Archive for March, 2009

When you need to give your metabolism a much needed boost to burn off those extra calories, try out one of these five trusted methods of turning the heat up on your calorie burning power.

1. Exercise More

   According to Gary Miller, Ph.D., an associate professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University, exercising more often can help to spike your metabolism. “It’s not a huge spike, but it makes a difference,” he says in an interview with Cooking Light magazine. To maximize your weight loss potential, try exercising before eating.

2. Work Out with Weights

   During weight training, muscle tissue is stressed then repaired, causing a bodily reaction that boosts metabolism. To maximize your fitness levels, try using Strength Training Workouts coupled with weight lifting.

3. Practice Portion Control

   Eating large amounts of food overloads your metabolism with a surplus of unusable energy. Use a food scale or measuring cups to identify the right size of your favorite foods.

4. Eat Smaller Meals Often

   Some experts recommend eating smaller meals throughout the day, known as grazing. “Grazing helps normalize blood sugar levels rather than producing three large spikes, which is what happens eating three meals a day,” says Nick Flynn, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry at Angelo State University.

5. Laugh!

   When researchers from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, put people into a “metabolic chamber” (a small room that measures heat output in order to calculate a person’s metabolic rate) and showed them funny videos, the subjects’ metabolic rates rose by 10 to 40 calories.

According to a recent story in the Voice of America News, the rising cost of healthcare has prompted a move towards preventative medicine by most physicians and health care professionals in the United States. As reported in the story, Brookings Instituion reported that healthcare in the US will account for 20 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product within a decade. The National Coalition on Health Care, a group pushing to lower costs for patients, also states that American medical expenses rose nearly seven percent in 2008. With numbers like these, it may come as no surprise that various workplaces are trimming and cutting healthcare coverage for employees. The result: to trim costs and encourage fewer health problems corporations and practitioners are working together to establish healthier lifestyles through preventative medicine approaches.

At the College Park Family Practice, employees of a major U.S. hotel corporation can receive a range of medical services for free, including help to quit smoking.

For Harris Rosen, President of Rosen Hotels and Resorts, preventing his staff from becoming sick improves productivity and reduces the future cost of employee medical benefits. Rosen said, “We’ve probably saved well over $ 100 million. On an annual basis, I expect we save between 10 and 15 million dollars.”

Several other companies, including Walt Disney World, Darden Restaurants, and Lockheed Martin, have opened clinics for their employees. But although corporations and doctors stress the need for preventive care, the number of U.S. physicians practicing in the field has dropped, according to the American College of Preventive Medicine.

If your company is interested in setting up clinic services for employees in order to reduce the costs of expensive medical treatment, remember that PhysiciansResource.net has the

Lift three times a week.
Two will offer some benefits, and one is better than nothing but isn’t going to do much good. By contrast, more than three is not likely to give you enough time to recover in between workouts, which is when the strengthening of your muscles is happening. (Government recommendations for heart health include 30 minutes of the equivalent of brisk walking most days, so you might want to add a few days of that to this routine—it’s not going to interfere with recovery from the weights.)

Focus your attention on the body as a whole.

Alwyn Cosgrove, a coach, gym owner, and writer says machines that isolate the calf, biceps, and tricepts aren’t going to do much good. “Muscles are like a web and work as a system,” he says. “They’re designed to work together.” Doing exercises like presses, rows, and pulldowns lets those little muscles work the way they’re supposed to: in concert with the bigger ones. In addition, make sure you’re taking care of your body as a whole by stretching, maintaining a proper diet, getting enough sleep, and keeping hydrated.

Use a weights and intervals program.

Cosgrove says a weightlifting program coupled with intervals—alternating high-intensity bursts of riding a stationary bike or running with a recovery period—is preferable to plodding along at the same slow pace. “When it comes to fat loss and enhancing the way you look, time is the limiting factor,” he says. Change up your routine to the get best results possible. Alternate using a Dip Machine with jogging, or focus on various muscle groups in exercises in different speeds and intensities.

