Take Five: Avoid These Exercise Injuries
Blame the squat for your back pain or the lunge for your knee ache. If you exercise, odd are you have experienced some kind gym injury. Sadly, most people play the blame game and never find out the real cause for their injury. Or they simple cross off the “bad” exercise from their workout list....
Don’t Resist Tubing Exercises
A few years ago, we thought nothing could beat machines to strengthen and tone muscles. Then we realized that with a set of dumbbells, barbell, and a few plates—the old school way—we could get ripped, stronger, and improve sports performance. Today, that colorful tubing that hangs on gym walls is the “new” muscle builder. Still,...
Casing Your Joints
Few parts in the body work in isolation. The joints are no exception. When you lift weights, run, bike, endure a cross fit class, or shake your hips in Zumba, chances are you think about the muscles you want to strengthen, the calories you want to burn, and/or the personal record you want to achieve....
Switch the Roles
“Men train for aesthetics, where as women train for application. This statement is bold, but is saturated with truth,” says Jay Cardiello, certified strength and conditioning coach and the creator of JCORE, www.jcorebody.com. Before you think this takes your chest press exercise too far, think twice. When was the last time you really worked out...
Popular Fitness Advice—Debunked, Part 2
My previous post addressed some common fitness advice, what they really mean, and if you should ever follow it. Here is the second part of that subject where I examine the relationship between heavy weights and strength and the battle between treadmill and elliptical for burning the most calories. Advice: “ No need to lift...
Popular Fitness Advice—Debunked, Part 1
“Burn more than 1,000 calories by doing this group fitness class.” “Maximize fat burning with high intensity interval training.” “Yoga can cure almost everything!” We come across headlines like these everywhere from magazines to blogs to twitter. But should we heed to all this advice? Many popular fitness practices often come from studies and/or research...
What is Your Workout Missing?
If you eat the same food every day, even when healthy, you still may be missing important vitamins and minerals. The same is true when you stick with only one type of workout like strength training, running, spinning, or yoga. Your body soon will reach a plateau, which makes further improvement more difficult, and you...
Fitness Face Off
Which is better—the elliptical machine or the almighty treadmill? Does a boot camp class beat a cross fit session? Dumbbells or weight machines? Yoga or Pilates? Certainly, no exercise satisfies all your needs. Exercises come in different intensities, tackle diverse energy sources and movement patterns, and vary according to every individual’s goal, fitness level, overall...
Blast Away Belly Fat
How can I reduce belly fat? This is the most popular question asked to trainers and one of the most problematic one to answer. The answer though is simple: exercise and proper diet. However, the type of exercise is more complex. Experts do not have a conclusive answer on the best training to maximize belly...
Swap These Moves to Give Your Back a Break
Exercising has its risks even though the benefits often outweigh the risks. At times your daily training quota may give you some aches and pains—back, shoulder, neck, and so on. Some are due to the “too much-too soon” effect while others are blamed on overuse or risky exercises like the squat and deadlift, which place...
Gains From Pain
I once ran a half-marathon with anemia when your hemoglobin is low, which means less oxygen will be carried to the muscles among many other health issues. I ran a 10K with a partial tear of an ankle ligament. My personal best of a 140-pound deadlift occurred while having hamstrings tendinitis. And recently, I experienced...
Boost Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
Women blame their metabolism for how easily they pack the pounds compared to men. Certainly, men’s metabolism is faster than theirs due to having more muscle mass and less fat. However, when looking at the basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the calories your body consumes at rest to keep up with vital functions—the difference between sexes can...