Archive for the ‘strength and conditioning’ Category
Most workout programs, in my opinion, are examples of cardio body building and are wrongly based on bodybuilder isolation movement exercises and marathoner extended aerobic training.
This is NOT the path to optimum fitness excellence!
The cardio body building combination is actually the biggest training mistake you can make.
Now before you get angry…
There is absolutely nothing wrong with training like a Bodybuilder or Marathoner… especially if you are a Bodybuilder or Marathoner.
I am just proposing that the training philosophies of Bodybuilders and Marathoners are not the path to an optimum level of fitness where all of the physical skills of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness are improved… Whether you adhere to the philosophy of each group alone or in combination.
I know this goes against most physical training protocols used in commercial gyms around the world that adhere to the cardio body building combination as the training methods of choice.
It is easy to see how these training protocols came to be combined…
In an attempt to improve fitness on a more general level for the non-professional fitness enthusiast, gyms and health clubs throughout the world have prescribed the typical cardio body building program of isolated movement strength training and extended aerobic training sessions.
The belief was that if isolated movement weight training is effective for Bodybuilders, and extended aerobic sessions are effective for Marathoners, that a combination of the two training methods would give the general fitness enthusiast the best of both worlds.
The fact is, Bodybuilding training methods are more concerned with muscle growth than muscular strength, power and endurance… and both of these training methods almost completely ignore the other physical abilities like coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and flexibility.
It is no wonder why millions of people participating in cardio body building inspired fitness programs fail to meet their over-all fitness goals… They are making a big training mistake.
On a personal Note…
I am guilty of training in the cardio body building fashion in my younger years in preparation for wrestling season.
I would lift weights using isolation exercises and run long distances to increase aerobic capacity.
I quickly learned in the first week of practice that the inflated muscles and aerobic capacity that I gained through cardio body building training did little or nothing to provide the fitness level needed for my chosen sport.
Oh well, there is nothing I can do about that now… but there is something that YOU can do to improve your physical training in preparation for sport, work, life.
Reflect on your current workout program…
If your current workout program looks like the cardio body building protocol described above… don’t despair.
Any exercise is better than none, so you have not completely wasted your time.
In fact… the isolated movement strength training has given you some degree of strength, and the aerobic exercise is an essential base of fitness.
However, to improve your physical training and optimize your performance you must be prepared to radically change the methods you use in pursuit of strength, conditioning and fitness excellence.
Be honest with yourself… are you getting the most out of your current cardio body building physical training program?
Are the exercises and methods you are using best suited to improve over-all fitness… or do they only focus on muscular size and cardiorespiratory endurance?
Ask yourself this question…
Is your current physical fitness training program based on the acceptable and deliberate compromise of competence and ability to perform in ALL the areas of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness to produce optimum performance results under the greatest amount of circumstances?
If not, it is probably based on the cardio body building fallacy… and your physical training can be greatly improved.
If your goal of physical training is to inflate your muscles and perform monotonous, single intensity aerobic exercise for extended periods of time… do nothing.
If your goal of physical training is to become a better human being suited to successfully overcome the random challenges of sport, work and life… It is time to change your physical fitness training program to one not based on the cardio body building fallacy.
Eddie Lomax
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/the-cardio-body-building-fallacy-11139.html
It is undeniable that many people today have prodigious interest and intensity to fitness programs, and one of the most popular fitness programs that have swept the continents by storm is Pilates.
Pilates for long years has been setting a new level of standards to the fitness industry. It is known and favored by many dieters, athletes, and body builders worldwide because of a number of benefits that the Windsor Pilates is capable of bringing. It is even very popular among many pregnant and nursing mothers as it creates wonders that are obtainable from no other techniques. Now, it is being labeled as the most excellent approach to fitness.
Pilates: The Method of Body Conditioning
Pilates was developed in the 1920s by the legendary physical trainer and founder of the Pilates Studio, Joseph H. Pilates. It has long been considered as a form of exercise system that pays much attention on improving flexibility and strength for the total body without building bulk. With this purpose, it’s no surprise that some of the first practitioners of Pilates were the dancers like George Balanchine and Martha Graham.
However, one should note that Pilates, the method of body conditioning, is not just about exercise. Pilates is a series of controlled movements that engage your body and mind. These controlled movements are usually done on specifically designed exercise apparatus and then supervised by extensively trained and experienced Pilates teachers.
Benefits of Pilates
In the first place, Pilates promotes physical harmony as well as balance for people of all ages. It also promotes physical conditions while providing a refreshing and energizing workout.
The body conditioning sessions of Pilates are usually done one to one with a certified Pilates teacher or in closely supervised small groups. Because of this, each session then is tailored to specific needs of every customer. Also, regardless of your current level of fitness, the Pilates, the method of body conditioning, can be really your primary mode for body conditioning and injury prevention.
