With the Olympic Games in full swing this week, it’s hard not to get motivated to start getting back in shape. If Michael Phelps can bring home 8 gold medals, a 30 minute jog on the treadmill or a few extra reps with the dumbbells can’t be that hard?

Just keep in mind that too much too soon can lead to injury or burn out. Here are a few pointers to get you started on the right track with a long term fitness program:

1) Start slow. When starting a new fitness routine, focus on building a comfortable base level of activity. Don’t worry about miles, speed, or weight at first. In your first weeks of exercising, focus on making your routine an enjoyable part of your weekly schedule.

2) Build up gradually. A good rule of thumb is to follow the 10% rule. You shouldn’t increase your workout volume more than 10% per week. So if you can manage 20 minutes on the elliptical now, aim for 22 the following week. If you add extra workout days to your schedule, you still need to make sure that your total weekly exercise time doesn’t increase more than 10%. It doesn’t seem like much of an increase but you’ll build up quickly over time and each week will be a new success.

3) Don’t forget to rest. Make sure that you alternate adequate rest and recovery between workouts. If you aren’t starting your workout feeling refreshed, fired up, and ready to go, then you’re probably over-doing it.

It’s tough to get a workout in during the hot summer months and even tougher to maximize your workout if you are not taking in enough fluid. Proper hydration is important all the time, but especially during exercise. And when temperatures soar into the 90’s, out bodies lose fluid even faster, so we need to make sure we are constantly replenishing the supply.

Water is the most essential ingredient to a healthy life. Water has many important functions in the body including:

• Transportation of nutrients / elimination of waste products.
• Lubricating joints and tissues.
• Temperature regulation through sweating.
• Facilitating digestion.

Dehydration

Regular exercisers need to stay hydrated in order to get the most out of their workouts. Studies have found that a loss of two or more percent of one’s body weight due to sweating is linked to a drop in blood volume. When this occurs, the heart works harder to move blood through the bloodstream. Some signs that you may be dehydrated include muscular cramps, dizziness, nausea and lethargy.

General Guidelines for Fluid Needs During Exercise

While specific fluid recommendations aren’t possible due to individual variability, most exercisers can use the following guidelines as a starting point, and modify their fluid needs accordingly.

Hydration Before Exercise

• Drink about 15-20 fl oz, 2-3 hours before exercise
• Drink 8-10 fl oz 10-15 min before exercise

Hydration During Exercise

• Drink 8-10 fl oz every 10-15 min during exercise
• If exercising longer than 90 minutes, drink 8-10 fl oz of a sports drink (with no more than 8 percent carbohydrate) every 15 - 30 minutes.

Hydration After Exercise

• Weigh yourself before and after exercise and replace fluid losses.
• Drink 20-24 fl oz water for every 1 lb lost.

There are a number of things that affect the amount of fluid you lose while you exercise. They include exercising at high altitude, exercising in the heat, and the duration and intensity of your workout. Some individuals also sweat more than others and if you sweat a lot you are at greater risk for dehydration.

What about Sports Drinks?

Sports drinks can be helpful to individuals who are exercising at a high intensity for 60 minutes or more. Fluids supplying 60 to 100 calories per 8 ounces helps to supply the needed calories required for continuous performance. It’s really not necessary to replace losses of sodium, potassium and other electrolytes during exercise since you’re unlikely to deplete your body’s stores of these minerals during normal training. If, however, you find yourself exercising in extreme conditions over 3 or 5 hours (a marathon, Ironman or ultramarathon, for example) you may likely want to add a complex sports drink with electrolytes.

Finally, here are some general tips to keep in mind with regard to water intake all year ‘round, but especially in the summer.

• Try to drink fluids throughout the day, not just when you are thirsty.
• Don’t wait until you are thirsty. When you feel thirsty, you’ve already lost important fluids and may be dehydrated.
• Always have water or a sports drink with you when you workout to replenish the fluids you are losing.
• Check your urine to determine hydration status, clear to light colored urine means you are hydrated.

Indoor workouts are great during fall and winter. However, during the spring and summer months the outdoors call us to go outside. Don’t feel you have to move your exercise just because of the weather, though. There are definitely pros and cons to each option.

Indoor exercise

Pro: A stable environment facilitates a regular exercise routine

When you exercise indoors it’s easy to get into a regular routine. There’s never a problem if the weather is too hot, cold, rainy, or otherwise. The workout doesn’t rely on other outside factors like the time of day, where you are, or other things. If you’re the type of person who needs to have a strict exercise routine to stay on track, the indoor route may be best for you. Whether it’s your house or the gym, it offers a stable, consistent workout time and time again. You don’t have to think about it; it’s just there.

