in your hormones you can still get in to great shape now.
It isn’t easy to find the time to return to exercise after pregnancy but find it you must. If you don’t do the things I outline in this report you can say goodbye forever to that flat toned stomach. It really is as important as that. Why physiotherapists and personal trainers aren’t employed to work with every new mum is simply a matter of economics. I know one thing if you are conscious about your shape and appearance you are going to need help. Whatever you do, don’t visit your local gym and follow the advice of an under educated under trained instructor. Quite frankly if you’ve not done the research or got the experience you can’t correctly instruct and design routines for postnatal women. Instead ask for the most qualified and experienced instructors, most gyms will have some good staff. Alternatively book a couple of sessions with a qualified personal trainer there are many around these days. Check they are qualified through YMCA or otherwise Premier training.
My golden Personal training motto is this – ‘consistency’. This is true in every area of health and fitness but never more so than in postnatal fitness. What I mean by this is commit yourself to a plan of action and stick to it religiously. Sure its fine to have the odd treat, that’s good and yes there will be times when you are too tired or unwell to take exercise and I am not advocating no pain no gain this certainly is not appropriate at this stage. You will make very rapid progress with relatively little effort if you follow the information in this 10-point postnatal report.
So what is the plan, what do you have to do? Following is listed in a nutshell the action you must take immediately after having your baby, as long as you aren’t experiencing any pain or discomfort by following the advice you should be fine and notice rapid changes. Don’t worry if you are reading this months if not years after giving birth as there are certain exercises you can do which will help you achieve that toned stomach, a good trainer should be able to guide you through this. One thing I will say is this if you are reading this and hoping there is some magical solution to regaining your shape after child birth then you will be mistaken and very disappointed. To change your shape and appearance takes dedication, persistency and knowledge this is why personal trainers are so successful in sculpting and shaping the physiques of their clients. Here’s your 10 point postnatal report: -
1. Drink at least 2 litres of water each and every day. Drinking this amount of water each day ensures that a number of things happen: – * Nutrients are assisted in their transportation around the body. * The digestive system is lubricated. * Correct body temperature is maintained. * Toxins are removed from the body. These are often stored just below the skins surface in the form of cellulite and other fatty tissues.
2. Plan a walking route – To get the most out of walking you should design a route around where you live which will take you between 20 and 30 minutes to complete, in surroundings you feel comfortable with. This route should be push chair friendly and performed at a comfortable pace for the first few days and then done progressively faster so that you feel warmer, breathing slightly heavier and your heart rate increases, you should still be capable of holding a conversation. Your route should include some gentle gradients as these challenge the body to a greater degree than walking on the flat. Do this route at least five times a week. You will also have the benefit of getting some fresh air for you and your baby.
3. Reduce the amount of food you are eating. Or more specifically the amount of calories you are consuming. During pregnancy there is a real need for extra calories because you need to maintain normal healthy function for yourself and you must provide extra calories for a growing baby. After giving birth however there is not the same demand. That is not to say that you should dramatically cut the amount of food you eat instead this should be a gradual reduction over the course of 7 – 10 days.
4. Don’t diet. Diets don’t work, they mess with your mind and slow down your metabolism. The biggest mistake most people make when trying to lose weight is to simply try and starve themselves. This kind of strategy has a number of major downfalls. The first main problem is that when you restrict calories in a drastic and uncontrolled manner in order to lose weight the body does shed a small amount of body fat, but not fat alone. Protein found in muscle tissue gets used to fuel daily activity and essential bodily fluids are also lost. The minute you resume eating normally water levels will quickly be restored to normal and body weight will in turn stabilise once more. The muscle tissue lost will not return and this has a number of disastrous effects. The first one being that when a body consists mainly of trained dense muscles it becomes similar to a fat burning furnace in that it needs to keep the muscles well fed and the metabolism speeds up in order to do this. Reducing muscle density through restrictive diets will only lead to a slowing down of the metabolism. Since most people tend to go through periods of weight loss and weight gain the next problem is that when you start gaining weight the weight you gain will be mainly body fat because muscle does not simply create itself it needs a reason to exist and this is where resistance training comes in. 5. Sit Ups. During the first few weeks sit-ups and abdominal crunches are about the worst exercises to do. Why? Well it’s like this; during pregnancy your body produces a hormone called relaxin. This hormone allows the body to become more flexible it allows greater movement in the spine, allows for more flexibility in the tendons and ligaments and gives the growing baby more room to grow. Taking your stomach muscles as an example, the relaxin allows the growing baby to push through the muscles separating down either side. This separation needs to realigned and doing sit-ups or crunches in effect will promote doming. Doming is a bulge in the abdominal wall caused by pressure pushing the tissue up underneath and through this gap. This actually hinders recovery and increases the separation between the stomach muscles. Correct breathing must be maintained at all times. There is a test called the rec check, which will dictate when the stomach muscles have pulled in tight and are ready to perform other stomach exercises. An experienced trainer should know how to perform this test.
