by Anita Robicheau

The Role Of Aerobics In Fitness

The benefits of aerobic exercise are myriad. They include systemic changes such as reduced cholesterol and blood pressure, improved muscular endurance, reduced body fat, increased metabolism, and others. Aerobic exercises improves the strength of your bones, ligaments and tendons, allows your body to use fats and sugars more efficiently, burns a lot of calories, and plays an important role in reducing the onset and symptoms of aging and illness.

Aerobics are particularly helpful for weight control. It helps to control your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would be stored as fat. The number of calories you eat and use each day regulates your body weight and physical activity will make you use the extra calories.

Aerobics means ‘with oxygen’ and aerobic exercise is defined as any long duration exercise. Aerobics classes, or aerobic dance, are structured, teacher-led classes designed to work on all the components of fitness.

The benefits of aerobic exercise are myriad. They include systemic changes such as reduced cholesterol and blood pressure, improved muscular endurance, reduced body fat, increased metabolism, and others. Aerobic exercises improves the strength of your bones, ligaments and tendons, allows your body to use fats and sugars more efficiently, burns a lot of calories, and plays an important role in reducing the onset and symptoms of aging and illness.

Aerobics are particularly helpful for weight control. It helps to control your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would be stored as fat. The number of calories you eat and use each day regulates your body weight and physical activity will make you use the extra calories.

Following a regular aerobics program gives you a sense of commitment and control – two positive mental attitudes that help counteract stress. Aerobics also relax tense muscles, thereby relieving your body’s stress response.

Medical research has shown that regular aerobic activity increases the body’s production of endorphins.

Therefore, by following a regular aerobics program, you can also get a sense of commitment and control. Both these positive mental attitudes help counteract stress. Aerobics also relaxes tense muscles, thereby relieving your body’s stress response further.

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by fightlaunch

Every Fitness Components

Following are the Components of Physical fitness :

1. Speed: Speed is the ability of a person to execute motor movements with high speed in the shortest period of time. It is equal to the distance covered per unit of time. the element of speed is involved in most of the athletic skills such as in sprint running, some skills of soccer, basketball, etc.

2.Strength: Strength is the ability of a muscle to expert or release force by contraction enabling a person to overcome resistance or to act against resistance.

3. Power: Power is the ability of muscle to release maximum force in the shortest period of time. It is equal to force multiplied by speed. It is the combination of strength and speed. Speed and force must be combined for effective performance in activities like baseball throw, jumps for height, football kick, boxing punch,etc.

4. Endurance :Endurance is the ability of the person to perform movement of moderate (Sub-maximum) contractions over prolonged period of time under conditions of fatigue or tiredness. It is the product of all psychic and physical energy of human body.

5. Flexibility : Flexibility is the ability of a muscle to perform movements with large range of motion.

6. Agility : Agility is the ability of a person to change positions in space or to change directions quickly and effectively e.g. football player quickly changes direction or giving dodge to opponent, hurdle crossing over the barrier or hurdles, zig-zag running, etc.

7. Balance : Balance is the ability of a person to control human body or to maintain equilibrium under static and dynamic conditions e.g. hand stand, skating, skiing, catching a fly in baseball, etc.

- By Body Health Blog .

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by thinqfitness

Fitness Business Management: The Untapped Resource for Success

The core of any successful business consists of a strong business structure. Having a set plan for how every aspect of a business will run provides a solid foundation for quickly implementing various business tasks and plans. Simple typical business skill sets such as organization and time management are imperative for growing a successful fitness business. Furthermore, specific business management practices such as setting personal training standards, setting and maintaining a department/company budget, and creating/implementing marketing campaigns are equally important topics that need to be considered and utilized.

A good personal trainer, whether running a department/facility or not, should have a specific set of training standards he/she adhere to. Taking the time to set training standards is important as it helps to make sure each client is appropriately taken care of in addition to protecting both the client and the trainer from potential issues. For instance requiring a trainer to keep well documented notes on each session they perform for a client is helpful for several reasons. One, it can help a client for when their trainer is not able to be with them for a session. It gives the client the opportunity to look back on their notes and remember how to perform their exercise routines. In addition it provides the opportunity to look back and assess what has worked and has not worked for the client. This can be essential for helping the client attain their goals quicker. If you are unsure of how many and what types of training standards you should have, finding an educational course in fitness business management could prove beneficial.

Setting a department or company budget is another behind the scenes business management related area necessary for success. Simply having a goal to make as much money as possible each week and month is not enough. Having an idea of what you spend on gas, electricity, income tax, and uniforms, is important for business survival. Furthermore when it comes to running a department or facility, it would be a good idea to work into your budget funding for business management related educational courses. Even if you feel you are good a budgeting in your personal life, furthering your education in the area of business can help set you up for more success as opposed to trying to do it without related education.

