The Workout Room

If you were to take all the diet pills, weight loss pills and fat burners sitting on store shelves right now, the resulting pile would be big enough to sink a battleship. Add to that stack all the diet products, diet patches, diet food, prescription diet pills and other weight loss drugs and pretty soon you’re talking about a virtual mountain of weight loss products designed to help you lose weight fast. If you really wanted to get carried away, you could then add to that heap all the weight loss programs, diet plans and diet programs that have issued a book within the last year. Can you imagine how big that mountain is now?

The resulting accumulation of ’stuff’ is what the average American finds when they first seek a weight loss plan. Once you decide to drop those extra pounds and really get in shape, you’re confronted with a staggering array of fast weight loss diets, diet drugs and diet recipes that all promise fast weight loss with little to no effort.

Unfortunately, few of these quick weight loss programs actually work. Most people looking for easy weight loss try at least a few diets. According to Julie Garden-Robinson, extension food and nutrition specialist at NDSU, “About 95 percent of fad diets fail. Put another way, only about 5 percent of dieters are able to maintain a significant weight loss, which means a drop in weight equaling 10 percent, or more, of what they weighed before they began dieting.”

Many weight loss supplements and diet supplements don’t work either. According to Marketdata Enterprises, the annual revenue for the diet industry was over $30 billion dollars in 1990. A 2005 report by Stanford University documents that the consumer diet industry is now approximately $44 billion and growing. Much of this total is due to sales of weight loss diet pills and other weight loss drugs.

How can the diet industry keep making more and more money, year after year? After all, $44 billion dollars is a lot of cash! The answer to that question is simple: repeat business. “98% of today’s dieters gain the weight back in 5 years. 90% of those individuals end up gaining back more than they lost originally, due to the body’s panic and efforts to stabilize metabolic rates over the long term” (source: Stanford University).

People are confused about how to achieve healthy weight loss that’s permanent. That’s why we’ve created this list of the Top 10 Exercise Tips For Rapid Weight Loss. The best weight loss program absolutely must include regular exercise, so with that premise in place let’s take a look at some real, honest and accurate weight loss information.

1. Our first exercise tip is to ignore some of the weight control advice from the experts. For at least the last year, there’s been a big push by several authorities (including the Surgeon General of the United States) to get people walking. Many people have been encouraged to walk 10,000 steps per day to maintain fitness, and “10,000 Clubs” have cropped up all over the country. Unfortunately, just walking won’t lead to much in the way of fat loss. Research done in Canada found that people who perform a moderate intensity activity (like walking) lose a lot less fat than those who exercise intensely. The primary reasons are that walking doesn’t get you into the target heart rate zone and doesn’t increase your metabolism very much following exercise. Because walking doesn’t burn much muscle glycogen, the body won’t metabolize much fat after a walking workout. A much better approach is to exercise intensely (above 65% of maximum effort).

2. To solve your weight issue once and for all, it’s vital to incorporate some type of weight lifting into your exercise plan. Scientists at the University of Colorado (Denver) discovered that resistance training for seventy minutes burned as many calories as running at seventy percent of maximum capacity for fifty minutes (source: Med Sci Sports Exerc; 34: 1793-1800, 2002). When you consider all the other benefits imparted by resistance training (stronger bones, ligaments, muscles, etc.) it becomes clear that incorporating weight training into your workout regiment is one weight loss tip that works.

3. Our third exercise tip is quite simple: just do it! Exercise is simply the best, fastest and most efficient way to reach your ideal weight and lose fat for good. Dieting doesn’t even compare. When you rely on dieting alone to help you achieve your fitness goals you will always be disappointed. As reported in ‘Fitness Rx’ in August of 2004, dieting without exercise is a sure recipe for disaster because when you diet without exercising up to 1/2 of the weight loss we experience will be from muscle loss. See, if you dramatically lower your caloric intake and you’re not exercising, your body will lose muscle. Since muscle is the ‘fat burning furnace’ of the body, the absolute last thing you want to do on a weight management program is give it up voluntarily. Consistent exercise, and particularly a weight lifting program, will preserve muscle and burn more fat.

4. This next exercise tip may seem like common sense, but it still bears repeating. If you want to reach your ideal body weight faster, then you must participate in weight loss exercise more often. It was back in 1996 that the Surgeon General began encouraging Americans to work out in 30-minute increments. Working independently, the United States National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization later reported that people wanting to lose weight faster should exercise up to sixty minutes per day. Research done at the University of Minnesota has proven that you can boost your weight loss results by up to forty percent by simply doubling your exercise time (source: Am J Clin Nutr; 78: 684-689, 2003). Will 30-minutes of exercise still work? Of course! But to really burn fat quickly, consider upping the ante to sixty minutes per day.

5. As if you weren’t convinced already, our next exercise tip also encourages you to add a weight lifting routine to your workout strategy. The reason is that only resistance training (commonly referred to as weight lifting) has the ability to add muscle to your body. Aerobic exercise won’t do it, and dieting certainly won’t either. Only regular weight lifting workouts will add the muscle you need to burn fat and keep it off forever. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, burning calories 24/7. As a matter of fact, one single pound of muscle burns about fifty calories more per day than a pound of fat. So it stands to reason that the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn around the clock (yes, even while you’re sleeping). So get started on that weight lifting program today.

