That's Fit

Having a consistent workout routine is a good thing. Never budging from it though, can be a bad thing. Our bodies tend to adapt and become mighty efficient if we tell it to do the same thing over and over. We're a smart species! What can I say?

The October issue of Women's Health magazine has a great little section on various ways you can tweak traditional exercises to make them challenging once again. Give them a looksy and then give them a try. A little difference goes a long way.

Women's Health magazine just sent me a release with some fun tips entailed, and I thought I'd share this one with you. Four fabulous moves useful for those of you guilty of missing morning workouts to sleep in late, and then missing the gym after work due to fatigue. As your online trainer I want to make this clear to you: skipping your workouts on a regular basis is detrimental to your health!

Of course, early morning workouts can be tough. They're also what keeps you full of the energy you need to get through each day with vigor! Check out this gallery, and next time you go to hit the snooze button ... get your fanny up and do the Cat Cow pose instead. (No moo-ing necessary!) These four easy moves will give you the energy to get to the gym and start your day off right!

I, for one, know that it's a struggle to fit my day into the number of hours I'm awake. Between work and bills and chores and spending time with my son, there just isn't a spare minute left. It's important to carve out time for exercise even in the busiest of schedules. But if you find that you aren't exercising as much as you'd like, try finding ways to multitask.

Fitsugar has some great multitasking ideas for fitting squats into your day. Loading the dishwasher? Squat instead of bending at the waist. The same method can be used when pulling clothes from the dryer. Will you look a little silly doing squats while doing chores? Yep. You absolutely will look a little ridiculous. But, who cares? If anyone chuckles at your unusual moves, just wait until you've got killer thighs from all those squats and see who's laughing then.

Who couldn't use a little more grace in their life? Balance and stability exercises are particularly important for healthy aging, but everybody can benefit from balance exercises. Women's Health magazine shares a great balance routine you can add to your workouts a few times each week:

• Single-Leg Reach. Stand with your weight on your left leg and your knee slightly bent. Slowly lift your right leg behind you and hold for two seconds. Do six reps on each leg.
• Single-Leg Squat. Stand on your right leg and lift your left foot slightly off the floor. Slowly sit as if you were sitting. Start with six reps on each side and gradually work up to 12 reps. (I tried this one and it's hard to get the motion down. I used a chair to stabilize myself until I got the hang of it.)
  
• Hop with Stabilization. Stand on your right foot then hop forward 12 to 18 inches, landing on your left foot. Hold the position for a few seconds, then hop backward and land on your right foot. Work up to 12 reps.

AOL Health has more information on balance and exercises to improve your stability.

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. Hey Fitz. I blew it! I am going on vacation with a bunch of my college buddies and some hot girls in four weeks. I've totally slacked off on my workouts since school ended and now I'd like to get ripped again before we head to Mexico. What can I do at my gym to shred a bit of fat and get buff quick before the trip? I know I'm a dork for slacking, but I also know you can help me improve. I'm willing to do the work! Jason

A. Familiar story Jason! You're not the only one who's taken some time off from their fitness training only to have it blow up in your face. You're also not the first person to try and undo the damage quickly. Four weeks is a pretty decent amount of time, so if you are really clean with your eating habits and start training intensely ... I think it would be safe to take off at least 10 pounds before you see Mexico, and all of those hot girls see you!

Fitness celebrities -- as well as celebrities who are into fitness -- frequently endorse workout DVDs, books, and machines. Their blessing is, at least as far as marketers are concerned, reason enough for us to shell out our hard-earned money on the products they are trying to hawk. But, what's the ROI (return on investment)? Are people really seeing whole body transformations by using a haphazard assemblage of plastic and metal pieces? More likely than not, they aren't. So who, then, should you trust when it comes to fitness endorsement? Try this one on for size: Prisoners.

Using body weight exercises, many prisoners pass their time performing workouts that people on the outside are now looking to for ideas. Pull-ups, burpees, crunches, push-ups, and the aptly-named prisoner squats are just a few of the moves many prisoners perform to stay in shape, and they also happen to be the same moves that are being aped by us law-abiding folks.

