Fitness info

How to Achieve Lifelong Fitness Success in Your Home or Office

How to Achieve Lifelong Fitness Success in Your Home or Office

by: Joey Atlas

Every week countless numbers of people rededicate themselves to starting a new diet and exercise program, only to find that they have fallen off their program by the end of the following week. This scenario plays out all too often especially for people who are attempting to keep their fitness program based at home or the office.

The problem here is not where the program is being attempted, but the fact that there actually is no program to follow. No matter what the endeavor, when one sets out to accomplish something without a well thought out plan or a ?roadmap?, the chances for success are slim to none. Health and fitness programs are a prime example of this.

Without a fitness plan, there is no guidance, accountability or direction. Therefore most actions are random and unfocused. This creates an element of uncertainty where one is guessing at what they should be doing. Self doubt is present as the individual isn?t even sure that what they are doing is right for them.

Additionally, unrealistic expectations run high in most people who embark on a newfound fitness lifestyle. Changes are expected to occur too fast. When results don?t come quick enough discouragement sets in and motivation starts to diminish. The stage is set for another failed fitness program.

Knowing the key components to a home or office fitness program is the first step in defining the necessary elements for achieving lifelong health and fitness success.

The following tips can help you refine your approach to executing your home fitness program by helping you create a mental and physical environment that is conducive to permanent success.

1) If your program happens to be the focus of this year?s resolution, rename your New Year?s resolution your New Life resolution and think of what you are doing as something you will do forever, not for a month or two. Focus on long term benefits, not short term changes.

2) Tell others about it. You will hold yourself more accountable for following through and staying true to yourself. Others will be more likely to support or even join you in your new quest for a better quality of life.

3) Realize that exercise is one of the most unselfish acts. What better gift can you give your loved ones than you being alive and healthy for the rest of your life? Not taking care of your self is actually the selfish act.

4) Incorporate nutritional habits that will work for you, not against you. Constantly ask yourself, ?Is what I?m about to eat or drink conducive to the goals I am committed to achieving?? Remember, a fad diet is just that. The one method that works more than all others combined is, take in less calories than you burn.

5) Realize you do not need to spend two hours in the gym every day to get into great shape. There is a lot you can do at home or at the office in 30 minutes. There are many exercise DVDs and small, economical and portable pieces of fitness equipment to provide you with endless workout programs. Gather the tools that suit you best before you start your new program. If you are still unsure, hire a personal trainer to consult with you on starting a home fitness program.

Living healthy and fit is, first, a psychological exercise as you have to think about what you need to adjust in your life and daily habits before you can actually take the actions that will result in the changes you desire.

Spend time on your adjusting mindset by asking yourself what things are most important to you in life and how health and fitness are related to the things that matter most to you. Then take the actions which are in line with your values and goals.

About The Author

Joey Atlas, MS ? Exercise Physiology, has been helping people break through psychological and physical barriers to achieve superior levels of health and fitness since 1988. He is the creator of The Butt, Hip and Thigh Makeover DVDs and a contributing writer for OnFitness Magazine and ClubLife Magazine. Claim your free instructions at http://www.ButtHipAndThighMakeover.com.

Contact Joey via Joey@JoeyAtlas.com

Health And Fitness Software, What Should Be In It? Part 1

Health And Fitness Software, What Should Be In It? Part 1

by: Erik Pijcke

Let?s keep the answer simple; everything that is related to your health.

The most important indicators for your state of health can be measured though your vital signs, like blood pressure, cholesterol level, heart beat, body mass index etcetera. The major input that influence these health indicators are what and how much you eat and drink, smoke, medication use, life style, daily activity and air quality.

Beside our genetic disposition, we are what we eat, drink and breathe.

A good health and fitness software program should be able to capture the above mentioned input and correlate the results with the output, or health indicators. This way you create a cause and effect system that the user can analyze and consequently take corrective measures and improve his or her overall health.

The bigger picture teaches us that an effective health and fitness software program contains modules that can monitor our food intake, record our body measurements and vital signs. Furthermore it should track our daily activities and convert them into calories burned. Also it should keep track of our medicine and supplement intake and monitor our overall health level. For the sport and bodybuilders we need additional modules that can keep track of our workout activities, sport results and fitness tests

Let?s start with food intake.

Most of the time we eat together with our family therefore a health and fitness software program should never be restricted to one user.

People tend to repeat the recipes they cook and meals they prepare on a regular interval. For most people this interval is between 20 and 30 days. Furthermore people tend to buy more or less the same ingredients for their meals. For this reason a fitness or diet program boosting databases with thousands of food items will be more of a hindrance than a benefit. The reason that I say this is because it will be very time consuming to pick an ingredient for a recipe or meal plan from a list of thousands of ingredients.

