Busy Fitness

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Secret Tips To Reduce Body Fat

Having too much body fat can be dangerous to your health, it makes you more prone to serious health problems such as heart attack or stroke.

Here are four secrets tips that can help you not only to lose body fat but also create an attractive physique.

Secret Tip 1: Perform High-Intensity Interval Training

The great thing about high-intensity interval training is "efficiency". Because you are working harder, the signal to your body to change is more rigorous. Your body not only burns fat faster when you increase intensity but you can also cut time. So if you do cardio, speed up the pace for about 20% compared to the normal cardio levels. For example, if you walk then pick up the pace and walk faster. The key is to shift to a slightly higher gear. Your workout will go faster and you will get more results.

>> Click here if you want to learn the proven techniques of high-intensity interval training without using any fancy equipment.

Secret Tip 2: Perform Resistance Training

Your body will burn off more fat if you perform some light resistance training before you do any cardio. This occurs because your body does not actually burn fat for the first portion of your exercise, so it is better to allow your body to warm up to lose body fat. Elevate your heart rate by doing some light training, then go forward with the whole routine.

Secret Tip 3: Eat low carbs diet and plenty of vegetables and fruits during the day

Eating low carbs meals during the day (before you do your workout routine) will help your body to burn fat more effectively. Remember that if your body has too much carbs, it will burn the carbs instead of fat during your workout. In addition, make sure you eat lots of fruits and vegetables, they simply the better fat burners.

Secret Tip 4: Drink plenty of Water

Drink plenty of water each day (at least 8-10 glasses a day). This is common sense but you will be surprised that there are many people who are not doing this. So it's worth repeating. Consuming a lot of water actually makes it harder for the fat to stick to your body, allowing you to shed off some extra pounds. Water also helps to flush out harmful toxins from your body, creating a better body system with which to fight off body fat. Water also raises your energy level, if you drink enough of it, and can improve your concentration.

These four tips are just some of the ways you can lose body fat and create a more healthier body. As you continue to exercise, drink plenty of water and watch your diet, you will start to feel healthier and will have no difficulty in keeping the fat off your body.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Is it Possible to Gain Muscle & Lose Fat at the Same Time?


Gain muscle and lose fat at the same time? Not many people believe that it can be done but researchers from Purdue University showed men and women (with an average age of 61 - with one subject 80 years old!) were able to gain muscle, lose fat, get stronger, lower LDL cholesterol, and improve blood sugar control with a simple strength workout routine. There were 36 healthy men and women participated in the study and were asked to do strength training three times per week for 12 weeks, doing 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

The result? The participants managed to gain an average of four pounds of lean muscle and lost over four pounds of fat. This study shows that it is possible to gain muscle and lose fat at any age.

And from the study, it has proven that you don't need any fancy equipments or an expensive gym membership to lose fat and gain muscle, all you need is a professional program, like Turbulence Training, that you can do in the comfort of your own home.

Another misconception many people have is that you can't burn fat with strength training but recent study from the prestigous Journal of Applied Physiology showed strength training boosts metabolism by 10% after exercise and increases fat burning by 100%. In this study, participants did a standard 3-set strength training program focusing on multi-muscle exercises and showed just how effective simple strength training is for fat loss.

During strength training, energy is applied to your muscles, causing an increase in your metabolism and fat burning after the workout. That's how you build muscle and burn fat at the same time. While strength training doesn't burn as many calories as traditional aerobic training during the workout itself, it continues to burn calories and fat long after your workout.

Click here now to build muscle and lose fat at the same time with Turbulence Training.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Personal Home Gyms Guide


Today, there are so many home gym equipment brands available in the market, choosing the right one can be a headache. I have been scouring around for my personal home gym equipment for months now and I still haven't found one. So I still do my best to allocate time to visit my local gym at least 2 or 3 times a week from my busy schedule.

In order to find the right personal home gym equipment, you really need to know what is the fitness goals you want to achieve. Are you looking to lose weight, gain weight, gain strength, build muscle mass or simply keep your body fit and active?

Here are some important factors you need to consider:

  • What are your fitness goals? If you have a clear fitness goal, it will be a lot easier for you to find a personal home gym equipment that meets your specific needs. For example, if your primary goal is to gain muscle, start with a weight bench or free weights.

