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Calories Burned During Exercise

We all know that exercise burns calories. But how many calories do you burn during exercise?

“What exercise burns the most calories?”

I get this question a lot. And the answer is:

It doesn’t matter. 

That’s right, it doesn’t make any difference what exercise you do to burn calories. What determines the number of calories you burn is not the exercise selection, but the exercise intensity (how hard you’re working).

When you work harder, you burn more calories, whether you’re using an elliptical machine, riding a bicycle, or doing Turkish getups.

To burn the most calories, you should exercise at…

How To Have A Good Relationship With Exercise

Today I would like to discuss relationships. On a fitness and nutrition website. Yes, really. Specifically how our individual relationship with exercise begins, how to assess whether it is healthy, and how to repair our exercise relationship if it is not healthy.

What is YOUR relationship with exercise?

I am a life-long mover (I’ve kind of stopped using the word exercise, because it is such a charged word for so many, and words really do matter.) In my yoga studio, the students who have been with me for three years and counting are also life-long movers, whether they began at age 5, or at…

Weight Training Helps Seniors Live Longer

Did you know that weight training helps seniors live longer? A study found that when people aged over 65 did strength training twice a week, they reduced the risk of dying by nearly 50%. In fact, 46% of people who lifted weights were less likely to die than those who didn’t, according to the 15-year-long study by Penn State College of Medicine. This is because weight training strengthens muscles, helping to improve balance and stamina, which consequently increases bone density.

The study included data covering over 30,000 adults that were aged 65 and older. Nearly 10% of the adults did strength training at least twice…

What Is Metabolism?

What is metabolism? That word is thrown around a lot these days. You know that if yours is too slow, you gain weight. But what exactly does metabolism mean?

What is metabolism?

Well technically “metabolism” is the word used to describe all of the biochemical reactions in your body. It’s the process of taking in nutrients and oxygen, and using them them to fuel everything you do. Metabolism is the measurement of how much energy it takes to fuel your body.

Metabolism includes how the cells in your body:

  • Allow activities you can control (physical activity).
  • Allow activities you can’t control (heartbeat, wound healing, digestion, filtering toxins, etc.).

    • …

Motivation To Exercise

Exercise motivation – we all know we should exercise regularly, but only 20% of Americans do. How can you find the motivation to exercise?

Ways to find the motivation to exercise

  1. Focus on one or two baby steps and small changes that you can do consistently. A sure way to kill your exercise motivation is to set overly-ambitious or unrealistic fitness goals. Promising yourself that you’re going to do something every single day is not only unrealistic, but also unnecessary.

    In order to start losing weight, getting in better shape, or start leading a healthier lifestyle, you’ll need to begin doing things differently than you…

Weight Lifting For Women

“I worried I’d get big if I lifted weights, but I actually dropped a dress size!”

Nicolle Smith, 49, on taking up strength training at age 46

I started lifting weights three years ago at the age of 46. I wanted to find a physical activity that would challenge me. If you’re not a runner (and I never enjoyed running), the options for fitness in the middle years really narrow down to a handful of activities. Many play tennis (which yields a high chronic injury rate in those of us over 40), take up yoga (which is fine, but doesn’t really get the heart rate…

Preventing Accidents and Injuries In The Gym

Preventing accidents and injuries in the gym is a matter of

  1. Discovering ways to prevent accidents that you may not have thought of, and
  2. Being aware of accidents that could happen, and taking sensible steps to prevent them.

This video shows some easy ways to prevent accidents and injuries to the clients, and to the trainers!

Preventing Accidents In The Gym

  1. Use pins in the power rack when using a barbell with triple-extension movements or bench presses.
  2. Puts stops under lowest bar position of the Smith machine barbell.
  3. Spot dumbbells on the wrists or forearms, not on the elbows.
  4. Spot chinups under the knees or around the waist, not…

6 Exercises You Should Be Doing

Being fit is more than having your heart and lungs in good condition (“cardio” exercise). To be in good shape, you also have to be strong! But what exercises should you be doing?

Strength training is the true foundation of exercise. A solid strength training regimen will

  • Tone and strengthen your muscles
  • Increase your metabolism
  • Improve your posture
  • Reduce aches and pains
  • Improve your bone density
  • Increase your immunity and health
  • Help regulate your hormones and sleep
  • Increase your energy
  • Reduce depression and anxiety
  • Improve diabetes

The workouts you get from Basics and Beyond instructors are founded upon the 6 fundamental kinds of strength…

How To Start An Exercise Program

Everyone understands the value of exercise, but if you don’t know how to start an exercise program, it can be hard to begin. Here are some of the most common excuses for not starting an exercise program:

  1. “I don’t have time.”
    Most people are busy. We make time for what’s important to us. Everyone gets 24 hours each day, so if your health is important to you, set aside a few 30-minute slots each week for basic exercise. Put it in your calendar just like any important appointment.
  1. “I’m too tired.”
    Once you start exercising regularly, you’ll find that you have more…

8 Ways To Make Weight Training Harder

There are plenty of ways to make weight training harder besides adding weight or reps. Here are eight ways to make your weight training sets more difficult. Only choose one for each set that you perform – don’t try to combine them all at once!

Ways To Make Weight Training Harder

  1. Emphasize the negative.

Count 6 or 8 seconds on the negative (eccentric) portion of each repetition. This works well on both dumbbell and barbell exercises, and it really makes bodyweight exercises (like pushups, lunges, or TRX rows) much more challenging too.

  1. Add an isometric hold.

Either at the end of the set, or at…