Portable Fitness News » Total Body

Walking at Lunchtime for Health

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:09:51 +0000

For most of us, the term lunch hour is literal, making it important to use the time wisely when trying to squeeze a working out into it. Before you can worry about budgeting time, you need to start a routine. You need to get into a habit of doing it before you can worry about picking up the intensity. It’s similar to eating healthy.

Walking for Health

You want to start with something you know you can do every day. So starting off by lifting heavy heights or doing sprints right away are going to leave your body sore and make you less likely to workout the next day.

Lunch Break Walking

A great way to start a workout routine is by taking a half hour walk during the lunch hour. The goals right now are to get your heart pumping, break a little sweat and make your body to want to do it again the next day. Once you get into a routine, your body will crave the exercise and will begin to want more. Also, walking will prepare your legs for the running you’ll be doing in the coming weeks, which we’ll get into in my next article.

By Kevin Finley

Exercise without the mind is simply movement

bookrytr@aol.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:52:19 +0000

I grew up in the bodybuilding day, standing at the sidelines and watching my brother tempt death in one of several ways, or worse, for such was our age, complete public humiliation. My brother Mike Dayton became known in the 1970s and 1980s as the World’s Greatest Strongman. A bodybuilder (2-time Mr. America) and martial artist (5th Dan) he had the rare vantage point of seeing power as raw muscle hyperbole and also as an essence that exists at the soul of man. Mike knew that the mind controls strength.

Mind Exercise

Consider isometric exercise. First, place your left hand flat across your right chest and shoulder. Take your right hand and extend it to the side. Make a fist and imagine that you are pulling a beautiful new Mercedes in front of you. The car is heavy, imagine the brakes on, but pull with all your might—if you can pull that monster 5-series hard enough, it will be yours.

In reality, there is no car, no handle, and no brakes. But if you put your mind into that visualization, your pecs were rippling under your left hand and if you were in front of a mirror you saw the pump.

But you never touched a weight.

That was your mind working the muscle. And that’s the only way a muscle works to achieve the anaerobic effect that builds strength and size.

Mind Exercises

Mind Muscle Control

This is nothing new to weight lifters. The mirrors in gyms are not for the benefit of looking at beautiful bodies, the mirrors are there so lifters can better focus on the muscle they are working. The mind, not the weight, creates the catalyst for a chain reaction that is anaerobic (without oxygen) and creates ultimate strength. It only lasts a minute or so, which is why boxing rounds are so short.

My brother used these techniques to break handcuffs, pop tennis balls in his hands, bend quarters and even survive hanging. Crazy? No, there’s plenty of evidence, in first hand witnesses, video and print.

Exercise with No Results

If you’ve been working out on a regular basis with no results, then you are not truly making the mind-muscle connection. Sometimes I call this ugly face exercise: it’s the point when you are exercising where you grit your teeth, your eyes are not really focused and you may not for the moment know where you are or what you’re doing, other than giving it 110%. That is when you’ve your anaerobic range. That is when you’ve told your body to deliver more nutrients for muscle tone and strength and for bone density. Your body is devouring carbs and you’ve also sparked your metabolism to stay on the ready for the next 24 hours, thereby burning more calories.

So, want to exercise brainless or do you want to incorporate some mental muscle?

By Laura Dayton

A great workout without a costly gym membership!

captaincait@hotmail.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:05:32 +0000

The state of the economy is tough on everyone. We are all copiously scouring our expenses looking for ways to cut back and save money. Unfortunately, one of the first things to go are the gym memberships and personal training sessions. But that doesn’t mean you have to toss your exercise routine out the window too. There are plenty of moves you can do with little or no gym equipment that will still give you all the benefits your costly membership once did!

Home Exercise Routines

This workout will combine quick bursts of cardio to get your heart rate up in the right target zone (to find out what this zone is for you check this article out on calculating your target heartrate and then incorporate strength moves to get you lean and toned. The best part is you can do this routine virtually anywhere, even while catching up on your favorite TV shows!

Jog in place for 5 minutes—it’s always best to warm-up into any routine

15 push-ups—drop on the floor and pump these out without a break

15 chair dips—keeping the momentum, place your hands on a stationary chair or chair step and extend your feet in front of you; lower yourself until your arms are bent at the elbow at 90 degrees and parallel to the floor, and then raise yourself back up until your arms are straight

Jump rope for 5 minutes—if you don’t have a rope, just jump in place keeping your heart pumping

Home Exercise Alternatives

30 lunges—hands on hips and feet together, extend your right leg and drop into a deep lunge until your left knee is almost touching the floor and then push yourself back to the starting position and repeat with your left leg in front. Do 15 on each leg for a total of 30 lunges

15 bicep curls—grabbing either 5 or 10 pound weights, or you can get creative and use filled water bottles or even canned goods; as long as you feel the burn my the last few

Stair stepping for 5 minutes—finding either a step or raised surface alternate stepping your feet one at a time up onto the stair and then down; you will stay in the same place, but with one foot on the stair and the other under you as you quickly switch the positions of your feet

15 squats—squat down low and work to keep your weight balanced on your heels

Home Exercises

15 upright rows—grabbing your weights or water bottles stand with your feet shoulder width apart and arms hanging in front of your hips; pull your arms upward in front of your torso until your upper arms are at shoulder height and bent at the elbow. Lower your arms and repeat.

Scissor step for 5 minutes—place your hands and feet on the floor and bend at the waist so that your bottom is toward the ceiling. Alternate hopping your right foot forward and then switch positions so that your left leg jumps forward as your right goes back

30 second plank—placing yourself in the push-up position, hold yourself up concentrating on pulling your abs in and keeping your back straight

30 crunches

5 minutes sideways hops—facing forward with your feet together jump first to the right and then the left; keep yourself working and sweating!

15 side arm raises—with a weight in each hand and your arms at your side, keep your arms straight and lift them until they are shoulder height and parallel with the ground. Lower your arms and repeat.

30 front punches—with the same weights alternate punching one arm in front of you and then the other for a total of 15 punches on each side.

5 minutes running in place—gradually work yourself into a cool-down

You’ve just done a perfect total body workout while getting your pulse moving and lungs working. The strength moves will help build muscle and the combined cardio will help you torch calories, and the best part is you didn’t have to spend a penny!

By Caitlin Chock