FitSugar

Another Reason to Run: It Keeps the Energy Burn Going

FitSugar — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:30:00 PST

While I think there are plenty of reasons to run, another bonus of running just crossed my path. New research from Yale University found that endurance athletes have a higher resting metabolism than their unfit counterparts (read: couch potatoes). This means that runners, even when they are not exercising, burn energy faster than sedentary people. In this study endurance athletes were defined as men running four or more hours a week. On a cellular level, these men burned 54 percent more calories at rest than men that did not run at all.

While many of us aren't endurance athletes, I think this could be motivation to dedicate four hours a week to serious cardio. What about you?

To read the science behind the study, which might require you recall elements of your high school biology class (like mitochondria, the power plant of cells, and the conversion of fats and sugars into ATP molecules, which move energy around the cell), check out New Scientist.

Source

Amp Up Your Workout With These Balance Exercises

Susi May — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:37:25 PDT

If you're looking to amp up your fitness routine, you need to get unstable. Performing classic single-leg exercises while standing on a foam pad, like the one pictured above by Aeromat, is simple way to do this. The squishy surface forces your core and legs to work harder, increasing your strength gains and caloric burn. Standing on the soft surface also strengthens your feet and ankles, which is important if you're flirting with the barefoot running trend or plan to spend lots of time hiking hilly terrain this Summer.

To get started, try this three-exercise progression I learned from my Equinox trainer Lauren. Once you've mastered a variation, try the next level up. As you experiment with these moves, you will feel your weight shift from side to side on your foot, which means the muscles that support your arch and ankle are working. If you find your feet cramping, spread your toes wide in your shoes or try the exercise in just socks.

Learn the moves after the break.

Fact or Fiction: Working Out in the Cold Burns More Calories

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:25:45 PST

You may have heard that exercising in the cold burns more calories than exercising in moderate temps, but is this a fact or myth? It's sensible to assume that the effort it takes to warm up your body burns more calories, but it's not as simple as that. Keep reading to find out how exercising in the cold affects calorie burn.

Shivering does burn calories - that involuntary tensing of muscles to warm the body burns about 200 for every 30 minutes. So if you're not wearing enough layers and you're cold while working out in low temps, your body burns more calories to keep warm. In a study of "scantily clad" exercisers, the participants burned 13 percent more calories in the cold than when they performed the same type of exercise at room temperature (450 compared to 400). But don't take the above to mean that you should dress in less to increase calorie burn. It's important to dress appropriately to both protect your skin and to prevent hypothermia.

Keep reading to find out if breathing cold air increases calorie burn.

Healthy Dose Link Time

FitSugar — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:20:17 PDT

Make a Pink Flamingo smoothie with your leftover watermelon - Oh She Glows
Check your posture and look 10 pounds thinner - Vital Juice
Increase your caloric burn on two wheels and create your own Tour de France - Shape
Is fidgeting a worthwhile fitness habit? - Shine
10 foods to help you flatten your abs - Fitness
Get back on track: killer 30-minute treadmill interval workout - Peanut Butter Fingers
Celeb trainer Harley Pasternak will help you get fit sans gym - That's Fit

Exercise No Good For Weight Loss?

FitSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:30:17 PDT

A couple of years ago the Cardio Free Diet introduced popular culture to the concept that exercise and weight loss were incompatible. Recently we learned that exercise doesn't boost fat-burning. Now Time magazine's new cover story investigates the seemingly detrimental relationship even further. A thumbnail sketch of the article: exercise makes you hungry, so you eat more and don't lose weight.

Should you give up the treadmill forever? Learn more.