Monthly Archives: April 2012

A Nano Workout is Better than No Workout

Nano workouts are trending. People are too busy to find time in their schedules to go to the gym and workout. It's not just the hour of working out, but driving to the gym, changing clothes and other time consuming variables that add up to the same amount of time we spend exercising at the gym! What's a Nano Workout you ask? It is a workout someone can do while they are at their desk at work, riding on the bus, watching TV, or any other situation you find yourself in throughout the day in which you can get in a mini-workout. For example, while watching TV, you can perform a hip flexor stretch that will lead to increased agility as a result of toning your thighs and hips. Hip flexors can be performed simply standing in front of your couch and rest one foot on the backrest of the couch, then rest the knee of that leg on the couch and slightly lunge your hips towards the TV. This simple exercise can really help

Nautilus Unleashes the Bowflex BodyTower

Headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, Bowflex®, one of the worlds most recognized brands of fitness equipment, just unveiled its newest piece of strength equipment and is calling it the Bowflex BodyTower™. The BodyTower™ is the first piece of strength training equipment released by Nautilus, Inc. in the last 5 years. With a reasonable price point and the ability to provide its users with an efficient, intense workout, the BodyTower provides a total body workout for its users. Designed with a wide base and adjustable bar, the BodyTower is a body-weight exercise tower. In other words, users use their own body weight to strengthen their legs, arms, back and core.  Nautilus wanted to make a workout tower that was more effective for weight loss and unparalleled in terms of its range of exercises. Nathan Roe, Nautilus' director of marketing was quoted as saying,

The BodyTower uniquely focuses on strength training through muscle sta

Get a Jump on Summer with High Intensity Interval Training

With Summer right around the corner, getting in shape should be high on your priority list. Advanced fitness strategies are built upon a foundation of intense, fast paced physical training, resulting in fat burning and muscle growth. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is an awesome training method for getting your body in the condition you sit around always wishing it was in. Although HIIT has been well known for a long time, its popularity has been revitalized as of late. By definition, HIIT is the practice of working out at a very fast pace, anywhere from 15 seconds to 2 minutes and then breaking for that same time period, rinse - repeat. High Intensity Interval Training is a training program was built around the Soccer Mom, who doesn't have enough spare time to spend 2 hours a day at the gym, the Dad that has to work long days and take the kids to school in the morning - people that lead extremely busy lives and can't afford to take over an hour out their day to exercise. Any

Life Fitness and FitPro North are on a Mission to Find the World's Best Personal Trainers

On April 2, 2012, a press release from Life Fitness™ and FitPro North America announced that they will be teaming up to perform an international search for the best personal trainers in the fitness industry. Finalists will be determined by a panel of 5 fitness experts, chosen by Life Fitness and FitPro. In order to be a candidate, one must be nominated by a client, colleague or gym owner. Nominations run from now until July 31, 2012 and the winners will be announced in November, 2012. To nominate a fitness trainer, just go to www.LifeFitness.com/PersonalTrainers to enter a personal trainer that significantly betters the life of his or her clients. Please be able to quantify the strengths of your nominee and give a reasonable explanation as to why he or she deserves to be the 2012 Trainer to Watch. Finalists will be personal trainers that not only care about their clients workout programs, but trainers who are deeply involved with their clients lifestyle in its entirety, thereby

Outdoor Gyms are Fun, Easy to Use and Free!

The united states is the world's fattest country. Consequently, everyone including the President, health and fitness experts and your brother Bob are all trying to figure out what in the world will be an effective measure to curb our obesity. Some people like the idea of providing free fitness training grounds for the public and I think outdoor gyms are a great idea.  As obesity rates are getting more publicity and the news spreads about how fat America has really become, state funds are being directed towards building more outdoor workout equipment like Cross-Trainers and less swings and slides. Remember when we used to go to playgrounds to use the swings, slides and monkey bars? Yeah, we all remember playing basketball somehow on the monkey bars, or doing back-flips off of the swings.  The times, they are a changin - the new craze on the playgrounds is the elliptical. What the hell is an elliptical you ask? And why is it on your kids playground? Well, the truth is that the

Comparing the Cybex Arc Trainer vs the Precor AMT 100i

One of the most prominent fitness equipment manufacturers, Cybex International Inc., just released a video documenting how successful their Arc Trainer has proven to be over the years. Due to its award winning durability, fluid and quiet drive system and ability to be used as effective tool for weight loss and muscle toning, the Cybex Arc Trainer has gained worldwide popularity. The Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse recently compared the Cybex Arc Trainer with the Precor AMT 100i. After careful analysis, the University of Wisconsin professors in charge or the study concluded that the Cybex Arc Trainer was more gentle on the users' knees than Precor's Adaptive Motion Trainer. One participant of the survey said "With the Arc, it allows me to do some of my speed work in a less pounding environment than running on trails," they added "I definitely saw a big difference in recovery after a hard Arc workout going into, like a long-run trainin

Life Fitness Introduces its Brand New Interactive "Lifescape" Technology

IHRSA, the worlds largest fitness show, held a convention in Los Angeles on March 15, 2012. One of the most popular attractions at the IHRSA show was Life Fitness' debut of their "Lifescape" technology, that is available with the Life Fitness Integrity Series. Life Fitness, an international powerhouse in the commercial fitness equipment industry, has added a new user interactive feature to its treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and steppers. Lifescape enables users to choose different outdoor adventures, such as high-definition hikes, bike rides and intense climbs, that come to life on the touch-screen, attachable TV. For example, users can hike through King's Canyon and Yosemite National Park, as well as run through Germany and the Trinity Mountains, or ride a bike through Champagne and Col De La Colombiere, France. All together, there are close to 20 exciting landscapes to choose from. On-Demand entertainment provides more breakthrough technology, as users are able to stream thous