Fitness expert John Basedow discusses the benefits of adding supplements in your fitness and nutrition plan.
Monday, February 27, 2012
The Doctors' Surprise Workout
E.R. physician Dr. Travis Stork gives the Get Fit with The Doctors contest winner, Whitney, a surprise workout.
Tech's Appeal: Fitness Gadgets That Work Wonders
Jennifer Jolly shows you the latest fitness devices that will help motivate, track and inspire you.
Benefits of Blueberries to Prevent Obesity
Blueberries can help prevent obesity. Another research hasdiscovered that blueberries could inhibit the development of fat cells in thebody. The study was led by a graduate student named Shiwani Moghe at theUniversity of Texas. The study using rats to examine the tissues of the body.The study focused on the effects of polyphenol in the fat cells and inhibitionof lipolysis and the breakdown of fat off.
Read more »
Rapid Fat Loss, Weight Loss and Body Transformation
Don't confuse rapid fat loss with a quick weight loss program or fad diet. Fat loss will get you healthier. Quick weight loss through severe calorie restriction will be regained (when you begin to eat normally again).
Since you are burning fat at a faster rate, your workouts will be tougher and you will need to comply with a healthy, managed meal plan.
Until you get a handle on what and when to eat, keep a food journal to learn how to manage your eating. Research has proven that you will have a better chance of succeeding with your nutrition plan and fat loss if you keep a food journal. By logging your actual food choices, you are holding yourself accountable throughout the day. It helps you plan better too.
Keep in mind that rapid fat loss is just the beginning kickstart to your long-term exercise program. You will continue to workout, burn fat and lose weight after the short (two weeks or less) rapid fat loss period.
How To Lose Weight the Right Way
Note: The more you weigh, the faster your metabolism will be. This happens because your body must work harder to maintain itself. That is also why it is easier to lose weight in the beginning of a fat loss/weight loss program. Your metabolism is running so high that a moderate caloric deficit will result in quick weight losses.
You could lose 6-10 pounds of weight and 1% to 2% body fat the first week. As time goes on, it is safe (and typical) to lose about 2 pounds a week. If you can burn .5% to 1% body fat in one week, that is great progress. A person who has been inactive for a long period can experience similar early successes as the overweight or obese person.
You can't transform your body without significant fat loss. Fat loss will make your body more healthy and beautiful (lean). Fat loss will also lead to lasting weight loss. In other words, a body composition change (less fat, more lean mass) is the key to permanent weight loss.
Increase your muscle mass (with regular strength training) to burn fat and permanently speed up your metabolism. Your body has to work harder to maintain muscle mass. You will become leaner because muscle takes up less space than fat. You can't rush the process of building a lean body. Make a habit of checking your body fat percentage on a weekly basis. If your body is shrinking (lost fat and inches), you are on the way to building your lean body.
A lean body will also give you the best chance to live a long, healthier life.
In a study led by Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, American Cancer Society strategic director, Pharmacoepidemiology, researchers examined the association between waist circumference and the risk of death among 48,500 men and 56,343 women age 50 and older who had taken part in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, a subset of the larger Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II).
“We were interested in looking at waist size because it’s strongly correlated to fat tissue in the abdomen, which is the most dangerous kind of fat issue,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs and his colleagues found that people with very large waists (47 inches or larger in men, 42 inches or larger in women) had approximately twice the risk of death compared to those with the smallest waists (35 inches in men, 30 inches in women) during the study period.
“We found a pattern showing that expanding waist size was linked to a greater risk of dying regardless of body weight,” said Jacobs. “Similarly, people with the smallest waist sizes had the lowest risk. The take home message here is watch your waist size regardless of your weight.”
Here are some tips to help you transform your body:
1. Make the commitment to a lifetime of fitness and not just to a 4-week or 8-week exercise plan.
A good fitness plan is based on basic science, research and evidence. A good fitness plan is also unique for every person. Two people following the same program will get different results because of individual differences.
You may need a personal trainer to help you. Besides helping you visualize your fitness and health goals, a personal trainer will give you expert guidance and feedback. A personal trainer will also be your accountability partner.
2. Be honest with yourself (like why your fat loss efforts failed in the past) and set realistic, periodic fitness goals. You need small successes to spur you on to greater success. If you fail one week, get up and try again next week--perseverance is one of the most important characteristics you will need to reach your goals.
3. Improve your eating habits day by day based on a sound nutrition plan. You may need to make small changes at first. An example would be to cut out processed foods and replace them with whole, natural foods. You may need a pantry makeover!
Don't starve yourself (severe calorie restriction). This will only encourage your body to store fat because it thinks you are starving. Eat small meals every 3-4 hours to keep your body energized and to keep your metabolism humming.
4. Adjust your lifestyle to exercise regularly. Be intentional about staying active (like walking every day) and exercising regularly. A home workout program will work just fine, if you don't have time to go to a gym.
There are no shortcuts to building the healthy, lean and toned body you need!
Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut!
"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"
Check out my other great blogs:
Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!
Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!
3 Medicine Ball Throws that Tone Your Upper Body
Medicine ball throws and passes are great exercises for toning your upper body. Lifting weights are not the only way to tone your upper body.
To get better fat burning results, mix up your training with weights, resistance tubing, medicine balls and bodyweight.
