Best Fitness Blog

...By Karli Tayor

Being active is an important part of any weight-loss or weight-maintenance program. When you're active, your body uses more calories. When you use more calories than you take in, you lose weight. It really is that simple!

Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. So if you cut 500 calories from your diet each day, you'd lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). Similarly, if you eat exactly the same amount, but burn an extra 500 each day, you will see the same results.

I’m sure you know where I’m going with this right? Now if you were to cut 500 calories a day AND burn 500 calories a day, you would be able to lose 2 pounds a week and reach your goals even more quickly! Though weight loss can be achieved through diet alone or from exercise alone, it is much more efficient, and much better for the health of your body in the long run to combine the two.

While it is recommended that most healthy adults follow the guidelines set below, your specific goals may impact the amount and type of exercise that will work best for you. The general guidelines are:

• Do at least two hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity (think brisk walking or swimming) or one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity (such as running) — preferably spread throughout the week.
• Strength train at least twice a week.

The chart below shows the estimated number of calories burned while doing various exercises for one hour.

Mayo Clinic

Keep in mind that this chart does not take into consideration a number of individualized factors that may impact caloric burn- it should be used only as an estimate. For a more individualized number, seek help from a fitness professional to learn your rate of calorie burn.

Visit one of our Best Fitness Clubs to learn even more about this topic. We have locations in Albany,NY, Tonawanda, NY, Schenectady, NY, Erie, PA, Nashua, NH, Chelmsford, MA, and Drum Hill, MA.

... By Karli Taylor

The kids will be out of school soon and vacation season will be upon us! We look forward to our summer trips all winter long- counting down the days until we can lounge in the sun and play in the sand. A vacation, however, often becomes an excuse to let yourself forget about your fitness goals in favor of one more fruity drink with an umbrella in it…

I know, I know- vacation is the time to relax and spend time with your family and friends. Who wants to spend hours in a gym when you could be lying on the beach? I am a realist- I don't expect you to make gains while on vacation- I just expect you to maintain what you have worked so hard on up to this point- fair enough?

You can walk in the sand in the early morning- just a short 30 minute walk on the sand will be as effective as an hour long walk on the road or the treadmill. Make sure that you walk on the sane in both directions. In other words, do not walk out 15 minutes on the sand and turn around and walk back on the boardwalk or street. Why? Believe it or not, beaches are slightly sloped. You may not feel it as you are walking, but you will have one seriously tight calf for the rest of your vacation if you walk one way all week!

Have a whole hour to play? Do some squats and push-ups in the sand before your walk. You will be amazed at how sore you will get from simple exercises when you change the surface. The sand provides an instant core and stability challenge, so you may be sore from basic exercises in places you would never have imagined!

No beach? Traveling and stuck in a hotel room? No problem- put yourself through a body-weight circuit: do 20 squats, 10 push-ups, 20 lunges and 15 crunches. Rest for 1 minute and repeat 3 or 4 times.

If you want to add exercises to the circuit, do dips off of a chair, jumping jacks, get creative! Just keep yourself moving for 2-3 minutes and take a minute break in between rounds.

Want to do cardio but your hotel is on a main highway so running is out of the question? Find the stairwell. Start on the bottom floor and walk up at a good pace. Slowly walk down and repeat as many times as you can in 15 minutes- you'll be nice and sweaty from that one. Mix it up by taking 2 or 3 stairs at once, side stepping, or even hopping for a high intensity workout.

I could go on all day with options, but you get the idea right? Use what's available to you and you'll be surprised at the quality of workout that you can get.

Visit one of our Best Fitness Clubs to learn even more about this topic. We have locations in Albany,NY, Tonawanda, NY, Schenectady, NY, Erie, PA, Nashua, NH, Chelmsford, MA, and Drum Hill, MA.

... By Karli Taylor

What to eat pre-workout has long been an area of uncertainty for athletes and recreational exercisers alike. Should we just eat the same stuff we would consume at a normal meal time? What about a protein bar or a meal-replacement shake? Far too often, the result of this confusion ends up being either a cup of coffee, a few swigs of Gatorade, or in the worst cases, nothing at all.

Though there is not a single magical food that you should eat before you hit the gym or the open road, there are a few essential components to the ideal pre-exercise meal.

• Consume carbohydrates and protein in a 3-to-1 ratio. Put simply, for every gram of protein you consume, you should be taking in 3 of carbohydrate. The 3:1 ratio is almost universally advocated for optimal absorption of nutrients as protein cannot be used by the body without the energy provided by carbohydrates.
• Include quick-working, high-glycemic carbs for energy now, and a lower glycemic carb for energy later. For example, I like to start my day with ½ cup of plain oatmeal with a teaspoon of real fruit jelly mixed in.
• Include at least one 8 ounce glass of water with your pre-workout meal. Starting out already dehydrated will almost guarantee cramping and less than peak performance.
• Eat at least a full hour before working out. Cutting it too close will not only increased your risk of feeling queasy while you train, but will also not give your body enough time to get that energy where you need it to perform at your best

What are your favorite pre-workout meals?

... By Karli Taylor

Heart rate monitors are in widespread use among all levels of exercisers these days. If you don't have one you may feel that you are missing critical information to get the most from your workout. While using a monitor is not necessary for everyone, it can be a great tool for all exercisers. Even if used temporarily, it will help you learn how you feel at a given heart rate and you will become a better judge of your own limitations.

You can learn so much about your body in just a few weeks with a heart monitor that even when you're not wearing it, you'll know whether you're working too hard, not hard enough, or are exerting just the right amount of effort for a particular workout. You may be surprised that sometimes your hard workouts are too hard, and often when you think that you are barely working, you are in fact working just hard enough.

