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Swiss ball benfits
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Strength Training
"If you want to strengthen your abdominal and work on core stability, start (or continue) doing exercises on the Swiss ball. A recent study, conducted at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and reported on in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, looked at the use of a Swiss (stability) ball as a surface for the bench press exercise.
In the study, 14 volunteers performed bench press exercises both on a traditional bench press and off a Swiss ball. Results between performing the same exercise on the two surfaces were compared. Researchers found that when the volunteers performed the exercises off the Swiss ball, they experienced more shoulder and abdominal muscle stimulation than when they performed the same exercises on a traditional bench.
The authors note that while the increase in deltoid muscle activity was supported by previous findings in similar research, the increase in abdominal muscle action had not previously been discovered. This finding supports the generally accepted reasoning that because they are performed on an unstable surface, Swiss ball exercises recruit core muscles in addition to other muscles being trained. (It is interesting to note that in this study the Swiss ball, when compared to the bench did not provide the increased muscle activity in the chest or triceps muscles, as it did with the shoulders.)"
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swiss, physioball, exercise
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created by
thetrainerx
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saved on 2/22/2008
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1
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19.1
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100 %
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How sleep affects your fitness
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General/Other
"Rest and recovery is the most neglected component in a workout schedule, and this component is highly linked to your sleep.
There are four phases of the sleep cycle:
- Phase one starts when the sun sets and hormones release that make you start to feel sleepy in the absence of light.
- Phase two occurs when a person a person lies down to relax. This phase lasts for about ten to fifteen minutes.
- During the Phase 3, the sleeper falls into a deeper sleep - this too lasts about fifteen minutes.
- Phase 4, the last phase of the sleep cycle, occurs about half an hour after the person has laid down. During this part of the cycle, the eyes move back and forth very quickly. This phenomenon is commonly known as REM sleep (rapid eye movement).
During this last part of the cycle, the first dream occurs. When that dream has finished, the cycle restarts. Ideally, this cycle repeats itself five times per night. Studies have shown that uninterrupted; a person generally sleeps for eight hours and fifteen minutes per night.
Sleep deprivation can cause several problems that affect your health, and your body building routine. One such problem is glucose intolerance, which occurs when the central nervous system blocks the pancreas from producing enough insulin, affecting the body's power to digest food. Increased carbohydrate cravings may also occur – brought on by a need for more energy producing calories that can therefore affect your nutrition plan. Sleep deprivation can also cause a weakened immune system, which can lead to colds or flu and prevent you from working to your maximum potential.
Hardgainers' Bodybuilding Handbook gives a quick test to tell if you are sleep deprived. If you can lie down in the middle of the day and fall asleep within ten minutes, it is likely that you are sleep deprived. If this describes your sleeping patterns, it is important to reduce your sleep debt by catching a few extra Z's every night, though we all know that isn't easy!
In conclusion, you need seven to nine hours of sleep each night for your body to run efficiently. Without this valuable feature, you will have muscle loss, which will lower your metabolism, and affect your drive and focus in working out. Rest and relaxation, though often neglected, is as vital to a healthy body building routine as protein and a spotter!"
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sleep, exercise, fitness
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created by
thetrainerx
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saved on 2/22/2008
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4
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28.9
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100 %
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Power up your diet with these foods!
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Diet and Nutrition
"You probably know that you should eat foods rich in fiber, antioxidants and certain naturally occurring chemical substances in plants called polyphenols—micronutrients that are linked to prevention against heart disease and cancers. There is evidence that these compounds not only can protect you from disease but also can help you look and feel younger—but in which foods do they lurk? Here’s a guide to some common sources for some great food compounds.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: walnuts, pumpkin seeds, fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, trout, and tuna, also canola oil, walnuts and flaxseed oils. Also found in dark leafy green vegetables.
Fiber: Apples, oranges, bananas, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, oat bran, lentils, green peas, kidney and pinto beans. (One of the major reasons to eat rather than drink your fruits is that the juices lose the naturally rich fiber content found in the fruits themselves. )
Cartenoids (such as beta carotene): Broccoli, spinach, collards, turnips, carrots, red, yellow, and green peppers.
Flavonoids: Berries, such as strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. Also dark chocolate for a strong antioxidant flavonoid that aids in blood flow.
Lycopene: Any tomato product (sauce, tomatoes, tomato soup, tomato juice, even catsup)
Resveratrol: red wine, and grapes, also found in raspberries, peanuts."
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diet, food, healthy
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created by
thetrainerx
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saved on 2/22/2008
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5
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21.3
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100 %
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Motivation!
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General/Other
"1.Find an activity that you love--or at least somewhat enjoy--doing. Just because everyone loves kickboxing and the gym offers 5 classes a day devoted to variations of the roundhouse, jab, and front kick, if you hate it and force yourself to take classes because kickboxing the trend of the moment, you most likely will abandon your exercise program faster than a pro-boxer can throw a one-two punch.
2. Be creative about finding time to work out. Although you may ideally want to devote an hour to your daily workouts, any time you can carve out of your day is good. Whenever you have a half hour or so to spare, fill it with fitness. Some ideas: wake up a half hour earlier and work out then; walk your kids to school if possible, and after dropping them off go for a run and then walk back. Most gyms are now open until 10 p.m. or later--try a late night workout. Of course, you can mix it up, depending on the day. The point is to try to find some time at least three or four days a week to fit in fitness.
3. Bingeing isn't better. Just as you can binge in your eating, you can become an exercise binger--especially after the holidays when all we want to do is lose some extra pounds and get into shape. However, spending two to three hours working out like crazy at the gym or during a home workout is not likely to be something you can maintain. Evidence indicates that people who go too gung-ho from the get-go end up flat-lined by an overuse injury, sheer exhaustion, or just the stress of having to dedicate so much time to working out. There is no need to work out that much. In fact, at a certain point you are getting diminished returns as you deplete your body of energy.