6. You’ve probably heard that you should find a workout buddy to help you get to the gym. That’s good advice, but a better idea is to find a ‘challenger’. A ‘challenger’ is someone that gets in your face and challenges you to do better. He or she makes you uncomfortable by making you accountable. Sometimes the best thing someone can do for us is to make us mad, embarrassed or uneasy! This prompts us into action, and that action is for our own benefit. Do you have a ‘challenger’ in your life? Get one, and get one today! Maybe it can be your friend from work, or perhaps someone from church. How about a sibling? A ‘challenger’ is someone who knows you well enough to push when you need to be pushed, who will not let you make excuses. A good ‘challenger’ will call you at home and question why you’re not at the gym today. A good ‘challenger’ will stop by your desk at work to see what you’re eating today. A good ‘challenger’ will not let you fail.

7. The next exercise tip is that, in addition to a ‘challenger’, you need to find an ‘encourager’ to help you with your diet and exercise program. An ‘encourager’ helps you without accusing. An ‘encourager’ supports, believes in, and bolsters you at all times. Do you have an ‘encourager’ for your battle against fat? You should get one. Everyone needs an ‘encourager’ just as much as they need a ‘challenger’, perhaps more. Whereas a ‘challenger’ will demand that you get to the health club today, an ‘encourager’ will pick you up on their way to the gym and make it fun enough that you’re glad you went too.

8. This exercise tip is to seek expert advice so you get everything you can out of your workout sessions. Let’s face it, nobody can possibly be proficient in all areas. There are times in our lives when we need to get some expert assistance. When the car is broken, you get help from a mechanic. When you have legal trouble, you get help from an attorney. When the refrigerator breaks down you call a specialist. When you’re about to fight the world heavyweight champion, you seek help from an experienced trainer. And when you’re trying to write your own weight loss success story, you get assistance from an expert. If you’re serious about this fight against fat, then you need to find an expert. Ask a personal trainer or gym staff member how they can help you jump-start your fitness program and start making serious progress. Nobody has to fight this fight alone, and a fitness expert can help you exercise to lose weight permanently.

9. If you don’t have time to complete a full exercise session, at least do SOMETHING physical. If you simply don’t have time to get into the fitness center at all it’s better to make sure you get at least some level of activity. You could, for example, walk up the stairs during your lunch hour and burn 100 calories in a ten-minute climb. The bottom line is that every activity burns at least a few calories (even watching television burns 75 calories per hour!), so even if you skipped your workout today you can still get active.

10. The final exercise tip in this list is to work out where you’ll find the most weight loss support and weight loss motivation to encourage you. Even the best weight loss system in the world is without value if you don’t follow it, and the most advanced weight machine won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t use it (that’s why there’s exercise equipment sold at almost every yard sale). Many people find the support and motivation they need at a health club. Together with others who are ‘in the same boat’, you’re much more likely to stick with your healthy diet and exercise program.

If you’re ready to lower your body fat percentage once and for all, try these top ten exercise tips for rapid weight loss. The only thing you have to lose is the weight!

Like me, you’re probably tired of giving your hard-earned money to the health insurance companies for family healthcare. You’ve tried the 24 hour fitness clubs, Bally total fitness, fitness books, weight training fitness, treadmill fitness. In your fitness quest, you’ve bought fitness books, used fitness trainers, bought vitamins and fitness equipment. You’ve tried the gym for fitness, home fitness, you’ve done everything you can think of to achieve and maintain your total fitness.Well let me tell you that all the fitness books, health clubs and fitness trainers in the world won’t help you achieve total fitness if they’re not telling you about the importance of cellular health.I’ve discovered a product called MeridiumXN that works at the cellular level. MeridiumXN is marketed and manufactured by BioNovix, Inc., and promises to change the healthcare industry as we know it today.The results that are being reported are phenomenal to say the least. Since using the product I’ve been able to stop taking medicine for high blood pressure and my blood pressure has returned to normal. I’ve gained energy without the jitters that I used to get from energy drinks containing caffeine, and I’m more focused mentally. MeridiumXN has helped to balance my insulin and glucose levels, and I’ve stopped having the symptoms of low sugar between meals. I no longer have achy joints in the morning or exhaustion in the afternoons either.MeridiumXN will not be sold in health food stores, but can only be ordered through a BioNovix, Inc. distributor.I’ve added MeridiumXN to my family healthcare program because I believe that when you want total fitness, you must take the cells in your body into consideration also.I believe in total fitness for everyone. But in our fitness quest at the gym, while building our muscles and our stamina, we’ve managed to pollute our bodies during our workouts. This leads to metabolic stress. Metabolic stress causes actual damage to your cells and tissues, and leads to the breakdown of the metabolic functions that keep you healthy. Metabolic stress also produces more metabolic waste and toxins than your body can rid itself of. Over time, metabolic stress leads to serious health problems.This in turn makes us reliant upon the medical community to treat the symptoms and not the cause. Now, this drives up the cost of healthcare as we are subject to the ever-increasing premiums paid to our health insurance companies. It’s a vicious cycle to say the least. Now, whether you train at a gym for fitness, run for fitness, swim for fitness, no matter what you do in your quest for fitness, I think you’ll agree that if there’s more to be done you’re going to do it! After all, we’re looking for total fitness, and that includes every cell in our bodies.for more information on The Master Molecule you can visit my site: www.health-4-u.org
For more wellness related articles visit: www.health-4-uonline.com