Pro: Working out with others is motivating and a great family activity

Working out in a gym or with family members at home offers the benefit of interacting with others. Having others exercising right next to you can really boost your effort and performance, thereby giving you greater results in a shorter time. Working out at home as a family can have benefits that go far beyond your daily workout. It is never too early to expose children to exercise – in fact, if parents get children into the habit of exercising while they are young, it is a gift that will last a lifetime.

Pro: An equipment workout is easier to control and modify

When you work out on a piece of cardiovascular equipment, it is easier to make specific changes in your workout and to measure your progress. For example, when working our on a treadmill you can gradually increase incline, or speed to push yourself to increase your fitness level. Much of the equipment has heart rate interface, and you can train in a specific target zone by varying the workout intensity. It is also easy to do timed intervals to increase endurance by again varying incline, or speed.

Con: Home workouts can be distracting

For workouts in the home, there may be too many distractions for a productive routine. Things like the telephone, neighbors, mail, pets and children can all put a damper on the most well-intentioned program.

Outdoor exercise

Pro: Being outside is pleasurable

When you exercise outdoors, you can enjoy the beauty of nature. You’ll see and hear the birds. Your senses will get drawn into the surroundings as you experience the air, sounds, smells, textures and sights. If you live in a less than beautiful neighborhood, the view may not be too motivating. However, in the country or suburbs the homes and gardens may give your day the serene beginning you need.

Pro: If you don’t want to socialize during your workout, it’s easiest to avoid outside

You’ll see other people especially if you exercise in the same place and at the same time every day, but you can always pass by without interacting. It’s easier to escape another person outside. If you don’t want to interact with anyone, you’re better off here.

Con: Weather and physical obstacles provide a good excuse to stay home

When you exercise outside you must deal with weather changes, which means you must be highly motivated to do your routine daily without the interest and push from others. There my not be any friends waiting for you either. Pavement and footing isn’t always flat and stable so if you’re prone to ankle problems you’ll have to really watch it. And if it’s raining, the cozy bed may help you keep your eyes shut more than propel you into action. The heat can also be a deterrent to getting your regular workouts in during the hot summer months.

Whichever location you choose for your workouts remember: The important thing is that you are working out. Making your body move is your number one concern. It doesn’t matter to your body if you’re inside or out. It will be happy exercising no matter what, and reward you with the riches of good health in return. Having the option to work out inside or outside gives you the ability to stick with your workouts no matter what is happening in the environment around you!

Have you ever felt like your exercise regime is not getting you any more fit? It is very possible that you are correct. Performing the exact same exercise routine over and over actually can hinder your progress. When you repeat the same exercises, your neuromuscular system becomes more efficient at that activity, and can drop your caloric expenditure by as much as 25% - which can result in less effective workouts and plateaus. Therefore cross training is instrumental if you wish to continually challenge your body and deliver results.

What is cross training?

Cross training is the process of incorporating variety in your workout. An example would be jogging on Mondays and Wednesdays and lifting and swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It could also mean using several different types of exercise equipment in a single workout.

Varying workouts ultimately produces the best outcomes-whether your goal is losing weight, running a race, or playing a better golf game.

What are the benefits of cross training?

1. Better overall fitness level – No single exercise can yield all the potential benefits that using a variety of types and methods of exercise can.
2. Reduced risk of injury – Excessive repetition in one activity can lead to overuse injuries.
3. Improved athletic performance – Peak performance in virtually all physical activities involves more than just one physical attribute.
4. Enhanced motivation and reduced boredom – Trying new activities can prevent burnout and keep exercisers committed over the long haul.
5. Improves skill, agility and balance
6. Allows you to be flexible about your training needs and plans (if it’s raining outside you can go swimming)
7. Works some muscle groups while others rest and recover

What exercises should make up a good cross training routine?

A variety of cardiovascular and strength training along with stretching and flexibility work is ideal. Below are some examples of each.

• Cardiovascular Exercise
• Running
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Rowing
• Stair Climbing
• Rope Jumping
• Skating
• Skiing
• Racquetball/basketball/other court sports

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• Strength Training
• Calesthenics
• Free Weights
• Plate Loaded Machines

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• Tubing and Bands
• Flexibility (stretching, yoga)
• Speed, agility and balance drills
• Circuit training, sprinting, plyometrics and other forms of skill conditioning

With cross training, you can do one form of exercise each day, or more than one in a day. You can easily tailor cross-training to your needs and interests; mix and match your sports and change your routine on a daily basis.

