That's Fit

Sometimes I run. Sometimes I walk. Sometimes I bike. Sometimes I work out in a gym. Sometimes I try to get fit in my own back yard. Yesterday, I exercised in my living room. It all comes down to my kids and how to best fit in my physical activity around their needs, their wishes, their desires, their demands. The living room workout, all 22 minutes of it, well, it satisfied us all. I only hope we can keep up with it, making it a regular ritual at our house.

All it took to keep the three of us busy were one BOSU, two resistance bands, two six-pounds weights (for me, not them), and our own bodies. We did push-ups, sit-ups, leg lifts, jumping jacks, and planks. I did squats, on and off the BOSU, and lunges, and a few arm exercises too. Danny (he's five) did a lot of creative work with the bands, and Joey (he's seven) became a master at BOSU push-ups.

I don't know about my guys, but I worked up a sweat during our group workout and judging by the enthusiasm of my kids -- "I really like to exercise," said Joey as he moved to the tunes he chose to blare throughout the house -- it seems I may get to keep sweating in this manner. Perfect for me. And for them too.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose one per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Dear Fitz, I love the summer weather, and really want to use the large outdoor pool at my gym. I do water walking and swim a couple of laps, but then I get so bored! Swimming 20 laps in a row is not fun for me. I'm pretty sure swimming burns a lot of calories, which is my goal. Help! Deanna

A. Hi Deanna, I'm so excited to help you, cause I too love the benefits of training in the water. We always hear that it's a terrific workout for those who want to avoid trauma from high impact activities. It also happens to be a fantastic workout for those who want to burn a massive amount of calories! Quick personal story. About eight years ago, while in the midst of a competitive kickboxing career, I tore my right hamstring. This made it impossible for me to do almost any sort of activity that involved any sort of impact. I also happened to be about 5% body fat at the time. I thought there was no way in the world that I could lose another pound. At 5'6" and 114 pounds, I was sitting on my bones. Having said that ... after swimming most nights for three weeks I actually lost three pounds. I was sold! Swimming is awesome exercise!

In my teens and early twenties, I belonged to a women's-only gym that was pretty hands-off in their style of management. Basically, you filled out your membership paperwork then were left to your own devices. At the time, I loved the hassle-free atmosphere, since I like to be left alone when I'm working out. But looking back, I think I'm very lucky that I didn't hurt myself trying out equipment I'd never used before!

Over at Diet-Blog, they've got a short tutorial about seven gym exercises to avoid. Though many people can and do use the exercises and machines on their list without overuse or injury, Mike offers several safer and more effective alternatives. If you're new to strength training, it's definitely worth checking out.

If you're not new to strength training, then share you're opinion with us. What's the number one exercise that you think should be avoided?

You're probably doing your best to squeeze healthy eating choices and exercise into your work day, but are you doing it for all the right reasons? The majority of people are motivated to exercise and eat better by the desires to look better, feel better, and live longer, but did you know that adopting a fit lifestyle can actually help your career? Yep, hitting the gym can improve your work performance right along with your bench press stats.

"Mom, come here," my five-year-old Danny said to me the other day after summer school. "I have an exercise to show you." Clearly, I went running to see what my littlest guy had in his fitness bag of tricks. "You lie down," he said. "And cross your arms like this (across the chest)." Then he told me to sit "criss-cross-applesauce" -- that's elementary school speak for sitting with your legs crossed. He wanted me to sit on his feet so they wouldn't budge. So I did. And here's what he did: A sit-up. A perfect, so-very-cute sit-up.

Danny did four sit-ups and was so proud of himself when he finished. We exchanged high fives, and he moved on.

Danny and his older brother are spending three hours each morning during June in a summer enrichment program where they're learning a little, playing a lot, and reporting to PE class every day. Every day. I love it. During the school year, they go once per week for 40 minutes. This summer schedule is going to spoil me -- and them too. They love their gym time. Joey has been practicing new stretches, they both have been demonstrating "crab crawls," they're learning to do pull-ups, and now sit-ups are coming home. Thanks to "coach," who is teaching my boys their new moves, summer school is tops.

FitSpirit explores the mind-body connection and the intangible benefits we gain from our efforts to stay physically fit.

