Weight Loss Tips |

Please don’t be like me!

Several years ago I was warned to stay away from behind-the-neck exercises and movements, and do you think I listened? Of course not.

And as a result, I acquired a rotator cuff injury that slowly gets worse and worse over time.

It is often said that it is much smarter to learn from the mistakes of others than to have to suffer the consequences yourself. I’d say that I agree with that.

Just in case you are not quite sure what a “rotator cuff” is, its a handy little muscle on the back of your shoulder that literally helps your arm to “rotate” around the shoulder socket.

For most people, this muscle is not supposed to rotate far enough to take the arms too far behind the head.

Behind the neck exercises not only pull this muscle to the edge of its natural range, but often have additional weight resistance involved that cause even more stress to the area.

If this is done repetitively over time, the muscle will often get injured. Another thing that may happen is that it will become inflammed and swell to the point where the bone around it pinches the muscle. Both conditions are chronic, painful, and should be avoided at all costs.

So, if there are any behind-the-neck movements in your current workout, you will want to find more shoulder-friendly alternatives. And if such an exercise is ever recommended to you by a friend or exercise program, ask or look for a better alternative immediately.

You only get one body! Take care of it.

To YourBestBody,

Lawrence Cole

Your Lifestyle and Fitness Coach

Read this Exercise and Weight Loss Article at YourBestBodyNOW.com.

Both in homes and fitness clubs, exercise bikes are a very popular piece of equipment. There are many people who workout on exercise bikes to stay in shape today, which is one of the reasons that these bikes are so popular. The following are just a few of the reasons that you should have your own exercise bike and how you can benefit from having your very own.

Believe it or not, most people do not get enough exercise each day. Much of society has become more and more technological and people across the globe have become more sedentary than every before. If you have your own stationary exercise bike at home, you have a great way for getting exercise, even while you are sitting down. You can simply put the bike in front of your television and ride the bike while watching your favorite television show. While this will not account for all of the exercise that you need, it will definitely get you on the right track.

Another of the many exercise bike benefits is that you can get on your bike and use it at any time. If you try to ride a regular bike, when the weather is bad you may not be able to go biking; however, no matter the weather, you can always get a workout on your home exercise bike. In fact, while it is thundering and raining outside, you can simply get on your stationary bike and enjoy a good ride inside knowing that you are staying dry and getting the exercise that you need.

Since many people in America are very sedentary, more and more people are at risk for heart problems. One great cardio vascular activity that can help prevent health issues such as heart disease is biking. While it is not a total solution to the problem, when you combine biking with a great diet, it can definitely help you protect your heart. So, while you are riding your bike, you’ll actually be adding some years to your life.

Exercise bikes are easy to keep up and they are also cost effective as well, you can even find a bargain on a used exercise bike, basically they are a great investment. So, why not take a look and see what types of bikes are available to you now. Picking out a great exercise bike may just be the way that you make your life a much better one in the future.

Have you ever seen a fat marathon runner? Me neither. To most people this is evidence enough that running in specific and aerobic exercise in general, is a great way to lose weight. Well it’s not. These guys are skinny because they spend so much time running, they don’t have time left to eat! Just kidding. If you want to run between 60-80 miles a week, you to can lose weight. But there might just be a more time efficient way.

Back a number of years ago I decided, basically on a dare, to train for, and run in, a marathon. I hate running. But a challenge was made and that was motivation enough. I figured it was at least a good way to finally drop the 25 pounds of flab I so desperately wanted too. The first of July I tipped the scales at 195 (I’m 5′9″ tall) and took off running. I scaled back my time in the weight room minute for minute as my running time per day/week increased. By mid October I was ready and ran in my first marathon, finishing with a time of 4:15. The day after the race I weighed myself for the millionth time and lo and behold, 195 pounds. All that running and I managed to lose not one pound.

Fast forward a few years to find myself still lifting regularly, but having scaled back running to only a couple times a week, and not very far. Then disaster struck. An injured shoulder would side line me from lifting for 3 months. I decided no lifting, no running, no nothing. But I also decided to keep from packing on pounds I would reduce my calorie intake by eliminating all calories from liquids. No sports drinks, no protein shakes, no milk, no beer. I lost 35 pounds. My body fat percentage was cut in half and my waist size decreased 4 inches.

Why?

