Best Fitness Blog

...By Travis Webb

One of the most important areas of your body is the core. Over time the fitness community has changed their focus of ab workouts to core workouts. This is mainly due to our growing understanding in how the core works. As our knowledge has grown we have also developed equipment to activate and utilize the core more efficiently such as the stability ball.

Your core wraps around your torso and includes a variety of muscles in your hips. One of the ideas behind sitting on a unstable surface, like a stability ball, is more muscles will be recruited to stabilize as you move. If your form is correct you can help stabilize your core in this fashion. Some of the benefits include reduced lower back pain, improved balance, increases in strength throughout the body, improved coordination and decreased susceptibility to injury.

You can use a stability ball in sit ups, pushups, squats as well as hundreds of other exercises ranging from beginner to expert. I’m frequently asked what size stability ball should be used and the answer is in how tall you are and what exercise you are looking to do. The size and density of a stability ball can vary from large to small and high density to low density. I’ve found a method to be standing next to the stability ball, if it is as high as your knee you are good to go!

...By Karli Taylor

You have heard it before -- if you want to know the state of your health, turn your attention to your waistline. Waist circumference is getting a lot of attention as the new risk factor for future health problems, even becoming more popular than the old standard of BMI. Why? It’s because belly fat is thought to be more dangerous than fat that pads other parts of your body. Even people who look to be “skinny” should be concerned if they hold any extra baggage around the middle.

Your body needs some fat, but where the fat is on your body makes a big difference. Fat can behave differently in different places, and the stuff that lies along your midsection has been proven to be the most unhealthy. There are two types of fat that can live around your waistline, the first is subcutaneous fat, or the fat just under your skin. This is the fat that you can pinch with your fingers. Though it is what most of us concern ourselves with, it’s actually the lesser of the two evils. It’s the visceral fat, the belly fat that hides deep inside, around your inner organs, that may pose a silent health threat if there's too much of it.

There are four keys to losing visceral fat: exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management.

Though there are no specific moves or activities that lessen visceral fat, by including both cardiovascular and resistance exercise into your daily routing you will be able to burn off fat while you are exercising and add lean mass that will continue to burn fat while you are at rest.

It has been proven that 30 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, done four times per week, reduced subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat. Resistance training alone reduced only subcutaneous fat. However a stronger, leaner body burns more calories at rest so it is always best to do cardio as well as strength training to accomplish your weight loss goals.

Contact Best Fitness in your area for assistance in creating a weight loss plan that incorporates the loss of belly fat.

Visit one of our Best Fitness Clubs to learn even more about this topic. We have locations in Albany,NY, Tonawanda, NY, Schenectady, NY, Erie, PA, Nashua, NH, Chelmsford, MA, and Drum Hill, MA.

... Karli Taylor

Maybe it’s bad business for me to make the statement that I’m about to make, but here I go. Regardless of how hard you work in the gym, you will never get the results you desire if you are not mindful about what you are eating. Though we could spend days discussing nutrition, let’s start with a few easily fixed mistakes that may interfere with getting the most out of your training time.

• Drinking a Protein Shake Before a Workout. Protein is digested much more slowly than carbohydrates, so too much pre-workout can give you stomach cramps and prevent the carbs you need for fuel from getting absorbed and becoming available to your working muscles. Instead of a high protein shake, reach for a meal replacement drink with more carbohydrates than protein before you hit the gym.
• Exercising on an Empty Stomach. It's physiologically impossible to burn pure body fat during exercise. No matter what you eat (or don’t eat), you burn a combo of carbs and fat. When carbs aren't readily available, your body is forced to break down its own muscle mass and convert it into blood sugar. That means by skipping a meal, you may end up eating away at your own muscle instead of building it! If you don’t like the feeling of exercising with food in your system, try that meal replacement shake next time.
• Overusing Energy Bars. Too many of these can cause you to consume all of the calories you burned exercising, preventing you from seeing results. Though someone competing at a pro-athlete intensity may be able to grab a bar post workout and eat a meal a few hours later, that may be overload for the average exerciser when you consider that many bars are the equivalent of a turkey sandwich — and most people wouldn't eat a turkey sandwich, then sit down to chicken stir fry a few hours later.
• Not Eating Enough Good Fat. Every cell in the human body is partially made out of fat, including muscle, so "good" fat, or unsaturated fat, is needed to heal and repair post workout. Without it you may not only stay sore and fail to see an improvement in strength and muscle tone, but you will have a hard time losing body fat. Try to include small portions of foods like extra virgin olive oil, avocado and almonds at every meal and you will see a difference very quickly.

Visit one of our Best Fitness Clubs to learn even more about this topic. We have locations in Albany,NY, Tonawanda, NY, Schenectady, NY, Erie, PA, Nashua, NH, Chelmsford, MA, and Drum Hill, MA.

... By Karli Taylor

Have you seen the commercials downplaying the effects of high-fructose corn syrup? Are you wondering why it has gotten such a bad reputation over the years if it really is no worse for us than simple sugar? The advertisements made me start to wonder, so I decided to look into it a little bit further. There are a ton of studies out there about high fructose corn syrup, but I have noticed that nothing compared it directly to sugar.

For example, a recent study at a well known university found that consuming high-fructose corn syrup ultimately leads to abnormal increases in body fat--especially in the abdominal region. So corn syrup must be bad right? Not so fast… the study compared rats eating a diet rich in high fructose corn syrup to another group of rats eating no added sugar at all. The study actually proved only that excess sugar increases abdominal fat- it said nothing about the source of the sugar.

