Success story winner
"Couch Potato to Sweet Potatoes!"
"I
was so ashamed I had let myself get so big. When my baby turned
three months old, my journey began..."
See Paula's full story.
See how YOUR story could win $100 & help your favorite charity.
Three of the most popular forum threads:
"Just getting back into exercise"
Thoughts on Jari Love workouts
Losing weight vs. losing inches
Q. I live in a cold winter climate. When it's cold, my body feels stiffer while working out. Both cardio and toning become more challenging. Is there anything I can do to avoid that stiffness?
A.
It's true that our muscles react differently in chilly weather. When exposed to the cold, our muscles and blood vessels contract to conserve body heat. That’s part of the body’s involuntary response to the
temperature.
Unfortunately that reaction also causes problems. Stiff muscles reduce elasticity which increases the risk of injury during exercise. The best solution is an extended warm-up.
A warm-up is a short period of moderate-intensity movement. The warm-up increases body temperature and improves oxygen supply to the muscles. This reduces the potential for muscle and joint injuries.
It also improves overall performance while decreasing the likelihood of soreness.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends
five to ten minutes of low-to-moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.
Ideally, you'd choose an activity that is similar to your regular
workout. For example, if you're doing a floor-aerobic workout, a few
minutes of simple walking-in-place would be a good warm-up. When it's
cold, you may want to increase your warm-up session to 10-15 minutes (just
pause the DVD and walk a bit on your own).
In addition
to a warm-up, maintaining flexibility will also help you stay limber
this winter. Stretching is the best way to do that. Following a workout, your body is still in “exercise mode." At that point, your muscles are still warm and elastic. So each muscle group can be stretched to its
maximum potential which increases its range of motion.
A combination of proper warm-up and
a total-body stretch following your workout will not only help you through those dreary and cold winter months, but
it will improve your workouts any time of the year.
Just be attentive to your body’s needs in the cold. Before you know it, winter will end. The air conditioning will be on and we will all be complaining about those terribly hot and humid summer days!
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New catalog & new videos
including
Jari Love, Ellen Barrett, Petra Kolber, Cardio Barre, Gilad, Jennifer Galardi and more
Your new print catalog
will be arriving next week. In it, you'll find...
Jari Love's Extremely Ripped 1000. It's an ultra-challenging
workout that has athletic cardio and lots of multi-muscle toning.
Ellen Barret's Barefoot Cardio is a fluid series of dance, core and opening exercises (yes, it's done barefoot!).
Petra Kolber has two new programs.
Just Dance is an easy-to-follow series of not-too-complicated dance steps.
Bootcamp Boogie is a great mix of
two aerobic techniques
-- athletic bootcamp and simple dance.
Cardio Barre is a four-workout DVD. It features ballet-style aero/tone
exercises done at two different tempos.
Jennifer Galardi's newest is also dance oriented.
Ballet Body is an elegant blend of muscle strengthening
plus muscle stretching.
For Christmas, check out
Gilad's Kids in Motion -- a no-nonsense workout for 8 to 13-year-olds.
There's more.
Element: Slim & Tone Pilates is a straight-forward matwork program. Paul Katami's
Band Camp uses rubber tubing or a band in every exercise.
Warrior Workout,
a yoga program by Trudy Styler (Sting's wife), includes both "flow" and "stillness"
elements.
Amy
Dixon's Give Me 10 has five 10-minute segments.
See all our new videos!
Also,
for Christmas ... Check out
the new
WiiFit Plus video game. It has 15 all-new exercise games.
Or you can get the game with the
WiiFit balance board.
And take a look at our Holiday music audio CDs:
PowerDown
Christmas,
Christmas Aerobics & Step and
Christmas in Motion.
Featured exercise: Plank
The plank – you've read about it, heard about it and may have already incorporated it into your workouts. This simple, yet comprehensive, exercise can be done anywhere at any time. The plank greatly challenges the entire core in order to support the spine and hold the body in a totally board-straight
-- or "plank" position. As a bonus, you'll also work all the major muscle groups in
your body as stabilizers, including the chest, back, shoulders, quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. As a result,
the plank is one of the best core and total body exercises.
