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Get Physical: Exercise with a Partner

FitSugar — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 03:30:00 -0700

We would all like our partners in crime, be they husbands, boyfriends, house mates, best friends, siblings - to also be our partners in fitness. Working out with a partner generally helps to keep folks on track and makes us all less likely to skip a workout.

Here are a few things to consider when planning how to get physical with a partner.

Common Interests: Look for an activity you both enjoy: hiking, sailing, team sports - there are lots of co-ed leagues out there.
Look for new adventures: Explore new ways to exercise that neither of you have every really done before. This will keep you on equal footing. Take a tennis lesson or learn to cha-cha.
Think outside your box: Both of you need to be willing to try new activities - all partnerships are a give and take. Play golf one week and the next try a double kayak aquatic adventure. The possibilities are endless once you get off the couch.
Get classy: Group classes from spinning to Pilates offer both a group and personal experience. You can work at your individual level while enjoying an activity together.
Just do IT: Sign up for a charity walk or run, move at your separate paces and hook up at the finish line. Simply heading to the gym together is a great option. Spot each other lifting free weights or just do you own thing separately. The good new is you made it to the gym.

Get Physical: Massage Deck

FitSugar — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 05:45:00 -0800

It's the weekend and we're all looking for a way to relax. Most of us also use the weekends to catch up with the significant other in our life, which is not always as relaxing as one would hope. This weekend, get physical (and relaxed) by giving each other massages. Worried that your massage skills are a little rusty?

Then you need to get The Massage Deck ($14.95) which features 50 easy to follow, beautifully illustrated methods for giving and receiving the perfect massage. Color coded by body region this portable deck includes detailed instructions for each technique, a reflexology card and suggested sequences for 20 and 60 minute massages. Learn how to soothe away stress and tension, relieve headaches and muscle pain as well as enjoy complete relaxation.

Also, you'll burn calories giving a massage as an 150 lb person who gives a 15 minute massage (while standing) will burn around 68 calories. Buy The Massage Deck online from Vickerey.

Beyonce's Trainer Reveals 5-Minute Preparty "Body Blast"

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:50:29 -0800

When I'm totally wrapped up in Thanksgiving cooking, prepping, organizing, shopping (need I go on?), there's hardly a fighting chance that I'll make it to the gym for a full-on workout. Usually, I'll try to squeeze in a set of push-ups while prepping dinner preparation, or an early morning yoga session, if I can. So, I was excited to see Marco Borges, the trainer credited with whipping Beyonce, husband Jay-Z, and Gwen Stefani into tip-top shape, sharing an easy and no-equipment-needed workout with US Weekly. Here are the five moves he suggests to give yourself an all-over body-blasting workout (even if you only have five minutes to spare before your guests arrive):

Jumping Plies: I call these jumping squats, but it doesn't matter what you call them as long as you do them. Here's how: stand with your feet just a bit wider than shoulder-width apart, abs pulled in tight, and bend your knees, lowering your body till your thighs are parallel to the floor and jump straight into the air. Return to starting position and repeat for one minute.

Reverse Lunges: Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, step back into a lunge and repeat on the opposite side, alternating for one minute. Be sure that abs remain tight throughout, working your core and maintaining your balance and posture.

Push-Ups: According to Marco, "The push-up is quite possibly one of the simplest and best body weight movements targeting the muscles of the chest, arms, shoulders and core." Do as many classic push-ups, or moderated position push-ups from your knees, as you can for a full one minute, making sure to maintain proper form and bring your chest as close to the floor as you can before pushing back to starting plank position.

For the rest of Marco's workout, keep reading

Amanda Peet: So in Love

FitSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:17 -0800

Amanda Peet is undoubtedly feeling great. She's starring in the number one film in the country, and in the December issue of Self the actress shares that nothing brings her more joy than hanging at home with her hubby and baby girl. In fact, the actress credits her husband, screenwriter David Benioff, as being her healthiest habit. Oh, true love!

