The benefits of exercise are well-documented. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case with advertising claims for exercise equipment.Some advertisers claim that their exercise products offer a quick, easy way to shape up, keep fit, and lose weight. The truth is, there’s no such thing as a no-work, no-sweat way to a healthy, toned body. Deriving the benefits of exercise requires doing the work.

Before you jump into the next home fitness fad, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers this advice: Exercise good judgment and evaluate advertising claims for exercise products carefully.

Evaluating Fitness Equipment Claims

Read the performance claims with some skepticism. Beware of anyone that say the equipment can:

provide easy or effortless results or burn excessive calories. The claims may be true for athletes in top physical condition, but not for most people.
Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: advertising claims, company representative, exercise equipment, exercise products, Federal Trade Commission, Fitness Equipment, good seconhand equipment, home exercise equipment, local newspaper, rowing, USD

Over the years I have seen a lot of flimsy ideas of how to get a set of six pack abs. The most common scams are special machines that will do it and sometimes some kind of drink. I remember at one point Slim Fast seemed to be showing chubby people suddenly spawning a set of six pack abs.

Anyway I wanted to put this notion to rest that there is some magic to getting a six pack. Sure there is some genetics involved in sculpting perfect abs but the two most important factors are diet and exercise.

What? Did you think there was a shortcut?

Six Pack Abs Diet

The diet part is fairly simple; you need to drop any extra fat. You have probably heard this before but there is no such thing as spot reduction when you are losing weight. You will lose weight proportionately, generally, as you lose weight. What you may find is that you have a large stomach and if that is the case of course you will lose that fat faster than you lose the fat on your legs but that is just because that is where the fat deposits will be easiest for your body to use.
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Tags: abdominal exercises, atkins diet, chair, getting a six pack, lose weight, losing weight, rowing, six pack abs, spot reduction, Swimming

For an individual who is overweight, exercising to lose that weight is one of the most rewarding activities he/she will ever embark upon.  However, there are literally thousands of activities you can do to burn calories.

It can be intimidating, to say the least, wondering where to start with such a varied array of exercises.  There are certain activities, though, that can take calorie burning to a whole different level. Listed below are the top X ways to burn calories (note: number of calories burned per activity assume a body weight of 150 pounds and exercise time of 30 minutes).

These activities can be split up into three general groups: Gym activities, training and sports activities, and daily life activities. The top gym activites for burning calories include: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: burning calories, cardio, custom tailor, elliptical trainer, Mowing lawn, Reading, rowing, sports activities, ways to burn calories

Right now I am in the midst of packing an moving from a house into a townhome in a town just 15 minutes out of Calgary.

The move to me seems straightforward and I am very excited. The kids will be in a good school together, we will have a bit of a more laid back lifestyle and we will have a more family like community to live in.

My wife on the other hand is struggling a little bit. There is all the moving plans, getting the kids registered for school, the idea of moving to a small town for the first time in her life and she bears the brunt of coordinating all of the expenses and hiring the movers.

We have moved a few times in the past and each time our roles are the same but the way that we deal with it is always different. One person or both of us is usually tense we each have our own coping mechanisms and in the end we are always happy with our move and how smoothly everything has gone on moving day. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: calgary, coping mechanisms, doing weights, energy, food, getting injuries, healthier lifestyle, lifestyle change, mind and body rebel, mre food, rowing, Swimming, way of life

If skiing is my first favorite exercise, working out using an elliptical trainer is my second favorite option. Now you maybe are wondering what it is about those elliptical trainers that I like so much. In case you are unacquainted with the elliptical trainer, this article will tell you what you are missing.

There are many, many advantages of working out using an elliptical trainer. First and foremost, it is much less intense than the traditional cardio. Unlike cardio, it puts very little strain on your body. If you have ever engaged in skiing, bicycling and rowing, you would know what it is like to exercise with elliptical trainer, for it is nothing but a combination of all these three exercises.

Elliptical trainers come at different price tags, and you don’t necessarily need to buy the most expensive one. Just make sure that the machine you buy shows stats on how long you have been riding on it, how many calories are burnt, as well as your mileage. An elliptical trainer which doesn’t offer these statistics is not worth your time or money.

Another thing you must look for is whether the elliptical trainer gives you a jerky feeling when you workout. Decent elliptical trainers won’t have this jerky feeling; rather, they are smooth and “natural” and won’t stress your body at all. Be sure to look for warranties, and trial offers, if any.

