Welcome to Volume 20 of the Fitness Destinations Journal!
Internet Resource of the Week
This week we are featuring an incredible resource for people interested in health and fitness, as well as the many Fitness Professionals who are on the Fitness Journal distribution list. The concept is Online Personal Training, and it is rapidly becoming one of the most popular forms of fitness instruction available today!
Due to cost, scheduling issues, or other resource-prohibitive factors, many people are unable to work one-on-one with a personal trainer. In addition, although most personal trainers would love to "save the world", the one-on-one nature of personal training severely limits the number of clients any good trainer can see each week.
Enter Online Personal Training! By getting involved with an effective online personal training program, health conscious consumers are given an effective and safe option for obtaining professional assistance without the scheduling and cost issues associated with one-on-one personal training.
On the other hand, Fitness Professionals are given a tool that allows them to help many, many more people, while only utilizing a fraction of the time necessary to work closely with their one-on-one personal training clients. That's called a Win/Win situation for everybody!
To learn more about Online Personal Training, click the links below:
In this week's article installments we bring you some great information by Rick DeToma on how and why to use an Exercise Ball, and we also have the usual quality information from Jeremy Likness - this week extolling on the many practial ways to lose fat. Both are very informative articles!
Have a great weekend everyone, and don't forget to get outside and play!
- Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
- Hollywood's Favorite Diet: STARVATION.
- Diet slogan: TAKE CHARGE, DON'T BE LARGE.
- By the time I'm thin, Fat will be in.
- SKINNY PEOPLE TICK ME OFF!!! Especially when they say things like, "You know sometimes I forget to eat." Now, I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name, and my car keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat.
- Handy dandy dieting tip: Carrot cake counts as a serving of vegetables.
Fitness Article - Have a Ball With Stability Ball Exercises
By Rick DeToma
Whether you call them a stability ball, swiss ball, or exercise ball, there are so many great benefits to exercising with a stability ball in your home workouts.
Stability Ball Benefits
Besides providing balance training, (an often overlooked component in most exercise programs) stability balls work your core in almost every exercise that is performed, and work multiple muscles at one time while forcing your body to balance itself. So your core will be better prepared to support the rest of your body in whatever activity you do. They are versatile too:
- The ball can be used at home or at your gym.
- All ages, and levels of fitness can benefit from stability ball training.
- An exercise ball is portable and light weight.
- An exercise ball is inexpensive.
- Requires little if any maintenance.
Stability Ball Workout Tips
Use your exercise ball for a total body workout. You can work your legs, arms, chest, back, and abdominals. Try some of these in your stability ball training:
Supine Oblique Curl
Start with the top of the ball beneath the center of the back, then stagger your feet and turn hips to one side. Anchor the lower hip to the ball and move the rib cage at a diagonal direction toward the legs (for example, right elbow to left inner thigh). Make sure your neck and pelvis are stable.
Forward Transverse Roll
Kneel on the floor and place your forearms on the ball, making sure your hips and arms form a 90 degree angle. From this starting position, roll the ball forward as you extend your arms and legs simultaneously. Contract your abdominals to help support your lower back, which should not be strained. Roll as far forward as possible without compressing the spine, drooping the shoulders, or rounding the torso. Return to starting position.
Chest Fly
Lie across the ball with your head and shoulders supported on the ball and your legs bent with heels about two feet from ball. Extend arms overhead with palms facing each other. Slowly separate your arms in a circular motion and bend your elbows slightly as lower your arms down until your upper arms are parallel to the ground. Return to start position and repeat.
Wall Squats
Lean your back against a ball that is placed against the wall and stand with your feet hip-width apart and about a foot away from the wall. Keep your back straight. Bend your knees and let the ball roll up your back until your knees bend to about a 90 degree angle. Keep your knees behind your toes as you bend. Return to start position and repeat.
Shoulder Retraction
Kneel over the ball. Tuck your hips into the ball and rest your abs against it. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, with your arms relaxed and at the sides of the ball, palms facing in. Pull your shoulder blades back. Pull your arms up, bending at your elbows to form right angles until they are parallel with your shoulders. Return to the starting postion.
Don't Forget to Stretch
The American Council on Exercise suggests the following simple yet effective stretches on the ball:
Back Extension - Start in a seated position with your fingertips supporting the back of your head both your elbows out. Walk your feet out until your upper back is lying on the ball while continuing to support your head and back. For a more intense stretch, lengthen your arms overhead and straighten your legs - breathe deeply and hold the stretch.
Kneeling Side - Start by kneeling upright on a mat with the ball at the side of your right hip, place your right hand on the ball and your left arm hanging close to your torso. Sweep your left arm in a wide arc up and over your head and back to the starting position. Hold the final arc in a lifted position 10-30 seconds for a static stretch and repeat three to five times.
Pelvic Circles - Start in a seated base position. Slowly circle your hips clockwise three to five times; reverse, circling counterclockwise. Focus on releasing tension in the hips and lower back.
You can't go wrong with such a versatile and inexpensive piece of equipment. If you are looking for a simple and highly effective way to change a workout routine, look into doing your exercise on a stability ball.
The information contained in this article is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended to provide medical advice. If you are sedentary or over 40 please get clearance from a doctor before starting an exercise program.