Today, numerous studies have revealed that Pilates can be integrated into rehabilitative exercise, as well as physical therapy programs that are designed to speed recovery of the soft tissue injuries. This is what actually discovered by most chiropractors, orthopedists, and physical therapists.
Pilates can now even be used by pregnant women for them to learn proper breathing and body alignment. The exercises will also help them improve their concentration and recover body shape and tone after pregnancy.
The Difference of Pilates among Other Fitness Trends
What sets Pilates, the method of body conditioning, apart from the other fitness trends is the fact that Joseph Pilates developed more than 500 specific exercises using the five major pieces of unique apparatus to develop the body uniformly. Then, instead of performing a number of repetitions for every exercise, Joseph Pilates preferred fewer, but more precise movements. These precise movements involved generally require proper control and form.
Also, because Pilates requires your mind to engage with your body to perform the precise movements correctly, there is a great possibility that you will experience a new awareness of the muscle function and control.
What else? In Pilates, the powerhouse is supported and strengthened, enabling the rest of your body to move freely. Note that the term “powerhouse” refers to the abdomen, lower back, and buttocks.
Conclusion
Pilates is a revolutionary workout system with simple controlled movements. So, acquiring enough knowledge of these movements will definitely tone and tighten the entire body without having to use expensive exercise machines.
Keith Lee
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/what-is-pilates-52056.html
DATELINE: BELLINGHAM, MA…
USMMA’s mission is to elevate the physical and spiritual well being of students through Mixed Martial Arts and Yoga. Mixed Martial Arts classes offered include Strength & Conditioning; Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; Thai Boxing; Cardio Thai Boxing; Wrestling; Cardio and Open Mat. USMMA’s Yoga center offers Power Yoga, Deep Flow Yoga and Pilates.
USMMA is offering a Yoga gift package which is 10 yoga classes plus two bonus yoga classes for $120. A Mixed Martial Arts gift package consists of 10 Mixed Martial Arts classes plus two bonus MMA classes for $200. The Mixed Martial Arts gift package is ideal for the experienced as well as for the novice.
Holiday gift packages will be available through December 31, 2008.
“It’s been over three months since I started at USMMA and I have dropped pounds and inches. My stress level has immensely changed! I’m so much more relaxed. USMMA challenges me in ways no other workouts have ever done. I’ve learned so much about Martial Arts, Strength and Conditioning and all around Wellness that I will never go back to my old ways of living,” noted Kelly Antosh, a member of USMMA and a resident of Franklin, MA.
Ron Howard, a Rhode Island resident who is involved in Mixed Martial Arts at USMMA explained, “The changes I’ve gone through since I’ve been with USMMA are unbelievable. I went from 275 lbs. to 232 lbs. in just about three months. Saying ‘it’s been a lot of hard work’ would be a huge understatement, but this team has brought out the best in me.”
“We have classes for all abilities. Many of our students have lost a lot of weight – up to 30 to 40 pounds. We teach our clients that good health is a way of life; help them meet their fitness goals and put them on the path to a lifetime of wellness,” explained Tom Hafers, USMMA instructor and owner.
The Yoga and Mixed Martial Arts gift packages may be purchased at USMMA, 316 Hartford Avenue in Bellingham. To learn more about USMMA visit the website at www.usmma.org.
About USMMA
USMMA’s state of the art, 4,000 square foot training facility is complete with a 2,000 square foot padded MMA training floor equipped with heavy bags and conditioning equipment, a 1,500 square foot yoga studio, locker rooms, showers and a juice bar. USMMA is located at 316 Hartford Avenue in Bellingham. For more information, call 508-966-5006 or visit their website at www.usmma.org.
Steve Dubin
http://www.articlesbase.com/martial-arts-articles/the-gift-of-health-usmma-announces-special-holiday-packages-for-men-and-women-680377.html
Yoga means union in the language of Sanskrit, which is a language of India, where yoga originated. Yoga is actually the union of the mind, body and soul and is a philosophy in itself.
Power yoga is a form of yoga that is based on a choreographed sequence of poses known as asana during which process, the joints in the body unwind, muscles get relaxed and the energy gets moved. When a person performs power yoga, he tends to build strength and flexibility and is able to focus better and consequently the tension in the mind and body is released.
Ashtanga yoga is a rigorous form of yoga that is practiced in the eastern part of the globe and hence Beryl Bender Birch and Bryan Kest of the United States have developed a new form of yoga called the power yoga which is performed more rapidly and subtly, where it is possible to easily switch over from seating positions to sun salutations and head stands.
