Anatomy Of A Successful Training Program

Anatomy of a successful training program: Just wanted to share practical information. Failing to plan then planning to fail is very true when it comes to meeting and exceeding personal fitness goals. This is true whether it is body fat reduction, strength gains, increase in flexibility, rehabilitating an injury or overall health. Without proper assessment of our total current physical conditioning we can overlook muscle imbalances and weaknesses that have been preventing us from reaching any noticeable progress. The cycle of joint aches, back strains and muscle pains over compensating for weaker ones will continue without proper training.

Corrective exercises can only be prescribed after a proper assessment by a professional fitness trainer.

Anatomy of a successful training program begins with a current fitness assessment. Afterwords, a customized program will be initiated based on exercise science principles not to mention common sense.

Here is an example of a solid workout plan; optimize results by working in all anatomical planes:

1. Sagittal Plane: divides the body into right and left portions. e.g. bicep curls, tricep kickbacks
2. Horizontal/Transverse Plane: divides the body into upper and lower portions. e.g. horizontal seat rows, chest press
3. Frontal Plane: divides the body into front and back. e.g. lateral shoulder raises, side hip bridges
4. Circumduction/Rotary: Cross all planes- chop lift, trunk rotation with band, airplane pose (my specialty)

All workouts can be summed up with the following acronym ' S.A.I.D. Specific Adaptation to Impose Demands' - this is how we reintroduce stimulus to unconditioned muscles. For example by activating and stretching your inner thigh and outer glute muscles you will notice an increase of control and balance while performing squats or even walking up a flight of stairs.

Our outside physical appearance is like the tip of a iceberg. If you really want to know our true state of conditioning we need to look deeper. The foundation of the iceberg is below the surface and so is your success. Developing a solid and balanced exercise foundation in the early stages will lead to long term results.

I love proverbs and this describes the importance of assessment 'A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.'

Integrate a sensible nutrition plan, sleep well, and receive guidance from an experienced trainer and you have a plan for success.

Results can be life changing! Here is what you will experience: increases in functional strength and conditioning, naturally increased metabolism, enhanced sport specific performance, neuromuscular activation, reduced stress, improved circulation, body fat reduction, postural alignment, challenge, and enjoyment.

Also remember, Your goals are the most important variables to a successful training strategy.

The Three Simple Steps To Fat Loss

Its unbelievable but being overweight has now moved from a social nuisance and domestic embarrassment to an official disease.

The American Heart Association has announced obesity a dangerous epidemic and a major risk for heart disease. More than 70% of US adults are overweight and that figure is rapidly increasing.

But by following three simple steps in your everyday life you do not have to become one of the above statistics. They are easy to follow without time constraints and don't require a complete lifestyle change. These three steps are:

1. Strength Training - Nowadays you do not have to live in a gym to put on functional muscle. Short high intensity sessions performed once a week is all that is required to elevate the metabolism for total fat burning.

2. A Small Decrease in Daily Calories - Diets don't work (everybody knows this by now) but by decreasing your daily calories by a small amount, the weight loss is body fat alone and not lean tissue and water that is associated with crash diets.

Remember fat accumulates on the body over a long period of time so it must come off slowly.

3. More Incidental Activity - Instead of driving try walking. Walk instead of taking elevators or escalators, and just keep moving through out the day.

Lets have a look at the Three Steps in more detail below:

Strength Training

Between the ages of 20 and 70 the average person loses one quarter of their muscle mass. Running, cycling or other aerobic sports will not prevent this loss.

This is very disturbing because the muscles are the engines of the body and every pound of muscle burns 100 calories every day.

By adding just 10 pounds of functional muscle to your body, you will burn off 60 pounds of fat over the next year.

Providing you take in the same amount of calories, it will keep burning those extra pounds year after year! The amount of fat the body can burn is directly related to the lean muscle your body has.

If you don't perform weight training to maintain your muscle tissue, you will lose half a pound of the fat burning tissue per year after the age of 20 years. In simpler terms the more functional muscle you have on your body the more fat you will burn up.

Small Decrease in Daily Calories

For years now, we have been told to use dieting to rid the excess fat from our bodies.

The trouble with this concept is that the low calorie restricted diet would throw the body into starvation mode, with the body holding onto the fat and using precious muscle tissue for energy.

This would then lower the metabolism causing greater muscle loss and when the diet is broken the unwanted fat would not only return but actually increase.

The way around this is to cut your daily calorie intake by a small amount of calories only. This will stop any starvation mechanisms from clicking in.

You can do this by making up a seven day eating plan and writing down every thing you eat for the week, and then work out the calories you have eaten with a calorie counter. Divide this figure by seven and you have your daily calorie value.

