Accuracy of the "Calorie Burn" Reading on Equipment

Here's another great blog from trainer, Caitlin Massey.

You come into the gym and hop on the elliptical machine and as you are going you look down and notice the machine indicating you have burned 100 calories so far.  You think to yourself great!  But then you wonder: how accurate are the calorie readings on the cardio equipment?  As a trainer, I get this question a lot.  The answer is they are not fully accurate but are a reasonable guess. 

Generally machine readings err on the high side between 20-30%. So this means for every 100 calories the machine says you burn you have actually spent between 70 and 100.  For most of us that 20-30 % is small enough to not make a difference, but as the amount of calories you burn increases, so does the gap between what you think you burn and what you actually burn. 

So why aren’t machines accurate? Each manufacturer uses its own patented algorithms that are based on heart rate, workload, and duration. The more high-end your machine brand, the more accurate your machine is likely to be.  But this type of formula is flawed because burning calories is based on more than just your heart rate.  The amount of calories you burn depends on heart rate, body temperature, body position, food intake, muscle groups exercised, medication, body size, strength, lean mass, exercise efficiency, and if exercise is intermittent or continuous.  And since machines only consider heart rate and workload, their formula leaves a lot of variables in the equation.  

So what will get you the most caloric burn? A machine that will engage the largest muscle groups, position your body in a less than optimal angle, and vary the work demands placed on the body.  Running uphill on a treadmill at different speeds or inclines achieves all of these, and therefore burns the most calories.  So the next time you hop on a piece of cardio equipment, get the most out of your workout by picking one that uses your whole body - not just your legs - and stay on a bit longer to make up a few calories.

All About Fat Loss

There are so many questions about fat. What is it?  Why is it stored in different areas?  What is the most effective way to lose it?  Although most people spend a great deal of time and money trying to lose fat, it is vital to the proper function on your cells. Fat has a key role in the flexibility and structure of cell membranes, affects immune function, and is an energy reserve. Did you know that it has been estimated that a lean adult male stores 131,000 calories in fat? That is enough energy reserve to keep him alive for roughly 65 days. The majority of your fat stores are in the form of triacylglycerols in storage cells called adipocytes. Whether your body stores fat or releases it into the bloodstream is based on caloric supply and demand. When energy supply is high, insulin keeps fat inside adipocytes. During exercise or periods of fasting insulin is lowered releasing fat into the bloodstream where it is carried by proteins to cells where it can be broken down into ATP (energy for your muscles) or stored.

Now that we know what fat is and how it is stored, let’s look at what is the best way to burn already stored fat cells. As previously stated, fat storage and use is determined by an energy surplus or deficit. Meaning to lose fat, we need to create an energy deficit. Furthermore, insulin plays a major role in fat storage and release. The lower your insulin levels are (either by exercising or altering food intake) the more fat will be released and used as an energy source to meet energy demands placed on the body. This is why a lower carbohydrate diet is generally effective in weight loss (lower carbohydrates mean lower insulin levels).   

Exercise intensity also plays a role in fat loss. Research finds that we burn the most fat when exercising at low to moderate intensities. When exercising at high intensities the majority of your energy comes from the breakdown of carbohydrates instead of fat.  Now does this mean that exercising at a high intensity isn’t good for fat loss? Let’s not jump to conclusions. We also have to consider exercise recovery. After we finish exercising our bodies need to use more energy to help cells recover and replace lost glycogen. In short, our metabolisms are running at a much higher rate. And this happens at the most accelerated rate after bouts of high intensity resistance training. 

So, what is the most comprehensive attack against fat? The answer is an exercise program that alternates between high-intensity training and moderate-intensity training on different days while eating a lower carbohydrate-reduced calorie diet. This maximizes the body’s two ways of burning fat: in a single bout of exercise and in recovery. 

