Showing posts with label new york sports clubs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york sports clubs. Show all posts

11/25/2012

Your Holiday Survival Workouts

Welcome to the most gluttonous of seasons.  Just when you need it most, here are a couple of quick workout programs  to help you get the most out of your time in the gym.  

Whether you're a veteran of the gym or a beginner, when it comes to working out during the holiday season, less is more. It's all about spending less time and burning more calories in the time that you have . . . so that you can have fun and enjoy the season. As always, start with some stretching and 5 minute of cardio, and use any additional time at the end of your workout for a cardio cooldown and stretch.

Here are two workouts that burn more calories by emphasizing the big muscles (legs, back and chest), and working in a continuous circuit to keep your heart rate up:

If you're currently working on NYSC's XpressLine, or looking for a quick and effective workout that's appropriate for any fitness level, try this XpressLine Holiday Edition workout. It's a superset circuit that combines most of the XpressLine machines with other exercises. This workout can be done with no rest in between if you're sufficiently fit. Supersets are two exercises done in succession.

The Holiday Survival Workout is a more advanced circuit that includes total body exercises and several supersets. Total body exercises simultaneously use upper and lower body muscles to maximize your calorie burn. Pre planned exercise circuits are a good way to keep your heart rate up during your workout, another great way to get more results in less time.

Try both, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

1/24/2012

You Made the Resolution to Exercise, Now What?

Every year I'm encouraged to see hundreds of people who succeed in making fitness a part of their lives, and end up better for it. They enjoy a healthier lifestyle, feel better and look better, and hopefully live longer too.

 
The two biggest barriers I see people encountering are unrealistic expectations and maintaining consistency. It is easy to be discouraged when you don't instantly pick up new things, struggle with the effort, don't see results quickly enough, or find it difficult to work exercise into your schedule. But is there any question that if you do stick with it you will be better off?

 
Keep these facts in mind to keep you going:

 
Burn 3500 calories (or eat 3500 fewer) to lose a pound of fat.

Exercise at least 150 minutes per week to maintain health and body composition, preferably 30 minutes per day for at least 5 days according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

It takes about 16 exercise sessions over several weeks to increase the size of muscle according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

You cannot spot reduce <, according to the American Council on Exercise. Focus on aerobic and strength training to burn calories so that the body draws on stored fat.

See your doctor before beginning an exercise program.

 
How To Stick To Your New Fitness Program
6 Tips to Keep You On Track
Originally Published in January 2010

 
#1 make an appointment with yourself and stick to it. Adherence to the program is your biggest challenge, put your appointments in your calendar and don't cancel

 
#2 clearly define your goals, be realistic, and break them up into small, achievable pieces. This gives the opportunity for positive reinforcement along the way

 
#3 meet with a qualified professional to assess your needs and abilities, and develop a program that is appropriate for you. The exercises you did 10 years ago on the basketball team (or before your shoulder injury) are no longer appropriate

 
#4 don't overdo it. Start slowly - half of all new gym members have an injury in the first 6 months, the last thing you need is to get benched for a month or two

 
#5 be prepared to change your program after 4-6 weeks. Your body adapts to your routine during this time and will need an additional challenge for continued results

 
#6 keep it interesting and have fun. Whether it is a workout buddy, a class or a trainer that gets you interested and motivated, this is really important to keeping you coming back.

5/03/2010

Interval Training: Burn More Calories. Improve Performance. Reduce Exercise Time.

Yes this sounds almost too good to be true.

Interval Training involves alternating between higher and lower intensity in your cardio workout. It could be right for you if you have a good cardio base and want to improve performance or results. If you're just beginning to train, we start by getting your cardio base established first, and prepare your body for the demands of this training. A cardio base is usually established with moderate exercise, 60-70% of your maximum heart rate or a rate of perceived exertion of about 5-6 on a scale of 10*. (A simple estimate of your maximum heart rate is 220-your age, I can give you a better estimate if you give me your age and resting pulse).

Research shows that Interval Training burns more calories than training at a steady rate, partly because it raises your metabolism for 2-3 hours after you stop exercising. The scientific term for this phenomenon is EPOC for Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption. It also seems to cause molecular changes in the muscle that increase fat burning. Interval Training may also improve your performance by increasing your body's ability to remove lactate from the bloodstream, so it can help well-trained people get to the next level. This point is often described as reaching your anaerobic threshold or "going anaerobic". Scientists now believe that "going anaerobic" is a myth, - along with "the myth of the Fat Burning Zone." Remember that you burn more TOTAL calories in the cardio zone than in the fat burning zone, and interval training can help you get there. Numerous studies have shown that for many people, interval training produces better results in less time than steady state aerobic training.

A typical starting interval training program might consist of a warmup followed by 60 seconds of high intensity exercise followed by 90 seconds of recovery at a lower intensity repeated about ten times. As you become more conditioned, decrease the recovery to 60 seconds. In more advanced programs, the high intensity intervals can be 2-3 minutes long, with rest periods equal to or less than the high intensity interval. High intensity exercise generally means that your heart rate is 75-85% of maximum, and the recovery rate is about 60%. To use rate of perceived exertion, you should feel that you're at about 8-9 on a difficulty scale of 1-10 in the high intensity period, and about 5-6 in the lower intensity period.

