Weight Loss | Fitness Info

Information on ways to lower cholesterol

2006-12-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

A lot of my fitness clients often ask me for some information on ways to lower cholesterol.
So here at last I finally had the time to post it in my blog. Here are some information on ways to lower cholesterol.

Lose weight: If you are currently overweight, then you need to lose some pounds off.

Reduce Salt and sodium: If you are a big fan of sushi and chinese food, then you need to cut out soy sauce. Also try to avoid meats such as hot dogs, salami, and bacon. All of these meats are high in sodium.

Chronic exercise. Working out helps you lower your cholesterol.

Until next time,
Gary

Health Benefits of Aerobic Exercise

2006-11-28T14:55:00.000-08:00

The health benefit of aerobic exercise is that aerobic exercise helps you live longer and live healthier. Many fitness gurus out there say that you don’t need any aerobic exercise at all in order to lose weight. That might be true but let’s not forget the health benefits of aerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercise can help prevent diseases!

Here are a few examples of what it can do for you:

Reduce your risk of coronary artery disease. Heart disease is one of the top causes of death for men and women in the United States. If you've had a heart attack, achieving a higher level of aerobic fitness can help prevent a second attack.
Reduce your risk of developing hypertension (high blood pressure). If you have high blood pressure, aerobic exercise can help lower it.
Improve blood fats. Exercise increases the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) and decreases the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) in your blood.
Reduce your risk of stroke. Improving blood fats results in less build-up of plaques in your arteries. Deposits of plaques in blood vessels leading to your brain can result in a stroke.
Reduce your risk of developing some cancers, including breast, colon, prostate and endometrial cancer.
Reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Aerobic exercise helps you control your weight, reducing the likelihood of your being overweight or obese, conditions that can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Ward off viral illnesses. Aerobic exercise helps activate your immune system and prepare it to fight off infection. People who exercise regularly are less susceptible to minor viral illnesses, such as colds and flu.

Over Thanks Giving week

2006-11-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

So it’s a few days after Thanks Giving. Black Friday has passed! Believe it or not I actually went to 34^th street on Black Friday to see if there were any deals. Wow I was amazed that there are sooooooooo many people outside. I could not even get out of Subway station without waiting for 10 minutes downstairs behind a long line.

Yesterday my work out was good. My arms right now is pretty sore. I changed up my arm work out routine a bit. It used to be a lot more barbells but yesterday my work out partner and I used more dumb bells. Boy I am tired just typing this blog entry because my arms are tired.

I’ll probably publish another blog after I work out tonight.

Until next time,

Gary

Is Fast Foods Bad for you?

2006-11-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

Is Fast Foods Bad for you ?

The answer is Yes! Here are the reasons why:

Because the fast food concept relies on speed and low cost, fast food products are often made with ingredients formulated to achieve a certain flavor and to preserve freshness.

They use a lot of additives and process techniques that substantially alters the food from its original form and reduces its nutritional value. Fast foods are just loaded with fats, sodium, and unwanted calories which can lead to obesity.

If you go into McDonalds and order a Big Mac, you are going to get over 560 calories. Keep in mind that you are probably not going to be just ordering a Big Mac. Most likely you will get the French fries with the soda.

That’s probably over 1000 calories at one sitting. If you must have a burger, you are better off going to a diner and ordering a regular hamburger because you are going to get a much more nutritional value for the same amount of calories. If you are trying to lose weight, then its better not to have a hamburger at all.

Until next time,
Gary

Weight Watcher Point System

2006-11-18T17:08:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine today asked me about the Weight Watcher point system. I had no clue because I have never really looked into it. I have heard about the weight watcher point system though.

So after I got home from working out with him, I went online to look it up.

So what do I think of the weight watchers point system?

Well, I think that overall it is a pretty good program. I believe that there was a study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (which was funded by Weight Watchers themselves) found that people who followed their system for 2 years lost an average of 6 lbs. Not too bad but not too great too.

One of the Pros is that when you follow the weight watchers point system is that you can eat the foods that you like but in good portions. That is the reason for their points system.

Until next time,

Gary

5 components of physical fitness

2006-11-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to talk about the 5 components of physical fitness. I see a lot of people in the gym strictly working on only a few of the 5 components of physical fitness.

The 5 components of physical fitness are:

Cardiovascular endurance

Muscular strength

Muscular endurance

Flexibility

Body composition

The 5 components of physical fitness # 1:

You must have cardio respiratory endurance. It is your body’s ability to sustain prolonged exercise. Think about it, if you walk up the stairs and you are winded by a few flights, then you are not very fit at all. Now I can understand that if you have to go up the Statue of Liberty then that is a whole different story.

Component # 2

You must have muscular strength. Think about it, if you don’t have enough strength, you won’t be able to lift very much. This can limit your work outs. No strength = no strength to do push ups!

Component # 3

You must have muscular endurance. You can think of it as how well your muscle can generate repeated over a prolonged period of time. If your goal is to train for muscular endurance, you want to lift a weight that can only complete 12-15 reps of each exercise.

Component # 4

You must have good flexibility. Most people ignore part of this component. This includes myself. I am guilty of not stretching out that often even though I am “decent” at it. For those who are terrible at it, then you should work on it at least a few times a week.

Component # 5

You must have a good body composition. That means that you need to lower your body fat percentage and have a good fat free mass percentage.