Regular physical exercise is an absolute must for a healthy metabolism. Exercise is also an effective strategy for weight control because it causes a favourable shift in body composition, increasing muscle mass and decreasing body fat. The greater your muscle mass, the greater your fat-burning capacity. When you diet to lose weight, most of the reduction comes from loss of water. In addition, dieting lowers your basal metabolic rate (BMR). In other words, your body slows down to compensate for the reduced caloric intake, thus keeping your weight basically the same. Exercise has been shown to compensate for a reduced BMR due to caloric restriction, and it helps your body lower your set point, the weight to which your body naturally returns. Here are some tips to help you develop an exercise program.

1. Make It Fun

If you like what you are doing, you have a better chance of sticking with it. Find a workout buddy and plan to exercise together. For example, you and your neighbours might enjoy taking brisk walks early in the morning or in the evening.

2. Stay Motivated

If you are goal-oriented, set realistic targets for your exercise – more laps, more lifts and keep track of how you are doing. Reward yourself when you reach your goal. Vary your routine to avoid boredom. Read exercise books or magazines for tips on getting the most out of your program and learning other exercise strategies.

3. Exercise Regularly

You need to commit to your exercise plan. Exercise at least three times a week throughout the year. Some people find it easier to exercise every day, so that it becomes a habit. With strength-training exercise, however, it is recommended taking a day off to allow your body to recover.

4. Recognize Exercise

You need to recognize the importance of physical exercise. Make regular exercise a top priority in your life.

5. Give Yourself Time To Exercise

To do you the most good, exercise must cause an increase in your heart rate and must be sustained for a minimum of twenty minutes. It is recommended that exercising in this way three times a week is usually enough to provide you with benefits. In fact, more frequent exercise of longer duration is even better. Aerobic exercise-movement that increases utilization of oxygen includes walking briskly, jogging, bicycling, cross-country skiing, swimming, aerobic dance, and racquet sports. Strength-training exercise, such as lifting weights, is just as critical to long-term weight control as aerobic exercise because it is able to build muscle mass.

6. Before Starting, Consult Your Physician

This is especially important if you are over forty years of age. Suddenly launching into vigorous exercise when you are not used to it can cause dangerous strain on your heart. Regardless of your age, before exercising see a physician if you are a smoker of if your have known heart disease, high blood pressure, or irregular heartbeat. Consult a doctor if you become breathless with moderate exertion or if you experience pain or pressure in your chest, arm, teeth, jaw, or neck during exercise.

7. Monitor Exercise Intensity

This is determined by measuring your heart rate (beats per minute). To check your pulse, put your index and middle fingers on the opposite wrist or on your neck just below the jaw. Count the number of beats in twenty seconds and multiply by three. This is your resting heart rate per minute. Your goal should be to increase your heart rate to within the appropriate training rate range for the duration of aerobic exercise (say twenty minutes). The training rate depends on your age. To determine your rate range, subtract your age from 185 to get the top of the range, and subtract another twenty to determine the bottom range. Thus a forty-year-old would have a target training heart rate of 125 to 145 beats per minute. Do not exceed the higher figure in this range.

We all know that exercising is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Yet…do we do it? What if you could give yourself permission to start small in your exercising efforts…and still feel good about yourself?

Exercise is essentially movement using various muscle groups. By this definition, almost any sort of activity can be considered exercise. The more your muscles and body work to keep going, the stronger they become.

There are many benefits to exercising, such as increased energy, weight loss, and even reducing the risk diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease.

Before you begin any new exercise regimen, it is very important that you consult your doctor, start out slowly and increase your regimen in simple steps.

Start Exercising Slowly

Leading a healthy lifestyle means eating right, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly. What do you do if exercise is that one thing that you can’t bring yourself to follow through with on a regular basis? We lead busy lives and can always find a reason or two not to exercise. What if you allow yourself to start slowly? Think about these easy steps:

-Take an extra flight of stairs instead of the elevator.

-Instead of priding yourself in finding the closest parking spot, cheer yourself when you park a little further away and walk to your destination.

-Walk in place or do some stretching in front of the TV during commercials.

-Every hour or two, stop work and do some stretching.

-Reduce emails and phone calls and take a walk to speak with a co-worker.

-Walk around the block after lunch - this simple act will make a difference in your level of energy throughout the afternoon.

-Turn cleaning the house into an exercise experience.