Having a strong understanding in what it takes to implement a successful marketing campaign is another area that is a must for having a successful business. After all marketing is how you get the word out about your services, and ultimately new business. This is another area that would be good to get some actual education/training in. Marketing is an art form. The way you write the content, how it looks, what message is coming across from the marketing takes a bit of training and expertise to do correctly. Often time’s people will create a marketing piece with no prior experience or knowledge in marketing and end up wasting money on creating something that proves unsuccessful. When marketing is done correctly however it can help make a company.

There are a number of other areas within business management that play an essential role in the success of yourself, your department and/or your company. It can not be said enough how important gaining education in fitness business management is. When it comes down to it, gaining additional education to help strengthen what you may already know can only help you attain additional success.

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by L.A. Fitness Solutions

Fitness Gifts For The Christmas Holiday

I am sure a lot of people would love a brand new squat rack for christmas (maybe not), but if your like me, and your pockets are not deep enough, there are still some awesome affordable fitness gifts out there for a healthy Christmas!

Here are some healthy gifts you can get people for christmas that will be a boost to their fitness goals!

Polar Fs1 Heart Rate Monitor

You can buy this trusty little watch on amazon for around 40 dollars. This is the same watch I use, and its a great gift, there are so many benefits to knowing what your heart rate is! It allows me to train in certain zones with accuracy, so I know if I am working above, or below anaerobic threshold, tempo work, cardiac work, etc… its very useful! I do not opt for the fancier versions, this one will get the job done.

Hand Blender

I dont know what I would do without this, just a scoop of protein, some creatine, and water; blend with the hand blender and your good to go! I used to mix my protein up with a spoon, but that made a mess. The hand blender makes it easy to just grab, mix, and go.

Wrist Wraps

I bought some wrist wraps over at elitefts.com for 16.95. You can never get enough wrist support! It may add some weight to your lifts to, for me it did! I love these, and most people I train are worried about their wrists, so this is one of my first recommendations.

Lifting Belt

You know, some people say you shouldnt use a belt, well… I say thats crazy, especially as the weight gets up there, you wont find me squatting sets of 500 without one! I would recommend looking at some APT belts (they got some pretty snazzy colors) those hold up nicely, but if your not looking for a forty dollar belt, at least pick one up at the local wal-mart. We all got to start somewhere.

Protein Powder

The other day a guy in the gym asked me if I take protein after I work out…OF COURSE I DO! You should as well! Check out proteinfactory.com, they sell 5 pound bags for around 30$ .

Lifting shoes

I like to do shock training, plyos, jump training, whatever you want to call it, as well as lift, and run. I would pick up two types of shoes, first a good pair of cross trainers, you can find a good pair over at nike.com, or check out some of their outlet stores. You should also look into a pair of lifting shoes, but these can be a bit pricey, and a pair of 20$ Chucks work well enough, especially for general lifting purposes. If your serious about getting the most out of every rep on the squat, good lifting shoes can help.

Bands

Look, I am tired of seeing men and women doing dips, and pullups on that assisted machine; a pure waste of time! Try buying some green, red, etc bands over at elitefts.com. This way all you got to do is throw bands of varying degrees of difficulty over the top of the pull-up bar and it will assist you, until you dont need them anymore!
Lifting glovesI dont use gloves, but most women do. If your a guy and your lady is using every excuse in the book to get out of lifting, it might be wise to buy her some cute gloves, it will make her feel more legit.

George Foreman Grill

Quick, easy, and good for cutting weight. I dont know how many times I have been trying to get to the single digit bodyfat %, and this thing saved me. I would wake up, only have 30 minutes to get dressed, and go to work, and I could throw 2-3 chicken breasts on this, and be good for lunch, and a mid afternoon snack.

Ab-Wheel

I am not into a lot of the gimmicks out there concerning getting a six pack, because I know 100% of getting a six pack is losing the fat first, but I do believe the ab-wheel helps strengthen abdominals, and I am a fan of that. You can find these for cheap to, just go to wal mart, and when your real good at it, try it without putting your knees on the ground.

A Health food Cookbook

It will give a  bit of guidance on what type of food can be made while still living a healthy lifestyle.

Anyway, hope these ideas helped. These fitness gifts would be great to make the holidays healthy!

Check out http://www.thefitnessenthusiast.com

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by Presidio of Monterey: DLIFLC & USAG

Why The Health And Fitness Industry Is Killing Us

Disclaimer: ‘Do not try and bend the spoon. Thats impossible, instead… only try to realize the truth.’ – The Matrix (1999)

The health and fitness industry is in a dire state.

A rogue of sorts.

Between the news, which is consistently ten years behind on health and fitness information, to the epidemic of obesity that now runs rampant across the United States; we have complicated what was supposed to be easy, and we are to blame.