Look for a program that has the basic ingredients to build your recipes and allows you to add food items that are specific to your taste.

A food?s nutrition facts change depending on how it is conserved, processed or cooked. For example a cup of canned spinach that is cooked will have totally different nutrition facts than a cup of fresh spinach. Look for a program that can make a distinction between these food properties.

The cost of buying special diet foods can be a lot more (up to 2.5 times) than what the average American spends on food. It is a plus if a health and fitness software program can keep track of the food cost by recipe, meal and day. It is really a bonus if the program can compare grocery prices between shops and help you budget.

A recipe module is imperative to a good health and fitness system. This is the place where you can experiment and adjust your recipes to your diet?s nutritional fact limits. The recipe should calculate its nutritional facts per portion depending on the weight ratio of each ingredient that has been added to the recipe. Naturally you should be able to print the recipe and see the total recipe cost and the cost per portion. Having the ability of adding recipe pictures is a plus.

You should also have the ability to create multiple meal plans in the system. Maybe you would like a separate plan for the kids or baby. Or for a partner that has a cholesterol problem, high blood pressure or diabetes. Or you simply want to change diets. These meal plans should repeat over a certain amount of days. The timing of the meals should be more then just breakfast, lunch and dinner. Many diets ask for many small recipe portions during the day. The food items that you select on the meal plan should come from the ingredients as well as from the recipes. For instance you can add a raw apple to your meal plan, which is an ingredient to make an apple sauce recipe. The apple sauce recipe or the raw apple can each be added to the meal plan

As you would expect, the software program should be able to calculate the meal plan cost and nutrition facts by day and for the whole meal plan.

How are you going to keep track of what you actually ate on a particular day and how do you know how to stick exactly to your plan? You do this by printing a meal plan worksheet for a particular day and you note the actual differences from the plan.

We don?t have much time in today?s busy society; therefore you should be able to register the actual daily food consumption in less then 30 seconds. A system that forces you every day for every meal to select your food items from a list of thousands records is not going to make it in 30 seconds. Only select a system that automatically populates your meal plan for that day and you only update the actual differences from the plan.

Just adding your daily food intake to a database is not going to benefit you. It will create a ?data cemetery?, data that is never examined. The food data needs to be analyzed and correlated to other types of data like your body measurements or calories burned. Click on the calorie analysis hyperlink to view an example. The chart makes it very quickly clear that the calorie intake line is under the calories spent line and consequently you will lose weight.

Next article I will talk about activity calorie counting and the factors involved?

About The Author

© Erik Pijcke is founder and CEO of Pycke Inc. He is the architect and developer of Hythial Pro, an all-inclusive personal health and fitness software program. Part of this software program contains a comprehensive calorie counter module. You can download this program at http://www.hythial.com.

Hythial Pro - Health Diet Fitness Software + Free Online Recipe and Food Calorie Counter

Fitness Plan Secrets

Fitness Plan Secrets

by: Tony Farrell

In order to get the benefit of this Fitness Plan

Secrets training article, unless you have done so

already, it's important that you first read the

previous article where I explained about creating a

clear goal using these Fitness Goal Secrets here:

http://www.how-to-build-muscle-and-fitness.com/fitness-goal-secrets.html

Fitness Plan Secrets:

To follow on from this, you must reverse your

goals. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not

suggesting you do something drastic here.

What I am saying is that in order to achieve your

new clear goal(s), you must first look at the end

result and then backward plan it. We are going to

uncover these Fitness plan secrets.

Sound confusing?

Let me show you what I mean --

You have a Clear Goal. Not a vague one, but a

clear and definite one. So how do you go about

achieving it?

Backward Plan It!

In other words, always start with the end in mind.

This is your focus through the entire action process

from now until you achieve that goal. In your case,

the end is what you ultimately want to achieve --your Clear Goal and Definite Goal.

Lets reveal your Fitness Plan Secrets, shall we?

Imagine you have just reached your goal. How

does it feel? How does it look?

Now lets reminisce here a little:

As you feel that surge of "I did it!" rush through you,

look back over time.

What was the last step you achieved directly before

you reached your ultimate goal. This is the

beginning of the fitness plan secrets needed to

build your own plan.

What was it you achieved in that last step?

Write it down.

Now step backwards to that last step, in your mind.

What was it that you achieved just before reaching

that second last step? What obstacle did you

overcome to get here? Whatever it was.

Write that down too.

Now repeat this process, until you arrive at where

you are now.

