Posts Tagged ‘Exercise Program’
Have you ever considered if treadmill or elliptical workouts are actually that effective… or are there more fun and more effective exercise methods?
by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Now that I pissed off all of the treadmill and elliptical machine worshipers… let me say that if you truly enjoy mindlessly pumping away on a treadmill or elliptical (or exercise bike for that matter too), then by all means, keep doing what you enjoy, because enjoying your exercise is one of the most important aspects to sticking with any exercise program…
However, don’t say that I didn’t warn you that you were wasting your time with all that mindless cardio machine boredom.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, I don’t believe in cardio machines, and to be quite honest, I don’t think I’ve personally used a treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike for at least the last 7-8 years or so.
As a matter of fact, I don’t even use cardio machines anymore for warmups before a workout (did before occasionally)… Nowadays, I prefer to do dumbbell or kettlebell snatches and swings mixed with bodyweight exercises as the perfect full body warmup at the beginning of my workouts.
So why do I have such hatred for cardio machines? Well, here goes:
1) Treadmills, ellipticals, and exercise bikes are mind-blowingly BOOOORING!
2) Mindless steady state cardio exercise while watching tv or reading creates a mind / body disconnect resulting in poor results from your exercise routine
3) I’ve seen studies that indicated that treadmill running may be less effective than outdoor running for various reasons such as stride abnormalities on treadmills vs natural running, slightly less caloric burn compared to outdoor running, etc.
(although I never recommend just “jogging” anyway… variable intensity walks / runs or sprints are so much more effective, training your heart rate in a much wider range instead of just the same pace during the entire workout).
4) Treadmills and ellipticals are ridiculously expensive and a waste of money for people that workout at home… there’s so many better options for home workouts you could have spent your money on rather than wasting it on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical.
The perfect home gym setup is MUCH cheaper… there’s no reason you need anything other than a jump rope, bodyweight exercises, a few dumbbells, stability ball, maybe a few kettlebells (if you want to get fancy), and perhaps high tension bands for some more variety. And of course… the great outdoors has some of the best workout options of all… hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, skiing, sports, and more!
By the way, here are some great adjustable dumbbells which can save you big time cash if you’re setting up your own home gym.
5) Treadmills and elliptical machines are just a very ineffective way to workout compared to other options. Why should you do treadmill or elliptical workouts when you can get better results by doing more interesting forms of training that actually stimulate a fat-burning hormonal response and stimulate your metabolism to a greater extent.
• Discover the top 12 fat burning foods you didn’t know
• Exercises that burn more fat than cardio
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So what are the alternatives to treadmills and elliptical trainers? Here are some of my favorite types of alternative exercises:
• jumping rope – great mind / body connection (try speed jumping, crosses, double jumps once you get skilled at it)
• bodyweight training – bodyweight squats, pushups, lunges, jumps, bear crawls, mountain climbers and jumpers, planks, and the list goes on and on
• kettlebell training – nothing will get your heart pounding like high repetition KB swings and snatches or clean & presses (can be done with dumbbells too, but I prefer KBs)
• outdoor wind sprinting (the ultimate for a rock hard ripped body… just look at the chiseled powerful bodies of world class sprinters, and compare that to the weakling withered physique of a typical marathoner… nuff said!)
• hill sprinting (yet another classic for a rock hard powerful body)
• rowing machine (ok, I don’t really lump this in as a “cardio” machine like treadmills and ellipticals… I think the rowing machine is actually a great full body workout that actually uses resistance)
• sprint style swimming workouts (a more muscular workout than steady state distance swimming… I actually love the upper body pump I get from sprint style swimming) – this is the same concept as sprinting vs jogging but in a pool instead
• heavy bag punching / kicking workout, speed bag, rebound bag… all great forms of training and much more interesting than boring cardio machines (requires an intense mind / body connection)
• shadow boxing… awesome workout, but if you’re shy, this is best done at home since you’ll get some crazy stares doing this at a typical gym from people who think they’re “too cool” for stuff like that.
Well, I hope that helps give you ideas on how you can get away from all of these mindless and ineffective treadmill and elliptical trainer machines (and exercise bike) workouts that are just wasting your time and energy that could be better spent on more effective workouts.
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Firstly, you need to understand your body type. There are four basic body types and designing a suitable exercise program requires an understanding of your body structure. What may be appropriate for one person may not be appropriate for another. Proper body diagnosis is essential to understand and consider when designing a pregnancy fitness program.
Pregnant or not, exercise helps keep the heart, bones, and mind healthy. Staying active also seems to give some special added paybacks for pregnant women.
Here are some exercises that you can do during pregnancy?
Do some light sit ups. Nothing too strenuous here, but perhaps rest your legs on a chair and try bringing your head up off the floor a few inches.
Yoga is a fantastic form of exercise that is very low impact and helps in stretching muscles.
Another good exercise is swimming. The water gives you the ability to move around and work nearly all of your muscle groups, while at the same time it helps in keeping you balanced.
Walking is another good pregnancy exercise for more than one reason. Sure, it gives you some much needed exercise, but it also gets you out of the house and clears your head so to speak.
Do consider your diet during pregnancy. It is important to eat enough of the right foods, however it is all to easy to over-eat!
Lastly, you need to know which specific core exercises to make your labour easier and proven ways to prevent sagging *******. Take a preventative attitude will not only make you look and feel better it will also help you avoid the common pitfalls that befall most women during pregnancy.
Pregnant women who exercise seem to have better self-esteem and a lower risk of depression and anxiety.