Decrease daily calorie value by a couple of hundred calories per day and no more. This will generate slow weight loss and the majority will be fat loss only. The daily calories should be consumed during the day with small frequent meals.

The calories should come from a balanced diet (no fad diets please) with the required amount of micronutrients, vitamins and minerals. As well as containing the required amounts of fibre, fat, protein and carbohydrates.

Yoga To Grow Taller?

People who take up yoga can noticeably grow taller due to the fact that they are able to hold themselves better and their spine stretches. Now that’s an interesting fact for you! Yoga is one of the fastest growing activities in the world and provides everybody with so many benefits whether male or female. Yoga is really about creating balance in the body through developing both strength and flexibility. This is done through the performance of poses, each of which has specific physical benefits. There are many different types of yoga but all provide you with unbelievable results.

• Do you want to become more flexible, stronger and fitter? Due to the breathing techniques used and the fact that all your joints receive full range of movement, you will not be waking up sore any longer. Yoga will make you feel like a new person.

• Want to improve your posture? Yoga can realign your body in new ways and not just make you grow taller!

• Yoga makes you look and feel better! Why? Your muscle tone becomes more firm and your complexion begins to radiate!

• Want to find out more about your body and how it works? You will learn how your conscience and unconscious mind can either support or harm you, and as you get more involved in yoga you will develop more wisdom.

• Having trouble sleeping? Yoga can be a very deep relaxing form of activity that you will find you will be sleeping better in no time.

In order to get started today and practice yoga you must be aware that there are so many different types of yoga systems. Do your research and choose which one will benefit you the most. Below is a brief listing of just a few types of yoga systems that are offered around the world today.

Hatha -

Said to be the basis of all types of yoga systems as it includes many of the different physical movements in all systems of yoga. Hatha yoga is a very calm and meditative form where yoga is practiced more slowly involving lots of control and grace throughout the body.

Bhakti -

Leads you to an emotional path of surrender where it deals with love and devotion. Lots of emphasis is placed on the love of god, love of god in man, and the surrender to gods will.

Karma -

Want to take the path to selfless action? Karma yoga makes it clear that as humans we must always work in harmony with the greater power which controls and runs the universe. ‘All actions and rewards are given to the divine’.

Kunalini Yoga -

It focuses on the psychic energy centers within the spine and much different to most of the religious systems around the world. It is said that when one becomes aroused the potential energy becomes a conscious driven force and the person can result in a state of super consciousness and bliss. When two people have mastered their self by relaxing their body tensions and being able to release their energy blocks then because they have reached the same level they can come together and form a whole.

So don’t wait any longer! Join a yoga class in your local area and you will never feel better!

How small training variations can be the difference between progress and stagnation

There has been much written on the subject of periodization and variation in resistance training. I'm a very strong advocate of these principles, both from my own experience and the results others have achieved (and are continuing to achieve) using these principles.

There are literally an infinite number of ways you can structure a program, and more training variables than I can probably think of off hand. Everybody knows the basics like intensity, rep range, and split, right? Well to give you a quick run-down there are also variables like rep tempo, rest interval, volume, density, and frequency to name a few.

Not only this but there are also training techniques like supersets, giant sets, trisets, circuits, pre/post-exhaust, drop sets, and wave loading that you can incorporate into your lifting schedule. And in the grand scheme of things all this is barely scratching the surface. See what I mean about infinite program variation?

The problem is though, while some people take all this into account (and those that don't, may you wallow in the pit of the so-called "hard-gainer" for eternity) there's one thing they invariably end up missing - the movements.

Exercise selection is something that far too many people, myself included, tend to forget about. You get comfortable with a set of movements and you do them program in, program out, no matter what else you change - and for some people I'm betting that its the factor that has got them stuck in a rut.

Things like split and rep range your body will adapt to relatively quickly which is why they are probably the most varied parameters from program to program - more often than not the rep range will change many times even in the same program. Though your body might take a lot longer to adapt to the selection of exercises you are using, more-so if you frequently change the other program variables, make no mistake - IT WILL ADAPT.

Your body is like some sort of Borg warrior from Star Trek, no matter how advanced your technology is your body will find a way to adapt and then BANG - your progress is assimilated into the hive mind of the supplement-junkies. For the love of god don't end up like Picard.

I'm guilty of it myself, learning new movements can be annoying because for a week or two your form is kinda shaky and you're not really sure what sort of weight you should be using and aww to hell with it I'm just gonna bench some more.