I have long been a believer in exercising outdoors as much as possible. Of course many folks stay healthy via treadmills, ellipticals and the like more times a week than I log a sweat session. And I make use of those too. But those who rely solely on machines are missing out.

The sensory benefits are pretty big. Breathing fresh air, smelling seasonal blooms, feeling the breeze and seeing your surroundings of sky, clouds and everything underneath all combine to fill your head with the happiness your heart feels after beating several more times per minute for an hour or so. It's invaluable to me. I run, walk, bike or just stretch in a meadow, on the sidewalk, on a dirt trail. Sometimes a brisk stroll through town provides a nice changeup too while enjoying the architecture and human company.

I admit during the heat and humidity or bitter wind chill that can be part of summers and winters here in Northern Virginia, I am happy to partake of the air conditioned air, humming machines, televisions and sometimes views of unfortunate outfits on my fellow exercisers in the gym down the street. But if you've found yourself in a rut that leaves you staring at walls for every workout, try breaking away for a change. You'll be glad you did.

I used to travel for work; often for three weeks out of the month if not more. I've stayed in my fair share of dives (in fact, there was one place in Texas where you had to request the "big room" otherwise you couldn't open the bathroom door without standing on the bed and jumping in). But even in the nicer hotels, fitness wasn't usually high on their list of comforts.

But my traveling days were several years ago; today, hotels are putting more emphasis on fitness equipment and making work outs easier for their guests. Some hotels are even adding to the standard weight machines and having Pilates and other classes conducted on site. The Kimpton hotel chain supplies guests with yoga mats and equipment; a channel on their in-room TV allows them to follow a yoga routine.

If you're traveling this summer and aren't sure your hotel room will be quite so well-equipped, consider throwing a jump rope in your suitcase. It hardly takes up any room at all and provides an excellent aerobic workout.

After you've had a long, hard workout, have you ever found yourself struggling to remember the combination to the lock on your gym locker? Perhaps it's because I'm not really a numbers person (hence the career in writing), but I've always had a tough time with combination locks because I just don't always remember the numbers. And so, imagine how happy I was to learn about Wordlocks!

Wordlocks says numbers are for reps, not locker combos, and I couldn't agree more. They offer a variety of locks with word combinations that you set yourself, which is far easier to remember than a random assortment of numbers.

They have more than heavy duty padlocks that'll keep your stuff safe in even the sketchiest locker room -- they also have smaller luggage locks that are TSA recognized, so they're perfect for keeping your shoes protected when you're traveling for a race. And, they have bike locks, so your bike can be safe anywhere you choose to ride.

Next time you head to the gym, plan to cozy up next to some unfit folks on the weight machines. Chances are you'll work harder and longer if your exercise partners are frumpier than you.

When researchers from the University of California, San Diego, secretly timed women on a weight machine, they found than if a fit woman in tight gym clothes was on the next machine, the exercisers stopped in just under three minutes. But when their neighbor looked unfit and was sporting baggy sweat pants, the women kept going for more than five minutes. Questionnaires the participants later completed revealed the unfit folks didn't make them feel better about themselves, but the hot bods did make them feel worse than when no one was on the next machine.

This news brief, found in the June 2008 issue of Good Housekeeping, has me wondering where I'll place myself next time I hit the gym. How about you?

Jack Black might not be the laughable, lovable lug we've come to know for long. No doubt he'll remain laughable and lovable, but the comedian decided it was time to lose some weight after seeing his bare tush on the big screen in Margot at the Wedding.

I can see where that would be some motivation.

Anyway, Jack has joined a gym and is cutting down on fast foods. Though a big part of the priority is to look better, he's interested in health as well, saying "I want to feel good too. Now, if I eat a cheeseburger and fries, it tastes so good at the time and then right after it's like, 'What did I do? Why?'"

Now, as a father of two, I'm sure health is more important to him than ever, so I'm going to wish him all the best on his new, healthy lifestyle.

This weekend I woke up with absolutely no desire to work out. I had been at a friend's pre-wedding celebration the night before, and I stayed out late, ate more than I normally do, and boy, did I feel it the next morning. Normally, when I feel that lazy, I call a friend, but all my friends had done the same thing and didn't want to exercise either.

I made a deal with myself. I decided to go to the gym, but I promised myself that if I didn't want to keep pushing after 30 minutes of moderate cardio, I would go home. I'll give you two guesses as to what happened.