By: herbalremedies
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Exercise Specific To Your Swing
The key to their success on tour is to work on exercises specific to their golf swing. Every player has different weaknesses in their body they need to address to improve their swing and overall performance. These pga players know how important it is to do a fitness program that will improve their golf swing faults and physical weaknesses.
This type of training to improve golf swing power and consistency involves strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, body awareness (proprioception). This cannot be accomplished with machines. Machines are controlled and usually isolate only one muscle group, where the golf swing involves the entire body in a sequential motion.
The PGA Is Too Competitive To Ignore An Exercise Program
The PGA Tour has gotten too competitive to think you can go on raw talent. In fact, raw talent won’t even get you on the tour anymore. There are hundreds if not thousands of excellent golfers who dream being on tour, but don’t make that total commitment to become a golfing athlete.
This commitment is above and beyond what the earlier pga players did, but that will not cut it anymore. Todays players are athletes. All athletes condition their body’s to perform. It is time amateur golfers took notice.
Core Exercises Are Very Popular On Tour
I was watching a very good segment on the television with Vijay Singh and his trainer. It was impressive! One of the focuses his trainer said was on core exercises using a weighted medicine ball. Vijay was throwing to his trainer dozens of times from different angles strengthening not only his golf muscles, but his core, helping him be one of the longer hitters on tour.
Golf Swing Flexibility Is An Important Element
Many of the pga players know how important it is to stay limber. They all partake in flexibility exercises specific to their swing. These stretches are either done with the trainers assistance, or can be done alone, even in their hotel rooms. But either way, they all incorporate flexibility exercises to keep their golf swings fluid and tension-free.
Golf Fitness Is Here To Stay
Anyway you look at it, golf fitness is going to be an integral part of the pga players program if he wants to succeed and make a consistent living on tour.
Embrace it in your golf performance approach and you will soon reap the benefits of lower scores and the enjoyment of blasting your drives long and straight!
By: Mike Pedersen
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The wonderful thing about these muscles is that they are placed so closely together and some of them are even placed one behind the other in a layered fashion. When all these are worked on properly with the right exercise program you will get an amazing core. No doubt about it. But the question is when?
Unlike most so called “core” fitness workouts that are now so prevalent, the best core exercises are the ones that work on everyone of these muscles and collectively build the entire core of the body.
Avoiding your upper, middle and lower core – the love handles – the obliques – the lower and mid back areas will not only make it impossible for you to get killer abs, but also can lead to serious injury. And you think these injuries are rare? People get injured everyday because of the lack of proper guidance when it comes to workout, and that’s one reason why physio-therapists are so busy nowadays.
The best core workouts don’t even require a single machine or some silly but expensive gadgets.
But the only thing these exercises need is our body, our natural movement patterns and how your muscles work in real world gravity. In other words, ideal core workouts can be done anywhere, anytime.
One of the biggest mistakes folk like me make is that they try to mimic the technique of body builders and power lifters. The fact that most people don’t realize is that they are not bodybuilders or power lifters. In the process they tend to over train themselves leading to a lot of wasted time and injuries that are serious and injuries that sometimes even last for a long time.
A proper abs workout should be able to most effectively work out the entire mid-section and core, in minimal amount of time with no risk of injuries. Finding such an exercise is very difficult but here are some things you should focus on when planning your core workout.
1. Choose a collection of core workouts that will work on your entire midsection. These exercises should provide you with proper stimulus to become lean, defined, flat, strong and solid.
2. There a certain exercises that are specifically responsible for creating those lines that give the abs that “six pack” look.
3. There are several functional moves that create the small diagonal muscles on the sides of the ribcage.
4. Exercises that target the love handles, those that reduce them to zero or at least firm them up.
5. Any time, anywhere Core workouts.
6. Exercises those are appropriate for both men and women.
7. The core exercises should be workable on behalf of the person doing it. Many trainers and fitness freaks misinterpret the word ‘killer’ as in ‘killer ab workout’. A truly effective core workout should not kill the person doing it. No injuries, no six days worth of soreness.
8. Choose a blend of exercises that will build you in a balanced way, on every side of your abs.
9. Choose specific exercises that are derived from injury rehab programs. These exercises should be able to strengthen and tone the deepest layers of the ab, the core and the most sensitive muscles of the lower back region.
By: mikejan635
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mikejan635
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1. Exercises at home. Being a member of a gym or having to go outside in the cold is not essential. There are so many weight loss exercise programs you can do at home. Put on your favorite music CD and dance around your front room! Or a more robust way is to purchased an aerobic DVD. There are hundreds on the market, do some research and choose one that will suit you.
2. Outdoor Exercise. Walking is a fantastic way to get great exercise and to burn off those calories. Walking will increase your fitness and speed up your heart rate, it is true, you always feel so good after a good walk.
3. Down The Gym. Your gym can provide all the exercise machines you could ever want. Cross trainers, steppers, running machines and bikes to mention some. Most gyms can be expensive, but I cannot stress more, use the instructors help and advice. Ask them how to lose weight exercising, they could put together a great exercise program for you.
4. How Long To Train. Keeping up regular weight loss exercise is a must. Work out a plan for yourself, so you find time to exercise. I would suggest three to five times a week, for around 30 to 60 minutes each time.
5. Using exercise for weight loss is a must. Having a structured weight loss program to follow is must also. But do not over do it especially if your body has not had much aerobic exercise recently. Try to let your body adjust, don’t push yourself too hard. Getting an weight loss exercise injury would not be part of your desired program!
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By: Matthew Gendle
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My name is Dr. Matthew Gendle and for the last three years I have been working as part of a consortium of medical and dietary experts briefed to review and develop the most advanced and effective weight loss systems available.
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