You know how we love the exercises you can do with little or no equipment. Men’s Fitness delivers an exercise that will strengthen the hamstring using only a Swiss-ball.
Men’s Fitness: Ham Strong
It’s easy to fall in love with the leg-curl machine. You get to use it lying down (a relaxing way to finish any leg workout), and it’s conveniently right next to the leg-extension (which you’ve probably been doing instead of squats-but that’s a story for another time). However, relationships of convenience never last long, and they can really only hurt you in the end-in this case, by piling too much weight on the leg curl and straining your lower back. That’s why we recommend the single-leg Swiss-ball leg curl. It trains the hamstrings’ two key functions-bending the knee and extending the hips-while tightening your core and glutes as well. That makes it a better move for athletes, and a great exercise for overall strength.
With Coffee
Although the men who consumed coffee also showed cognitive decline (of course, who wouldn’t at that age?), non-consumers had an additional decline of 1.4 points. Also, it appeared that the more coffee one consumed, the better, with the least cognitive decline for three cups of coffee per day. This decline was 4.3 times smaller than the decline of non-consumers.
And Strawberries
Strawberries and blueberries, for example, have been shown in mice to help protect against the damage that causes a decline in learning and motor skills commonly seen with aging. These fruits are rich in polyphenols, antioxidants which protect the brain against oxidative stress, thereby helping us keep our brains sharp even as we age.
Makes me feel good about my ritual breakfast - coffee and cereal with berries. I must be smart!
In our quest to bring useful exercises that can be done at home with minimal equipment (and especially to get some use out of our new dumbbell set) we stumbled across this nifty exercise in Men’s Fitness. It should boost strength and speed
Men’s Fitness: The One - Arm Snatch
You may not be the biggest guy in your gym, and you may not have the best bench press, but you can still get the attention of everyone around you while working every major muscle in your body. To garner the sort of positive attention you crave, all you need to do is try your hand at the one-arm snatch.
HOW TO DO IT
Grab a light dumbbell in one hand and stand with your feet shoulder - width apart. Keeping your back flat, bend at the hips and knees as if you were in the starting position of a deadlift, and let the hand with the dumbbell hang just below your knees [1]. From there, explosively jump up, extending your entire body so that you come up on your toes. As you rise, pull the weight straight up in front of your body until it reaches the middle of your chest, then tuck your elbow and fling the weight overhead - but don’t let go [2]. It’s important to let the momentum generated in your hips move the dumbbell most of the way upward-don’t just stand up and do a shoulder press. That’s one rep. Do six sets of four to six reps with each arm, resting 90-120 seconds between sets.
A variation on the Olympic snatch exercise, the one-arm snatch builds jumping height and total-body strength-making you the one to watch out for in your gym.
I have frequently commented that I prefer workouts that require little equipment. You can get a great workout running, doing push-ups, and other isometric exercises. I recently bit the bullet and bought a set of adjustable-weight dumbells because, for the price of one month’s gym membership I can use them to do just about any exercise I would like.
Expanding on this idea, I found the following on-line article to pass along. Refrigerator Raid: Exercises You Can Do Any Place, Any Time, Anywhere!
If you’re looking for a serious cardio or weight-lifting routine, the gym (or your home gym) is pretty much a necessity. But there are some exercises* you can do almost anywhere that can “fill in the gaps” on days you can’t squeeze in a regular workout.
The exercises are simple (you can probably figure out what they are or even add to the list once you see them. Check out the full article for Refrigerator Raid’s ideas.
Sometimes news comes out that you’ve really been waiting for. This is one of those days.
Can coffee cure cellulite? - August 1, 2006
But scientists at an Austrian lingerie manufacturer have hit upon an easier way to burn off the unsightly fatty deposits all day long: tights impregnated with microcapsules of caffeine.Palmers, a 92-year-old company based in Wiener Neudorf, spent several months developing and testing the Slim Fit 20 pantyhose. As with other brands of tights that contain skin products such as aloe vera, red algae, or seaweed, the caffeine-laced fabric is activated by body heat. The small drops of liquid, which last for four washes, boost metabolism and burn fat.
