Monday, June 27, 2011

How to Start an Aerobic Program

Most people have heard the term aerobic. This basically means keeping an elevated heart rate for a certain period of time. If you want to get specific, take 220 minus you age and then stay between 60-85% of those numbers. If you want to make it easier, get a heart rate monitor or just walk, bike or step until you breath becomes slightly labored. If you can talk you're not working too hard.

The trick I've found if to do something that you like or at least don't hate. Walking seems to be a good fit for most beginners and ellipticals for those who want a little more of a challenge. The first thing to do is to start small with 10 or 15 min. sessions. Try two to three times a week and build your times up from there.

If you want to kill two birds as they say, try circuit training. This is what most of my clients prefer because you tone and burn fat at the same time. All you have to do is follow up a few exercises with a min or two of walking or stepping. You'll keep the heart rate up, tone your body, burn fat all at the same time. The best thing is how fast the time goes.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Little Bits to Get More Fit

With the biggest obstacle to working out being a lack of time, here are some tricks to help you along. Forget the all or nothing attitude. If you only have 10 mins. this can help speed up your metabolism and when you add a few additional clips of 10 it may equal a real workout. The trick is to treat the 10 mins. like a regular workout. Warm up for one to two mins. followed by 10-15 exercises and then cool down for a min. or two. You can also try to do three 10 min. sessions that hits either strength, cardio and flexibility. For cardio you can use the treadmill, elliptical or just walk for ten mins. For strength try some light dumb bells or just a few sets of push ups or chair dips. Stretching is easy to do. It feels good and you can do it every day and helps you feel younger.
The idea is to do something if you can't fit in a full workout. Sometimes the little workout go longer and become the bigger workout you were trying to avoid.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

What Burns More Fat - Cardio or Weights

If you have time do both cardio and lift weights. If you are limited and only have time for one, lift weights. This is contrary to what most people may think. The main reason, the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is even at rest. Another factor is muscle loss when dieting. When you lose weight you often lose up to 30% muscle with the fat. If you do strength training while reducing your calories you can keep your muscle loss down to 3-5 percent. All you need to do to maintain muscle and speed up your metabolism is strength train at least two times per week for 30-40 mins. What I have my busy clients do is combine cardio with weights. By wearing a heart monitor (which now have gotten pretty cheep), we lift weights while keeping within the target heart zone. It's a nice way to kill two birds with one stone and it really makes the time fly by.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Lose 2 Pounds a Week

The first thing to do if you want lose weight is eat breakfast every day. If you do you'll speed up your metabolism. Make sure to have 20 grs. of protein if you want to build muscle. Drink at least 10 glasses of water per day. It will not only curb you appetite but also help your liver to process fat right out of your body. This may be a hard one but the payoff is huge . Stop eating excess sugar. You can't burn your own body fat if your have to process all that sugar you've eaten. Sugar also raises your insulin level. What ever insulin isn't used for energy is stored as fat. That's why insulin is called the fat hormone. Add fiber and veggies to your diet. It will help you feel full and give your body the much needed energy it needs to burn calories. Finally, start a regular exercise routine. Walk a little every day and pick up some hand to tone up. With a few hours of instruction, anyone can learn how to tone up, feel younger, and speed up their metabolism. It may be the best two hour a week investment you make in your life.