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EA Sports Active to Launch New Fitness Products Mar 11, 2010, 12:52 pm.

ea sports active

“The launch of EA SPORTS Active 2.0 will define a new era of interactive fitness with the use of innovative motion sensor peripherals and a heart rate monitor that provide users with a fitness experience delivering real, measurable results,” said Tarrnie Williams, Executive Producer, EA SPORTS Active. “As the number one rated fitness program for the Wii, EA SPORTS Active proved itself as the industry leader and provided the foundation for our fitness franchise. The success stories we’ve received from our users show that EA SPORTS Active is changing lives and we’re so proud to be part of it.”

Offering a nine-week, three-phase program with accompanying optional mini programs, the EA Sports Active 2.0 will help keep exercise exciting and make tracking exercise goals fun. Using the personal trainer will help the user experience their best workout ever. The innovative wireless control system will give users complete range of motion, and the on-screen heart rate monitor is trackable online to help optimize performance.

EA Sports Active 2.0 should release fall 2010.

Also Read:

EA Sports Active Demo

EA Sports Active Launches More Workouts

Wii Fit Review

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

EA Sports Active to Launch New Fitness Products

Top 10 Benefits of Water Aerobics Mar 11, 2010, 1:00 am.

water aerobics

Water equipment has also become more popular. Water weights, floating belts, and other useful equipment are used to increase water resistance as well as help with flotation and balance. Water aerobics can be performed just about anywhere; from health and fitness clubs to public or private swimming pools to even shallow lakes. All you really need is the motivation and dedication to splash around a little bit (warm weather wouldn’t hurt either).

Benefits of Water Aerobics:

1. Non-weight bearing exercise
2. Improves muscular endurance
3. Improves core strength and endurance
4. Great exercise for pregnant women
5. Improves flexibility
6. Improves cardiovascular conditioning
7. Burns enormous amount of calories
8. Keeps the body cool during exercise
9. Fun and enjoyable exercise
10. Great way to modify or spice up normal routine

Safety can be a huge issue when it comes to combining water with exercise, so be sure to take note of these safety tips!

Water Aerobics Safety Tips:

1. Contact physician before starting program
2. Make sure lifeguard is on duty
3. Know your limits (listen to your body)
4. Give yourself space for movement
5. Stay hydrated
6. Be aware of wet surfaces while WALKING around pool area
7. Properly stretch before and after exercise
8. Make sure instructor knows your health background if you are at risk
9. Get CPR certified
10. Use sunblock if you are outdoors

Also Read:

Swim for an Effective Total Body Workout

A Beginner’s Guide to Swimming Workouts

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Top 10 Benefits of Water Aerobics

How Can I Get Rid of “Armpit Fat” in a Strapless Dress? Mar 10, 2010, 1:00 pm.

Filed under: Fitness, Your Personal Trainer: Joe Dowdell

I’m the Maid of Honor in my best friend’s wedding and the dresses she picked out are strapless. I feel uncomfortable in strapless dresses because they give me a bulge by my armpit. I have been weight training and doing cardio religiously for years now, but have never been able to get rid of this “armpit fat.” How can I tone that up? — Stephanie, Parma, OH

Your problem is not uncommon with many women. First, let me just discuss the exercise portion of the equation and then we can go into what could be the underlying problem. Let’s start with the resistance training aspect of your program. For your objective of decreasing body fat and maintaining/increasing lean muscle mass, metabolic resistance training circuits are probably your best solution. A sample metabolic workout would be as follows:

Perform the following workout three times per week on non-consecutive days for four weeks. In addition, the exercises should be performed in a circuit (i.e. one exercise after another until all exercises are completed in the circuit; then you will rest for two minutes and repeat the circuit two or three more times).

1) Split Squat: 3 sets, 8-10 reps/side; 15 seconds rest

2) Flat Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets, 8-10 reps; 15 seconds rest

3) Dumbell Straight Leg Deadlift: 3 sets, 8-10 reps; 15 seconds rest

4) One Arm Dumbbell Rows: 3 sets, 8-10 reps/side; 15 seconds rest

5) Jumping Jacks: 3 sets, 30 seconds; 15 seconds rest

6) Swiss Ball Rollout: 3 sets, 10-12 reps; 120 seconds rest

On the days in between your strength training workouts, you can perform interval training (up to three times per week) on the stationary bike — or if you have access to running outside that would be even better. Warm up for three to five minutes of either light cycling, if using the bike, or brisk walking/light jogging if you’re running outside. After the warm up, perform your first 60-second work interval (at an RPE of 7.5-8.5) and then use a 120-second recovery interval (at an RPE of 3.5-4.5). Repeat this process five more times for week 1.

Each week, you will add an additional interval to your workout so that by week 4, you will be performing eight intervals per workout. After the last interval is completed in each workout, take three to five minutes to cool down (same process as the warm up).

As for the underlying issues that may be effecting your ability to lose that armpit body fat, imbalances in our hormones can cause us to lay down body fat in certain areas — belly fat, for example, is largely due to disturbances in cortisol and insulin levels. Flab on the back of the triceps and that bubble above your strapless dress can indicate low testosterone. Testosterone is one of the main “lean hormones” for both men and women — and it’s often overlooked in women.

Females already have much lower testosterone levels than men, but many women can be low even for their sex due to stress and a few very common mistakes: Inadequate protein intake, not lifting heavy enough weights, not training intensely enough (i.e. doing longer distance, moderate intensity cardio vs. burst/sprint type cardio), not getting enough sleep and increasing their estrogen exposure through hormone-laden meat and dairy, plastic water bottles, medications like birth control pills and even cosmetic ingredients such as parabens (common preservatives).

Not sure what weights to use when working out? Find out whether you should pick up light or heavy dumbbells.

For more information on how to implement and overall lifestyle strategy to effectively lose body fat, feel free to check out my upcoming book, along with Brooke Kalanick, naturopathic doctor and fat loss specialist, entitled Ultimate You.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Pilates Mar 09, 2010, 1:00 am.

pilates

The original Pilates workout consisted of 34 floor or padded mat exercises and then later transformed into equipment use. The Reformer is the most popular piece of equipment used for Pilates. It consists of a platform that moves back and forth and the resistance is determined by the exerciser’s body weight as well as the springs that are attached to the platform. It is used to improve flexibility, core strength and endurance, and total body strength and endurance.

Beginners should start with the floor exercises then advance to the Reformer or other more advanced Pilates equipment.

Benefits of Pilates:

1. Improve flexibility
2. Improve posture
3. Increase energy
4. Improve muscular strength
5. Improve muscular endurance
6. Increase core strength and endurance
7. Reduce the risk of injury
8. Great modification to normal weight training routines
9. Reduce back pain
10. Great exercise during pregnancy (under expert supervision)

Pre-Pilates Stretching Routine

Below is sample stretching routine to help prepare you and your body for Pilates. I recommend maintaining each position for two sets of 20 second holds. Good luck!

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

A Beginner’s Guide to Pilates

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