That's Fit

I love to sweat. So does Anna Kournikova.

"I feel great when I sweat and get all the negative energy out," says the tennis pro who spends much of her workout time using weights and machines so she can maintain her muscle mass. She doesn't devote much time to cardio but does do a little so she can relieve stress and sweat.

On the internet speculation about her weight loss, Kournikova says: "You know that you're a public person. You know what you're getting yourself into and you just have to be okay with yourself. It's just somebody's opinion and you just can't focus on that."

Forbes published some tips for choosing the best sneakers for your sport, and to be honest, I found it a bit lacking. They covered a lot of running and outdoor sports, but some of the sports for which shoes are really important (like volleyball and basketball) were totally left off.

I did a little research and added what sounded like the best shoes for those sports. However, it's important to remember your sport-specific needs when shopping for a shoe. If you will be making quick, side-to-side movements, you'll need different support than you would for running a marathon. If you really don't know what you need, try to find a store that specializes in your sport and ask for help. The right shoes might not make you a better athlete, but they will make your sport more enjoyable.

I just returned from a place I've decided to be Man Heaven. Man Heaven is a place where loads and loads of men dressed in various colored athletic jerseys giddily board trams with feverish excitement to spend time with their favorite sports heroes. These men were squirming in their seats, beaming bright smiles and high-fiving their way all the way to the entrance gates of Disney World's Hollywood Studios. ESPN the Weekend is Man Heaven.

The weekend was filled with endless opportunities to meet, train with, question and listen to America's favorite ESPN stars: Donovan McNabb, Tony Gonzalez, Hershel Walker, John Stockton, Cal Ripken Jr., Chris Carter and more. Oodles of ESPN Sportscasters took stages across the park hosting their own scheduled and aired ESPN shows, and also hosted other fun question and answer sessions with the stars of Man Heaven.

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.

We tend to idolize professional celebrities for their determination and endurance, so it's pretty disheartening when they test positive for using illicit drugs. The latest celebrity to enter the doping spotlight is Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis. She's tested positive for cocaine -- and the findings have led her to quit the sport.

But her retirement isn't an admission of guilt -- rather, she's vehemently denying the allegations and has chosen to leave tennis rather than deal with the red tape that comes with getting her name cleared.

What do you think of the allegations? Was she too hasty to throw in the towel? Is she guilty?

My grandma had osteoporosis. For her, it reared its ugly head in her back which became more and more rounded with each of her passing years. It caused her great pain. And it caused her to continually urge me to stand up straight and practice good posture -- which is important for young women like me who wish to maximize bone health. But even more critical for mostly Caucasian and Asian women is weight-bearing exercise and resistance training.

Walking, running, dancing, and playing tennis are just a few good weight-bearing activities. Biking and swimming don't count because they provide no impact of bones on the ground.

OK, so are you ready for your mission? Here's what you've gotta do: Start slow if you must and tackle 10 minutes of walking three times per week. Gradually build up to 30 minutes a day, five times per week. Do more if you can. Then add weights for resistance. Take on some strengthening exercises for 20 minutes, three times per week. If you don't feel very fit at the moment, begin walking with ankle weights and then tack on small amounts of weight, beginning with one pound and working your way up.

Personally, I hope to turn back the clock on osteoporosis. How about you?

There will be a shortage of toys this coming holiday season due to underestimated demand and the whole toy recall thing -- you know, because of the lead paint and toxic plastic used in the production of some children's play things. "Say it isn't so," you might be saying. Me? I say this is the best news I've heard in a while.

I'm always looking for excuses to not buy toys. We already have a house full and in my opinion, they are a grand waste of money. Most toys, with the exception of imagination-builders like blocks, puzzles, and games, have a shelf life of a few hours for my two guys. I can't begin to list off all the trinkets we've brought home that ended up swiftly stuffed into some toy bin without a second thought. So yes, I like that the toys shelves may be a little bare this year. "See kids, no toys, sorry."

Now don't think I'm a Grinchy old mom or anything. I love presenting my kids with gifts that make them happy, and Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. Learning about this trouble with toys just gives me more motivation to be creative, to purchase items for my kids that have a little more staying power and really matter in the long run. I'm thinking physical fitness here. Just imagine the possibilities.

The Mayo Clinic has posted a list of the activities that burn the most calories in an hour. What do you think tops the list? Running is the number one calorie burner, which should not come as a surprise to anyone who runs on a regular basis. What are some other great workouts?

• Aerobic Dancing: 416-533 cals
• Backpacking: 448-574 cals
• Biking: 512-574 cals
• Jogging: 512-656 cals
• Racquetball: 448-574 cals
• Rope Jumping: 640-820 cals
• Running: 864-1107cals
• Skiing, Cross-country: 512-656 cals
• Swimming: 384-492 cals
• Tennis: 448-574 cals

Most of these aren't surprising, but I didn't know aerobic dance was such an effective exercise. What about you?