So there you have it..."Fat Loss" in a nutshell.  Still have questions?  Be sure to talk with one of our fitness professionals and/or nutrition specialists for more info.  Good luck!! 

How Music Can Boost Your Workout

Making music — and not just listening to it — while exercising makes the exercise easier, a remarkable new experiment finds, suggesting that the human love of music may have evolved, in part, to ease physical effort.

Researchers and exercisers have long known, of course, that listening to music alters the experience of exercising. Earlier studies have shown, for instance, that briskly paced music tends to inspire equally briskly paced workouts, and that music also can distract and calm nervous competitors before a race or other high-pressure situation, improving their subsequent performance.  

But to date, no one had thought to investigate whether creating — and not merely hearing — music might have an effect on workouts, let alone whether the impact would be qualitatively different than when exercisers passively listen to music pumped through gym speakers or their ear buds.  

So, for the new study, which was published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognition and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and other institutions began by inventing an electronic kit that could be integrated into the internal workings of weight-training machines, transforming them into oversize boom boxes. Once installed, the kit would produce a range of propulsive, electronic-style music with a variety of sound levels and rhythms, depending on how the machine’s weight bar or other mechanisms were manipulated during workouts.  

The researchers installed the kits into three different workout machines, one on a stair-stepper, the other two weight machines with bars that could be raised or pulled down to stimulate various muscles.  They then recruited a group of 63 healthy men and women and divided them into groups, each of which was assigned to use one of the musically equipped machines during a strenuous though brief six-minute exercise session.  

As the volunteers strained, their machines chirped and pinged with a thumping 130 beats per minute, the sound level rising or falling with each individual’s effort and twining with the rhythms created by the other two exercisers. “Participants could express themselves on the machines by, for instance, modulating rhythms and creating melodies,” said Thomas Hans Fritz, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute who led the study.  The groups were, in effect, D.J.’ing their workouts, creating sounds that echoed their physical efforts.  

During a separate exercise session, each group used the same machines, but minus the musical add-ons, while elsewhere in the gym, other volunteers sweated at the musically equipped machines, meaning that one group was passively listening to sounds created by another.

Throughout each workout, the researchers monitored the force their volunteers generated while using the machines, as well as whether the weight lifters’ movements tended to stutter or flow and how much oxygen  the volunteers consumed, a reliable measure of physical effort. Afterward, the scientists asked the volunteers to rate the tolerability or unpleasantness of the session, on a scale from 1 to 20.  

Tabulated afterward, the results showed that most of the volunteers had generated significantly greater muscular force while working at the musically equipped machines than the unmodified ones. They also had used less oxygen to generate that force and reported that their exertions had felt less strenuous. Their movements were also more smooth in general, resulting in a steadier flow of music.  Creating their own rhythms and melodies had lowered the physiological cost of exercise and greatly increased its subjective allure compared with when the exercisers passively listened to virtually the same music, Dr. Fritz said.  

A similar dynamic may have motivated early humans to whistle or hum while they hunted or tilled and later to raise their voices in song during barn raisings and other intense physical labor, he said.  

But why orchestrating your own soundtrack should have more physical benefit than merely hearing similar music in the background is not altogether clear.  “We think that the observed effects are most probably due to a greater degree of emotional motor control,” when you actively engage in making music, Dr. Fritz said. Emotional motor control, as opposed to the more workaday “deliberate” type that normally guides our muscular movements, he said, operates almost below consciousness. Your body responds to it with little volition and you move, he said, with reduced effort and increased joy. This is “musical ecstasy,” Dr. Fritz said, and it seems to have permeated, to some degree, the gym where the exercisers composed music while sweating.  

Unfortunately, the musical kits that Dr. Fritz and his colleagues have developed are not available commercially, although they may be in the future. For now, he said, you may need to content yourself with purposely ignoring the supplied soundtrack at your local gym and instead singing to yourself. Perhaps harmonize, no matter how tunelessly, with a workout partner.  Disdain naysayers and music lovers. You will be, in the felicitous phrasing of Dr. Fritz, “jymming; that’s like jamming, but with a ‘y’ from ‘gym.’”