-…and create your own list of ‘muscle movements’ throughout the day…just keep it simple.

Different Types of Exercising

If you are ready to start a formal fitness program in your life, find an activity that you enjoy doing. Don’t choose an exercise program because everyone else in doing it. If you hate lifting weights or walking on the treadmill, find something that you love to do that gets you up and moving. You’ll be far more successful if you like the activity.

There are different types of exercise including running, biking, aerobic classes, yoga, and walking. The best strategy for incorporating beneficial exercise into your lifestyle is to do a variety of exercises. For instance, a good exercise regimen will include both cardio (biking, swimming, running) with weight training.

How about Pilates? This form of exercising is low impact and gentle on the body. Pilates often focuses on the “core” muscles that are around your midsection. Pilates aims to tone and strengthen the body’s muscles.

Another option to get you moving is to join a sports team. There are many types of sports that you can choose to play depending on your interests: basketball, soccer, volleyball, bowling, or baseball.

Group exercises are another choice that you can make when it comes to getting in your weekly quota of physical fitness. Some popular choices of group exercises include belly dancing, kickboxing, hip-hop dance, and all levels of step classes. When you exercise with a group of people you’re often more motivated to keep going since being part of a group with the similar goal of getting in shape is a powerful incentive.

There are specific Chinese forms of exercise that you may want to explore:

-T’ai Chi. This form of Chinese exercise uses movement to achieve peace and harmony in your mind and body. -Yoga. Yoga uses certain body postures to reduce stress, promote relaxation, and relieve the physical symptoms of ill health.

-Martial arts. Use a variety of marital arts, such as Kung Fu, to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.

-Qi Gong. This form of Chinese activity combines breathing exercises and mental exercises to prevent as well as treat health problems and disease.

Final Thoughts

One mistake that many people make when they’re deciding to get into shape is to tackle the entire concept of “fitness” at one time. Incorporating fitness into your life takes time and won’t happen overnight. Your body, mind, and spirit need time to adjust to the many changes that will be happening as you start to add exercise to your daily routine. This is why fitness in small steps is so important and will ensure that you’re less likely to quit when you become overwhelmed with the changes in your life.

Exercise is essential if you’re going to lead and maintain a healthy life. Select your favorite form of exercise and stick with it so you can enjoy the benefits of a healthy body and mind.

How To Find A Quality Fitness Trainer

Regardless of your fitness goals, you can benefit from a local Spokane fitness trainer. For those who need to lose a few extra pounds to those who need to physically transform their entire body, a fitness trainer can assist you in reaching your unique goals.

That Extra Edge

While the aspect of motivation is not the most effective or important benefit of your Spokane Fitness Trainer, it is a very important one to say the least. Lacking motivation is a major issue that people seem to have when trying to reach their fitness goals.

They learn that the road to reach their individual goals is much harder than they originally anticipated. Your personal trainer can provide that extra motivation that you need to reach your fitness goals. All people will not require the extra motivation from their personal Spokane trainer but the extra boost will help.

The Ultimate Benefit Of A Fitness Trainer

The Fitness Trainer can assist you in managing your fitness plan. The trainer can help you plan every aspect of your workout, from the foods that you eat to the various types of exercises that you do. Since everyone is not an expert on fitness, it is nice to have someone who can show you tips on how you can get the most out of your workout sessions. Your personal trainer is there from day one, which means you have someone focused on you and your routine..even if you aren’t.

The fitness trainer will design your fitness routine, so you won’t need to concentrate on an exercise plan - all you have to do is workout. This is extremely helpful for those with hectic schedules as they will not be forced to keep up with every detail of their personal fitness plan.

Exercise Efficiency

Your fitness trainer will make sure that your exercise sessions are as efficient as possible. Many people exercise with the goal of reaching better health but fail to do so as they are doing the wrong types of exercise. For example, someone trying to build their leg muscle may be participating in exercises that do little or nothing to improve the amount of muscle in their legs. Improving the area(s) of your body that you wish to improve is part of what a personal trainer will teach you.

Dieting Success: The Ultimate Secret To Rapid Results

A personal fitness trainer will show you the types of foods that you need to eat to reach your desired level of fitness. For most workout plans, a normal diet will not offer results which is why it’s important to have a fitness trainer design a diet especially for you. Your trainer has the knowledge of all the foods and nutrients that are vital to your exercise regimen along with the foods that you should avoid.

Reach Your Fitness Goals Permanently

If you are a Spokane resident and are wishing to reach your fitness goals, you should speak with your local fitness trainer today. Your fitness trainer will provide you with the building blocks that will build the road to reach better health if you take the opportunity to enlist their fitness services.

Perhaps it’s the result of having a new job, a new mate, or a new baby.You are overwhelmed with a feeling of excitement.Yet, you feel inadequate as well.As a result, you are under a tremendous amount of stress.At times, you might feel as if there’s no relief in sight as if you’re on a treadmill which shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

However, the secret to effectively dealing with the stress may be to get your body onto an actual treadmill. Exercise can be the key to stress relief.It’s an obvious antidote to fatigue.It can make you feel more energetic, improving your strength and resiliency.