When it comes to keeping in shape, most people tend to look towards the gym to find fulfillment, however, by using some smart budgeting and some savvy shopping skills, you can be sure to create a home gym in your basement or work out area that can virtually pay for itself in just a few years. Don’t blow your hard earned cash on a gym membership when you can incorporate these four elements into your home workout plan:

Take a Dip

Investing in a Dip Machine can be one of the smartest decisions you make as you train. Get yours from UltimateBodyPress.com to deliver unmatchable strength training workouts for all of your muscle groups.

Tune In

Using workout videos can be a great way to start getting in shape in your home. Public libraries, video stores and secondhand book stores have a broad selection of workout videos in different genres for you to try while working out, or you can always take a look on your local television schedule and see if there are any trainers broadcasting during your workout times.

Get Climbing…

…your stairs that is. Staircases can be a great way for you to get in a workout without leaving home. Just be sure that you’re using safe, effective exercises when using this alternative piece of equipment.

Fitness Essentials

If you’re the kind of exerciser who wants an all around work out, be sure to stock up on jump ropes, dumbbells, stepping platforms, and yoga mats to get all of your muscle groups working as you perform various exercises as part of your regimen.

According to a recent news release, newly issued guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) state that Americans may require more to lose weight and keep it off.

“In the midst of a genuine crisis in Americans’ health related to what we eat and how little we move, these guidelines are meant to provide an understanding and clarification of the role of physical activity and its relationship to weight,” Dr. Joseph E. Donnelly of the University of Kansas in Lawrence and chair of the advisory committee noted in a statement about the research findings.

In 2001, the ACSM stated that Americans should exercise for a minimum time of 150 minutes each week, which amounts to about 30 minutes per day, five days per week. However, 200 to 300 minutes per week was recommended for long-term weight loss.

“Resistance training does not enhance weight loss but may increase fat-free mass and increase loss of fat mass and is associated with reductions in health risk,” said the ACSM.

“More recent evidence has supported this recommendation and has indicated that more physical activity may be necessary to prevent weight regain after weight loss,” reads the ACSM’s position paper published in the latest issue of the College’s journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

To start getting on the road to a healthier fitness plan, start making time for Strength Training Workouts and other forms of aerobic exercise in your life. The benefits will be overwhelming!

In the quest for physical well being, it is imperative that we get the right amount of exercise. Furthermore, we should also consider the quality of that exercise. The more muscle groups we work, the better of we’ll be, and that’s where the Ultimate Body Press comes in. If you’re looking for a well-rounded workout, you needn’t do so any longer.

While the Ultimate Body Press is a simple-looking piece of equipment, the benefits it offers are massive. With each exercise, you’ll work multiple muscle groups, greatly facilitating your daily workout. Ideally, we want to get the exercise we need in the shortest amount of time, and with the Ultimate Body Press, this dream can come true. Workouts can last as little as ten minutes, but they will give you a metabolic boost that lasts for hours.

With its unparalleled efficiency, the Ultimate Body Press is a force to be reckoned with in the world of fitness. So, if you’re ready to give your body the workout it deserves, be sure to order one today!

Exercise is a critical part of a healthy lifestyle, but health clubs and gyms are also home to a bulked-up trove of myths, reports ABC News in a recent feature. According to ABC, fitness experts around the nation are working harder every day to correct the misinformation found in the fitness industry, especially the information passed along in gyms and fitness centers. Here are two popular fitness myths that have been put to the test:

Myth: Crunches will flatten your stomach.

The Answer: Crunches alone won’t flatten your stomach, because there are no exercises to reduce fat in specific areas of your body. “Basically, you can’t spot reduce — your body decides where to store fat and a lot of that is based on your genetics,” said Gerald Endress, fitness manager for the Duke Diet & Fitness Center. The best way to get a flat stomach is to burn calories to reduce fat in your body overall. Endress said that an exercise routine to flatten the stomach might vary by person. “You basically want to pick an activity you can stay with consistently during the week.” He said he often recommends strengthening the area through Pilates, yoga and muscle training that focuses on the torso. Working with the Ultimate Body Press can be a great way to tone and tighten and build up your muscles.