Here are 3 medicine ball exercises to do more often:
Note: Use a medicine ball about 10% of your bodyweight for these exercises if you can control and throw it explosively. Use a lighter ball if needed and progress from there. Perfect your form for these exercises before progressing to full speed.
MB Chest Pass
The 2-handed medicine ball chest pass is a great exercise to burn fat, improve your power and core strength. This is an advanced power exercise that is performed at full speed.
1. Stand with your feet straight and in a staggered-stance. Generate power from your legs (then to your core) to pass the medicine ball.2. Hold the medicine ball with both hands at chest level and your elbows flexed.
3. Push and pass the ball as explosively as possible. Don't let your shoulders shrug.
4. Repeat the pass as soon as possible with control and power.
MB Soccer Throw
The soccer throw with medicine ball is a great sports power exercise to improve your core strength and arm speed.
The soccer throw works the muscles that you use to throw a ball or swing a racquet overhead. The soccer throw is also an advanced core exercise.
Be sure to also use your legs as you throw the medicine ball. If you don't use your legs, you won't be able to throw at full speed. Don't stand straight up as you throw. Keep your back leg straight and your front leg bent.
MB Rotational Throw
Medicine ball rotational throw - Many everyday movements require coordination while rotating your body. This exercise is also very difficult to do correctly. When you get good at it, you will burn upper and lower body fat at a faster rate.
1. Start with your stance a little wider than shoulder width, standing sideways. Hold the medicine ball with your arms extended but elbows not locked.
2. Swing the ball back and rotate your torso, shoulders, arms and head to throw the ball straight ahead (similar to swinging a baseball bat).
3. Transfer power from your lower body through your core and explode with the throw. Don't just use your arms to throw the ball.
4. Do all repetitions for one side and repeat with the opposite side of your body.
Use throwing more often to burn more fat!
Download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program, start burning max fat and start building your lean, hard body!
"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"
Check out my other great blogs:
Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!
Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!
How to Improve Power Production in Your Sport
Eccentric contraction training will improve your power and make you a more explosive athlete. Teams with powerful players win more games.
Strong eccentric contractions are critical for you to produce maximal power since all force production (concentric) must be preceded by force reduction (eccentric). An example would be loading up in your squat to do an explosive squat jump (a plyometric exercise).
Plyometric exercises always follow the same order: a landing phase, an amortization phase and the take off.
The landing phase starts when the muscles start an eccentric contraction. The rapid eccentric contraction stretches the elastic component of the muscle and activates the stretch reflex. A high level of eccentric strength is needed during the landing phase. Inadequate strength will result in a slow rate of stretch and less activation of the stretch reflex.
The amortization phase, the time on the ground, is the most important part of a plyometric exercise. It represents the time between the landing and the take off and is critical for power development. If the amortization phase is too long, the stretch reflex is lost and there is no plyometric effect.
The take off is the concentric contraction that follows the landing. During this phase the stored elastic energy is used to increase jump height and explosive power.
Strength train your muscles with all contraction types (eccentric, isometric, concentric). All muscles function eccentrically (reduces force or deceleration), isometrically (stabilizes force) and concentrically (produces force).
Eccentric contractions are able to produce the most tension development followed by isometric contractions and lastly, concentric contractions.
If eccentric contractions are able to produce the greatest tension development, then more time should be devoted during training for eccentric contractions to reduce the risk of injuries such as knee anterior cruciate ligament tears and improve power.
You would train for eccentric contractions this way:
Eccentric muscle contraction weight training is the lowering phase (force reduction) of a lift.
For example, you would lift the weight (concentric or force production) for a hamstring curl for one count and lower the weight for 3-4 counts. For bench press, lift the weight for 1 count and lower the weight for 3-4 counts.
Become a more explosive athlete by training correctly for power!
Be sure and download your FREE Sports Power Workout Book and FREE REPORT, "10 Must Know Speed Training Tips!"
ther things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!
Check out my other great blogs:
Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!
My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!
Friday Full-Body, Fat-Burning Circuit Workout
On a busy Friday, you need an effective, short, fat-burning workout to take you into the weekend…
Here you go…..get after it!Remember, intense workouts will give you better and faster results.
Since this workout is circuit-style, you also get the benefit of a great cardio workout. Do each exercise (10-12 repetitions) one after the other with little or no rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes and do the circuit 2 more times. Here is a good circuit program:
–Bulgarian split squats
–Incline pushups
–Step ups (with knee high platform), pictured above
–Pullups, inverted rows or bentover dumbbell rows
–Side Lunges
–Standing DB Alternating Arm Shoulder Press
–Walking Lunges w/MB Rotation
–Triceps Dips on Bars or Dips with Hands and Feet on Bench
–Front-to-Back Hops, fast
Be sure and download my FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program and get started changing your body!
“Exercise is not my life…..exercise makes my life better!”Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!
Check out my other great blogs:My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!
Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named one of the 50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody—including athletes!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Jordan's Leg Workout
Just Ask Jordan tells you how you should tone your legs.
Workout at Home: Overhead Press
Target triceps, shoulders, and upper back with this how-to demo.
Workout at Home: Crunches
Ever wondered how to do the perfect crunch? Here's a step-by-step guide to correct form.
Workout at Home: Calf Raise
Tone calves at home with this simple move.
Workout at Home: Hip Extension
Whip those buns into shape with this equipment-free move.
Workout at Home: Hip Abduction
Target and tone thighs with this how-to demo.
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