What is the purpose of a heart rate monitor?

j0438743You see them at the gym and running down the trails. You even see them on your home workout DVD’s being used by the trainers and the exercisers alike. But what is the purpose of a heart rate monitor exactly? Well, there are several reasons one may want to use a heart rate monitor. Depending on your fitness goals and your current shape, your reasons could be different. In the case of most workout programs, however, the reason to use a heart rate monitor is to ensure you get the absolute most out of your workouts.

 

A heart rate monitor reads the electrical signal of your heart. They process this electric beat with a small computer, relaying to you just how many times your heart is beating per minute. Some more high tech heart rate monitors can track the history of your heart rate and let you know how long you spend at a certain rate.

 

What is the purpose of a heart rate monitor? In most cases people use them to ensure they are getting the most out of their workouts.

 

This brings us to the question what is the purpose of a heart rate monitor and how can you use one in your daily workouts. With each workout you want to be working in a target heart rate zone. This means you want to have your heart rate elevated just enough to ensure your heart and your body is both getting an optimal workout. When you work within the target heart rate zone you will burn maximum calories, leading to better workout results.

 

Your target heart rate can be determined in a number of ways. Check out this chart from the American Heart Association basing your target heart rate on your age and a series of averages. If you want a more precise number, try this formula that uses your resting heart rate to calculate.

 

Once you know your target heart rate it becomes apparent what is the purpose of a heart rate monitor. Workout without enough intensity and you won’t see the results you want. Workout too hard and you run the risk of overdoing it.

 

For more information on using a heart rate monitor, type “heart rate monitor” in the blog search box above and to your right. There you will find several posts with valuable information.

Healthy Eating Tips: Where to get them

j0438697I am a big fan of simple tips. Fitness, health, diet, and time management tips are just a few of the things I like to find online and in books and magazines. Healthy eating tips are especially beneficial when you are trying to lose weight or change your eating habits. Tips like these can be short, effective ways to make eating better simple. You can find them on front pages of online magazines and in blogs like this one. But some of the best healthy eating tips come from the source, people who already eat healthy.

 

Look around, there are health nuts everywhere. Maybe you work with a marathoner or a busy mom who always manages to look like a fitness instructor. Your best friend may have no problems managing their weight and fitness.

 

Chances are there are several great resources for healthy eating tips already present in your life. Use them!

 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Most often, these people are proud of their lifestyle and more than willing to share. You would be surprised at the great deal of healthy eating tips you can get from people in your world.

 

I remember asking a friend, who was formerly a trainer, a very casual question about glute exercises. The following day I had a workout plan in my email inbox. Not one he found online, but one he created for me, just because.

 

Healthy eaters are the same way. The majority of them do little things throughout their life to make their healthy choices easier and they would love to share these with the world. Whether those healthy eating tips involve proportioning snack foods into Ziploc bags or always keeping frozen fruit on hand for hot summer sweet cravings, healthy folks can be a great source of high quality and easy tips.

 

And, as always, keep coming back here for great tips on staying fit and healthy!

What is the Best Protein Shake?

87844_vascolThere are many supplements on the market claiming to be the best. Afterall, a good supplement company should have enough pride in their product to believe they have the best to offer people. However, not every supplement can be the best. By knowing what to look for you can determine what is the best protein shake options with ease.

 

Knowing what to look for when searching out what is the best protein shake is crucial. The packaging doesn’t make the best supplement, nor does the thousands of dollar potentially spent on marketing and celebrity endorsements. The answer to the question “What is the best protein shake?” comes from looking at the ingredients contained within and the company behind the product.

 

There are several options when choosing a protein shake. Many shakes get their protein from milk, casein, soy, or egg. When determining which protein source you want in your shakes, you should know that many people consider the answer to “what is the best protein shake”, to be whey protein.

 

Whey protein is derived from milk. The difference between milk protein and whey protein, however, is that whey protein contains no fat and no lactose. This means with whey protein you get the benefits of a high quality protein source without the negative attributes of others.

 

What is the best protein shake should be answered by also considering the company that produces the shake. A high quality protein shake should come from a company known for their fitness smarts. Companies like Beachbody know a thing or two about what makes a fit body and how to incorporate high quality supplements into a fitness program.

