Exercise Articles

It's Pool Time: Ways to Make the Most of This Seasonal Exercise

With the warm weather comes the opening up of public pools, home pools and breaking out the bathing suit for another season of swimming. For many people, swimming is a good way to wind down after a long day. But others are using swimming as another means of exercise and they are finding that this form of exercise can be both effective and fun!

Exercise experts recommend swimming as a form of exercise because of the great cardiovascular workout you get from swimming. It is considered a great aerobic exercise because by definition it is an action that maintains an elevated heartbeat for a minimum of 20 minutes.

According to Webmd.com swimming recruits all the major muscle groups, including the shoulders, back, abdominals, legs, hips, and glutes. Water also affords 12 times the resistance as air in every direction making it very effective for building strength.

In addition, swimming is a good fitness choice for just about everyone, especially those who have arthritis, musculoskeletal or weight limitations or those who find other forms of exercise painful. Water's buoyancy accommodates the unfit as well as the fit. Water cushions stiff joints or fragile bones that might be injured by the impact of land exercises. When immersed to the waist, your body bears just 50% of its weight; immersed to the chest, its 25%-35%; and to the neck, 10%.

You can simply add swimming to your pre-existing aerobic workout to help switch things up and keep your workouts fresh. Alternate days that you decide to use swimming as your cardio for that day, so you don't get bored with any one workout. Instead of staying indoors and using the treadmill or elliptical for a day, get outdoors and swim laps in the pool for the cardio portion of your workout and you will find that exercising comes much easier when you aren't sticking to the same routine day in and day out.

Like any exercise, you should also start any swimming workout routine by stretching first. You may not realize the affect swimming has on your entire body until it is too late, so be sure to stretch appropriately before you begin. If you're a beginner, start slowly. Try to swim for 10 minutes. Build up to a 30-minute workout, three to five times a week. Include a warm-up and a cool-down, and, in the middle, challenge yourself by working on endurance, stroke efficiency, or speed.

Experts suggest starting out swimming laps for approximately 20 minutes for women and 30 minutes for men. You can begin to increase your time as necessary and as you continue your workout over the course of weeks or months. Again, this will prevent you from getting too tired, too sore, wore out or disappointed in your swimming workout.

For weight loss, Webmd.com recommends interval training, in which you push yourself hard for short spurts, and then drop back to a less-intense level of exercise.

Try out different strokes when you are swimming. Do some laps using the breaststroke, then switch up and do the backstroke, or even the doggy paddle. Each swimming stroke using a different variety of muscles and therefore will give you the best overall workout.

Playing games in the pool is also a good way to get some exercise in the spring and summer. You can play water polo, water basketball, chicken fights, diving games, or even just do some aerobics in the water. You will get your workout in without even realizing it!

Be sure to wear your sun block (preferably a waterproof kind to avoid unnecessary reapplications) to fight the harmful UV rays of the sun while you are in the pool.

And lastly, keep it safe and have fun. Before you know it, the warm seasons will be over and we'll be looking for ways to exercise indoors again. Enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts!

Put on the Weight by Adding to Your Resistance Training

Adding weight can be a good thing : if you are adding to your resistance training!

In an article on Medicinenet.com Richard Weil, an exercise physiologist and the director of the New York Obesity Research Center Weight Loss Program provided a thorough question and answer guide to those interested in or beginning a weight training regimen.

In the article, Weil explains what resistance exercise consists of as well as the benefits of an effective weight resistance program.

Resistance exercise is defined as any exercise where muscles contract against an external resistance with the objective of increasing strength, tone, mass, and/or muscular endurance. The resistance can come from dumbbells, weight machines, elastic tubing or bands, cinder blocks, cans of soup, your own body weight (for example, pushups), or any other object that forces your muscles to contract. Results occur when you train consistently over time.

The benefits of adding weights to your exercise routine includes improvement of muscular strength, endurance, functional capacity and ability, blood pressure, osteoporosis, low back pain, insulin resistance and glucose metabolism, resting metabolic rate and psychological well being.

And it's never too late to start a resistance program either. In a classic study in a Boston nursing home, 100 residents ranging from 72 to 98 years of age performed resistance exercise three times a week for 10 weeks. Muscle strength increased 113%, walking speed increased by almost 12%, and thigh-muscle area increased 2.7%!

Although it may be intimidating to start, Weil provides some basic rules for properly lifting weights:

Take your time and lift mindfully. Feel it in the belly of the muscle you're trying to work and not in the joints. Select weights that your body can handle without having to cheat or force the weight up (leaning way back, using momentum, etc.).

Here are a couple starter weight lifting programs that Weil suggests. They are broken up by muscle group and are three days per week. You can experiment with splits, exercises, and the number of days per week. He suggests 12-15 repetitions and one to three sets per exercise for beginners (remember, you can gain significant strength with just one set). He's included more than one exercise for each muscle group. You can stick with one exercise if you like, or experiment with more than one. Increase the weight when you can perform 15 reps easily. If you're using elastic tubing, start with the tube that you can lift 12-15 times to fatigue, and then increase when you get stronger.

Day 1: Chest (bench press with bar or dumbbell press, flies, pushups), triceps (bench dips, kickbacks)

Day 2: Back (bent-over rows), biceps (curls, standing or seated)

Day 3: Shoulders (lateral raises, front raises), legs (squats, lunges)

Here's a different split.