Jonathon Morgan wrote about Paris Hilton and her new 7,000 square foot, $5.9 million mansion on Styledash, and now I'm here to tell you that I am so jealous that Hilton not only has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms -- she has a fitness room too. Ah, what I could do with my very own fitness room.

What does Hilton plan to do with her fitness room? Fill it with shoes, that's what. Now, I'd also love to have my very own shoe room but if given the choice, I'd take fitness over shoes any day. Not Hilton. She apparently favors footwear to exercise. Or does she? Her mansion does come complete with tennis courts. Perhaps that's where she'll burn her calories.

Or maybe not.

Jan Silva devotes much of his day to tennis. His family moved to France so he could train at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy near Paris, with patron Patrick Mouratoglou paying the bills. It might be considered a risky investment for all involved, since Jan is only five years old. The hope is that he will go the way of Andre Agassi and Tracy Austin, both of whom showed early talent and went on to carve out professional careers in the sport.

The Silvas have hopes for their son, but they also say they'll be fine if he decides to give up the sport when he's older. But why do I sense there might be some pressure, intended or not, on Jan to stick with his racquet? Could it be, um, the fact that the whole family moved to France for his training and someone invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with hopes that he'll be a star? For now, though, their child's love of tennis and the opportunity for him to train so fiercely motivated the Silvas to take a chance. Guess time will tell.

Thanks to Deadspin for pointing us to this one.

A challenging game of tennis can certainly get your heart pumping. But if your skills need a bit of tweaking (as mine do) a tennis lesson might be in order. Unless you can spring for a private lesson, most tennis lessons will involve a lot of listening to the instructor and waiting your turn try out your serve or backhand. There's a new twist on the traditional tennis lesson, though. It's called Cardio Tennis and it's designed to give you a great workout while working on your tennis skills.

A Cardio Tennis class lasts around an hour and includes short-bursts of intense exercise, drills, and, of course, lots of tennis. It's all set to music to keep your motivated while your moving. The workouts can burn up to 600 calories per session.

It all sounds like a lot of fun to me. I'm not sure that it's your best choice if you really want to improve your tennis game. But for variety in your workout routine and a fun, engaging exercise option, this sounds like just the ticket. Tennis, anyone?

That picture is the single weirdest way to advertise a diet pill I've ever seen. Believe it or not, that mass of jelly is actually the diet pill -- it swells up like that in your stomach to help you feel full.

It's currently undergoing trials in Rome, and it's basically a powder in the Jell-O family that absorbs water and becomes a big mass of gelatin when wet. The idea would be to pop a small pill followed by two large glasses of water whenever you feel hungry, or before any big meal where you're afraid you might over-indulge, to prevent yourself from eating too much.

The pill could be available to the public in a little as a year, but I don't think I'll be trying it out. How many times a day are people going to be taking this pill? Can it really be healthy to digest that many tennis ball-sized gelatin blobs on a daily basis?


Via FitSugar

I am not any good at tennis. I'm not modest, believe me, I'm really that bad. But I like to play tennis, and do we really have to excel at something to enjoy it? I have a very patient husband, so this week my goal is to find some used tennis racquets for him, myself, and a child-sized version for my older daughter. Tennis, when played with used equipment on public courts, is really a very inexpensive way to exercise and have some fun. We can't all be Agassi's and Kournikova's, but isn't the point of fitness to get out and move while doing something you love? So even if you never win a game, but love to volley, consider picking up a racquet today. And take a minute to check out this article Why Play Tennis? It lists several compelling reasons to reconsider this classic sport.

Nothing makes time fly like having fun, and what better 'time' to have time flying by than during your workout? Finding something you genuinely think is fun that also burns loads of calories will not only help you get fitter faster, but it will make it easier to motivate yourself to get started every day and stick with your exercise routine. Spring isn't officially over yet, so take advantage of the season of new beginnings and good weather and join a league or start playing a sport to burn some extra calories and rekindle your fitness regimen and motivation. Here are just a few sports that will do wonders for your physique, (among other things!):

• Soccer is obviously great for leg and glute muscles, plus all the running around is great cardio for your heart. But what you may not realize is that soccer also gives your core and arms a workout as they keep you balanced, and your hips, knees, and ankles get stronger as they work to keep you stabilized.

A little while ago, I did this post on some outdoor activities for the summer that will blast calories and provide hours of entertainment at the same time. I just discovered this eDiet's article that lists some other great outdoor activities, namely Whitewater rafting, frisbee, swinging (at the playground, not another type of swinging), gardening and more. I think it's a great list -- they're all things that you can easily work in to your routine, and as I look out at the gloomy spring showers, I can't wait to get out and about. Whitewater rafting is a favourite summer activity of mine -- it's thrilling, refreshing and a really good workout if you're tackling some serious rapids and not just floating down a river.

What other activities can you think of?