Exercise can strengthen the cardiovascular system, bones, muscles, joints, reduce body fat and improve flexibility, balance and coordination. But if you want to see all of these benefits, you’ll need to start cross training. What better time to start than now?

Introduced in 1995, the elliptical cross trainer is currently the fastest-growing piece of fitness equipment, with its usage increasing five-fold in the last eight years. A cardiovascular machine breakthrough, ellipticals combine the motion of a cross-country machine and a stairclimber—with the feet traveling in an egg-shaped, or elliptical, motion— delivering a weight-bearing, easy-on-the-joints, simple to use, effective workout unlike any other fitness product.

Also, today’s units are unique because they easily facilitate cross training on the same machine by allowing for forward and backward motion and including arms for synchronized, total-body movement. Studies have shown that total-body elliptical cross trainers engage numerous muscles, including the gluteals, hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, pectorals, lats, deltoids, biceps and triceps in a natural, closed kinetic chain—unlike any other modalities such as treadmills, stationary cycles or stairclimbers. Plus, core musculature strength and stability are constantly taxed on a total-body machine, as exercisers must recruit the abdominals and lower back to maintain balance.

Another benefit is that total-body ellipticals may not feel as intense as other machines due to the movement’s low impact nature and dispersion of effort throughout the entire body. Furthermore, simulating realistic motions such as walking or running on a total-body elliptical cross trainer can lead to “transferable” gains that help improve performance of everyday activities.

Ellipticals also may enhance balance, coordination and fluidity of motion—all of which play a critical role in activities of daily living.

Octane Fitness has revolutionized cross training with its innovative, exclusive X-Mode™ and GluteKicker™ on its total-body elliptical cross trainers. No other machine on the market benefits exercisers with these intense cross training workouts that fuel the ultimate regimen that delivers results.

The X-Mode™, easily activated during any workout with the touch of a button, delivers instructions in a randomly generated sequence for maximum physical and mental stimulation. One-minute intervals of X-Mode™ commands are followed by two minutes of standard elliptical motion striding forward and using the upper body. These intervals are customizable on some models.

Building on the X-Mode™ is the GluteKicker™, and aggressive program that focuses exclusively and intensely on the gluteals, hips, quadriceps and hamstrings. In the glutekicker, four commands appear randomly-reverse, squat, fast and lean back-for one minute. After a one minute recovery, the lower-body emphasis begins again-making this an optimal workout to blast the hips, butt and thighs.

Clearly, cross training is the most effective way to train. Taking advantage of an elliptical cross trainer provides unique options all within one workout on one machine—which just is not possible on any other cardiovascular piece. With the X-Mode™ + GluteKicker™, Octane Fitness machines incorporate beneficial variety that keeps exercisers fueled and fit, workout after workout.

Are you looking for a way to make sure that you are alive and healthy enough to see your children and grandchildren grow up? Regular exercise is one answer! Recent studies show what we have long suspected, that even a moderate amount of exercise can dramatically prolong a man’s life.

In the largest such study ever – sponsored by the Veteran’s Administration – the results clearly showed that a regimen of brisk walking 30 minutes a day at least four to six days a week was enough to cut in half the risk of premature death from all causes.

“As you increase your ability to exercise – increase your fitness – you are decreasing in a step-wise fashion the risk of death” said study author Peter Kokkinos, director of the exercise testing and research lab in the cardiology department of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington D.C.

The results apply equally to white and black men regardless of income, and also regardless of their prior history of cardiovascular disease.

In the study that included 15,660 black and white males ranging in age from 47 to 71 years of age, all participants were asked to run until fatigued, at which point the researchers recorded the total amount of energy expended and oxygen consumed. These numbers were then crunched into “metabolic equivalents” or METS. By tracking fatalities through June 2007, the researchers found that for both black and white men it was their fitness level, rather than their age, blood pressure or body mass index, that was most strongly linked to their future risk for death.

Among all participants, those categorized as “moderately fit” (5 to 7 METS) had about a 20% lower risk for death than “low fit (5 to 7 METS) men. “High fit” men (7 to 10 METS) had a 50% lower risk, while the “very high fit” (10 METS or higher) cut their odds of an early death by 70%. “The point is, it takes relatively little exercise to achieve the benefits we found.” Noted Kokkinos.

Also, in a Swedish study just released this week in the British Journal of Cancer, findings revealed that me who exercise often are less likely to die from cancer than those who don’t. This study involved 40,000 men between the ages of 45 and 79 and the results, “clearly shows for the first time, the effect that very simple and basic daily exercise such as walking or cycling has in reducing cancer death risk in middle-age and elderly men”. The results revealed that half an hour’s walking or cycling a day increased survival among these men by 33 percent.