Non-Traditional Cardio Activity

Continuing with our monthly guest blogger...here is another installment from one of our trainers, Joseph Mattingly.

If you are like me, you don’t particularly enjoy cardio.  You may loathe the cardio area in the gym as do I.  You may not mind running outside from time to time, but cannot stand the thought of pounding away on the treadmill. The cardio area may turn your stomach.  So here is a solution.  For now, avoid the treadmill, stair-master, elliptical, bike etc. Instead of the old steady state machine-type cardio, here are some tips and ideas to break up the monotony and increase the intensity and effectiveness of your cardio sessions.  For all eight of these exercises/routines, minimal rest time is encouraged.

Ball Slams:

Find a heavy medicine ball, bend over, pick it up overhead, and slam it.  Now REPEAT.  If you want, throw in some side to side action, either with the slam, by slamming to one side then the next.  Or by slamming the ball then sliding laterally and then slamming it again, going from point A back to Point B and slamming the ball at each point.  There are lots of variations so be creative.

Battle Ropes: 

Slam the ropes up and down, side to side, alternating, slam and then lateral slide and slam again, or all of the above done back to back etc.  However you do it, do it quickly and powerfully and for at least 30 seconds.

Hills:

Tall hill, short hill...it doesn’t matter.  Run the long hills and sprint the short hills.  Here at PROMATx there is a short hill/incline in front of the parking lot that doesn’t look like much.  However, sprint up that hill and back down, 5-10 times in a row and it starts to look more imposing.

Plyometrics:

Jump around a lot.  Squat jumps, jumping knee tucks, box jumps, broad jumps, high knee skips, lateral bench hops etc.  All of these movements target the legs, core, and heart and burn tons of calories, all while making you more athletic. 

Jump-Rope:

Up and down, side to side, jumping jack, knees up, jog and jump, reverse jumps, etc.  There are many variations to keep the jump rope interesting, and for many people just your regular up and down jump rope motion will be plenty challenging, especially in the beginning.

Weighted Sled: 

The weighted sled, whether pushing it, or pulling it, is one of the best, if not THE BEST way to burn fat, ramp up intensity, and puke quickly (just joking).  This is currently my favorite fat burn/intensity-booster exercise.

Circuit Training/Low- or No-rest Periods:

For this type of training, you can use free weights, machines, body weight, or a combination of all three.  Whatever implements you use, the most important way to get cardio out of your lifting is to minimize rest periods to a minute or less between sets and exercises.  Try to have a plan, and that way you can bounce from station to station quickly with no wasted time and effort, which will make your workout that much more productive and fun.  Another tip, use antagonist muscle groups, i.e., chest and then back, as a way to keep moving without repeating the same muscle group over again.  My favorite way of doing this is to do a “push”, then “pull”, and then a lower body move.

Cardio Intensive Sports:

Go sign up for a cardio based sport, such as basketball, soccer, flag football, Ultimate Frisbee, tennis, swimming.  If you sign up with a friends you will be more inclined to actually come to games and practices, so consider this especially if you are not a very self-motivated person.

These are just a few ideas of how to break that monotony of walking on a treadmill or swinging on the Arc Trainer.  Try your hand at a few of these ideas, but be sure to have a towel and water bottle close by...you'll definitely need it!!

The Ultimate Holiday Fat Loss Workout

Today's post is from one of our trainers, Joseph Mattingly.  Even though the holidays are over, you can still use this workout to burn some fat!!  The holidays are a tough time to achieve fitness goals, and for most people to just maintain their current fitness/leanness level is a major victory.  To anyone in this predicament here is a workout that will really stoke the metabolism and burn major calories.  It’s a simple workout and all you need is a pair of dumbbells and a jump rope.   If you don’t have the space for a jump rope, just feigning the movement will work well enough.   It can be done at home, on the road, or PROMATx Health Club!!  In general, whole body workouts are going to burn the most calories and this series of movements should more than cover all the major muscle groups.  Now on to the workout….

