Forget the idea that training in the pool is a mamby-pamby workout. AquaLogix is throwing that idea out with the theory that one catches a cold from going out with wet hair! I've been testing out some amazing new fitness tools that can literally cater to both the elderly crowd in nursing homes and professional athletes. I'm on the uber-fit side, and these things kicked my ass! Excuse my language, but an hour in the pool using an advanced level set of Cardio Bells and Cardio Fins left my arms and legs trembling for an incredibly long time.

I'm sure many of you have used the traditional foam dumbbells in the water. They're awkward, right? I've been teaching fitness for 20 years, both in and out of the water, and I still look at the foam dumbbells with a question mark over my head! They drive me nuts, because they limit our mobility drastically. Up, down, up, down and that's it. Cardio Bells are the answer to that issue and many more. Their unique design allows the user to move in absolutely every direction, and the resistance they create is insane! I shared my new "cool tools" at the lap pool this week with dozens of fellow exercisers. Absolutely every last person from ages eight to 85 were both astonished at how much drag they created and how comfortable they are to use.

The other cool tools I received from AquaLogix were Cardio Fins. A brilliant innovation. Cardio Fins are soft Velcro bands that strap around the users wrists or ankles and create incredible drag. Using the advanced level Cardio Fins as I ran laps in the pool today made me feel as though I was climbing Mt. Everest. I love a challenge and the combination of the Cardio Fins and the Cardio Bells kept me struggling with gritted teeth.

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On a regular basis, I make a habit of informing both my personal training clients and lecture guests of exactly when calories count. For some reason, this topic often seems more complicated than it is, so let me lay it out for you clearly.

When Calories Count:

• They count on Friday night.
• They count on your birthday.
• They count when you are out drinking.
• They count on Thanksgiving.

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Hooray! Fellow blogger,Jacki Donaldson just brought up a great subject. Using your phone to help you stay motivated works! I use text messages to harass my personal training clients, and I always receive feedback that they've inspired and kept the recipients in line when tempted to go to the dark (not-so-healthy) side.

Having said that, my brilliant colleague, Tracy Benham, is the mastermind behind TxtVox's Get Fit text messages. The girl is a sharp exercise physiologist and fitness trainer (we met getting our Master's Degrees in Exercise and Sports Sciences). Let her in your mind a couple of times a week ... and sooner rather than later ... your body will rockin'! The texts come twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, and are really just there to motivate, educate, and harass you like a personal trainer would.

Go to TxtVox.com. Find the All About Me section, and then check off the box Get Fit! And did I mention that it's free? Oh yes! It is. If you're someone who could use a bit of consistent motivation from a REAL-DEAL professional ... TxtVox.com Get Fit messages are the way to go.

Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly, our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

I recently had the opportunity to spend time with Mr. Michael Weiss while visiting him during one of his show stops for the Smucker's Stars on Ice tour. He comes from a wildly successful family of athletes (we're talking Olympians here) and has lived up to the Weiss expectations perfectly. Of course he trains like a workhorse, but it was neat to hear how sports and fitness were ingrained in him from ..... birth! He also tells about about the weight-loss-ish type competition he's engaged in with the other guys in the show. Sasha Cohen will decide the winner. Enjoy this interview. The guys got medals coming out the yin-yang and offers some fantastic fitness tips. There is a lot to learn!

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Unless you've denounced electricity altogether and no longer use the internet, you've probably already read many of the popular green living tips today -- turn off the water when you brush your teeth, turn down your thermostat, turn off the lights, recycle, etc. But did you know you can also take those green habits to work?

Canadian Living has a few tips to get you started:

• Use fair-trade and organic coffees, and drink them out of your own, washable cup.
• Use refillable pens made from recycled plastic and pencils from sustainably-harvested wood.
• Carry your own lunch and use reusable containers and silverware.
• Put a plant on your desk to improve your office's indoor air quality.
• Turn off your computer at lunch, during meetings, and definitely at the end of the day.
  
  

The next step, getting your boss encourage green habits office-wide!

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Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

I just got done chatting with myself....I think. No, it probably wasn't me. The person on the other end of my conversation is world famous and has a couple of of Olympic medals. Nope...it couldn't have been me. But! The other person sounded like me. I asked her questions about health and fitness, and she spat out the same stuff I've spent my professional life teaching. This person raved about the benefits of produce, lean meats and frequent challenging exercise. Yes. It could've been a brilliant fitness expert I was conversing with, but it wasn't. It was champion ice skater and Olympic Sliver Medalist, Sasha Cohen.

