Best Fitness Blog

...By Karli Taylor

How many times have you asked the question “How can I lose weight”?

Though the answer has evolved overtime as more and more research is done on weight loss, obesity and health, essentially the answer remains the same: what you eat and how much you exercise directly relate to your ability to lose weight and keep it off.

However, there have been changes and advances on those ideas. For instance, did you know you should eat 5 or 6 times a day depending on how long you are awake? Yes, it is true, five or six smaller, healthier, nutrition packed meals are better than 3 larger meals. Not only will this keep you from feeling hungry throughout the day, but it will also help to increase your metabolism.

How often you eat is only a piece of the puzzle, however. Make sure you are paying attention to WHAT you are eating as well. Though home cooked meals are always the best because they contain fewer fillers and additives, life often necessitates pre-packaged or pre-prepared meals. When you need to make a “bad choice”, making “better bad choices” involves checking labels to make sure you can pronounce all of the ingredients, asking for no sauce or light sauce, asking for items to be steamed or baked instead of fried and eating only half of the portion that you are served.

In addition to the food that you eat, exercise is a factor in weight loss. Put simply, you need to burn more calories than you consume. This does not need to be as daunting as it may seem. What do you like to do? Find something that you enjoy and invite your friends to join you which will help to keep you motivated. If you don’t like to exercise with others, find a good book to get engrossed in while you walk on the treadmill.

In order to lose weight, you will have to make changes to your lifestyle. Make changes slowly as not to overwhelm yourself. Use low fat or skim milk rather than whole, buy wheat bread rather than white, drink 3 more glasses of water a day, park farther from the store entrance. Sneaking these changes in to your life will make change easier on yourself.

Contact Best Fitness in your area for more information and ideas on how to change your lifestyle in order to lose weight.

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 Tayor

If you are a woman over 40 who wants to lose weight, you may have realized that it is a totally different ball game than it was when you were in your 20’s.

Not only do you have a slower metabolism; you may also be experiencing a hormone imbalance which can cause fluid retention, bloating, poor thyroid functions and weight gain. Though these things may seem like you are beginning a losing battle, all hope should not be lost! Weight loss is still possible, the process is just a bit different.

Over 40, dieting may no longer provide the best results. As you age, your body will not respond to quick fixes and short term plans like it may have at one time. When you are over 40, rather than dieting, you need to change your lifestyle to make it healthier. An over 40 diet needs to be different than your diet was when you were younger. Choose foods with higher nutrient value that provide more of the things you need for energy with fewer calories while avoiding eating out and pre-packaged meals which are common to the lifestyle of woman today.

Keep in mind that labels can be deceiving. Many foods labeled low-sugar often contain extra fat or salt instead of sugar to help the taste and texture. Similarly, many “low-fat” foods are loaded with excess sugar for the same reasons. Though life may get hectic, taking the time to prepare fresh foods will not only help keep your weight in check, but will also help keep you healthy.

"No time to exercise” is often a mantra of women over 40. But middle aged women must incorporate physical activity into their schedule. In fact, if you want it to fit in, you can fit exercise into your schedule. But you can add little things to your daily routine, such as parking farther away, take the stairs rather than the elevator and walking on your lunch hour. Increasing physical activity in your daily routine can have a large impact on your weight loss goals.

Believe it or not, a good night's sleep is essential for weight loss. Unfortunately, many women don’t get an adequate amount of sleep because of their busy lifestyle. It is important to get 6-8 hours of sleep a night, so if you want to lose weight, learn techniques to relax so you can sleep at night.

Lastly, don’t forget about the power of drinking enough water. Make a habit of keeping a water bottle with you at all times. Drinking water is one of the best things you can do for your health and it help your kidneys, helps your body detox, and it improves bowel movements. Keep a water bottle on your desk at work.

If you are a woman over 40 and you want to lose weight, contact Best Fitness in your area for help.

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

It is one thing to change your attitudes toward food and exercise when you are actively trying to lose weight, but those habits need to remain intact once the weight is off in order to maintain your weight loss. In short, permanent behavior change is necessary to effect long lasting physical change.

One of the best gifts you can give yourself whether you want to lose weight or not, is the gift of a personal trainer.

A personal trainer can create a program for you with your current fitness level and goals in mind. But more importantly, a personal trainer can help you stay motivated. Trainers provide education, support, and accountability. Just the fact that you have paid money for a personal trainer will help you keep your appointments.

Personal trainers will help you exercise at a level that is right for you, and can help push you to new levels. A good personal trainer can help you target the areas you want to work on and provide the right combination of machines, cardiovascular activity, and functional strength exercises for you.