Though it's especially helpful if you're new to exercise, a heart rate monitor can be a great tool if you're just bored with your current routine and want to try something new. Playing games with your heart rate not only provides you with something to focus on during longer or harder workouts.

Next time you want to shake up your workout with a heart-rate game, try changing the speed or incline of your run or walk while using your breath to keep your heart rate within a certain range- it’s a lot harder than it sounds. You can also challenge yourself with recovery time. How long does it take you after a hard interval to get your heart rate down to where it was before you started it? Can you shorten that time by focusing on your breath?

If you are not sure where your heart rate should be during exercise, stay tuned…

...By Karli Taylor

Obesity has been rapidly increasing in prevalence over the past two decades—in children as well as in adults. Although obesity is a recognized risk factor for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and some forms of cancer, new evidence suggests that obesity may also contribute to or even cause asthma.

Obese patients with severe asthma account for 75% of emergency department visits for asthma. A new study shows that obese adults with asthma are more likely than normal weight asthma suffers to have severe and persistent symptoms, and when obese asthma patients lose weight, there is a notable decrease in asthma symptoms and severity.

Obesity affects the anatomy of both the lungs and airways. Excess mass in the abdomen and chest put pressure on the lungs and the airways restricting the flow of air.

The impact can actually be life altering for children because that extra mass can affect lung growth, resulting in smaller lungs and reduced pulmonary function.

Another possible correlation is that obese individuals breathe at higher frequencies—but with smaller breaths—compared with non-obese individuals. As a result, the muscles around the airway are overworked and over stressed.

With every new study that emerges about the impacts of obesity, it becomes more clear that we have to take a firm stand against obesity.

...By Karli Taylor

Just in case you don’t have enough motivation to hit the gym today, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has released an official statement regarding yet another benefit of exercising regularly. According to recent studies, people who engage in regular physical activity can reduce their risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, and people who already suffer from the disease may reduce symptoms and complications and increase quality of life.

According to the statement, a combination of regular exercise and weight loss can lower the risk for type 2 diabetes by 58 percent in high-risk populations. For those already diagnosed with the disease, exercise can improve blood glucose, lipid profiles, and blood pressure while reducing cardiovascular complications and lowering the rate of mortality.

What is meant by “regular exercise”? According to the ACSM, anyone participating in 30 minutes or more of continuous exercise on most days of the week would satisfy the requirements of being a “regular exerciser”.

Though it is true that shorter bouts of exercise throughout the day do add up to help with both weight loss and cardiovascular health, the benefits of 2 or 3 ten minute exercise sessions have not been proven to be as great as those that are associated with 30 minutes of continuous work.

... By Karli Taylor

One of the newer buzzwords in the fitness clothing industry is “compression”. From socks to swimsuits, compression gear is slowing taking over the shelves. Recently, there have been many different claims made by various companies about the advantages of this type of clothing- some of which have more validity than others. Let’s take a look at the two real benefits of these tight fitting clothing garments.

Regulating body temperature: The main difference between these tight fitting garments and regular clothing is their ability to efficiently remove perspiration from the skin. This is achieved by the use of moisture wicking fabrics and the garments tight fitting nature. Unlike other breathable garments, you won’t get perspiration collecting on the skin. This means that in hot climates your bodies cooling system continues to work efficiently and that in the cold you are not wearing wet clothing therefore will stay warmer.

Reduction in excess muscle movement: Compression clothing prevents your muscles from shaking or vibrating upon impact. Every time you move, your muscles move too. When they do small tears appear within the muscle tissue. By reducing the rate at which this damage takes place we are able to work for longer and experience less pain following training. The principle behind stopping body shake is old and probably the best example is the wearing of sports bras by woman. Now with the elastic properties of compression garments we are able to provide the same sort of support for the rest of your body. This is the reason that your garments must be firm fitting and appropriate for your sport or activity.

You will find other claims surrounding compression clothing. Some companies claim that it increases blood flow to the muscles. Some claim that it will increase the power output of your muscles or increase your stamina. None of these claims have been studied thoroughly enough for me to confidently support them, so I’ll leave the jury out for now.

... by Karli Taylor

As the temperature drops outside, more and more of us are bringing our workouts in from the cold. After walking, running or cycling outside for months, the unchanging scenery from the cardio deck can get boring pretty quickly. Don’t worry, there are quite a few ways to make exercising indoors more exciting until the snow melts next Spring.

If you exercise at home on a treadmill or other piece of equipment, try playing games with the timer. I know that countdown timer can seem daunting when you are stuck indoors, but if you use it creatively, it can make the time pass much more quickly.

The next time you get on that treadmill, walk at your normal pace for 5 minutes. Every 2 minutes thereafter, add one notch on the incline until it gets to its highest point. Since most treadmills have anywhere from 10-20 levels on incline, your whole workout could be complete by the time you reach the top! You do play a similar game with the resistance on a bike or an elliptical.

Speed intervals are also a good way to pass the time. You can use the time for this by speeding up for 30 seconds every 2 minutes, or for 2 minutes every 5. Another way to time intervals is with your iPod or your TV. If you watch TV while exercising, speed up for the commercials. If you listen to music, speed up every time the chorus plays. You get the idea, right?

If you belong to a gym that has group exercise classes, try a few of those. Feel embarrassed that you are uncoordinated or afraid that everyone else will be better at the activity that you are? Stay in the back of the room until you get comfortable or bring a friend who is also a novice. Once the music starts and you start to sweat, all of those worries will go away and the class will be over before you know it.

Finally, if you want to spice up your exercise routine, make an appointment with a fitness professional to learn something new. Challenging yourself to do something completely different will not only keep you from getting bored, it will also accelerate your fitness progress!