The workout will be done in a circuit fashion for as many rounds as you can do for at least 30 minutes.  Try to rest as little as possible, preferably going from one exercise right into the next if you can.  Try to avoid complete failure and sloppy repetitions, until the last round of the workout, as you will save your nervous system from early decline and get more overall quality repetitions and volume out of the workout.  If you must rest, try to only rest after each circuit is completed.

1. PUSHUPS:     From the knees or full pushups depending on your ability.  For me, this usually means sets of 30-50.  It may mean 10 or 20 for you.  However many you do, just make sure you are not going to complete failure right out of the gate.
2. BENT OVER ROWS:  (15 reps)  Main key here is to keep a tight core and low back arched with eyes ahead. Don’t jerk the weight up, squeeze it up.
3. JUMP ROPE:    (60 seconds)   Variations of the regular jump will ramp up the intensity and hence calorie burn, and are encouraged.  These would include high jumps, double jumps, one leg at a time, high knees, lateral bounce, jumping jack (feet land close together and then wide) etc.
4. THRUSTERS:   (15 reps)    Go into a full squat holding two dumbbells at shoulder level.  As you come out of the bottom of the squat, start pressing the dumbbells overhead until you are standing with the dumbbells extended overhead.
5. ONE-ARM ROW:   (20-25 reps)  Do these free standing to make them more difficult.  You support yourself with opposite arm on knee/thigh, instead of bench or other fixed support.  If you have heavy dumbbells, then drop down to 10-15 rep range. 
6. LATERAL JUMPS:  (30 seconds)   Find a line on the floor or lay your jump-rope down in a straight line.  Now jump laterally over the line and back, trying to never step on the line/rope.

Do this workout with as much intensity as possible, as little rest as possible, for as long as possible, and reap the results.  If done on an empty stomach your fat burning will be increased even more.  Happy Holidays!

Success at Obtaining Fitness Goals (Part 6)

Closing out Brad Covington's blog on becoming successful at obtaining your fitness goals, here is the final piece to the puzzle.  Be sure to go back and check out his introduction, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5.

F.I.T.T. PRINCIPLE

The F.I.T.T. Principle is what determines your fitness program. What does it stand for? 

• F = Frequency
• I = Intensity
• T = Time (Duration)
• T = Type

Frequency

Frequency is how often you do your fitness program.  As with any fitness program you should start off slowly and increase in duration as you become more fit to consistently challenge your body.

Intensity

Intensity is how hard you are working out.  The more in shape you get, the harder you work out. The harder you work out, the more efficient your body will become at maximizing its fat-burning capacity.

Time

Time is the amount of time you spend in the gym...excluding talking/socializing!  Pretty simple, the more in shape you are in, the longer you can go. 

Type

Type is the type of workouts you are doing, such as strength training, endurance training, cardiovascular training, or interval training.  A properly designed fitness program will have a cross-training effect that will tap into all energy systems to maximize time in the gym.

Use this principle to determine your fitness plan to help meet your goals at the gym.  Make sure to mix it up, be consistent, work hard, and have fun!!!  You will never leave the gym feeling worse than when you come in, it's the phenomenon!!!

So there you have it...a seven-piece puzzle to ensure your success at obtaining your fitness goals.  It's not rocket science but it will take some energy on your part to plan your program and to stick with it.  Remember, consult a trained professional when in doubt or if problems arise.  Don't go in it alone!  Gather some friends, family members or co-workers and make a challenge.  You will be more likely to stick with it and be successful if you have a partner (or two) to help you along the way.  You can do it!!

Overtraining..Is Too Much Exercise a Good or Bad Thing?