Goals like building strength, improving posture, decreasing body fat, and staying fit, flexible and healthy are ones that can be capitalized on with a personal trainer. Clear goals keep you focused and moving steadily forward every day. Contact Best Fitness in your area to schedule personal training for weight loss.

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

Yup, you read that right. You can be skinny and fat at the same time! In a recent survey only 45 percent of Americans strongly agree that body weight is an indicator of a healthy diet, and you know what? They're right. In fact, body weight isn't a good indicator of health period. Some of the skinniest people I know are also the least healthy.

In a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers found that among more than 15,000 patients, for those with a "normal, healthy" body mass index (BMI) who carried excess fat in their bellies, the risk of dying was no lower than those with BMIs in the "overweight" or "obese" category. In reality where you carry your weight and your day-to-day lifestyle are the true keys to optimal wellness.

Though I’m not saying that weight is not a factor in being healthy, I am saying that there is a much bigger picture that needs to be examined. To better grasp your health ask yourself these 10 questions — the more that you answer yes, the better:

• Do you consistently eat 3-5 servings of fruit or vegetables every day?
• Do you consistently eat whole grains and limit refined grains?
• Do you consistently limit your intake of processed and fried foods?
• Are you consistently physically active at least 30 minutes 5 days a week?
• Do you consistently get at least 7 hours of sleep each night?
• Would you describe your stress level as moderate to low?
• Is your waist measurement below 35 inches (women) or 40 inches (men)?
• Are you a non-smoker?
• Do you consistently avoid saturated fats?
• Are you more focused on how you feel (energy, strength, endurance) rather than your size or weight?

Because many people keep focused solely on the number on the scale, they are willing to engage in behaviors that worsen their health. But those 'skinny fat' habits, like skipping meals, smoking, relying on diet pills and over-exercising are major health traps that can speed up the aging process and ruin your quality of life. At the end of the day, monitor your weight, but focus on your health.

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

In recent years, many studies have been published showing the benefits of weight training for women. Still, the number of women who take this recommendation to heart is still quite low. Most women who exercise are spending most of their gym time on cardiovascular exercise because they are afraid weight training will make the look bulky or they feel that walking on the treadmill is sufficient. Whatever your reasons for avoiding the weights, if you are a woman, here are some less obvious reasons reasons why you need to take strength training seriously.

In addition to getting stronger and leaner, adding weight training to your routine will help to decrease your risk of osteoporosis. Weight training can increase spinal bone density by up to 13 percent in just six months. This, coupled with an adequate amount of dietary calcium, can be a women's best defense against osteoporosis.

Did you know that heart disease is one of the leading causes of death among women in the U.S?: Weight training can improve cardiovascular health in several ways, including lowering LDL ("bad") cholesterol, increasing HDL ("good") cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. When cardiovascular exercise is added, these benefits are maximized, and your risk of heart disease is lowered!

If those reasons still aren’t enough to convince you to pump some iron, weight training will reduce your risk of diabetes. Weight training has been shown to improve the way the body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Adult-onset diabetes is a growing problem for both women and men. Research indicates that weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23 percent in four months.

Don’t you think that the benefits are worth the work?

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

As I have mentioned earlier, cardio-respiratory training burns the most calories in the shortest period of time.  The downside, however,  is that it only burns calories while you are doing it.  If I told you that there was a way that you could extend that increased calorie burn and enjoy burning calories all day everyday, would you be interested?  I thought so…

Resistance training is the key to increasing the amount of calories that you burn at rest.  Resistance training, or weight training will not only make your body stronger and more toned, but by increasing the amount of lean mass on your frame, you are actually increasing your resting metabolic rate.  One pound of lean muscle tissue can burn up to 10 times more calories per day than a pound of fat tissue.

Don’t worry, you don't have to be in the gym for hours on end to see results. You can see significant improvement in your strength with just two or three 20- or 30-minute weight training sessions a week. That frequency also meets activity recommendations for healthy adults, which call for strength training at least twice a week — in addition to at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity.

If these benefits aren’t enough to get you excited to pump some iron, keep reading. Lean muscle mass naturally decreases with age. If you don't do anything to slow down the muscle loss, your resting metabolic rate will slow down and you will gain fat without really changing your eating or exercise habits.  Weight training, however, can help you reverse the trend  at any age. Studies have shown increases in muscle mass in people up through the age of 85 years old! 

...By Karli Taylor

You come to the gym three days a week and you walk on the treadmill for an hour. You just want to lose a little bit of weight, so that’s really all that you need to do right? If I told you that lifting weights would help you lose weight would you believe me? Many people are afraid that lifting weights will “bulk them up” instead of slim them down, but the opposite is actually true.

