Summer is over and it’s back to the gym. What can you expect and what is the right workout for you? Here are my top six picks for what’s new, what’s still in and what might work for you.
1. Budget-Friendly Workouts: One way to get a safe and inspiring workout that gets you results is group personal training. Fit Behavior offers our 30FIT group personal training. Routines are only 30 minutes in and out the door and the costs are greatly reduced. You can participate in classes Monday through Friday 6AM through 8PM and limited hours on Saturday.
2. Boot Camp-Style Workouts: Boot camp workouts are popular as they provide a total-body workout that’s varied, fun and challenging and usually easy to follow. Up to 600 calories can be burned during a boot camp session – according to ACE(American Council on Exercise). Fit Behavior offers Boot camp classes every Tuesday and Saturday morning at 6AM.
3. Specialty Classes: Dance-based classes all the rage this year. Zumba, a fitness program inspired by Latin dance, combines South American rhythms with cardiovascular exercise. Shows such as Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance encourage dance style fitness classes that have grow in popularity such as ballroom, belly dance, Afro-Cuban and other exotic dance styles. Check out the class schedule at Fitbehavior.com.
4. Functional Training: The days of sitting on a machine and body building workouts are out. New more challenging and creative functional workouts challenge all the muscles, balance, core and cardiovascular at the same time. Personal training can help to ensure a safe workout and new innovating movements to get fit.
5. Circuit Training: Studies have shown that interval training combining strength training and cardiovascular activity at different intensities provides a more time-efficient workout than participating in traditional aerobic and weight training sessions. Time is the gym is greatly reduced by combining a weight training and cardiovascular routine.
6. New Equipment Kettle bell training, ropes, TRX, gravity training, free motion equipment, and heavy balls gets back to basic training that requires functional, whole body fitness.
Fall 2010- what’s hot in fitness?
October 4th, 2010The Land of Nodd…ZZZ
October 4th, 2010
Sleep impacts our daily living in very important ways. Deprived sleep patterns negatively affects daily routines, health and moods. Studies show that sleep can impact and improve mortally rates. A general rule is 7-8 hours sleep every night for adults is optimal.
Damage from all kinds of things such as stress, pollutants, infection, sun exposure etc. is part of the aging process as well as health risks associated with lack of sleep. A good night’s sleep helps to repair your body by producing extra protein molecules to mend your body at a cellular level.
Weight gain and loss is greatly affected by sleep patterns and lack of sleep. Sleep helps regulate the hormones that affect and control appetite. Unfortunately lack of sleep doesn’t increase your appetite for healthy foods. It increases desires for all the wrong foods containing empty calories, high sugar content foods and fats.
Sleep helps keep your heart healthy. Sleep helps to reduce the levels of stress and inflammation in your body from the stressors in your day. High levels of inflammation are linked to heart attacks, heart disease and strokes.
Sleep helps improve memory. When you sleep, your brain is busy organizing and correlating memories. The ‘foggy’ feeling that you struggle with when deprived of sleep makes it difficult to concentrate.
Here are a few tips for sleeping better.
Start a relaxing bedtime routine. Try and make night time a routine or habit that will help reduce stress and help you sleep. Try a bath or shower, soothing music, and skin care routine, or read a book.
Go to bed and get up at about the same time every day, even on the weekends. A schedule can help the body sleep- wake cycle and promote a good nights rest.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the evening. Caffeine is a stimulate that will effect your ability to fall asleep. Avoid caffeine for 7-8 hours before bedtime. Alcohol may help you fall asleep however, it actually disrupts sleep.
Are you motivated?
October 4th, 2009People who are stressed out regularly, overweight and have chronic injuries are this way because of the lifestyle they lead on a daily basis and typically for several years. There is a blissful, hopeful, and typical fantasy period in which everyone is motivated when they start a diet or fitness program. The reality is that motivation is a feeling that always fades. A person will be left with the reality of generally returning to old habits, mind sets and lifestyles. That is why diets don’t work and people stop working out. People generally come in very motivated, that’s what gets a person started. When the honey moon period is over most people will go right back to their old ways.
Weight Training is NOt Just for Toning
August 26th, 2009It is proven whether you’re 20- 40- or 70, weight training with proper nutrition can strengthen bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis with weight management. Weight bearing exercise can slow the aging process of the skeletal structure.
Weight training also supports your joint structure which is a major prevention for future joint problems with knees, shoulders, and back. For instance, the main vertebral column’s support is our back muscles. As we age and muscles atrophy (without use), the support of the column becomes weaker. The spine can begin to compress on nerves and disks wear away. Weight training will build the back muscles and continue to support the spine. This can help prevent or avoid many back imbalances and injuries.
Reducing Simple Sugars with Simple Solutions
August 8th, 2009Consuming simple sugars elicits a burst of sugars released in your body. This burst causes many stresses to the body. Sugar will promote a sharp spike in insulin levels in the body resulting in accelerating the aging process, increased risk of heart disease, every form of cancer, memory loss, and mental deterioration and is function in accelerating aging skin and wrinkles.
If you do choose to eat your refined sugars you should combine with good fats, fiber, and protein to slow absorption. Many times I hear people state they are addicted to sugar. Realize that eating sugar causes your body to crave more sugar. That may be the addiction you think you have. Read the contents on your labels. Don’t concentrate on the carbohydrate number; look at the grams of sugar listed on the label.
What to Eat Before, During and After Exercise
August 2nd, 2009These meal planning suggestions are intended for an exercise routine that will last for approximately an hour of relatively intense cardiovascular and/ or weight training workouts. Proper nutrition is important and essential for weight loss and for energy during and after a workout.
