That's Fit

A good percentage of today's career opportunities involve at least some traveling, and whether it's required or voluntary, fun or a drag, close to home or across the world, if it involves overnight stays and hotel rooms, it's most likely going to have an impact on your exercise schedule. And that impact, for most business travelers, is a bad one. How many of the hotels that you've stayed in have had nice workout facilities with enough equipment, and enough of the right equipment for you to keep your home routine going seamlessly? For me, just being in a different place with a different atmosphere is enough to make jumping on the treadmill for my usual routine hard.

Motivational pop and rock music is the key to strength training success. Really. A 2006 U.K. study says so.

A York St. John University study found that students could hold a 2.4-pound weight straight out in front of their bodies at shoulder height for up to 10 percent longer when strong lyrics were booming around them. All-music workouts beat out both a partial-music workout and a white noise workout but only when the tunes were powerful enough to pump up exercisers.

Pick a song you'd belt out recklessly in the shower or in your car and use it to power your next workout. Or borrow this Women's Health recommended playlist. Or this one, compliments of Divine Caroline. Or this one, offered by Fitness magazine.

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name:

Age:

Heroic occupation:

If you're in the military...where are you?

How often do you exercise?

What type of exercise do you do?

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name: Rob K.

Age: 42

Heroic occupation: Police Lieutenant

If you're in the military...where are you? N/A

How often do you exercise? Five times each week.

What type of exercise do you do? Running, strength training, lots of pull-ups, and a variety of cardio machines.

What gets you to workout, even when you're feeling lazy? The knowledge that I'll be glad I did when I'm done. I also feel that the most rewarding workout is the one that you didn't want to do in the first place.

Though I know that yoga is so beneficial for flexibility as well as mind-body strength, I have yet to try it. But reading Prevention's article about how yoga can lead to a better sex life... well, who wouldn't be tempted to give it a try?

Flexibility obviously can help lead to success in the sack. Many of yoga's moves will increase your flexibility. Yoga is also beneficial for balance which could be helpful if you're, oh, more ambitious and inventive than most. But other yoga moves have more specific bedroom cred. "Root Lock" (or Mula Bandha) will help strengthen your pelvic muscles for increased sexual sensation and control. And "Legs Up the Wall" can help you energize you and leave you ready for other non-yoga positions. And guys? Yoga has some benefits in the bedroom for you, too.

AOL Body has more information on women's sexual health. They've got tips for guys, too.

Remember the Marlboro Man? He was a pretty tough looking hombre, wasn't he? And how about those male movie stars from the golden age of cinema; they looked like pretty tough with those cigarettes dangling from their lips, didn't they? Well, if the makers of these commercials and films really wanted to portray cigarette smokers accurately, they may have been better off using more wimpy looking guys.

It turns out that there is yet another reason (add this to the list of the hundreds of others) why smoking is bad for your health, and this one has to do with muscle growth. A study conducted at the Copenhagen Muscle Research Center in Denmark revealed that smoking interferes with protein synthesis in muscle, making growth and repair more difficult.

When you work out, do you ever imagine that you're a superhero, and you have to get in shape so you can save the world? Or maybe you are a superhero, but can't say because of your secret identity. It's okay -- we won't tell.

Whether or not saving the world has ever been your inspiration, you'll be sure to get a great workout with these four "Superhero Exercises," courtesy of Men's Health and MSN. For example, you won't just do pull-ups -- you'll do "Spider-man Pull-ups." And forget squat leaps -- you're going to be doing "Hulk Leaps."

The names might inspire you, or they might make you laugh, but either way, check it out -- you might learn a new move that could save the day (or at least vary your workout)!

When you're stuck in a rut sometimes all you need to do to get back on track is to switch things up and try something new. I've tried a lot of different ways to workout, like with a stability ball, resistance bands, free-weights/dumbbells, a stepper, etc, but here's something I have yet to try: a workout using a foam roller.

Foam rollers can help with strength, balance, and even stress relief. Foam rollers themselves are very similar to the foam "noodles" kids use in swimming pools, but they're thicker and shorter. The primary benefit of adding foam rollers to your workout is an increase in calories burned and better core strengthening due to the balance challenges added to traditional moves like squats, arm exercises, and even massages. Try some of these foam roller moves from Alive.com and see if you don't feel muscles working that you didn't know you had!

By now, we should all be aware of the importance of breathing. After all, it's what keeps us alive, right? So why is it that when we work out our hardest, we sometimes forget to breathe? That's when our bodies need it the most--when we're pushing our limits and challenging ourselves to the max.

So how's your breathing during your workout? For me, it's the weights that make me forget my breath. I take a weight-lifting class a few times a week and funny though it sounds, I usually need to be reminded by the instructor to breathe--otherwise I'll hold my breath until I get a short break. No wonder I get dizzy sometimes!