I chose Sasha to interview, because of her elite success in athletics. She's also touring with Smucker's Stars on Ice and puts on one heck of a show. She's one of the strongest, most flexible and entertaining athletes on earth. Beyond that...she turned out to be one of the best people I've ever talked fitness with. The girl gets it. I mean, she really gets it! She's a chic who seeks out highly nutritious, low fat, high fiber foods whenever she picks up a fork. She also pursues a well-rounded workout routine outside of skating. I loved what she had to say. I want you to pay close attention as well. She's physically small, but not just because of good genes. She works at it, and I believe she'll always be fit. It's a lifestyle for her, and that's what it should be for you.

Fitz: You're a brilliant skater and make a tremendously difficult sport look effortless. Do you remember when skating was hard?

Sasha: Oh Gosh! Skating is always hard. Sometimes it's a challenge to simply put one foot in front of the other. Every day requires effort just to get through it.

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In a move that is sure to make hospital administrators feel slightly uneasy, medicare is implementing a no-pay policy for hospital errors that could have been prevented. These eight medical mistakes are not going to be reimbursed to facilities which mess up and do things like leave objects inside people after surgery.

Other insurers are starting to catch on as well. This could lead to better patient care because hospitals will want to mitigate any chance of extraneous costs -- especially if they aren't getting paid back for it. Another item on the do-not-pay list is urinary tract infections from catheters.

Twenty-five percent of patients get one of these, yet only ten percent or less of hospitals check every day to see if they're even necessary. So someone could end up with a catheter for days on end without even needing it -- which leads to urinary tract infections. Tacked on costs for these types of mistakes can run up your hospital bill by $10,000 or more! It will be interesting to see if (and how much) this improves medical care to those people in such facilities.

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Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

My guest this week has something many of us have dreamed of having; Olympic Gold and a successful professional career traveling the world as an athlete. Russian born skater, Ilia Kulik, is living the dream and spent some time with me to chat about it. Ilia endured many grueling years of competition which lead him to win an arsenal of shiny medal, including some heavy gold in Nagano, Japan in February 1998.

It was fun hearing of the ease in which Ilia prepares and performs magically on ice around the world today. He's now enjoying his work on the Smuckers, Stars on Ice tour. This father of two shares some unique insight on the lifestyle and fitness habits of a former world champion. Has he maintained the ability to perform jaw-dropping jumps? Has he gained weight from a decrease in training? Read on to find out!

Fitz: What goes through your head while actually skating for the Gold Medal during the Olympics?

Ilia: You know, I worked very hard on only focusing on techniques and my skating routines. Nerves can kill you, so the most important rule about competition is to conquer nerves. I didn't have time to be nervous, I had to focus on every detail of what I was doing.

Fitz: That is really hard to do! Were you actually able to do that?

Ilia: Yes! In fact I was perfect in concentration. That's why I had success.

Fitz: What was going through your mind when you were standing on the podium being awarded Olympic Gold?

Ilia. Ahh! I was exhausted! I was trying to relax, but it was very hard to do and I was very tired. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I really got a grasp of what I had actually accomplished. In fact, my wife won two Olympic Gold medals. She too, was overwhelmed with her first victory. She says she enjoyed the second win much more though. She was able to relax and absorb it all.

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Do you remember back (way back for some of us) around the time we were about 11- or 12-years-old when sexual education started to be a regular unit in health class? Our fearless teachers managed to sit through all of the giggling long enough to explain the many technical details about growing up into men and women. As I've gotten older, I've learned a few things (whether through the experiences of friends or on my own) that I really wish they'd covered back then.

One of those things is the basics behind buying a bra. OK, I suppose it isn't really the education system's responsibility to make sure that you know how to get the right fit but it's still something that I think we girls need to learn as early as possible in order to save years of struggling through life in ill-fitting, uncomfortable brassieres.

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Most consumers like to be aware of potential risks associated with their investments. If you're a patient, and you look at yourself as a consumer of medical practices, you'd probably want to be aware of any risks associated with a particular doctor, right?

Well, the case of addiction among physicians is prompting California to reconsider a confidentiality program that enables these doctors to get rehab in secrecy, and still practice medicine. Now we are not talking about a huge number of doctors: only about 1 percent in the entire US, actually. But you wouldn't know if your doctor was in that 1 percent or not, even if he had botched an operation in the past.

Opponents of this secrecy program say that rehabilitation is not helping doctors get better, nor is it looking out for the interests of the patients. But due to the confidential nature of this whole issue, it's hard to tell what's working and what's not. It could be that some doctors with addictions are very successful at rehab! Even so, the ones who aren't successful wouldn't be required to disclose it, and patients would still be putting their trust (and money) into the hands of these medical professionals. It's a question that is sure to garner heated attention in the future, possibly closer to July when California's program ends. If no alternative system is put in place, then the state will revert back to zero-tolerance and begin pulling medical licenses.