The truth of the matter is that for a little extra effort you can get out of that rut, sometimes not even by changing movements altogether. Even a slight variation in the same movement you are using could be enough to get some more progress going. I've come across some good examples of both that I thought I'd share in this article alongside their more "regular" counterparts, as well as a short list of exercises these movements can replace in your program if you aren't even doing them to start with.

10 Common Mistakes Made While Strength Training

1. Focusing on demonstrating, rather than developing, strength. When you engage in a strength-training program, your primary goal should be to build strength, not show other people how much you can lift. More often than not, such a misplaced focal point will compromise your training efforts by its natural tendency to lessen your adherence to proper exercise technique.

2. Not strengthening what you think you’re strengthening. Specific exercises develop specific muscles. When designing your strength-training program, it is important that you select the exercises that will enable you to achieve your particular training goals.

3. Not controlling the speed of the exercises. When performing strength exercises, you should raise and lower the weight under control; otherwise you’re "throwing" the weight, as opposed to lifting it. As such, you should avoid all ballistic movements (e.g., dropping, jerking, and bouncing) while lifting.

4. Not exercising through a full range of motion. To ensure that your musculature retains its natural elasticity and is developed to its fullest, you must perform every exercise in your strength training regimen through its full range of motion. Otherwise, your muscles will tighten up, resulting in a condition commonly referred to as being "muscle bound."

5. Not exercising opposing muscles. Your body has muscles that oppose each other (e.g., your quadriceps muscles are "opposed" by your hamstring muscles). These pairs of muscles have a proportionate strength relationship that must be maintained in relative balance. If one becomes too strong for the other, you risk injury to the weaker muscle.

6. Holding your breath while exercising. Some individuals occasionally hold their breath while lifting to "gut out" an extra repetition. Such a practice will lead to a substantial rise in pressure in the chest that may result in either dizziness or (in extreme instances) unconsciousness. The basic rule of thumb is that you should never hold your breath while strength training. If you really want to synchronize your breathing with the exercise, inhale whenever the resistance is lowered or pulled toward your body and exhale when the resistance is moving away from your body.

7. Not exercising at the right level of intensity. A muscle becomes stronger when a demand is placed on it. If you place less demand than your muscles can handle, you’ll get less improvement than you are capable of achieving. On the other hand, too much demand will either expose you to an undue risk of injury or make the exercise too difficult to perform properly.

8. Not giving your muscles an appropriate amount of time between workouts to recover from the demands placed upon them. When you stress a muscle beyond what it can normally handle, some rest is needed for the muscle tissues, tendons, and ligaments to recover. If the recovery time is too brief, your muscle may be unable to make physiologic adaptations needed before being stressed again. Conversely, if you take too much time between workouts, your muscles will gradually return to their untrained level.

9. Trying to do too much too soon. Your strength-training program should be progressive in nature. As such, you should gradually increase the stress you place on your muscles as they are able to meet the imposed demand. Keep in mind that lifting too much too soon can lead to failure and injury.

10. Not performing the exercise properly. Only one proper way exists to perform a specific exercise. As such, you should always adhere to the correct technique when strength training. If you compromise the recommended mechanics for doing an exercise, you will compromise your results.

Ways Fitness Professionals Can Be More Business-Like

1. Plan and act strategically. Successful businesses (and individuals) tend to know where they are, where they want to go in the future, and how they plan to get there. They have a strategic plan that provides them with a systematic basis for prioritizing the time, energy, and resources that need to be allocated to a particular goal. A well-formulated strategic plan can serve not only as a blueprint for purposeful activity but also as a viable means to help reduce the degree of uncertainty.

2. Understand the bottom line. Fitness professionals need to understand the financial aspects of business and their application to their particular undertaking’s operation. Their sense of financial awareness enhances their ability to appreciate the financial implications of their actions. Further, they need to be aware of the fact that in the long run, making a profit should not be their singular focus. Rather, profits are the result of a business operating successfully.

3. Adopt and adhere to a budget. A budget is a plan that an individual or organization uses to operate the financial side of its business. Budgets can be either operational (short-term) or strategic (long-term) in nature. Properly developed, a budget is a tool that can help fitness professionals better manage their available resources.

4. Be results-oriented. Accomplished individuals have a vision (goals and objectives) and a plan for objectively determining the degree to which their vision is being achieved. They focus on and measure the results of their actions and activities and use these measurements to make appropriate adjustments in their strategic plan.

5. See people as assets. Successful people tend to see the inherent good in others. Further, they recognize the fact that every individual may have his or her own unique set of interests and needs that should be respected and dealt with in an appropriate manner.

6. Position themselves in the market. One of the most important strategic decisions that service and activity-oriented organizations and individuals must make is how to position their product in the customer’s (i.e., client’s) mind. The positioning process involves three basic steps: selecting a target group of customers, designing a positioning strategy, and capturing that position by an effective marketing program.