Here are a few suggestions for meal planning before during and after a workout.
You should never exercise on an empty stomach. The pre workout meal is important in regards to the foods you choose and timing of your meals. Without any or enough carbohydrates, blood sugar levels cannot be sustained. Sustaining blood sugar levels is essential in burning body fat most efficiently and sustaining energy levels during exercise.
If you are planning to eat 4 hours before a workout, your meal should consist of carbohydrates, protein and fats. This combination will help to stabilize blood sugar levels during your work out. Here is a simple list to choose from: fresh fruit, or vegetable juices, bread, bagels, baked potatoes, and sandwiches with a small amount of peanut butter, lean meat, or low fat cheese.
3 hours before a work out your meal/snack should comprise carbohydrates only. If you choose to add protein before you exercise up to 3 hour before you work out, these foods can result in delayed emptying of the stomach and you could potentially experience uncomfortable gastrointestinal side effects during your workout. Consider these snack ideas: A half of a bagel with jam, a banana and 20 mini-pretzels or an energy bar.
2 hours and up until your work out should consist of simple carbohydrates only. Approximately 200 calories is the suggested amount of calories you should consume. The majority of these calories should come from simple carbohydrates. Here are a few suggestions: fruit or vegetable juice and/or a sport drink.
During Exercise, listen to your body. If you start to feel light headed or tired during your workouts, you may want to add some simple sugars to your workouts. A suggestion is a sports drink of some kind. Feeling hungry is not an indication that you are burning fat. It is an indication that your blood sugar level is dropping and you should adjust your nutritional needs for your workouts.
Post Workout meals depend on the time and intensity of your workout. No snacks or meals need to be eaten if your workout is less than a half hour and mild intensity. If your routine is intense and last more than 45 minutes, a proper light snack or meal is suggested. A recovery meal of both carbohydrates and protein is important in a four to one ratio of carbohydrates to protein consumption.
Carbohydrates need to be consumed to replenish the glycogen stores that have been depleted during exercise. Eating within one hour after a work out will aid in the bodies ability to utilize the nutrition most efficiently. Waiting longer than an hour results in 50 percent less glycogen stored in the muscle.
Protein provides the amino acids that will aid in rebuilding muscle tissue that is damaged during intense, prolonged exercise. Too much protein can inhibit re-hydration. The amount of protein in a recovery snack/meal will depend on your age, weight, medical conditions, not the intensity or duration of your workout. You may want to consult USDA guidelines for more information on protein intake.
These are general guidelines for nutrition and exercise. Each person may find that slight variations may work better for each individual. This advice should be modified or approved by a consulting a qualified health professional for your particular needs or medical modifications.
Carolyn Phillips- Founder/CEO
Menu of Life- Carolynsmenuoflife.com
Fit Behavior- Fitbehavior.com
August Kicking Boot Camp Blast
July 16th, 2009
A summer fitness blast!
A Support System for Success
July 16th, 2009Who ever said being healthy should be easy, or it should just come natural?
A common trait among individuals who make and keep healthy lifestyle changes is that they have a strong network of friends, family, places, and programs that they can rely on to keep them motivated and inspired to help them in their participation and continued success. Many people think that if they fall of the wagon, if they don’t achieve success fast and easy, or if they become bored and monotonous, they should just quit. Healthy people who have developed life long weight control and good health have developed HABITS. They all have excellent support systems to help them along the way.
Metabolic Weight Training Benefits
July 7th, 2009Cardiovascular alone may help you lose weight, but as you age, maybe not. As we age our muscles atrophy approximately 5 lbs. of muscle tissue every ten years. This is due to the aging process, poor nutritional habits, and lack of a resistance program. Five pounds of muscle is equal to burning or not burning 300 calories daily. The next time you hear someone say “my metabolism is slowing down as I get older” now you know one of the reasons why. If you start or maintain a weight training program along with nutrition, you’ll be able to increase about 5 lbs. of muscle tissue in approximately 3 months to a year depending on your genetics and other factors.
Creating a vision board
June 27th, 2009I have always been an advocate of goal setting by writing down what I want in my life and mapping out how I will get there. Presently I am redefining my life goals. Last night I met with Deb Clifford. She has a company called Inspired People. I am working with Deb to help me clearly define my goals and find a way to make my dreams comes true. Deb asked me to make a vision board. Vision boards can express goals with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, and what you want out of life. The idea behind a vision board is that the pictures express your life desires and help clarify or communicate your goals.
For instance, my goal is to become a talk show host for health, fitness and wellness concepts. My message and mission is to get people to stop dieting forever, loose weight, and get fit. I am starting mine today- join me in starting one. I would love to see any vision board that will make your dreams come true.
10 steps on how to make a vision board
1. First- it’s simple and fun.
2. Get some type of poster board.
3. Get a big stack of different magazines- make sure you get a wide variety.
4. Before you begin your vision board: Ask yourself, what is it you want?
5. Go through your magazines and tear the images from them. No gluing yet. Just find pictures or words or headlines that you connect with and represent what you want. Make a big pile of images and phrases and words.
6. You may find you have little epiphanies about more of what as you go through the process – go with it and stay open.
7. Go through the images and begin to lay your favorites on the board.
8. Eliminate any images that no longer feel right to you. As you lay the pictures on the board, you’ll get ideas on how you want the board to look. Let your intuition play a strong role in this part of the process. Your images might go all over the place or you might like to tell a sequential story. You might assign a theme to each part of the board like fitness, spirituality, career, or relationships.
9. Glue-paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines onto vision board. Add writing if you want. You can paint on it, or write words with markers.
10. Put your vision board in a place where you will see it often.