Weight
Training Leg Exercises
For Inline Skating
With winter soon coming to
an end, for many of you it's almost time to get out your inline skates,
rollerblades and lace them up! I really enjoy inline skating when it
warms
up and during the summer months. So over the next few blog entries I
will
be discussing this sport in various ways.
Besides doing a little cardiovascular
exercise before lacing your blades up for the first time, here are 3
weight
training leg exercises that will help you strengthen your legs for
inline
skating: leg press, leg extensions and standing calf raise.
Here are some tips. Try to
do the leg press on a vertical machine and avoid the horizontal leg
press
in my opinion it is a waste of time. It is not as effective and I've
seen
studies that have proven this point. Also, you do not necessarily have
to do really heavy weights. Lighter weights are fine. Just focus on
doing
each movement slowly with 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 16 reps is fine.
If you have time you could
add some other leg exercises such as lunges or glute exercises too.
By weight training your legs
several months in advance, you should feel little or no soreness the
first
time you go inline skating.
Posted
on: Tuesday February
28, 2006
Studies On
The Benefits of Vitamins
and Supplements
There are so many medical
studies these days in the news supporting the merits of taking certain
vitamins and supplements. Several studies in the past concluded that
taking
extra Calcium will prevent osteoporosis in women. Now we have studies
saying
that additional supplementation of calcium provides no extra benefits.
Which studies are we to believe? Which ones are the most accurate? What
you hear in the news can be quite confusing for most people!
There is no need to be overly
concerned or worried over the conflicting studies. My advice is the
following
which most medical and fitness professionals will give.
Exercise regularly incorporating
cardiovascular and some form of weight training 2 to 3 times per week.
Weight bearing exercises help in the prevention of bone loss. My
website
has many weight training exercises for you here
as well as some excellent book
excerpts
on new approaches to exercise.
Secondly, eat properly. Proper
nutrition is vital for maintaining your ideal weight and
health.
I know that sometimes it's not possible to eat all your fruits and
vegetables,
plus the vitamin content in fruits and vegetables is decreasing over
time.
A lot of that has to do with the manner in which produce is grown and
shipped
to market, but that is a topic for another time. But not to worry
because
cereals and other foods are fortified with extra vitamins and minerals
these days.
You may also consider taking
a quality multi-vitamin daily. On my next blog entry, I will discuss
one
high quality multi-vitamin that I haeve been taking since 1992.
Posted on: Sunday February
26, 2006
Obesity
Rate Depends On Where A Person
Lives
Over the last few years I
have heard about several studies that have concluded that where a
person
lives affects whether or not they are obese, over-weight. People who
live
in suburbs tend to be more obese than people living in cities. By this
I mean the downtown areas of cities or larger towns.
The main reason for this
is that in suburban areas everything is usually too far away to walk.
So
rather than walking people just take the car. Taking public transit is
either inconvenient or would take too long. Many people traveling to
work
usually spend a lot of time in their cars each day so they many not
have
time for exercise. Even if you want to go shopping for groceries, you
need
to take your car. Everything is spread out. Part of the problem is the
way suburban areas are planned out and also the big box stores. Let's
face
it, suburban areas are definitely not planned for healthy and active
living.
Whereas in cities, neighborhoods
were designed to be within walking distance. Stores are smaller,
restaurants
closeer, you have nearby parks, public transportation is convenient...
It doesn't make any sense to get in a car and drive when you could
easily
walk. So you can see that cities were designed more for healthy and
active
living. This is especially true of many older cities which were
designed
before the advent of the car.
My point is that even if
you live in the suburbs, the obesity rate can be decreased if you find
ways to exercise at lease three times a week. Be it going to the gym,
exercising
at home or outdoors. An effort needs to be made to reverse this trend.
Posted on: Thursday February
16, 2006
Stair
Climbing
You can tell whether a person
exercises when they have to climb a flight of stairs. If they're out of
shape, they end up being out of breath at the top of the stairs or
panting
for air. Walking up a few flights of stairs instead of taking an
elevator
can be very beneficial to your health in the long-term.
I've added a very interesting
book excerpt that discusses the benefits of stair climbing, supported
with
factual evidence. I know that many athletes in various sports use stair
climbing to increase their leg strength, cardivascular emdurance and
the
explosive leg power required by many sports.
You can read the stair climbing
book excerpt here.
Posted on: Tuesday February
14, 2006
Sleep And
Exercise
How much sleep does your
body require if you exercise?
It is recommended that the
average person receive at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep. However, most
people
get less than 8 hours mostly due to their hectic lifestyle or they may
not have that much time to invest in sleeping. It's important to note
that
when exercising your body needs as much time as possible to regenerate,
build muscle and recuperate which is accomplished by getting enough
sleep.
Since we are in the midst
of the Winter Olympics, have you ever wondered how much sleep an
Olympic
athlete requires? I have heard that they require about 10 hours of
sleep
to maintain peak performance.
My recommendation is that
you get as much sleep as you can or that your body requires. And
remember,
you cannnot catch up on missed sleep but you can catch up on missed
work.
Posted on: Saturday February
11, 2006
Weight
Training for Everyone
Weight training should be
a part of everyone's exercise program regardless of your age or gender.
There are many benefits why you should use weights while exercising and
you can find many excellent articles on this topic on my site or by
clicking here.
The approach you take to working out with weights all depends upon your
fitness goals and objectives. For those of you who don't like
exercising
with machines or free weights, try taking an exercise class that
incorporates
weight training in the routine.
I will now briefly explain
some training routines with weights. These explanations are very brief
and simplified. I will not discuss the pros and cons of each one. You
can
try each one for yourself and decide which one weight training method
is
ideal for you or if you need help, there is an excellent online fitness
program which you can find on this blog site.
Lower weights and high repetitions.
Ideal for people looking just to tone, stay strong and healthy and is
recommended
for beginners, seniors and women not looking to increase in muscle mass.
Higher weights done slowly.
This approach helps to build muscle mass and strength by using heavier
weights and doing each repetition slowly emphasizing both the positive
and negative movements, both the lifting or pulling and the releasing.
This is ideal for intermediate and experienced people.
Heavy weights done to the
maximum. By this I mean you lift the heaviest weight you possibly can
for
as many repetitions as you can. You need not complete a specified
number
of reps. The purpose is to push your muscles to their maximum. This
method
not only builds more muscle mass, but increases your strength to a
greater
degree. This approach to weight training is for experienced people.
Posted on: Thursday February
9, 2006
Exercise
As You Get Older
Why is it that some people
as they get older don't look their age. In other words, they look much
younger. Yes, hereditary factors can influence how we look and feel as
we get older but more importantly, how you take care of yourself
throughout
your life affects to a greater degree how long you will live and feel
in
your senior years. From exercising regularly and staying active to
staying
positive mentally and eating healthy foods such as fresh fruits,
vegetables
and whole grains. These are all important factors in a person's
longevity.
These days there are many
gyms and fitness trainers starting to specifically cater to seniors
because
it's important to continue to exercise as you get older and different
exercise
classes, workout programs are required.
For those of you looking
for help in setting up an exercise program for yourself, regardless of
age, please visit Fast
Track to Fat Loss.
Posted on: Saturday February
4, 2006
Fitness
Site Updates
I want to update you with
several new additions that I have made to my fitness site
lately.
The first are three book
excerpts from Core Performance Essentals which talks about core body
movements,
exercises to increase your strength, posture, flexibility and overall
health.
You can read them here.
The second I have added are
books for athletes and coaches based on recent research to help boost
athletic
performance. You can find them on the left hand side column of my
exercise
page here.
Posted on: Thursday February
2, 2006