To throw some light on it for you, let me give you

an example:

Lets assume you want to add two inches to your

bicep within 16 weeks. Here's how you would

apply the fitness plan secrets to help you here --

Look at the end result. In this case your bicep is

two inches bigger. Imagine how that feels having

achieved this goal. WOW.

Now imagine you sitting there after finally

achieving this goal, and you think back to all the

hard work you did in order to get there. As you look

back, you start off with what you achieved just

before reaching your goal.

What did you achieve or what obstacle did you

overcome directly before your final target?

Lets say you gained half an one and a half inches

to your bicep up to the step just before reaching

your goal. That's your gain from week one to week

twelve.

Now step back into that last step, in your mind's

eye. What was it that you achieved just before the

step you are currently on (week 12). Maybe you

gained an inch increase in your bicep muscle up

to that point.

Notice the pattern. Week sixteen - Goal of two

inches reached. Week twelve - Goal of one and a

half inches reached. Therefore it stands to reason

that on week eight, you would have reached a goal

of one inch. And on week four, you would have

achieved a goal of half an inch.

Your fitness plan secrets pattern would be

revealed. In this case, here's how it would look in

simple terms --

Week 16 -

Final goal achieved: Two inches onto your biceps

Week 12 -

The step before that: One and a half inches onto

your biceps

Week 8 -

The step before that again: One inch onto your

biceps

Week 4 -

The step before that again: Half an inch onto your

biceps

The sixteen weeks were broken down into smaller

goals. Each smaller goal represents a step you

must reach before moving onto the next one. It's

impossible to just go straight to two inches, without

first taking that first step.

You main goal must be broken down, like the

example above, into smaller more easily

achievable steps, working backward from your

main goal all the way down to the very first step.

This is your game plan and is what you should

follow consistently and without fail. Then --

Unless you have extremely long flexible legs, if you

want to climb a stairs that has ten steps the only

way to reach the top step is by taking the step that's

closest and more easily achievable -- the first step.

I hope you learned something from my fitness plan

secrets. Watch out for my follow on to each article

each week.

About The Author

Tony Farrell makes it easier for you to achieve your muscle and fitness goals. Learn the essential 3 keys to paving the way to your goals. Get your free mini-course now.

http://www.think-and-grow-muscle-and-fitness.com

Why Aren?t You Using Online Fitness Coaching?

Why Aren?t You Using Online Fitness Coaching?

by: Gary Matthews

If I were to tell you that you could burn away as much fat as possible by sitting at your computer twiddling your fingers and toes, would you believe me? Well I sure hope you don't!

However, losing weight in the confines of your own home at your computer is not only possible, it's a reality. What I mean is that you can use the advice that's given to you through online fitness coaching to pursue a more productive way of burning off undesired fat and reach your fitness goals.

Any program, no matter how difficult or time consuming takes EFFORT. Through online coaching, anyone can receive the advice and the motivation to put 100% effort into their fitness goals. The end result whether its weight loss, toning, and muscle gain can be achieved with certainty.

It's all about saving time and money!

If you can imagine yourself with a personal trainer at the gym, receiving face to face advice, and helping you out physically with your exercise routine. Then by all means sign up to one of your local programs and off you go! There's nothing wrong with having your own personal trainer.

But the down side is that these expert trainers cost money. Some can charge $150 per hour, and many find this service so expensive to the point where their wallets are paper-thin and overdue bills are pilling up!

The cost each type of personal training (offline - meet your trainer type) varies with different levels of service and convenience, let's investigate some of these services on offer.

Personal training in a health club:

This has to be the least expensive due to the fact that you're already paying the club a membership fee. You could be stuck with long cues for equipment let alone the discomforting stares of fellow exercisers.

Working out at home:

With a personal trainer, this can obviously be the most convenient provided you have some equipment at home. You might find yourself walking to the bank more often with the higher rates these "come to your home" types charge.

Private training studio:

If you've accepted the invitation for personal training at their studio, chances are you'll be paying fees that would fit into the "pricey" category. Location is also another factor; if the studio is located further away than you can walk then it may not be convenient for you.

Furthermore, if the personal trainer has a busy schedule, you may not get the appointment times you had hoped for.

Although location and price can be inconvenient, there's no doubt that this method can be the most effective way to exercise. Sometimes, it's a case of confidence and personal preference to avoid certain situations, which may leave you embarrassed, confused or bothered.

For example, many have been pushed into taking advantage of the local gym's personal trainers. In terms of the convenience factor, it's a plus if you've signed up for a lengthy period. But you might find that sweating and stretching in front of hundreds of people just isn't your thing! Many people just can't stand that.

Diets and Personal Training are alike!