  • Does your home have enough space for a personal home gym equipment? If you have a big house, then space is not a concern for you. But for most people, their homes probably have limited space. So make sure your home can allocate enough space for the home gym equipments you need.

  • What is your budget? Besides considering the space requirement, you also need to know your budget. The initial investment for a personal home gym can range from $1,000 to $2,000. How much you're going to spend will depend on your needs or fitness goals. So make sure you find one that is truly worth its price tag. In the long run, a personal home gym may save you significant amount of time and money. Home gym is convenient, you can set your own workout schedule and no need to spend time travelling. You also save some costly membership from your local gym.
Of course, to keep your body fit and active doesn't always require a fancy equipment. In fact, you can set up a very effective home workouts regimen even without a personal home gym equipment. For more information on how to set up an effective indoor workouts regimen without using any equipment, visit home turbulence training.

~~~~~~~~ (c) 2007 - 1homefitness.blogspot.com ~~~~~~~~

Lose More Weight Exercise In The Winter


Yes, you can lose more weight if you exercise in the winter. This is because the heat generated by your body will dissipate faster. Hence, you can work harder without feeling tougher.

If you usually walk or jog outdoors, get a warm hat. The best approach to dressing for outdoor exercise is with layers. You can take the top layer off as you warm up and put it back on if you get cold. But wear just enough so you feel slightly cool when you step outside. For wet weather, wear additional lightweight rain-resistant jacket.

Make sure you do a proper warm-up because cold weather can make your muscle tight and get cramped up more easily and hence you're more prone to injuries. Avoid dehydration by drinking plenty of water as the cold temperature tends to have drying effect.

If the weather is getting too miserable and you don't feel like going outdoors then I suggest you try jumping rope, it's great for a high-intensity cardio exercise. You can also invite friends to come over, put in your favorite DVD and follow along together with your friends.

For more information on indoor workouts without using any equipment, go to home turbulence training.


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Friday, November 16, 2007

Qigong: The Energy Workout That Boosts Health And Vitality

What is Qigong?

Qigong (pronounced chee-gong, which means "energy work") is a powerful system of healing using our life energy. It is made up of gentle and repetitive movements, and breathing techniques to circulate and harness life energy (qi) in our body. Qigong practice has been shown to provide a tranquil state of mind and lower stress hormone levels. It can lead to better health and vitality.

Benefits of Qigong:

  • It conquers stress. If you always feel being stressed out, qigong can help you to control your reactions to stress and lower your risk of high blood pressure.

  • It boosts immunity. Study has shown that people who practice qigong 3-4 hours a week produced more antibodies.

  • It helps you to sleep better at night. Practicing qigong helps to suppress stress and anxiety. It enhances your nervous system activity and gives you tranquility. People who have trouble sleeping will drift off easier and faster.

  • It eases stress-related headaches. Qigong is a very effective drug-free relief for headaches due to stress. A study showed that women who affected by severe headaches reported less pain after practicing qigong.
If you're interested to learn more about the qigong energy workout techniques, please visit: qigongexercise.com

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Home Workout Exercises For Busy People


The most common problem for working professionals these days is "lack of time". Most of us are so busy that we have forgotten to take care of our health, which undoubtedly is the most precious asset of our life. More and more people are having less exercises or physical activities due to their busy schedule. If you don't have time to go to the gym? No problem! This article will give you tips how to get daily exercises your body needs.

In fact, your home is one of the best places for you to exercise, if you live in a big city, you don't need to travel to the gym and get stuck in a traffic jam, you can set your own schedule and wear whatever you want, and best of all it's free.

Getting the exercise your body needs is a lot easier than you think. In fact, moderate and consistent exercises can benefit you as much as the intense exercises. The key point here is "consistency".

Here are some home workout exercises you can do:

  • Get up 30 minutes earlier in the morning. Click here for an Easy Exercises You Can Do At Home.

  • Don't drive when you can walk. Take the opportunity to walk frequently. For example, walk to the grocery store, post office or your community library.

  • Do household chores every Saturday. Try to speed up and complete the works faster. Examples: mop the floor, clean the toilet, clean the windows, clean the garage, clean the car, mow the lawn, etc.

Click here for an article on "Easy Exercises You Can Do At Home".