It has been shown that individuals who are more physically fit often experience fewer health troubles.In addition,exercisers are less likely to suffer from psychological problems such as depression, binge eating, or insomnia.

Without exercise, you are increasing the likelihood that you will be afflicted with colds, flu, or other medical problems.Aerobic exercise in particular can improve your cardiovascular system and decrease your anxiety level.

Some studies have shown that, during aerobic exercise, a chemical is produced in the brain which helps to heal the body from stress-related conditions. You should exercise at least three days a week for 30 minutes at a time in order to improve not only your health but your mental outlook.

If you find it difficult to become motivated to exercise, there are a number of steps you can take.To begin with, you can join an exercise club.Knowing that you’ll have to pay dues to a gym may make it more likely that you will actually end up exercising.You might also consider enlisting the aid of a personal trainer.

A trainer can provide powerful motivation, pushing you to complete exercises you never thought possible. Another idea is to join an exercise class.There, you’ll meet other people who are in a similar position.The camaraderie that develops between exercisers can help to reduce your stress level.

In general, exercise should make you feel less anxious. Your muscles become less tense and you will be less shaky after a round of exercise.It has also been shown that exercise leads to an hour and a half to two hours of relaxation response.This has also been referred to as the endorphin response.As a result, your mood will improve, enabling you to deal more effectively with stress.

Exercise can also improve your self-image.You’ll experience greater self-worth, which will, in turn, reduce your stress level.A confident person is an individual who knows how to handle stress without becoming flustered.As a result of exercise,you may also end up eating better.Your improved menu may also prove to be a stress reliever.For instance,if you give up caffeinated drinks, you might become less jittery.

In addition to your sessions in the gym,you should be looking for additional opportunities to exercise.This could mean taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to work instead of driving, or playing touch football in the backyard with your children.The point is to get moving and keep moving at every available opportunity.

Exercise quickens the blood flow to your mind, offering the brain additional sugars and oxygen which can be important if you are concentrating.Exercise can also clear out waste products from the brain which can result in unclear thinking.You will also feel a greater sense of well-being as a result of exercise.

As has been shown here, exercise is beneficial for both the body and the mind.As a result, it can relax you when other techniques fail.By engaging in exercise, you free up your mind, enabling you to concentrate better and work more efficiently.Chances are you will not only feel better, you will look better as well.With your brain under control, you should experience less stress.

Granted, exercise takes time and requires discipline, but it is well worth the exertion.The good feelings you get from a powerful exercise session can actually last for days.You may find that you actually look forward to working out because of the tremendous benefits it brings with it.

There are many fitness together groups, especially at the fitness clubs, so you should have no problem finding a compatible group in your area.

Working out together provides additional motivation. Reaching your fitness goals are a combined effort.

If you are feeling discouraged about reaching your individual performance goals, your peers will remind you of the benefits of working out and why you should continue to participate even when you want to throw in the towel.

While a fitness trainer can provide this type of motivation during a session, you may receive better results when you are motivated by a friend or family member who is working alongside you.

Lose That Fear By Doing Fitness Together as a Group

Another issue that bothers many people that wish to improve their physique is that they have fear about the entire process. By working with a group of peers, most people will forget about their fears as their mind will wonder off to other subjects as they communicate with their group of friends while exercising.

When you are alone and exercising, your mind usually concentrates on the negative aspects of exercising as your body is not used to the exercise.

With a group you are able to chat or catch up and not constantly think about the workout itself, which often times is hard.

Make New Friends With A Workout Group

If you are looking to make new friends, joining a workout group for some fitness together sessions is a great idea. Not only will you treat your body to some well deserved exercise, you will have the ability to meet new people with similar interests.

Especially for those individuals that are new to the area, it’s a great way to meet some new people. Many of the people who join these types of fitness workout groups are looking for other individuals to spend time with so you should not have a problem meeting new friendly faces by joining one of these fitness together groups.

The residents of are quite friendly and the fitness together groups are no exception to this fact.

Manage Your Fitness Goals Better

Another great advantage of doing fitness together is that you will manage your goals better. Since you are working with other individuals with similar goals, you will be more encouraged to complete your goals. You will also be less likely to fail your fitness goals as you will have the support of the entire fitness together group behind you.

This kind of support will allow you to manage your fitness goals better. You will also obtain some pointers on reaching your fitness goals as a member (or members) of your fitness group may have been successful in completing the same goals.

Free Fitness Groups

Finally, perhaps the best advantage of doing fitness together with peer support groups is that a majority of these groups are free. A way to achieve fitness without investing a lot of money is to do fitness together.

For those who are on a strict budget, or for those not willing to invest a lot of money towards their fitness goals, doing fitness together is the right option for you.

Exercise can be a fantastic way to manage your diabetes providing you take adequate precautions. On top of this exercise also has a number of additional benefits including an improved appearance, greater strength and more energy. In this article I will be discussing the exercise options available to you, the precautions you should take when exercising and the benefits exercise can have on your diabetes.

