Ten Reasons You Should Join A Group Fitness Class

May 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

“If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb

If you’ve been going to the gym faithfully for months doing the same routine but not getting the results you feel you deserve you may need to change things up.  Taking a group fitness class is one of the best ways to fire up your same-old-same-old so that you can start seeing some significant results again.

Here are the top ten reasons why you should join a group fitness class:

1.  It Will Get Your Out Of A Rut – I’ve been around the gym for a few years now and I can tell you that  people that go into the fitness center three times a week do practically the same workout every day.  Most of the time it looks like this: thirty minutes on the treadmill (or elliptical) followed by some strength training using the machines.

When you do the same thing over and over your body adjusts to it and you cease to see any improvements in cardio endurance, muscle strength or weight loss.  When you join a group fitness class you’ll do different exercises every day.  Classes like boot camp, Tabata, and interval training offer a mental challenge that keeps you from getting bored and, at the same time, employs different muscle groups and heart rate ranges so you start seeing results again.

b2fbe88078e2d388cc1fec6e2f83d7ba Ten Reasons You Should Join A Group Fitness Class

 

2. You’ll Do Stuff You’ve Never Done Before – Fitness instructors are a competitive bunch and they want to challenge you, and themselves, to be the best.  I don’t know a fitness instructor that doesn’t want the class they teach to be the one that everyone talks about after they leave.  This is why when you go to a group class you’ll do exercises you’ve never done before, and maybe some you never thought you could do.

You may not be inspired to try a BOSU or kettle ball workout on your own, but will learn how to use them if they’re part of a class. I asked the Y I work for to purchase gliding discs for us to use.  Having a new toy to try out was fun but also very challenging.  With the discs came an entirely set of new and unique exercises that worked our muscles in a very different way.

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Walking vs Running: Both Are Good For Heart Health. One Is Better For Weight Loss

April 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Whether you walk or run for fitness, there’s minimal difference between the two in health benefits.  Both walking and running will reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes risk a new study finds.

The research that touts the findings that walking and running are equal when it comes to heart health and the prevention of cardiovascular disease collected data from the National Runners’ Health Study and the National Walkers’ Health Study.  More than 33,000 runners and 16,000 walkers were involved.  The median age range for the walkers and runners was 40 to 60 years of age.

Over a six year period of time both activities led to similar reductions in risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.  Here’s what the study found:

  • Running reduced the risk of high blood pressure 4.2 percent; walking 7.2 percent.
  • Running reduced the risk for high cholesterol 4.3 percent; walking 7 percent.
  • Running lowered the risk for diabetes 12.1 percent; walking 12.3 percent.
  • Running decreased the risk of heart disease 4.5 percent; walking 9.3 percent

Paul Williams, a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley points out that both running and walking reduce risk factors but it’s a matter of how far you walk or run, not how long.  The more people walked or ran each week the more their health improved.

Williams also says that to reap the benefits, walkers must keep a brisk pace.  Walking for exercise isn’t a “mosey type of thing.”

While both walking and running are equally effective to reduce cardiovascular disease risks, running is the superior activity for people that want to lose weight.

 

Girl running with dog Walking vs Running: Both Are Good For Heart Health. One Is Better For Weight Loss

What to lose weight? Turn your brisk walk into a jog.
Flickr photo by lululemonathletica

 

Running Is Better For Weight Loss

In another study Paul Williams evaluated body mass index (BMI) of more than 32,000 runners and 15,000 walkers.  Participants supplied weight and height history for the preceding five years, along with their waist size and details about their workouts including distance, pace, frequency and any other exercise they did.

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Filed Under: Fitness, Health and Wellness News

Twenty Reasons Why You Should Get 30 Minutes of Exercise Every Day.

March 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

You already know that a daily dose of exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health.  What you may not know is that 30 minutes a day of cardio and strength exercises effects every single cell in your body.  Exercise is the secret sauce to a longer, more productive existence.  And the best news is you don’t have to do P90X or Insanity-type workouts to get the benefits (although those are certainly solid programs).  Moderate, but regular, doses of exercise does a body good too!

Here are twenty reasons why you should get (at least) 30 minutes of exercise a day:

1.  Heart Disease – Getting some regular, daily exercise can reduce your risk of fatal heart disease. And when you combine physical activity with other lifestyle measures, such as maintaining a healthy weight, the payoff is even greater.