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Benefits of Exercise For Young Children

There are many benefits of exercise for young children. A child who is active will:

  • have stronger muscles and bones.
  • develop a more healthy heart.
  • lower blood pressure.
  • decrease cholesterol levels.
  • help control body fat and hence develop a thinner body and have a healthier disposition as well.
  • have a good night's sleep and perform better at school.
  • decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
  • have a better outlook on life.
Kids are amazing when it comes to endurance sports games such as baseball, basket, football, soccer or other exercises such as swimming, biking, running a race and dancing for hours. All these activities require physical fitness and the ability to endure. It will help to elevate the heart rate and deliver additional oxygen to all the organs in the body.

As parents, it is important to teach your kids from a very early age why exercise is good for them, and encourage them to perform a variety of activities which will keep them strong, healthy and disease free.

Of course, a healthy and nutritional diet is also very important in helping to cultivate a healthy lifestyle for your children while they are growing up and keep them out of illnesses and diseases. A healthy lifestyle will give your children more confidence and energy to face life challenges positively in the future.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

No-Equipment Cardio Workouts For Weight Loss

Here is an article from Craig Ballantyne of Home Turbulence Training about cardio workouts for weight loss without using any fancy equipment. These workouts will be very handy during the days when you don't feel like travelling to the gym or jogging on the street because of bad weather.

You don't need fancy machines to do cardio circuits for weight loss. You can do cardio without equipment, at home! And you'll burn fat. Here in Toronto, it rained non-stop on Sunday. So I skipped the walk to the gym (where I was going to do intervals), and did a bodyweight workout at home.

This is a great routine that you can save for any rainy day, or even better - challenge some of your buddies prior to next week's super bowl party at your house. The workout will take away some of the guilt while you pound nachos and wings, like I know some people tend to do when they watch football.

For my bodyweight workout, I decided to make one up from the exercises in the 6-month manual, rather than following one of the pre-made routines. Plus, I didn't want to do a lot of upper body stuff, because my Monday workout is heavy pressing and rowing. So I ended up creating a huge circuit, as there were just too many exercises in the manual that I wanted to do.

If you have the manual and exercise descriptions, you can do this workout the next time you feel like a change. If you don't have the manual, you'll probably have no idea what some of these exercises are...but at least now you know what you are missing.

And as I went through this workout, a workout I called "Ghetto Cardio", I got to thinking about some of the home gym setups that clients tell me they have.

You know, the more money people spend on exercise machines (like those elliptical machines), the easier and less effective their workouts become. Here I am doing the Ghetto Cardio workout, one that didn't cost me a cent, and some people have thousands of dollars worth of cardio equipment in their basements that won't give them the same "functional strength and endurance" results as bodyweight training.

And those aren't the only benefits you can get from a mid-day bodyweight circuit workout. In fact, during this workout, I relieved my computer-related upper body stress and tension, and the exercise stimulated my thought process, allowing me to plan 4 workouts for Monday's clients, and 4 newsletters this week. All in 20 minutes.

So here's the workout, and I did this circuit twice, and then some of the exercises I did a third time:

Prisoner Squat x 15
Sumo squat x 15
T-Squat x 20
Siff Squat x 20
Walking lunge x 20
Spiderman pushup x 16
Stickup x 12
Cross Crawl x 30
Inverted Rows x 12
Spiderman climbs x 24
Plank x 60 seconds
Side plank x 30 seconds
Y-squat x 20
Close grip Pushups x 20

These are all bodyweight exercises that can be done at home. You don't need to spend money or time going to the gym.

About the author: Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Weight Loss Workout Tips for Busy People

You can get an incredible weight loss workout at home without any equipment. That's right, you can burn fat and lose fat in the comfort of your own home. You don't need fancy machines or expensive mega-gym memberships, and you don't have to deal with line-ups or sweaty, stinky fellow gym-members. Ewww!

Okay, here's the first thing you need. About a 8x8 open area. And your bodyweight. That's it. Don't rest between any of these exercises.

First exercise: Prisoner Squat

Place your hands behind your head, keep your elbows back, and squat down halfway to the ground. Keep your shoulder blades together to work your upper back and push your hips back as you squat to work your back of your legs.

Do that 10-20 times depending on your strength levels.

Second exercise: Push-up Plus