You hear it on the news, you see it in magazines...exercise is important.  Everyone should exercise a certain number of days per week for a certain number of minutes.  Do this exercise but not that exercise.  Do this exercise first then that exercises.  What was good yesterday is no longer good today.  There is a lot of conflicting information in the news and on the internet.  One thing still holds true...it is possible to do too much exercise.  We, in the fitness and health industry, call it "overtraining".

Typically, overtraining occurs when training volume (how much) or intensity (how hard) is too high for too long. Generally speaking, volume and intensity are inversely related when it comes to exercise.  That means when the volume of exercise is high, the intensity should be lower and vice versa.  If both are elevated for a prolonged period, the body will suffer the consequences.  Hormone imbalances between testosterone and cortisol can occur with high volume training for prolonged periods.  Disruption in the body's ability to effectively utilize fat stores can occur with high volume training.  In terms of prolonged, high intensity training, exercise-induced levels of catecholamines are markedly increased.  This causes the body to elicit a "fight or flight" response to exercise by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and blood glucose.  This repeated response to exercise can result in decreased muscle strength over time.

How do you know if you are overtraining?  It can be difficult to determine on your own.  Your best bet would be talking with a fitness professional.  Many signs and symptoms of overtraining have been suggested but it should be noted that not all of these symptoms will be present, and that the presence of some of these symptoms does not automatically mean an individual is overtrained. The ultimate determination of overtraining is whether performance is impaired or plateaued.  Here are some common signs of overtraining:

• Decreased performance (strength, power, endurance)
• Decreased motor coordination (clumsy, tripping)
• Decreased training tolerance
• Increased recovery requirements
• Chronic fatigue
• Eating and sleeping disorders
• Altered heart rate and blood pressure
• Headaches
• Gastrointestinal stress
• Joint aches and pain
• Muscle soreness and damage
• Depression
• Impaired immune system
• Increased frequency of illness

Remember, you may not experience all of these symptoms and just because you do experience some of them doesn't necessarily mean you have been overtrained.  A degreed, experienced fitness professional can talk with you about your training, look at your volume and intensity and help you determine if you are the "result" of overtraining.

Your body needs adequate rest from activity so be sure you schedule the appropriate "rest days" within you workout routine.  Also, make sure your volume and intensity of training are inversely related.  Don't try to go "all out" during every workout and try to vary your routine from time to time.  These are just a few tips to keep your workout regimen fresh and, most importantly, safe.  Still need help?  Make an appointment with one of our trainers to discuss the appropriate plan for you and your goals.  Stop by or call PROMATx Health Club today. 

Reasons Why Your Workout Just Isn't Cutting It

You workout on a regular basis...you are at the gym 3-4 days per week....you attend group exercise classes and sweat away your stress...you show up for all of your personal training appointments as scheduled.  So why aren't you seeing the results?  Weight loss shouldn't be this hard...should it?  Let's look at some reasons why you may not be seeing the results you expected.

You aren't working hard enough.

Is going to the gym a social event for you?  Is it time to catch up with your buddies and talk about the game last night?  Maybe you come in and have been doing the same exercises and are feeling "comfortable" with the routine.  Now is the time to kick it up a notch.  While it's OK to chat with your buddies at the gym, try to limit it to before or after your workout.  Keep your mind focused on the activity at hand.  Many times we fail to push ourselves to do exercises to failure.  Whether it's the fear of working that hard or just not knowing how your body will respond, you should attempt to push yourself with each workout.  Therefore, it's not how much weight you lift but how hard you push yourself.  Once you catch your breath, it's time to move on to the next exercise.

You are working out too hard.

What??  Didn't I just say you had to push yourself during your workouts?  Well it is possible to work too hard or "overtrain".  Are you in the gym 5-7 days a week?  Do you go "all-out" in every workout?  Do you take all the group exercise classes plus workout on your own?  You actually are doing your body more harm than good.  The body needs time to rest and repair itself and if you are always working out and not allowing the body any "down time", your body will rebel.  You may experience headaches, insomnia, exhaustion, even weight gain.  Although we love to see your faces in the gym, it is important to take a day or two off so you can get adequate rest.

