How to Get a Good Treadmill Workout

Saturday, June 6th, 2009 at 7:04 pm  
Comments (3)
stretching treadmill
Here are a few suggestions for creating an intense treadmill workout. If you think that a treadmill workout is boring, think again. You can make your treadmill workout as challenging as you would like. But before you begin any exercise program always consult your doctor first to see if you are suitable for intense workout.

5 methods to improve your workout

1) Dumbbells/Hand Weights

Try raising and lowering five to ten pound hand weights as you walk.. By the end of a vigorous walk, you will have given your upper and lower body a good treadmill workout. But if you are used to holding on to the side handles during your workout, start out a slow then build speed.

Walk Backwards
Walking backwards uses your legs muscles in a whole new way and improves your balance and builds your psychomotor abilities, this is something very important for any sports person. Your muscles will be stretched and worked to their max as the focus of the workout shifts to a whole new area of your leg.

Speed Intervals

For this training always start with a good complete stretch and warm up. For a complete workout, a good set will take about 20 minutes. Start with a run of about 2 minutes for 400 meters then walk or do a slow jog of 2 minutes. Rinse and repeat 5 times to get your 20 minutes. This exercise will build good cardio as well as burn fat.

Incline Intervals

This is basically similar to the interval training but with incline up and down. With the same steps as basic interval training, now when every time you are walking or jogging slowly, set your interval to the maximum. This is advance training so start off with interval training before attempting this exercise.

Toes and Heels

Slow down the speed to a brisk walk, and then go on your tiptoes for 30 seconds. Rinse and repeat for 10 sets. These exercises will effective work your calves and gluteus. There will be a slight strain for beginners, so it is advice that you start with 5 sets then work your way slowly to 10 sets.

Stay in shape with a treadmill exercise program

A treadmill exercise program does not require learning any new skill and nor is the weather or boredom able to adversely affect the person in training to stay in shape. A treadmill exercise program is best for people who prefer to exercise in the comforts of their home or for the busy person that has very little time to spare. They can directly jump on to a treadmill to ensure that they get some exercise.

The treadmill is superior to other exercise machines used indoors as it is very helpful to losing extra weight and burning calories. In a treadmill exercise program one will be engaged in running which ranges from sprinting, walking, slow to fast jogging, depending on the exercising habit of a person. A note of caution, please consult your doctor before taking on a new training program. There have been cases of people going into cardiac arrest during or after a strenuous workout.

The convenience of a treadmill exercise program is such that the person using it can do so at the pace of his or her own choosing as well as maintain a regular walking program. To begin with, the treadmill exercise program may be of only five to ten minutes duration and it may also have a warm up and cool-down period to ensure that no injuries are sustained, as with any other form of physical activity.

When on Treadmill, a person is active and breathing fast, due to the fact that the body is in need for more oxygen. This actually helps the body to clear out a lot of toxins from the body. Also during the workout or body is actively engaged in strengthening it self by burning away any unwanted weight. Lastly as our heart rate increases, blood flow is also increased to our limbs and vital organs.

While following a treadmill exercise program pay note to a few key points, such as the right footwork, proper walking form (from the waist to get better hip rotation), and arms action (swing your arms as if you are marching). Bear these pointers in mind and pay attention to your safety. Always start slow then build up speed. As with all sort of exercise, get the basics first before moving on to increase the intensity. Give your body time to adapt before subjecting it to more intensity will decrease the chance of injury and improve your results.


Smart Cardio to Burn Fat

Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 7:12 am  
Comments (1)

Myths Exposed and Little Known Secrets Revealed

 What do you think of when I mention cardio? An hour-long jog? A long, steady session on the exercise bike? Sweatin’ to the oldies? If it’s any of those things, you’re doing cardio, but you’re not doing smart cardio. There are lots of things you can do to burn calories, but if you’re reading this article, you know that you want the calories you burn to come from fat, not lean mass. Traditional long, slow distance cardio burns muscle and fat pretty indiscriminately. In fact, if you do enough, you may find that your body burns muscle preferentially to ease the demands of doing so much aerobic work. That’s exactly the opposite of what you want.

