Common Cardio Exercise|Workout Mistakes On Cardio Mach...

Cardio Exercise Machines – Common Cardio Workout Mistakes

Cardio exercise machine workouts are great and fun for burning
excess body fat and building good cardiovascular health. These
exercises not only help to burn body fat fast it will also
strengthen your heart and lungs and thus reducing your chances
of getting high blood pressure, stroke and heart diseases.
Regular cardio exercises can also reduce bad cholesterol and
raise the level of good cholesterol.

However, are you getting the most out of your cardio machine
workouts? Are you using the cardio workout machines efficiently
to gain maximum benefits of the exercises?

Well, you probably are not if you are an average gym user
without any personal trainers to guide you because you will
probably commit common cardio machine mistakes when exercising.


We shall now examine the more popular cardio workout machines
and the common mistakes people commit when using these machines
for their workouts.

Common mistakes when using cardio workout machines are :-

• Step up stair climber – This is perhaps the most common
mistake for not getting the most out of the step up stair
climber machine. Almost invariably, everyone when exercising
with this machine will rest their arms on the railing. By doing
so, the railing now becomes sort of like a crutch as it will now
support some of your body weight making the exercise less
intensive.

• Treadmill – The treadmill is perhaps the most popular cardio
workout machine in the gym. A careful observation will show
that many treadmill users run with too much up and downs. This
mistake will wear out the person’s ankle and knee joints over
time. The correct method is to take long, smooth and purposeful
strides during the exercise.

• Stationery Bike – When exercising on the stationery bike, do
adjust the height of the seat to a comfortable level. I really
don’t understand why many stationery bike users adjust their
seats to be either too high or too low. I mean, why be
uncomfortable when exercising when you can be comfortable.

When the seat is too low, it adds strain to your knees and
spine. When too high, your will butt will rock from side to
side. So besides not getting the best from your cardio workout
on the stationery bike because your body weight will be
involved when you peddle, you will also look weird. It is such
a silly workout mistake right?

Another common mistake is that I often see stationery bikers
reading a book when exercising. That means that they exercise
at a very low intensity level. Hey, how can low intensity
cardio exercises work your heart and lung effectively?

• Elliptical Trainer – This is also another bewildering common
cardio workout mistake. You use the elliptical trainer to tone
your body and to exercise for your cardiovascular fitness
right? Then why is it I often see people who use the elliptical
trainer exercising at a high speed? So what is the mistake? The
mistake is that they have set the resistant level too low.

You see, if you do not puff, pant and breakout in sweat, you
are not getting the best out of your cardio exercises. Is it
any wonder then that people are not losing weight and not
improving on their cardiovascular health even when they are
doing their cardio exercises regularly?

Now that you know how to avoid these common cardio machine
exercise workout mistakes, you can now head for the gym and get
the best out of these exercises. In a very short time, you will
see your body toning up nicely, improvement on your cardio
health being felt and visibly losing excess body fat.


About The Author: Chris Chew fitness personal trainer of
actors, male pageant winners, models and celebrities. More of
his free articles at http://www.sgfitness.com and
http://www.sgfitnessonline.com

All Calories Are Not Created Equal

Eat less fat. Eat more fat. Carbs are bad. Carbs are good.

Nutrition advice changes so often, no wonder so many people are
confused.

But when it comes it calories, the advice to consume fewer of
them seems set in stone. After all, "a calorie is a
calorie"-Right?

Wrong.

For years, we've been told that if we "eat less and exercise
more," we'll lose weight. That recommendation is based on the
belief that we need burn more calories than we take in. But
this doesn't tell the whole story.

As it turns out, it isn't the amount of calories you consume
that really affects your weight and your health. It's the type
of calorie.

It's true-the calories you eat are actually absorbed at
different rates. And the different amounts of fiber,
carbohydrates, protein, fat, and nutrients in these calories
can have very different effects on your metabolism. There's no
difference between a thousand calories of kidney beans and a
thousand calories of a low-fat muffin-until they're
metabolized.

As you can see, food isn't just a source of energy-it's a
source of operating instructions for your body. 
 
Calories 101

So what is a calorie anyway? Simply put, a calorie is just a
unit of energy. When we eat food, chemical processes that make
up our metabolism break this food down and turn it into energy.
Burning this energy lets us do what we need and want to do-from
breathing to running a marathon.

It's like your car: You have to put fuel in it to make it run.
For people, food is our fuel. Calories are what help us "run."

The Dieting Myth

Just like high quality fuel is better for your car than the
cheap stuff, some calories are better for our metabolism than
others. That idea flies in the face of conventional diet
wisdom, but it's true-and science backs it up.

