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P90X Workout Program: Really the Best for Burning Fat, Building Muscles?
Tweet Share on Facebook December 3, 2010 Comment (23)Have you heard of the latest fitness phenomenon that has folks working out like crazy six times a week? It's called P90X, and it's one of the top 5 fitness DVDs on Amazon.com. The program, which some users consider to be more like a newfound religion, employs lifting weights using a technique called muscle confusion. This involves switching-up resistance training exercises so your body doesn't become accustomed to the same repetitive movements every time you work out. If your body adapts too well to your workouts, the theory goes, it won't build muscle as efficiently as when it's faced with unpredictable movements. Hence, the confusion.
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10 Ways to Stay Healthy During Holiday Travel
Tweet Share on Facebook November 15, 2010 Comment (3)Chances are, you'll be traveling during the holiday season to reconnect with family and friends or take a much-needed vacation. While holiday travel can be great for your psyche, it can take a hefty toll on your health. The journey itself can be filled with stress—traffic, flight delays and those new, more invasive airport security screenings—as well as causing a disruption in your sleep schedule and eating habits; all of these can lower your immune system's ability to fight off cold and flu germs, making you more prone to getting sick. Once you arrive at your destination, you'll likely face large festive meals combined with a lot of sitting and schmoozing, not great for your waistline. If you have a smart action plan, though, you might be able to clear some of these hurdles to stay healthy and fit during the holiday season. Here are 10 tips for dealing with holiday travel provided by leading fitness and travel experts.
1. Plan meals in advance. "Pack your carry-on with healthy goodies so you have something on hand when hunger strikes," says vegan travel blogger Carolyn Scott-Hamilton, creator of the Healthy Voyager website and radio show. She recommends bringing a small bag of nuts, a few low-sugar energy bars or your favorite sandwich to eat during the flight. If you don't have time to pack some snacks, use an app like the free GateGuru to find out where you can get a healthy meal at the airport. If you're driving to your destination, avoid eating a heavy meal right before you hit the road to keep from getting drowsy; instead, eat a small low-fat meal and tote along some snacks to stay energized throughout your drive.
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10 Signs You're Exercising Too Much
Tweet Share on Facebook November 5, 2010 Comment (14)Regular workouts are supposed to increase your muscle mass and decrease your body fat, right? Well, yes, with a caveat. Some folks ramp it up too much especially when they start a new training regimen to prepare themselves for, say, a grueling marathon or triathlon. (On a side note, I'm rooting for Chilean miner Edison Peña in this Sunday's New York City marathon. The 34-year-old trained for his first marathon by running up and down the pitch-black tunnels of the mine wearing his boots and headlamp.) Overdoing your workouts can actually lead to diminished strength and increased body fat—your body's way of begging for a break. While your body can handle a particularly tough workout, as Peña and the other 43,000 marathoners will see on Sunday, it also needs time to recover from the stress overload, says Corey Stenstrup, performance development trainer at IMG Academies. Peña may want to put his feet up for a week or two afterward.
[10-Week Workout Routine: How Hard Should You Exercise?]
The best way to recover from that particularly tough workout? A day or two of rest followed by a light bout of exercise, recommends Stenstrup. Also make a point to get at least eight hours of sleep a night which your body will need to repair those tiny muscle tears that occur during workouts and enable your body to build new muscle. Good nutrition is also key: Think lean protein (fish, skinless chicken breast, tofu), whole grains and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Here are the 10 ways your body will let you know if you're headed for exercise burnout.
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6 Fitness Splurges Worth the Money
Tweet Share on Facebook October 27, 2010 Comment (5)Splurging on your fitness can certainly be a worthy investment. But how can you tell the solid buys from the novelties destined to collect dust in your basement? Top fitness professionals identified six smart ways to spend your money.
1. Behavior changing programs. Programs designed to help you adopt a new exercise mindset—such as audio tapes, hypnotherapy or motivational classes—can be a great way to break those ingrained sedentary habits. "These types of programs can help with [any] behavioral issues that prevent you from engaging in a healthy lifestyle," says Marta Montenegro, a professor of exercise physiology at Florida International University in Miami. Many use techniques such as visualization, positive suggestion, repetition and reinforcement to change patterns of thinking—so you're more likely to hit the gym after work instead of the couch. Cost: About $150 for group classes or $30 for an audio recording. Private therapy sessions run $75 to $100 per hour.