You aren't eating enough.

OK, so now you think I've totally lost my mind.  If you haven't read our previous blog, "Are You Eating Enough", then take a moment to go back and read it.  Remember, you have to consume enough calories to meet the needs of basic body functions like breathing, standing, and moving, PLUS you need to have enough energy to do your workouts.  There's a fine line there and if you don't consume enough to meet those needs, where is your body going to get the energy from??  You guessed it, your muscle tissue.  You will actually break down muscle tissue so the body can use it for energy.  Ultimately resulting in weight loss but the WRONG kind of weight loss.  Remember, weight loss is 20% exercise and 80% nutrition.

You are spending too much time at the gym.

Stay with me folks...I have a good point to make!  Are you spending 1-2 hours in the gym?  Do you perform your strength routine, then hit the cardio machines?  Do you think longer workouts will help lose the fat and build the muscle you are looking for?  Probably not.  In a study published by the School of Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario, researchers compared effects of short, intense strength/cardio training with those of longer bouts of moderate exercise. In this study, both groups ran three times per week for six weeks. One group ran as hard as they could for 30 seconds and then rested for four minutes and repeated this three to five times for a total workout time of 18 to 27 minutes. The second group jogged for up to 60 minutes at a moderate pace.  Those in the sprint group saw their total body fat decrease by 12.4 percent, while the other runners lost less than half that much!  

So where do you go from here?  First, try doing more intense workouts for shorter durations.  For example, get your workout done in 30 minutes.  You'll tend to push yourself harder if you know you only have 30 minutes to get it done!  Next, take a look at your nutritional habits.  There are lots of great programs on the internet to track your food intake and calorie consumption/burn.  Check these out.  Remember, I've said it before and I'll say it again, we have a nutritional specialist on staff here at PROMATx Health Club.  We can help you with the dietary part of weight loss.  Don't try to fight it on your own!!  Finally, it's not quantity at the gym but more about quality.  I'm sure your significant other and family members would love to see you a little more often.  You don't have to live at the gym to lose weight and be healthy.  Just be smart and follow our advice.  It is possible to un-do what you have done to your body throughout the past years.

Come in and see us.  We'll guide you, we'll push you, we'll help you!!

Thump-Thump...Thump-Thump...Is That Your Heartbeat I Hear?

We've talked about how to gauge intensity during your workouts (click HERE to re-read that blog) but let's take a step back and look at how to take your heart rate or pulse.  Club owner and Personal Training Director, Brad Covington, takes us through the steps of how to determine your heart rate.

First of all, what is your "pulse"?  Your pulse is your heart rate or the number of times your heart beats in one minute.  Pulse rates vary from person to person; some slower than others.  Your pulse is lower when you are at rest and increases when you exercise.  During physical activity the body requires more oxygen-rich blood so breathing increases and heart rate increases.  Knowing how to take your pulse can help you evaluate your exercise program.

Here's how to take your pulse:

1. Place the tips of your index, second and the third fingers on the palm side of your wrist below the base of the thumb.  Or you can place the tips of your index and second fingers on your lower neck on either side of your windpipe.
2. Press lightly with your fingers until you feel the blood pulsing beneath your fingers.  You may need to move your fingers around slightly up or down until you feel the pulsing. 
3. Use a watch or clock with a second hand .
4. Count the number of beats you feel in 10 seconds and multiply the number by six to get your heart rate per minute.

Count your pulse:__________ beats in 10 seconds x 6 =___________beats/minute.