“Caffeine rubbed on the skin, like caffeine-laced anticellulite creams, would absolutely work to improve the appearance of cellulite,” says dermatologist and La Jolla Spa medical director Mitchel Goldman, who conducted a study using caffeine-laced anticellulite cream. Of the 34 women in the study, 25 noticed a decrease in thigh circumference.
A recent study has shown that low testosterone levels in men are associated with higher death rates.
Low testosterone may boost the risk of death in men over 40, a new study has found.
A U.S. team found that older men with relatively low testosterone had an 88% increased risk of death compared with men with normal testosterone levels. But they don’t yet know why.
In some ways, this runs parallel to other studies that have shown longevity benefits from hormone treatments. Most experts caution against experimenting with such treatments, arguing for further study. On the other hand, aren’t experiments key to study?
Whew. Over the last few days, the weigh-ins suggest I may have started retaining some water on my vacation. Although I appeared to have lost all the progress I made over the last two months with an initial reading upon return of 237 pounds, six of that has come off in the four days since then. To actually lose that much weight would require that I not eat at all, and even then it probably wouldn’t happen. Instead, the rapid reduction shows that since coming home my water levels have normalized.
Well, it’s better than the alternative. But to be honest, the weight loss is still progressing slower than I would like.
For my daily weigh-in I try to use a scale with a body fat monitor. Checking body fat is a much more useful tool for determining the fitness level than weight, BMI or pretty much anything else. So I found this article on the subject and found it interesting. After you are done reading it, you may want to pick up a body fat scale.
Body Fat Percentage - A More Meaningful Measurement for Fitness
Because your body is about 50-55% water, you can temporarily stage-manage your weight with diet pills and fad diets but, you cannot manipulate your body fat percentage. Body fat percentage is a more meaningful metric for gauging physical fitness than what you can get out of height and weight tables.
The maximum allowable body fat percentages for everybody in the U.S. Army are shown below. Chances are you are not in the military and never intend to be but, can you suggest a more thoroughly researched or carefully crafted standard?Maximum allowable body fat percentages are categorized by age and gender. For males this is the breakdown:
Age 17 - 20: Max Body Fat is 20% Age 21 - 27: Max Body Fat is 22% Age 28 - 39:. Max Body Fat is 24% Age 40 and over: Max Body Fat is 26%
And for females:
Age 17 - 20: Max Body Fat is 28% Age 21 - 27: Max Body Fat is 30% Age 28 - 39:. Max Body Fat is 32% Age 40 and over: Max Body Fat is 34%
It’s fair to say that knowing your body fat percentage is a necessary first step to getting fit and trim. Because your body is about 55-60% water, you can stage-manage your weight with diet pills and fad diets but, you cannot manipulate body fat percentage.
Consider making your physical fitness goal to get your body fat percentage in line with the U.S. Army standard for the maximum allowable body fat percentage for your age and gender. Once you get there you will have accomplished something meaningful and made physical fitness a positive habit. You will be able to take your body-building and fitness ambitions anywhere you want to go.
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again. We like exercises you can do without any fancy equipment. Here is one for your calves.
Men’s Fitness: The Full-Range Calf Raise
Stand on one foot, balancing on a stair, box, or step, as if you were about to do a single-leg calf raise. Lower your heel until your calf is stretched, then, holding on to something for support, bend over at the waist as if you were trying to touch your toe [1]. Staying in the bentover position, perform a calf raise [2], then use the support you’re holding to help “walk” your body back upright. Now use the support to help you contract your calf harder, coming up as high onto the ball of your foot as possible [3]. Hold the position for a few seconds, squeezing your calf hard. That’s one rep. Perform three sets of four to six reps on each leg, resting 60 seconds between sets.
Aptly named the full-range calf raise, this move takes your calves through their entire range of motion, alternating a full stretch with a full contraction while keeping constant tension on them. With only a few reps, your calves will be pumped and hard, proving once again that the only machine you need is yourself.
Diet and exercise. Diet and exercise. Diet and exercise. We know. We know. But if we have to choose one?
CalorieLab Calorie Counter News » Archives » Weight loss smackdown: diet vs. exercise
With excess weight a greater problem than ever, the question of whether changing eating habits or exercise is more likely to produce weight loss is vital. A new study confirms the overall research findings that dietary change — specifically eating less fat — produces more weight loss than changes in exercise. But it also shows that changes in one kind of behavior may help promote changes in the other, especially among women.