Real Fitness Experts

Jump roping dates back to early human history, when the Egyptians used to use vines for jumping over. Jumping is a natural human movement-children naturally love to jump. Adults may feel more inhibited, choosing not to jump simply for the fun of it.

Add a rope, however, and you suddenly have a purpose and valid excuse to jump for fun. Jumping is a great way to increase your heart rate. There are several benefits of a jump rope workout.

Aerobic Exercise and Health

Most of us now know that aerobic exercise is beneficial in many ways. Aerobic means “with oxygen,” and aerobic exercise trains the body to use oxygen more effectively. Aerobic exercise involves continuous movement of the large muscle groups that causes one’s heart rate to increase.

Regular aerobic exercise results in a more efficient heart. Oxygen travels through the blood, and a heart that can pump more blood with fewer beats per minute is a healthier heart. Exercising for twenty to sixty minutes (depending on your fitness level) per session is usually enough for most people to maintain heart health.

Continue reading ‘Benefits of a Jump Rope Workout — by Lynn VanDyke’

I’ve got just a quick tip today to help get you started on your summer beach body. With summer right around the corner here in the US, the weather is starting to warm up and people are flocking outside after being cooped up all winter.

Now that it’s getting nice outside, why not take some of your workouts outdoors, instead of the stuffy old gym? Your workouts also don’t have to be long drawn-out 2-hour events in order to get a great metabolism boosting, muscle sculpting workout.

Here’s an idea for an outdoor workout that literally takes me 10-20 minutes, but has me drenched in sweat and pumped up by the end…

There’s a little playground and a softball field at the end of my road. So on a nice day, if I decide I just want to get a real quick outdoor workout in, I run over to the field, spend a couple minutes limbering up, and then… depending on how I feel, do about 10-20 minutes of the following exercises with almost no rest in between:

-50, 75, or 100-yard wind sprints

-hill sprints (if you have a hill nearby)

-pushup variations

-walking lunge variations

-bodyweight squat variations

-box jump, squat jump, or lunge jump variations

-pullups on the playground monkey bars

-mountain climbers on ground

Continue reading ‘Killer Outdoor Workouts in 20 Minutes or Less — by Mike Geary’

Hi everyone! We’re in the process of collecting interviews for a new site section called — you guessed it — ‘Fitness Expert Interviews.’ Hopefully, it will provide a great new resource for our visitors as well as allow personal trainers and other fitness professionals to demonstrate their expertise.

If you would like to submit an interview (or if you know of someone we should request an interview from) please send an email to:

editor [at] realfitnessexperts.com

Thanks!

I have decided to write an article about the number one question of last week — how to banish cellulite. I was a bit surprised at the many misconceptions surrounding cellulite. A lot of women asked if such-and-such cream would work, if they should stop eating cottage cheese or if surgery was their only option.

What exactly is cellulite and what is the best way to get rid of it?

Cellulite is nothing more than additional fat cells stored in your body. We all have connective tissue that separates fat cells into little compartments. Women have honey-combed shaped compartments and men have a crisscross pattern. The honey-combed shape compartments are the reason some women have dimply thighs, or cottage cheese looking arms.

Getting rid of cellulite is simple, but not necessarily easy. The only way cellulite can be reduced is to reduce overall body fat. You cannot spot reduce or rub a cream on it. You cannot starve yourself either. The only way to rid yourself of cellulite is to follow these 5 highly effective, simple, and to-the-point tips.

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb. The first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking.

2) Drink a cup of water at each meal.

3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.

4) Cardio should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions per week.

5) Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method. If you need more guidance or exercise ideas you can head over http://www.strength-training-woman.com

All of the above things combined will result in cellulite reduction. There are no miracle creams or secrets. It’s all about good old fashioned working out. Having said that, workout smarter and not harder! Get on a great program that is tailored to your body and your goals. Everyone is different, but following these 5 tips practically guarantees your cellulite will vanish.

Copyright 2006 Lynn VanDyke

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About the Author

Lynn VanDyke is the head trainer at http://www.TrainerLynn.com . She will create a custom fitness and nutrition program for you. Get dramatic results with a professionally designed workout routine and menu. Work with a master trainer and fitness nutritionist 1-on-1 and finally achieve your weight loss goals! Simple and extremely effective.

Let’s face it. Even the most devoted exercisers can get bored doing the same workouts week after week. And, if the mind is getting bored you can bet that the body is probably too, which means it isn’t being challenged as much as it should.

But, with the many, many training options to utilize, being bored should not even be an option. This is especially true when it comes to strength training. Variety with resistance training is practically endless - from different pieces of equipment, training techniques, sequences and more.

Below are 10 ways to change up your strength workout to ensure your body is optimally challenged and that boredom is kept at bay.

. Change your exercises. It’s easy to get comfortable doing the exercises you are most familiar with but it’s important to try new ones. And, there are so many different exercises to try you could easily try new exercises every week for an entire year!

. Try different equipment. Don’t get in the exercise machine rut. Try exercises using dumbbells, resistance bands, fitness ball, and others.

. Try circuit training. This method requires you perform a series of exercise moves one right after the other with little to no rest between the exercises.

Continue reading ‘10 Ways To Keep Your Strength Workout Fresh And Effective — by Lynn Bode’

As a personal trainer I routinely field questions about flat stomachs and six pack abs. Men and women want the secret formula to a rock solid mid-section. There are 5 tips that can help anyone increase their chances of a slimmer, fat-free waistline.

Flat Stomach Tip 1) Eat plenty of fibrous foods. This helps aid digestion and elimination. All too often the protruding lower abdominals are caused by enlarged intestines. Aiding the body’s digestion and elimination processes will help give a flatter appearance to the lower stomach area.

Flat Stomach Tip 2) Create a strength training routine that addresses all of the major muscle groups. A nice trick I learned along the way is to increase the muscle in your shoulders. This gives the appearance of a smaller waist. Working your while body is more advantageous for many reasons. A few reasons are:

- Working the entire body creates balance. Working just the abs will result in an imbalance and may lead to over-use, under-use or injury of certain muscles.

- Working the entire body will add more lean muscle. Women need to add lean, toned muscle to their body. They should not be afraid of bulking up or looking like men. The more muscle we have, the more calories we burn. Each pound of muscle burns 35-50 calories per day.

- Just working the abs usually results in over training. With a full body routine each muscle receives attention and proper rest.

Continue reading ‘5 Tips for a Flat Stomach — by Lynn VanDyke’

A fitness program is incomplete without timely measurements to monitor your progress. The only way to know if your mass or fat loss program is successful is by monitoring your measurements, weight and body fat levels.

‘One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.’

- Admiral Grace Hopper, U.S. Navy

Depending on the program, I recommend that everyone take their body fat levels every 1-2 weeks.

There’s a lot that these readings reveal to a trained eye! For example, I was recently on a fat loss diet, and I did not lose any weight for three weeks. At first I thought that I needed to drop my calories further because the current levels were not working for me. I did not want to do this because as a hard-gainer, dropping my calories too low can result in too much muscle loss. So, before I committed to a more drastic diet, I checked my body fat records.

Was I in for a shock! According to my body fat calculations I was actually getting leaner. Even though my weight did not change during that three-week period, my body fat levels went down 3%! Since I did not lose any weight during that time, the fat must have been replaced by muscle (an added benefit, but this does not happen most of the time). I would have never known this by simply looking in the mirror.

Continue reading ‘Monitoring Your Fitness Progress: Don’t Guess… Measure! — by Anthony Ellis’