Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Chung Leong Yu


For a long time, weight training was seen as an activity performed by macho men in sweaty gyms. The times have changed, as many men and women are learning the benefits of weight training for everyone, not just the men with big biceps and sculpted torsos.

Strength training can prevent injuries, promote stamina and increase self confidence. It is easy to learn, and does not take as much time as you might think. Thirty minutes of workout time three times a week can bring you the sculpted and toned body that you have dreamed about.

As free weights and strength training machines have made their way out of the gyms and into recreation centers, fitness centers and even basements, weight training for women has gained momentum.

Starlets like Marilyn Monroe and Madonna have stuck with a regular strength training regimen to maximize their assets. Other women are finding the benefits of weight training as well. Bulking up is not always the goal, but weight training can simply mean toning muscles and ridding the body of unwanted fat. Swimsuit season seems to be just around the corner! Are you ready for a woman weight training program?

The Warm-up

Before beginning a program, it is important to find a personal trainer or fitness expert that can show you the right methods for strength training. Using the wrong form on machines or with the free weights can result in pain and injury, so start out on the right foot by enlisting the help of a professional who can properly teach you.

It is also very important to warm up your muscles before beginning a weight training session. This can be accomplished with a few laps around the track of your fitness center, or a few minutes of work on the treadmill or the bike. Keep in mind that a warm-up does not mean a quick sprint, a ten minutes of easy walking or pedaling will do the trick.

How Many Repetitions, and How Much Weight?

While a personal trainer can get you started on the right path in your womans weight training regimen, the answers to these questions will depend a lot on you and what you can lift. The key is to find the weight amount that will tire you at the end of twelve repetitions. The final lift or curl should be as challenging as you can handle, but the rest of the reps should be quite doable. If you are working out with the proper weight amount, one set of twelve repetitions should be enough. However many women weight trainers prefer to finish two or three sets with a slightly lower weight amount, to ensure that toning is occurring without adding too much muscle bulk.

A weight training program for female should include two or three sessions every week that last about 30 minutes each. It is very important to spend a day after a session resting the muscles that were used. You can either do a full workout every other day, or do shorter daily sessions where you work your legs one day and your arms and upper body the next. The great thing about weight training for women is that you can tailor your program to your individual needs and schedule limitations.

Weight training for women offers many benefits, including increased strength and stamina, increased flexibility and better weight management. As people age, muscle mass decreases and will be replaced with fat if something is not done. Weight training can control that process, assisting with weight management as you age.

It is also a good way to ward off osteoporosis, since regular strength training will increase bone density. Osteoporosis is a big health concern with women of menopausal age, so weight training for women becomes even more important as a woman reaches mid-life.



The Real Youth Potion

Guest Author: Kyle Oxenham


If you know baseball, you know how hard the training in baseball is and how innovative it is to perform weight training which is incorporated in a baseball training program, you would know how effective this training is in competitions. There are a number of persons though who say that baseball could be a dangerous method in weight training than when you do it slow and accurately in the gym or a fitness center. Many say that most of the coaches commit serious errors that cause traumatic bodily stress or injury in a person who is into a baseball weight training program.

1. Weight training through baseball should take into consideration the limitation of players – Even slight errors in baseball training can already cause injury to an individual. The truth though is that it is not really the training that does not work but it is the coaches who do not understand fully this kind of weight training program. There are many caches of baseball players who just want to increase and increase the strength and stamina of their field players but who do not think of the limitations of these athletes. Often times, the injury comes after severe and successive training in preparation for the upcoming competition. Least they know that their players are already over stressed and over trained.

2. Train but do not strain through overtraining. You should know that overtraining is not good because it not only causes injuries and severe muscle damages on the body but likewise, it defeats the very purpose of an exercise. You should know that like ordinary weight training exercises, the baseball weight training program should observe the same basic principles in weight training such as rest. Rest is as important as exercise and progression. In fact, you cannot progress if your body can no longer tolerate the load that you are putting on it. Challenge is a lot different from damage and that is what you want to avoid.

3. Incorporate variations in the training program. There have be variation in the types of routines that you do and in the intensity of the routines. It would be better to incorporate other exercises that similarly work to strengthen your muscles. Say for example, basketball routines may be incorporated in the baseball routines in order to enhance the flexibility of the body which is much required in the baseball game. There has to be variations as to the speed of your routines in the program. This is one form in which the progression principle can be incorporated in the program.

4. Force = Mass x Acceleration Principle in baseball – Lastly, you should know that the most important aspect in the weight training program in baseball is the force produced. Aside from the strength of the leg muscles and the hand and leg coordination, the program also develops extreme force particularly when one swings the baseball bat. Imagine what huge force you need in order to swing a bat at 90 mph. The very reason why most coaches incorporate weight training in baseball is because force requires mass times acceleration. The acceleration is defined as the speed at which the bar is moved while the mass is the weight on the bar.

This explains exactly how a baseball weight training program will help you achieve – greater force.



Secret of Youth

Guest Author: Beth Campbell


We all know that to lose weight it helps to engage in a weight loss cardio workout in addition to following a healthy diet plan, but exactly what is cardio, what are the benefits and what are the best cardio workouts? Here are some answers to those questions and some examples of weight loss cardio workouts.

The word Cardio comes from the word cardiovascular which, according to dictionary.com, means: of, pertaining to, or affecting the heart and blood vessels. Cardio exercise is exercise that raises your heart rate to a certain level for a certain period of time. To learn what that level is for you, do a search online for the term target heart rate zone

Cardio has many benefits that include helping you burn calories, helping your heart to grow stronger, and increasing your lung capacity. It also may help with better sleep and less stress.

Cardio helps you reach your weight loss goal by burning calories. Burning calories through exercise means that you can create a calorie reduction and lose weight without having to lower your daily calories as drastically. For example, if you need to lower your calorie intake to 1200 a day in order to lose weight, by burning 200 calories through exercise a day, you can eat 1400 calories instead. Since by eating 1400 instead of 1200 calories, you will not feel as hungry or deprived, you will have a better chance of sticking with your weight loss plan.

Here are some good cardio exercises divided into those usually done in a fitness center or home and then those usually done outside. Some people prefer to join a gym to workout while others prefer to engage in outdoor exercise activities and yet other like to mix things up. Finding a good cardio routine for the type of setting you prefer will make you more likely to stick with your program.

Good cardio routines for indoors:

1. Elliptical machine: This is a very popular machine at most fitness center. Many people feel that on this machine, they can burn more calorie than other machines in the same amount of time. A big advantage of this machine is that the feet are always in contact with the machine so there is little stress or impact on the joints

2. Stair Climber: A good cardio machine and is especially beneficial for working the large leg muscles.

3. Treadmill: Good machine for running indoors and for walking for those not yet able to handle the elliptical machine or stair climber.

Good cardio routines for outdoors:

1. Jogging/Running: An excellent cardio workout but puts a lot of stress on the joints.

2. Swimming: Much less impact and builds endurance as well as muscle strength.

3. Bicycling: Another good low impact outdoor activity.

The main point to remember when deciding on a weight loss cardio workout is to find something that you enjoy and that will raise your heart rate. Be sure to check with your doctor before beginning and then to engage in cardio activity for at least 30 minutes 3 times a week.