6. Be careful. Your body is in a delicate state right now remember that relaxin hormone, it will stay elevated for at least five months, longer if you breast feed for some time. There are some exercises that are usually all right to do but for now you should avoid them. These are basically exercises that stretch the muscles under tension. The danger here is that the muscles will get stretched too far and tear.
7. This is the biggy. Not doing these exercises at this stage when your body is primed to recover and retighten presents missing a golden opportunity and usually leaves a woman with loose stomach muscles and a slightly rounded abdomen forever unless professional help and advice is followed. Perform static stomach contractions and pelvic tilt exercises along with pelvic floor strengthening exercises. These are basically exercises where no movement occurs at the spine. As a rule do these whenever your baby sleeps, they only take a couple of minutes and are not physically demanding. That should mean doing these few exercises about four to five times a day. Again some of the better gyms will be able to teach the correct exercises to do or look in the yellow pages for qualified personal trainers you should only need to be shown a couple of times.
8. Don’t rush. Being impatient and trying to do too much too soon will leave you feeling tired and susceptible to any bugs going. Your muscles will be weak and aerobic system poor and untrained and therefore both will have to be coaxed and nurtured back to full strength over a period of weeks not days.
9. Eat well and prosper. Now is the time to really eat well and make sure you are eating the right amount of nutrients and getting sufficient vitamins and minerals. Choose whole foods, fresh fruit and vegetables and allow yourself the odd comfort food. Once or twice a week give yourself a treat, don’t feel guilty about it, look forward to it and enjoy it. The occasional treat makes no difference whatsoever to your return to shape just as long as the majority of your diet is made up of good wholesome foods.
10. Sleep as much as possible. Easy for me to say hard for you to do. Try take naps during the day when your baby sleeps, change your priorities, let the house look a mess things will get easier as you get the hang of the situation. A really good idea to use if you have someone to help you is every alternate night spend in the same room as your baby and on nights when you are not in the same room, sleep in another part of the house. This is going to mean relying on your partner or parent sleeping in the same room as your baby when you aren’t there but it will ensure that every second night you will have an uninterrupted nights sleep. This strategy will help to recharge your batteries and provide the energy to cope with what lies ahead of you each day. You will also expect to have a poor night on duty and this is therefore a good coping strategy to cope with the stress of lack of sleep. You will really look forward to your nights off.
Well that’s it. I hope you have learned something from this guide. Just to summarise then: – * Get professional advice or thoroughly research post natal exercises * Take it slowly * Believe you will get back in to shape and then go and achieve it * Don’t do sit ups * Be consistent * Don’t diet To get full details of what to eat, exercise and do to get into great shape after pregnancy go to : – http://www.greatshapeafterbaby.com You will find out: – * The only way to get that flat stomach * How to lose weight safely and permanently * What foods you should eat and when to eat them * How much exercise you need to do
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Tags: health and fitness, Lose Weight, Lose Weight Quickly And Safely, Losing Weight After Pregnancy
Adjustable Dumbbells – Guide To Buying The Right Equipment
March 3rd, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
If you are about to start out on a fitness of weightlifting program or you are already into lifting weights on piece of equipment that will surely save you some time and money, and that is easy to use is a pair of adjustable dumbbells. Adjustable dumbbells replace the many pieces of dumbbells that you would normally use at home or in a gym. It is also convenient. There are a number of brands available on the market offering different designs and styles. Here are some tips for buying adjustable dumbbells.
First off you must decide what it is you want to achieve in your weight lifting program and what role dumbbells will be playing. You must have set goals and based on those goals you should know what will need at present and for the future.