The truth has to be told here. People who start an exercise routine (with or without a personal trainer), only half will continue this good habit for long-term. The rest will have thrown in the towel within 6 months.

How surprised would you be to find out that old habits are repeated when you stop personal training?

This obviously varies from person to person but the lack of trainer support can sometimes render a person lazy to the point where they neglect their fitness... because for many it's the external motivation that provides the will to exercise and reach their goals in life.

Online fitness coaching can provide a very similar service to traditional personal training, and the costs involved are usually much lower and much more affordable for the general population.

In many situations, online consultation can be an excellent service if the trainer can deliver the right amount of motivation and supporting advice to the client. This can be seen in the case of weight loss, where many clients find weight loss a difficult task due to lack of confidence.

There are always that bunch of people who will shy away from a personal trainer because of misconceptions and stereotypes. They may fear loosing face having to hire one or be under false impression that trainers are just for athletes or bodybuilders.

This is far from the truth - a supporting hand from a trainer can go a long way for many wanting to slim down or improve their fitness levels.

Online coaching really excels when the trainer acts as a mentor and plays a supporting role to dissolve misconceptions and stereotypes about people's inability to achieve the results they're after.

Let's go through some of the benefits that can be attained using online coaching:

* Personal coaching no matter where you or the trainer are located around the globe can help you develop the will and motivation to exercise

* Save money on travel expenses and expensive personal trainers

* You can exercise when you want discarding the need for timed exercise appointments

* Where self-motivation fails, online training can provide enough support to stick with a homemade program.

* No need to workout at a specific place designated by the trainer, take control over your workouts at home, at the gym, at work or on the road

* Sit in the comfort of your own home on your computer to receive coaching and advice

* Have your training questions and problems answered with educated responses, promptly and confidentially via email

* Allows for tremendous flexibility, especially for those who travel.

* Allows privacy for those who are intimidated by "public" personal training, such as people who don't feel comfortable with their bodies.

* The American Council on Exercise asserts that online training is an effective supplement to working one-on-one with a qualified trainer

As you weigh down the benefits of online personal training, you'll find that each method will give you substantial results provided that YOU are willing to put 100% effort into your exercise & dietary program.

Personal trainers can't do all the work for you, but they can guide you in the right direction to the point where you can observe results in weeks not years.

Whatever the interest, the choice comes down to you. Whether you're comfortable just working out with a friend, willing to spend money to see a personal trainer, or find opportunity with an online trainer, the achievements you make will be proportional to the time you put in.

About The Author

Gary Matthews is the author of the popular fitness eBooks Maximum Weight Loss and Maximum Weight Gain. Please visit http://www.maximumfitness.com right now for your 'free' weight loss or muscle building e-courses.

Family Fitness

Family Fitness

by: Terje Brooks Ellingsen

Family fitness is fun! So, how do you get your family off the sofa and encourage them to get moving with you? It can be a simple task if you find an exercise program that the entire family can enjoy!

We all know that too many Americans are overweight and even more that don?t follow a regular exercise program. It is up to mom and dad to initiate some movement within their own household. There?s an old saying that the ?family that plays together, stays together.? This is the approach you should take to get your family moving! It?s not exercise, it?s time to play!

First, you should pay close attention to what everyone in the family likes to do. For example, if both you and your spouse are tennis fanatics, tennis should definitely be on the exercise agenda. If your son is an avid golfer, you need to learn to swing! If your daughter is a devoted jogger, guess who needs to jog too? Find out what everyone in the family likes to do (and you probably already know) and then do it as a family!

Your family?s fitness is important and the fitness schedule should be something that you will stick with throughout the year with a ?plan B? if the weather prohibits the ability to follow through with one of your preferred activities. Make sure that everyone in the family gets to choose an activity to insure overall enthusiasm and participation from everyone! While planning your Family Fitness plan, you need to start planning some major changes within the kitchen and refrigerator as well. It?s a good time to throw out all of the stale chips and make a commitment to replace the unhealthy choices with healthy alternatives!

Vegetables like carrot sticks, celery sticks, and fruits like apples, bananas, seedless grapes, fig newtons as well as air-popped popcorn, graham crackers and pretzels are excellent choices that children and teens will grab without a second thought if you make them available. Fill your fruit bowl, refrigerator, and cabinet with the healthier snacks and watch how your entire family doesn?t even notice a significant difference. While you?re at it, fill the refrigerator with bottled water and a variety of fruit juices. Diet sodas are loaded with sodium so toss them out the door too!