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I am a hair dye enthusiast -- I love to color my hair. While some do it to cover gray or because they've always dreamed of being a blond, brunette or red head, I do it because I love that it's a non-permanent way to considerably alter the way I look. Well that, and also due to the fact that my normal hair color is an extremely unappealing shade of mousy, ash-brown.

While I'm happy to shell out a fair-sized amount of cash to have my hair done professionally for special occasions, I can't afford to pay expensive salon prices every time I decide I need a change. I imagine this is the case for most of you fellow dye fans out there. I know that many hairdressers will try to persuade all of us that home hair-coloring kits will forever destroy our hair, but I also know of a few who will admit that many of the products currently on the market do a pretty decent job at a much lower price.

Having said that, if you do decide to try the DIY method, it is important to do a little research beforehand as the onus is on you to get it right. A botched at-home job will end up costing even more when you have to go to a professional to fix the splotchy, orange mess you've made of your former crowning glory. With this in mind, it's important to think about the four things listed here before you start the process.

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I want a personal chef, someone to manage all my nutritional needs and prepare for me all sorts of hearty, healthy, delicious meals. Sadly, I don't have the income to support such a perk in my life. On second thought, maybe I do.

Hiring a professional to cook for you isn't a whole lot different than hiring someone to clean your house or walk the dog, says John Moore, executive director of the United States Personal Chef Association. Contrary to popular belief, personal chefs are not just for the wealthy.

"People don't have personal chefs because they have tons of money," declares Moore. "They have them because it solves a problem: It puts dinner on the table."

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Think steroid-user and what's the first image that pops into your head? Probably some kind of athlete looking to get an edge over the competition right? But according to a recent survey of over 2,000 confessed steriod users the majority are not professional athletes, they're simply guys looking for better personal results in the gym.

Now it seems these steroid-using "gym rats" are more responsible about it than some other groups (the majority are aware of potential side-effects and get blood work done regularly), but it's important to realize that using steroids without a doctor's prescription is not a good idea. Hopefully having a better idea of who the biggest steroid-using group is will help experts better educate and reduce harmful side-effects.

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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 two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi there. I'm a 32 year old male and recently my girlfriend has (repeatedly) suggested that I start moisturizing my skin. I've always considered the whole moisturizing market to be a bit of a scam, right up there with "anti-wrinkle" creams. So come on, level with me, is there really any (proven or otherwise) benefit to moisturizing? Thanks and Regards,Dan

A. Hey Dan. Your letter made me giggle, cause my husband gives me the same response when I encourage him to address skin care. I frankly don't even think the man even washes his face every night. Weird to me, but fine for him he says. In fact, when I first began dating him...he had these tremendous calluses on his palms from weight-lifting. I'd beg him to wear weightlifting gloves and moisturize, but he refused because the calluses "reminded him of his Dad. "

Rob adores his father who's been a builder all of his life and has apparently always had rough 'man hands'. That was enough for Rob to think scratchy skin was cool. UNTIL! Last year Poppi (Rob's dad) came for a visit and started bragging about this lotion he was using to make his hands amazingly soft. He was ecstatic! He even suggested that the other girls in the family and I should use it on our faces. I wasn't sure whether I should take that as an insult, or a thoughtful suggestion. Either way...he loved the dramatic results of his , and my honey's hands are now smooth enough to for touching me.

Look Dan. There are a lot of things very different about men and women. One of the things we do have in common though, is the fact that we all have skin. Many products on the market legitimately do what they advertise. Even the anti-wrinkle creams. Check out this article on skin care, and decide what your skin care needs are. At minimum, it would be nice for you to apply a lotion with sun protection each day.

Sounds like your girlfriend cares a lot about you, and is just trying to share some of the knowledge she's come to appreciate. You're going to wear that skin of yours for a very long time, so you might as well take care of it! Fitz

Q. Hi Fitz. The school my daughter attends will be hosting a parent education seminar, and one of the topics is about providing healthy foods. My concern is that this presentation is being made by another mother who has absolutely no official health or fitness education. I think she's an accountant or something. Should I even bother going? How can I trust her? Rebbecca

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Ever wonder how much walking you do at work? Prevention did a survey of several different women at work to see who took the most steps throughout an average day. So who came out on top? Here's the top three:

• Mail carriers: 7.5 miles
  
• Stay-at-home moms: 6.7 miles
  
• Custodians: 5.7 miles

Prevention also asked women to see if they couldn't find ways to increase their activity during the day, and some of the ideas they came up with were pretty creative. A teacher added 1,000 steps to her day in just 15 minutes of pacing the cafeteria during lunch duty, a lawyer left the office twice during the day on coffee runs and added 350 steps, and a secretary drank more water so she racked up an additional 450 steps in trips to the bathroom. What do you do?

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