I was benching close to double my body weight all this time, meaning I do have a fair amount of muscle mass as compared to my overall weight. Like most people, I carried around 20 pounds of flab on top of the muscle. When I trained for the marathon I kept lifting (though progressively less), eating and drinking at my normal levels for fear of losing muscle mass. Which I didn’t. But I didn’t lose any fat either. Which leads me to conclude the running did nothing for weight/fat loss. When I stopped doing everything, I still had my muscle mass, meaning my basil daily calorie level was still large (the amount of calories you can ingest and remain at a constant weight) so a reduction in calorie intake resulted in weight loss. Now I did lose muscle mass, but I lost twice as much fat. The point is no amount of aerobic exercise was going to cause me to lose weight.

Of course aerobic exercise is vital for cardiovascular fitness, and I strongly recommend it. But for weight loss? No way. Pick up some weights and put down the fork, unless you got the time and motivation to start running 80 miles a week.

Exercise bikes, also known as stationary bikes, are one of the best ways to workout to burn calories. Indoor training on an exercise bike is a great aerobic exercise that can easily increase your heart rate to the range that will effectively burn your fat cells, and tone your muscles.

Start off with a steady 15 minutes, and gradually increase the time at the 60% threshold, until you can train for 30 minutes. Regular training on an exercise bike has the potential to burn a lot of calories up too 600 an hour. What ever type of exercise program you choose, it is advisable to do a warm up and cool down routine to prevent injury and increase your heart rate ready for exercise.

Weight training.

The advantages to using an exercise bike is that the bike supports your body weight, a big advantage to people with bad knees say or a bad back. There is no impact on your joints when using a bike.

The primary role of an exercise bike is to provide a good cardiovascular workout. Regular use ensures the best health insurance policy anyone could ask for. To really rev up your weight loss try adding some weight training whilst cycling, something as simple as doing bicep curls with two tins of bins whilst pedalling away.

Weight training increases muscle mass. An increase in muscle mass increases your base metabolism. This in turn increases the number of calories you burn just sitting around or sleeping, very handy if you are looking to lose weight.

Of course it is a combination of efforts on all fronts that will ultimately achieve your desired weight loss, a good diet is essential, regular exercise is a must, both resistance training and aerobic, on top of this is fun. Enjoying yourself whilst exercising is the only way in which you will continue into the future. Forcing yourself to do something you hate won’t last forever, and is a miss guided use of will power.

It’s certainly no secret that healthy weight loss, exercise, and maintaining an active lifestyle in general are critical for living a longer life. For those of us who may need to lose a few pounds, or even more than a few, it’s important to find weight loss exercises that are not only safe, but that also produce real results.

The first thing to remember about weight loss, exercises, and staying fit is that consistency is the key. Regardless of the type of exercises you choose to facilitate your weight loss efforts, by committing to maintaining a regular schedule, you’ll be able to see results much quicker, and help your metabolism to function more efficiently, also aiding the weight loss process.

The majority of people should work up to exercising anywhere from four to six times each week, building to either a half hour, or one full hour at a time.

Aerobic Exercises

Aerobic exercise, such as jogging, is excellent for strengthening not only the muscles of the body, but also the heart and lungs. Meaning “with oxygen,” the word aerobic usually refers to some type of exercise that is moderately intense, and done at varying levels preceded by ample warm-up time, and followed by a period of cooling down the body.

Some other types of aerobic weight loss exercises include:

- Aerobic dancing
- Cross-country skiing
- Elliptical training
- Playing sports
- Running
- Stair climbing or stepping
- Swimming

The Many Benefits of Walking

For both staying in shape or for weight loss, exercises such as walking are among the most beneficial of all. For beginners, make it a point to start out slowly, gradually increasing the length of the walk with each passing week, as well as picking up the pace as you feel yourself getting stronger and healthier. Five to 10 minutes each day, once in the morning and once in the evening are all that’s necessary to start reaping the benefits of walking.

A 160 pound person (73 kg) can expect to burn roughly 183 calories in one hour while walking at a moderate, two mile per hour pace. Increase the speed to 3.5 miles per hour, keeping the arms swinging at the sides, and nearly 280 calories will be expended each hour.

Keeping an Exercise Diary

An exercise diary is a great way to keep track of your physical activity, and also for setting mini-goals for yourself. Some columns or sections may include the date, the type of activity done, and the length of time you exercised. You’ll also want to chart your heart rate by checking your pulse for 10 seconds as soon as you’re done working out, and then multiplying by six to the get rate per minute.

Other sections you may want to add to your diary are your short and long-term goals, as well as recording your mood, both before and after exercising. Tracking your progress and seeing how you’ve met those goals down on paper may be just the thing to give you the incentive to keep going strong.

Of course, before doing any type of weight loss exercises, or following a diet plan or program of any kind, it’s always a good idea to have a physical examination and seek your doctor’s approval first.

