Exercise Guide

Going to gym is a fad. The whole world is catching up with it. By 2020, at least a fourth of the population in the western world will be obese. So what can we do?

Join a gym- as some friends will say. Yoga is good for health too. So is Tai-chi. That can make anyone confused. What is the best option?

Let us have a quick look at what each of these exercises have to offer.

Doing anaerobic exercises in a gym involves a lot muscular activity. The body’s metabolic activities are increased. This results in burning of extra fat. The tone of the muscles becomes better. After sometime, the body’s need for food also increases. This results in the person eating more food, not less. This is a natural occurrence. So the body goes into a habit of eating more and burning more food by increasing the body’s metabolism. The gym work out causes the nervous system to overwork as if the body is in a state of danger. This is the principle behind gym exercises.

Yoga or Tai-chi are slow exercises. The emphasis in them is on slowness, on calmness and on breath control. The heart rate slows down. The metabolic activity slows down. This relaxes the body and the mind. When this happens, the mind goes into repair mode. The body’s natural defences kick in. Because there is no danger perceived by the body, the body’s metabolic activity reduces. The body needs less food to survive. So the food intake reduces. The accumulated fat, in an obese person, reduces slowly. But the body gets rid of excess fat anyway because its intake of food reduces and the body uses up the stored food to survive. The immune system of the body becomes stronger with yoga and tai-chi.

Whatever mode of body fitness you chose, moderation is the key. Doing exercises in the gym for an hour a day could be doing more harm than good. Even research suggests that twenty minutes of gym work three times a week is enough for optimum fitness.

Pradeep K Chadha is a psychiatrist who helps patients using meditation and imagery. He is the author of “The Stress Barrier - Nature’s Way To Overcoming Stress”, published by Blackhall Publishing, Dublin. He is based in Dublin, Ireland.

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Rowing machines offer one of the best aerobic fitness workouts. A workout on a rowing machine or rowing ergometer achieves two things: a cardiovascular and muscle workout. If you are keen on developing your cardiovascular systems, but also your muscular system, then a rowing machine could well be what you have been looking for.

A full body workout on one machine

Other cardio machines, such as exercise bikes, stair climbers, and treadmills do wonders for your legs and butt, but do not give an adequate workout to your upper body. Rowing machines, believe it or not, actually work both upper and lower body. In fact, workout analysts say that your legs get up to 70% of the workout benefits, but your upper body gets the rest. This basically translates to getting a full body workout on just one machine.

Rowing machines are low impact

The other major plus is that the rowing machine offers a safer alternative to jogging. Jogging, whether you do it on a treadmill or in the outdoors, is a high impact exercise and is not suitable for everyone. Each time you jog you are in danger of trauma to your bones and joints. Rowing machines offer a low impact workout, which is a very safe way to increase your overall health and fitness.

Which rowing machine is for you?

There are a number of rowing machines on the market today. A hydraulic machine is a good choice if you don’t want to spend too much. Air or flywheel rowing machines have a real outdoor rowing feel. Air and flywheel rowing machines feel natural and smooth, while hydraulic machines don’t. The magnetic resistance machine is a very popular rowing machine because it is very smooth and quiet.

Whatever machine you choose, you will get your full body aerobic workout that is low impact and the best thing for your muscles and your heart.

Dylan Miles, journalist, and publisher, is the owner and co-editor of http://www.physicalfitnessgear.info on which you will find more a detailed version of this article

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To say that the human body is an amazing machine is an understatement, especially when it comes to diet and exercise. Our bodies are constantly trying to achieve a state of homeostasis. The human body over time will make adjustments to try and adapt to its current environment.

The biggest problem with sticking with the same diet and exercise plan day in and day out is that your body will eventually adapt to that plan. The goal is to make subtle changes that keep your body guessing.

Use shock principles with your workouts

There are minor changes that you can do to your workout that will drastically improve your performance. One trick that I like to use is to take comparable exercises and swap them out from week to week. For example, let’s take a basic quadriceps workout. I’ll group my exercises into different categories

Category A: Free weight squats, Smith machine squats
Category B: Leg press, Hack squats
Category C: Leg extensions, lunges

During week one I will use one exercise from each category. The following week I will pick a different group of exercises from my list and so on and so on. For example:

Week One: Free weight squats, Hack squats, Leg extensions
Week Two: Smith machine squats, Leg press, lunges
Week Three: Smith machine squats, Leg press, leg extensions

*Note: These are drastic changes and the changes don’t have to be done every week but they do keep your workouts from becoming stale.

Another option I use in my workouts is to cycle the weight and intensity. I like to train hard and heavy for three to four weeks then do one to two weeks of lighter weight with higher repetitions. Another benefit to cycling your training intensity is that you can decrease the risk of injuries.

Tying it all together

If you notice that your workout program is no longer working for you then try mixing things up. Add a little spice to your workouts and change the tempo. You may be surprised that a few subtle changes can drastically change your workout results.

Gerald Gore is the owner of the online fitness review site One4Fitness. For more health and fitness related tips and reviews on workout equipment visit Gerald’s site at http://www.one4fitness.com

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