The 37-year-old actress is not without her envies, though - she wants "boobs, a gentle six-pack, and a perky butt." And when it comes down to it, she secretly wishes for a bod like Gisele Bündchen's or Jennifer Aniston's. Outside of a little admiration, especially since Peet strives to live a life full of balance and a lot of laughs.

To hear Peet's take on health, read more.

Amanda is a big fan of moderation:

"To me, staying healthy means doing everything in moderation. Eat a lot of greens, but in moderation. Exercise, but in moderation. Drink wine, but in moderation. Sleep as much as you can. And have people around you who are very funny."

At the end of the day it all comes back to love for Peet, who says that her 2-year-old daughter is the reason why she stays healthy.

"I do feel like it's important for her to have me be as healthy as I can be. So, you know, I don't want her to have horrible eating habits. I don't want her to never exercise. But obviously I'd much rather have her play a sport than have a gym membership before she's 20. I mean there are kids in LA who go to the gym and they have a trainer. I'm like, Play a sport!"

Check out more shots of the hot mama and visit lilsugar to read more about Amanda on mothering. Also, see lots more photos, quotes on Self.com.

View 5 Photos ›

How Many Days a Week Do You Work Out?

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:00:38 -0800

I'm a bear if I don't exercise. I get moody and irritable and cranky. If I've gone too long without working out, my family is the first to know and it's not pretty. Luckily my husband knows the warning signs of exercise withdrawal, and shoos me out the door with sneakers in hand. To keep my sanity, I aim to exercise at least five days a week. What about you?

Best Buy No Longer Just Selling Couch-Potato Electronics

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:21 -0800

When I hear my husband is headed to Best Buy, I get a bit nervous. My fears my be slightly allayed by the fact that select outlets of this electronics mecca will be selling my favorite fitness accessory that features a computer chip: heart rate monitors. Forty stores in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas will be selling HRMs as well as pedometers and gear for swimming, yoga, and Pilates enthusiasts. Many locations will also have cardio machines like ellipticals, treadmills, and stationary bikes for shoppers to test drive. My guess is that the store is also hoping you will think that you need a flat-screen TV for your new home gym, but I still take this as a positive sign for incorporating fitness into daily life.

The Ultimate Date: Indoor Rock Climbing

Fit Community — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:00:32 -0800

Women That Rock (Climb) community members Spacekatgal and her husband Spacekatdude give you their take on why indoor rock climbing makes a perfect fitness-inspired date.

Spacekatdude and I are married, so we're always looking for fun new things to do. Recently, we decided to give indoor rock climbing a shot! We totally loved it! We wanted to post a bit about it for newbies.

We each signed up for a $160 class, which included gym membership for two weeks. We got free equipment rental and a really great instructor named Nate that taught us the basics, focusing on safety. We were taught to tie our own knots and how to "belay" your partner safely, meaning how to catch them if they fall off the wall.

I will be honest and say it's a real trust building exercise. I love my husband dearly, but I also know it's in his nature to be distracted. It was a little hard for me to put my life into his hands and trust him to catch me if I fell. Throwing myself off the wall for the first time was very scary - but I quickly learned that I could count on him for this. Working as a team to guide the other person up the wall is both fun and good for your relationship!

It's also a great workout. Within a few weeks of rock climbing, I've greatly increased my upper body strength. If you have moxie, I would definitely say it's a sport you should try!

To hear Spacekatdude's perspective, read more.

A guy's perspective - Spacekatdude here. Rock climbing is awesome. It's not just a physical thing - it's very mental, as you try to figure out set paths up the wall, only being allowed to touch rock outcroppings of a particular color - very challenging. Whenever we go to the gym there are a lot of women there, and it's great to watch those who love the challenge and love to push themselves, I think that's awesome. Our instructor Nate also told us that it was great for kids - one of the best rock climbers he knew was an eight-year-old girl, who showed him some excellent routes during an outdoor climb.