4. Buddies are better. Having a workout partner is great motivation to stick to your exercise program. You don't want to disappoint her or him by not showing up! You may want to sign up for team personal training sessions with your buddy. They're usually less expensive than one-on-ones and can be a lot more fun. One caveat here however: you still need to work out if your buddy cancels on you. Try not to think of your buddy as a prerequisite to performing your workout program.
5. Set interim goals and reward yourself. We all love to be rewarded for a job well done. Why not set up a reward system for meeting the smaller goals along the way to your ultimate goal. Say the latter is that you lose 20 pounds, and reduce your percentage of body fat to 17 percent. That may be reasonable to achieve in about three months. But you can set an interim goal of losing 8 pounds in the first month. Once you reach that goal buy yourself a present, or get a massage--something that makes you feel good about your achievement. (Interim goals can also involve increasing mileage per workout or the amount of weight you can lift during a resistance training session.)"
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motivation, exercise
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created by
thetrainerx
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saved on 2/22/2008
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3
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17.9
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100 %
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Bosu Strength
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Strength Training
"Pump up the volume of your leg training with these variations of the standard standing squat that incorporate the BOSU. For those of you who haven’t yet discovered BOSU, it is a dome-like piece of equipment with one unstable side—sort of like half of a Swiss or stability ball. Performing squats on the BOSU enables you to work balance and coordination to a greater degree, and to recruit more core muscles. You’ll burn more calories too!
Perform these exercises first without any weights; as you get stronger and develop more balance capability you can hold light dumbbells in each hand.
BOSU SQUAT
1. Stand on top of the BOSU, your head in line with your spine, and your abs pulled in. Your feet should be right in the center of the BOSU. To fully engage and activate your hamstrings, gluteals, and quads make sure to keep your knees slightly bent at all times when standing on the BOSU.
2. Slowly lower to a squatting position, pressing back over your heels as you bend your knees.
3. Go as low as you can without feeling pain in your knees. You will feel your legs and feet shaking as you try to stabilize on the BOSU. This is to be expected.
4. Exhale and stand up again (without fully straightening your legs).
5. Perform one to three sets of eight to ten reps.
6. For an even greater challenge, perform these squats while simultaneously pressing a medicine ball out in front of you as you squat down.
BOSU DYNAMIC LUNGE
This version will send your heart rate soaring as you lunge across the BOSU.
1. Stand tall and face front, with the BOSU just to your right.
2. Place your right foot on top (in the center) of the BOSU, your left foot remains on the floor to the side of the BOSU.
3. Exhale and push off of the BOSU, lunging to the right so that your left foot lands on top of the BOSU and your right foot on the floor.
4. As you perform the lunge be sure to keep your knees in alignment with your hips at all times. (This means that hips and knees face same direction always).
5. Continue to lunge in each direction several times."
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bosu, strength, exercise
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created by
thetrainerx
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saved on 2/22/2008
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2
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43
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100 %
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Burn, Baby, Burn! The truth about burning calories !
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Diet and Nutrition
"Before you reach for an extra croissant in the belief that your three-mile morning walk burned off an extra 300 calories (100 calories per mile), you might want to know that determining the amount of extra calories—calories your body doesn’t need to maintain your current weight—you actually burned is more tricky than a straight per-mile calculation. Why? There are several factors that come into play to determine how much of an actual caloric deficit you experience in a given exercise. If you are trying to lose weight by burning more calories each day than you need, consider the following:
• The calories you burn during your workout include calories you would normally burn if you were just sitting around daydreaming. In order for us to stay alive, to keep our hearts beating, lungs breathing, all metabolic processes functioning, our bodies have to burn energy. This is known as the resting metabolic rate, which actually accounts for about two-thirds of all the calories we burn in a given day! Take the example of the 300 calorie walk: If you weigh around 150 pounds and walked at a 3.5 mph pace you would burn approximately 160 extra net calories; the other 140 calories you would have burned anyway during that same time period--even if you were doing absolutely nothing. So your net caloric expenditure is 160, not 300. Probably not enough to cover a buttery croissant. This should not discourage you, just know that total calories burned does not equal total unneeded calories burned. Message: The calories the calorie counter on an exercise machine says you burned is only an estimation.
• Intensity Matters: They used to say it was important to go for the long burn—to work out for a long time at lower intensity to burn fat stores. Now the thinking is that the more vigorous and efficient your workout, the greater your net caloric expenditure—and the closer your gross caloric expenditure will be to your net energy cost. In other words, you will burn more extra calories doing shorter bouts of higher intensity exercise (running for 20 minutes rather than walking for 40 minutes) than longer bouts of exercise at a lower intensity. Message: work out as hard as you can for a shorter time; you’ll burn more calories and have more time to do other things.
• You’ve probably been told that you will continue to burn extra calories for several hours after your aerobic workout. This is called excess post-workout oxygen consumption (EPOC). While this effect does exist, it varies widely from 10 to as high as 150 kcal. In fact, to really have a significant effect on weight loss and caloric deficit, your workouts would have to be both high intensity and long in duration—something only the extremely conditioned can realistically do. Message: Focus on working hard during your workout, but don’t count too much on burning significant calories after you’re done.
• That said, it’s important to note that you don’t want to work out too hard and for so long that you end u"... read entire tip
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calories, diet, nutrition
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created by
thetrainerx
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saved on 2/22/2008
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4
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74.6
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100 %
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