Health and Fitness Oasis

Exercise gurus have said that circuit training is the best overall way to shape up your body in a short period. The gym offers a wide variety of machines you can use for a circuit training workout, but you don’t have to belong to a gym to get the benefits. A circuit can be set up in your own home.

Circuit training combines aerobic and anaerobic activities for a workout that builds muscle and burns fat at the same time. In one thirty minute session, you can work your entire body. Many health clubs have circuit stations where several people can participate at the same time. The key to success is that you keep moving without a break so the heart rate stays elevated to burn fat.

Here’s how it works. Aerobic activity is alternated with strength training. For example, you can perform one minute of stationary bike riding with one minute of bicep curls. After another minute of biking, you can switch to another body part for strength training, like leg curls. If you want more aerobics, increase to five minutes of aerobics for every one or two minutes of weights. Read the rest of this entry »

Weightlifting is more than just bulking up and winning contests.  It’s about strength training and getting into the best possible shape you can.  Have you been contemplating weightlifting?  Then here are ten good reasons why weightlifting is a worthwhile activity.  As we get older, our bodies lose muscle mass.  It is that muscle that gives us strength when lifting, carrying and performing other activities.  Strength may even help you avoid dangerous falls.
 
1. Lifting weights burns fat.  Muscle burns more calories than fat.  To work and build muscle means that your body is still in the fat-burning zone long after the workout has finished.  To shed weight, the amount of fat that we already have has to be reduced.
 
2. Weights change the look of your body.  You may not be going for the muscle-bound look, but lifting weights results in a more sculpted shape to your body.  It is that definition that helps you to look fabulous in your clothes, especially the ones you thought that you’d never fit into again. Read the rest of this entry »