Posts Tagged ‘health’
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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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”.
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…)
