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The Most Effective Fat Burning And Muscle Building Workout That Takes Just 13 Minutes

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Most people who want to burn off some excess pounds and tighten and tone their bodies simply don’t have 2 hours each day to spend in the gym performing the bodybuilding style workouts that most “fitness experts” recommend.

Plus, these workouts consist of exercises and techniques that do not exercise the body in the way it is normally used so they end up building a somewhat unusable strength. In my opinion, most people, unless their main objective is body building, shouldn’t perform the traditional style workouts

While I do still believe that machine and free weight strength training is the best choice for body building, it is NOT the best choice when it comes to general fitness goals like strength, flexibility, endurance, etc.

I don’t know about you, but I can barely fit in 15 minutes for exercise let alone 2 hours… and I personally am not interested in muscle size alone (which doesn’t mean strength and usually leaves you stiff and inflexible)! I’m sure your schedule is probably the same. The good news though is you don’t have to… you can burn fat, increase flexibility, build unbelievable strength and endurance, reshape your body, and build a level of fitness that is truly functional.

I want to share with you a workout that I do personally that delivers a great combination of strength, flexibility, cardio and muscular endurance, and fat burning.

WARNING: The following workout will not only surprise you, but it will likely go against everything you ever thought to be true about fitness. Also, it is recommend you consult your physician before beginning any exercise program.

Are you ready? Good, here it is:

The following exercises should be performed with little or no rest between and you may need to adjust the number of repetitions or time depending upon your current fitness level.

Jumping Jacks -1 minute Bodyweight squat (one-leg squat for advanced) – 15-20 reps Push-ups (slower reps for advanced) – as many reps as possible Kick butts (jog in place and kick your rear with both heels) – 1 minute Hamstring floor bridge (use swiss ball or one leg for advanced) – 15-20 reps Superman (lying on stomach w/ arms out to side, lift legs and chest off floor) – 15-20 reps High knees (jog in place lifting knees as high as possible) – 1 minute Stationary lunge – 15-20 reps Torso rotations/twists – 20 reps each direction Side bends/reaches – 20 reps each direction Mountain climbers – 1 minute (if you can J) Wall sit – as long as you can hold it Dips (use chair/bench/stairs) – as many reps as possible

There you have it… sounds easy, right? That couldn’t possibly do anything, right? I personally challenge you… try it… no, try it right now! Drop what you are doing and give it a shot and see for yourself. If you find it a bit easy, which I doubt, perform it 2-3 times through without rest.

This workout will deliver more usable fitness results and benefits than any traditional gym or health club workout. Now, you can of course implement this type of workout in the gym and make it even better, but the beauty of this is you can do it anywhere!

Also, this is just one example and as you can imagine, there thousands of other exercises you can add or replace… I actually recommend switching the exercises every 2-4 weeks or even better is to put together 3 or 4 different workouts and then rotate them.

If you are not familiar with one of the exercises just replace it with one you know that works the same part of the body. You can also learn all of these exercises along with dozens of others in my soon to be released video which will consists of several workouts like this that you can do anywhere to build and maintain awesome levels of fitness, even workouts with dumbbells, swiss balls, medicine balls, and more… watch for it in coming months.

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Shaping Up Why Personal Trainers Get You There Faster

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The New Year always brings with it a lot of resolutions that people ultimately end up not keeping. One of the biggest resolution failures every year is to lose weight or, in the alternative, to get in shape. People purchase memberships to gyms they never utilize, buy fitness DVDs, and even purchase really strange fitness products they’ve seen on television. Yet time and again, these same people find that their efforts usually come up empty.

There are a lot of reasons why people fail at either losing weight or getting into better shape. Some these reasons have to do with school, work, and family obligations. Who wants to go to the gym when you are already tired after eight hours plus commuting time into either your office or school? The same goes for raising children and having to keep up with the house cleaning.

In the end, there is not much time to actually put any sort of genuine effort into completing your New Year’s resolution. If your situation matches this pretty well, that’s when it’s a great time to consider a personal trainer.