I mean a calorie in vs a calorie out, that is what weight loss is supposed to be right? Wrong. Because according to the rows, and rows of unregulated supplements, its the amount of fat-burners, creatine, and packaged mystery treats you can take that lead to weight loss, and according to the misguided, outdated advice of many so-called experts who are outfitted with college degrees, and certifications, but cannot help themselves lose a pound; the food guide pyramid is up-to-date. Ha!

I do not remember the last time I met a person who told me they achieved their outstanding body following the food guide pyramid, because it never happened. We shall rename it, the low expectation pyramid. The bare minimum pyramid. The just enough pyramid. Yet, while there are people out there who do not care much about their health, there is a thriving, lively, heartbroken community begging for guidance, and they do not even know it, because no one is showing them, and the vast majority of the ones that are offering their two cents are so arrogant, and stubborn; no one wants to listen.

Face it: we are still in the caveman age of training, nutrition, and supplementation, when the preconceived notion most women have of lifting weights is that they will turn into some unapproachable carnivorous bulk of a human being.

Just look at every commercial gym; many which have banned lifts. Recently I walked into one that banned deadlifts, power-cleans, and overhead presses. Yes I said it, overhead presses. Look at how arrogant people are who know a small amount of info. The standard expectation should be that every individual knows what a simple, and complex carbohydrate is. Yet, most do not. Only 1 out of 7 Americans exercise, yet how many exercise properly? And there is no one to blame but us, our raw knowledge, and our stubborn nature.

I see the future. Obesity will continue to rise. We are beginning to diverge. The hardcore on one side, every one else on the other.

We cannot find a balance because the highly questionable fitness industry, which is corrupt, because of its gimmicks, advertisements, and very raw beginning, does not properly qualify the people, or products that are supposed to be qualified.

The industry has been downcast into a mixture of a small percentage of people who do know what they are talking about who were forced to learn through humility, trial, and error, learn information that should be the standard; the status quo. While  a large percentage of people who think they know go around spreading conveniences just for a dollar.

It is killing America, the infomercials with the useless products that promise to get you abs just by putting a vibrating belt around your waist, the shake weight, the jump shoes, the ridiculously overpriced gym memberships, the arrogant slightly overweight trainers who hold their head high because they have an online certification, yet no meaningful knowledge, the ‘no pain, no gain’ Nike commercials that make it seem like you can just go crazy in the gym without proper planning, and the straight from Hollywood fad diets that are ruining peoples health.

Oh please, no more, please do not mention that cabbage soup diet. What has society come to?

You want to lose ten lbs in seven days? How about losing ten pounds and keeping it off your entire life.

Little laws, less authority, no guidance, is this the wild wild west all over again?

Check out http://thefitnessenthusiast.com

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by L.A. Fitness Solutions

Weeeeee, The Wii Will Get You Into Shape With Wii Fitness Games!

Will a video game promote your good health? You bet it can, if its a Nintendo Wii fitness game! We all know the bad reputation video games have gotten in the past. It was believed video games led to a sedentary lifestyle. Parents have complained for years that their couch potato tykes do nothing but sit around day and night playing video games as their health deteriorates. And, of course, we all know the horror stories of how sofa tater children grow up to be sofa spud adolescents who can’t cut it in the adult world.

Some may disagree with these fears, but now, things have changed! Nintendo Wii video games makes these fears a thing of the past. A Wii fitness game mixes all the skill and fun of a average video game with exercise you would get, if you were actually playing it. Doctors and parents have all started to support the Wii. You may not burn as many calories as playing the actual sport, but, you will burn a significant amount and that’s a heck of a lot better…and more fun, than sitting there.

Just envision yourself on a tennis court, ready to serve the ball to your opposition. You enhale, throw the ball up and swing with all you’ve got. Now envision doing this in the comfort of your own home, wearing whatever you find comfortable. If you are not able to find an opponent to play against, no problem, you can just play against the computer. If, on the other hand, you have a friend (or three), you can all get into the fun. Volley the ball to and fro, matching your skill against your nemesis. You start to get into the game and begin to forget it’s just a Wii fitness game, and best of all, you even forget you are receiving an aerobic workout!

The Wii game console has made it a possibility. The action can be so close to reality, and the bodily benefits so terrific that some physical therapy specialists have in reality tied wii fitness games into their patient’s workout procedures, helping them to regain lost or impaired joint and muscle flexibility.

Senior citizens are even getting in on the action. It is no longer accurate to depict the elderly sitting around living a dormant life. Wii fitness games have been turning up in more and more elderly living centers. What was once seen to be a lethargic universe has again acquired fresh life, as the elderly are able to easily learn the necessary skills to enter into all the fun the Wii gaming console has to offer. There have even been Wii bowling clubs starting up in the centers, providing hours of amusement and most importantly bodily movement and exercise.

So, if you’ve been considering getting into better shape, or getting your family active together, then toss out your antiquated ideas and turn to video games. Provided you’re talking of the Nintendo Wii gaming console, you can’t lose anything but some extra pounds.