You can make some subtle changes that your family will appreciate you for later in life. Now is the time to make a healthy change for you and your family. Don?t even mention the changes in the kitchen. Your children and teenagers will likely just grab something when they are in search of a snack. If you announce that the ?family is going to start eating more nutritious meals and snacks? what kind of appeal does that have to the child who was raised on chicken tenders from Burger King?

Healthy living is maybe the greatest way to care for your family. It starts with you and most likely, your children will continue to do what they learned to do at home once they spread their wings and fly solo. Make sure you provide the healthy start they need to carry with them a lifetime!

About The Author

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is an internet publisher who gives advice to people about fitness related issues. Check out his website http://www.nv-fitness4life.com which offers free information for all who are interested in fitness.

How Blast Past Your Fitness Barriers! - Part 2

How Blast Past Your Fitness Barriers! - Part 2

by: Frank Smoot

Yes, as much as we'd like the road to fitness to be straight, smooth, and uninterrupted, it's a fact of like that you're going to bump into a few obstacles along the way.

Last time we looked at Roadblocks 1-3 and how to blast them out of your way on the road to success. In today's article (Part 2) we'll look at the next three in some detail. I'll cover the rest as we move through his 6-part series.

Success Roadblock Number Four: Inadequate Motivation ? You Don't Have Clear & Compelling Reasons To Succeed

As a success coach, I can tell you that very few people understand the necessity for having compelling reasons to power them toward their goals. If you don't have sufficiently strong motivations to overcome the inertia of the status quo, then you're either going to stay right where you are or end up right back where you are. It's really just that simple.

So what you need are two kinds of motivations. First, you need strong and compelling reasons why it's critically important for you to succeed. You need to be clear about the "cost-benefit equation" How will you benefit from achieving your goals? How will your life improve?

Second, you need strong and compelling reasons why it is utterly unacceptable for you to fail. Together, these opposing motivations will provide you with both the "push" and "pull" we talked about in Chapter 8 -- a truly powerful combination!

Success Roadblock Number Five: Rationalizing Your Self-Defeating Behaviors

If there's one thing we're all really good at, it is rationalizing our own self-defeating behaviors. I think this is something we learn from birth, or perhaps even in the womb, since all of us seem to suffer from it one way or another.

You can call it denial or whatever else you want, but the fact is that we seem to like to plod along from one day to the next in a blissful state of ignorance about our problems, and particularly about our health problems.

Actually, considering the state of contemporary "health care," this is completely understandable. As I never tire of pointing out, our medical / pharmaceutical / food processing industry is much more focused on illness than on health. And we, the public, can't help but pick up the money "vibe" behind everything they do.

Not that there aren't thousands of sincerely dedicated health care providers out there, but any objective observer would have to say that contemporary medicine is all about getting rid of the symptom, because they simply don't have either the time, the will, or the skill to solve problems at its root.

That's why it becomes our job to "repossess" the responsibility for our own health-care, to come out of denial, to be wide awake about the problem, and to actively pursue and find our own solutions. If we'll leave it up to the health-care industry, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves when we fail.

Success Roadblock Number Six: Arguing For Your Own Limitations

If this is a concept you're not familiar with, I can tell you it's a mighty important one. In a way, it is closely aligned with Success Factor Number One -- the belief that you can and will succeed. [Details about the ebook that explains the four Success Factors are at the end of this article.]

You can tell when you're arguing for your own limitations when you hear yourself starting sentences with, "I have never been able to?" or "This sort of thing just runs in my family," or "I don't see how I could ever?" or, the most popular one of all, "Yes, but?"

Arguing on behalf of your own limiting beliefs is the surest way to make sure they stay intact and in place, and continue to sabotage you forever.

It's safe to say that you have been arguing for a lot of your own limiting beliefs for as long as you have been able to argue. Can you think of any personal beliefs that fall into that category?

Several places in this book I have suggested that you start a Success Journal. Keeping this journal is a mandatory part of the success process. I've also talked about the importance of recognizing the negativity in your own internal dialogue. That's why I suggest keeping a Negativity Journal, where you will start to zero in on the specific wording that your negative, self-sabotaging beliefs and attitudes feed into your mind.

Being able to actually see your negative inner dialogue in print will make a huge difference in your consciousness awareness, and that is the first step toward eliminating any self-sabotaging behavior.

The roadblocks you've just read about were excerpted from my new ebook, "Ultimate Fitness Secrets: Revealed!" To learn how to blast all 20 roadblocks out of your way, and discover the secrets of lifelong, struggle-free fitness, bulletproof health, and low-stress living, please visit the UltimateFitnessRevealed.com web site and get the whole story!

Please stay tuned for Part Three!