Okay, now here are the four main reasons why I love elliptical trainers:

1. Requires less involvement and concentration on my part: If you are a busy person like me, you would love the elliptical trainer. You would also love it if you are someone who is bored of workouts. Just imagine being able to watch TV or listen to your IPOD while working out. Well, that is exactly what you can do with an elliptical trainer. When you use it, you won’t even feel like you are working out. Plus, it helps you burn a lot of fat in a lot less time that cardios would.

2. Totally unobtrusive: Unlike some other workout machines, elliptical trainers are usually quiet by nature. In fact, if your family members stay at the other room, they won’t even know when you are riding on the workout machine.

3. Helps me workout at home: I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of venturing out of home everyday and heading to the gym for workouts. Elliptical trainer helps me workout at home, at any time I want.

4. Burns fat from all parts of my body: You might have heard about those abs crunches machines which focus on burning only your abdomen fat. You know one thing, REAL weight loss occurs only when you burn fat from ALL parts of your body.

For one, you really cannot force your body to burn fat at any particular spot. For another, it is no use having a slim abdomen if your hips and chest are huge, and the opposite is equally true. Elliptical trainer is great because I can burn fat from all parts of my body, including chest, neck, face, hips, thighs, belly, etc., with it.

Tags: ipod, rowing, skiing

I have written quite a bit over the last week about what you need as far as home fitness equipment goes but thought I would just round out this week with an overview of what you should have for equipment. So here is what I think that you should try to accumulate over the next while.

Mats – The most basic piece of fitness equipment is an exercise mat. You need an exercise mat for doing stretching as well as for doing abs and an exercise mat is always good for lying on when you are tired from a tough set or some cardio

Dumbells – Dumbells are those short bars with the weights on them. Who cares about them all matching but you want to probably have pairs of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 pounds and sometimes even a pair of 3 pound weights are good to carry while you are running or doing other cardio. These all come in handy for lots of your weight exercises

Barbell – This is just a big long bar. The barbell bar weighs I believe 20 pounds although ones at the gym will weight 45 pounds. Then of course you need weights to put on this bar. Remember that anytime that you are using a barbell you are lifting more weight and in the case of bench presses or even military presses you can get yourself into real trouble if you do not have a spotter. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: cardio equipment, elliptical trainer, Fitness Equipment, home fitness equipment, paul plakas, rowing, weight exercises, X

I wrote a post last week about buying used exercise equipment because at this time of year it is much easier to by exercise equipment then it is at any other time of the year and to save money to boot. Anyway in all of the equipment that I mentioned I never did mention the best piece of cardio exercise equipment and that is the rowing machine.

Rowing machines are a bit more complex and a bit harder to use than the standard stair machine, exercise bike, or treadmill. A rowing machine is a much better piece of equipment if you are looking for a new piece of equipment because it does a lot more for your body. With a bike you work your legs mostly and your abs a little and with a treadmill it is only a leg workout for the most part but with a rowing machine you work a lot more body parts.

Rowing machines work nearly all of the major muscle groups with work done by your quads, hamstrings, back, biceps and abs. There is no better exercise for the entire body than a rowing machine besides maybe swimming.

Lastly, most rowing machines take almost no space. A good quality rowing machine is very flat and can fit under a bed or up against a wall and for this reason alone it is much easier to contain a rowing machine in an apartment or small house then it is to have a treadmill or exercise bike.

Tags: cardio exercise equipment, exercise equipment, rowing

Health Club tours are always well scripted events that are conducted by a salesman for only one or two people. When you are gong to go to tour the health club that you are interested in remember that touring one is not enough. Decide which one you really like best just by location and reputation and then tour a couple of others.

Why would you tour other gyms?

Well every gym you tour will have a salesperson pushing the points that are strongest at that particular gym; the size, the amount of equipment, the trainers. After you have gone on a few tours than you will be saving what you think is the best for last. At this point you are going to know a lot more about what would be important to you and you will be in a better place to not be sold by the pitch and instead be a bit more detached to what is important for your own needs in a health club.

So now on with the tours!