The best part about the prisoner workout is that you can do it just about anywhere. All you really need is a little open space to move around in. After sweating your way through the routine, you may soon be sending all those expensive infomercial fitness gizmos back for a refund. Those crooks should be locked up for selling you that garbage in the first place ;)

For the guys out there who are looking to get more buff, resist the urge to only focus on your "T-shirt muscles." I know it's probably tempting to hit the gym every night and only perform a bunch of curls and military presses, but you're actually doing yourself a disservice.

Aside from the fact that an imbalanced physique is at greater risk of injury, focusing only on these smaller muscle groups deprives your body of its full release of testosterone. Because such a large percentage (60 percent) of your overall muscle can be found in your legs and back, working these areas will actually benefit your whole body.

So, the next time you're at the gym, rather than hammering out your umpteenth set of dumbbell curls, try performing some sets of deadlifts and squats. Your body -- even your T-shirt muscles -- will thank you with the muscle growth you've been hoping for.

Prevent muscle mutiny with these four feel-good moves from the April issue of Women's Health, on newsstands now! Instead of letting a great workout leave you feeling miserable, use some of these suggested exercises to prevent muscle imbalances in your: back, knees, neck, and shoulders.

Ball Squat with tubing

Pain-prone area: Fronts and sides of the knees
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and wrap resistance tubing around your knees so there's no slack in the band. Place a stability ball between the middle of your back and a wall, but put only enough pressure on it to keep the ball from falling. Squat down as if sitting on a chair, pushing out against the tubing to keep your knees from caving inward. Press back up to start. Do two sets of 12 reps, resting for 30 to 60 seconds between sets.

Are you a squatter? No, not someone who illegally takes up residence on someones property and then refuses to leave. What I'm asking is if you are a fan of the exercise, the squat. If so, I have a great fit tip for you.

Come to think of it, it's a great fit tip for anyone who performs this exercise, not just those who enjoy doing it. At any rate, this little variation to the movement can help recruit more of the muscle fibers in your glutes, which are actually among your strongest muscles. Enough talking, here's the tip.

When you are completing the concentric phase of the lift (this is the part when you're standing back up), imagine that you are squeezing a piece of paper in between your glutes. Strange, I know, but effective. Well, more like butt effective. Anyway, before I completely revert back to being a 12-year-old, pretend that you must hold the paper in place with your butt cheeks. Don't worry, nobody will know that you're thinking this, so you don't have to feel weird about it. Getting this extra squeeze in will help firm and tone your derriere (see, now I'm purposely using the most adult terms possible).

A few years ago I took a tumble down a flight of stairs. It was my third day at a new job and I was carrying a couple of boxes, not using the handrail, walking down a flight of unfamiliar steps, and wearing high heels. Smart? Nope. Graceful? Absolutely not. Humiliating? You betcha. I unfortunately messed up my knee pretty badly. The worst of the injury healed, but I've been left with a weak knee ever since and it does limit the activities I participate in.

This tool has some simple steps for stronger knees -- to help prevent injuries, regain function, and reduce pain. Exercises include the modified squat, step up, toe stand, knee extension, and hamstring curl. I'm going to give them a shot to see if I can get my gimpy knee back in shape. How about you?

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 Fitz! I am 29 year old male and I am thinking about starting a workout routine. However, I don't know where to begin. I have a treadmill and that's it. I am 5'11 and about 160lbs. I don't have a lot of muscle, have a low self esteem towards my body shape and would like to change it. Something simple I can do at home with or without the treadmill would be OK. Any suggestions? Jared

A. Sweet Jared. So sorry you're feeling down in the dumps. Hard to know exactly what is causing it all, but getting yourself in shape can certainly be a grand opportunity to increase your physical fitness, confidence and self esteem. It's proven to help people live better and longer. I can help you with your physical goals. If you feel like there may be something else adding to your low self-esteem, please don't feel shy to talk to your medical doctor or a counselor.