Common excuses abound for not wanting to hire a personal trainer, and range from them being too costly to not being able to offer anything more than one could learn from home by themselves. And occasionally these naysayers would be right. That still does not negate the fact that your time is limited and you need to make the best of it. Based on your own busy life, a personal trainer can help you set yourself on an appropriate schedule. They can also determine the best workout for your body type and individual fitness objectives. It’s hard to know what is worth a little additional money if that is not.

People who are continually on the go but who have a genuine desire to lose weight or get in better shape, then, are the perfect kind of people for personal trainers to work with. People can surely benefit from hiring a personal trainer, because they have very limited time to actually schedule in daily workouts or look up information on proper routines for their own needs. Your schedule may still be busy by adding in this new element, but you’ll be that much closer to actually obtaining your fitness-related objectives this year if you do.

Elliptical Equipment The Best Piece Of Fitness Equipment For Your Home

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The newest cardio equipment that has hit the fitness market is the elliptical training equipment. It gives individuals full and low impact body workouts. However, people must learn if these machines have been living up on the beneficial claims.

The University of Wisconsin’s researchers known as La Crosse have compared the motorized treadmill from the NordicTrack Ellipse elliptical trainer. They focused on parts like the cycle ergometer and stairstepper to determine the differences among the provided exercise modes of both equipments. Their study revealed that running a treadmill and Ellipse displays no important differences in terms of heart rate, calorie expenditure, and oxygen consumption. Both equipments have provided superior workouts on its test subjects over the cycle ergometer and stairstepper.

The researchers also discovered that impact forces that are produced by the Ellipse is similar to walking, while running a treadmill became the number one activity in providing maximum amounts of exercise impact, which could cause knee and joint pain. John Porcari who is the lead researcher explained that the Ellipse ground forces reaction is less than a half, compared to treadmill running, thus the motion of each equipment is giving workouts with similar intensity. Moreover, orthopedic injury is less likely to be acquired.

The ACE (American Council on Exercise) commissioned a recent study headed by Doctor Len Kravitz. It was conducted at the University of Mississippi camparing 4 elliptical trainer’s overall qualities.

The equipment being tested are the NordicTrack’s Ellipse selling at $599.95 dollars, the ICON Health and Fitness, Incorporated’s HealthRider Elliptical Crosstrainer at $499.99 dollars, the Guthy-Renker’s Power Train at $199.80 dollars, and the Quantum Television’s Cyclone Crosstrainer at $399 dollars.

Seven women and seven men performed the rigorous elliptical trainer testing. The four elliptical trainers surprisingly displayed similar test outcomes including perceived exertion ratings, calorie expenditure, heart rate, and stride speed. The perceived exertion ratings range from 12.5-13 correlating to a challenging yet a comfortable workout. The ACE’s study on each equipments revealed that effective workouts are given to both women and men. Their burnt calorie was equivalent to an 11.5 minutes mile running or a powerful aerobic dancing.

University of Mississippi’s researchers also surveyed each machine’s personal responses on the provided test subjects. The overall preferences based from the fourteen participants have ranked the equipments from the top to the least of their favorites. The Ellipse is on the top of the list, second was the HealthRider, third was the Power Train, and the last was the Cyclone. Nevertheless, Consumer Reports magazine have recently reported problems on the Ellipse in the form of durability failures. Needless to say the researchers and test subjects have proven the effectiveness of NordicTrack’s Ellipse.

The research team of Dr. Kravitz also provided their comments. Five out of seven women has been hit on the knees by the Cyclone’s center guard panel. The HealthRider started to make an extremely loud noise on its metal parts after a one hour use.

Moreover, Kravitz stated that the Cyclone and the Power Train appears to be made inexpensively to have a competitive price. The HealthRider is a product launched before it’s ready but it’s very smooth when running on it and gives a highly satisfactory service although the quality has not been tested. The ellipse compared to other equipment is more solidly built, feels smooth, runs smooth, and the most durable.

The studies from both universities lend credibility on the elliptical trainer’s effectiveness. Make sure you thoroughly do your own research prior to purchasing any fitness equipment including elliptical trainers.