With increasing rate of obesity in more and more people and the adverse effect of it on health, it is becoming important to lose weight. There are various methods of weight loss but one should always go for a healthy one. Exercises are the best option to get in shape and lose weight. Benefits of weight loss exercises are many. It not only helps you to lose weight but also help you to stay in perfect shape that you always dream of.

Although diet plans have major impact on your weight loss, they alone take a long time to be effective. The main purpose of any diet plan is to cut down your daily calorie intake. However, only diet plan will take long time to be effective to achieve the final result. This is where exercises help to speed up the process. The calorie that is produced daily has to be burned so that no extra fat is stored in the body. Moreover the calorie that already exists in your body in the form of fat has to be burned and increase in physical activities and exercises are the best form to do so. Exercises burn up the stored fat in your body, resulting in weight loss.

Weight loss exercises help to tone up your body and also help you to build muscle mass. More muscles mean more calorie loss. Muscles make the calories burn even when you are resting or sitting. With fat loss muscles and skin usually become loose. It is important to tone and shape it up and exercises help you to do that. It also speeds up the weight loss process by burning calories faster. You also build up your stamina in the process. You resistance power is improved and your body is able to fight many diseases easily. You become more energetic and efficient. With regular exercises you are able to sleep well at night and have deep sleep. With no more sleeping disorders, you are able to work efficiently during the day. You are also able to manage and handle stress more easily. If you are feeling all stressed out, exercise after work for some time and you will feel fresh and relieved. You also feel more energetic.

Weight loss exercises are very easy to follow and do not take up much of your time. Take up any physical activity like running, swimming, brisk walking, jogging, cycling, etc. You can also join the gym or take aerobic sessions. Along with this follow a balanced diet and you will see results very fast. With exercises your body becomes stronger and gains strength. You do not get hurt easily and your body heals faster when cut or bruised. Your confidence level grows and there is a positive change in your life style.

Many weight loss techniques like weight loss pills, supplements have side effects. Weight loss equipments on the other hand do not have any effect on your weight and only are a strain on your money. Exercises are the safest and the healthiest method to weight loss.

I’m glad you’ve decided to take a step in the direction of exercise and weight loss. Many people decide they want to make a change in their lives via exercise, but rarely take the next step in fulfilling their goals. Now that you know you want to start exercising to lose weight, do you know what exercises to focus on for the best results?

I’ll be the first to admit, when I first started I was VERY out of shape. I was getting winded stepping up a flight of stairs. At the beginning, it was pretty frustrating to say the least. I was able to jog for hardly a lap or two before I was so out of breath I could hardly stand up straight. I kept thinking to myself, “How am I going to lose weight if I can’t even exercise for more than 5 minutes at a time?” What I didn’t understand due to my impatience was that I needed to concentrate on building up my stamina. You’d be surprised as to how quickly your body adapts and your endurance rises over the first few weeks.

My recommendation is to do what you can do in the beginning. If you can only run on a treadmill for 5 minutes, run on a treadmill for 5 minutes. The point is that you are actually moving and burning calories. A great exercise in the beginning is to start a walk/jogging program. When I started I was obviously only able to walk for long distances. As time went on, I decided to add in little spurts of jogging. If you keep adding in more and more jogging, soon you’ll be jogging the entire way instead of walking. It’s all about building up your stamina day by day. It’s important that you give your body time to change, because it WILL happen.

Within a few weeks you will begin to see changes that will astound you. Then you’ll be ready to implement more strategic exercises to explode your weight loss. Good Luck!

Are you looking for the best weight loss workouts? There is one major problem with people who want to lose weight. No one has time to exercise. You will discover how to easily lose some weight after reading this article.

The truth about exercise is that you don’t need to spend hours upon hours at the gym. If you can just exercise for a few minutes every day this will teach your body to burn calories at certain times of the day. Follow these tips.

Weight Loss Workouts top tips

1. Do 30-50 stomach crunches or sit ups each day. This should not take you more than a few minutes.

2. Run or walk .5 to 1 mile 3 times per week. This should not take you more than 20 minutes.

3. Eat smaller meals more times per day. Instead of eating 3 large meals every day break those meals into smaller meals and eat 4-5 times per day. This helps you body increase metabolism and digest faster thus burning more calories.

These are just a few of the ways you can start losing weight. Remember, everyone is different and everyone will lose weight in a different way. Not all programs work for everyone because sadly most people give up on the system before it even has a chance to work. Don’t do this. Stay focused, stay fresh, and stay motivated and you will succeed.