For example, recent studies show that high-carb diets can boost
insulin and blood sugar levels. The result? Weight gain (not to
mention high cholesterol and triglycerides). On the other hand,
people who eat a healthy low-carb diet that's rich in
vegetables, whole grains, beans, and lean animal protein-but
consume more calories than low-fat dieters-actually lose more
weight!

As you can see, the kinds of calories you consume can have a
big impact on weight gain, because different foods are
metabolized in different ways. Food "talks" to your genes,
giving your metabolism specific instructions-whether to lose
weight or gain weight, speed up or slow down the aging process,
increase or decrease your cholesterol level, and produce
molecules that increase or decrease your appetite. 

No wonder you can feel like you're doing everything right and
still not lose weight!

The Whole Truth

If you want to lose weight and be healthy, you have to send
your body the right messages. That means living in harmony with
your genes.

This means different things for different people. Depending on
our genes, some of us may need more carbs, protein, or fat than
others. 

But there's one basic principle that works of everyone: Base
your diet on whole, unprocessed foods. Foods that are in their
natural state talk to your genes the most effectively-and were
designed by nature to keep you at a healthy weight.


About The Author: Mark Hyman, M.D. is a NY Times bestselling
author, lecturer, and practicing physician. Discover how you
can program your body to automatically lose weight and regain
health by grabbing an exclusive sneak preview of
UltraMetabolism here – http://www.ultrametabolism.com

 

 

The Top 13 Weight Loss Tips

Get ready to lose 10 pounds!

By paying attention to the amount of food you eat, eliminating
unnecessary sugar and fat from your foods and making sure you
include absolutely delicious meals and snacks to keep your
taste buds happy.

Use this easy-to-follow and super healthy diet plan to lose the
first 10, the last 10, or any 10 in between! Because it’s a
balanced and flexible program, you can stay on this diet as
long as it takes.

Top Fast Secrets

1. Keep track of everything you eat and drink. No need to
estimate calories – just write down the type of food or
beverage and the amount.

2. Cut your fat intake in half, that means half as much
margarine or butter on toast, vegetables and your muffin, half
the mayonnaise on your sandwich, and half the oil in the pan
when you saute foods. You get the idea!

3. Limit the sugar treats to three times per week maximum.

4. Include good sources of protein at meal, chicken, fish,
legumes, peanut, cottage cheese, eggs or yogurt.

5. Eat at least one meatless lunch and dinner each week to
reduce fat, increase fiber, and get yourself into the habit of
building meals around whole grains, beans and vegetables.

6. If you’re not currently using skim milk, go down to the
level of fat content in the milk you use. For example, if you
currently use two percent, use only one percent. If you insist
on whole milk, try two percent.

7. Eat at least two servings of fresh fruit every day. Choose
whatever type of fruit is in season.

8. Instead of fruit juice for breakfast or snack, drink water.
Add a slice of lemon or lime for zest.

9. Include two servings of vegetables with lunch and dinner,
for a total of at least four servings per day.

10. Choose one to two servings of foods made from whole grains
with every meal.

11. Shut off the TV whenever you eat – that includes meals and
snacks. Studies show that we automatically eat larger portions
when we snack in front of the tube, and typically those foods
are high in fat and sugar, which means excess calories!

12. Choose calories you can chew – that means only calorie-free
beverages (except for milk) Sodas are loaded with empty
calories, and fruit juices provide less fiber and vitamins per
calorie than the fruit they’re made from.

13. Plan ahead for meals and snacks so you know exactly what
you plan to eat. Last-minute choice tends to be higher in
calories and lower in satisfaction.


About The Author: Joan Winthorp is a fitness and nutrition
expert. If you ever wanted to know if the Low-Carb-Diet works
or does not - than the website at
http://www.low-carb-diet-secrets.com was written just for you.

Eating Carbs Actually Leads To Weight Loss And Health

Carbohydrates are the single most important food you can eat.

That statement probably goes against everything you've ever
heard, so let me explain.

If you don't believe me, take this little test. Think of a
carb!
If you're like most Americans, bread, pasta, soft drinks,
French fries, sugar, and similar foods probably flew into your
mind. Yes, these foods are carbs -- highly processed and
refined ones.

And if these are the kinds of carbs you consume on a regular
basis, let me warn you, (unless you regularly run marathons),
you're most likely either overweight or heading down the road
to weight gain.

You may like them, you may consider them "comfort foods," you
may think that they couldn't be so bad since they are so
predominant in our current diet. But the biological bottom line
is that human beings have not evolved to metabolize these types
of carbohydrates.

