The countdown to the holidays is on. Thanksgiving is less than a week away and we are now just a hair shy of being exactly one month away from Christmas. If you are a fitness fanatic this time of year likely provides motivation to workout, especially if you tend to overindulge during holiday eat-a-thons. Personally, extra-long workouts allow me to gorge without the guilt. For others the holidays mean taking a break from daily exercise routines.
Hopefully, you won’t take a break from reading the FITNESS blog this holiday season. I’ll still be here providing information on the latest and greatest happenings taking place in the world of exercise and nutrition.
If you missed any of what was covered during the past week here is your chance to catch up:
November 19th—Learning How to Walk Properly. Would you be insulted if someone told you that you didn’t know how to walk correctly? What if that someone was your doctor and his perceived insult was actually a diagnosis? According to a new study, millions of people suffer back and foot pain because of the way they walk. Find out what experts are recommending these individuals do to alleviate their pain.
November 20th—How Your Cellphone Can Improve Your Fitness Routine. Even the most technologically challenged among us will soon be using mobile devices to keep track of their workouts. At least that’s what researchers at the University of Washington maintain. Scientists there recently teamed up with brainiacs from Intel to create a new cellphone application that reportedly motivates people to move. Find out more details about the new program in this blog.
November 21st—How Often Do You Use Your Home Gym? Remember when you were shopping around for home exercise equipment and your spouse was trying to reason with you on the amount of pieces to purchase? You wanted a complete set of free weights, a squat machine and treadmill, all the while insisting that if you had the equipment at home you would use it everyday. How’s that working out for you? If your treadmill is working harder to keep your clothes off the floor than it is to keep inches off your waist then you are not alone. Find out why in this blog.
Sponsors (article continues below)
November 22nd—How Treadmills are Helping Babies with Down Syndrome. Who knew a standard piece of exercise of equipment could do so much for children who face daily challenges the rest of us don’t? Find out how treadmills are giving children with Down syndrome a jump-start on learning.
Continue Reading November 23rd, 2008
You may never look at your treadmill the same way again…
According to new study, placing infants with Down syndrome on a treadmill for just a few minutes per day can help them walk up to four or five months earlier than with only traditional physical therapy. Researchers at the University of Michigan say the landmark study also suggests that infants who do high intensity treadmill training may walk even sooner.
“The key is if we can get them to walk earlier and better then they can explore their environment earlier and when you start to explore, you learn about the world around you,” the study’s author noted. “Walking is a critical factor in development in every other domain.”
Doctors say getting infants to walk, especially those who are diagnosed with Down syndrome, is critical because so many other skills (including social skills, motor skills, and spatial cognition) take their cue from mobility. According to researchers, the average infant learns to walk independently at about 12 months of age. Meanwhile, babies with Down syndrome typically learn to take independent steps at 24-28 months.
In the University of Michigan study, 30 infants were randomly assigned generalized treadmill training, or high intensity, individualized treadmill training. In each case the child used a treadmill at home for eight minutes a day, five days per week.
Researchers had a parent sit on a bench that straddled the treadmill while holding their infant upright as he or she took steps on the moving belt. According to the study, all of the babies began with low intensity training, but after the infants could take 10, 20, and 30 steps per minute, intensity was gradually increased for half the study group.
High intensity training included increasing the treadmill belt speed and adding light weights to the ankles. In the end researchers found that infants in the higher-intensity training group increased their walking skills dramatically over the course of training. Researchers say they hope to use their findings to encourage more hospitals to rent treadmills to parents with Down syndrome children.
Related Articles:
How Often Do You Use Your Home Gym?
Kids and Fitness—One Sport or Many?
Motivating Your Kids to Move
How to Get Your Kids in Shape
Continue Reading November 23rd, 2008
Remember when you bought that new treadmill, a set of free weights, and the aerobics step, and you vowed to exercise every day? How’s that working out for you?
Have your fitness investments paid off? If your treadmill is being used more as a clothes rack and those free weights are doubling as doorstops, you aren’t alone. According to a new study, expectations of our behavior often don’t match reality.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison say they have uncovered a specific process that they believe contributes to unrealistic optimism. What’s more, the scientists say they are eager to make their finds public to encourage consumers to think more realistically about their future actions.
The study followed participants, who provided idealized estimates for particular behaviors (e.g., In an ideal world, how often would you exercise next week?) Then, they asked participants to provide a second estimate (e.g. How often will you exercise next week?). In the end researchers say they found that when people are first asked to predict what would happen in an ideal world, and then asked how they actually expect to do, they are more realistic.