2.  Increased Brain Power – Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory, and learning according to Harvard Medical School psychiatrist John Ratey and author of the book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. Exercise increases mental clarity and may help reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimers.

Exercise Blocks Twenty Reasons Why You Should Get 30 Minutes of Exercise Every Day.

Exercise is the secret ingredient to a long and healthy life.

3.  Depression – A study published in 2005 found that walking fast for about 35 minutes a day five times a week or 60 minutes a day three times a week had a significant influence on mild to moderate depression symptoms. When you exercise you secrete chemicals called endorphins which are the body’s own natural anti-depressants.

4.  Diabetes – Studies show that exercise has the potential to control diabetes by nonmedical means, reduce the severity of the disease, and significantly reduce the risk of long-term complications

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Filed Under: Fitness, Motivation To Exercise

Review: The Biggest Loser Power Ab Blast DVD

February 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Dolvett Quince and Bob Harper team up to deliver Power Ab Blast with six contestants from the Biggest Loser television show.

The Ab Blast consists of four workouts: Standing Abs, Cardio Abs, All-Out Abs, and Yoga Abs.  The workouts are short in length. Three are 10  minute workouts and one, Cardio Abs, is 15 minutes. Power Ab Blast is a new release from Lionsgate.

Here’s a summary of what each workout contains:

Standing Abs – This workout has some of my favorite moves.  Dolvett has the contestants use a medicine ball for the squat chop move that is a great way to work obliques.  The bonus is you’re also working arms and legs.  Standing abs also has knee strikes with the medicine ball, and planks on the ball.  This isn’t Tony Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer.  It’s a doable workout that is a good place to start if you’re looking for a 10 minute ab workout.

Standing Abs Review: The Biggest Loser Power Ab Blast DVD

Biggest Loser Power Blast Standing Abs Workout

Cardio Abs – Bob Harper leads this segment.  It’s a quick cardio workout that’s based on the philosophy that you can have a six pack, but if you’re covering it up with fat no one will see it.  The moves are simple.  Bob has the group doing weighted jacks, wood \

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How You Can Up Your Game With Plyometric Training

February 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

“If you’re doing Plyometrics, you can jump higher and run faster and your heart and lungs are going to kick the panties off of anybody else that tries to get out there without it.” – Tony Horton

At one time plyometric training was only for athletes, but over the past few years these high impact workouts have made a comeback and are a big part of the most popular exercise programs.

We know that Tony Horton loves plyometrics. He’s not the only one. From P90X to Insanity to CrossFit and Cathe’s X-Train, the plyometric intervals are what make these workouts both challenging and effective.

Sand Volleyball How You Can Up Your Game With Plyometric Training

Improve your running speed and sand volleyball game with plyometric training.

What Are Plyometrics?

The word plyometrics is derived from the Greek word pleythyein, meaning “to increase”. Plyometric refers to exercises that enable a muscle to reach maximum strength in as short a time possible. Plyometric training involves jumping, hopping, and bounding movements that utilize lower body muscle groups, and arm swings, pulley throws and weighted object tosses for upper body.

Plyometric exercises are an important part of sports training that require high levels of speed strength, starting, stopping, sprinting, jumping and throwing. We typically think of this type of training as being specific to competitive athletes competing in baseball, basketball, soccer, rugby, hockey, and football.

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Six Apps That Will Help You Beat The Treadmill Blues

January 22, 2013 By 2 Comments

For those of us that live in the midwest or farther north, our running workouts have been moved indoors. At least temporarily.  Running indoors on a treadmill when you’re used to being outside on pavement or trails has its own set of challenges.  The primary one is boredom.

Last Tuesday, for the first time this winter, I did my training run on the treadmill.  Where I live it has been bitterly cold in the early mornings and last week the sidewalks were covered with patchy ice.  So indoors I went.  I had my favorite playlist, so the music helped me pass the time, but for some reason the workout seemed unbearably long. Trying to convince myself to stay on the treadmill become my main focus.

Treadmill Six Apps That Will Help You Beat The Treadmill Blues

Apps that make indoor treadmill running bearable.

Creative Apps To Keep You Motivated On The Treadmill

There are some creative apps that you can download to your phone or iPad that will keep you on track with your running program and help you conquer even the worst case of the winter dreadmill blues.

Six of the most popular are:

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Filed Under: Fitness, Running

Don’t Let Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Mess Up Your Plans To Get Into The Best Shape Ever.

