The Fitness Maven

If only we could just melt it off, right? Well, with a bit of motivation, encouragement, and the right approach, burning calories does not have to be a chore. Watch this video and learn how getting the look you want and the good health you need. Both are quite within reach.

Drinking lots of water. Exercising often. Eating right. It’s not so easy to just melt it off, but these are the main approaches to controlling calories and getting fit and staying that way.

As we discussed before, drinking water is an essential element in any weight reduction regimen. Water is the medium for all the body’s biological processes, so when you start burning calories through increased exercise, you must also increase water intake. If you ask your body to work harder, you have to supply the elements which will allow your body to increase its fat burning capacity, and that is by providing more water.

They way you exercise is also crucial as will be discussed shortly.

It’s so easy to talk about exercising, but how can we really get out of our chairs and really just get out and get some?

For one thing, if you knew your efforts paid off, that would help you get up and get out. Let’s start with something simple, like the abdominal muscles. This is a concern of many people, especially anyone with lower back pain who knows that weak abs can be a direct cause of lower back pain, along with the extra pounds many of us carry around all the time.

It is well known that crunches have replaced sit-ups for working out the abdominals. This is due to increased safety for the lower back, but it is also a better way to focus your efforts on the abdominals.
Even better than crunches alone, crunches with an exercise ball such as the Bender Ball really impacts the results you get.

If you exercise regularly, doing crunches with a Bender Ball, you would see an amazing difference, and fast. That is just the type of reinforcement that can keep you exercising, getting the fast rewards of good health, great feeling and fabulous looks.

Most of us associate exercise with strenuous, demanding activity that pushes us to our limits. Of course, this is part of a healthy regimen. But, what many don’t know, is that effective rest is equally important to proper development of the muscles. If you get a good night’s sleep after each workout, you will see increased benefit. Another great method is to engage in meditation for about 20 minutes after your workout. Even if you don’t have a spiritual orientation, this practice can confer tangible physical benefits, and is being increasingly recommended by medical experts at Harvard and elsewhere. For a basic meditative experience, try sitting still in a comfortable chair with your eyes closed for about 20 minutes. Allow your limbs to become heavy, and imagine that you are inert. This will be enough to make you feel a bit of a relaxing sensation, and will loosen your muscles. The Taoists believe that in life, everything must come in conjunction with its opposite; what better counterpart to exhertion than a passive, restorative phase?

Every serious exerciser knows the unpleasant muscle pain that comes a day or two after a big workout. How can we avoid this pain while still working our body effectively? The secret lies in the warm-up and cool-down phases of our routine. Be sure to stretch and heat your body before strength training, so it will be warm and supple. Then stretch again after the activity, and use heat (a hot bath is ideal) to relax the muscles again. Not only will this prevent muscle pain, it will leave you feeling clean and refreshed after your workout!

Many of us grew up with the guideline that 30 minutes was the minimum for effective cardio training. But this belief is being questioned today. In Finland, many engage in bursts of intense running, interspersed with periods of walking or lighter exercise. This is quite similar to the type of workout one receives when playing team sports such as basketball or soccer – one runs at maximum intensity, then trots around, then runs again. Because the intense periods are so intense, and the body is not allowed to return to a fully restful state, this pattern seems to juice out performance in less time than the traditional half-hour slot.

One great way to perform this routine is by running from a starting point, at top speed, until you feel you must slow down. Then turn around and trot back to the starting point. Repeat this process 5 times and you have a great workout that takes very little time.

Your lateral muscles are on the sides of your torso, and are among the hardest to exercise effectively. To feel them, sit on the floor with your knees in front of you, near your chin. Using only your abdomen, rotate your shoulders as far as you can to one side, then the other. You should feel your lateral muscles doing the work. This motion can be performed while holding a weight or medicine ball for greater resistance, or on an exercise ball, lying back or sitting up, for different effects. You can also perform a crunch with your knees lying to one side in order to train the lats.

Americans are raised on the athletic shoe as a basic supply without which one cannot engage in physical activity. Arch support, ankle support, and shock absorption are all considered to be necessary, and exercising without them is thought to be dangerous. But of course our bodies have evolved to function without external reinforcement, and our feet are designed to bear our weight all by themselves. Walking and even running barefoot trains all of the little muscles in the foot and ankle region, strengthening them and reducing our dependence on external help. Barefoot exercise also allows a greater range of motion to the foot, which can increase flexibility of that region if performed properly. Especially if you have exercise mats available to reduce the hard impact of a wood or concrete floor, try exercising barefoot for a couple weeks and see how it strengthens you from the knees down!

There used to be just one choice – cotton tees and briefs. But these days a wide variety of styles and materials have exercisers asking which garment is right for their workout?

If you play sports that require padding and other equipment, you want to wear a base layer that will protect you from chafing and allow your prespiration to evaporate. The best choice for this is a snug-fitting synthetic, like under-armor or the many less expensive brands. This type of garment is also very good for wearing under a fleece or sweats in colder weather.

In a hotter climate, you may find a garment that clings to your body unpleasant. In that situation many prefer the classic cotton tee, loose and ventilated.

Are you experiencing knee pain when you jog? Before you look at surgery or rehab, check your athletic footwear.

When we run, our knees absorb a substantial amount of the shock from the impact of every step. There is a very big difference between running on a soft surface like dirt or grass (for which we have evolved for millions of years) and running on concrete or pavement, which our bodies are not designed to tolerate.

In order to keep our knees working properly, we need to cushion our stride with good athletic shoes. They don’t need to be fancy or expensive, they just neeed a good shock-absorbing rubber sole. Just like your car’s tires, you want to replace your sneakers every year or so, especially if you run a lot. This ensures that you aren’t running on a cushion that has been compressed and lost its shock absorbent properties.