About the Author
Rick DeToma is a fitness coach, and trainer who specializes in home workouts. Contact Rick for a no obligation telephone fitness assessment at: http://www.tailored-fitness-home-workouts.com/contact.html
Fitness Article -The Practical Way to Lose Fat
Copyright 2005 Jeremy Likness
Today's society is about speed. We no longer have to wait for the oven to warm our food because we have microwaves ready to do the work in less time. Breaking news events don't travel by telegraph across the great oceans; they are transmitted instantly with live video over the Internet or bounced from the array of satellites that float in constant, geosynchronous orbit. It comes as no surprise that supplement sales are on the rise as we continue to seek out quick, convenient ways to lose fat - fast!
Losing fat is not difficult. I have been coaching clients to break through plateaus and send their fat cells running for cover for years now. So why does this continue to be an elusive goal for so many people, who "struggle" just to lose a few inches?
We can address this by creating a practical guide to lose fat. Is this a special diet that will have the pounds melting off? No. Is it a secret workout program that causes you to burn fat while you sleep? Nope, not that, either - your body already does it. So what on earth can we share?
There is a secret, over 2,000 years old, that was leaked to the general public by the father of medicine, Hippocrates. Somewhere along the way, it was lost again. Let's bring it back to light. It goes like this:
"If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health."
Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?
The problem is that in our efforts to find something - fast - we tend to resort to equations and formulas that should magically spit out the right number of calories, or eliminate entire food groups like sugars or carbohydrates in our quest to make our fat cells cry (what some people call "sweat.")
Everyone will benefit by reducing fat and increasing muscle. It's not so much your weight that may slow you down, it's the percentage of that weight that comes from fat! So how do you target the love handles and saddle bags without losing your guns or wheels, as biceps and thigh muscles are affectionately termed in the bodybuilding world?
1. Move more, eat more.
Whoa - wait a second! We all understand the idea behind moving more. That means burning more calories. But eat more? You thought it was eat less, didn't you?
The truth is that you must eat more: more intelligently. You must eat more nutrient-dense foods. In turn, you will consume fewer calories. Less calories does not mean less nutrition, when done correctly.
Even engineered foods (shakes, bars, and sports drinks) contain little nutritional value for the calories that go with them. There is nothing that beats nature's own packaging - fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, and so on. If you want to remain satisfied and full, try consuming over 50% of your calories from fresh fruit and vegetables. Your calories automatically go down, while your intake of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients goes up. The idea is to consume foods as close to their natural state as possible. This means you'll do most of your shopping on the outer edge, or perimeter of the grocery store where the meats, eggs, and fresh produce exists, rather than in the middle, where everything comes in boxes, bags, and cans.
Want some nutrition-packed snacks? Try dates or figs with raw cashews. Roasting nuts may damage some of the healthy fats. You'll notice that roasted or cooked nuts are addictive, while raw nuts are not. Can't take the blandness? Buy roasted, lightly salted and raw nuts, then mix the two together for a compromise. Afraid of the fats? Don't be. These come loaded with fiber, protein, and carbohydrates, along with a healthy dose of fatty acids. My personal favorite is celery sticks with all-natural peanut butter.
2. Make Your Muscles Resist!
As your calories decrease, there is a chance you may lose muscle mass. Avoid this by making your muscles resist. Your muscles don't know the difference between gravity or any other form of resistance. The way to keep them active and toned is to engage in weight bearing activity. While the majority of your training will be focused on endurance, don't neglect the power of strength training. Strength training will improve your bone density, build lean muscle mass or preserve it while you are trimming the fat while providing explosive power when you need that kick during your competition. It also helps maintain joint integrity and strength, which is necessary to combat the repeat-use syndrome many runners develop in their ankles, knees, and hips.
Because your goal is not to stand on stage in a bodybuilding competition, but instead an endurance goal, keep your workouts to two or three short, intense training sessions - 20 or 30 minutes each - every week. Get in, give it 100%, and then recover and focus on the rest of your training. Stretch thoroughly.
There is an added benefit as well: resistance training burns calories for hours after you are finished, and studies show the combination of resistance training and aerobics burns more fat than aerobics alone.
3. Slow and Steady
Want a recipe for disaster? Try doing too much, too soon. Most people grasp this concept with training, so why do they fall short when it comes to nutrition? Think "better," not "perfect" when changing your nutrition habits. You want to crash? Go on a diet. You want to change? Transform your lifestyle. Small changes over time tend to last longer than quick-fixes like fad diets or magic bullet pills and supplements.
As an example, if you currently drink soda, don't go cold turkey and jump straight to water. Most will find themselves chomping at the bit for something cold and fizzy! Instead, make a gradual transition. First, switch to diet soft drinks. After you are used to the change, try sparkling mineral water with a lemon or lime. Finally, transition to water. Make small changes, get used to them, and you will be well on your way to a trim, fit body.
Conclusion
If you are like most people, you did not suddenly gain fat overnight. It was a gradual transition. So why should you expect losing the weight to be any faster? Take it slow. A pound of weight per week is a good rule of thumb for permanent fat loss. Anything faster may be too restrictive and could be lean mass (even muscle) instead of simply fat weight. Perhaps the most useful tool for losing fat isn't a nutrition guide or workout program after all - it is a trait. Patience is by far the most powerful tool to lose fat and keep it off.
About the Author
Jeremy Likness is a world-renowned Health Coach and author of the internationally-selling e-Book, Lose Fat, Not Faith. A Certified Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Performance Nutrition, Jeremy lost over 65 pounds of fat himself before launching his company, www.NaturalPhysiques.com, with the mission to transform thousands of lives one success story at a time. Jeremy specializes in lifestyle changes with a unique approach to health and wellness that starts on the inside.
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