To begin lets discuss the types of exercise available to you. Exercise generally falls under two main categories; ‘Cardiovascular Training’ and ‘Resistance Training’. Cardiovascular training focuses on improving the amount of oxygen that is delivered to your muscles which in turn improves your endurance and stamina. There are many choices when it comes to cardiovascular exercise which include cycling, jogging and swimming. Resistance training focuses on improving your strength using short, explosive movements. When it comes to resistance training the choices are a little more limited and involve the use of free weights, machine weights or your own body weight.

So which type is best for your diabetes and your overall health? Well, both types have their advantages. Cardiovascular training is more effective at stimulating the body to use blood sugar for energy but weight training has been linked with significant improvements in blood sugar control. My advice is to do a mixture of both cardiovascular training and resistance training as part of your regular exercise routine. This will allow you to gain the maximum benefit from each type of exercise which include:

1) IMPROVED BLOOD SUGAR CONTROL:- As mentioned above both types of exercise can help you control your blood sugar levels by prompting your body to burn more blood sugar. In fact in some cases of type 2 diabetes exercise has been so effective that it has removed the need for insulin injections.

2) IMPROVED RECEPTIVENESS TO INSULIN:- One of the key problems facing diabetics is a lack of insulin in the body. However, research suggests that regular exercise can improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Therefore, by exercising regularly diabetics can use the limited insulin they have available more effectively.

3) REDUCED BODY FAT LEVELS:- Both types of exercise can help you burn fat in different ways. Cardiovascular training stimulates fat burning directly (both during and after exercise) whereas building muscle mass through resistance training can slightly increase the number of calories you burn each day. Fat cells are more resistant to insulin than muscle cells and so by burning them off through exercise you can make your body more receptive to insulin.

Although regular exercise is a fantastic way to moderate your diabetes it is very important that you take the following precautions.

- Always monitor your blood sugar levels before, during and after exercise using a portable glucose meter. Although exercise can help control your blood sugar levels you need to be aware if any fluctuations occur.

- Always keep insulin and glucose nearby so that you can quickly address any potential blood sugar fluctuations.

- Make sure that you stay properly hydrated whilst working out as dehydration can can cause further blood sugar fluctuations.

- Talk to your doctor before beginning an exercise plan. They will know about your health better than most people and therefore will be able to advise you of any further precautions you need to take when exercising.

Regular exercise can do wonders for your health, your appearance and your diabetes. If you want to command greater control over your diabetes then you should start getting physical today. Begin with just a daily brisk walk and then progressively work your way towards more intense forms of exercise. Before you know it you will have made huge steps in your health, your fitness and your diabetes management.

Every intention has been made to make this article accurate and informative but it is intended for general information only. Diabetes is a medical condition and this article is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your doctor or a qualified medical practitioner. If you have any concerns regarding any form of diabetes you should seek the advice of your doctor immediately.

This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s The Healthiest Year of Your Life, which can be found at http://thehealthiestyearofyourlife.com. In this excerpt, Craig Pepin Donat shares on the experiences that led him to write The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie.

The Healthiest Year of Your Life with Craig Pepin Donat, a certified personal trainer and author of The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie.

Kevin: Good evening, everyone. So Craig, you’ve been in the fitness industry for over 26 years and with that, I imagine comes a bit of wisdom. Why don’t you start with your story and how you’ve gotten to where you are now?

Craig: Sure Kevin. Well, first of all, I started out in the fitness industry as a personal trainer making $3.50 an hour.

Kevin: Wow.

Craig: So I’ve been in it for awhile and I grew through the ranks in the fitness industry to the executive level. I was the president of two of the largest fitness organizations in the United States. I was the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the largest chain of fitness clubs in the world operating in 11 countries. I also successfully owned and operated my own fitness company. I’ve visited 30 countries and evaluated health and fitness trends all over Russia, Asia, Europe. I’ve been to dozens of fitness conventions, purchased millions of dollars worth of equipment, supplements and other health and fitness related products and I’ve also had the ability to train thousands of health and fitness professionals around the world and help them to help other people improve their lives. So this really kind of led me to where I am today, which is to where I just got to the point where I want to do something more and that’s why I wrote my book The Big Fat Healthy Fitness Lie and founded Fit Advocate.com so that I could create a platform to protect and enhance the lives and health and fitness consumers.

Kevin: Now you just mentioned your book, The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie which I absolutely love. What is the big fat fitness lie. Let’s just lay it on the table.

Craig: Why mince words? Let’s dig right in. The lie is that there are these billion dollar industries out there getting richer while we get sicker and fatter and with all the so-called solutions available for losing weight and improving our health, we are literally in the worse shape in the history of modern civilization. There’s big profit in sickness and in fatness, and a lot of times people question that and they think, “Oh, well we live in the United States, we’re in great health and we have the best health care system” which is a complete fallacy. Here’s an interesting fact that people should be aware of, we’re approaching some 300 million people in the U.S. and we have every year 200 million diseases that are diagnosed for conditions that could be prevented with simple lifestyle changes.

