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Fit Tip: Use the Diagrams on the Machines

FitSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:30:00 PDT

If you've never used a weight machine before, rather than mimicking the guy next to you or just guessing how to use it, look at the little diagrams provided on each machine. You may or may not know this but every machine states what it does and how you should use it. What's more? The diagram also shows you what muscles it targets. So take the time to read and learn the information provided to you before using an unknown machine. Even if you think you know what you are doing, it wouldn't hurt to double check yourself every once in a while.

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Cardio Machine: Summit Trainer

FitSugar — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:00:00 PST

If you've ever been hiking, you know that it works your entire body - all your muscles, joints and most importantly, your heart. You can hike up a mountain in the winter, but most people choose not to because it's so darn cold and windy.

Recently at the gym, I saw a new machine and just HAD to try it. It's called the Summit Trainer.

I guess it could be compared to a StairMaster or an Arc Trainer. But it's more like hiking than anything else.

You move your feet like you're stepping or climbing up a hill and you can either keep your hands on the front handles, or for more intensity, you can move the side "arms" as well for a total body workout. It also has a built-in digital heart rate monitor located conveniently on the handles.

You can choose a workout that will automatically adjust the resistance level to keep you in your target heart rate zone. Or you can do interval training workouts. You can also set personal goals and the Summit Trainer will give you a workout to meet them.

Not only is it great for your heart and muscles, but it'll get you ready for warmer weather when you can do the real hike thing.

Want to see more pictures? Then

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Do You Suffer From Exercise Equipment Buyer's Remorse?

Heather Dale — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:40:46 PDT

Pop into a Saturday garage sale and you'll surely see one of these exercise machines for sale. Price tag? $50 or best offer.

These high-ticket items used to be all the rage until they started collecting dust in our basements when we decided we'd rather get fit outside or go to the gym. After our Guess the Fad Exercise Quiz, I couldn't help but think of the exercise equipment I no longer use but had to have back in the day. Are there any machines that you wish you had never bought? Or maybe you are one of the few who has a shiny new elliptical or treadmill that gets used every day?

5 Surprising Health Benefits of Being a Sports Fan

Prevention — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:19:15 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

By Cristina Goyanes, Prevention

It’s no wonder your friends aren’t available to hang out on Sundays in the Fall and Winter - according to a 2005 Gallup Poll, 64 percent of Americans claim to be professional football fans, and as of 2010, women make up 44 percent of the NFL fan base.

Being a sports fan doesn’t mean you’re expected to know all the players and stats of your hometown teams and destined for a beer gut - it’s about coming together in the name of good times as part of a community.

“Bonding over sports - the highs and lows of the game - strengthens ties, helps us feel supported, and makes it easier for you to open up about personal things,” says Renee Clauselle, PsyD, who runs a private psychology practice in Long Island, NY.

Seventeen Unexpected Side Effects of Exercise

Rooting for the same team creates an immediate sense of family, says Daniel Wann, PhD, a Murray State University professor who has been studying the psychology of sports fans for over 20 years. “If you identify with a local team, you build an instant connection to others around you,” he says.

Beyond the bonding aspects, watching sports can motivate you to pump up your own workouts - and even burn a few extra calories when you jump, cheer, and clap during the highlights of the game. Find out more ways being a sports fan is a winning situation for your health.

Keep reading to learn how being a sports fan benefits your health.

From the Community: Everything You Need to Know About Tabata Training

Fit Community — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:24:34 PST

FitSugar community member (and fitness instructor) livinginthin gives us a primer on Tabata training, a type of high-intensity interval workout.

You've probably heard the word Tabata by now (and if you haven't, you will!). So what exactly is this hot new fitness trend, and why you should care about it?

What is Tabata?

The term Tabata was coined after the Japanese researcher Dr. Izumi Tabata, who compared the effectiveness of short, very high-intensity training (bursts of maximal effort for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of recovery, repeated for four minutes in total) to a traditional 60-minute aerobic workout.

Who should do it?

Anyone looking to amp up their fitness level, maximize their cardio time, burn more calories, and blast off more fat in way less time. The key to a successful Tabata session is being able to hit the high levels of intensity (the participants in the Tabata study worked at 170 percent of their VO2 Max - that's killer!). If you are new to exercise, or returning after a long hiatus, you may want to progress slowly with trying a Tabata workout.

Learn more about Tabata, after the break!

Top 10 Mistakes You Make on the Elliptical Trainer

Prevention — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:08:59 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

By Lisa Hoehn, Prevention

As the weather drops, more and more people head straight to one machine in their gym - the elliptical trainer. According to a 2008 report from the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association, the number of users of elliptical trainers in health clubs grew sevenfold from 1997 to 2007. And while you may be proud of yourself for making it to the gym and squeezing in some cardio, taking a lackadaisical approach to your elliptical workout and casually spinning your legs while reading a magazine or watching TV isn't going to blast away those holiday cookies. Here, 10 mistakes you frequently make on the elliptical and how to fix them so you maximize calorie burn while adding fun to your ho-hum routine.

Top Workout Ideas For When the Gym Is Too Crowded

1. You’re too lazy to enter your information.
Most machines are calibrated for a 150-pound person - but personalizing your stats will help you get a more accurate calorie read. Aim to burn around 100 calories per 10 minutes, says Jennifer Cassetty, an exercise physiologist.

2. Your resistance is zero.
You might feel like a million bucks spinning at a mile a minute, but without resistance, you’re not going to see results, says Röbynn Europe, a personal trainer at Chelsea Piers in New York City. Make sure that you’re using enough resistance to push and pull through the stride. Then continue at a moderate pace until you feel like you’ve done all you can do. "You shouldn’t feel like you have even five minutes left in you when you step off," she says.