So how do you do cardio without sacrificing precious muscle? The answer is interval work. Definitely get yourself cleared by a doctor before jumping into intervals, because the whole idea is to rapidly and repeatedly raise your heart rate, alternating the high heart rate work with brief recovery periods. The optimal way to do interval work is probably to do walk back sprints. Sprint all-out for 15 seconds, then turn around and walk back to where you started. It should take about 45 seconds to walk back. Once you’re back where you started, sprint for 15 seconds again. Do seven sprints your first week, and add one sprint per week until you’re up to 20 sprints per session. If you’re not up for sprints, you can approximate them on an exercycle or an elliptical machine. Simply go all-out for 15 seconds, then pedal or walk at a recovery pace for 45. The same build-up pattern applies.

In order to grasp this concept, you must first learn what your body burns for energy during strenuous exercise.  I call this energy body burn, “The Hierarchy Scale Of Energy.”  The human body accesses certain nutrients for energy and does so in a precise manner every time.  This access order NEVER changes.  Let me repeat, NEVER changes.  This scale will alter the way you train forever!  Here it is.

 

   1. MUSCLE GLYCOGEN

(Sugar processed from carbohydrates and stored in muscle for contraction)

   2. LIVER GLYCOGEN

(Storage organ for excess glycogen; primary fuel source for brain function)

   3. BBA (BLOOD BORNE AMINO ACIDS)

(Branched Chain Amino Acids formed from protein)



4. FAT (Speaks for itself)

 

 ¨Notice where FAT is on the scale.  It is last!!!  It’s the one thing we hate the most about our body and it’s the one thing your body hates to give up.  The irony! 

 ¨It takes between 20-30 minutes to reach level #4, depending on the time of day you train and when you last ingested carbohydrates.

 

   Case#1: Come into the gym and jump on the cardio machine (pick your favorite).  Remember it will take 20-30 minutes to burn the muscle glycogen, liver glycogen and BBA before you reach fat.  In reality, the first 25 minutes of cardio is totally USELESS!! That is of course unless you actually enjoy doing cardio, simply for the love of doing cardio.  If you do, then I will affectionately call you NUTS!  Most people do it for fat loss, so why not make it the most effective?  To access fat, you now have to add an additional 20 minutes of cardio to get any results.  The entire cardio session alone will be around 45 minutes. Now you go to weight training.  But wait, where is your muscle glycogen (fuel for muscle contraction?) Right, it’s gone!  The result; weaker workout, less muscle development, increased fatigue, over training, burnout, longer recovery and a slower metabolism.  In short, NO PROGRESS!  You get discouraged and quit training because your body is not changing.

 

   Case #2: Come into the gym and you jump on the cardio machine for 5-minutes to warm-up. Now you hit the weights.  Where is your muscle glycogen?  Right, ready to go for power and intensity resistance training.  Train for 30 minutes with weights and use up #1-3 on the Hierarchy Scale.  Result; increased strength, more lean muscle, less fatigue, no burnout, more intensity. Now begin cardio training.  What is the only available energy source left to burn for the cardio session since #1-3 are gone?  You got it, #4!!  Now you access fat stores immediately and only have to do 15-20 minutes of cardio to get the same benefits as 45 minutes in Case #1.  That means more fat loss! In short, PHENOMENAL PROGRESS!  You get psyched and train harder.

Which would you choose to do? I know my answer!

Running To Get Rid of Migraines?

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 10:34 am  
Leave your comment
first 10k run
Exercise is good for you. Being fit will help your whole body feel better, including your migraines, right? So why did your headache specialist just tell you to drop out of this weekend’s 10K if you want to be able to go to work on Monday?

A regular exercise program is a great migraine deterrent, but it needs to be the right kind of exercise. Many workout types put a real strain on the cardiovascular system and scientists have linked migraines to vascular problems in the temporal artery, among other potential causes.

Migraineurs who want to sweat need to warm up, slowly, for about fifteen minutes prior to any strenuous exertion, whether it is exercise or home repair. Skipping this warm up is nearly a guarantee that a migraine will be interrupting your plans later in the day.

While any exertion can be good or bad and each migraineur is different, there are a few types of exercise that are notorious for bringing down the head.