7. Communicate in a skillful manner. The ability to communicate effectively is one of the most indispensable requirements for success. Skillful communication involves many dimensions (e.g., verbal, non-verbal, writing, and listening). All factors considered, the greater the degree to which individuals master each of these dimensions, the greater the likelihood of their being successful in their chosen endeavors.

8. Learn to handle change. As a rule, change is never easy, but change is inevitable in almost all aspects of life. People change. Priorities change. Expectations change. Attitudes change. Achievement-oriented people, however, have the vision, sense of self-responsibility, and courage to embrace change as an inevitable consequence of life and the ability to adapt to circumstances as they exist (as opposed to how they would like them to be).

9. See the big picture. Individuals who prosper not only are able to attend to the important details that enable an undertaking to operate smoothly, they also have the ability to think ‘‘big.’’ As such, they are conscious goal-setters who are able to achieve an appropriate balance between their short-term and long-range professional and personal aspirations.

10. Navigate the path to success. Becoming a successful person can involve a number of factors, some of which can be directly influenced by the person, while others can’t. One factor that can be controlled by individuals is to gain an understanding of relevant business principles, involving such areas as financial management, communication, marketing, and customer service, and to apply those principles to their professional efforts.

Choosing The Right Fitness Clothes For Lunch-hour Workouts

Many men and women still fall into the trap of thinking that it is the fitness workout program that matter the most while the fitness clothes have a secondary importance. In many ways, this is true as what you do to your body to maintain its health specifically exercise is more important than what you put on it. Still, we must consider that exercise being a strenuous activity, the right choice of clothes is important, too.

 General Tips:

 Since your lunch-hour workout is often performed in the middle of a busy working day, you want to get in and out of them as fast as possible just so you will not be late for any after-lunch appointments. We suggest looking for fitness wear that you can wear underneath your office suit, if possible.
 If this is not possible, you must look for fitness wear that can be put on and then peeled off the body with a minimum of fuss. Most sportswear have no zippers, buttons and other unwieldy fasteners for this purpose while women's fitness wear often have built-in pads for the chest portion to protect your modesty.
 Your fitness clothes must also adhere to the following criteria:
 It should be of the right size - neither too tight nor too loose. Too tight clothes mean restricted movements while too loose clothes can pose a danger especially on mechanical workout machines like the treadmill. It must be of good quality material that slows the body to breathe, to be flexible and to ward off sweat accumulation. We suggest buying high-quality fitness clothes for this purpose even if you have to spend a few more dollars for them.
 And of course, you must choose workout clothes based on the specific exercise activities you will be engaging in.

 Clothing Tips:

 Aside from the abovementioned general tips on choosing the right fitness clothes, you will also benefit from these tips on choosing the right tops and bottoms for the occasion. First, your clothes must be made from lighter materials than what the weather indicates. Keep in mind that you will be sweating as the exercise movements become strenuous and, in the process, you will be getting warmer. If you dressed up in thick clothing because the air temperature was cool, you will end up being too warm in your fitness clothes.
 Second, you will want to dress in light-colored clothes during the warm seasons and dark-colored clothes during the colder seasons. This is to reflect or absorb the sun's rays in a more efficient manner. And if your lunchtime workout involves exercising in, say, Central Park, do remember to use sunglasses and to slather on sunscreen.
 Third, you have to choose comfortable clothes that more or less hug the body. We are talking about shorts, leggings, tank tops, tee shirts and even jogging suits in your size. Although there are fitness clothes that say one-size-fits-all, you want just the right size for your body.
 Fourth, your footwear must be right for your feet, right for the activity and right for your fitness goals. For example, if you have a high arch, then look for footwear that supports your feet.

 Ultimately, your workout clothes must not only be a reflection of your personality but, more importantly, a reflection of your fitness goals. Go for function over form, we always say. 

The power of spin: Hula hoop your way to happiness

Beset by memories of poor childhood co-ordination and playground ignominy, I approached this year's latest fitness craze with a certain sense of gloom. But it is hard to stay gloomy when you're flinging a day-glo hoop around your waist and waggling your hips like Ricky Martin.

Hula hooping first rose to prominence in the Fifties as a cheap and faddy phenomenon that somehow took hold of an entire planet's imagination. From housewives hooping at Butlins to kids on the beach, even geishas in their kimonos, the hula hoop has proved its universality and its timelessness. Like the bicycle and the slanket, it feels like one of those inventions that has just always been around. It was immortalised in the 1994 Coen brothers' film, The Hudsucker Proxy, with the line: "The hula hoop! You know – for kids!"