Kevin: Wow.

Craig: And we spend in the United States, 270 billion dollars on 3.7 billion prescriptions written to, not to cure anything because there’s really very few cures in modern medicine, medicine is meant mostly to mask our symptoms. So taking into our bodies a lot of toxic chemicals and you know there’s so much confusion out there and misinformation about health and fitness. So there’s a huge opportunity, unfortunately, for people to make big money on the lack of knowledge that people have about how to lose weight, improve their health, get in shape and live better. So millions of people are out there paying thousands of dollars that have no chance of helping them achieve their goal and that’s really the big fat lie.

Kevin: And let me just ask you this, you’ve been on the other side, you’ve been a part of the industry that is making a lot of money in the fitness clubs and the organizations and everything. When did you suddenly say, “Hey, you know, maybe I need to educate people about this.”

Craig: Well, first of all I never felt that the club industry was a bad industry.

Kevin: Okay.

Craig: And in my book I still am a big proponent of joining a fitness center for the average person, there are, of course, some caveat of how to get a quality club. I have an article on the ten worst tricks for the fitness industry. So I try to expose the things that I think are bad but there’s also a lot of good too, but what I did notice while I was operating all of these clubs and trying to help people is that I would talk to thousands of consumers, face to face. For a big part of my career, my job was to get out there and help, work with people in the field, club operators, managers, sales people, fitness staff members, personal trainers, to talk to them about how to help people make decisions that are good for them and the guiding principle, of course was always don’t focus on making money, focus on helping people and you will make money as a natural result, as a natural bi-produce of helping people. That’s always been one of my guiding principles, but in speaking with all these consumers, you find that the average person spends thousands and thousands of dollars on products and services that have no chance of helping them. They spend hours and hours of wasted time on information that will never help them improve their health or change their lives. So I got tired, frustrated and really kind of outraged at all of the quick fix solutions that are out there that people jump from one to the other and without really understanding the true cause of why they’re in such poor health. So I wanted to try to educate them on all of the things, the lies the deceptions while also trying to give them simple solutions for how to improve their health, how to lose weight, how to get in shape, how to live better, how to feel better with no tricks and no gimmicks for the rest of their lives. That’s really what the big fat health and fitness lie is all about and that’s really what Fit Advocate website is all about.

Kevin: And you take a different approach in your book as opposed to a lot of the other books that I’ve read about health and fitness and it’s related to addiction. You say addiction feeds this whole lie. What do you mean by this?

Craig: Well, many people live a self-inflicted toxic lifestyle that destroys their health and feeds this lie. So what do I mean by that? Well, the definition of toxic, first of all, is poison and in our society we are surrounded by poisons, in our air, it’s in our water, some of them we can’t avoid and many of them we can, however. A lot of these poisons, they’re not going to kill us today, but instead what they do is they slowly and quietly deteriorate and destroy our health.

There’s two specific types of poisons or toxins that I talk about that create these health problems. The first, of course is chemical exposures. There are thousands of untested chemical combinations in our food supply to improve taste, texture, color or to extend shelf life. There are low calorie,low carb foods laced with toxic sweeteners that has contributed to obesity and diabetes. We’ve been conditioned to believe that sodium fluoride, for example is good for our teeth. Yet it’s a known chemical waste bi-product of the aluminum and phosphate fertilizer industry. This chemical has been pumped into our water supply and put into our dental hygiene products for years but fluoridation has been flatly rejected by many developed countries because of the dangers and the lack of really any scientific evidence of any health benefit. Beyond that, we have toxic chemicals in our household products, our cleaning products, personal hygiene products. Fruits and vegetables have been treated with herbicides and pesticides. Chickens and cows are fed ground chicken and beef. Then pumped full of antibiotics to stave off disease from the horrific conditions in which they live and where they’re slaughtered. So we have all of those, you know, all of this chemical toxicity. That’s the first concern.

The second is the biggest toxic exposure which is related to stress, and people don’t realize this but as much as 80% of all disease is the result of stress and having had the ability to travel all over the world and visit, you know, I believe I’ve been to over 40 countries now, you find that we in America are the most stressed out country on the planet. We work more than any other activity other than sleep. Just think about our normal lives, we wake up every day and we’re running on empty from morning to night. We’ve got the pressures at work, at home, the challenges sustaining some sort of happy relationship with our significant others. We’ve got the demands of the kids, trying to pay the bills. We have all of the negativity in the news. We’re all trying to live the American dream which is predicated on financial freedom, but the truth is only a fraction of people out there actually ever realize the American dream and the rest of us are simply trying to get by, and, you know, we’re buried in a mountain of debt. All of these things add up to a lot of worry and stress and to cope with this stress, what do we do? We drink, we smoke, we take drugs, we over eat, we eat the wrong foods and we spend hours in front of the television or surfing the internet. All of these activities, unfortunately make us fat, lazy and out of shape, and what happens is this poor health that’s created from this self addictive lifestyle creates, and opens the door for these big fat health and fitness lies. One of them is companies that market, manufacture and market and sale products that have no chance of helping us and then, of course, the worse thing is when we look to synthetic chemical compounds, prescription drugs, as the first line of defense to handle our self inflicted health problems. So we really have a lot of issues that we have to deal with in order to be healthy, but people need to understand the basis of where it starts, the cause.