* Aerobics: high-intensity aerobics classes are a trigger for many women, especially when the cardio-pounding workout is paired with loud music.

* Biking: Whether it is competitive cycling or spinning class at the club, this is a major trigger for many.

* Running: Any kind of running that involves hard-core exertion, especially endurance events like marathons and triathlons.

You may be able to keep doing these things, especially if you really enjoy them, but you need to think about toning down the endurance aspect. Cycling should be for pleasure and exercise but not competitive. Replace high impact aerobics classes with dance, yoga, or free weight aerobics. Reduce the distance you run and see if it helps with the migraines. There is no reason a migraineur cannot be fit, just do not run yourself into a migraine.

5 Methods To Improve Your Treadmill Workout

Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 4:27 pm  
Comments (1)
treadmill workout
Here are a few suggestions for creating an intense treadmill workout. If you think that a treadmill workout is boring, think again. You can make your treadmill workout as challenging as you would like. But before you begin any exercise program always consult your doctor first to see if you are suitable for intense workout.

5 methods to improve your workout

1) Dumbbells/Hand Weights

Try raising and lowering five to ten pound hand weights as you walk.. By the end of a vigorous walk, you will have given your upper and lower body a good treadmill workout. But if you are used to holding on to the side handles during your workout, start out a slow then build speed.

2) Walk Backwards

Walking backwards uses your legs muscles in a whole new way and improves your balance and builds your psychomotor abilities, this is something very important for any sports person. Your muscles will be stretched and worked to their max as the focus of the workout shifts to a whole new area of your leg.

3) Speed Intervals

For this training always start with a good complete stretch and warm up. For a complete workout, a good set will take about 20 minutes. Start with a run of about 2 minutes for 400 meters then walk or do a slow jog of 2 minutes. Rinse and repeat 5 times to get your 20 minutes. This exercise will build good cardio as well as burn fat.

4) Incline Intervals

This is basically similar to the interval training but with incline up and down. With the same steps as basic interval training, now when every time you are walking or jogging slowly, set your interval to the maximum. This is advance training so start off with interval training before attempting this exercise.

5) Toes and Heels

Slow down the speed to a brisk walk, and then go on your tiptoes for 30 seconds. Rinse and repeat for 10 sets. These exercises will effective work your calves and gluteus. There will be a slight strain for beginners, so it is advice that you start with 5 sets then work your way slowly to 10 sets.

Stay in shape with a treadmill exercise program

A treadmill exercise program does not require learning any new skill and nor is the weather or boredom able to adversely affect the person in training to stay in shape. A treadmill exercise program is best for people who prefer to exercise in the comforts of their home or for the busy person that has very little time to spare. They can directly jump on to a treadmill to ensure that they get some exercise.

The treadmill is superior to other exercise machines used indoors as it is very helpful to losing extra weight and burning calories. In a treadmill exercise program one will be engaged in running which ranges from sprinting, walking, slow to fast jogging, depending on the exercising habit of a person. A note of caution, please consult your doctor before taking on a new training program. There have been cases of people going into cardiac arrest during or after a strenuous workout.

The convenience of a treadmill exercise program is such that the person using it can do so at the pace of his or her own choosing as well as maintain a regular walking program. To begin with, the treadmill exercise program may be of only five to ten minutes duration and it may also have a warm up and cool-down period to ensure that no injuries are sustained, as with any other form of physical activity.

When on Treadmill, a person is active and breathing fast, due to the fact that the body is in need for more oxygen. This actually helps the body to clear out a lot of toxins from the body. Also during the workout or body is actively engaged in strengthening it self by burning away any unwanted weight. Lastly as our heart rate increases, blood flow is also increased to our limbs and vital organs.

While following a treadmill exercise program pay note to a few key points, such as the right footwork, proper walking form (from the waist to get better hip rotation), and arms action (swing your arms as if you are marching). Bear these pointers in mind and pay attention to your safety. Always start slow then build up speed. As with all sort of exercise, get the basics first before moving on to increase the intensity. Give your body time to adapt before subjecting it to more intensity will decrease the chance of injury and improve your results.