Author:  C. Small

Isn’t it time you did something about the way you look and feel?  Want to Eliminate that Tired…Worn Out…Unhealthy Feeling?  Have you ever thought about doing something to boost your energy-level, mental acuity and self-esteem?  Want to look good in clothes that actually fit?  You can do these things and a whole lot more by achieving a healthy lifestyle.  Don’t wait another day!  Learn how to get fit inside and out through good nutrition and exercising the safe way with the right equipment, for lasting results.  Learn how eating right, using the right supplements and exercising can help you manage your weight, whether you’re over or under weight; and how getting and staying in shape will help prevent potentially life threatening diseases.

Are you ready?  Let’s go.  First, check with your doctor to ensure that you can safely exercise without restrictions.  Once you get the green light, you must make the personal decision to begin an exercise plan and commit to making it a priority in your life.  It’s also important to have a support team especially when you’re just starting a workout program.  Your team can help you stay on track by providing guidance and motivation.  Keep in mind however, that you did not get the way you are overnight.  It’s going to take time to develop new habits, so stay positive.  If you “fall off the wagon” get back up and start again right away.

You might also consider several sessions with a qualified personal trainer to learn what to do to reach your fitness goals.  A personal trainer can help you set your fitness goals and design a workout program specifically for you.  Don’t forget that there is no right or wrong way to stay active.  Just make sure that your goal(s) is/are realistic and measurable in a way that you will see your progress.  For example if your starting point for crunches is 1 on Day 1, you may set a goal to increase your reps to 10 by Day 8.

Now let’s get started.  Find something that works for you whether it’s biking to work, walking after a meal, joining a sports league, exercising while watching TV, or training for a marathon.  Life provides many opportunities to be active – we just have to recognize them.

I know that in trying to balance school, jobs, relationships and all of the other demands of your daily life, physical health is often the last item on your agenda.  However, if you make physical fitness and healthy lifestyle a priority, you will find more energy and enthusiasm for the other areas of your life; and, with more energy you might find that you can do a little bit more each day, such as spending more time with your family or that special someone.

REMEMBER you hold the key to a healthier you.  So start today.  Learn the steps, that is the small life style changes that you can make to help prevent heart disease, obesity, diabetes and stroke….and lead to a healthier, better looking you…a “you” that you will be proud of.

Total Gym 1800 Club
P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program – 13 DVDs, Nutrition Guide, Exercise Planner
Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar – Extreme Edition
SPRI ES502R Xertube Resistance Band with Door Attachment and Exercise Charts (Blue, Heavy)
Insanity: The Ultimate Cardio Workout and Fitness DVD Program

Author: Raymond Lee

Not everyone is made for high-level exercising. But you can become fit without bouncing around in a leotard, battering your joints. Forget all the huffing, puffing, lugging, lifting, and straining. Movement therapy is a gentle – yet effective – group of sports that include yoga, tai chi, and Pilates. Just don’t be fooled by their mild manner. These activities can whip you into shape without breaking a sweat.

All three have ancient Eastern roots and are merely different interpretations of the same principle: keeping your body and mind in harmony naturally leads to better health.

It wasn’t until recently that modern science confirmed the many physical benefits of yoga, tai chi, and Pilates. With them, you can improve your balance, flexibility, and strength – no matter what your age, weight, or fitness level.

No Pain – but great gain

Yoga, tai chi, and Pilates are gentle enough for anyone to try. If you consider yourself in bad health or disabled in some way, you’re a perfect candidate for these movement therapies. You can ease into the programs slowly and set your own pace. It’s easy to stick with them and you’ll see improvement quickly.

Here are just some of the benefits you will get from these soothing approaches to fitness.

• When you were a child, tripping and falling meant just another minor scrape. But as you get older, taking a tumble can have serious and crippling effects. If your sense of balance is as bad as Humpty Dumpty’s,these are the safest forms of exercise for you.