Kevin: Yes. How does someone take that sort of addiction or quote unquote addictive personality and turn that into fitness success?

Craig: Well the first thing they have to do is identify it.

Kevin: Yes.

Craig: You have to realize it. Here’s, here’s a fact that’s pretty important that people should know about, the number one reason that people give for not exercising regularly is that they don’t have enough time, okay. Yet the average American watches four and a half hours of television a day. So there’s an issue there with priority and people have to understand that time is the most important and the most valuable thing that we have because once it’s gone you can’t get it back. If you want to improve your health, you have to make time to do all of the things that are necessary to improve and enhance your health and your life and it’s not just exercise but it is one of the key components. So they have to first understand the issues and then have the right motivation and set the right priorities to get them to where they need to be.

To read the rest of this transcript as well as access more information on creating and living a healthy lifestyle and hear from other health experts just like Craig Pepin Donat please visit http://thehealthiestyearofyourlife.com.

Some will tell you the low to moderate aerobic exercises are the best fat burning exercises while others believe it is the high impact aerobics that burn fat best. And then there are those who will tell you strength training is best for burning fat. So with all these experts giving different advice, how can you determine what?s the best for you.

The truth is all these experts are correct. Both strength training and aerobics, at any level, will help you burn excess body fat. Aerobic exercises are the most effective at burning calories and fat while performing the exercise while strength training gives you the benefit of increasing your metabolism. With a higher basal metabolic rate, you will be burning more calories each day while doing every day activities including sleeping.

So if all these methods help shed fat, why is it important to know the best fat burning exercise? Well if you are trying to maximize your fat burn then you need to understand how each exercise will help so that you can pick the most effective workout routine.

Strength Training

Strength training exercises are those exercises that challenge your muscles through resistance. The higher the resistance the more challenge the exercise will be. Although strength training itself is not a high calorie or fat burning exercise, it does help tone and strengthen your muscles and increases your lean muscle mass. The more lean muscle mass you have the more calories you burn due to an increased metabolic rate.

Weight lifting offers the most versatility for adjusting the resistance. You can continually increase the weight and challenge to your muscles. However not everyone has access to weight lifting equipment nor do they necessarily need to perform weight lifting to increase their muscle mass.

Resistance band exercises and dumbbell exercises are a great alternative to weight lifting. With resistance bands, you can easily adjust the resistance to your muscles by shortening the band for higher resistance or loosening for lighter resistance. They are fairly inexpensive and easy to travel with so they make a great on the go exercise.

Dumbbell exercises also are fairly inexpensive and easy to store. You can buy several sizes so that you use heavier weights for higher resistance and lighter weights for less resistance. You can also do body weight exercises where you are just using your body and gravity to provide the resistance. The bottom line is that any strength training exercise that helps you build lean muscles will help you burn fat.

Aerobic Exercises

It is aerobic exercises where there is the most debate as to which exercise is best to burn fat; low to moderate intense level or high intense level aerobics. With the low to moderate intense aerobic workouts your body uses approximately 60% of fat for fuel. However, the low to moderate level aerobics also burn fewer calories overall as compared to high impact aerobics.

The high impact aerobics will give you a higher calorie burn overall but only use about 35% of fat for fuel. Hence the reason for the debate and confusion as to which is the best fat burning exercise routine.

To best understand the difference between the two types of aerobics, let?s use an example. For instance, if a man weighing 175 pounds took a brisk walk at 4 mph for 30 minutes, a low to moderate level aerobic exercise, he would have burned approximately 158 calories. If 60% was fat, he would have burned about 95 fat calories.

Now if this same man jogged or ran for 30 minutes at 6 mph, a high impact aerobic exercise, he would have burned about 420 calories with 147 of these calories coming from fat; or 35% of total calories burned. So you can see he had the highest total calories and fat calories with the high impact aerobic workout.

Unfortunately not everyone is at a level in their exercise routines to be able to keep up this fast pace for this amount of time. So let?s assume that this man ran for only 20 minutes instead of the full 30 minutes. In this case he would only burn 280 calories total and 98 fat calories. Even with the shorter duration of the high impact aerobics he was able to burn more calories as well as a few more fat calories.

Again this is a high impact level and if you are not in a position to run at this pace for even a few minutes, then your best fat burning exercise will be a low to moderate level aerobics. To increase both the total calories burned and the fat calories try increasing the duration of your low to moderate aerobic workout.

As you begin to adjust to your aerobic workouts, try increasing the speed as well. Mix up your aerobic exercises by doing low to moderate level with spurts of high impact aerobics. This high impact interval training exercise will give you the benefit of both low to moderate to high impact aerobics calories and fat burn. So make the most out of your fat burning exercises.