So it seems their’s no denying the benefits of moderate exercise. Two to three hours of brisk walking or other moderate exercise per week is enough to make a difference. That’s just 120 to 200 minutes per week and this can be split up throughout the day and throughout the week! This amount of exercise is realistic in the real world.

It should be mentioned that although the above studies did not involve women, there is no reason to suspect that the same benefits would not apply to them as well.

SOURCES: Washington Post, Medical News Today

Fitness Tips to Get Back in the Groove

It’s time to get out of those sweaters and long pants and slip into your spring wardrobe, but is your body ready to be revealed?! Before you plunge head first into a workout routine to get you back into shape after a winter of reduced activity, here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

1) Take it slow. Don’t expect to resume the same level of physical activity for the same duration as you left off before the long winter. Use a heart rate monitor or the perceived exertion scale to build up your stamina over several weeks.

2) Alternate rest days with harder activity days, and use interval training to build your stamina.

3) Make a plan and stick to it. The best way to build back up is to follow a training program (there are many training programs available on-line for all types of sports). Following a plan can be motivating and can also keep you from starting out too fast.

4) Drink lots of fluids. Water and fitness drinks can help replace the fluids your body needs to build strength and endurance as you work out.

5) Work out with a friend. Whether you are working out at home, meeting at the gym or taking a walk outside, scheduling your workout with others make you less likely to skip the workout and more likely to enjoy it!

Do you hope to maintain quality of life as you grow older? Now you can do more than just hope for a strong, mobile body as you age. It is possible to turn back the clock! The myth is that as we grow older we get much weaker and suffer more aches and pains and that losing muscle and gaining fat are just part of the aging process. The fact is that many of the symptoms of old age are really symptoms of inactivity.

You can slow and possibly even reverse many of the symptoms associated with aging and Strength Training is the weapon of choice for fighting the physical declines associated with aging. Strength training is extremely important in combating declines in muscle mass, bone density, and metabolism along many other positive results.

Here are just a few of the positive results that have been shown to occur with regular strength training:

• Reduce Muscle Loss and Increase Muscle Mass - Adults who do not strength train lose between 5-7 pounds of muscle every decade. Standard strength training (25 minutes 3 times/week) has been shown to increase muscle mass by three pounds over an eight week period in both men and women.
• Avoid Metabolic Rate Reduction - Muscle loss is accompanied by a reduction in resting metabolism (2-5% per decade). Because regular strength training prevents muscle loss, it also prevents the accompanying decrease in resting metabolic rate and the gradual weight loss that accompanies it. Regular strength training increases metabolic rate.
• Reduce Body Fat - Studies show that a basic strength training program resulted in 3 pounds more muscle, 4 pounds less fat, even with 370 more calories per day food intake!
• Increase Bone Mineral Density - This reduces the chances of osteoporosis. Recent studies show that strength training at any age can actually add bone, not just slow its loss!
• Improve Glucose Metabolism - This can reduce the chances of adult onset diabetes.
• Increase Gastrointestinal Transit Time - Thus reducing the risk of colon cancer
• Reduce Resting Blood Pressure – A combination of strength training and aerobic exercise has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure.
• Reduce Low Back Pain – Years of research have shown that strong low-back muscles are less likely to be injured than weaker low-back muscles.
• Reduce Arthritis Pain– Studies have shown that sensible strength training also eases the pain of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Not only does strength training help to lubricate and nourish the joint, it also strengthens the muscles around the joint, providing it with greater support.

These are nine very good physiological reasons to perform regular strength exercise. However, it is important to realize that proper strength training also helps us to look better, feel better and function better in our daily lives.

HealthStyles Exercise Equipment has the latest in cutting edge strength training equipment from free weights, to home gyms, to functional trainers to exercise bands. Stop by today and have our fitness specialists help you determine the strength equipment that will fit your space, budget and will provide the workout routine best for you!

Understanding the Stages of Change

By: Scott Laurent, HealthStyles Exercise Equipment Boulder Retail Store Manager
and ReadyToExercise.com Fitness Consultant

Have you ever wondered why so many people fail at the attempt to even start an exercise program after making it their New Year’s resolution? More than 80 percent of these resolutions fall by the wayside within the first three months of making the commitment. Why? A lack of preparation, and a lack of understanding of the stages we pass through on the road to real change, may explain why many people are unsuccessful.
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