Be All That You Can Be

So, whether you’ve just started running, or you’re an experienced marathon runner, we all run into the same plateau. There is that point where we all realize that there is what we are, and what we want to be, and the realization goes beyond that when we finally figure out that we may not get to where we want to be.

Of course, that happens with most things in life. No matter how hard we work, we may not be able to quite hit that lofty goal we set for ourselves. Now, before that sounds negative – it’s not. The reality is – you are what you are, and you can either spend your life frustrated by what you aren’t, or be grateful for what you are.

When it comes to your exercise program, we all start out with pretty lofty goals. Maybe it's to fit into the clothes we wore in high school or college. Maybe it's to win a marathon. Maybe it's to be the next winner of the Ironman Triathlon! And, it's important to set these high goals - it's a way to get ourselves started.

When you start exercising, you may get overwhelmed initially with your progress. Of course, if you’ve spent 25 years in an unhealthy lifestyle, every positive change in diet and exercise is progress! Yet, as the months go on, your progress seems to flatten out. Where once you could extend your distance by 50% in a month, now it seems like no matter how hard you try, you can’t go any farther!

What’s important is that you set a goal and go after it. And, realize that at any point, you can re-evaluate and change your goals! Rather than constantly battling yourself against unrealistic expectations, you can look at each run, each bike ride, or each gym workout, as “good” or “bad”. You can choose to look at your exercise activities as a way that you enhance your life! You are fortunate because you choose to live a healthy lifestyle. You are fortunate because you have more energy when you play with your kids. You are fortunate because you look and feel younger.

In the end, your biggest competitor is yourself. And your definition of what your best is, is always subject to your own reevaluation! Your goal shouldn’t be to be the next winner of the Ironman Triathlon (although, if you are the next winner – good for you!). Your goal should be to always be the best you can be!

Exercise – How To Avoid Boredom When Running

We’ve all had that problem when running, whether on a treadmill, or outside on our familiar running route. Boredom. And, if it happens often enough, that boredom can translate into an acute lack of motivation for our exercise program! But, how can you avoid getting bored?

Belgian researchers have discovered that if you can keep yourself distracted while running, you’ll exercise for up to 20 percent longer! New treadmill designs coming out take this into account, offering video screens and iPod connections. So – if you’re looking to buy a new treadmill for your home, visit Fitness 4 Home Superstore, and take a look at some of the newest equipment designs that can help you stay distracted – and motivated!

But, for those of you that aren’t ready yet to buy a new treadmill, there are a few tricks you can do to help stay motivated.

1. Buy an iPod, or other type of mp3 player – and load it with content that will help keep you distracted. And, it doesn’t have to be music – also consider audio books from Audible.com, or learn a new language with language tapes.
   
   
2. Get a flat screen TV and put it up in front of your treadmill. Watch your favorite show, or hook a DVD player up to it, and put in travel videos – and imagine running a different route through a foreign country!
   
   
3. Speaking of running a different route – do that! It’s easy to get into a routine, so break up that routine! Get up early on a Saturday morning, drive across town, and run a route you’ve never run before!

In the end, just by refocusing your mind on something different, you can not only keep yourself motivated, but you’ll go longer & farther – which will help you get that much closer to achieving your fitness goals!

Healthy Lifestyle - Running Can Make Your Bones Stronger

by Bob Lachniet
President - Fitness 4 Home Superstore

A weekly run around the park may not put an individual into the same league as Michael Johnson or other Olympic runners, but it may help keep bones healthy, study findings suggest.

In a recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 4,454 Black, Mexican-American and white males show that people who run on a regular basis have fewer chronic health problems, weigh less, are usually non-smokers – and, have stronger bones as well!

"This finding may have public health significance, since thigh bone mineral density is a strong predictor of hip fracture, which is the most devastating consequence of osteoporosis from a public health standpoint,'' according to Michael E. Mussolino, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and his colleagues.

In addition, average bone mineral density in the thigh was 5% higher in joggers than in non-joggers. And bone density was almost 8% higher among joggers, compared with men who shunned exercise altogether.

And, it doesn’t take a lot for this to happen. Those that reported jogging 20 or more times per month had similar bone density amounts as those who jogged less than 20 times per month. (Although the study looked only at men, Mussolino told Reuters Health that previous research has suggested the same holds true in women) So, getting on your treadmill, or hitting the road nine or more times a month helps you strengthen your bones.


Note - Information for this article can also be found within the American Journal of Public Health 2001;91:1056-1059.

Exercise – The Benefits of Cardio Workouts

Cardio workouts are an important, if not indispensable piece, of any effective exercise regime. High-intensity cardio training is a wonderful way to speed up your metabolism – as your metabolism stays revved up for some time after your workout. Cardio workouts can be just about any exercise, such as jogging, running, swimming, biking, elliptical machines, even jumping rope. Your goal is to raise and maintain your heart rate for a set amount of time.

Cardio workouts help strengthen your heart and lungs, and they also help lower your resting heart rate, which means over time, the same effort that would have produced a 10 minute-mile, now might result in a 9 minute-mile.

By doing cardio workouts, you burn fat. But, just as important, you strengthen your heart. As you work out, your muscles require more blood to remove waste byproducts as well as carbon dioxide, as well as additional oxygen for fuel. Sustained cardio workouts over time train your heart, like any other muscle, to produce the same effect with less effort.

Other benefits of cardio are an increased metabolic rate (which leads to your body burning excess fat that much better), and increased growth hormone secretion (which helps fuel additional muscle growth which helps speed up your metabolism). And, you also will feel more alert (since cardio workouts increase blood flow to the brain). Not to mention that you’ll reduce stress!