I mentioned that climbing is a mental exercise. This is because you have to constantly concentrate on what you're doing. If you go in mentally weak or lazy, bad things can happen: I read of some climbers who went to Half Dome at Yosemite, all ready to hammer in their own ropes to descend from the top. But there were ropes already there, embedded in the rock, and they just used those. As they climbed down, the ropes gave way, and they fell to their deaths. So laziness has no place in rock climbing.

Also, as you climb, it's important to remember to use your feet for power, and not to try to pull yourself up by your arms. So the mental challenge is to keep concentrating the entire time you're roping yourself in, climbing, and belaying.

Share your climbing tales in the Women That Rock (Climb) group and spread the love! Not a climber? Be sure to take a look at our other community groups - there's something for everyone!

Source: Flickr User Charlie Brewer

Get Physical: Spring Cleaning

FitSugar — Sat, 05 May 2007 03:00:00 -0700

What is it about spring that warrants a good deep cleaning of the house? This weekend I have major plans to get down and dirty and I'm not taking it on alone, my husband will be right there with me.

Cleaning, while not the most fun activity in the world, is necessary. My husband and I usually have our morning coffee and a nice breakfast and then we take on the dirt, as a team. Before we know it, we've each burned a couple hundred calories.

Chore	Time	Her Calories Burned	His Calories Burned
Cleaning Windows	one hour	195	255
Making the Bed	5 minutes	15	19
Sweeping Floors	30 minutes	101	133
Vacuuming	one hour	217	283
Scrubbing the Bathroom	30 minutes	118	154
Moving Furniture	15 minutes	108	142
Mopping	20 minutes	72	94

* Based on 130 lb woman and 170 lb man

That's a lot of calories burned even if you split up the tasks. When you're done, you'll have a clean house, you'll feel great and you'll have spent the day with your husband getting something done.

Source

International Men's Health Week: June 11-17, 2007

FitSugar — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:30:00 -0700

Did you know that men are likely to die, on average, nearly six years earlier than women -- and they have higher mortality rates for many of the leading causes of death in America, including heart disease, accidents, suicide, chronic liver disease, and cancer?

This is why June 11th marks the start of the International Men's Health Week to honor the importance of men's health and wellness. As women, the idea around men's health can sometimes seem foreign but it is important to be in the know when it comes to the health of any man in your life.

A book I highly recommend around this subject is From Boys to Men: A Woman's Guide to the Health of Husbands, Partners, Sons, Fathers, and Brothers ($16.00) by M.D. Emily Senay and Rob Waters. As the women in men's lives -- mothers, wives, girlfriends, sisters, and daughters -- we are traditionally in charge of managing their health concerns. From Boys to Men is a fabulous resource designed to arm women with much-needed information about men's health issues and to help them educate their male loved ones on how to take care of themselves. Filled with expert medical advice, personal anecdotes, and a healthy dose of humor, From Boys to Men should resonate with you if you have a man in your life (dad, brother, husband, son, etc). I can honestly say this book is my bible to men's health, especially since I primarily grew up around women. Buy it from SimonSays.com.

Weigh In: My Husband Is Gaining Weight

FitSugar — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:30:00 -0700

Help a fellow FitSugar reader out. Her hubby used to be active, but now, not so much.

Dear Fit,
Before we got married, my husband and I used to exercise together all the time. We belonged to the same gym, played tennis on the weekends, hiked with our dogs, and were even on a co-ed volleyball team. Our wedding was almost a year ago, and since then, his exercise schedule is just about non-existent. When I ask him to join me on a run or walk or anything physical, he just says he doesn't feel like it. I thought it was just a phase, but it's been almost a year and I'm noticing he's gained a slight tire around his middle. I want us to live a long, healthy life together, so how can I get him back on the workout bandwagon without seeming pushy?
-Worried Wife

If you have any experience with this, or any suggestions, please share them in the comment section below.