The look of the Health Club

Firstly do your fitness club tours at a time that you would normally work out, this will give you an idea of what the conditions are going to be when you workout yourself. When you start your health club tour the salesperson will start by telling you how great the gym is and how helpful and friendly the staff and other members are. Look around the gym and see what the equipment usage is like, is there any obvious waiting for equipment? Are you going to be intimidated by huge bodybuilders making too much noise? On the other hand does it deem to country club like for your tastes without a motivational feel?

Even though you may have worn workout clothes for your health club tour try to make sure that you do not use the equipment, the act of working out may distract you from your objectivity. While you are seeing the equipment take a look at the lighting, is the workout area bright enough. How much space is there between pieces of equipment? Are you going to be crowded in or is there to much room that makes the place look too empty?

Check out the layout of the entire fitness center, are there enough water fountains? Are you going to run into people while you are getting weights for the bench press? When you get to the changing room check out the showers, stalls and lockers and make sure everything is clean. You may be uncomfortable with the idea of showering with other people but over time you will likely find it useful to be able to have a workout, shower, and then continue on with your day.

Workout Equipment

When you tour the health clubs there are three kinds of equipment to look at.

Cardio Equipment – steppers, stationary bikes, treadmills, rowing machines. How are the usage of these machines, these are always very popular and if your are at the gym at busy time your will not want to wait between uses of the machines

Weight Machines – contraptions that you put weights on including nautilus and others. How well are these maintained? The worst thing for using these is if they are jerky when you are moving through your range of motion and you will not want to be using them which means they would be wasted equipment to you.

Weights, benches, racks – There are various ways to do your exercises but you have to sit or lean on something. Are there lineups for this equipment? How close and how many weight plates are around? Again you would not want to wait to use this equipment as the time between sets is an important factor as to whether you have a good workout or not.

Miscellaneous equipment- abs equipment, lower back. This equipment is usually shoved off to one side in the health club. You will want to be able to get to it as almost every workout you will want to either work on getting a six pack set of abs or strengthening your lower back. Is this equipment well covered or is it torn? Is there enough at a busy time or do you have to wait for this? It may not be too bad to wait for these pieces of equipment occasionally so it may not be a deal breaker for you.

One thing to really take a look at in your tour of the health club is the equipment and the apparent servicing of this equipment. Gym equipment is very tough looking and it may look to you like the equipment is very sturdy and does not need any work to keep it going. This is very wrong! Any reputable gym will have someone working for them part time to maintain the equipment, keeping everything greased, recovering the benches and seats and generally making sure that all of the health club equipment is in tip top shape.

Cardio equipment must be maintained as well. The cardio equipment in a gym has to take much more abuse than nay weight equipment ever has to. Parts are worn and have to be replaced so that everything feels smooth when using stationary bikes, treadmills, stair machines and rowing machines.

Amenities

Lastly you will want to check out all of those really cool amenities�.or maybe not.

Suntan Beds – Are you going to get a great deal on the suntanning? Do you even care if you ever use a suntan bed? If not why even factor that into whether you want to join?

Squash or racquetball – if there is some kind of courts look at whether you have anyone to play with, if your are outgoing you may find plenty of people to play with but if not it may be just a waste of space to you�and your membership fees pay for that upkeep.

Proshop and snack bar – these are among the most expensive places for clothes, drinks and equipment on the planet. Always an excuse for a break from the workout but they will always lighten your wallet.

Personal trainer on staff – This could be a great one, if there is a personal trainer then you may want to pay the 40 or so dollars an hour to improve your workouts but it can add up over time. See if there is some kind of plan for 10 sessions or something. And if you set up training then remember to take lots of notes in the car in the parking lot afterwards.

Pricing the Health Club

After you have been through more than a couple gyms and fitness centers you are going to know the tour pretty well and the hard close at the end that tries to have you sign up before you leave the door. Do not sign up right away as you can always leverage how the other gyms are when you are ready to sign up in the end. Every area of the country is a bit different as far as memberships go for health clubs but almost always there is a monthly payment, some kind of signup fee and a two or three year contract. When you are ready to decide look at all of the factors that are important and discount any amenities that you will be paying for but not using. The decision is usually a tough one between a couple of places but in the end I am sure you will be happy with your decision and on your way to an exciting new lifestyle.

Tags: bodybuilders, cardio equipment, fitness center, fitness club, gym equipment, gym salesperson, health club, health club equipment, Miscellaneous equipment, nay weight equipment, personal trainer, rowing, salesman, squash, Tour Health Club, workout area, workout clothes