Posts Tagged ‘fitness’
Fitness – What Exactly Is It?
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
So many people have an incomplete understanding of what fitness actually is that I thought it would be a good idea to go over all of the different parts of fitness with you so you can make the most of your time at the gym and take advantage of all of the great offerings available here.
The human body is a machine that operates at its best when physically used. Just like a fine automobile – imagine owning a beautiful sports car and leaving it sitting somewhere, never driving it. Eventually it would deteriorate through lack of use, batteries would die, lubricants would dry up and tires would eventually crack and flatten. Human bodies get double the abuse most of the time – not only do people not use them enough but they also feed them full of so-called food that helps to speed up decay and disease.
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Healthy bones
Friday, March 25th, 2011
How Working Out Can Help You Avoid Osteoporosis
Most people are aware that consuming enough calcium (from dairy and other high-calcium foods as well as calcium supplements) helps in keeping bones strong. Many people, however, don’t know that doing weight-bearing exercises also plays an important role in maintaining bone health.
Weight-bearing exercises are any exercises that require your bones and muscles to work against gravity while they bear your body weight. In these exercises your bones have to work harder and so become stronger because of the challenge they experience.
While swimming and cycling are very good for heart and lung fitness and stimulating your muscles, they are not weight-bearing exercises. Examples of weight-bearing exercises include racquetball, running, walking, dancing, zumba class, step classes and weight training.
Something to remember is that weight-bearing exercise is site specific so it’s important to target both your upper and lower body for best results. This means doing exercises like push-ups, biceps curls, shoulder presses and seated rows for the upper body and exercises like jumping jacks, lunges, walking and squats for the lower body.
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What’s the Value of Getting into Shape?
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
And we’re not just talking about the value to you personally. We’re talking about value to your community as well.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the estimated annual medical cost of cardiovascular disease or stroke is $209.3 billion; cancer is $60.9 billion; diabetes is $92 billion; obesity is $61 billion. That’s a total of $423.2 billion! What’s more, many of these diseases can be prevented by simply exercising and eating correctly.
Why is it that more people aren’t out there exercising and making sure they put nutritious food into their bodies? Of course, there are the vested interests – companies with vast quantities of money creating attractive advertising pieces to invoke desire for their (in truth) undesirable products. The last time I went to the cinema I was bombarded with maybe five highly entertaining and beautifully produced ads for a famous cola beverage, a product that dissolves teeth overnight and would probably make a good engine cleaner. What really happens when a person drinks a sugar-loaded soda? Their blood sugar peaks and then drops rapidly making them feel tired and listless, hardly a state for anyone to want to get out and exercise. They’re more likely to pick up another soda to get some more “pep”.
Fit for life!
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Each year 40% to 45% of adults make one or more resolutions or goals for themselves. Research shows that 75% make it past the first week, but only a third make it past the first month. While a lot of people break their resolutions, statistics show that setting goals is still good because you are 10 times more likely to attain your goal, rather than people who don’t explicitly make goals. So what does this mean? This means that if you decide to set a goal for yourself this year, not only will you be a part of the statistics on New Year’s resolutions, you will also be 10 times more likely to attain your goal. According to research, about a third of those who set resolutions will do it in the area of losing weight or exercising more. This seems like a wise thing to do, because on average people who are active live longer than those who are not. Active people usually also have a greater capacity for physical, emotional and mental stress, and they normally have higher energy levels than people who do not exercise. (more…)
New Year’s Resolutions
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
Happy New Year!
The #1 New Year’s resolution is losing weight and everyone at Foothill Athletic Club is ready to help you meet your goals. Did you know that obese Americans make up almost a quarter of the U.S. population? Obesity is responsible for a $40 billion jump in annual medical spending and those that are obese spend on average $1,400 more than people of normal weight. Your taxes, which help pay for Medicare and Medicaid, go towards $600 and $230 per patient, respectively, to help pay for obese patients. Reports attribute this spike to treatment for obesity-related ailments such as diabetes and heart disease. The total annual medical costs related to obesity is now estimated at $147 and is increasing at neatly 9% per year. (more…)