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Barefoot Running: 5 Ways to Do It Right
Tweet Share on Facebook September 20, 2010 Comment (5)Barefoot running has been on everyone's radar since recent studies have shown it may help prevent running injuries. "Barefoot running allows the muscles and bone structure of the feet, ankle, and lower legs to work in a more natural way," explains Kyle Kepler, head coach of the University of Utah's Women's Cross Country and Track and Field programs. While running in sneakers usually causes your heel to strike the pavement first, barefoot running causes your mid- or fore-foot to land first, which Harvard researchers believe causes a less abrupt impact than landing heel first. A January study published in Nature found that heel-strikers have a higher risk of impact-related foot injuries like plantar fasciitis.
[3 Myths—and 1 Truth—About Running and Your Health]
If you'd like to try barefoot running or stripped-down barefoot-like shoes, you'll have to make a few adjustments to your normal workout routine to help you get used to running without the solid cushioning of a traditional running sneaker. Kepler recommends the following five tips.
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Online Personal Training: 6 Fitness and Nutrition Sites That Rock
Tweet Share on Facebook September 17, 2010 Comment (5)Ever consider using technology to enhance your workouts or weight loss endeavors? There are hundreds of websites and phone applications designed to help you track your eating habits, increase the effectiveness of your workout routines, and find healthy food choices on the go. Here's a look at six of the best:
1. DailyBurn. This free app, designed specifically for the iPhone, will help you track your eating habits, workouts, and body measurements on a daily basis. It has an extensive database with thousands of foods including nutritional data from many restaurants. It also includes a FoodScanner app that uses your phone's camera to read barcodes from different products. Simply scan the barcode and input the number of servings you consume to have the nutritional data immediately logged into the application.
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4 Cardio Workouts That Are Creative and Fun
Tweet Share on Facebook September 1, 2010 Comment (5)Thinking of heading back to indoor workouts as the weather cools? Instead of returning to your old step aerobics or spin class, shake it up a bit and try some of the newer workout offerings. The following are fun routines that burn calories and provide an aerobic workout to strengthen your heart. But they also have an added bonus: They increase your flexibility, balance, and core abdominal muscles—three elements that work together to maximize your physical fitness, according to Mayo Clinic researchers. Here are some classes or DVD's to consider:
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Use These 8 Foods to Help You Lose Weight
Tweet Share on Facebook August 23, 2010 Comment (14)Sure, we all know the basic nutrition rules when it comes to safeguarding our health and losing weight. In the words of best-selling nutrition writer Michael Pollan, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Sounds simple, but if you're interested in maximizing the amount of nutrients you get, you may want to be a little choosy when selecting among various options in each food group. Some fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products stand out as nutritional superstars, according to the latest research. And they're also easy on the calorie count to help you shed pounds. Consider incorporating these foods into your daily meal plan:
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5 Reasons Never to Skip Breakfast
Tweet Share on Facebook August 16, 2010 Comment (2)Skipping that morning bowl of cereal may be a great way to cut calories, right? Probably not, according to research which suggests that a nutritious breakfast can play an important role in helping you manage your weight, increase your productivity, and lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes. Here's why:
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Exercise Can Help Prevent Weight Gain, but It Won't Be Easy
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2010 Comment (5)There's a lot of attention paid to what works when it comes to losing weight. But that's not really the hard part; anyone can diet or exercise in the short term. Maintaining a loss, avoiding age-related weight creep, and keeping up healthful habits over time are much more difficult. That's why the researchers behind a new study, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, wanted to examine the habits of people who were eating what they considered a normal diet and were "living life as usual," says one of the authors, I-Min Lee, an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. And they made some interesting discoveries about the power of exercise.
When researchers followed more than 34,000 nondieting women (average age 54.2) over many years, they found that regular physical activity was associated with gaining less weight over time—but only in women who weren't overweight or obese. (That means a BMI of lower than 25, or less than 150 pounds for a 5-foot, 5-inch woman.) And those women had to exercise quite a bit: an average of an hour a day of moderately intense activity—such as a brisk walk—or the equivalent (if you exercise more strenuously, less time is required) during a week was the amount of activity recorded for the normal-weight women who gained less than 5 pounds during the 13-year study. (Just 13.3 percent of women studied filled that bill.)
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