Just like the trick to growing tomatoes is to keep the main stalk strong, the trick to great balance is to keep your core muscles strong. The bands of muscle in your abdomen, lower back, and buttocks are the center of strength and control for the rest of your body.

All three examples of movement therapy are relatively stationary,but because they strengthen your core muscles, your balance will improve quickly – preventing falls – and you’ll develop greater flexibility and strength. Soon you will be moving with confidence again.

• Tai chi and yoga are especially recommended for people with arthritis.Gentle yoga can improve arthritis in your hands, for example, and tai chi’s precise, flowing movements help keep your joints limber, relieve your pain, and keep you active.

• The dance-like stretches, poses, and maneuvers within each of these movement therapies will gently strengthen and tone your body. Pilates is especially good as a strength-training workout.

• Add yoga or Pilates to your exercise regimen if you need to improve your heart health.

• In today’s hectic world, it may be hard to squeeze an extra 30 minutes of exercise into your schedule – at least without feeling even more stress. The beautiful thing about movement therapy is that it combines stress relief with exercise, so you kill two birds with one stone.

All the activities – tai chi, yoga, and Pilates – are done slowly, with intense focus on proper breathing and posture. They all relax your body and calm your mind.

As you can see, you can boost your overall health with these joyful, health-giving movements.

Things to know before you give it a go

Just to be safe, make sure that you take these precautions before starting any new exercise program.

• Get your doctor’s approval on your fitness plan, especially if you’ve badly injured your back, neck, knees,or shoulders in the past.

• The stretches, poses, and movements of these therapies should not hurt. If you feel pain, stop and check your technique before continuing.

• Pilates is the most intense of the three exercise forms. You may want to try one of the less strenuous programs first if you are out of shape.

• Be forewarned, you might get addicted to these calming sports.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/lowimpact-exercises-are-fun-and-healthy-206348.html

Insanity: The Ultimate Cardio Workout and Fitness DVD Program
P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program – 13 DVDs, Nutrition Guide, Exercise Planner

Author: Jeff Anderson

Most people put off making their first visit to the gym thinking that a  workout routine  is a commitment that would be too difficult to squeeze into their already busy—or lazy—schedule. One thing that many of those people don’t realize is that an exercise routine need not eat up one’s schedule. In fact, a 3day workout routine is all that is needed for one to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And if that still sounds too much, let me ease your troubled mind by saying that ” 3day workout routine ” means only an hour and a half at most per day.

There are as many variations to a 3day workout routine as there are fitness goals and body types and medical histories. You can use the following or tweak it depending on your fitness goal:

Work out on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and then take the weekends off. If you’re the type of person who hates being around sweaty people—even when you’re sweating yourself—or would not rather not stand around waiting for available equipment, go for an outdoor activity like swimming, running, or biking. For best results, do a different activity per day, making sure that each targets a different muscle group. This way, you get full-body toning out of your  3day workout routine . I would advise this to people who have trouble sticking to a routine because of boredom or loss of interest.

At the gym, you can work out all muscle groups on each session. Beginners can start with one set of 15 reps for each exercise, then gradually move it up to three sets towards the end of the first month. Start each session with 10 minutes of low-intensity cardio to warm up, followed by your upper, middle, lower body workout routine. For best results, finish off with another 20 to 30 minutes of your favorite cardio. As you already know, all this rounds up to an hour and a half at most.

One other thing that most people don’t realize is that their schedule is not really as busy as they might think–at least not too busy that it’s impossible to squeeze in an hour and a half of exercise three days a week. With the myriad variations of workout routines schedules out there, and with the proper guidance, you should be able to find one that’s right for you. In fact, even daily workout schedules can fit into a busy lifestyle given the proper time management. For an impossibly hectic schedule, one can even find ways to workout at home and save on travel time to the gym. So you see, there is really no excuse for putting off having an exercise routine. After all, a fit and healthy lifestyle means more energy and a longer life with which to do and enjoy all the things you want.