Power yoga classes do not follow a specific sequence and are choreographed and developed by the teacher. The main objective of power yoga is to offer a lot of stretching practices and a good aerobic workout. Also, the duration of power yoga is lesser as against ashtanga yoga which may last for one and a half hours. Power yoga lays emphasis on physical benefits like weight loss and better conditioning of the muscles and general strength of the body without giving more stress on the spiritual or meditative aspects of yoga.
However, in a power yoga class, five to ten minutes may be set apart for meditation. Power yoga is begun with three to six sun salutations that warms up the body and prepare for deeper poses and concludes with at least five minutes of meditation, commonly in corpse pose or a seated pose. This is the most important part of power yoga practice that enables to incorporate all the subtle changes made during the practice.
Basically, power yoga follows a particular sequence like sun salutation, warrior pose, balancing pose and then the triangle pose. Then come the floor practices and the seated postures and finally the savasana or meditation. Although, yoga series ought to be performed in a particular order for each routine, power yoga allows a person to either skip the entire series or focus on particular physical or emotional needs. Such is the flexibility of power yoga.
The benefits of power yoga are innumerable. Apart from being a great form of exercise for everyone, it improves joint movement, increases muscle strength, promotes stamina, maintains good posture, and ultimately warms the body. But the most obvious and ultimate benefit of power yoga is its ability in focusing mentally and improving concentration and to help to find the inner strength of everyone and relieve the stress because power yoga helps to alleviate mental stress and thus relieve aches and pains in the body caused due to muscle stress and tension.
Lesley Lyon
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/power-yoga-benefits-670597.html
Strength and Conditioning for High School Student Athletes Video for weight training. Reviews the fundamentals and principles involved in a sound resistance training program for teenagers. Featuring hands-on demonstrations, this video explains and shows the basic components that are essential to a well-designed, well-supervised strength training program for high school students. Among the topics covered are: NSCA youth strength-training guidelines, training concepts, program guidelines, exercise techniques and warm-up progression, functional vs. absolute strength, core lifts, advanced student-athlete programs, and also addresses how much resistance is enough. By Patrick Mediate, MA, CSCS*D of Greenwich High School, CT and Avery Faigenbaum, Ed.D, CSCS of the University of Massachusetts. 41 minutes. More Info About Strength and Conditioning for High School Student Athletes Video
Leather saddlebags vary in quality and there can be different types of leather. However there are 3 Major categories used to classify the leather used to make saddlebags. They are split, vegetable and chrome leather motorcycle saddlebags. All of these different types of leather saddlebags have one specific method to care. Proper and adequate care increases the life of leather and protects the aesthetics of it. Please note that the leather used in making saddlebags is very different from the one used for apparel. As a result the care also differs. Leather care can be broken down in four major categories.
1. Cleaning
2. Conditioning
3. Polishing
4. protecting
It is required to work on the leather Motorcycle saddlebags in a well ventilated area. This is due to the problems related to the dangerous chemicals, which are included in the cleaning solutions. An ideal place to clean the saddlebags is outdoors. However a garage can also be an ideal place only if it is well ventilated.
Choose a good quality cleaning solution that does not pose danger to the color of your leather saddlebags. If the cleaning solution is very strong not only it would pose danger to your leathers color but it would also weaken the threat used for stitching the leather. Water can be added to dilute the cleaning solution. To make sure the strength of cleaning solution is right start by cleaning the back of the saddlebag and see the results. The cleaning solution can be applied using any kind of cloth as long as it is perfectly clean. Most leather experts consider nubuk cleaning cloth to be the best solution.
The second stage in the leather care is conditioning of your leather saddlebags. Conditioning does not need to be done regularly but conditioning once in a while is an excellent way to keep you leather saddlebags in good condition. The process of conditioning consists of lubricating the leather saddlebags. Lubricating is done by applying a thin coat of oil on the leather saddlebags. After all leather is skin of an animal and like most skins it needs to be moisturized in order to look good and last long.
The third stage of leather care is polishing. Polishing is done to make your leather saddlebags stand out and look more glamorous. When selecting the polish make sure it does not clog the pours of the leather to make it dry.
The fourth and the last stage in the leather care is adding moister barrier to your leather saddlebags. This process tends to block the pours of the leather to prevent damage caused by rain. Another advantage of this process is that the saddlebags can look clean for longer period of time.
It is important for the motorcycle riders to protect their leather saddlebags from rain and especially mud. If you plan on going off road use saddlebag rain covers.
Harry Alan
http://www.articlesbase.com/motorcycles-articles/leather-motorcycle-saddlebags-care-125607.html
Every time I read a skiing magazine or see another so called “expert” recommending ski-specific workouts, I have to cringe when I see some of the exercises recommended! After all, isn’t the goal of an effective skier fitness training routine to reduce injuries while simultaneously building incredible strength and endurance in your legs and core?