Except it isn't anymore. Those Fifties housewives had the right idea: there's nothing like developing your core strength (that is, your abs and stomach muscles) for keeping you trim. And there's no better way to give them a rigorous going over than to stand and loop the loop with a hoop for half an hour. "The reason it's such a good tool for exercise is that core strength is key to your whole body," says Marawa Wamp, a circus-trained hooper whose help I have enlisted. She has performed across the globe with companies such as Le Clique and now runs classes geared specifically towards teaching hula as a means of fitness. She also has an app that will teach you how to get started, as well as a few simple exercises.

"You can work on your calf muscles and do lots of chin-ups and have strong arms, but if your core's not right then forget it," she says. "Then there's the theory that... it's breaking up fat cells every time it runs over you – so it's a two-in-one: tightening up the core and keeping that area nice and firm."

Wamp has been hooping for 10 years and has the fluid-but-strong posture of a ballet dancer. Her shoulders are straight, she stands tall and she exudes sinuous strength. I want to be like her, I decide. I will slay all those memories of having a hoop flutter to the ground past my skinny pre-teen knees and I will master the hula hoop.

My first move is to Google for tips, of course, and in doing so I discover a whole hooping community, not to mention oodles of testimonials from women who claim it has changed their lives. People hoop at home or in the park, some dressed as fairies (not something I'm willing to try) or simply in their pyjamas. One woman, Jen Moore, claims to have lost 143lbs – just over 10 stone – by using her hoop at home as she watched television; she's now a spindly spokeswoman for Hoopnotica, the company that helped her get fit. It all serves to confirm my exercise-starved and indolent sofa dream of becoming incredibly thin by not doing very much.

Hoopnotica is one of many companies that have sprung up to teach the ways of hula to those looking to make their fitness regime slightly more fun. With its instructional workout DVD comes an adult-sized hoop that breaks apart and reassembles for ease of storage. It is much bigger than I remember; I feel like a dwarfed Saturn standing in the centre of it. "Most people I talk to about hula hoops say 'oh, I used to be able to do it when I was a kid, but not any more'," Wamp says. "But of course you can! They haven't thought about the fact that when they were a child, they were probably half the height and a bit smaller – so you need a bigger hula hoop. You want one that comes up to your hip. For most people, they pick up one of these and pretty quickly they can do it." She pauses. "For some people it can take a little longer."

Before I meet with Wamp, I have a go with my hoop at home in front of the the Hoopnotica DVD, which is presented by several gazelle-like winding creatures who promise that hooping will not only give me great abs but will also boost my confidence, sex drive and feelings of positivity. Having silently scoffed at this, I realise after a few minutes of gyrating in the way they tell me that I do feel slightly more confident. That's just what pelvis-thrusting can do for you, I suppose.

After a few false starts, I manage to keep the hoop up for more than three spins. Then six, then 12, then suddenly it just keeps going. I try hooping to the left and to the right; the DVD teaches me how to turn round in the hoop and to keep it spinning and how to walk around the room with it still whirring away. I am not very good at the last one, but there's time. I am thrilled, confident and filled with a boost in my feelings of positivity.

Terribly excited, I explain to Wamp when we meet that I've been doing the video and following the instructions and that, yes, I am now a hooper too. I can hoop for most of Madonna's new album, I tell her, although I'm not sure I'll bother listening to it all the way through again. But still.

"It's very difficult to engage your core," she smiles, ready to appraise my technique. "I thought I was doing it for a couple of years, even when I was performing, before I realised I wasn't actually using those muscles at all."

Oh. I have been doing it wrong, it turns out. Lesson one of hula hoping: simply spinning the hoop on your waist is not good at all if you're rocking back and forth on your feet, even if you do it for days and weeks on end. You'll burn some calories, but you won't get those stomach muscles working. The technique that Wamp teaches me is rather different, standing with my feet parallel and shoulder-width apart, then flicking the hoop around my middle by pushing out with my stomach as it comes into contact with my belly button. It is much harder and I can't do it. After three revolutions (achieved only with the momentum of me hurling it around myself in the first place), it simply clatters down to the floor again. Oh well.

Hula hooping takes practice and patience, but once you've mastered it, it's a bit like riding a bike. It works best when you simply don't think about it at all, but just let your body get into a rhythm and rely on it to remember when to flick. I'm no pro, but the creaking of my abdomen the next morning is proof enough that just a few spins will awaken even the most neglected of cores.

After 26 years of searching and despairing, I think I've found my sport.