In fact, whether you’re trying to lose weight, improve your muscle tone, improve your mobility, or prevent injury, incorporating weight lifting into your exercise routine will give you added benefit than just doing cardio.

Yes, it is true that cardio is the best way to burn a lot of calories in a given period of time. You will burn more calories in 30 minutes of cardio than you do in 30 minutes of weight lifting-BUT there is an after-burn involved in weight training that blows that associated with cardio clear out of the water.

Weight training is about changing your body composition to add lean muscle. Not only will that make your body look leaner and tighter, but lean muscle burns more calories throughout the day than fat.

By adding one pound of lean muscle to your body, you will burn an extra 50 calories a day without moving any more than you do right now. 50 calories doesn’t seem like much, but over a month or a year- it adds up to significant weight loss!

Don’t have time to add extra workout days to your schedule? Try weight training before you hit the treadmill. Split your hour in half and lift for 30 minutes before walking or running for 30. You will get the most out of your hour every time you hit the gym.

... by Karli Taylor

First and foremost, there is a distinct difference between our abs and our core. Our "abs", or what we refer to as our abs is actually one muscle- our rectus abdominus muscle. It is one small part of the whole area between our rib cage and our pelvis that we know as our "core". I will delve into that at a later date, but for now let’s talk about that six-pack, washboard or whatever other name you may have for it.

This may be the area of the body where we as fitness enthusiast make the most mistakes in training. Let’s go through a few basic ground rules for training our abs -

• More is not better! Your rectus abdominus is made up of fast twitch muscle fibers. So what you say? Well that means that it responds best to low reps- yup LOW REPS- like 8-10 at a time. So much for those devices that allow you to do 100 crunches without straining your neck...POINTLESS. Your best bet is to do 3 or 4 sets of 8-12 crunches for your 6 pack. That's it. You can train your deeper core muscles after these surface ones are tired- but that’s a whole discussion in itself!
• Abdominal training should always come LAST. Some people think that you should train your abs first while they are "fresh" in order to get the best results. It’s ok if that’s the only thing you are training that day, but if you are doing another body part- do that first. Your abs provide structural support for other exercises. If you tire them out, you will not be able to perform your best and may hurt yourself in the process.
• You CANNOT spot reduce. If you have excess fat in your abdomen, you can't just train your abs! This excess fat will burn off more efficiently if you train your whole body and add some intense cardio- BUT
• Diet is the key. No matter what you are doing in the gym, the only way to really get definition in your middle is by watching what you put in your mouth. Eating smaller meals often throughout the day will help turn your keg into a 6 pack!

I know that I have thrown a lot of info at you, and you may have some questions. Feel free to ask away!

... by Karli Taylor

Let's talk about stretching. Why do we stretch? Some people think that it will prevent injury. Some people think it will prevent soreness. What if I were to tell you that the only thing stretching does is make you more flexible? Yup- that's it. So if you participate in a sport that requires flexibility- like gymnastics or even golf, then stretching will help your performance. But runners, skiers, baseball players- unless you are tight or imbalanced, stretching will not help your game.

Now Stretching does have its place- I don't want to be known as the anti-stretch trainer. If you are recovering from an injury, you should surely stretch. Why? Put simply, a healing muscle tends to be tighter than a normally functioning muscle, and like I mentioned earlier, if you are tight- STRETCH!

But when should you stretch? Every time I go to a race or a sporting event I see people lined up before the start stretching. I want to grab a microphone and scream at everyone! Stretching before an event will make you weaker. It will loosen up a muscle that is about to produce power- not a good thing. Think about a rubber band. When will a rubber band give the hardest snap back? When it is new or when it has been stretched out a few times? Make sense?

Before any event, warm up by moving dynamically. A dynamic warm-up is not a mile jog or walking a bit before the start. It consists of a series of exaggerated motions that take all of the joints about to be used through their full range of motion. Unlike stretching, dynamic warm ups do not require that you hold any one position for more than a second or two. For example, before a run take 10 or 15 steps each time lifting one knee up and pulling it into your chest. Turn around and walk back kicking your straight leg out in front of you each step. Follow that up by walking with a butt kick. Doing these 3 simple warm-up drills will prepare your body for the stress of hip flexion, knee flexion, hip extension and knee extension- the primary joint actions used while running or walking!

Static stretching, or holding a stretch for 30 seconds, comes after you run or work out. Can you ever stretch during a workout? Again, if something becomes very tight- go for it. Or, in the case of weight lifting, stretching the opposing muscle to that which you are training will actually make you stronger! Try it if you don't believe me. The next time you are weight training, stretch your biceps in between sets of a tricep exercise, or your quads in between sets of a hamstring exercise. Let me know what happens!