on 2/15/2009
| filed in: Exercise and Workouts
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When squatting it's important not to bend your knees too much. We've all heard the rule of thumb that you shouldn't bend your knees farther than your toes. But what many don't hear is that bending your knees too little during squats is actually more likely to cause injury.
According to special Memphis University research, you are 30% higher risk of injury if your knees move past your toes when squatting. So obviously it's a bad idea to move your knees past your toes when squatting.
But what happens if you don't bend your knees enough?
If you don't bend you knees enough when squatting, you may find yourself bending at your hip and lower back more. This way you'll still feel like you're getting lower to the ground. Bending the wrong part of your body during squats is actually much more dangerous than bending your kness past your toes.
Bending the wrong way causes hip stress. When there is minimal movement of the knee, squatters tend to lean t... read more
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on 2/11/2009
| filed in: Exercise and Workouts
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Until the other day, I had never used an Elliptical training machine. They are a popular exercise machine (especially among females), but I've always viewed them as awkward and somewhat pointless. From looking at their motion, it seems like your body moves so smoothly that it couldn't possibly burn any calories.
By chance, I happened to hop on an elliptical for my warm up the other day. While I've heard warming up before workouts are useless, I still do it because I like a good warm-up after walking through the cold weather into the gym.
I selected the manual program and increased resistance to a decent amount. On low resistance it didn't seem to do much. But, I was rather surprised when the higher resistance did give me a pretty good workout. My legs and butt were definitely feeling a burn. I didn't feel as much work on my upper body. I think my lower body was doing most of the work, which is standard for almost every exercise. I did my best to twist my body ... read more
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on 1/19/2009
| filed in: Dieting / Exercise and Workouts
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Starting out on a goal of losing weight is hard. Often times people are left clueless as to what they should do to lose weight the healthy and safe way. I hear some people say it involves nutrition, while others insist on resistance.
Here’s a good Guide to Losing Weight:
Nutrition:
Drink lots of water, eat a lot of fiber (~35g/day), and eat lots of veggies. Should eat about 1g per lb bodyweight of protein per day. Eat some fruit, some whole-grain carbs, and some healthy (unsaturated, Omega-3) fats.
Things to avoid when losing weight:
Avoid the following or eat sparingly: Trans-fats, fruit juices, sodas, starches, sugar, and processed grains. Avoie all low-glycemic foods in general.
Try to eat about 6 – 7 times a day and total calories should be about 400 short of what you burn throughout the day.
You’ll also need Resistance Training to Lose Weight:
Resistance weight training helps to break down the m... read more
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on 1/9/2009
| filed in: Dieting / Exercise and Workouts
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There seems to be a never-ending debate between which is more important, Diet or Exercise. One minute I'll read about how diet is the key to losing weight and building up muscle, then the next minute I'll read a fitness article about proper exercise being the most important factor.
Diet versus Exercise... It's just not that simple to pick one.
Our bodies are much more complicated than that. No one thing trumps anything else. It is a host of behaviors that contribute to our health and fitness, or lack thereof...and it is about balance. If I eat healthy but don't exercise, I am weak and suffer testosterone, HGH, bone density loss, etc. If I workout but eat crap I am strong but have clogged arteries, diabetes, etc. If I workout too much I get injured and if I don't rest the same happens and I don't get as much benefit from the exercise.
So which is the better Workout and Diet Behavior?
A. Eat clean, healthy recipes.
B. Exercise-bot... read more
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on 12/5/2008
| filed in: Exercise and Workouts
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Getting 6-pack abs is hard. Working your abdominal muscles regularly requires some physical strength, and a lot of mental strength. During the winter, when your abs are covered 95% of the day, it gets a lot harder to battle through those grueling ab workouts.
Please note: this doesn't pertain to people living in warm climates or those who party naked - because your belly shows year-round.
But for the rest of us cold mofos living up north (especially you Canadian members), how hard is it to bust your @ss during an ab workout knowing that your abs won't soak up a ray of sunshine until a few months from now? When you go home and scrunch up your abs in the mirror it's a bittersweet victory right?
Thus, mustering up the willpower to crunch those abs during the winter is hard. Harder than a Thursday during the summer when you know you'll be half naked at the beach all day Saturday. So what do we do?
My advice is to remind yourself that 6-... read more
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fitness planning, beach body, abs
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