Jumpstart Your Commitment to Fitness by Investing In a Treadmill

Working out on treadmills is one of the ways to lose weight, tone your body and build your body muscles. Treadmills are amongst the most popular fitness equipment in the gym, and many fitness conscious individuals are investing in this machine for their home gyms. Working on this fitness equipment helps to burn up much more calories without too much joint and muscle strain. Treadmills come with a number of features and functions, which help to derive increased training benefits from the fitness equipment. It is important to know that the high-end treadmills with advanced features come at a high price. However, you can get a basic treadmill which will serve you well and help you reach your desired fitness goals.

Why do you need a treadmill in your home gym?

There are a number of reasons why you might decide to invest in a treadmill for your home gym. Whether it is to save on gym membership fees, workout in privacy at home or simply due to time constrains; having a treadmill at home is the right step to kick-start your commitment to fitness.

- Treadmills offer a high degree of safety and they are designed for indoor use. Compared to running or jogging which are known to cause a lot of strain on the muscles; this fitness equipment is a great alternative for individuals who require low-impact workouts. The fitness machine comes with hand bars, proving the much-needed support when working out. A number of these machines also come with cushioning for the feet, absorbing the shock generated by the impact of the revolving belt.

- Having a treadmill at home is also convenient, and this fitness equipment can also be used at the office. You can essentially fit this workout equipment into your schedule, as opposed to creating time to go to the gym. Having one of these machines at hand guarantees that you can work out throughout the year despite changing weather conditions, without having to compromise on your weight loss goals.

- A good cardio workout can be obtained from treadmills, within a few minutes of exercising on these fitness machines. It does not matter whether you work out fast or slow; your cardiovascular muscles get a great workout and this in turn helps to improve your blood circulation, and an enhanced heart rate goes towards improving your overall health. Working out on a treadmill also helps to improve your breathing rate.

- The fitness machine also helps you burn up much more calories than other ordinary work out equipment. Research has shown that working out for approximately one hour on a treadmill helps you shed off about 870 calories.

How to ensure that you get a comprehensive and effective workout on a treadmill

It is always great to begin any workout session with a warm up. One of the warm up exercises that you can try out is stretching. This ensures that your muscles are relaxed reducing the chances of muscle pulls and strain on your joints.

The Four Basic Gym Essentials For Your Home

First, you check on the space you could work on. You can get equipment that does not take a huge amount of space. Also, consider getting an apparatus that allows multiple functions. This would be great use of the space and would also be beneficial for your workout. Here are some of the best essential home gym equipment that can help you take the first step to healthy living.
Home Workout Essential Number 1: Dumbbells
Dumbbells have been one of the key tools for exercise. You can condition different muscles of the body with the use of dumbbells through the help of different exercise forms and positions. These tools also improve the intensity of your work out by gradually increasing the weights.
Ready-made dumbbells can be purchased depending on the weight you're looking for. This would be effective in workouts as the different sizes and great features, like better grip handles, would be available for you. The downside would be the space. You will need a rack to store the ready made dumbbells.
You can also opt for adjustable dumbbells. You can increase and decrease the amount of weight by removing a plate or adding another. This is better for storage compared to the purchase of multiple ready-made dumbbells. Also, if you need to increase your weights, you can simply buy additional plates to raise the level higher.
If you're planning on making a good investment and money is not an option, get yourself a Powerblock dumbbells. This doesn't take much space, plus it's more compact and more convenient compared with adjustable dumbbells. You simply adjust the pin to add or reduce weights. It also neatly stores in one area and doesn't roll around the floor like a usual dumbbell.
Home Workout Essential Number 2:Adjustable Bench
Do chest press, chest fly, crunches and triceps curls. You can do modified chest presses and focus on different fibers of your pectorals by adjusting the incline or decline of the bench. You can use the declined bench for crunches and sit-ups to condition your abs.It's also possible to find benches that double as a chair to help you during seated triceps curls. This is great as it provides good back support.
Having an adjustable bench allows you to do more exercises compared to just dumbbells alone. Getting a bench is almost second impulse when buying a set of dumbbells. The more versatile your bench is, the more exercises you would be able to do.
Home Workout Essential Number 3:Olympic Barbell Set
You already have an adjustable bench, why not elevate your strength training further? This would allow you to work out like a pro.
You can get Olympic Barbell Sets available in any local sporting goods store at reasonable prices. Make sure you get one with a good, firm and sturdy rod that doesn't easily bend when carrying heavy loads. it's possible to get a good set with good grips and good handles.
Getting it from your local store would be better than buying it online. You'll probably be paying more for shipping as vendors will charge you by the pound.
Home Workout Essential Number 4: Power Rack
You already had this coming. Getting a power rack would be great for you as it helps you to full-body exercises from pull-up, chin-ups, abdominal workout, lift weights and do barbell squats.
The power rack has built in set bars that allow you to lift good amount of weights without the need for a spotter. You can incorporate your Olympic barbell set to the power cage to do this. You can do bicep curls and barbell squats. Use your adjustable bench to do chest presses. Be it inclined, vertical or declined, you can absolutely do a lot safely with the power cage.
Power racks not only add more dimensions to your weight training, they also allow you to do more exercises by incorporating the three other essential equipment previously mentioned. A power rack should have dip bars and pull up bars. Do abdominal crunches like Batman! The possibilities are endless.
With these key gym equipment to start your home gym, you can definitely do any workout routine regardless of any strength level. Invest on other equipment that does more to your work out. Find equipment that would simulate your flexibility or your balance. Part of balance training requires a medicine ball, which really isn't expensive. You can replace the bench with a medicine ball when doing your chest presses with dumbbells, modified push-ups or triceps curls. You'll find medicine balls in different sizes. Special features like burst-resistant would be great for your safety.
Take note that these equipment aren't worth it, unless you put them to good use. You may have the fancy equipment but lack the motivation to work hard. Then the results will not come. Make sure you also check with your trainer, check with your physician and get a balanced diet. The key to healthy living is being dedicated to it and doing it right. Gym equipment can really do so much. One of the best things to have is a healthy, working body.