Similar studies have compared diets rich in simple sugars to diets very low in sugar and have come up with similar findings. Though more research is needed to find out which type of sugar is the bigger offender, all of these studies are leading me to the same conclusion: there is definitely valid reason to limit your intake of all sugars.

Excess sugar results in excess calories. Excess calories results in excess weight. In other words, excess = excess. We knew that already, didn’t we?

So how do we cut back on sugar? Here are some little changes that can make a big difference:

• Limit your intake of sweetened beverages. You may be shocked at how many calories you are drinking every day…
• Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables
• Limit your intake of packaged foods
• When you do eat packaged foods, read the labels and stay away from food that are high is “ose” words. Sucralose, fructose, lactose etc- they are all types of sugar!

... By Karli Taylor

Yoga has been practiced for more than 5,000 years, and currently, close to 11 million Americans are participating in regular yoga practice. If you are not a part of this growing trend, you may be after you read about all of the benefits that you can enjoy as a result of regular yoga classes. From better posture to stress reduction, there are perks that even the biggest skeptic can’t deny.

A visible change that results from regular yoga practice is improved posture. Most standing and sitting poses develop core strength. That's because you're counting on your deep abdominals to support and maintain each pose. With a stronger core, you're more likely to sit and stand with better posture. The heightened body awareness that comes from yoga also tells you more quickly when you're slouching or slumping so you can adjust your posture.

Because of the deep, mindful breathing that yoga involves, lung capacity often improves. This in turn can improve sports performance and endurance. Though yoga typically isn't focused on aerobic conditioning, taking a yoga class that gets you breathing more mindfully can provide an aerobic benefit.

Many people turn to yoga for stress reduction. Most forms of yoga emphasize deepening and lengthening your breath which stimulates relaxation responses in your body. Even beginners tend to feel less stressed and more relaxed after their first class. Some yoga styles use specific meditation techniques while others depend on deep breathing techniques to focus your mind on the breath. Both techniques help to quiet the “chatter” that goes on in our heads.

Among yoga's anti-stress benefits are a number of biochemical responses. For example, there is a decrease in stress hormones which creates a feeling of calm. Some research points to a boost in the hormone oxytocin, the hormone that's associated with feeling relaxed and connected to others.

Perhaps one of the most studied areas of the health benefits of yoga is its effect on heart disease. Yoga has long been known to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. A slower heart rate can benefit people with hypertension, heart disease, and stroke.

Ready to roll out your mat and give it a try?

Om..

... By Karli Taylor

Now that you have forever banished on-your-knees push-ups from your workout vocabulary, the next obstacle standing in your way from being a total fitness buff is that pull up bar… The pull-up has been haunting many of us since grade school fitness testing, and surprisingly is equally as hard for men as it is for women. By adding the following moves to your weekly fitness routine, you will be seeing the view from above the bar in no time.

First things first- get used to holding your body weight up off of the ground. Simply practice hanging from a bar with straight arms, hands shoulder width apart and palms forward. Until you can hang tight for 90 seconds, this is as far as your pull-up training should go.

Once you have mastered the bottom half of the move, it’s time to work on the top. Stand on a bench or a chair that is high enough to place your chin just above the bar. Grab on to the bar slightly wider than shoulder width with your elbows bent by your sides. Step off and hold yourself up over the bar for as long as possible. Once you can hold for 30 seconds, it’s time to progress!

Sometimes a little negativity is a positive thing- in motion that is, not in attitude. Start in the same position that you have been practicing, but this time, allow yourself to drop to a straight arm hang. Control the movement and try to fight the pull of gravity all the way to the bottom. Once 5 or 6 repetitions of this gets easy, it’s time to move to the final step!

Starting from the bottom, there are a few techniques that will get your body used to the pull-up. If your gym has an assisted pull-up machine, you are in luck. Set the weight to a little less than half of your body weight and do 5 or 6 repetitions. If you do not have access to an assisted pull-up machine, have your workout buddy or trainer assist you on each upward pull. Once you can get 6 done with ease, you should be able to do a real pull-up or two on your own!

... by Karli Taylor

First and foremost, there is a distinct difference between our abs and our core. Our "abs", or what we refer to as our abs is actually one muscle- our rectus abdominus muscle. It is one small part of the whole area between our rib cage and our pelvis that we know as our "core". I will delve into that at a later date, but for now let’s talk about that six-pack, washboard or whatever other name you may have for it.

This may be the area of the body where we as fitness enthusiast make the most mistakes in training. Let’s go through a few basic ground rules for training our abs -

• More is not better! Your rectus abdominus is made up of fast twitch muscle fibers. So what you say? Well that means that it responds best to low reps- yup LOW REPS- like 8-10 at a time. So much for those devices that allow you to do 100 crunches without straining your neck...POINTLESS. Your best bet is to do 3 or 4 sets of 8-12 crunches for your 6 pack. That's it. You can train your deeper core muscles after these surface ones are tired- but that’s a whole discussion in itself!
• Abdominal training should always come LAST. Some people think that you should train your abs first while they are "fresh" in order to get the best results. It’s ok if that’s the only thing you are training that day, but if you are doing another body part- do that first. Your abs provide structural support for other exercises. If you tire them out, you will not be able to perform your best and may hurt yourself in the process.
• You CANNOT spot reduce. If you have excess fat in your abdomen, you can't just train your abs! This excess fat will burn off more efficiently if you train your whole body and add some intense cardio- BUT
• Diet is the key. No matter what you are doing in the gym, the only way to really get definition in your middle is by watching what you put in your mouth. Eating smaller meals often throughout the day will help turn your keg into a 6 pack!

I know that I have thrown a lot of info at you, and you may have some questions. Feel free to ask away!