Getting Back in Shape: 32 Workout Programs for Lifelong Fitness

Author: Steven Stratton

You made your resolution to get in shape, you have even found an exercise program that you like, but where exactly do you start? One of the first things that you should do is to find out what your current fitness level is. This is important, because you want to make sure that you increase at a healthy rate to prevent injury. There are several ways to test your fitness level.

Upper Body Strength
A great way to test upper body strength is by using the push-up. Men should use the traditional military style push-up, while women can use the bent-knee position. To perform the test, do as many push-ups as you can, and count them as you are going. The average number of push-ups is listed below:
WomenMen
Age 20-29: 17-33Age 20-29: 35-44
Age 30-39: 12-24Age 30-39: 24-34
Age 40-49: 8-19Age 40-49: 20-29
Age 50-59: 6-14Age 50-59: 15-24
Age 60+:   3-4    Age 60+:   10-19

Aerobic Activity
A great way to test your aerobic fitness level is the 12 minute test. To perform this test, warm up properly then cover as much distance as you can in 12 minutes. You may walk, run, or jog. When your 12 minutes are up, record your distance. Below are the average results for the number of miles covered:
WomenMen
Age 20-29: 1.33Age 20-29: 1.54
Age 30-39: 1.27Age 30-39: 1.49
Age 40-49: 1.21Age 40-49: 1.42
Age 50-59: 1.13Age 50-59: 1.33
Age 60+:   1.07Age 60+:   1.24

There are several other tests to check your fitness level, some of which can be performed by a trainer or physician. If your numbers are below the averages above, set your goal to the average and work towards that. When you have reached that goal, move to a higher one. Goal setting is so important when making that decision to get into shape, you do not want to make unrealistic goals, but you also want to make sure that the goals you are setting are will challenge you. Once you achieve the goal that you set, you feel incredible. Then comes the choice to set another goal or try to maintain the current level of fitness that you just achieved. Another way to help you determine your fitness goals is to find out what your body fat percentage is. You can do this a couple ways, you can go to the gym or a physician and get your body fat measured by a personal trainer or a doctor, or you can buy a body fat measure with a fat measurement guide. Body Fat measurers are simple to use and pretty accurate, and you can check your progress anytime you want. Seeing progress is so important, because it helps to motivate you to conquer your goals. Another reason why body fat measurers are great is because not everyone is trying to lose weight. If you are trying to pack on more muscle, you might not see a difference on a scale, in fact you might actually gain weight, but having a body fat monitor will you help you see that you are decreasing your body fat.

Getting Back in Shape: 32 Workout Programs for Lifelong Fitness

Author: Steven Stratton

Shaun T’s new workout has been highly anticipated for quite some time now, and it has finally arrived! Insanity with Shaun T will definitely be the workout that will change people’s lives. The Insanity workout will help you conquer the battle in your mind, so you can maximize your results and push your body to reach fitness levels you never thought possible for yourself.

Who is Shaun T?

So why should you care about Shaun T’s Insanity Workout? The answer to that is, because Shaun T knows what he is doing. He started off getting his BS in Sports Science and a minor in Theater/Dance at Rowan University. Since then he has made quite a name for himself in Hollywood, being on several television shows and movies. He has worked with Mariah Carey, Aaron and Nick Carter, and Elephant Man. He has worked for companies like Nike, Boost athletic shoes, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Shaun T has been widely known for his choreographing and dance moves. It was his dancing that helped him make his first workout programs, Hip Hop Abs and Rockin Body, which focused on dancing for a cardiovascular workout. Hip Hop Abs quickly became one of the most successful in-home workout programs out there.

What is up with the Insanity Workout?

Even though Hip Hop Abs and Rockin Body were incredible workouts, the Insanity workout is focused on a life changing experience. Insanity is more structured and is a 60-day workout plan. Shaun T’s Insanity has been built for achieving strength, stamina and cardio success. If you really want to find out how much you can push yourself, the Insanity workout will help you dig deeper than you ever have before.