Yours in total health,

"Dr. Frank"

About The Author

Dr. Frank B. Smoot, MA, DD, is a professional fitness & weight loss success coach, and the creator of several highly-effective fitness and weight loss programs. For full details please visit http://www.UltimateFitnessSecretsRevealed.com, http://www.CoachFrankSmoot.com, and http://www.WeightLossGodsWay.com or email "Dr. Frank" at DrFrank@CoachFrankSmoot.com. Thanks!

You Don't Need A Fitness Personal Trainer- Personal View Of A Fitness Trainer

You Don't Need A Fitness Personal Trainer- Personal View Of A Fitness Trainer

by: Chris Chew

If you are looking for fitness personal trainers on the net, you will come across many many health and fitness websites extolling the virtues of why you should hire a personal trainer to achieve your fitness and health goals didn?t you? If you are reading this article of which you are doing now, you are probably surprised to find why a fitness personal trainer like me is telling you why you don?t need one. You will probably think that I am crazy. Perhaps I am. Well, read on and you may discover that I am not as crazy as you think after all.

? You don?t need a fitness personal trainer because you hated the commitment that entails once you hire a personal trainer. Anyway, you have been working out for many years without any commitment to anyone, even to yourself and that is why, you only workout as and when you are pleased. Well, you do concede that the results you get are never satisfactory and of course you are frustrated with your results. But what the heck, you prefer to waste time, waste gym membership fees and enjoy getting frustrated. You are entitled to your liberty.

? You don?t need a fitness personal trainer because you hated someone to push and encourage you so that you can achieve your health and fitness goals much faster. Your idea of going to the gym is to socialize and to chat up girls. So why should you subject yourself to a regimen planned by a personal trainer who can sculpt your body to be more attractive and desirable to the girls you wanted to chat up? Your beer belly will do just fine. Girls just love big beer bellies you justify to yourself. So who needs a flat tummy with those ugly six pack abs? You certainly don?t.

? You don?t need a fitness personal trainer because you believe in the precept of ?no pain no gain.? So if you exercise using the wrong form and techniques resulting in painful or even worse, permanent injuries, well, that is pain isn?t it? So therefore with pain, there will be gains. Hmmm, such profound reasoning that even the great philosopher Confucius will be confused if he is still alive eh?

? You don?t need a fitness personal trainer because you pay your income taxes. So without someone to guide and train you scientifically, you will not lose much body and visceral fat, so you will still have that high blood pressure, that potential stroke and heart attack, so that you will eventually land in a government subsidized hospital and so that some of the taxes which you have paid will be utilized by yourself. That is great clever thinking eh? You are glad that even without a PHD in business studies, you can figure out how to get a wonderful return of investments from your taxes paid

? You don?t need a fitness personal trainer because you believe in conforming to the society. After all, most people in your country are overweight and not exactly glowing with good health, then why should you be otherwise? You are delighted to be like most people, obese and unhealthy. Hey, you are a good citizen aren?t you?

? You don?t need a fitness personal trainer because you can spy on people who hired personal trainers in your gym. You eavesdrop on their trainers giving instructions and then you secretly work out according to what you have overheard not realizing that each and everyone is different and workout plans are to be tailored to each individual condition factoring in other issues like lifestyle, dietary habits and even the choice of exercises. You prefer to ?monkey see, monkey do? and eventually falling painfully off the tree. Or should I say falling off the Empire State Building where the mighty King Kong fell?

? The most compelling reason why you don?t need a fitness personal trainer is because you have downloaded my ?Burn Fat Build Muscles Fast? e-books and now you have a personal trainer in your hands. By following the instructions in the books you have transformed your body tremendously and are now the proud owner of an attractive and desirable body not to say you are also glowing with excellent health and fitness. Whoever said that you need to hire fitness personal trainers in order to own a lean mean attractive muscular body that only others can dream of must be crazy, don?t you agree?

About The Author

Chris Chew is a fitness personal trainer of fashion models, actors and male pageant titleholders.

More free tips at his his websites http://www.sgfitness.com and http://www.sgfitnessonline.com.

How To Perform Cardio-Boxing For Super Fitness

How To Perform Cardio-Boxing For Super Fitness

by: Gary Matthews

Ever wondered why most sports scientists agree that cardio-boxing is one of the best forms of exercise, well it is because it conditions the total body and provides a complete workout for your cardiovascular and endurance systems. Lets have a look at the benefits:

The major benefits of cardio-boxing include:

? Increased Stamina

? Increased Strength

? Increased Speed

? Increased Coordination

Cardio-boxing also promotes a person?s well being by strengthening their self-discipline and combined with strength training it?s well and truly the total package for self-defence and fitness and usually consists of:

? Adjusted heart rate work

? Actual boxing techniques

The usual workout consists of the age-adjusted heart rate work starting with 10 minutes for beginners and leading up to 20 minutes for the more advanced. For the second part of the workout, you?ll need to perform and practice 20 minutes of actual boxing techniques.