Center designed for fitness enthusiasts with disabilities

At age 14, Nick Springer was hiking the Appalachian Trail when he came down with a bout of meningitis that left him a quadruple amputee. But that hasn't deterred him from participating in sports.

Now a world-class athlete, the Phoenix resident is a member of the U.S. National Wheelchair Rugby Team, which will compete in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. The games run Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, soon after the Olympics and in the same venue.

The rugby team won the gold medal in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.

"Getting into disabled sports is one of the big things that pulled me through," Springer said. "It helps with quality of life."

He is a regular at the Virginia G. Piper Sports & Fitness Center for Persons with Disabilities at 5031 E. Washington St. in Phoenix, which opened last fall. The center, a program of the non-profit Arizona Bridge to Independent Living, covers 45,000 square feet and is the first of its kind in the western United States.

It has a basketball court, indoor track, 50 pieces of fitness/training equipment and a 40-foot rock-climbing wall donated by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.

The center also has a therapy pool, lap pool and whirlpool with elevators, chair lifts and ramps.

"Quite a bit of effort went into making sure every piece of adaptive equipment was built in," spokesman Loren Worthington said.

On the basketball court, the hoops can be raised or lowered for those in wheelchairs.

Overlooking the basketball court is a one-tenth-mile walking track with a low-impact surface to make walking easier for people with joint or bone ailments, and the track surface promotes friction, helpful in allowing leg prostheses to get a good grip.

Overlooking the court is a clear railing so people can sit in wheelchairs and watch the action. The railing is equipped with electrical outlets to accommodate people on ventilators.

Other programs at the center include yoga, nutrition education, adaptive rowing and power soccer.

Springer said participating in athletics gives him a goal, a benefit for a lot of people.

"Kids with new injuries ... want to strive and do better at sports. It helps with rehabilitation, gives them a better attitude and makes for a stronger body," he said.

Another advantage of the center, he said, is getting out and meeting others in wheelchairs.

Wii Zumba Review - Can You Lose Weight at Home With a Video Game?

If you are looking for a way to lose weight or shape up you be considering buying the new Wii Zumba Fitness game. It seems like workout video games are becoming all the rage and now the Zumba franchise is cashing in on this market as well.
There are some definitely pros and cons when it comes to this workout game. It's always a good idea to read over reviews closely before you spend your money on a fitness product.
Wii Zumba Review
One of the best things about the Zumba game is that you can do it from the privacy of your own home. You don't have to head to the gym to take a class and you don't have to worry about being embarrassed about dancing and working out in front of other people. In fact you can start off with this game and then once you master some of the moves then head out to your local gym to get in a class.
This more you practice the moves in this game the more things you are able to unlock, such as different background scenes, more routines, and different music. The game features over 30 different Zumba routines and teaches several different styles of dance from salsa to hip hop. They all have that Latin twist to them just like the real Zumba workouts do.
There are some workouts that you do and you actually dread doing them. This video game workout is definitely not one of those. In fact, you may not even feel like you are working out when you follow along with the Wii Zumba game. It definitely motivates you to work out more and with all the sweating you will do, you are bound to lose some inches off your body.
One of the cons of this video game is that once you master all of the routines you may grow tired of the video game. Now, this may take you awhile to do, but if work out with the game 5 times a week eventually you will go through all the routines. This is why I recommend that you get this video game and add it into your workout routine and not simply make it your whole routine. For example you could do the Zumba game twice a week on Monday and Fridays and then another game or workout DVD on Wednesday s and Saturdays.
If you have never tried Zumba before there will be a learning curve that you have to get over, but the video does a pretty good job at targeting different exercise levels from beginner to more advanced. It will take some time though to learn all the moves and you may become frustrated at first. If you don't like to learn new things or you don't like to dance, then this video game workout may not be for you.
The Wii Zumba Fitness game does a good job at bringing your typical class home to your own television. If you are looking to lose weight or shape up with this game, then that all depends on how much effort you put into your workouts.