The great part about this Insanity workout is that it works! The whole philosophy behind Insanity with Shaun T is called, MAX Interval Training. Olympians and professional athletes around all sports, use Max Interval training to help get their bodies into shape. After 60 days, the results you will experience will be mind blowing, and you will be in the best shape of your life. Max Interval training will make you do long burst of cardio training and short spans of rest, instead of traditional interval training, which has you perform short burst of energy and longer periods of rest.

What Comes With The Insanity Workout?

The Insanity workout makes sure that you are taken care of. It comes with 13 DVD’s that are systematically planned out for you to achieve maximum results. Insanity also comes with a fitness guide and diary so you can track your progress, a nutrition guide so you can plan your meals and make sure you have the energy you need to perform the workouts, and a workout calendar, so can easily track where you are in the program. It is important to read through everything before you begin, so you can make a game plan. Insanity with Shaun T is not for everyone; it is an “EXTREME” workout program, which will kick you butt. So make sure you consult your doctor before deciding to do this workout.

Insanity: The Ultimate Cardio Workout and Fitness DVD Program

Author: John Philip

Often times middle-age people avoid riding a bicycle because they claim that it hurts to ride. While this may be the case for some people because of health issues, for healthy individuals, riding a bike should not be painful. If you find cycling painful, it’s quite likely that you are riding a bicycle that is the wrong size for you.

The most common types of pain that are often associated with cycling include back pain and knee pain. For those suffering from back pain, improving posture is one of the best things that you can do to alleviate the pain. Your back should be properly arched in order to make pedaling easier and allow for some flexibility when going over bumps. Some people feel that modifying their bike in order to make the handlebars higher is the solution, but this does not actually work well. It may allow you to sit upright, but bumps in the road will cause the vertebrae to hit one another, causing back pain. High handlebars also make it hard to ride any faster than a fast walking speed. Study proper posture and consult a professional if it becomes a problem for you and you should be able to ride without back pain.

Often rider complains about knee pain as well, but there are things that can be done to alleviate knee pain. One of the best ways to stop knee pain is by using the correct gear for the terrain and slope or the road. Also, the saddle height can make a large impact on a rider’s comfort level and will help to eliminate knee pain. If the saddle is too low, the knees are bent most of the time, causing pain. Often riders feel that they need to put the seat quite low, simply because they do not know how to properly mount the bike.

Author: John Philip

With so many different machines out there in the gyms across the country, many people tend to forget about the easiest, cheapest, and the best way to get into shape. A cycle exercise, such as riding your bike, is a great fitness routine to get into. Health should be the number one priority for people because there is nothing more important. The healthier you are the more you will get out of life in the end.

One of the most obvious benefits to cycle exercising is that of getting out into the world and enjoying the scenery while getting all of that fresh air. Breathing that clean air is another thing that is excellent for your health. Instead of staring at the same four walls at the gym and smelling all of that stale sweat, you could be watching the blue skies and getting all of the fresh air you could ever want.

Another reason why this type of exercising is so beneficial is because it is low impact. Those who have a little trouble with their joints will enjoy this exercise, as the motion of the exercise of cycling does not stress the joints too much. You will be able to exercise for a much longer period of time this way. Those trying to get their joints back to tip top health after joint surgery find cycle exercises to be a great rehabilitation path.

There are also many cardiovascular benefits that come with cycle exercising. By increasing your fitness level, you will lower your risk of arteriosclerosis and heart attacks. Also, this sort of fitness routine will help you drop those unwanted pounds you have wanted to shed for some time now. And since those who are in need of dropping a few pounds may not be used to working out, cycle exercise is wonderful because it provides a slow warm up. You can easily start slow and then gradually increase your speed and resistance as time moves on.

