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Posts Tagged ‘Houston Personal Trainer’

The Impact of Running on the Muscles

February 16th, 2010 No comments

There are two main reasons why people will run as a form of exercise. They generally run in order to burn fat and improve their cardio. However, running impacts the body in many ways, one area overlooked is the impact it has on muscles.

Running can have either a positive or negative impact on the body depending on how you go about the process. When you run, you will want to use the proper method of running that will enhance your muscles in a positive manner.

When you run, you engage an impact every muscle group in the body. Running does not merely impact or affect the legs as some erroneously assume. So, when you make running a regular part of your daily workout regimen, you will be developing your body a significant degree. Also, the excess body fat on your frame will melt away because running has a tendency to completely shred fat like few other exercises can. This is why many runners have a ripped to shreds physique that is so desirable by so many.

It is important to note though, when you overdo it with running, you can end up burning your muscles as fuel. Meaning you will decrease the amount of muscle mass you carry. The reason this is, is that when you run for too long, your body will shift from burning carbs and fats to burning muscle.

The result on the physique can be bad when this happens. Usually the runner can end up with a very thin physique with pretty much no muscle mass. This is clearly not the look people want to have as their appearance.

Of course, there are ways to avoid burning up muscles when you run. First, cutting back on the duration of your workouts will help. Additionally, training in the aerobics heart rate stage as opposed to the anaerobic stage is advisable. In addition to preventing unnecessary burning of muscle, this is a safer way to train since anaerobic training results in an enormously high heart rate.

Also, it is advisable to increase your protein intake when performing a lot of running. Since muscle is a form of protein, adding protein either from food sources or supplements will aid in ensuring the muscle mass is maintained. Just be sure not to overdo it with protein shakes since they can come with a high calorie count.

It also doesn’t hurt to add some weightlifting to your routine. Weightlifting can help rebuild some of the muscle mass you could have lost during running, and you don’t even need to lift a huge amount to get excellent results!

Cliff Pape is an elite Houston Personal Trainer who can give you quick and fast healthy results. Cliff has been a personal trainer for many years now and he will work with you in your exercise routine and diet in order to get in the best shape of your life. So follow the link to his site where you can get the body you have always desired! Certified Personal Trainer Houston

Using A “Bosu Ball”

February 7th, 2010 No comments

A Bosu Ball is an interesting piece of workout equipment, where most people can easily use at home. It is pretty small, and is often used in fitness clubs, but lately it has become rather popular with home users.

With the Bosu Ball you get one round flat surface which acts as a support for a rounded ball the shape of a half circle. The “ball” is attached to the top of the flat surface and when sat against the ground it offers an unstable surface which makes a variety or ordinary workout poses more challenging. Some people who are in excellent condition and want even more of a challenge may even turn it over so they are standing on the flat surface which is even more unstable.

The basic way to use the Bosu Ball is by standing on top of it with one or both feet and performing a variety of stability and strength building workouts. You go through your movements the same, but since your body is now off balance, you have to tighten your muscles to keep control of all parts of your body.

One simple move is to stand on top of the ball with both feet, then slowly raise your right foot out behind you, keeping your balance on your left foot. You might want to start just lifting one leg to the back slowly to practice getting your balance, but you eventually want to work up to raising the opposite arm out in front of you at the same time your leg goes behind you, leaning forward into the movement. You then return to the upright start position and rotate between legs.

Another option you can do is get in a wide-legged squat position with one foot on the ball and the other standing flat on the ground. Do a set of ten deep squats and then switch your feet and repeat. The leg that is on the ball will be worked out extra hard as it struggles to maintain balance throughout the squat.

Other people will also do strength building workouts by standing on or partly on the ball. You can do bicep curls and other dumbbell workouts while tightening muscles throughout the body to maintain your balance all the way through the workout.

The line of Bosu Ball products continues to expand and right now you can purchase smaller weighted balls which can be held in your hand while you do stretches and balance moves on your Bosu. There are also workout videos designed specifically for use with the Bosu Ball system. They are a great purchase for anyone who wants to try the ball but isn’t quite sure how to use it correctly.

On a final note, consider using a Bosu Ball to add some movement and extra calorie burning into your day. Stand on it and balance while washing the dishes, watching television, or folding the laundry. The tightening and balancing action will help increase muscle definition and keep you more alert throughout the day.

This is one workout product that is extremely convenient for at-home use, considering it doesn’t cost as much as a good treadmill or elliptical but can deliver accelerated results from your workout program.

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Interval Training

February 1st, 2010 No comments

There are a number of helpful ways that can be used to lose weight. Exercising is one of the best ways to burn calories, but the word “exercising” is an incredibly broad word. This is why it is always helpful to look towards specific methods of exercise that will increase success potential. One of these methods is interval training.

What is interval training? As the name implies, it is a means of exercise that alters at different intervals in order to mix low, middle, and high intensity workouts in one session. Some may wonder why this would be a recommended means of performing cardiovascular exercises. Would it not be best to pick one and stick with it? The reason that interval training is so helpful is because it allows you to greatly boost your endurance while also drastically cutting calories. And both of these goals are what people want from their exercise sessions.

A common example of interval training entails a treadmill workout that involves walking, jogging, sprinting within the same 20 minute workout session. You would pretty much walk for 30 seconds, jog for another 30, and sprint for 30 seconds more.

Why is this? Because some people out there cannot jog for 20 minutes straight. By mixing up the workout in the same session, you include sprinting and jogging with walking in a way that you get some of the higher intensity workouts in your 20 minute session.

A very important point about high intensity workouts is that when you are sprinting, your heart rate increases significantly. When this happens, the number of calories you burn will greatly increase. When you switch to jogging, you heart rate will lower but because you are only returning to jogging or walking shortly, the heart rate will not drop down to what it regularly does when walking.

This means you will be at a point where your calories are burning at a really high rate throughout the entire process. Now can you see how effective interval training is? For a great many, the ability to jump one level of intensity to another during the same session can open the doors to getting into the greatest shape.

Obviously, the walk, jog, run method is only one example. You can perform interval training with pretty much any kind of aerobics exercise you wish. The great flexibility makes it possible to be creative with interval training while also losing weight and getting into shape.

Be sure though, to warm up and cool down before starting your interval training session. So for example, if you want to perform a 20 minute workout, a five minute warm up at the beginning and a five minute cool down at the end is highly advised. Which means the overall workout will be 30 minutes, and it will be very effective.

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