January 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

If you’re dreading getting back to your workout routine because you know you’ll be sore again, there are some things you can do to diminish, and even prevent, the pain.

It’s the start of a new year and many people have resolved to get in shape – or back in shape – again.  The second week of January is when the fitness centers and Ys are flooded with new members, and former members returning from a hiatus.

So You’ve Resolved To Get In Better Shape (Or Back In Shape) . . . 

It’s exciting to set a goal at the start of a new year to get in better shape, lose weight, build some muscle mass, or train to compete in a five or 10K. Nothing can put a damper on that enthusiasm quicker than the pain that sets in the day after a rigorous workout.  In some cases the pain can be so serious you kick the fitness goal to the curb and take your seat back on the couch.

I have known people that were so sore after starting a workout program that they quit because it just wasn’t worth the pain.  Don’t let that be you. The pain that comes the day after a workout, known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is both preventable and manageable if you do suffer from it.

Woman Shoulder Pressing Dont Let Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Mess Up Your Plans To Get Into The Best Shape Ever.

Using weights that are too heavy or doing too many repetitions can cause DOMS.

What Causes DOMS?

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness usually appears 12 to 24 hours after you work out and is a by-product of the microscopic damage to the muscle fibers that occurs when you exercise.  DOMS is often believed to be caused from a build-up of lactic acid in the muscles but, according to the American College of Sports Medicine, this is a myth.  “DOMS is a side effect of the repair process that develops in response to microscopic muscle damage.”

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Strong Is The New Sexy. Body Weight Workouts Are Trending This Year.

November 20, 2012 By 3 Comments

If Zumba’s On The Way Out, What’s On The Way In? 

Fitness trends come and go.  From aerobic dance, step, and kickboxing to Pilates and Zumba (I’ve never been a fan). It’s a revolving door of workout styles that attempt to keep participants engaged and motivated to exercise.

Results from the 2013 American College of Sports Medicine’s “Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends” has a couple of surprises that tell us what was fashionable in fitness last year may be on the way out the door.

Pilates, stability ball workouts and balance training didn’t make the list this year.  Zumba slipped from number 10 on the list in 2012 to number 12 for 2013. Yoga hangs on at number 14.  Strength training takes the number two spot for the second year in a row.

Military Push Ups Strong Is The New Sexy. Body Weight Workouts Are Trending This Year.

Get lean and mean with Body Weight Workouts. Flickr photo by Robert Couse-Baker

Body Weight Training.  The Lean and Mean Workout Method.

New to the ACSM 2013 list is one of my favorite workout genres:  Body Weight Training.  You might think that a body-weight training program limits the participant to push-ups and pull-ups, but there’s more to it than that.

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BeFit In 90: Your Weapon In Beating the Battle of the Holiday Bulge.

November 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It Doesn’t Get Better Than This: A Different Workout Every Day For 90 Days
And It’s Free!

Be Fit has taken their YouTube channel to the next level for free at home-workouts.  Lionsgate’s Be Fit is offering a 90 day workout program led by former Olympic sprinter Samantha Clayton and former marine Garret Amarine.  The cost? Zero!  

Be Fit In 90 BeFit In 90: Your Weapon In Beating the Battle of the Holiday Bulge.

Free workouts for 90 days at BeFit in 90.

The Befit in 90 program is designed to help you transform you body in, well, 90 days.  It’s a total body circuit and cross-training workout system that includes strength, cardio, flexibility, yoga and high intensity drills, so there’s something for everyone.

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The Latest Sitting Study Proves You Need To Take Action. Here’s How.

November 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Different Study. Same Results.

Are you getting tired of reading about the results of more studies that show that sitting all day is bad for your health?  I know I am.  But, because I work at a desk most of the day, I’m having trouble ignoring the overwhelming evidence that keeps coming in that says even if you get a healthy dose of exercise every day, it can’t undo the damage caused by sitting.

Sitting The Latest Sitting Study Proves You Need To Take Action. Heres How.

Exercise That Works will get you moving more from 9 to 5. (Flickr photo by Josh Semans)

Bad News

The results of latest study were reported this week at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.  CT scans of 500 Californians of the average age of 65 showed that excess time sitting “was significantly related to pericardial fat around your heart.”

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Filed Under: Behavior Change, Fitness, Health and Wellness News, Workplace Wellness Programs Tagged With:
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