Day 1: Chest (bench press with bar or dumbbell press, flies, pushups), back (bent-over rows, pull-downs)

Day 2: Biceps (curls, standing or seated), triceps (bench dips, kickbacks)

Day 3: Shoulders (lateral raises, front raises), legs (squats, lunges)

Resistance exercise is worth it. You'll gain strength, endurance, and confidence. It's feels great to feel strong, so give it a try! For more information and examples of resistance exercises that will help you to “put on the weight,” visit Medicinenet.com.

Treadmill Workout: Burn an Easy 2,000 Calories This Week!

Has your treadmill become a haven for dust and drying clothes rather than using it as the fat burning cardio machine that it was created to be? Or maybe you are consistently working out on your treadmill but are getting tired and bored with the same old routine. Why not spice things up and increase the efficacy of this exercise machine standard. Below are a few tips and an easy treadmill workout with which you could potentially burn a quick 2,000 calories in just seven days.

According to Treadmilltalk.com a common treadmill mistake involves starting out at the pace you want to maintain without warming up and without pacing yourself. Treadmill exercise like this will quickly lead to sore muscles and possibly injuries, not to mention frustration. It also means you aren't using all of your lower body muscles effectively.

There are several important elements to effective treadmill exercise. A few things to keep in mind are:

Always warm up- It is essential to stretch your muscles and warm them up slowly by walking at a speed of no more than 1.5 to 2 mph for a minute or two. Switching from the heels to the toes for thirty seconds each, then stretching out your stride for another minute will help stretch all muscles properly.

Increase your workout slowly- You should stay at one level for four weeks before moving on to the next level of difficulty. Any faster and you risk over-tasking your muscles or sustaining an injury. This is one of the most important tips for treadmill workouts to keep in mind. Burn-out is frequently the result of trying to rush to results.

Always cool down- Hopping off the treadmill after running and sitting down is an invitation for muscle cramps or worse. You need to slow down the pace and allow your muscles and heart rate to return to normal while you are moving.

Another common mistake with treadmill exercise is simply stepping on and walking or jogging at the same speed for twenty or thirty minutes. This will only succeed in making you very tired and very bored. It also isn't a very efficient workout. Try this easy treadmill workout instead.

Day One: Power walk : 30 minutes Strength train : 20 minutes

Day Two: Warm-up (walk easily, then briskly) : 3 minutes Power walk : 2 minutes Run fast (don't sprint) : 2 minutes Repeat steps 1 and 2 : 10 times Cool down (walk easily) : 2 minutes

Day Three: Warm-up (walk easily) : 5 minutes Do your favorite strength-training move : 12 reps Power walk (4-6% incline) : 3 minutes Repeat steps 1 and 2 : 6 times Cool down (walk easily) : 5 minutes

Day Four: Warm-up (walk easily, then briskly) : 3 minutes Power walk : 2 minutes Run fast (don't sprint) : 2 minutes Repeat steps 1 and 2 : 6 times Cool down (walk easily) : 3 minutes

Day Five: Repeat Day One's Routine

Day Six: Warm-up (Walk easily, then briskly) : 5 minutes Power walk : 2 minutes Run fast (don't sprint) : 4 minutes Repeat steps 1 and 2 : 6 times Cool down (walk easily) : 4 minutes

Day Seven: Rest

Repeat this workout weekly or every other week. Remember to mix up your workouts to keep things fresh and exciting.

Exercise to Avoid: The Least Effective Workouts You Can Do

We know, we know, it's a headline you never thought you'd read. But it's true. There are a number of workouts that you will see people doing at your gym any given day of the week that are actually ineffective. Unless you have the best form and are using the machines exactly as instructed, then you actually may be doing more harm than good to your body.

The following have recently been named by WebMD as some of the least effective exercises that you can do:

Behind the Head Lat Pull Downs- Unfortunately, only those with very mobile shoulder joints can keep their spine straight enough to get a good workout from the behind the back lat pull down bar. The move done wrong can actually tear the rotator cuff.

Behind the Head Military Press- This exercise done similarly to the behind the head lat pull down, can cause the same problems with the rotator cuff that the aforementioned could cause.

Upright Row- This exercise done by pulling weights or a barbell underneath your chin can compress the nerves in your shoulder, actually impinging the shoulder.

Lying Leg Press (with knees bent too deeply) - This exercise is typically done to work your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes and is done on a machine where you use your feet to push a weighted plate up and down. Unfortunately if you bend your knees too far, then you can seriously injure your back and/or knees.

Squats on a Smith Machine- While the Smith Machine is generally an effective machine, the bar on the machine doesn't give, which can force the body into risky positions, including placing the feet too far in front of you while doing their squats.

Using Bad Form on Cardio Machines- While using bad form is not good on any machine, using bad form on cardio equipment is a big no-no. Hunching over can throw off your alignment, jarring your spine, shoulders and elbows.

Always Lifting with a Weight Belt- You will see plenty of people around your gym who are constantly wearing a weight belt. Unless you have a back injury, are lifting a lot of weight or if you have some other medical reason, then a weight belt is not necessary. Wearing a weight belt too often can weaken your core muscles, throwing off your entire workout.

Any Exercise Done While Wearing the Wrong Shoes- Wearing the appropriate shoes for working out is as important as using the proper form. Working out in the wrong type of shoes increases the pounding on your joints, and can lead to problems like plantar fasciitis or tendinitis.

While these are only a few exercises that have been deemed ineffective if done the wrong way, there are plenty of other machines and workouts that can harm you if you are doing them wrong.

Be sure to consult with the trainers at your gym before starting any workout and learn the proper way to use the machines that they have on hand.