Tips Concerning Six Pack Abs For You

Every man wants six pack abs and that sleek look that women all go crazy for. Chiseled and ripped abdominal muscles are the predominant sign of a physically fit male. You must eat and train the right way if you want these abs. Read on to find out tips on how to get six pack abs.
You must be eating both an appropriate balanced diet as well as taking the appropriate supplements and other things that you need in order to train the right way. Maybe its certain fitness foods that the program you are following recommends, or perhaps its something your personal trainer has told you to implement. Whatever the case may be, you must be eating a balanced diet that includes all of the fitness foods and supplements that you need.
In order to train your abdominal muscles, you need to incorporate dead lifts and barbell squats. These are great muscles that really work out your abs in a methodical manner. You can really feel the burn as you continue reps. Make sure you do not do too many reps. Follow a specific program that will guide you as to what to do.
Did you think you were going to get away from doing crunches to train your abs the right way? Wrong! Make sure you do crunches, hanging leg raises, and reverse crunches at least 3 to 4 days each week. While the crunches are important, maintain specific focus on the hanging leg raises because they tighten up your stomach immensely. They are a great exercise for lower abdominal muscles as well.
You must pay attention to form when you are doing abdominal exercises. It is important for two major reasons. First, an improper form can cause injury to your body in different ways. You want to make sure you keep the right form in order to protect yourself from injury. Secondly, improper form will reduce effectiveness of the exercise that you are doing in order to chisel your abdominal muscles.
You must also make sure you do exercises that are going to train your obliques. Oblique crunches and side bends are good exercises for this. Oblique crunches are much easier to perform, but many people find them more tedious than side bends. The side bends are a great exercise, but you have to be careful. Moving too fast can injure your back, so you must always use proper form and technique.
In order to make sure you are diversifying your workout regimen and burning fat properly, you are going to need to have at least two days per week where you engage in cardiovascular exercise. Cardiovascular exercise is very important in keeping your body balanced and healthy.
Everyone can build muscle and get six pack abs if they dedicate themselves to training properly in every way. Follow the tips and advice from the article you have just read, and you will be on your way to having six pack abs in no time.

Bench Press Equipment: What Are Your Options?

Almost all bodybuilders and weight lifters have the bench press as a part of their routine. The bench press is what's often used to measure one's upper body strength. Not only will it increase the strength of your chest, triceps, and shoulders, but will also build your reputation.

The bench press can be done in several ways, and each one is used for different reasons. If exercising from home is your preference, then buying bench press equipment is something to consider.

Standard or Flat Bench

The flat bench is a staple of any commercial or home gym. An ideal flat bench would have supports for the bar as well. Most of these benches do have several racking heights to accommodate taller and shorter individuals. Some spotter arms come with the ability to adjust them vertically. You also have the option to buy a basic flat bench with no spotter arms. Instead of lifting a barbell, you would lift dumbbells. I actually prefer the latter because each side gets worked equally.

Incline Bench Tool

An incline bench press is recommended if you want to focus on the middle and upper part of the chest. Anyone who wants a thick, bulky chest should do the incline variation. The change in position allows you to work the upper pectoralis muscle and anterior deltoids more effectively than the flat bench press does. Because it's so effective and involves a more natural motion, this is a favorite among many bodybuilders.

Multi-Exercise Bench

This kind of bench press equipment offers multiple exercises with attachments generally for leg exercises, and a preacher curl pad. Multi benches are rarely found in gyms and are sold primarily as home equipment. For those who want to do more than one exercise and have limited space, this is an option to consider.

Weights and Bar

There are a lot of options in choosing bars and weights compare to other equipment. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes from Olympic bar, Olympic bench, and barbell.

Bench press equipment is available in many different variations. If you have come up with a decision to buy a complete set of equipment, think of how much you are willing to spend first. Consider all the options.

The most inexpensive and flexible option is to purchase a flat bench with the ability to incline, while using dumbbells instead of a barbell. It allows you to work more muscles and do many more exercises. It all boils down to what you prefer and can afford.