They slow down your metabolism and contribute to every one of
the major diseases associated with aging including diabetes,
heart disease, dementia and cancer.

In most, cases they are also "empty" calorie foods-the worst
possible combination -- high caloric foods, low in nutrients.
They deprive you of vital nutrients as well as burden your body
with the task of digesting food molecules that aren't giving you
anything you need.

Eating them (especially in excess) is a prescription for weight
gain. But they're not the end of the carb story. If you're like
most people, you may not realize that the wide world of carbs
is actually much, much bigger than this limited crowd of
processed carbs.

In contrast, natural carbohydrates, which come to your table
just like Mother Nature made them, contain many essential
nutrients and specialized chemicals that turn up your
metabolism via newly discovered plant chemicals call
phytonutrients.

So you have a choice: use phytonutrients to spark your
metabolism into action, or drown your metabolism with
indigestible nutrient-poor carbs.

Our genetic nutritional template goes back 20,000 years. Our
ancestors foraged for wild food, like wild berries, grasses,
roots, and mushrooms to find life-giving phytonutrients that
all humans are designed by nature to eat.

On a recent vacation I found myself in a sea of phytonutrients
in the wild islands of Southeast Alaska. I was foraging along
with the grizzly bears for bog cranberries, blueberries,
nagoonberries, raspberries, and strawberries. These scrumptious
berries, bursting with phytonutrients, were smaller, richer in
color and taste, (and lower in sugar) than their domestic berry
cousins.

Here's a tip: The greater variety and the deeper the color of
plant foods you eat, the higher their concentration of
phytonutrients. The key is to learn which phytonutrient-dense
foods can prevent disease and promote weight loss.

Want phytonutrient power?

Here 's a small sample of the many superfoods that contain
these powerful phytonutrients: isoflavones in soy foods,
lignans in flax seeds, catechins in green tea, polyphenols in
cocoa (yes, chocolate!), glucosinolates in broccoli, carnosol
in rosemary, and resveratrol in red wine. 

And there are hundreds more that can help you unlock the secret
to natural weight loss. All of these compounds -- and dozens
more -- will help you fight disease and obesity. These special
compounds literally communicate with your genes and turn on
messages of health and weight loss. They are key to the success
people experience in losing weight on a program I've developed
during my 20-years practicing medicine, called UltraMetabolism.


Before you reach for that Cinnabon, know that phytonutrients
only occur in whole, unrefined, unprocessed plant foods. All
vegetables (and many fruits) score high in phytonutrients,
while processed carbs, like bread and pasta, have virtually
none.

Here's a shorthand to distinguish between the metabolism
boosters and the processed carbs that will only weigh you down:


Anything that has been packaged or put through a machine is
processed (like a potato chip). Anything that comes right out
of the earth is natural (like a plum).

Don't let all the terminology -- high fat, low-fat, high-carb,
low-carb, high glycemic index, low glycemic index, complex
carbs and simple carbs -- confuse you. The key is eating whole,
real, unprocessed, food found as close to nature as possible.
Now you know why your grandmother always told you to eat your
vegetables!

Folk wisdom passed down the generations showed how to give the
body what it needs. In the early twenty-first century, that
wisdom is being confirmed in the research of leading edge
scientists. So you can follow these recommendations I offer
with total confidence that the latest medical science backs
them up.

This new science reveals why you should never do what some
ill-advised diets suggest: cut out all carbs. Not a good
idea-because you also cut out all the phytonutrients (and the
fiber) that only comes from whole plant foods.
Along with their obesity fighting chemicals, vitamins, and
minerals to accelerate your metabolism, most whole
carbohydrates are filled with healthy plant fiber to slow the
absorption of sugar into your bloodstream.

And for super fast weight loss, you'll want to eat some special
"super" fiber foods which I use as my secret weapon with many
patients who have had difficulty losing weight. Once you
incorporate them into your diet, you'll feel full, experience
steady energy, and will never be tempted to overeat.

Here's a guarantee: If you've been consuming highly processed
foods such as sodas, chips, and crackers, and you decide to
boost your intake of those powerful phytonutrients that I've
reviewed, you'll be taking the first step towards
re-programming your body for automatic weight loss and health.

My dirty little secret as a doctor is that I never treat
anybody specifically to lose weight; I simply help them become
healthy using these and other techniques and the weight
automatically comes off.

So remember, eat your carbs, but make them the right carbs!


About The Author: Mark Hyman, M.D. is a NY Times bestselling
author, lecturer, and practicing physician. Discover how you
can program your body to automatically lose weight and find out
what special super fiber can help by grabbing an exclusive sneak
preview of UltraMetabolism at
http://www.ultrametabolism.com/article6