Basically, researchers found that most people who purchase home exercise equipment set unrealistic expectations and have lofty goals that are very rarely achieved. Consequently, researchers say, if a consumer “holds unrealistically optimistic beliefs about how often they will work out in the future, then they may overpay for home exercise equipment.”
Researcher say, interestingly they also found that more decisive people were less realistic. Meaning the guy who insists that he cannot live without a $900 Bowflex home gym because he harbors optimistic beliefs, will more often than not be the one who uses the equipment as a place to hang dirty clothes rather than employ it as a fitness tool.
How often do you use your home fitness equipment?
Related Articles:
Bad Things Happen When You Stop Going to the Gym
Getting Fit: No More Excuses
Exercise and Music
Why am I so Sore?
Creating a Challenging Workout Routine
Exercising on the Road: No Excuses
Exercise More Forget Less
Why You Want to Build Muscle as You Age
Creating a Fitness Routine that Works for You
Taking Advantage of Fall’s Cool Weather
Getting Motivated to Move
Ways to Integrate Exercise into Your Life
How to Get Your Kids in Shape
Another Reason to Get Running
Sponsors (article continues below)
Continue Reading November 22nd, 2008
Believe it or not you could be walking all wrong.
If you suffer lower back pain and swollen ankles don’t blame your footwear, health experts say it could be that you simply don’t know how to walk properly.
Enter: walking lessons.
If your doctor recommends walking lessons to relieve your pain don’t be insulted. According to health experts, walking classes really work. Most walking classes are offered through yoga centers and include private instruction by a trained professional.
For example, the Yoga Center of Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York offers a 10-session program that runs about six months. Students in the class learn helpful techniques such as walking with their feet parallel, their weight evenly distributed, and their bodies properly aligned.
Most walking teachers say in general Americans are clueless when it comes to proper stepping. They note that most adults have poor posture, which affects the way they stroll. For example, if you suffer from back pain there is a good possibility that you lean away from the pain. That in turn affects the way you hold your body and the way you walk. In such cases, walking instructors say they would encourage their students to place the weight on all four corners of their feet rather than leaning in the direction of the pain.
Doctors say most postural problems happen when the body’s muscles don’t perform their intended job. For example, people who don’t use their stomach muscles when they walk often suffer pain because they are forcing their back muscles to compensate. The goal of the walking classes is to make subtle realignments in the rest of the body, like pushing the inner thighs back and untucking the tailbone. Such adjustments may seem minor, but walking teachers say they can make a big difference for some individuals.
Would you consider taking a walking class?
Related Articles:
Bad Things Happen When You Stop Going to the Gym
Getting Fit: No More Excuses
Exercise and Music
Why am I so Sore?
Creating a Challenging Workout Routine
Exercising on the Road: No Excuses
Exercise More Forget Less
Why You Want to Build Muscle as You Age
Creating a Fitness Routine that Works for You
Taking Advantage of Fall’s Cool Weather
Getting Motivated to Move
Ways to Integrate Exercise into Your Life
How to Get Your Kids in Shape
Another Reason to Get Running
Sponsors (article continues below)
Continue Reading November 19th, 2008
We are 10 days away from the holiday gluttons most adore–Thanksgiving. If you plan to pig out on Turkey Day, you might consider perusing the following FITNESS blogs. Whether you choose to burn off holiday calories by taking an extra long run or you want to learn how to curb your addiction to chocolate we’ve got you covered:
November 11th—Running: It’s All About the Shoes. Before you set out to shed pounds via running it is imperative that you purchase the right shoes. This blog provides helpful tips on what you should look for in proper-fitting running shoe.
November 12th—Running: It’s All About the Shoes-Part 2. Part two of “Running: It’s All About the Shoes” provides tips on what you should do with a pair of shoes prior to and after you purchase them. Running shoes don’t come cheap, so it’s vital that you get the right fit the first time around.
November 13th—Runners vs. Drivers-Sharing the Road with Lunatics on Four Wheels. Now that you have the right running shoes it’s time to break them in. But, before you do consider your running route. Road rage between runners and motorists has hit an all time high. This blog lists some things you don’t want to do when running in traffic.
November 14th—How Exercise Can Help Chocoholics. According to British researchers, chocoholics can reduce their cravings by taking a simple 15-minute stroll. Sounds simple, right? Judge for yourself in this blog.
November 15th—Say So Long to Old School Stretches. If you were taught that holding stretches for at least 20 seconds was essential to a proper warm-up, then you will be shocked by the results of a new study recently conducted in Las Vegas. Find out why old school stretching could hurt you more than help you.
Continue Reading November 18th, 2008
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