Cardio

The best way to measure the effects of an exercise program on your body is to check your pulse.

The easiest way to check the pulse is to place your index and middle fingers on your carotid artery or the wrist. Immediately after the exercise, count your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply by 4.

You can also check your pulse during the exercise but with safety as a first priority. To get a more precise reading of your pulse rate, purchase an electronic device from any sports store.

Now you have your exercising pulse rate or heartbeats per minute. We?ll be concentrating at the upper end of your pulse region: the 50% - 70% ranges.

To figure this out, deduct your age from 220. Suppose your age is 40, deduct this from 220 and you get 180.

50% of 180 is 90 beats a minute,

60% of 180 is 108 beats a minute,

70% of 180 is 126 beats a minute and so on.

Don?t jump into 70% work straight away. Start with 50% and slowly work your way up to the 70% upper limit.

Start with no more than 10 minutes, and work up to 20 minutes. Once you?re comfortable with working out for 20 minutes at 70% then try to increase the heart rate up to 80%.

Mix up your cardiovascular activities in the gym. Use the treadmill, skipping, rower, climber, and bike and other equipment that might be available to you.

Boxing

The boxing stance is the posture a boxer takes before and after every action depending on whether you are left or right handed. We?ll be dealing with the most common; right-handed. For left-handed people, just reverse the instructions.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, with your left foot in front of your right foot. Your right heel should be slightly raised with your left foot flat on the floor and toes pointing ahead.

Bend your knees a little and balance your weight comfortably and evenly.

Place your elbows close to your body with your left fist held at head height and in a position that corresponds to your left foot.

The right fist should be at head height also and guarding the chin, with both elbows protecting your body and both fists protecting your chin.

This is your defensive and offensive position after throwing punches, so please practice this before going any further. When moving forward in this boxing stance the left foot moves forward first and then the right follows.

When moving back, the right moves back and then the left follows. When moving sideward to the right, the right foot moves first followed by the left. When moving sideward to the left, the left foot moves first followed by the right.

Practice this moving forward, back and sideward in the boxer?s stance until it is done smoothly and quickly. Remember to keep your guard up and elbows tucked in to your sides.

Keep your head at eye level with your upper body leaning forward slightly. In boxing it is important that punches are thrown quickly and then bought back quickly to assume a defensive posture.

Punching

A left jab has many uses, it can be used for both offensive and

Defensive actions. From the set stance the left arm is pushed quickly and forcefully forward, the weight is shifted to the front foot. The fist moves in a straight line and straight back again for defence.

At the moment of impact the back of the hand and the lower arm are in a straight line. Keep the right fist in the defensive position and elbow tucked into the body during the movement.

The straight right is also known as the punching hand and can be thrown with considerable force. The arm moves straightforward from the chin, the body weight is shifted to the front foot with the ball of the foot of the back leg pushing into the floor for more power.

The back of the hand is straight and pointing up at the moment of impact. The arm is then immediately pulled back for protection after the hit.

The left hook to the head and body is an effective punch for closer range work. From the set stance turn your left shoulder quickly and move your elbow up to shoulder height. The fist moves in a circular motion to the target, with the elbow bent.

Rotate your hip and body whilst pressing your front left down keeping the back of your fist pointing up and in a straight line with the lower arm. The left hook to the body is similar to the above but increases the rotation of the body

The right uppercut is also carried out at close range. Drop the lower part of your punching arm until the lower and upper arm is at right angles to each other. The back of your hand should be pointing away from you, now thrust your arm forward and upward to your target.

Shift your body weight to your front leg and rotate your hip and shoulder on the same side. Remember to keep your left fist guarding your chin during the entire movement. Now practice all your punches until they are done quickly and smoothly.

To develop speed and endurance, try punching straight left and right combinations into the heavy bag. The duration of the exercise period is the same as the rest period i.e. 10 seconds exercise, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds exercise, 20 seconds rest, and so on. Move up higher as your condition improves.

Believe me after you start applying Cardio?Boxing to your regular fitness workouts your cardiovascular and endurance systems will thank you for it.

About The Author

Fitness: Improve the Health of Your Diet by Avoiding White Flour

Fitness: Improve the Health of Your Diet by Avoiding White Flour

by: Michael Cordon

I?d like to share some research with you that may make you think twice before eating your next sandwich on white bread. It will also help your efforts to lose weight and will improve your health.

