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Baby Boomers Are Turning 60!
The 60’s – flower children, hippies, tie dyed shirts, bandanas and free love. The Rolling Stones, Elvis, the Beatles and the notion they would never grow old began to permeate their thinking. Their new way of thinking made their parents shake...
How To Get A Flat, Toned Stomach
One of the most common fitness questions this time of year is “How can I tone my stomach for swimsuit season”? Typically, people believe that the guaranteed quick route to obtaining a rock-solid six-pack is a path packed with hundreds of...
Improving Posture with Orthotic Shoe Inserts
You may not realize it, but poor posture is a major contributor to back pain. Slouching in your chair, hunching your shoulders and tilting your head can all lead to back pain. The way you walk, stand and run also has a huge effect on muscles in your...
Lifestyle Advice for Angry Type-A Action People
The Wood Personality Type (Inspiration and Strategic Planning for Success without Coffee and Espresso) Chinese Medicine has a system of five body-mind-emotion types. This article explains one of those types. Strategic planning for success is a...
Stretching Routines
Lots of physical activities build your muscles and strength, but many times other parts of your body are left out. Because stretching can be a full body workout, it can help to check any imbalance in your muscles.
If your body is flexible you...
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Why Losing Weight Should Not Be Your Ultimate Goal
You see it everywhere. Lose 10 lbs, turn fat into muscle, trim inches from your waist line. Do these statements make sense? Are they possible?
Well, yes you can lose 10 lbs of body weight. Yes you can make the circumference of your waist smaller. No you cannot turn fat into muscle. That one is not even physically possible. Now what about the making sense part? Should your goal be to lose 10 lbs of body weight? I don't think so. Here's why.
Our bodies are made up of all kinds of matter but there are two things that have a lot to do with the way we look, the way we feel, and even the way we live. These two things are muscle and fat. Our bodies must be made up of a certain percentage of fat in order for us to even survive. Of course most of us have that percentage plus quite a few percentage points more... Way more than we actually "need".
Anyway, when many people make weight loss their number one goal, they start by doing what I call "eating like a bird". They starve themselves and they may do aerobics like there is no tomorrow. I'll tell you right now. It's not right!
A few things happen when you eat like a bird. First, your body starts to use your fat stores and muscle stores for energy because you are not bringing in enough food to support life. Next, your body's metabolism, or the rate at which it burns calories, begins to slow. You see, your body figures it's not getting enough food to support life so it better start conserving what it has stored away so that it can survive. And what do you think it conserves when you eat like a bird and do only cardio. That's right - fat.
Your body will conserve your fat and burn your muscle for the energy it needs for a couple of reasons. First, muscle takes energy to preserve. Your body figures if it can get rid of some of that muscle then it can conserve more energy. Second, your body "thinks" it doesn't need the "excess" muscle anyway
because it is never put under a whole lot of resistance or stress. Cardio works the heart and lungs, not so much the muscles of the legs, arms, and trunk. You might "feel the burn" but you're really not putting the muscles under enough resistance to make your body want to conserve those muscles.
So you've eaten like a bird and done a ton of cardio and you lost your 10 lbs. But what have you done? You have most likely lost about 2 lbs of fat and 8 lbs of lean muscle. That's bad! That's a horrible 10 lbs of weight loss. By losing muscle, your metabolism is slower. Your body burns less calories. Now, if you go back to a normal way of eating (instead of like a bird), you'll get fatter faster! Yuck!
So what should your real goal be? To lose body fat. To lose the inches. You see, fat takes up four times more space than muscle. Think about that! I could weigh 150 lbs and have a 32 inch waist if my body fat was at 22%. At that same weight of 150 lbs, I could have a 30 inch waist if my body fat percentage was at 15%. Same weight, smaller waist. So what's that look like? Have you seen my before and after pictures?
So how can you lose the inches? Combine weight training with cardiovascular training. Eat at least six small meals a day. Follow the recommendations in the BodyTrans Training Guide and the BodyTrans Nutrition Guide at www.bodytrans.com. And do yourself a favor. If you don't already own a registered copy of BodyTrans, get one today! I firmly believe it can help you achieve your fitness goals.