Of course that’s the goal… we all want to tear up the slopes as long as possible, avoid the dreaded “jello legs” that might cut our day of skiing short, and also prevent those nagging injuries that might cut our season short.
The problem I’ve seen with traditional workout routines that are being recommended for skiers are that they not only use inefficient exercises that don’t carry over that well to actual skiing movements, but also may even be setting you up for an injury. For example, if you’ve seen workout routines that are recommending machine leg presses, machine leg extensions, and machine leg curls, please run screaming from that workout recommendation as fast as you can! It will only set you up for injury, and won’t even help your goal of strength and endurance that’s actually applicable to skiing movements.
The same can be said if you see authors recommending smith machine squats or any smith machine exercises whatsoever… they should all be avoided as smith machine movements follow unnatural movement patterns (not biomechanically correct) that can create excessive stress on the back and possible injury there and/or in the knees.
Now what about wall squats (aka “wall sits”)? Well, although almost every skiing fitness program in existence seems to recommend this exercise for skiers, I don’t find it to be optimal. I will say that it’s a step in the right direction compared to the machine-based exercises that I mentioned previously. However, wall squats are still not a truly effective exercise that carries over directly to strength and endurance throughout the entire range of motion that the legs use during skiing. This exercise can be mildly effective since even an isometric exercise held for endurance in one joint angle will still carry over to a slightly wider range of motion, but I actually have at least a dozen exercises that are MUCH more effective than wall squats.
One of the other major faults that I’ve found with typical ski workout fitness routines is that they often neglect achieving a proper joint strength balance (proper strength ratios between quadriceps, hamstrings, etc). Although skiing demands a lot of work from your quadriceps and less work from your hamstrings and glutes, it is still vitally important for injury prevention to maintain proper strength ratios between all of the muscle groups of the lower body and also make sure the small stabilizer muscles around the joints are properly strengthened. This is yet another factor that’s lacking in most skier workout programs.
Want to know all of the specific exercises that really work in developing rock solid legs that will never quit on you on the slopes? Visit here for the best Ski Conditioning Exercises. and learn the best kept secrets.
THOMPSON STEPHEN
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/the-best-ski-exercises-for-rock-solid-skier-legs-688889.html
Exercise can literally make you feel better mentally and emotionally and you can often train even if you have some health problems or injuries. For example if you have arthritis or stress fractures you can still use elliptical equipment to exercise and maintain muscle mass. And you can exercise at home in relative ease if you have the equipment for it.
It can be tuff to get started and you simply need to find your inner motivation for using the exercise equipment. Well, don’t feel too guilty, people often make resolutions to begin a proper exercise routine and find that they slack off in a few weeks. If you set specific days for the training it often work better and after some time you get kind of addicted to training.
Even if your gym might have some of the newest and greatest exercise equipment available there are great alternatives to gym training. In fact, aerobic exercise is far more effective at helping you lose weight then strength training, although a home gym can help you build up your muscle mass which can accelerate your weight loss in addition to the aerobic exercises that you do.
Whether this comes in the form of housecleaning for an hour or strength training at the gym, it is a fact that exercise keeps your muscles strong, your heart strong, and your body in shape. If you haven’t been involved in weight strength training in the past, it is really easy to get confused by all the different kind of home gym equipment that is on the market today.
Try to get some good guidance and training before you undertake using free weights to make sure you are doing it properly. If you decide to go this route, it’s a good idea to invest in a training program that will show you how to use your equipment properly and avoid injury.
Most home gyms are usually strength training machines that provide a structured way of performing each exercise. The benefits of strength training are many and well-documented, and they can be very useful for overall body conditioning
When you look at gym equipment, you can pick out some of the most useful and flexible machines and tools, and separate them from the gimmicks. Many users of home gym equipment have or use multistation pieces that allow them to workout on several types of machines in one, for example the Bowflex. There are also multiple weight machines to use each one focusing on a different muscle.
The home gym equipments generally falls into two major categories, the first being home gyms that use rods or bars to create resistance, and the second being strength training machines that use a weight stack or plates. Both categories have advantages and do not hesitate to use a machine with weight stack or plates. It is good training to do that job as well.
Keith George
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/gym-equipment-for-total-body-fitness-119351.html
Chrome Wire Shelf Customize your chrome wire shelving units with additional shelves. Hard, durable chrome plated finish is attractive enough for retail display, but withstands warehouse conditions as well. Shelves adjust without unit disassembly using 4 included black plastic sleeves. Open wire shelf helps minimize dust accumulation. Truss perimeter design provides extra strength and reinforcement for greater capacity. Use with Chrome Shelf Posts. 0.00 L. 0.00 W. 0.00 H.
