Posts Tagged ‘gym’
The Benefits of Running
Friday, October 28th, 2011
The ultimate long-distance running events are marathons, officially 26 miles, 385 yards. There are more than 500 marathons each year around the world and most of those involved are recreational runners. If you research the subject you’ll hear stories of people who permanently remove their toenails to avoid the bruising and injury occasioned by the constant pounding of their feet (marathons do terrible things to toenails)—marathon runners are dedicated and hard-core. What are some of the health benefits of this type of sport? What makes the apparent hardships worthwhile for the growing numbers who join ranks at the starting lines around the globe?
Scientific research suggests that consistent long-distance running improves cardiovascular health. Running lowers blood pressure by maintaining elasticity in the arteries. When you run, your arteries expand and contract more than usual, which keeps your arteries elastic and blood pressure low. This is important for all people, especially people with high blood pressure. Running also maximizes the lungs’ potential. Normally, people only use fifty percent of the lungs’ capacity, but while running, you use the entire capacity. It has been shown that some smokers have fully recovered their lungs’ working capacity from doing long distance running or marathons. Aside from the cardiovascular system, it has been shown that long distance running also lowers the risk of disorders of the eye and prostate, among other organs.
Marathon runners have said that they experience intense exhilaration and euphoria after running, so you can see that it is also a huge morale booster. Surveys show that running marathons brings energy into daily life. It helps the body function better by improving sleep and brings about relaxation. Another nice benefit is that is does not increase appetite. Instead it acts a sort of suppressant and helps bring about a better eating schedule.
As you can see, long distancing running has many incredible benefits that not only help your body, but also keep you relaxed and give you more energy. Of course, to get ready for a marathon or any long-distance event, you have to work up your tolerance levels. Working with a knowledgeable trainer is a good idea to make sure you’re running correctly and strengthening any areas of weakness to avoid possible injury.
Tia Marashlian and Tracey Thatcher
Fast Track Your Fitness
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
What are most people are interested in when they join a gym? Mostly they join a gym in an effort to look better and if that comes with the added bonus of feeling better and living a healthier life, all the better.
Unfortunately, however, a lot of people give up on going to the gym regularly after about a month. At the start, they’re very diligent and work out at least an hour every second day (some work out for two or more hours every day), they sweat, eat better (sometimes) but… no supermodel body appears in the mirror and this can be disheartening – the change from frumpy to fabulous is often way too slow.
Could there be a reason many people don’t lose much fat, change shape or get ripped and buff despite religiously going to the gym and working out? Yes, there is. It comes down to WHAT is being done at the gym. WHAT is being done is actually more important than how long it’s done for. In other words, QUALITY is more important than QUANTITY (although quantity certainly does come into it – having a great workout once a month isn’t going to do much). There are people spending maybe 15 to 30 minutes a day working out and getting better results (burning more fat, losing weight, sculpting and toning) than other people who work out for a couple of hours at a time every day of the week.
It’s possible that the people spending less time but getting great results might be doing what’s known as high intensity interval training. It’s been around since 1937 but up until now, has been used primarily by athletes and not regular people. There are lots of ways to do it and a good personal trainer is probably your best bet at getting the most out of it but the idea is that you exercise at a very high intensity (if you’re running, you’d sprint as fast as you can) for between 30 seconds to a minute then you’d slow it down (jog) until you recover a bit, but not all the way, then you’d up the intensity again.
You could try it next time you’re on the stationary bike, stepper or treadmill – instead of sitting on a set speed, try playing with the effort and speed levels – increasing then decreasing, increasing then decreasing and so on. If you do it right you can fast-track your fitness. Remember, it IS intense, so make sure you have a doctor’s OK before adding it to your routine.
Tracey Thatcher
No Time to Work Out?
Sunday, July 31st, 2011
The main reason most people give for not exercising is, “I just don’t have the time.” It seems like a fair reason for being unable to get into shape and it usually stops others from insisting further but let’s look at just how much time someone really has to invest to start getting fit and into shape.
With a small amount of quality effort invested, you can get huge dividends! Let’s look at some facts.
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Exercise Myths Exposed!
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
When it comes to exercise, there is a lot of contradictory information. It’s confusing for many people who’d like to know what to do to really get into shape. This article addresses some of the more frequent questions people have asked us as trainers. Hopefully you will find the answers and additional information helpful in your own quest for fitness success.
QUESTION 1: Are sit-ups and crunches the best way to reduce belly fat?
One pound of human fat has about 3,500 calories. Sit-ups burn only 3 to 5 calories per minute. That means (if we use 5 calories per minute) it takes 700 minutes of sit-ups to burn one pound of belly fat. A regular program of abdominal exercises will tighten the muscles and make your waist look smaller but the layer of fat over those muscles won’t change unless you start putting fewer calories into your body than you burn exercising.
ANSWER 1: No, the best way to reduce belly fat is to reduce the amount of food you eat so that your body has to burn some of its stored fat while maintaining a regular exercise program.
QUESTION 2: Is the morning the best time of the day to exercise?
A study was done in 1990 with one half of the subjects exercising in the morning and the other half exercising in the afternoon. Improvements in physical fitness, disease risk factors and psychological health were the same for both groups.
ANSWER 2: Good news, it doesn’t matter what time of the day you exercise.
QUESTION 3: Is aerobic fitness more important than muscular fitness for health?
This is a myth dating back to the 1960s that said brisk walking, jogging or cycling was enough to maintain good fitness and health. What we know now is that these aerobic exercises need to be supplemented with exercises directed at muscle strengthening (for instance, weights and strength training). Muscular fitness is critical for prevention of osteoporosis. The American Heart Association (a long-time advocate of aerobic exercises) has been recommending strength training for people with and without cardiovascular disease since 2000, “The potential benefits, not only to cardiovascular health but also to weight management and the prevention of disability and falls, are becoming more widely appreciated.”
The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state that, “adults also should do muscle-strengthening activities that are moderate or high-intensity and involve all major muscle groups on two or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits.”
ANSWER 3: No, aerobic fitness is not more important than muscular fitness for health. You need to also do strength training for good health.
Having muscle mass becomes more critical the older you get. Strength training helps improve balance (reducing the incidence of falls), it naturally strengthens bones to overcome osteoporosis and it fights the natural muscle wasting that occurs as the body ages so you can continue to stand up straight and get yourself up from a sitting position quickly and easily.
These are but a few of countless questions people have about health, fitness and exercise. Joining the gym is a great first step towards getting into shape and living a healthy life so make the most of the facilities on offer as part of your membership and don’t be too shy about asking questions.
Tracey Marashlian
writer for www.gofitnow.com
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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