3. You're a sloucher.
Standing up straight helps to lengthen your abs, giving you a chance to engage your core and even work your upper body muscles, Cassetty says. Certified personal trainer Neal I. Pire, MA, CSCS, president of Inspire Training Systems in New Jersey, recommends hopping on a machine with an upper body component so you can engage even more muscles - and blast more fat. Can't find a machine that lets you pump your arms? Let go: some research suggests that leaning on machine armrests during exercise reduces calorie burning.

How to Buy a Cardio Machine

4. Your machine sounds like it’s going to take off.
If you can hear the purr of the machine while you’re exercising, it means that you’re going too fast without enough resistance - which means you're not getting the most calorie burn out of your time, Cassetty says. Keeping a steady, moderate pace at a resistance that forces you to use your muscles will get, and keep, your heart rate up.

Learn four more fitness mistakes after the break.

3 Things to Monitor During Every Workout

Leta Shy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:03:02 PST

Maintaining a workout routine can be mostly about having the motivation to get up and get out. Even so, you should also have a plan for what you should watch out for while you're sweating. To get the most of your workout, make sure that you're monitoring these stats while you exercise.

Heart rate: You should monitor your heart rate so that you are reaching your cardio goals, such as the right level of intensity in your workouts. It also helps to know what your max heart rate is so that you don't continuously overwork yourself - you should normally be working out at 60 to 90 percent of your heart rate unless you are sprinting or otherwise doing interval training. If you don't want to invest in a heart rate monitor, you'll have to do the math to find out your heart rate manually. Just make sure you're using the newer formula for determining your maximum heart rate; the old school "220 minus your age" formula isn't optimized for women. Learn how to calculate your maximum heart rate more accurately.

Read on for more stats you should be monitoring with every workout.

Fit Tip: Explore Your Gym During Off-Peak Hours

Leta Shy — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:18:57 PST

If you've signed up for a new gym this year, figuring out how things work, from treadmill etiquette to the location of the foam rollers, can be a bit overwhelming. Tack on an overcrowded locker room and intimidating-looking machines, and it may want you to skip a workout.

Instead of skipping out on exercising altogether, figure out your gym's dynamics when it's less crowded. Find a time when it's slow, like earlier in the morning, later at night, or on the weekends, and use the time to figure out how to work all of the machines or where all the props are for class or to just stop and think so you can figure out your own gym-going preferences. Not having a crowd of people around you can even help you feel more confident while doing exercises, especially if you are feeling self-conscious about how well you're mastering a new set of moves.

Whether or not you are going to the gym when it's overcrowded or during off-peak hours, here are some gym etiquette rules that you should be following.

Gym rats, do you have any more advice to give for newbies?

4 More Facts You Don't Know About Calories

Prevention — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:08:37 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Only 12 percent of Americans can estimate the calories they eat in a day! Find out why we're so clueless and get easy ways to stop calorie confusion
By Mara Betsch, Prevention

You know what calories are, and you probably know that if you eat too many, you'll gain weight. But do you know how many are in your favorite deli sandwich? Or how many calories you should really eat each day? Most Americans don’t. Only 12 percent can accurately estimate the number of calories they should consume in a day someone their age, height, weight, and physical activity, according to a 2010 survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation. So what is it about calories that keeps us baffled? Last month, we shared some reasons you might be confused about calories - here are four more and the simple steps that will help you do the math.

1. Exercise makes you hungry
Though studies are mixed when it comes to whether exercise actually stimulates or suppresses appetite, many people think of working out as a way to eat whatever they like. "There’s definitely a mentality of 'I have sweated therefore I deserve,'" says Bonci. However, with most people burning about 100 calories per mile, a short workout won't give you a free pass to eat junk food. "If you walk two miles, eating a handful of chips post-workout can undo the calories you burned," says Bonci. As mentioned above, gym machines don’t accurately measure calories burned, either.

Stop the confusion: To stop an after-workout binge, fuel up pre-gym, Zied suggests. "Have something before - something with carbs and a little protein, like whole wheat toast and peanut butter or a banana and milk." Depending on the intensity of your workout, you may need something afterward as well. After a workout longer than 45 minutes, you should aim to eat about 200 calories.

Tips to Stop Overeating After Workouts

2. Liquid calories are ignored
"People are spending hundreds of calories on beverages each day," says Zied. Unfortunately, a lot of those calories are from sugar-sweetened drinks and alcohol, not milk and 100 percent fruit juice. According to a 2007 study, beverage intake accounted for roughly 12 percent of total calories in 1965 and steadily increased to 21 percent in 2002 - that's 222 extra calories a day from drinks alone! Because bottled drinks often contain multiple servings, it’s best to either pour a serving in a glass or look for mini soda cans and juice boxes.

Keep reading for more info about calories and weight loss after the break.

5 Reasons Not to Be Intimidated By Free Weights

FitSugar — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:08:31 PST

The free weights section of the gym can be a bit daunting thanks to floor-to-ceiling mirrors, stacks of barbells and dumbbells, and a crowd of bodybuilding types. But the benefits of free weight exercises are great, so it's important to boost your dumbbell confidence. Here are five reasons you should take a break from the weight machines:

Your know more than you think you know. There aren't any black-and-white guidelines for using free weights, but that's no reason to walk away, since free weight exercises are based on the popular moves you already know, like squats, lunges, chest press, shoulder press, bicep, and triceps curls. Plus, any additional movements that you usually perform on weight machines can also be done with free weights - with the added physical benefit (and challenge) of maintaining your stability.
It's not all about the pounds. Balance is one of the biggest benefits of free weights, and you don't need to be lifting twenty pounds to see results. Grab light dumbbells and perform standard exercises on one foot to strengthen the stabilizing muscles that are often overlooked.

Keep reading for more reasons to use free weights.