Do some research. As we talked about before, there are a number of adjustable dumbbells in the stores so you need to do your homework on each. Find out which are the top one on the market and use the Internet to get as many reviews as you can about each one. What do the reviews say about durability, ease of use, and cost? Be careful with the reviews you see on and offline, as oftentimes the reviewer is not giving an objective review because they are affiliated in some way with the manufacturer or seller of a particular adjustable dumbbell. I advise you to stay to respected review sites. If the companies that make them have a website you should visit that website.
What weight range do you need? Many adjustable dumbbells have a maximum weight and this will vary depending on the model. Some have a maximum weight of 50 pounds other may have 25 pounds. Secede whether you need a low maximum weight or a higher one.
All adjustable dumbbells are able to be adjusted so you have to decide how small of an adjustment you would like. Therefore if you would like the ability to adjust the weight 2.5lbs at a time or 5lbs at a time then choose a dumbbell that can do that.
One of the more important thing you can do is t go to a sport equipment store and try out the adjustable dumbbells they have. Do this in an effort to get a feel of it and how easy or difficult each brand is to use. Go through a few of the exercises you will be using the dumbbells for at different weight settings. Find out also if the set of adjustable dumbbells come with instructions on how to use them.
Another important tip is styling. This may not matter to many people but to others it may affect their performance using the dumbbells. The design and style of the dumbbell has to come into play in terms of how easy they are to use, how they look to the user and how the user feels about their purchase. Always choose a design you are happy with.
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Tags: Adjustable Dumbbells, Buying The Right Equipment, Dumbbells
Women Only Fat Loss Tips
March 2nd, 2009 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. 1 Comment
Copyright (c) 2008 Ed Scow
I train and design fat loss programs for a lot of women. The main concepts of every single one of my fat loss programs are always the same.
They focus on 5 principles that I’m going to reveal to you now.
1) Do less cardio. This is by far the one that is hardest for most ladies to stick to. I don’t know why, but ladies love long, boring, joint pounding cardio sessions. I think it’s because most women think that by doing resistance training, they’re going to magically turn into a guy and get big, hulking muscles and grow a beard, so they do lots and lots of slow cardio in their “fat burning zone” to get around this.
I’m sorry ladies, but that’s not how it works. First there’s no such thing as a fat burning zone. It’s a myth that should be laid to rest for good.
Second, I want you to stop thinking about calories burned while doing the workout and start thinking about the amount of fat burned while not exercising. There is a way to do your cardio that gets you done in as little as 15 minutes that burns more fat throughout the remainder of the day than 90 minutes of moderate cardio in your fat burning zone.
It’s called interval training. All interval training means is you mix short bouts of intense activity with longer bouts of moderate activity.
Take the treadmill as an example. After you warm-up, you would run relatively fast for 20 seconds, followed by a slow jog for 60 seconds, repeat that until you’ve gone about 12 minutes. Then cool down and you’re done. If you do it correctly, I promise you you’ll feel worked when you’re done and you’ll be in and out of the gym quicker than most of the other ladies warm-up.
2) Eat more fiber.
Fiber is king when it comes to fat loss. Eat more of it and you will lose fat. Just start adding more fruits, vegetables, healthy nuts and beans to your daily diet and you’ll notice results within days.
3) Stop drinking diet soda. Diet soda, believe it or not, can be making you gain weight. How is that you ask? Because it makes many ladies retain water. As if you didn’t have enough of that to worry about already, now you have to worry about diet sodas making you retain water.
So, stop drinking them and you may lose upwards of 10 pounds in a week.
4) Do resistance training 3 times per week. No, you won’t get big burly muscles like a guy. In fact, many guys have trouble getting big muscles. It’s very, very hard to gain 1 pound of muscle and it’s even harder for women because they naturally don’t have the hormones.
But doing resistance training doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go hang out with the boys. Just stick to 3 full body workouts that focus on full body movements like push-ups, rows, squats, lunges and full body core movements like planks and mountain climbers rather than crunches.
Doing so will burn a lot more fat and tone your arms and legs much faster than doing isolation movements like bicep curls, triceps kickbacks and the inner thigh machines.
5) Stop doing so many crunches.
It drives me crazy to hear that people do hundreds of crunches everyday. That will not give you a flat, sexy stomach. It may strengthen those muscles, but what good does that do if they’re hidden below a layer of flabby goo?
You have to get rid of the stomach fat by following the previous 4 tips I gave you. That’s how you get the firm, flat tummy you’ve always wanted. That’s how you get rid of the muffin top and fit into those skinny jeans you’ve always wanted.
Not by doing endless amounts of crunches.
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