I started at an easy pace. Ten minutes in, I had the intensity bumped way up. And, after my pre-determined half hour, I was nowhere near ready to go home. I hopped on another machine and did some more, and finished up with some strength work, and I felt fantastic. It reminded me how important that first step can be. Get yourself off the couch, out the door, to the gym -- whatever it is you want to do. But just do it!

Britney Spears has been amazing in a number of ways lately, but most of them have not been positive, to say the least. However, she is apparently amazing her trainer, Marc Corliss, with her dedication. He states that her commitment and attitude are the reasons she's been able to drop 15 pounds in the last four weeks.

Honestly, I would be surprised if she has dropped that much weight -- she is looking healthier, but that's a lot of weight to lose in such a short time. Either way, it's nice to see her smiling, and I'm happy to see that fitness is playing a role in her recovery.

Mario Lopez is sharing his hot body secrets in his book, Mario Lopez's Knockout Fitness, which goes on sale May 13. He's currently out stumping for the book, and while he admits that it's hard to find time for fitness, he believes everyone can achieve their best body. It's certainly helpful for him that his current job requires that he dance all day, but he has some down-to-earth tips -- eat healthy, keep a journal, and stay focused. Sounds like good advice to me!

I ran really far on Sunday, and when the time came to go to the gym with my husband on Monday, I thought I'd be too beat to perform. I literally was contemplating stretching for an hour as I walked through the front doors. But then! Then I saw something beautiful to my left. Over the dozens of cardio machines to my side, I saw Tom Cruise plopped down on the couch with Oprah and was drawn over to the treadmills.

Curiosity got my goat, and up I climbed on to the machine before me. Now strangely enough, because of a back injury, walking hurts more than running. So with emotional bricks in my shoes I cranked up the speed to six miles per hour and got going. I swear to you that before I turned that darn machine on, I would have never imagined my legs would take me half a mile. Apparently I was wrong.

Turns out that even though I felt sluggish and was full of doubt, I was capable of running for an hour straight! Isn't that insane? I think so. Listen. I've been in this business a long time, and have made a living out of proving to people that they could do the things they thought they couldn't! Feeling slow, tired, and unmotivated is not unusual. What is unusual, though, is finding the inspiration to yank out your personal best, even under those circumstances.

Maybe you're strong enough to pick up the back end of a Buick. That's great. But are you able to walk up a long set of stairs without becoming winded? Which of the two are more applicable to functioning in the real world? Unless you're a mechanic who refuses to spend the money on a lift, the second scenario applies more to most people's lives. This, in a nutshell, is the major principle of what's known as functional training.

Rather than focusing on your arms or your legs or your abs as individual sections, think about your whole body as just that: a whole. Sure, you can build your chest and triceps to such a point that you can bench press 400 pounds with relative ease, but when else in your life will you be lying totally flat on your back and lifting a weight that is distributed evenly across a bar that just so happens to fit perfectly in your hands? I'd venture to say never. But, you will probably have to lift a desk, or a couch, or a wheelbarrow, or a bag of groceries at some point or another, which is why training your body as a whole makes your overall strength more functional.

Instead of heading to the gym to do "back and bi's" or "shoulders and tri's," try working out your entire body. Utilize moves that will help make you real world strong; not just gym strong. Not only will it help you look and feel better, but it will also prevent the development of muscle imbalances and the risk of injury.

These days, it seems like all the rage to be into exercise and being more eco-conscious. Hey, there have been worse trends, that's for sure!! But, is there a way to somehow combine both of these endeavors into one? There are plenty, actually, the easiest of which is working out in the morning before work.

If you are able to get up a little earlier -- that is, without the risk of shaving off time from the 7 to 8 hours of sleep you should be getting each night -- and squeeze in a workout, you may find it to be perfect for your busy schedule. No longer do you have to race home from work, run a few errands, change, and then high tail it to the gym. Instead, you can take your time waking up, have a healthy breakfast, and then make your way to the gym. It will be difficult at first, especially if you're used to working out in the evening, but you're body will adjust in about a week or two.

Now, I also mentioned that working out in the morning could somehow be more eco-friendly. How's that, you may be wondering. Simple; if you work out in the morning, you only have to shower once (instead of having to shower again in the evening if you were working out then), after your workout. On average, that can save around 25 gallons of water each day!!