Eliminating white flour in favor of whole wheat has long been the foundation of healthy eating and is a big part of the latest eating right pyramid put out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Studies now show that there is a chemical in white flour, called alloxan that makes it look ?clean? and ?beautiful?. The problem is that alloxan damages the beta cells of the pancreas so they no longer produce enough insulin and the cells malfunction and die. So you may be devastating your pancreas and putting yourself at risk for diabetes by eating ?beautiful? flour.

In fact, the Textbook for Natural Medicine calls alloxan ?a potent beta-cell toxin?.

Scientists have known about this for years because diabetes researchers commonly use the chemical to induce the disorder in lab animals. In a research sense, giving alloxan to an animal is similar to injecting that animal with a deadly virus because alloxan and the virus are both being used to cause illness.

It also applies to brown rice compared to white rice. The unprocessed brown rice is more natural and therefore has a higher nutrient content, better protein digestibility and a lower insulin response.

It?s also wise to get in the habit of checking the labels of grain products because they?re not all created equal. Although originally they were until we started tampering with it to make white flour and other enriched products.

The bottom line is that whenever you take a natural food and change it by deleting nutrients or adding chemicals, you will always have less nutritional benefits. Whole grains are just another example that nature knows best.

About The Author

Mike?s goal is to make a difference in your life by giving you the tools to move you to action and support you through this process of improving your health and fitness.

Michael Cordon invites you to receive his FREE e-zine that gives ?how to? tips on becoming Healthy, Fit and Lean. A Free Report and Newsletter subscription to move you to action can be found at www.MakeYourBodyLean.com. Learn how to lose body fat, gain strength, eat right and look great by following natural, principle based fitness programs. Subscribe today or contact Michael directly for speaking, consulting or workshop events at mike@makeyourbodylean.com.

Copyright Michael Cordon 2005. You have free reprint rights to this article. Feel free to post it on your website, emails, etc. as long as the resource box is included with all links active and do not edit the article in any way.

mike@makeyourbodylean.com

Does The Place You Live Affects Your Wellness?

Does The Place You Live Affects Your Wellness?

by: Christos Varsamis

During the course of your growing up years, you lived wherever your parents chose to live. You didn?t give any thought to the health implications of the location your parents chose, or if they had chosen a place that was conducive to your overall wellness. Chances are your parents didn?t give it much thought either. Not until recently, has there ever been given any thought to the fact that where you live affects your health and wellness. But it does, and it?s a piece of information that is sure to influence many generations to come.

So how is this information compiled, and what can we learn from it? The information is compiled based on statistical information from areas such as smog levels, pollution levels, water quality, government based fitness incentives, and recreational and fitness facilities available. Generally, one of the major magazines published in the United States, will compile all this statistical data, and publish an article as a recreational guide to healthy cities.

What do we learn from all this published information? That where we live really does affect our health and well-being, and sometimes, there?s very little we can do about changing that fact. Unless, of course, you want to move.

Often, the greatest contributor to our health and wellness, via our outside environment, is the level of pollution we?re forced to live with on a daily basis. How do we absorb pollutants in our outside environment? The most common way is through the air we breathe. It is not the only way, however. The water we drink, the homes we live in, and the cars we drive, all have the potential for unhealthy contaminants.

Our work environment at one time was a contributor to the pollutants we were exposed to, but thanks to greater Environmental Protection regulation, most of those dangers have been eradicated.

Past the pollutants contribution, the availability of health facilities, the amount of government support for health and fitness, and the availability of medical faculties also affects our health and wellness from a location standpoint. If you live in a rural area with no direct access to health facilities, and there is no medical facility, your level of overall health will not compare to that of a person who lives in a more populated area that can offer those things. The down side to the more populated area, of course, is a greater risk of air pollution.

Some areas of this country are just fitness conducive. Places where the air is still free from pollutants, there is an availability of hiking, biking, and walking trails, and the medical and fitness facilities are numerous. The problem with most of those places, however is that they are usually recreational based, not manufacturing or otherwise industrialized, and jobs are not that numerous.

What can you do about your own fitness concerns, in relation to where you live? Make the most of where you are. Educate yourself about the greatest fitness problems in your area, and do what you can to make corrections for your own fitness benefit.

About The Author

Christos Varsamis is a Marketing Consultant. Sign for your Free 15 day Success E-course at http://www.settinglifegoals.com. Get your Free E-courses ?How to Create Minisites That Make Money in Just 24 Hours + Secrets of Internet Millionaires? at http://www.cbmallclickbank.com & http://www.cbmallgr.com.