You can do interval training on any cardio equipment, or with other activities such as running or jumping rope. Beginners may get their heart rate up with walking on a treadmill and varying the incline, while very fit people will need to do something more challenging.

4/30/2010

Special Feature: Interview with NYSC Spin Master Rob Merluza

A snowstorm in February provided a long-awaited opportunity for me join one of Rob's spin classes at NYSC Wall Street --- his classes and my evening schedule are usually totally booked. We followed up with an interview:
Q: What's the Goal of Your Class? My classes are tailored to maximize effectiveness in 45 minutes. The focus is high intensity interval training, one of the best ways to maximize results.

Q: What Sets your Classes Apart? The thing I'm known for is that my classes simulate an outdoor ride, simulate real hill climbs. To round out the experience and make it enjoyable, I use tailor each song to the exercise, providing a nice rhythm and beat to accompany the ride.

Q: How do you keep it going? My classes focus on different areas such endurance, strength with increasing resistance, staying in the aerobic zone. I throw in a kicker - sprints - to get the class into a higher zone, increase heart rate and calorie expenditure, really tax the system. Throughout, I'm always cognizant of providing adequate recovery between sprints and intervals.

Q: What else can your students expect to learn? I touch on proper form and technique, improved pedal stroke, body alignment and positioning - so that the body works in synergy with the bike.

Q: Can you tell us some of the benefits of your class? Beginners can expect to burn about 400 calories in a class. They may not do all sprints or have endurance to maintain a high energy level throughout, but will feel a sense of accomplishment, get a good workout, and begin building their aerobic base. Moderate to Advanced students can burn 500-800 calories. I focus on challenging them to increase resistance, go harder on sprints, and maintain a high level of intensity.

Q: What about results? I've had members who've lost 30-100 pounds - including one of your clients who combined my spin classes with your strength training program and had great results. They also gain increased endurance, improved strength and leaner appearance. With advanced riders and triathletes, I focus on creating a "strong engine" for the ride - a combination of form, position, pedal stroke and aerobic base.

Rob's Spin classes are Thursday at 6PM and Friday at 530PM at NYSC Wall Street, advance reservations required call 212.482.4800.

9/09/2009

Deep Core Training

PUBLIC ENEMY #1 - THE CHAIR

The problem with most People's Cores? Sit all day and the inner abdominal muscles and glutes get stretched out and weak, hip flexors and low back get short and tight...leading to low back pain, poor balance and other potential problems. Then you try to get active and things can really fall apart.

The problem with most people's core training programs?
1) too much emphasis on external abdominal exercises (crunches) and hip flexion (knee and leg raises);
2) not enough work on inner abdominals and glutes and stabilization while performing movement;
3) too many seated or lying exercise and machines, especially after sitting all day at work;
4 )inadequate or poorly targeted stretching;
5) lack of progression beyond a few basic exercises and failure to integrate movements with core stabilization.

Poor exercise selection can actually cause or exacerbate low back pain. However, an effectively designed fitness program can help protect you from injury and may speed your recovery. Some of the principles of these programs come from yoga and pilates, but you can actually incorporate them into a more traditional strength and conditioning program and progress them to provide continued improvement.

Here is a four step program that you can start to take to improve and train your innermost core:

Step 1- Flexibility: You can't properly work a muscle when the opposing muscles or synergists are tight and overactive, because your joints are in poor alignment. You're also more susceptible to injury. Most readers will benefit from a program like the one presented in the Ultimate Flexibility post, click here for a downloadable copy.

Step 2-Static Core Activation & Strengthening: Wake up the muscles that have been asleep all day long! These exercises focus on activating and strengthening the core in a stationary position, good examples include the 'plank' and quadruped with raised arm and leg. Static strengthening is a good start, but you'll also want to include exercises that train your core to stabilize your body as you perform movements.

Step 3-Integrated Core Training: Activate your core as you perform strength exercises for chest, back, arms, legs, shoulders - any muscle at all. Examples include single leg versions of standing chest press, rows, biceps curls, triceps extensions, as well as lunges and exercises performed on balance boards and stability balls. It is more challenging to stabilize as your perform the exercises, and these exercises train your core to stabilize in different ways that static core training. Once you've mastered this phase with good form throughout, you are ready to add more complex, dynamic movements that require core stabilization throughout.

Step 4-Dynamic Core Training: Here, we stabilize as we move multiple muscle groups together or move in multiple planes of motion, requiring constant effort to stabilize. A few examples include walking lunges with rotation and a step to balance, or a single arm row with a reverse lunge and step to balance, or multi-planar step ups onto a bench with balance and a biceps curl. These may sound over complicated, but they can be graceful to watch and help you stay balanced and on your feet when - for example - you have a near miss on the football field, track or crossing the street.



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