Variety is the spice of exercise. It is very easy to end up bored and tired of the same old exercise routine day after day. No matter how important fitness is to your health, you can easily lose interest in the entire thing should you become bored. With cycle exercising you can switch your scenery whenever you like which means you never have to be bored with your exercise routine again. The more interesting you can make your workout the more you will enjoy the overall experience and the more you will stick with it.

So if you have not already gave cycle exercising a try for yourself then there is no better time than now. When it comes to your health, it is important to take action and stick with it. Even though it may be hard to get into a routine in the beginning, just hang in there. It will eventually become second nature and you will actually feel out of sorts if you miss a day of cycle exercise.

Author: Marcus Peter

There is no debating the fact that cycling is perhaps one of the best ways to commute smaller distances considering the health and environmental benefits it offers. We all know that cycles produce no carbon dioxide or other harmful emissions, are easy to park, produce no noise, are easy to maintain and can help rev up your health. But apart from these obvious advantages there are many other far-reaching benefits that cycling has to offer. Let’s look at a few of them here.

1.) Biking burns calories: It does not take gas to run a bike. The only fuel that cycling burns is your own calories! The more you ride your bike the more calories you burn and the more fuel you save. This directly helps you save more. So if you look at it, the benefits here are three fold. You save money, improve your health and help the environment at the same time.

2.) Helps reduce noise pollution: Although modern cars produce very less noise a collection of cars can raise the noise levels significantly especially given rush-hour conditions where the noise increases also because of the honking. Road bikes on the other hand produce no noise and there is no way they can lead to a traffic jam situation.

3.) Cycling helps you reach your destination faster: Believe it or not, cycling can help you reach your destination faster as compared to a car given a traffic jam or rush hour situation. Cycles have an advantage of moving faster through stagnant traffic helping you reduce your commute stress and time.

4.) Cycling can make you forget your sorrows: You heard that right. Cycling can help you forget your sorrows. How you ask? Cycling like any other forms of exercise helps increase the levels of endorphins in your body. Endorphins are euphoria producing hormones that help you get a sense of wellbeing by boosting your mood.

5.) Helps you appreciate nature: While commuting in a car we tend to miss out on so much that mother nature has to offer. There is no way someone commuting in a car can enjoy the scenery around him. Cycling on the other hand helps you experience the beauty of the locales. You can smell the nature around you, be it the fertile damp earth, the flowering trees or newly mown grass.

6.) You get to make new friends: Fellow cyclists can make great friends given the fact that they are sure to have similar thoughts as you do towards protecting the environment and staying healthy. A survey among cyclists reveals that deep friendships often result among cycling enthusiast because of the common ground they share.

7.) Cycles are easier to manufacture and maintain: Cycles can be manufactured with a fraction of elements required to manufacture a car. This is another reason why cycles are eco friendly. They are also a lot easier to maintain as compared to a car.

These are just a few of the many benefits that cycling has to offer. So if you have still not got yourself a bike, it is high time you start thinking about getting one.

Author: G. Jones

Building muscle with pushups is the most basic, easiest way to start building upper body muscles quickly. For those of you who dont have time to go the gym, or even if you just love to do calisthenics you know you can always benefit from pushups. Building muscle with pushups is one of the oldest ways to gain muscle yet its also one of the best ways to gain muscle.

There are a variety of pushups you can do to get your chest, shoulders, and triceps busting out of your t-shirt! Even your biceps are hit to a certain extent but not as much as the other muscles. Incorporating these different types of pushups in your workout can have a huge positive effect on the muscular development of your upper body. For example, you can start  building muscle with pushups  by starting with a set of 20 normal pushups, then 15 diamonds and 15 inclines with no rest in-between. Imagine the intense burn a workout like that can have on your upper body! (Change those rep numbers according to your physical ability of course.)

Try These…

Normal Pushups – Get down on the floor, back facing the ceiling, extend and balance yourself on top of your toes. Spread your hands shoulder width apart. On the way down keep your body in a straight line downwards toward the floor, but dont let your back go down before the rest of your body goes down.

