That's Fit

Weight training is a great way to strengthen, tone, and shape your body. In addition, building up your muscles helps you burn fat and improves your bone density. But it's important to keep safety and proper technique in mind when lifting weights. When starting a new weight lifting routine, consider consulting with a personal trainer -- a trainer can give you ideas on a routine that works well for you and can instruct you on proper form. Here are some tips from Revolution Health to get you started:

• Do lift an appropriate amount of weight. For most purposes, a weight that you can lift 12 to 15 times is right.
  
• Do learn to do each exercise correctly. When you use proper form, you get the most benefit and you minimize your risk of injury.
• Do remember to breathe. Don't hold your breath while lifting.
  
• Do balance your routine. For the best results, remember to work all of your muscle groups.
  
• Do give your muscles a break. Alternate days that you work on muscle groups so your muscles have time to recover.

Weight lifting is great for your body. But if you don't follow proper technique you're not only wasting some of your effort, you're putting yourself at risk of injury. Incorrect technique can cause you to sprain or strain your muscles. You may even encounter more serious injuries like fractures or muscle tears. Revolution Health gives you some things to keep in mind:

• Don't skip your warm up. 5-10 minutes of aerobic activity will warm up your muscles and reduce your risk of injury.
• Don't hurry. Control your movements. A slow rhythm helps isolate the muscles so you know you're getting the most impact for your efforts.
• Don't overdo it. Pushing yourself way past the point of fatigue may cause injury.
• Don't work through the pain. While some soreness and mild discomfort is expected when you're working muscles, pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. Listen to your body's signals.
• Don't forget your shoes. Shoes will give you proper traction while lifting weights.

In my teens and early twenties, I belonged to a women's-only gym that was pretty hands-off in their style of management. Basically, you filled out your membership paperwork then were left to your own devices. At the time, I loved the hassle-free atmosphere, since I like to be left alone when I'm working out. But looking back, I think I'm very lucky that I didn't hurt myself trying out equipment I'd never used before!

Over at Diet-Blog, they've got a short tutorial about seven gym exercises to avoid. Though many people can and do use the exercises and machines on their list without overuse or injury, Mike offers several safer and more effective alternatives. If you're new to strength training, it's definitely worth checking out.

If you're not new to strength training, then share you're opinion with us. What's the number one exercise that you think should be avoided?

I don't know about you, but when I set out to drop some weight, I don't mind working extra hard for a defined period of time. I know, I know -- it should be a life choice, but the fact of the matter is that, while I can hit the gym six or seven days a week for several weeks, most of the time I'm more likely to get there five days, and sometimes less. So, when I received a copy of The Six-Week Bikini Countdown, I was stoked -- I can totally stick with a program for a month and a half!

The book, by Karon Karter (host of Pilates from the Inside Out) has some really good features. Each week has cardio, weight-training, and Pilates incorporated for a well-rounded workout.

Some of the workouts aren't too hard -- the first week, I found myself adding intensity to the cardio and doing extras on the weights. However, Week Two was harder, and by Week Three, I was working really hard. However, I tend to work hard at the gym anyway -- this book would be extremely challenging for someone brand new to fitness.

When it comes to building more muscle mass, many people tend to focus on protein and carbohydrate intake, unwisely forgetting to take fat into account. The problem is, without eating a moderate amount of healthy fat, you're denying yourself the possibility of achieving what Hans and Frans might call maximum pumpitude.

A study that appears in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reveals that guys who ate a normal diet that included a moderate amount of fat gained 5 pounds more muscle than guys who followed a low-fat diet. And, the guys in the first group also experienced an 86 percent increase in strength over the second group.

Fats are a necessary part of a well-rounded diet, provided they are being sourced from healthy foods such as nuts, avocados, olive oil, seeds, and flaxseed oil. So, hear me now and believe me later ... get your fats if you want to pump up!!

Giran Jobe, a grunting weightlifter, had some disgruntled neighbors who felt he was too loud when lifting his weights. And, it turns out he probably was too loud, as he has now been fined, given a noise abatement, and taken to court.

Before you get too upset, you should know that the noise coming from his top floor flat was measured last June, and found to reach 100 decibels, the level of noise typically found at a rock concert. He was ordered to keep the noise down. Then, only a month later, the neighbors lodged another complaint, so the the Council implemented some noise recording devices.

