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How to Look Half Your Age
The other day I was reading an article from some fitness “guru” giving great advice on the number 
of reps and sets of exercises to gain certain muscles and burn fat.
Although great information, this information is useless if someone has no motivation to move. At the end of the day, or beginning of the day, what counts is if you are moving or not moving and if you have the motivation to move or not.
If you’re not motivated, what good would all that other information be? Well, about as useful as a car with no gasoline.
The Fountain of Youth? Hit the Weight Room!
Are you a proud member of the “baby boom” generation? Well if so, congratulations! You and 78.2 million of your closest friends make up the bulk of this country’s population, and the oldest of you turned 60 just a few short years ago! Turning 50, 60 or 70 for that matter is a wonderful milestone for which you should be proud. But as proud as you may be, aging brings some physical changes we may not be quite ready for, or ready to accept.
Have you noticed fine lines around the eyes, or your pants fitting a little tighter? Do your joints ache as you climb stairs, or do you find yourself bracing your back as you stoop to pick up the morning paper? And where did your strength go? Have your muscles vanished?
These realities and many more begin to haunt us at about age 40 and can continue to worsen with aging. Is there any way to slow things down? Ah, the fountain of youth! If only we could simply take a drink!
Hey, Couch Potato, Gotta a Minute?
“Park your car further away and walk a longer distance to the door of the market,” or “Take the steps instead of the elevator.” Most of you have probably heard these very familiar tips on how to work more physical activity into your day. But until recently, I don’t think people really understood the impact such changes could have on our health. Well now we do!
Ancient Strength: Kettlebell Training
Resistance training is the key to increasing your resting metabolic rate, but doing sets and reps has never been considered “aerobic.” In order to achieve the aerobic benefits of exercise, the choices are running, jogging, cycling or any sustained rhythmic activity at a sub-maximal heart rate. So, a schedule combining resistance training and aerobic exercise has been the gold standard for a very long time, and in my opinion, is still a wise combination.
Long Distance Harmony with Yoga
The excitement of spring is upon us and as the days get longer and temperatures warmer, more runners than ever are pounding the pavement. Whether enjoying a leisurely jog or training in hopes of completing your first marathon, just be aware, as the miles rack up, so does the risk of injury.
A Hidden Cause of High Blood Pressure
If you’ve been concerned about your blood pressure, here’s an angle you’ve probably not heard much about. That’s the affect of isometric exercise on your blood pressure.
Forget About Never-Ending Cardio Workouts That Keep You Fat and Shrink Your Heart and Lungs… There’s a More Effective Way to Add Years to Your Life
You’ve probably heard that to lose weight and achieve a strong, disease-proof body, you need to do some sort of monotonous aerobic or cardio exercise for at least an hour, four days a week.
Not true! Here’s why…
Long duration exercises like aerobics and long-distance running do more harm than good. The best way to lose fat, build muscle, strengthen your heart and lungs, and add years to your life is with short duration, high intensity exercises.
You see, typical cardio and aerobic exercises not only put you at risk for repetitive motion injuries, they also force your heart and lungs to shrink. When you don’t challenge your heart and lungs, they get used to the routine and don’t have to work as hard. That makes your heart and lungs less resistant to stress. And if your heart can’t handle stress, you are more likely to drop dead of a heart attack.
What’s more, these exercise routines don’t make you lean and strong. When you burn fat, your body gets the signal to store more fat. People that train at low to medium intensity for long periods have a much higher body fat percentage and less muscle than people who train for strength with short duration, high intensity, interval-type exercises.
A recent study showed that the muscles of marathon runners actually shrink. When the muscle biopsies of seven marathon runners were analyzed, researchers found their muscle fiber size had decreased and atrophied.1
Working out in short bursts of high intensity exercise will burn glycogen stored in muscles as fuel rather than fat. This then teaches your body to store more energy in the muscles and not as fat. This process helps you burn fat and get lean.
A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that men and women who exercised at a higher intensity had lower blood pressure, lower triglycerides, higher HDL (good cholesterol) and less body fat.2
Short bursts of high intensity exercise can also help you exceed your aerobic capacity, which increases your lung volume. Why is lung volume so important? According to the famous Framingham Heart Study, lung capacity is the best predictor of longevity and absence of disease.
Ropes Gone Wild! No Impact — Pure Adrenaline!
As a fitness trainer, I am always happy when I have a little free time to train myself for a change. The other day as I walked into Cincinnati Functional Fitness (CFF), a gym where I train clients.
Five Reasons Why You Should Lose the Cardio Mentality
“Cardio” is the “Economic Stimulus Bill” of the fitness world. You can put your hopes in it, but generally it isn’t going to do anything for you, and it will just waste your time and resources.
How to Train Like a Modern Gladiator
Rocky Marciano did it. Muhammad Ali did it. And many, many other old-time boxers(and old time wrestlers for that matter) did it too.
But maybe the most unique and unusual group to use this exercise — that you never heard of — were the Roman legions.