Finally – a consistent cardio training program helps you build endurance – which helps you persist in not just sports, but in life as well!

Exercise - How To Guage If Your Workouts Are Making Progress

Sure, maybe you've been working out for a little while. But, how can you be sure you're making any progress? What are the signs that you're doing things "the right way"?

If you asses your progress exclusivly on the basis of lost pounds, or on inches, you might be missing out on other important signals that could be fueling your motivation. Here are a couple other measures to consider:

Pace - As your fitness improves, you should find that the time it takes to run a mile, either on the road, or on the treadmill, will gradually decrease, And, you should also find that you can maintain speeds that used to be a challenge, with less effort and heart rate than before.

Heart Rate Recovery - Remember your first workout? Remember that feeling that your heart was going to keep beating fast - forever? Well, as your workouts improve, you should find that your heart rate will now drop or return to normal much quicker than before. A good post workout heart rate recovery of 25 to 30 beats in one minute is considered good, and 50 to 60 beats per minute is excellent.

Strength and Endurance - If you can run three miles now, where before you could only run two, or lift a weight more easily than before, it's a sure sign your becoming fit.

Getting fit is more than just loosing weight, or loosing inches. It's about improving your endurance, your stamina, your strength. As you replace fat with muscle, your weight may not drop, but as muscle takes up less space than fat, you'll feel slimmer, toned, and stronger - and those are the measurements that truly help keep you motivated!

Exercise - Ignite Your Metabolism!

The harder you work out, and the closer you come to achieving the leanness you're looking for...the harder it seems to be to loose the last bit of fat you're looking to burn off. As frustrating as it is to try to loose weight, keep in mind that this is your body's way of self-preservation - your body is designed to protect your fuel reserves from running too low, just in case food becomes scarce. This was a nice biological feature in the past, but here in the 21st century, this "feature" is hardly necessary! How do you get around this problem? By igniting your metabolism! Here's some ways to make that happen!

1. Skip the long runs. Distance running doesn't enhance your fat-burning. It's much more effective to do short sprints of thirty seconds, interspersed with a slow jog.

2. As time goes on, the same amound of activity burns fewer calories - your body adapts to your level of work, causing you to keep "upping" the workout to achieve the results you were having before. For example, University of California at Berkley scientists found that to avoid age-related weight gain, runners needed to "up" their weekly mileage by 1.7 miles each year. So, think beyond your last workout - and think about what you can do on your next!

3 When weight training, do eight to 15 repititions of each set. This stimulates an increase in fat-burning hormones, compared to less or more rep's. Just make sure you use weights that challenge you. If you do eight repititions with a weight you could do 15 rep's with - you're not having an effective workout. Try to give 90 to 100 persent of your full effort for any given repitition range. If you struggle on your last repitition - you're in the zone!

4. Do two to four sets of each exercise. Yes, the more you do, the better...but only up to a point. Beyond 4 sets, you might be increasing your strength, but for fat burning, the extra sets above 4 don't really help! So, start with two sets as you start working out, and work up to four as your conditioning improves.

5. Keep your rest periods between sets no more than 75 seconds. Keeping your rest periods shorter builds lactate in your blodstream - and high lactate levels are associated with an increase in the release of fat-burning hormones. Resting too long lets your body process out the lactate in your bloodstream, negating the positive benefits.

6. Lift slow, not fast - and alternate between two exercises. Taking your time puts the stress on your muscles (which burn fuel) and off your tendons (which not only don't burn fat, but also can become injured from that stress). And, follow with a set that works a different muscle group. Not only does this help you limit your rest periods (keeping your lactate levels high), but also helps you offset fatigue!

7. Work your whole body. Work multiple muscles, rather than isolate specific muscle groups. And, the bigger / more muscles you work, the greater the benefit. For example - doing squats will elevate your metabolism far better than working your biceps - and working all your muscle groups in a workouut means more muscles burning fuel. And, as your muscles keep burning fuel even after a workout - up to 39 hours afterword! Plus, a University of Wisconsin study found that doing a full-body workout with just three big-muscle exercises (bench press, power clean, and squat) - you'll burn a greater percentage of calories from fat compared with only targeting a couple of small muscle groups.

Fitness - My Aching Lungs

If you've just started a running program, either out on the open road, in the gym, or at home on your treadmill, have you had a tight feeling in your chest? Sometimes, after a hard workout , your chest might feel sore, and there is a simple reason for this pain that is more than likely nothing to worry about.

What you're probably feeling is the result of oxygen dept. Your body, during your workout, isn't getting enough oxygen, which causes the muscles surrounding your lungs (especially your diaphram), to become flush with lactic acid.

Every time you exercise, your body produces lactic acid. Lactic acid is the waste product your muscles produce during a workout. Normally, much of the lactic acid is removed rapidly when the exercise session is done, usually with in 20-30 minutes, with your muscles and liver metabolizing it either as lactic acid or lactate.

Your lungs and diaphram work closely together. Your diaphram separates your chest from your abdominal region, and expands your lungs so that they fill with air. If you're not used to aerobic exercise, just like any other exercise, your diaphram might be out of shape for this type of exertion. And, like the rest of the muscles in your body - this muscle can be trained too!

How do you train your diaphram? Simple. Keep exercising! Just like any other exercise program - start slow, and build up to longer and harder workouts. Keep exercising to develop your aerobic conditioning - and the "burn" should dissapear. And, at any time you feel that you might be feeling something more than just "burning muscles" - seek medical care to make sure everthing is OK.