The Kraus- Weber Test To Evaluate Your Fitness Level

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The best way to evaluate your fitness is through taking a test that will evaluate your physical strength and which will help you check the true relationship between strength, performance and your condition. No doubt, you will come across many tests that will help to show your true fitness level; however, one that you must check out is the one known as Kraus-Weber Test (K-W Test).

Six Separate Components

The K-W test of Minimum Muscular Fitness consists of six different components and it is a test that will help to measure a number of different muscle groups with regard to their strength and flexibility. The more the ratings are the greater is your level of fitness and the better will the muscles in the body function.

This test of fitness was at first used to evaluate how treatment being meted out to treat low back pain was progressing. It is surprising to learn that as many as, it is believed, more than eighty percent of those tested failed to pass the test! However, these people, when exercising were nevertheless able to perform better and the complaints of back pain too steadily became fewer.

The first of six K-W Tests to evaluate fitness is to keep both feet on the ground; maintaining a lying down position on the ground and with hands held behind your back doing sit-ups. The second K-W Test requires that you maintain the same posture as in the first test but your knees must be bent and the ankles positioned as close to your buttocks after which you must do a single sit-up.

In the third K-W Test you will need to lie flat on your back and keep your hands behind your neck and your legs must be straight and lifted about ten inches off the ground for ten seconds. The fourth test requires you to lie on your stomach; a pillow should be placed beneath your lower abdomen and also your groin. With feet held down you need to lift up your head and shoulders as well as the chest off the ground for about ten seconds.

Test number five requires that you maintain the same posture as in test number four; with chest down you need to lift your knees straight off the floor for ten seconds. Finally, in test number six you will need to stand erect and barefoot and both your feet must be placed together; then, with knees straight you need to bend slowly to touch the ground with your fingertips and you must hold this position for three seconds.

You might also want to know more about the right kind of fitness equipment including the treadmill that is ubiquitous item that every fitness fanatic is found using today. The K-W Test may seem to be a simple one; however, when you try this test, the results achieved will truly amaze you and it will also do a world of good as far as your fitness is concerned.

Help Your Child Fall In Love With Fitness

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Childhood is the time to be active, playful and extremely energetic. It is very important that a child stays physically active and energetic, as it will lead to healthy all round physical and mental development of children. However, with the advancement of technology, children are now faced with a range of choices for entertainment and games.

Nowadays, children are seen preferring to stay in their homes and spend time on video games and gaming consoles. It has also been seen that children spend a majority of their time watching television. This leads to lesser physical activity of the children and makes children lazy to go out and play. Because of this, children tend to become couch potatoes and start gaining weight. Cases of childhood obesity are gradually rising in USA.

It is because of these reasons that children should be introduced to fitness at a very young age. Many people are of the view that children do not require regular exercise. This is a wrong notion. You should incorporate a daily exercise schedule in your childs routine,. The faster your children start taking their health and fitness seriously, the faster they will fall I love with fitness. Your children will gradually realize the importance of maintaining a healthy body. Here are some tips to help your children fall in love with fitness:

1.Start a healthy diet – Children should be given a balanced diet so that they can derive the maximum benefits out of the food. Many children are fussy eaters but this habit needs to be changed or overlooked. Often children might dislike a food which is very rich from the point of view of nutrients. Make sure that your child drinks enough water throughout the day.

2.Encourage your child – Children will be needing motivation and encouragement at this time. It would be best if you could also exercise while your child is exercising, this will make your child view fitness as an important aspect of our daily routine.

3.Try incorporating various types of games – Children love variety. Therefore, try teaching them new types of games. These games should be fun and should make your children run around and remain active. If your child is reluctant to do free hand exercises, try to make him/her skip on a rope. Skipping is both fun as well as a healthy way to stay fit and active.

4.Reward your children – As an incentive of taking fitness seriously, you should reward your children. This will help them to stay motivated and will provide them with the encouragement to stay active. An ice cream, an extra hour of watching television, etc can be offered to your child as a reward for not watching too much of television and exercising regularly.

5.Organize family outings – Children have very short attention spans. Chances are that your child will be bored of the exercise schedule and will lose interest in exercising on a daily basis. You can try organizing family picnics and outings. In such events, your child will naturally want to run around and stay active.