Do a regular pushup, but at the top, add a little extra push to round your upper back and make your shoulder blades move away from one another. Do 4-12 reps depending on your strength.

Third exercise: Plank

Support yourself on your forearms and toes and keep your body in a straight line from ankles to shoulders. You'll be "hovering" just above the ground. Keep your abs braced and hold for 10-60 seconds depending on your endurance.

Fourth exercise: Split squat

Stand with one foot 2 feet in front of your body and the other foot 1 foot behind your body. This is a stationary lunge position. Bend your back knee and drop your hips to the floor. Then push up using the muscles of the lead leg. Use a wall for balance or support if needed. Do 5-12 reps per side depending on strength.

Rest 1 minute then repeat the circuit up to 4 times. Have fun.

More weight loss workout tips can be found at "Turbulence Training in the Comfort of Your Home".

Thursday, November 8, 2007

The Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat

I often get asked, “What’s the best way to burn fat and lose my belly?” People want to know if aerobics is better than strength training, or if traditional cardio exercise is better than intervals.

Well, to say I've done them all would be an understatement.

With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I'm pretty confident in knowing what works and what does not.

But first of all, I want to frame my responses. I'm going to talk about what works for people that have a limited amount of time to exercise, mostly because I expect your readers don't have 90 minutes per day to devote to a workout, unlike the typical audience of a fitness magazine.

That's why there is a huge disconnect between some of the information found in magazines and the ability of the reader to apply it to their lives.

We just don't have 6-8 hours per week for exercise, nor do we need it. If you're a triathlete, you might need that, but not someone that just wants to lose fat and gain muscle.

Having said all that, the bottom line for getting a better body is...

Use bodyweight exercises to warm-up, strength training supersets to build muscle, and then finish your workout with interval training to burn fat in a short amount of time. I've structured my system so that you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes, three times per week.

You'll do 5 minutes of bodyweight exercises to warm-up. This is a much more efficient approach than spending 5 minutes walking on a treadmill, which really doesn't prepare you for anything except more walking on a treadmill.

Then we move into the strength training supersets, where we use two exercises performed back to back with minimum rest between each. This cuts our workout time, while still giving us maximum results. We only need 20 minutes for this, and we'll use basic exercises, and sometimes even more bodyweight exercises, depending on the client's goal for muscle building.

And finally, we'll do 18 minutes of interval training. A warm-up, followed by six short intervals at the appropriate fitness level for the client, interspersed with short periods of low-intensity recovery. Finish with a cool-down. And that's the workout. Again, about 45 minutes total.

Compare that to what most people do, which is run, jog, cycle or use the cardio machines for 45 minutes straight. Sure, that will burn calories, but it doesn't build a better body.

In fact, there are a few "dark sides" to long slow cardio, including less-than-optimal results, the potential for overuse injuries, and it is an inefficient form of exercise. If you only have 30-45 minutes for your workout and you spend it all on a cardio machine, when are you going to train the rest of your muscles and sculpt a better body?

So the best way to burn belly fat is with a combination of strength training and interval training. It’s fast, it works, and it’s fun!

About the Author:

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Inexpensive Home Exercise Equipment

There are so many ads on television promoting home exercise equipments these days but most of them forget to tell you the cost. Moreover, many of these indoor exercise equipments can occupy an entire room in your house.

If you have a plan to set up a workout regimen at home, here are some suggestions to help you purchase inexpensive home exercise equipment and save you some money.

Get exercise bands. If you want to sculpt your body fast, exercise bands are a great choice. They are inexpensive, lightweight, packable and easy to use at home or on the road.

The exercise ball is another inexpensive item that can help with strengthening the back and work out the abs.

Five and ten-pound weights are great to tone both your arms and legs and they don't cost an arm and a leg.

Purchase the step, which is great for cardiovascular workouts. It's easy to do, compact and inexpensive.

While the new stationary bike is quite expensive, you may be able to find one with a good deal on eBay or through an ad in your local paper. The stationary bike is great for exercising the legs, thighs and upper body. 20 minutes every other night will yield weight loss as well.

While a treadmill would be great for the home, it is quite expensive and will take up a fair bit of space in your house. If you can't afford it, you can do just as well by walking for 20 or 30 minutes every day. But of course you need to do this outdoor.