Wide Pushups – Wide push ups are self-explanatory, they are performed with your arms extended further from your shoulders. This style of pushups hits a larger area of the chest.

Diamonds – With this type of pushup you are to put your index fingers and thumbs together on the floor in the shape of a diamond. With your hands in this position you will get more direct stimulus in your triceps. This is sort of like the calisthenic version of the close grip bench press.

Decline pushups – Decline pushups concentrate on your upper chest muscles as well as all of the areas of a regular pushup. In this exercise you place your toes on a stable surface above the floor which puts your body at a downward angle. Put your hands on the floor and perform as normal.

Incline pushups – Inclines are the exact opposite of decline pushups. Incline pushups concentrate on the lower chest muscles as well as all the areas of a regular pushup. Incline pushups are performed just like normal pushups, except you want to tilt your upper body in a upward angle with your feet on the floor. Find a sturdy surface to rest your hands to perform your pushups.

Take these different types of pushups and create an intense workout. To make it more challenging, you could even have someone lay a weight plate on your back! You could even have a small child sit on your back as you perform your reps up and down! Be creative, get results, and enjoy yourself.

Author: Eddie Lomax

Push ups are one of the classic bodyweight exercises.  Every bodyweight training program I know of uses push ups in one form or another.  As a result, the ability to perform a proper push up, for high repetitions is a fitness milestone in bodyweight training.

But there is more to this classic bodyweight exercise than high repetitions and bragging rights.  As a matter of fact, some people get so caught up in high repetitions that they forgo [forget] proper form, reducing the strength and endurance gains, and increasing the risk of injury.  In this article I’ll reveal an alternative to high repetition push ups.

But first, what is a proper push up?

A proper push up is an incredibly demanding full body exercise, requiring both upper body strength and a strong, stable core for proper completion.  This is important.  It is not just an upper body exercise.  It is a full body exercise.

Start by lying on the ground with you feet together and your hands on the ground by your shoulders.  Your elbows are flexed and should remain close to your body throughout the entire movement.  Don’t flair your elbows!

Perform a push up by pressing with your arms until your entire body leaves the ground.  In the up position, only your hands and toes remain on the ground.  The body has to remain stiff and straight throughout the entire lowering and raising.  The only thing that should move during the movement is the arms.

This is very important.  The body should be straight at the top, during and at the bottom of the movement.  This is accomplished by using your core stabilizer muscles, butt and legs to make your body as ridged as possible.

As you can see, your whole body is involved in completing a proper push up, not just your upper body.  Upper body strength and core strength must be coordinated to do a proper push up.  If either your upper body or core is weaker than the other, errors will occur and performance will be lowered.

Ok, once you know how to perform push ups, most people try to go for high numbers.  Yes, being able to do 100 push ups is a sign of great strength and endurance.  But striving for high numbers is not the only way you improve!

You can also improve push ups by going from easy to difficult.  Increasing the difficulty of the push up variation is an excellent way to build incredible strength.  This method allows you to keep the repetition number relatively low, reducing the risk of overuse injuries.  Plus, it reduces the possibility you will sacrifice quality for quantity, furthering your chance of injury!

Here is an example:

-    Start with incline push ups
-    The [Then] increase difficulty by doing the classic push up
-    Increase the difficulty again by doing decline push ups
-    And finally make it harder by doing handstand push ups

You could also throw in one armed push ups to increase difficulty.  But the point is this, there are more ways to improve your strength and endurance with push ups than just increasing the number or repetitions you can do in one set.

Let this push up progression example serve as an example of other bodyweight exercise progressions.  A lot of people say they get bored with bodyweight exercise because they only try to improve by doing more and more reps.  Now you know, increasing repetition is not the only progression method in town.  And in many cases, more strength and endurance improvements can be made by going from easy versions of an exercise to more difficult versions.