 

In addition to seeking out a premium protein shake, like the Beachbody Whey Protein Powders, keep in mind that there are additional sources of high quality protein. Other options include protein bars and even the P90X Recovery Formula.

P90X+, Do You Think You're Ready?

p90x_plus_tonyIn all of the best workout programs, you progress. When you started P90X you may have wondered if you would make it through. Waking up in the morning with muscles so sore you could scream, you may have even toyed with quitting. But, if you are now considering P90X+ as your next move, you obviously didn’t give up. 90 days of P90X has you toned and fit. If you followed the program correctly, you saw some dramatic changes in the way you look and the way you feel. P90X+ is next on the menu.

 

P90X+ (P90X Plus) is to P90X as P90X is to Power 90. None of these workout systems are for the faint of heart, but P90X+ is the fitness king of them all. With P90X+ you will go from finally getting ahead with P90X to feeling the burn all over again.

 

As you completed the 90 day P90X program your body adjusted to the demands you made of it. With these demands came fat loss and muscle gain. As this happened the P90X workouts became easier and easier. In order to continue to make progress, a change is needed. P90X+ will bring that change and another opportunity for you to really bring it.

 

P90X+ is a companion to the P90X system. You won’t completely abandon the P90X workouts, you will simply add the new P90X+ workouts to your regimen. Six new workouts make up the P90X+ system. Those workouts include Interval X Plus, Cardio Kenpo Plus, Upper Plus, Total Body Plus, and Abs/Core Plus.

 

These 5 new workouts will give your muscles something to scream about again. Tony Horton keeps bringing the burn with this system and ensures that those P90X graduates who are craving more will find a system to challenge them and continue to bring major results.

 

P90X+ is the big brother of the P90X system. It is for those who have completed P90X and are ready for another challenge.

P90X+, Do You Think You’re Ready?

p90x_plus_tonyIn all of the best workout programs, you progress. When you started P90X you may have wondered if you would make it through. Waking up in the morning with muscles so sore you could scream, you may have even toyed with quitting. But, if you are now considering P90X+ as your next move, you obviously didn’t give up. 90 days of P90X has you toned and fit. If you followed the program correctly, you saw some dramatic changes in the way you look and the way you feel. P90X+ is next on the menu.

 

P90X+ (P90X Plus) is to P90X as P90X is to Power 90. None of these workout systems are for the faint of heart, but P90X+ is the fitness king of them all. With P90X+ you will go from finally getting ahead with P90X to feeling the burn all over again.

 

As you completed the 90 day P90X program your body adjusted to the demands you made of it. With these demands came fat loss and muscle gain. As this happened the P90X workouts became easier and easier. In order to continue to make progress, a change is needed. P90X+ will bring that change and another opportunity for you to really bring it.

 

P90X+ is a companion to the P90X system. You won’t completely abandon the P90X workouts, you will simply add the new P90X+ workouts to your regimen. Six new workouts make up the P90X+ system. Those workouts include Interval X Plus, Cardio Kenpo Plus, Upper Plus, Total Body Plus, and Abs/Core Plus.

 

These 5 new workouts will give your muscles something to scream about again. Tony Horton keeps bringing the burn with this system and ensures that those P90X graduates who are craving more will find a system to challenge them and continue to bring major results.

 

P90X+ is the big brother of the P90X system. It is for those who have completed P90X and are ready for another challenge.

How Omega 3 Fish Oil Tablets Can Benefit You

j0400633Omega 3 Fish Oil Tablets are a great way to get omega 3 fatty acids in your diet. They are simple and reasonably priced. They don’t require you to eat fatty fish every day but are meant as a supplement to an already balanced diet. Omega 3 fats have been shown to have numerous positive effects on general health and omega 3 fish oil tablets give you convenient delivery of these powerful fats.

 

Omega 3 fats are an essential fat. What that means is they must come from your diet; they are not produced by the body. Just how beneficial these fats are continues to be studied. There are numerous studies currently out suggesting these fats have far reaching benefits, however.