Having said that, it sounds like you are long and lean. What a lucky place to start! Let's get you going with a very simple routine which should get you on your way towards the athletic body you so desire. Make that treadmill your home for at least thirty minutes a day, five days a week. Jog for as long as you can, take a two minute walking break, and then repeat. Continue this jogging/walking training until you can jog for 30 minutes straight. Once you get there....increase your time, distance, speed or all three. Up to you! When you feel like you have bricks in your shoes, just walk! It's OK to have some slower days here and there.

We are, as they say, a society that is drowning in information but starving for knowledge. This certainly holds true when it comes to health and fitness. With so many exercises from which a person can choose, it's easy to see why the best choices are not always made.

Speaking from experience, the best approach is to find what works best for you and then sticking to it. How do you know if your workout "works?" Results are always a good indicator; improved strength and endurance, loss of body fat and increase in lean muscle mass, improved circulation, etc. Another way is to take a good look at your workout and determine if you are maximizing your workout time. Are you performing exercises that are worth your while? Or, are you risking injury, placing undue stress on joints, and/or using techniques that produce poor results? To help you along in that determination, WebMD offered a listing of the 9 Least Effective Exercises.

For the most part, I agree with much of what's on this list. However, there are a few exercises that I think landed on this list undeservedly. But, again, this just goes back to figuring out what works best for you. Hopefully this list helps you do just that.

Looking for ways to help tone your lower body? Do you have about 10 minutes to spare? Good. Then we have some stuff to talk about.

Nowhere is it written that you have to spend hours upon hours in the gym to see the results of regular exercise. As a matter of fact, for the average exerciser, working out for much more than an hour can do more harm than good. That's why the following lower-body workout is designed to get you results in as little as 10 minutes per day.

To keep your heart rate up throughout this workout, you are going to run in place (or walk in place, if running is too difficult for you right now) during the minute you take in between each resistance training exercise. Using only three different exercises -- none of which require even a set of dumbbells, let alone any fancy gym equipment -- that target your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves, you will see some serious firming going on in no time.

The Exercises ...

Beat Boot Squats - Start with your feet just slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your arms by your side. Slowly lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor, and then tap your ankles with your hands. Then, rise slowly to the starting position, squeezing your glutes and hamstrings as you do. Perform 10-15 reps.

Reverse Lunge - Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands on your hips. Next, take a step backward with your right foot, bending your knee about 90 degrees. Once your knee is just inches above the floor, stand back up slowly and bring your right foot back to the starting position. Then, complete this same movement with your left foot. Perform 10 reps with each leg.

Squat With Double Calf Raise - Begin with your feet just slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your arms fully extended in front of you (like Superman). Squat down slowly, until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Then, slowly rise back up and continue past the starting point, this time raising onto the balls of your feet to work your calf muscles. After holding in this position for a count of two seconds, lower yourself back to the starting point. Perform 15-20 reps.

As I mentioned in a recent post, there's exercising hard, and then there's exercising smart. It's not necessary to spend four hours in the gym every day to feel and see a marked improvement to your overall health. What is necessary, however, is to make sure that you are maximizing your time -- even if if is far less than four hours per day.

WebMD just listed the 7 Most Effective Exercises, along with descriptions and explanations of why each ranks so high.

7. Walking

6. Interval Training

5. Squats

4. Lunges

3. Push-ups

2. Abdominal Crunches

1. Bent-Over Row

Following most or all of these suggested exercises is a great way to ensure that you are making the most of your time spent in the gym.

OK, so I didn't feel much of a burn during my baby workout this morning. But I did practice a few exercises, and I surely spent a few calories all the same.

Now when I say "baby," I don't mean anything small, mini, or itty-bitty. I mean "a baby." A real baby. A beautiful baby girl with chubby cheeks and chunky thighs and a crooked little grin that warms my heart. At 15 weeks of age, my niece Tori is the perfect 14-pound bundle. Perfect for snuggling, squeezing -- and weight lifting.

We're a great pair, Tori and me. I need a little weight-bearing exercise and she needs a lot of attention. Together, we make quite a team. I get to lift, squat, lunge, and balance with her. And she gets to move, groove, and kick-start a lifetime of physical fitness with me.