About the Author
Mark Teal is a Microsoft certified software developer and an ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer. He developed BodyTrans (www.bodytrans.com) because there was no application on the market that allowed you to easily track all of the keys to success in building your best body. Mark welcomes your comments, questions, or suggestions about BodyTrans or health and fitness in general.
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Aerobic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jump to: navigation, search. Look up Aerobic in ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobic" ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Aerobic exercise - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Aerobic exercise includes any type of exercise, typically those performed at ... In general, aerobic exercise is one performed at a moderately high level of ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Aerobic Exercise |
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) defines aerobic exercise ... The important idea behind aerobic exercise today, is to get up and get moving! ... |
www.gsu.edu |
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Turnstep.com |
Turnstep is a large community of aerobics enthusiasts featuring over 10000 patterns, an active bulletin board, and more. |
www.turnstep.com |
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Aerobic Respiration |
Aerobic respiration is the release of energy from glucose or another organic substrate in the presence of Oxygen. Strictly speaking aerobic means in air, ... |
www.purchon.com |
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AFAA – Aerobics & Fitness Personal Trainer Certification & Group ... |
AFAA offers personal trainer certification, group exercise certification and other fitness certifications for fitness professionals. |
www.afaa.com |
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Jacki Sorensen's Aerobic Programs SuperSite |
Fun aerobics classes for a complete workout. Jacki Sorensen's Aerobic Dancing, Workout and StrongStep classes are throughout the US and other countries. |
www.jackis.com |
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The Cooper Institute |
Nonprofit research and education organization dedicated to preventive medicine. Information on training, certifications, and products. |
www.cooperinst.org |
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BodyTrends Health & Fitness: Search |
At BodyTrends Find thousands of health, fitness and exercise products from top manufacturers. Offering related fitness articles and advice. |
www.bodytrends.com |
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Carmen Electra's Official Aerobic Striptease Strip Workout |
Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease Workout Video. |
www.aerobicstriptease.com |
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Aerobic Exercise |
A program of regular aerobic exercise can help you avoid chronic diseases ... To strengthen your heart, you should do aerobic exercise intensely enough to ... |
orthoinfo.aaos.org |
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Bush Aerobics - Miniclip Games - Play Free Games |
Help President Bush get fit and ready for his day. |
www.miniclip.com |
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Aqua-Aerobic Systems |
Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. provides wastewater treatment systems for Aeration, Mixing, Filtration, Controls, SCADA, Biological Processes, Membranes. |
www.aqua-aerobic.com |
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MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Aerobic |
Aerobic. Printer-friendly version · Email this page to a friend. Contents of this page: ... Aerobic organisms · Aerobic organisms. Definition Return to top ... |
www.nlm.nih.gov |
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Aerobic, Exercise and Fitness Videos by Cathe Friedrich |
Geared towards the advanced home exerciser with information about Cathe Friedrich's aerobic and fitness videos. |
www.cathe.com |
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Aerobics, Aerobic Spot, Step, Kickboxing, Choreography, Strength ... |
Fitness center offering exercise classes, step aerobics, kickboxing, fitness tips, and strength training. |
www.aerobicspot.com |
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ExRx Aerobic Conditioning |
ExRx.net is a resource for the exercise professional, coach, or fitness enthusiast. |
www.exrx.net |
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Aerobics Music - Step Aerobic Music - Exercise Music - Fitness Music |
Aerobics music for aerobic exercise workouts and fitness classes - the largest selection in the world! |
www.aerobicsmusic.com |
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Jumpybumpy....aerobics music and fitness videos |
Instructor portal offering aerobics and step choreography, videos and music, conventions and workshops, trainer listing. |
www.jumpybumpy.com |
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Step aerobics choreography, videos, music, terms at Stepcenter.com |
Step aerobics choreography (hundreds of animated moves and patterns), videos, step language dictionary, aerobic music board, training tips, aerobic links ... |
www.stepcenter.com |
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