Exercise is important, and it can be achieved with inexpensive equipments that are affordable and easy to store. If you would rather perform your exercise routines without any equipment, check out the "Turbulence Training".

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Review - The Total Wellness Solution


If you want to get fit, burn fat, lose weight or be healthy for the rest of your life, check out the book "Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle" or BFFM. This is not another diet program that doesn't work. In fact, BFFM doesn't propose any diet program. Its fat burning methods are aimed at teaching you to cultivate a long-lasting well-being for the rest of your life.

Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle ebook has over 300 pages and 17 chapters. You can view all the topics in the chapters here. As mentioned, this book is more than a diet or weight loss program, it teaches you how to obtain a total health forever. After reading this book, I feel like I have just graduated from a health and nutrition college. Despite its huge volume, BFFM contains no "fluff", all the information in this book are essential to your well-being.

You will learn how to set goal, understand why most conventional diet methods fail, understand your body's composition and needs, how to get an optimal combination of protein, carbohydrates and fats for improving your muscle, the best training secrets for maximum fat loss, and much much more.

I have written a review and submitted to Ezinearticles directory. You can read the review by clicking here.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Fat Burning Exercise Tips for Busy Parents & Professionals

Fat Burning Exercise Tips for Busy Parents & Professionals

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

The great thing about strength training and intervals for fat burning is "efficiency". Because you are working harder, the signal to your body to change is stronger. You cut time when you increase intensity and you burn fat faster.

Now don't worry, I won't be asking you to do hill sprints tomorrow if you aren't exercising today. For a beginner, we just do some slightly faster than normal walking intervals. For intermediate fitness levels, we'll pick up the pace about 20% compared to their normal cardio levels, but again, the work periods are much shorter.

The key is, you must shift to a slightly higher intensity in order to cut time from your workout. But the workout also goes faster, and much more importantly, you will get more results and better fitness from these methods.

It's easy to do these workouts first thing in the AM, at lunch, or after the kids go to bed. Plus, you can get a great workout at home with only a bench, dumbells, and an exercise ball. You don't need fancy machines or an expensive gym membership.

And another bonus, you only need three hard fat burning workouts per week. You don't have to be in the gym six days per week.

On your off days, it's important to stay active for at least 30 minutes, but these days should be unstructured and revolve around being active with your family or hobbies. Don't think of them as workout days, think of them as fat burning, stress reducing activity days.

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss.



Thursday, November 1, 2007

Ten Exercises You Can Do At Home

Here are 10 exercises that you can do at home to keep your body active and nimble. The exercises focus on specific muscle groups that will help to tone your body more than the general house chores exercises such as cleaning, lifting or climbing up and down the stair. They are:

  1. Abs workout. Watch this great video for a 8-minute abs workout you can do at home. More information on abs workout can also be found at "Firm & Flatten Your Abs".

  2. Curl can be done by lying on your back, putting hands behind your head, and raising the upper body.

  3. Leg exercises can be achieved by standing while holding on to the back of a chair or lying down on your side and lifting each leg repeatedly for 15-20 times.

  4. Work-at-home people who sit for hours at the computer desk can perform this simple exercise to keep the circulation flowing in their legs. Simply press down on your toes in an up and down motion. Any activity that can be accomplished while sitting down will prevent muscular pain later.

  5. Stretching exercises. Stand with both hands against a wall and move your right leg back so that your foot is flat against the floor. Hold for a few seconds; then repeat with the left leg.

  6. Arm exercises. This is important to improve muscle tone. Use an exercise band and place both feet on one end and with each hand raise and lower the band; first with your palms up then down.

  7. Put on a CD and dance for about 20-30 minutes. This is a great cardiovascular workout.

  8. Use 5 or 10 lbs. weights to exercise your arms. You can even do this exercise sitting in a chair.

  9. Incorporate sit-ups, jumping rope and push-ups into that daily routine.

  10. Another great stretching exercise to perform is to lie on your back, bring up your right knee to your chest with your right hand and roll the knee to your left side so that it touches the floor. Keep it in place with your left hand.
NOTE: Always stretch before starting any exercise routine to prevent injury.

For more great tips on exercise at home, check out "home Turbulence Training".