If you follow these weight loss workouts then you can be sure you will succeed with weight loss no matter what diet program you choose.

The body has three cycles for providing energy during exercising. Each of this cycles demand energy from your body in a different way. However, only one of them is most effective in resulting to weight loss, hence the term weight loss exercises.

Phosphagen Energy Cycle

First is the phosphagen cycle. This is an energy cycle that does not depend on oxygen. It is anaerobic meaning “without oxygen”. In place of oxygen it uses a compound in the body called creatin phosphate.

The cycle makes energy for about 8 to 10 seconds only. Energy here is produced very fast as it takes only one chemical reaction to produce it. This is principally the energy cycle 100 meters sprinters use.

Glycogen-Lactic Acid Energy Cycle

The second cycle is the Glycogen-Lactic acid cycle. There about 12 reactions involved here to give energy. As a result it gives energy at a slower rate. In this case the cycle uses the immediate energy reserve of the body called glycogen. Glycogen is a simpler energy reserve than body fat that is stored in muscles for supply of energy in short notice. When in high demand the cycle can give energy for 1.3 to 1.6 minutes. This process is also considered anaerobic. It makes muscle tired and sore very quickly as it produces lactic acid.

Aerobic Energy Cycle

The third cycle is the Aerobic cycle. It uses oxygen and provides energy for extended periods of time e.g. for marathoner. The cycle is able to reduce the build up of lactic acid in the muscle allowing you to continue performing for a longer period. This is the cycle you usually use for daily chores. Here energy is provided by glucose in the presence of oxygen. Also fatty acids in the presence of oxygen can be used. This is what is called fat metabolism or fat burning.

It produces energy at much slower rate due to the greater number of chemical reactions that are required. This is the energy cycle that a weight loss exercise should target. Why, because it uses both glucose and fat as source of energy.

A good example is aerobics. Aerobics are physical activities that promote this third cycle, and involve a lot of breathing as you execute muscle movements. This includes jogging and walking. Indeed walking and hiking has been associated with 54% reduction in the risk of becoming overweight.

Apart from assisting in significant and healthy weight loss, exercises have even more benefits;

1.Exercising improves heart efficiency and improves blood circulation.

2.Reduces blood cholesterol levels.

3.It facilitates production of endorphins, the feel good hormones, resulting to a sense of well being

4.Relaxes muscle reducing bodily tension and maintains body flexibility.

5.Helps in controlling high blood pressure.

6.Assist in encouraging rest.

7.Normalizes perspiration and aids the elimination of toxic substances.

8.Improves mental capacity and agility due to increased and improved blood flow into the brain.

9.Increases self esteem and the sense of well being facilitating a good mood.

10.Exercising increases oxygen uptake by the body by up to 5 times. This good supply of oxygen is associated with reduced cancer.

American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) in fact recommends physical activities including moderate exercising such as brisk walking for 30 minutes a day and vigorous activity such as jogging or walking a mile in 15 minutes.

However research is showing that it is the more vigorous exercising that is more beneficial for significant reduction of breast and colon cancer compared to moderate exercising. All in all it is the aerobic type that has the most benefits for increasing well-being

Each time I talk to people who wants to lose weight, the first thing in their mind is to eat lesser, and lesser and lesser. While this works in a short term, it is not a long term solution

The long term solution is for weight loss is exercise. When you exercise, you burn off calories from the food you take. With lesser calories inside your body, it will lead you to lose weight. It would be of great advantage if you have a proper weight loss plan where you include weight loss exercises that will help you to lose weight.

There are unlimited alternatives to weight loss exercises if you start thinking out of the box. You can invest a little in purchasing exercise equipments which you can use at home. You can start by purchasing dead weights, dumb bells, exercise balls and treadmill if you budget allows. There are abundance of weight loss exercises DVDs out there in the stores with easy instructions you can follow.

If you have a bigger budget for exercises, you should start thinking of registering as a member of your local fitness centers or gyms. Some of them might have relatively higher monthly fees, so it’s advisable that you start scouting around first.

At the fitness centers or gyms, you will find a full range of exercise equipments, classes you can attend and personal trainers available to guide you through the weight loss exercises.

If you are tight on budget and do not want to spend in purchasing any weight loss exercises equipments or sign up for a fitness center membership, you can find an exercise buddy. Find someone who clicks well with you and share the same interests as you.

Both of you then can do some exercises together, like walking around your neighborhood, walking around the garden, outdoor cycling and such. This will not only strengthen your relationship with them, but also keep yourself motivated to reach your goals, lose weight.