Breathing is very important. "Thank you, Captain Obvious" is probably what you're thinking. But, there is a reason why I mention something that seems so obvious.

First off, weight training, resistance training -- it all pretty much means the same thing, so don't get confused by the wording. Basically, anything that involves the pushing or pulling of something -- be it a dumbbell, a resistance band, or even your own body weight -- falls under the umbrella category of weight or resistance training.

Back to my point -- when it comes to resistance training, there is a risk of raising the blood pressure in your eyes. Research shows that because of something called Valsalva (an effort to exhale while keeping your air passages closed), an increase in blood pressure can occur. The same applies for cardio, although it is rare for people hold their breath while performing exercises of this kind.

Just some healthy advice from your friendly neighborhood Captain Obvious. But before I go, I just want to point out that there were a lot of spaceships in the movie Star Wars. Just something I noticed.

By this point I'm sure it's pretty clear that I am a big proponent of exercise. Hell, these days, who isn't? Every time you turn on the TV, you're inundated with ads for the latest and so-called greatest in fitness programs and equipment. Solflex, Bowflex, Ab Roller, The Firm, that multi-gym with Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley, and even Jack LaLane is still around. You name it, it's out there. Equally as dizzying are the number of health clubs out there for you to choose from: Bally Total Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, Crunch, Sports Club LA, Sports Club NY, the YMCA, Gold's Gym, World Gym, and so on and so on. In our quest to stay healthy, having this endless supply of fitness opportunities is a good thing, right? Yes, it is. But, when over-training becomes an issue, this good 'thing' can quickly become a very bad thing.

For runners, working out too much can often times result in stress fractures, the development of plantar fasciitis, or even shin splints. Worse yet, this overexertion may be doing more harm to your heart than good. The same goes for people who train with weights. Over-zealousness in the weight room can lead to joint and muscle pain, insomnia, lethargy and a suppressed immune system.

Doctors suggest limiting workouts to around an hour per day, which seems to be the ideal. And, adequate rest in between workouts is imperative, as is getting enough sleep at night. It is during these times of rest when your body will repair itself, which is why this period of recuperation is so important. All too often, people will throw themselves into a workout program with gusto, their feet hitting the ground running. This "storming the castle" approach may have worked for the Visigoths, it's not exactly the best in terms of ensuring you get enough rest.

With the exception of performing exercises that can lead to injury or over-training, there are none that are wrong, per se. I realize this seems to fly in the face of an entry I just wrote about ineffective exercises, but there is a distinction that needs to be observed between wrong and ineffective.

The goal of any exerciser, whether they are a seasoned workout veteran or an ambitious newbie, should be to get the maximum results possible from the effort they are willing to expend. This is why there isn't any time to waste on ineffective exercises, just as there is no room for common mistakes that can hinder your progress.

Here are five mistakes that exercisers frequently make, serving to reduce the effectiveness of their dedicated effort:

1. Holding On. All too often, you'll see people on an elliptical, treadmill, or StairMaster holding onto the safety railings and leaning onto the machine. Unless you need to hold on for stability purposes, don't. Doing so can lead to back pain over time and also reduces the amount of calories that you'll burn.

2. Swinging. When lifting weights, always maintain proper form throughout the entire movement. If you have to twist, turn, contort, and kip your body to lift a weight, then it's probably too heavy for you. As a general rule, stick to weights that you can lift for at least 8 reps but no more than 15.

3. Only Doing Cardio. By and large, we begin losing muscle mass somewhere around the age of 30. As effective as cardio is at promoting improved circulation, weight loss, and a host of other health benefits, it does little in the way of rebuilding muscle. Not interested in building muscle? Fine. But you may want to know that the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be and the more calories you'll burn. Still don't want to build muscle?

Picture a group of fourteen-year-old boys, all about as skinny and as awkward as ... well, most fourteen-year-old boys, standing in front of a weight bench, trying to figure out how to work out. That was my friends and I many years ago. Our goal was to add some size and strength to our Beetle Baily-like frames, but we had no idea how to go about doing it.

