How Healthy Are You?
Sep 1, 1999
Advanced Fitness Newsletter
Information for a Healthy Life
http://www.advancedfitness.com
September 1 Issue 2
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Starting Today, Your Past is Over
- Treadmill Workouts:
A Quick Guide to Better Technique and More Fun
- How Healthy Are You? Take the Test.
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Starting Today, Your Past is Over
As you know, you can't change your past. BUT... today you have the
ability to transform and control your future. The first step to this
success process is to decide you want to change. Once you decide you're
halfway there. Next, you have to have the desire to succeed. Desire is
the catalyst to action: Desire strengthens your motivation.
Motivation leads you to ACTION. Action is the key to this entire
process. Without action, our dreams are just ideas. Action separates the
winners from the losers, the rich from the poor and the weak from the
strong. Action is the key ingredient to the success recipe. In order to
achieve your dreams, you have to take Action! You have to want it,
decide that you are going to do whatever it takes to get it, and stick
with it until you do it.
Once you get emotionally involved in Your Life Changing Program, you'll
never look back. That s why they call it the past. From this day
forward, your past is behind you. Use it as a teacher. Use it as tool
for growth and knowledge. Don't live in the past, it s over. You
can't change one thing that's happened. Starting today, take control
of your future. Look ahead, start planting the seeds of success in
your mind, right now!
Get Started
Here's your first assignment:
Before you step foot on your favorite piece of exercise equipment I
want you to find a mirror and repeat aloud the following Auditory
Affirmations. These Affirmations will strengthen your resolve to
achieve your goals and build your self esteem before you begin working
out each day.
Auditory Affirmations. 3 times per day for 30 days! No skipping, no
excuses, do it! Look in the mirror and say to yourself,
"Yes! I am so excited I invested in myself."
"I am ready! I will succeed."
"I will do whatever I need to succeed."
Look in the mirror and say it everyday two times per day for 30 days.
You have to do commit to saying affirmations for thirty days straight.
It doesn't matter how you feel, you must do this exercise. As your Life
Training coach I am giving you an order.
Every great winner had a coach. You are going to be a great winner,
therefore you must do what I say and trust me to guide you. Start today,
Affirmations - 3X day for 30 days.
Victoria Johnson, Author, Speaker and Optimum
Human Performance Coach offers FREE Motivational Health and
Fitness information every month at Victoria's Body Shoppe.
http://www.victoriajohnson.com
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Treadmill Workouts:
A Quick Guide to Better Technique and More Fun
by Therese Iknoian, M.S.
On cold, wet, hot, or humid days, retreating indoors for a walk or run
can sound pretty appealing. After experiencing workouts both indoors
and out, I began to wonder about the differences in muscular and
cardiovascular use between linear movement over land and stationery
workouts on a treadmill. You and I both already knew the indoor ones can
be more monotonous; they can leave me feeling like a rat in a cage.
But when the weather says, "Walk or run indoors or don't walk or run,"
you go indoors! And you want to know if the indoor workout does the same
for your health.
Long story, short: Yes.
Whether inside or out, working out for X amount of time, at X intensity,
using identical technique, will use the same calories and give you an
equivalent aerobic workout.
You do move slightly differently, though:
- The belt rotating underneath your feet means you're doing tiny little
jumps up and down instead of just pushing off from behind to move
yourself forward.
- The belt may also force your forefoot to slap down quicker and perhaps
harder than usual, which could cause additional shin aches. Not shin
splints, mind you! (Just do a little extra stretching and icing.
- You might also discover other tiny aches in muscles that take you by
surprise because of a slightly different manner of moving. Again,
stretch a little extra.
Still, better to do something, than nothing, right?
Now come the caveats and tips:
1) "At X intensity" -- Notice (above) I didn't say "speed." When you
are indoors on a treadmill, you don't have to overcome wind and air
resistance to move your body forward. So you'll have to either choose a
slightly faster speed indoors (about .1-.2 mph more; choose less the
slower you're going) to reach the same outdoor intensity, or you'll have
to choose the same speed but select a 1- to 2-percent grade. Both
methods will allow you to match intensities. This general guideline
applies to those moving at a brisk walk (about 12-minute miles or
faster). The faster you go - for example, during speedy running - the
more you'd have to increase the speed (up to .3 more) for an equivalent
pace, but the 1- to 2-percent rule holds true.
2) Check your heart rate for the best match in intensity. Wireless heart
rate monitors give the most accurate continuous reading for you to check
during your workout. If you have questions about calculating your heart
rate, see the Total Fitness Network section on heart rate training. You
can also plug in your numbers to the Total Fitness Network Heart Rate
Calculator to find the best intensity for you.
3) "Using identical technique" - Again, make special note of that
phrase, above. Too often, treadmills seduce walkers in particular into
cranking up the speed or incline beyond what they can comfortably
manage. So they hang from the front bar or side handles to be able to
keep up with the rotating belt.
Remember, you don't have anything to hang onto outside. If you're
supporting your body weight by an object, you're using less personal
energy to move forward, therefore using less muscle (other than in those
gripping hands!) and fewer calories.
Keep speed and incline under control. Stand tall and swing your arms
just as you do outside. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your eyes cast
forward and outward, not down at the controls. Using mirrors in front or
beside you can help you occasionally check your technique (that's an
advantage over the great outdoors!).
4) Don't neglect making use of the exact control over speed and incline.
Throw in occasional jaunts of hills or bursts of speed to break up the
monotony of staring at a blank wall. This fingertip control is one of
the great beauties of a treadmill.
Make your treadmill your friend by learning how to use it right.
Therese Iknoian, M.S., is the president of Total Fitness Network.com
(http://www.totalfitnessnetwork.com/) where she offers stories and email
advice about all types of fitness, training and walking. Check out her
books and tape on her site, including Walking Fast and Fitness Walking.
Copyright 1999 Therese Iknoian, Total Fitness Network; All Rights
Reserved. No reproductions or reprints in whole or part without direct
written permission of the author.
************************* Cool Tools **************************
How Healthy Are You?
See how your fitness level and health status compare to other people
your same age and sex at Health Calc Network. Take the test in the
following categories:
- Target Heart Rate
- Energy Expenditure
- Body Mass Index
- Walking Test
- Nutrition
Check it out at http://www.healthcalc.net/hcn/tools.htm
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Copyright 1999, The Fitness Superstore. All rights reserved.
