Avoid These Mistakes for Cardio Fat Loss

As more health and fitness information becomes readily available, there is, inevitably, a growing disconnect that occurs between students and the teachers. This disconnect has been demonstrated clearly in the realm of fitness equipment for fat loss, where misinformation has left hopeful dieters disappointed and depressed.

Mistake #1: Cardio-Junkies Don't Eat Enough

Let's break some barriers right off the bat; your body wants to lose weight, it's trying to lose weight, and it will lose weight if you treat it well! Unfortunately, one of the most overlooked aspects of any weight or fat loss program is the all-important nutritional element. In my experience with failed dieters, one of the most common threads running through each case is an alarming lack of food. One can only surmise that the reason for this is society's warped view that food is what makes us fat.

Mistake #2: Cardio-Junkies Don't Strength Train

The prevailing notion in the diet industry is that cardio training on cardio equipment sufficiently burns fat. Granted, it also burns muscle when strength training is not incorporated. Look at marathon runners -athletes who do cardio exclusively- and come to your own conclusions. Muscle development not only fills out the lost weight, it also expedites your metabolism and accelerates the entire fat loss process. Therefore, it is a crucial component that is tragically neglected.

Mistake #3: People Are Doing the Wrong Cardio Workouts

For the longest time, it had been thought that the best results from cardio were achieved through long, slow and boring exercises. Now, more research is showing that High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can project the same -and often better- results!

Exercise Bikes for a Healthier You!

An exercise bike is one of the most affordable and effective types of fitness equipment you can buy today. The easy construction of exercise bikes have made it less expensive than other gym equipment like treadmills, ab-rollers or elliptical trainers. Exercise bikes also have the benefit of taking up a small amount of space and they can be easily used while watching tv or even reading the newspaper.

Exercise bikes can be used by a wide variety of people with different fitness goals, not just professional cyclists. Those people looking for a general cardio workout can use exercise bikes at the gym or in the comfort of their own home. Most bikes have numerous settings for helping people reach their fitness goals, including high intensity interval training. Traditional recumbent bikes a great for all types of fitness levels and body types.

'Pear' personalities have a heavier hip therefore an upright exercise cycle is ideal. They need to work on the heavy thighs and limbs. On the other hand, 'apple' personalities are at a higher risk of heart diseases due to the accumulation of fat in the chest region. An exercise cycle which is upright or recumbent and equipped with higher resistance is apt. The higher resistance ensures more mechanical energy spent, thereby ensuring that cardiovascular workout is optimum. Specific exercise bikes have the handle and pedal attached to one another which enables vigorous exercising of the upper and lower body part.

Burn More Calories with Strength Equipment

Exercising is a great way to burn more calories in a day in order to see better weight loss results. Many people think that the best way to burn calories is to concentrate on cardiovascular workouts on machines like ellipticals and step climbers. While aerobic exercises like these are a great way to burn off calories, weight training and strength resistance can work even better. Strength resistance exercise have the benefit of building muscle along with burning calories during the actual activity. Building muscle is important while losing weight because the more muscle a person has the higher their basal metabolic rate will be. The higher the BMR the more likely the person is to create the calorie deficits they need to lose weight.

Strength resistance exercises can be done in a variety of ways and through many different machines. Body builders and professional athletes love the results they get from free weight sets. Free weights offer a lot of versatility when it comes to strength resistance and they can be used to work almost every muscle group. Free weights aren't the only option. Strength machines that use tension ropes or coils can offer the same type of resistance as weights but in a more structure way. Strength machines are great for people who are not really comfortable with free weights or don't have the room in their home to hold all the different weights and benches required for lifting.

Full Body Workout Equipment

There are many great fitness equipment options that are not all that expensive and can be used in almost any space. Some of these items are exercise balls, jump ropes, resistance or stretch bands and floor mats. All of these items are quite affordable and can be stored under a bed, in a closet, or even in an empty corner of a room. You can pick these items up just about anywhere that sells physical fitness equipment; although looking through online fitness stores like Fit4Sale can give you much better deals than you would get in a traditional retail outlet.

There are lots of other options for physical fitness equipment as well, including elliptical trainers, treadmills, free weights and resistance systems such as Bowflex. There is a whole array of equipment that can provide consumers with cardiovascular work outs as well as weight lifting. There are fitness machines that can work just about every part of the body and some that will truly give a full body workout. Each person has to choose the type of equipment that is right for them and that should be based on their current body type and fitness level as well as where they hope to get physically.

Proper Safety for Cardio and Strength Exercises

Exercising has tremendous health benefits when it’s part of regular routine, but exercising without any precautions or safety equipment can result in serious injury. Nobody should take on any new exercise or fitness machine until they have enough information to partake in that activity safely. For most exercise machines and equipment this can be as simple as reading the instruction manual and following common sense rules. Lifting heavy free weights require a bit more outside knowledge and instruction before the lifts can be performed in an adequately safe manner.

Safety while performing cardiovascular exercise or lifting free weights starts with proper technique. If you’re not sure how to perform a certain activity in a safe way, or have any doubt that your knowledge is adequate, do not hesitate to contact a fitness professional.  Even if you’re sure that your techniques are correct, it’s a good idea to use safety equipment in order to prevent careless errors. Wearing a weight lifting belt while performing leg strength building exercises is important, especially for things like squats and dead lifts that can cause serious injury. Other pieces of safety equipment for your workout can include exercise mats, helmets for sparing and bicycling and kill switches for treadmills and other electronic equipment. There’s no reason not to use safety equipment when doing so is so easy.

The Best Elliptical Trainer for You

The history of elliptical machines is not very long. The first units were developed in the early 1990’s as a replacement for stair machines and climbers. As a lower body only exercise machine, these ellipticals provided a circular low impact exercise that started gaining  huge amounts of traction in the exercise and health world. Ellipticals are now more than 20 years old and there are numerous types of machines that are now available on the market. Which particular machine works for an individual will depend upon three very important criteria that need to be carefully considered.

1. How well does the elliptical fit your body type? The type of machine for a small woman will differ greatly than one for a large man. This is because ellipticals have different stride lengths, resistance capabilities, control levels and even motions that fit certain bodies better than others. Look around at a lot of different machines to make sure you are getting one that is appropriate for your height.

2. Does the elliptical feel comfortable to you? Remember, one of the key components of having a successful exercise routine is that you can fit your workout in to your life comfortably. A machine that makes you hate working out will inhibit you from getting in better shape and reaching your fitness goals. Make sure to try out particular models before you purchase them or make sure that they have a grace period

3. Is the elliptical constructed well? A really low price on a new or used elliptical can be very appealing, but we aware that there are many inferior machines on the market that simply won’t last. Evaluate each machine before you buy it for quality construction so that it won’t break on you just after the warrantee period expires. Look at online reviews and opinions to evaluate which companies make machines with high quality construction.