 

A diet rich in omega 3’s like those found in omega 3 fish oil tablets can improve cardiovascular health, for starters. Omega 3’s have a natural tendency to reduce inflammation throughout the body. This doesn’t only mean they are beneficial in regulating such pain disorders as arthritis but can also work to decrease blood pressure and improve brain function.

 

There is even recent evidence that supplementing your diet with omega 3 fish oil tablets can improve your mood. Check out this article I posted a few months back on the effects of omega 3 fats on mood disorders like depression.

 

Fatty fish like salmon and sardines are rich in omega 3 fats. This is why omega 3 fish oil tablets are such a potent way of getting the essential fats. Because not many of us get enough fatty fish in our diets, omega 3 supplements make it easy.

 

Omega 3 fish oil tablets like the Core Omega 3 capsules we sell here are a great way to ensure you are getting all of the benefits of a diet rich in Omega 3 fatty acids. One thing that makes these capsules different is the fats are released in the intestine rather than the stomach. This reduces the common fish burps that many people experience with other omega 3 fish oil tablets.

 

Omega 3 supplements are a great addition to any healthy diet.

Why Use Extra Thick Yoga Mats

j0407309The yoga craze is still in full force. Don’t expect this to be a fad though. Yoga is a wonderful way to build long lean muscle, keep your body limber, and reduce stress. It is one of the oldest forms of exercise in the world and it has lasted this long for a reason, because it works. Yoga doesn’t require any fancy tools or accessories. You only need a mat and some water for hydrating. With all of the options out there, however, why would you want to use an extra thick yoga mat?

 

Yoga mats serve a few different purposes in the typical yoga workout. One of these purposes is to give your palms and feet a good grip surface. Yoga has you in many different inverted poses. You will spend a lot of time with your hands on the floor with yoga routines like Yoga X in the P90X series. Stretching and holding poses requires your hands and feet not to slip out from under you. Yoga mats provide a slightly sticky surface to keep you stationary like carpeting can’t.

 

Another good reason for extra thick yoga mats: cushioning. Yoga is not a high impact workout. However, the cushioning provided in extra thick yoga mats is easy on the joints and your feet and hands. Yoga is done in your bare feet; a cushioned surface makes the workout more comfortable to all of your parts.

 

Here at ExtremeBody Workout, we have one last reason for using extra thick yoga mats. That reason is the Plyometrics DVD of P90X. If you have the P90X system you will want to own a yoga mat not only for the Yoga X but also for the high impact Plyometrics workout. This is where the cushioning really pays off.

 

If you are in the market for extra thick yoga mats, take a look at the Manduka Plyo/Yoga Mat that offers ¼ inch of cushioning.

Good Exercises to Jump Higher

j0430607There are many possible reasons you could be looking for exercises to jump higher. Perhaps you play basketball or aspire to dunk on your friends in your next pick-up game. Maybe you just started track and field and are looking to improve your high jump. Whatever the case, there are many people out there interested in exercises to jump higher. Well, practice makes perfect so one of the first ways to ensure you are getting maximum spring is by jumping!

 

Let’s talk about what a jump is before we delve into finding exercises to jump higher. A jump occurs when force is applied to a stationary surface, which propels a reactionary force propelling you, the jumper, into the air. You’ve heard the old adage “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”? Well that applies here.

 

The key to jumping higher is increasing the force you apply to the ground. This force is where you find your spring and what propels you into the air.

 

The force we are talking about is generated when you prepare to jump. If you are doing a stationary jump, this force is marked by a slight bend at the knees right before you push off. That push is the force. And that push is governed by the muscles in your legs and glutes primarily.

 

Good exercises to jump higher will involve strengthening those muscles that propel your jumps. Strength training your legs and glutes are a surefire way to increase the force which you apply to the ground when preparing to jump. Weighted squats and step ups are a good place to start.

 

In addition, practicing your jump moves will strengthen those muscles and train them for the powerful spring action. The P90X Plyometrics DVD workout delivers some serious jump training. Plyometrics is actually called “jump training”. It trains the body to react with strong and fast movements.

 

For additional in-depth information about plyometrics, check out this blog post.

 

Strengthening the muscles used in jumping and practicing your explosive power moves will all but guarantee more powerful and higher jumps.