You've mastered those steps so now what?  What is a "normal" pulse?  Normal, average heart rates vary by age:

• Ages 6-17:  70-100 beats per minute
• Ages 18 and over:  60-85 beats per minute

Is your pulse in that range?  If so, congrats...you are "normal".  If your pulse is lower than the normal range, even better.  That means your heart doesn't have to work as hard at rest to pump the same amount of blood as during exercise.  If your number is higher than the range listed above, you should consider adding more physical activity into your daily routine.  High resting heart rates (85 beats per minute and above) put undue stress on the heart and blood vessels.  You may experience symptoms such as a "racing" heart beat, pounding in your ears, heavy "thumping" in your chest.

How high should your heart rate go during exercise?  By using the "age-predicted" maximum heart rate formula, you can determine the maximum for your age.  Essentially, it is 220-your age.  For example, a 40-year old person has a maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minute (220-40 = 180).  From here you can calculate your target heart rate zone as discussed in our "Intensity...How Hard Are You Working Out" blog entry.

Finally, here are some thoughts about heart rate and training:

1. Always check with your healthcare provider before starting an exercise program.  Every exercise program should be taken into account with safety first and foremost.
2. You gain the most benefits and lessen the risks when you exercise in your target heart rate zone.  Usually this is when your exercise heart rate is 60 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.  It is not advised to exercise greater than 85% of maximal heart rate.  Intensity at that level  increases both  cardiovascular and orthopedic risk with minimal additional health-related benefits from the exercise.
3. When beginning an exercise program, you may need to gradually build up to a level that is within your target heart rate zone, especially if you have not exercised regularly before.  If the exercise feels too hard, slow down and build up your cardiovascular endurance.  You will reduce your risk of injury and enjoy the exercise more if your do not try to over-do it!

Now you are armed with valuable information for your exercise routine.  Whether you work with a trainer or on your own, you should take into consideration your resting heart rate and your target heart rate zone.  Try taking your heart rate at different times of the day and see how it fluctuates with stress levels and physical activity or rest.  To obtain the most accurate resting heart rate, someone would need to take your heart rate while you are sleeping.  Since that's not feasible, take it as soon as you wake up but before you get out of bed (as long as you were not "startled" upon wakening by a loud noise or another person).  This will most accurately represent your resting heart rate.

Feel the beats...take your pulse...apply it to your exercise routines.  You'll see a decrease in your resting heart rate over time as you add more consistent physical activity into your day.  Thump away, beating heart, thump away!!

Intensity...how hard are you working out?

Whether you just started working out or have been working out for some time now, intensity is very important.  There are a few good ways to gauge your intensity (no, the amount of sweat you produce is NOT one of them).  Old school method, which still works just fine, is by measuring heart rate during exercise.  Depending on your goals (i.e., weight loss, cardiovascular conditioning), you can train within your "Target Heart Rate Zone".  This zone is calculated based on your age, resting heart rate, and intensity you should be training. 


Here's what the formula looks like:


(((220 - age) - resting heart rate) * intensity level) + resting heart rate


For example:  a 40 year old with resting heart rate of 60, training at 65% of maximum heart rate (intensity level) --


220 - 40 = 180
180 - 60 = 120
120 * 65% = 78
78 + 60 = 138


138 is the lower end of the target heart rate zone for this person.


Another method is the "Talk Test".  During your workout, you should be able to carry on a light conversation.  If you cannot speak a sentence or two, your intensity is most likely too high.  If you can talk and talk and talk, you are probably not working out hard enough!


How can you increase the intensity during your workout?  Try grouping a few of your exercises together and repeat the sets with little rest (15-30 seconds) in between each set.  Another tip is to add a high intensity cardio move throughout your workout.  For example, jumping jacks, frog jumps, treadmill sprints and treadmill walking at a high incline (6-10%).  There should be very little rest between your exercises.  You want to recover enough to bring your heart rate down slightly but not to a full recovery.  Keeping the heart rate elevated throughout your workout will not only help with weight/fat loss but also provide a cardiovascular workout as well.


Good luck!!