So, we picked up a muscle magazine. We figured, There's this huge dude on the cover and there's a bunch of jacked guys featured inside, so we should do whatever they're doing. What a mistake! No word of a lie, we did EVERY SINGLE EXERCISE featured in that magazine. By the end of the workout (close to three hours later!), we knew something wasn't right. Besides, we were fourteen; we didn't have that kind of time to spare.

Fortunately, one of my friend's older brother worked out regularly, and later that evening he overhead us talking about the workout. After basically telling us we were a bunch of morons, he drew up a far more appropriate workout for the neophytes that we were. The rest, as they say, is history.

The point of me mentioning this is that it's easy to get confused by the overwhelming amount of fitness information out there, especially if you're new to it all. My advice is to stick to the basics. When you are just starting out with a resistance training routine, you really shouldn't be performing drop sets, utilizing rest-pause or pre-exhaust techniques, or any other advanced training methods. Instead, focus on multi-joint exercises, such as the bench press, the squat, pull-ups, deadlifts, and the overhead press. Always be sure to warm up with 5 minutes of light cardio to raise your body temperature and stretch before and after your weight training. Perform 3 sets of 10-15 reps of each exercise at least two or three days per week and you'll start seeing results in no time. And, as an added bonus, nobody's older brother will call you a moron.

Let's face it: we're a nation of people who are obsessed with aging. Or, more specifically, aging well. We'd all like to hope that we'll look and feel fresh-faced and youthful when we're edging up on our golden years, and we'll go to any length to ensure that happens. Finding the secret to aging well would be a dream come true -- or have we found it already?

According to this article from MSNBC, the secret to fighting off aging can be found in your gym -- in the weight room! You don't have to be a uber-buff body builder-type, either. Building and maintaining muscle keeps not only our bodies strong and youthful but our immune systems too.

Of course, there's more to equation--eating well and getting lots of sleep play a major role too--but it's nice to know there is something we can do to help ourselves age well naturally.

More and more people are turning to resistance training as a viable means of achieving their fitness goals. Not very long ago, weight training was avoided almost entirely by people who feared becoming too bulky. The reality, however, is quite to the contrary.

The results you obtain from resistance training are yours to control. There are ways to get stronger and bigger, just as there are ways to lose weight and trim down. Muscles need to be sustained, and for this to happen calories need to be burned. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn while you are in a resting state. In effect, your body will become a fat-burning furnace even when you're sleeping.

So, if you've been on the fence as to whether or not you should incorporate resistance training into your workout, I highly suggest that you at least try it. Start off easy, allowing your muscles and joints to become accustomed to the added workload, and then increase intensity over time. In a very short while, you'll undoubtedly start to see results.

Kenneth G. Williams. That's him in the picture. Pretty big guy. More than just a little ripped. Body builder. Vegan.

Wait, what?!? A bodybuilding vegan? That's right.

Williams hasn't always been a vegan, in fact back when he first got started in body building he was very much into the usual fare of meat, eggs, and dairy. But then one day, in the middle of the night, he had "a moment" and has been a vegan ever since.

Just goes to show that you don't need to eat meat to feel "tough" and to be healthy and fit. If you want to eat meat, then by all means go ahead. But if you've been leaning towards vegetarianism or veganism then don't let stereotypes be the thing that holds you back.

Probably not, but depending on what your goals are you might. And although they're intimidating for most people (no, taking them won't balloon you up like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of old) they really aren't that complicated. Buying muscle-building supplements is just like anything else health related: it's all about assessing your lifestyle and reading labels.

The most common supplements used for building muscle mass include creatinine, sports drinks, and whey protein. Creatinine is found in the body naturally and is used to fuel short bursts of intense activity, sports drinks provide a good balance of energy and protein, and whey protein is great for post-workout muscle repair. Read this article for more tips on how and where to start if you're considering supplements for your workout, and there's also a list of the best supplements to consider.

According to this video, the Russian town of Ulyanovsk is known for being the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin, but it's known for something else: The strongest 60-year-old woman in the world lives here. Her name is Tatyana Fomina and she's won several awards for her amazing strength. The key to her sucess is training -- she works out at a gym owned by her son, who is also her personal trainers.

Fomina didn't start working out until she was 48. So for any of you who are approaching middle age and using your slowing down body as an excuse to not work out, keep this story in mind -- you she can get in shape, so can you!

Pretty inspiring, no?