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Ask Fitz! Your Fitzness Questions Answered -- BOSU Classes & Best Butt Exercises

Womens Health, Ask Fitz!, Cellulite, Obesity, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Reviews & Products, Motivation, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

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. Dear Fitz, I want to take one of the BOSU classes at my gym, but I've never done it before and I'll feel like a total dork if I bust my butt on one of those things. Plus I'm a guy. Mostly girls take those classes. Should I bother? Eric.

A. Ahhh! Eric, you are too cute. First of all. The BOSU is a balance tool and is designed to make people wobbly. Until that is, they earn the strength and control to not only stand on top of it, but do some tricks too. Second. You can stand in the back of the classroom if you don't want to be a spectacle. Third. Most people in a BOSU class are too concerned with their own balance to have the time and ability to look at what anyone else is doing.

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Your trainer's 12 Days of Christmas

Healthy Habits, Womens Health, Cellulite, Healthy Events, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Reviews & Products, Motivation, Men's Health

Want to know what professional trainers like me wish for, for Christmas? Sing along!

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, one water-based heavy bag.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two boxing gloves.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three ropes for jumping.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four Body Buggs.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Versa Steps.

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Ask Fitz! Your Fitness Questions Answered

Healthy Home, Womens Health, Ask Fitz!, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Reviews & Products, Motivation, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

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. Dear Fitz, I need to lose only five pounds and want to rev up my walking program in the hope that I can lose these last few pounds. I wear wrist weights thinking this will boost my metabolism. Do you have any suggestions on how to make a walking program more intense? I have heard about walking poles but I'm not sure this is the answer and I think I would feel silly using them on the city streets -- thinking I would look "strange." So if you have any suggestions as to how to put more OOMPH in my walking to lose these few pounds, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it. Thanks. Judith

A. Hey Judith. Love your ambition, and I'm so glad you asked the question. First of all, I do not ever recommend using wrist weights while walking. Adding weight to your wrists will only adding strain to the elbow and shoulder joints as you swing your arms back and forth. Plus they really serve no great benefit to you anyway. Small weights wouldn't amp up your calorie burn significantly and if you want to build the muscles in your arms you'd be much better off just doing specific strength training exercises for your arms!

In order to challenge yourself while walking you can do several things. Walk faster. Walk at an incline. If you don't have hills in your city, find some stairs or use a treadmill on occasion. Adding weighted resistance can be a great idea, but the wrist or ankle weights are definite no-no's. Instead you can look in to a weighted vest. This type of resistance is well-balanced, and will not strain your joints. Weighted vests can make things more challenging as you can carry significant weight this way. You can use a vest with anywhere from 10-40 pounds, and increase the weight as you progress. The benefit of using an actual fitness vest instead of a backpack full of books is that the weight is distributed evenly across your chest, ribs and back.

As far as looking funny goes,forget about it Judith! I think for the most part, when we see others exercising we're more envious and impressed than anything else. If you're working toward better health, you'll always be cool and that's a fact. Click here to check out the weighted vests. Let me know when your five pounds disappear! Fitz

Q. Hey Fitz. I'm 14 and I weigh around 118 lbs. Sometimes I feel too thin. How can I gain muscle without losing weight and getting smaller? Stacy

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Ask Fitz! Your Fitness Questions Answered!

Healthy Aging, Healthy Habits, Womens Health, Ask Fitz!, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Reviews & Products, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

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. Dear Fitz. I really need to tone by butt, abs, thighs and hips. I am thinking of getting a fitness ball DVD kit. Does this really work well for toning? Thanks. Lisa

A. Absolutely Lisa. The stability ball is one of my favorite toys/tools for fitness training because there is so much you can do with it. Of course the DVD to go along with it should give you some great ideas on how to use your ball. Besides the variety of exercises you can do with it, the stability ball is lightweight, deflatable for travel, inexpensive and fun!

Another version of the stability ball that was just released is called the Ballast Ball by BOSU. It looks exactly like a stability ball, but it is filled with five pounds of tiny beads that look like sand. The Ballast Ball doesn't 'run away' as easily as the regular ball, so it's easier to do things like squats on it without the fear that it will roll away while you're in the standing position. It's also a challenge to throw it up and do a variety of lifting exercises with it. I'm quite happy with mine. Great places online to get these balls are Power-Systems.Com, SPRIFitness.Com and BOSU.Com for the Ballast Ball. I wish you success!

Hey Fitz. I'm a 33 year old active male. I've always been a spritely little chap, running here, cycling there, and partaking in many different sports. Right now I play 5-a-side football (soccer) every Monday night throughout the year and I play 11-a-side football every Sunday from August to May. During the week I either run or cycle to and from work (which is a mere 4 miles each way)....

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Medicine Ball Magic! 10 cool exercises to try

Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Reviews & Products, Men's Health

The medicine ball is a fantastic piece of equipment; it's versatile, compact, and lots of fun. Available in a wide variety of sizes, colors, styles and quite inexpensive...the medicine ball is the perfect tool for anyone with a little bit of space and a lot of desire. I use them all the time for strength and stability training. Here are some ideas on how to train with yours. Look for more medicine ball magic when I begin the That's Fit video podcast "Move of the Week".

  • Do push-ups with one hand on the ball.
  • Do push-ups with both hands on the ball.
  • Do a push-up with one hand on the ball. In the 'up' position, roll the ball to your other hand and do another push-up like that. Repeat.
  • Hold the ball in your hands above your head and reach back while doing crunches.
  • Put the ball between your knees or under your knees, and lift them up toward the ceiling while doing crunches. (picture shown)

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