Am I running down the wrong path with my cardio workouts? They're the foundation of my fitness routine but after considering what Jim Karas has to say about his Cardio-Free Diet -- check out his book here --- I'm not sure they should be.

We've been fed a line when it comes to cardio, says Karas, who links the trend toward cardio with an increase in obesity rates. Interval strength training is what we should embrace because it builds lean muscle mass which propels metabolism. The more cardio you do, on the other hand, the more hungry you are, the more you eat, the more you gain.

Your body will simply transform with strength training, according to Karas whose eating regime includes three daily meals and one snack, totaling 1,200 calories. Some say eating only 1,200 calories will cause weight loss no matter what exercise you do. So maybe it's not entirely the cardio-free component that does the trick. Maybe it's the virtual starvation.

"Cardio training (jogging, treadmill, stationary bike) may have been over-emphasized over the last decade," says this blogger, "but that doesn't mean we need to can the cardio. It means we need to start emphasizing the benefits of strength training and bodyweight exercises.

Balance. That's what I think each person needs. So I'll keep at my cardio routine -- I enjoy it, it's helped me drop a few pounds, and it sets my day off on just the right course -- but maybe I'll pump up the number of days I devote to strength training too. What about you?

When you're working out, most times your goal is to build a fitter and stronger body. This usually means an emphasis on the development of new lean muscle, a reduction in body fat, and increased endurance. However, there are a number of other benefits one can reap from working out, none of which being any less important to overall health than those already mentioned.

Though it is usually considered only when the word osteoporosis is entered into discussion, maintaining bone strength is vital to our health. Bones are living organisms, which means that they have the capacity to become weaker or stronger. Given the fact that your bones slowly stop accumulating calcium by around the age of 30, you need to keep them strong in other ways, which is where regular exercise comes into play.

Resistance training has been shown to increase bone strength and reduce a person's risk of osteoporosis. But, this doesn't mean that you have to throw around a set of 50-pound dumbells to experience similar results. Remember, whenever you're standing, your own body weight is being supported by your bones and muscles. Therefore, increased movement -- be it in the form of exercise, dancing, sports, or even a leisurely game of shuffleboard -- may be enough resistance to keep your bones healthy.

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 15 and I weigh 225 pounds. I'd like to lose a lot of weight. For exercise, I fast walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes a day. I try to eat the right foods, but I keep having a temptation to go back to my old habits. I keep trying, but because of my brother's metabolism... he can eat anything. That is not helping me at all. I need help, but I'm afraid that no one will help me because of my weight, so I hope you guys can. Shelby

A. I'm really glad you reached out for help here, Shelby. Being overweight is no fun, especially as a child.....which you are. I struggled with my weight as a teenager too, but thankfully I eventually figured things out. I remember way back then thinking a good weight loss technique was to simply eat fewer Cheetos. My parents never spoke about weight management to me and I simply didn't have much guidance on the subject. I felt bad about myself and desperately wanted to change. Sounds like you're in the same boat.

Yogis seem to a separate group of people -- calm, sensitive, new-agey vegetarian types who wear hemp and shop at health food stores and rescue bugs rather than killing them. But yoga takes all types, and it can benefit you.

Yes, even you, Mr. Sports buff. According to this article from Glee Magazine, Yoga is the type of activity that many people are getting involved in, even pro athletes. And why not? With 18 different styles of yoga, there's sure to be a type that suits anyone. And it has a number of great benefits -- like improving your balance, your flexibility, your strength and your mood.

So what's stopping you from becoming a yogi?

2007 was a great year for healthy living. As nations banded together to fight the obesity epidemic, healthy habits were adopted by many people. As a bit of a fitness nut, I was happy to see so many people taking up activities, sports and hobbies that got them off the couch and on the road to health. I've always been active but even I got my butt (more) in gear and I feel better than ever. I'm excited for 2008 and looking forward to getting more in shape than ever. You too?

The American College of Sport Medicine recently came up with a list of the top fitness trends of 2007--Here are their picks for what made the most fitness headlines this year:

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is 110 pounds lighter than he once was. The 50-year-old presidential candidate shed so much weight that he reversed diabetes and heart disease and has become one of the most vocal advocates for the fitness movement.

Tipping the scales at 300 pounds a few years ago, Huckabee couldn't even lace his sneakers. Now, he's running marathons.

On finding time to exercise during his hectic schedule, Huckabee says, "I don't find the time. I make it."

And there you have it. Huckabee makes a conscious and deliberate effort to stay fit. That's what it takes. It doesn't take a gym, he says. Just look around your living room and work space and find ways to move more. Lean against a wall and do wall push-ups, for example. You'll strengthen your your chest, shoulders, triceps, and biceps with this one exercise.

Fitness is a win-win scenario, says Huckabee. You'll power your metabolism with trained muscles. You'll shed fat faster and keep it off. You'll achieve strength and energy. And you'll be more likely to survive and enjoy each day of your life. What a pay-off.