Performing a plank correctly will help maximize effectiveness and limit the risk of injury. The traditional plank position looks like the beginning of a common push-up. Follow these simple steps:
1. Lie face down
with your palms flat on the floor -- directly underneath your shoulders, and in line with your chest. Your elbows should be in towards the body.
2. Place your feet hip-distance apart, flexed with toes in contact with the floor.
3.
Lift up into a traditional push-up position. Your wrists and shoulders should be in line.
4. Make sure that your body is completely straight and that your spine is in line from your head to your tailbone.
5. Engage your core and try to hold this position for 15 seconds. If 15 seconds is not a challenge, hold
it for 30 seconds.
The plank IS a great exercise. But the traditional plank is not for everyone. If you feel wrist discomfort or have carpel tunnel syndrome, you should slightly modify your starting position: Lie face down on the mat resting on your forearms, palms flat on the floor. Make sure your elbows are in line with your chest, directly underneath the shoulders. Now push up into plank. You'll get the same benefits, but this move is easier on the wrist joints.
For beginners, the plank position may be difficult to hold
while maintaining proper form. Without adequate core strength, your spine may be out of alignment which
could result in discomfort or injury. If you're a beginner, try keeping your knees on the floor for additional body support in step #3.
Of course,
it's good to challenge yourself. When you're ready, try holding each plank longer or adding extra sets with a rest in between. If you're at home, use a mirror to guide proper body positioning. Also, use your video instructors as an example -- you'll be a plank pro in no time!
Some DVDs that feature plank exercises include:
Element Pilates Weight Loss for Beginners,
Flat Belly Workout! Walk Off Belly Fat with Ellen Barrett,
Mindy Mylrea's All About Abs,
Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred and
Cathe Friedrich's Butts & Guts.
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Instructor interview
Paul Katami
Early in Paul Katami's career, he worked in a Cirque Du Soleil-type show. "It's true. I was
an 'acrobatic dancer' with the group Diavolo. It was a lot of fun, and also very challenging. In fact, I broke my arm and had a series of bad surgeries. To fix those problems, a new team of surgeons had to harvest bone from my hip and completely re-build my left arm (with the hip bone, two plates, and 12 screws!). It's a long drawn out, crazy story, but it really made me focus and re-engineer my philosophy and approach to fitness. I began to incorporate the consciousness of exercise with an overall concept of fitness for a healthy life -- not just aesthetics."
Were you always interested in fitness? "Actually, I was a heavy (husky?) youngster. My first biology class in college opened my eyes to the fact that I was eating myself to death. I knew that I needed to make changes. Shortly after adjusting my nutrition, I started taking step classes for cardiovascular exercise. One morning, the instructor didn't show up, so I taught the class. The rest is history -- that started my passion for fitness. I wanted to be healthy and lose
the extra pounds (I did lose 35 pounds over six months). More importantly, I found the more I understood about my body and exercise, the more I wanted to create and develop programs. Teaching others about fitness
became my ambition."
You've been teaching for a long time. What advice do you have for your new workout clients? "Taking the first step is always the hardest. I tell clients to take their time.
These days, it seems like everything is promised
immediately. You know, 'lose ten pounds in ten days', 'two-minute miracle workouts,' etc. Don't be swayed by the hype! If you put time and energy into creating a life of healthy living for the long term, you will create good
exercise habits that will benefit you forever. Invest time and work on
you -- make the effort to make yourself a priority."
That's great in theory,
but sometimes we all get discouraged with our fitness progress. Any suggestions? "Slumps happen. And then they get worse. Day slumps turn
into week slumps that turn into month slumps. If you're like everyone else, you've experienced a slump period that leaves you feeling totally unhealthy. I always remind myself of that feeling, and try to avoid it at all costs! I also think
variety, variety. Variety is key! Give yourself options for your workouts. Boredom and plateaus lead to slumps. Fill your home video collection with workouts that challenge you in different ways. There is such a variety of workouts out there, with different tools and instructors
-- you can always find a workout you want to do!"
See Paul's video.
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