Author: fitnessgroan

Fitness professional with 30+ years experience in the Health and Fitness Industry. Currently certified NSCA-CPT; SPINNING™ Certified; I have also completed NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, Motherwell Pregnancy and post-partum specialist, AFAA Weight Room Specialist, Advanced Heart Rate Training Specialist, and Stretching Specialist, workshops.

80% of Pre-Packaged Foods in America Are Banned in Other Countries

fitnessgroan1 Comment

http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/80-pre-packaged-foods-america-banned-other-countries-135100604.html

Sometimes, you read something that makes you realize that no matter which party controls the White House or congress, no matter who the President happens to be at the moment, the government of the United States doesn’t give a damn about its human citizens and only cares about its corporate citizens. Read this article and explain to me again how we define our nation as the “greatest one on earth”.

If you or your kids enjoy pre-packaged convenience foods commonly found in grocery stores across the U.S. such as Froot Loops, Swanson dinners, Mountain Dew, and frozen potato and bread products, you may think twice before purchasing them after hearing what they contain: dangerous chemicals that…

Diet Vs. Exercise: Which Matters Most?

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http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/diet-vs-exercise-matters-most-152700978.html

In a perfect world, everyone would work out enough and eat right all the time. But since that’s not always possible, find out what really matters most–dieting or exercise–for losing weight, fighting disease, and boosting overall health.

18 June, 2013 07:14

fitnessgroan1 Comment

Here we go. The New York Times getting lazy again. This article isn’t wrong in what it says, it’s just so vague and incomplete that someone who hasn’t ever engaged in regular exercise before but is getting ready to try is likely to make some terrible mistakes. Lets add just a bit of important detail.

First, everything the article says is correct…when talking about aerobic/cardiovascular exercise. You can train multiple days in a row, and such frequency can enhance the quality of your workouts as your practice develops better skills at that particular activity (running, cycling, even power walking have skills that can be improved).

The reason you can perform these activities multiple days in a row is determined by their nature, which is described in the category name AEROBICS. Aerobics refers to both a human energy system and a certain range of physical intensity.

Aerobic type exercise typically falls into a category of intensity between 60% and 85% of a persons theoretical max effort. At these ranges of effort, a person can continuously exercise for 15 or more consecutive minutes before becoming too fatigued to continue. Within this range the entire cardiovascular system becomes healthier and stronger, and that’s great. But it’s only half (some might argue 1/3) your fitness journey.

Anaerobic exercise is the other half of this very important fitness story. Like aerobics, the term anaerobic refers to both a human energy system and a range of physical intensity for the activity. In Anaerobic exercises, the intensity MUST exceed 85% of a persons theoretical maximum effort, causing rapid exhaustion (under 60 seconds, typically, but always under 2minutes). Training in this range improves the tone, and physical strength, of a persons skeletal muscular system, improving the bodies posture, appearance, resistance to physical injuries, and later in life, infirmity and osteoporosis. Can you walk up a flight of stairs when your 80? Can you tie your own shoelaces? Can you carry a bag of groceries or get up out of a cushy sofa? These are matters of physical strength in the geriatric community, and major challenges to millions of Americans.

Training at this intensity level can not be performed on consecutive days, because training at this level actually causes a temporary weakening of the skeletal muscles involved, and the following 24-48 hours are needed for the muscles to recuperate and adapt in order to become stronger.

The Times article correctly states that 72 hours between exercise bouts is too long to wait for any exercise, but fails to caution that certain kinds of exercise require a certain amount of days off before repeating.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

http://nyti.ms/19ztI5l
NYTimes: How Often to Exercise

Indoor Cycling

fitnessgroan5 Comments

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There is no such thing as the best kind of exercise…but when it comes to cardiovascular training indoor cycling comes close.

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With a good instructor you’ll get an awesome cardio/aerobic workout helping you burn enormous amounts of calories, and that helps you control your weight and body fat. You will strengthen unarguably the most important muscle in your body; your heart. That’ll keep you alive. It will improve your lung capacity so you don’t get winded going up a couple of flights of stairs when an elevator is out.

There’s more benefits, too. Unlike a 1 mile (or longer run), cycling can incorporate anaerobic training. Anaerobic training uses different sources of energy and challenges the skeletal muscles of the legs and hips to a far greater degree than aerobic training is designed to. This builds true muscle tone and strength creating shape. And that shape also enhances your ability to generate more power to go longer distances at lower levels of intensity and to overcome obstacles like hills and rough terrain along the way, or going up those two flights of stairs with a couple of heavy grocery bags, too.

Spinning and other indoor cycling programs give you all these benefits. Running and other forms of aerobics can, as well, but because of the pounding impact of jogging, running, and other aerobic type classes you also dramatically increase your risks of injury.

You can find me at the new cycling boutique studio in Forest Hills: SUN CYCLE Studio Tuesdays at 6am and 6pm, and Saturday at noon and as always at New York Sports clubs in Forest Hills, Rego Park, and Manhattan locations at 38th & Broadway and 23rd & 8th. My schedule there has not changed.

Join me and all the other great instructors for a great indoor cycling ride.

Come get the ride of your life, and get in the shape you’ve dreamed about.

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Interesting…I love science

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http://nyti.ms/13Emwi1

NYTimes: Is Barefoot-Style Running Best? New Studies Cast Doubt

Recent studies examining just how the body actually responds when we run in our birthday shoes or skimpy footwear suggest that for many people, running without shoes or in minimalist footwear does not make running easier, speedier or less injurious.

Exercise classes with you dog

fitnessgroan1 Comment

As a dog owner and fitness professional, I find this intriguing. What are my readers thoughts?

http://nyti.ms/17AvDW4

NYTimes: Exercise Class, Obedience Not Required

In a new class in Brooklyn, dogs and their owners can work out and play together.

Salt and your health

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This is important. Very, very important.
http://nyti.ms/16aD8TY

NYTimes: No Benefit in Sharply Restricting Salt, Panel Finds

Health experts for the government say there is no good reason for many Americans to keep sodium consumption below 2,300 milligrams a day, as national dietary guidelines advise.

Beating a dead horse…

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Ok, the Lance Armstrong scandal has died down somewhat, but I just want to ask this: Where is the deafening political outcry over this heinous immoral educational cheating? Where are the front page headlines attacking the 35% + of ALL COLLEGE STUDENTS who routinely cheat their way through college by taking these brain STEROIDS? Where are the congressional committees investigating students and the college/universities that facilitate this abuse? After all, how is a “clean” scholar supposed to “compete” with these “brain juiced” cheaters for lucrative scholarships that could save a student a hundred thousand or more dollars in tuition costs?

Really, how is it different?

It’s not.  It’s the same damn thing.  And the celebrity athlete should be no more vilified than these desperate students who are simply trying to do whatever it takes to compete and succeed in the world their parents created for them.

Just saying…
http://nyti.ms/11UgdY7

NYTimes: Attention-Deficit Drugs Face New Campus Rules

Misuse of attention deficit drugs has become a problem on campuses, and colleges are reconsidering how — and even if — their student health offices should try to diagnose A.D.H.D.