Cardio Exercise…

A huge variety of fitness activities provide cardiovascular benefits. If you’re breathing hard and can feel your heart beating, you’re doing cardio. Because walking is fun, easy, and requires little time and no financial investment, it’s our top choice for cardiovascular activity.

Walking uses your body’s largest muscle group, your legs. Because it’s rhythmic (you repeat the same basic movements), and it’s aerobic (you take in and use more oxygen than usual), when walking is sustained for more than several minutes at a time it provides fantastic cardiovascular benefits – including weight loss – and can be quickly and easily implemented into your daily routine.

Walking at a moderate pace for about 30-60 minutes burns stored fat, and can build muscle to help speed up your metabolism, burning fat even while you sleep! So, let’s start moving…

First, wake up your muscles by walking at a warm-up pace for five minutes, signaling to your muscles that they can’t just sit back and burn up the available sugars, they need to tap into your fat reserves. This means not starting your daily walk at a high speed. On the contrary, a low-intensity or low-speed start signals your muscles that you are engaging in a long-term activity, prompting the burning of stored fat, and not just sugar burning.

After five minutes, pick up the pace. The speed to walk at for optimal fat burning is a “determined” pace, at which rate you should be breathing noticeably harder, but still able to carry on a conversation in full sentences. By doing this, you raise your heart rate to about 70% of your maximum heart rate, which acts as a
catalyst for burning stored fat.

Try walking as though you’re 15 minutes late for an important appointment. Now, start with walking at this pace for 30 minutes each day. For optimal weight loss, walk at least 5 days of the week, with weekly time spent walking eventually reaching 5 or more hours each week.

Use the following “cheat sheet” to help implement a quick and easy walking program into your daily routine:

Start with a few gentle stretches

Begin walking at an easy pace for five minutes

Walk 30-60 minutes at about 70% of your maximum heart rate

Cool down at a slower pace for 5 minutes

Finish with a few gentle stretches

For longer walks, walk 60 minutes at your target heart rate, and slow down a bit to complete 90 or 120 minutes at a comfortable pace

Walking an hour a day is also associated with drastically decreasing your risk of heart disease, breast cancer, colon cancer, diabetes and stroke. Find time to work one-hour walks into your life. It’s well worth waking up an hour early to do so. After all, aren’t you worth it?

When you feel you can comfortably walk an hour on a single day each week, try the following weekly schedule for increased weight loss and added health benefits, alternating the days to fit your personal weekly schedule:

Sunday: Long Day, 90+ minutes

Monday: Day Off

Tuesday: Short Day, 30+ minutes

Wednesday: Short Day, 30+ minutes

Thursday: Long Day, 90+ minutes

Friday: Short Day, 30+ minutes

Saturday: Long Day, 60+ minutes

On all days, remember to start with some light stretches. Start walking slow for 5 minutes. Walk at your “determined” pace of 70% of your maximum heart rate for the time specified, concluding with an easy pace for five minutes. Always finish with gentle stretching. Lastly, when walking for weight loss, you should take no more than one to two days off each week.

Keep up the water intake and your new ‘fat loss’ walking program – I’ll see you in 7 days to check in on your progress and to give you the second Secret in our Health & Fitness Tactics Course.

For a ton of f.ree, valuable tips, tricks, and secrets visit: http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com

© 2002-2005 Wisdom Books, LLC & Christopher Guerriero WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Christopher Guerriero, is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center and a best-selling author, speaker, and coach to millions. He is creator of the award-winning ‘Maximize Your Metabolism’ system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for FR*EE how-to articles and F.REE teleseminars, visit http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com

One of the most important things you can do for fat loss, controlling weight gain and for overall health is often overlooked. MORE SLEEP! Yes, you actually need to sleep more to gain less!

A lack of sleep could be contributing to America’s obesity epidemic. A recent Columbia University study found that not getting enough sleep could put you at increased risk for weight gain.

The study, presented at the meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, analyzed data from 18,000 adults and found that those who slept less than the recommended seven hours a night had an increased risk of obesity. People who slept for less than four hours per night were 73 percent more likely to be obese than those who slept for seven to nine hours. Getting five hours of sleep or less decreased that risk to 50 percent, and getting six hours or less decreased it even more to 23 percent.

While it’s still unclear exactly what causes this increased risk, scientists believe that lack of sleep lowers the amount of leptin your body produces. Leptin is a protein that suppresses appetite and is responsible for telling your brain when your stomach is full. In addition, when you are sleep-deprived, you are less able to make clear decisions and may eat more food than your body actually needs.

What’s the lesson? A good night’s sleep is not only critical for your mental health; it may also be a crucial part of your diet.

So, good night and sleep tight!

Be well & stay fit!

Aimee Deak

Aimee Deak is a certified personal trainer, nutrition analyst and author of the book, “Every Body Loses”, an easy-to follow,
step-by-step guide to fat loss.

You can find more information about fat loss and exercise on her
website http://www.aim4nutrition.com

Pilates is an excellent exercise for dancers because it helps move the body to optimum health with a smooth range of flowing movement – while building strength and agility.
But what makes Pilates such a sought-after exercise regimen?
Joseph Hubertus Pilates developed this highly acclaimed restorative exercise system approximately 80 years ago. As a child, Joseph was often prone to illness. He caught many afflictions including Rheumatic Heart Disease. While suffering many of these dreadful afflictions he sought to strengthen himself through physical activity. He later took up boxing, circus performing and also became a gymnast to try to restore his strength and improve his health.
Actually while taking part in these sports, he developed his own style of exercise, which helped him regain his health. The years of regaining his personal strength and health led to him using these same methods on others who were also ill.

During World War I (WWI) while interning in England he worked as a nurse in the hospital implementing his strict exercise system on the patients who were ill. And during this time Spanish influenza took over the lives of many. However, the patients under Joseph’s care survived the disease, which brought the attention of many leaders – specifically Hitler who requested his services to train his troops. However, Joseph declined and continued his exercise system to restore the health and fitness of his patients.
Joseph later left England to start a new life in America. It is here that he met his wife Clara who at the time, was a trained nurse. They later married and opened up their own studio using the skills they had acquired over the years – specifically Joseph’s successful fitness exercise program. He and his wife helped restore the bodies of regular citizens who flocked to their studio, but became even more recognized as the two who could restore the bodies of dancers and theatre workers. They helped many with injuries, rehabilitation, general fitness and posture.

At the time, Joseph also developed several pieces of equipment that were very effective at improving the flexibility, strength and stability of his patients. The word spread rapidly about their studio and Pilates slowly became known for what it is today – one of the safest and most effective ways at obtaining optimal health and fitness.
That is why many movie stars like Madonna, Daisy Fuentes, Julia Roberts and Brooke Shields have praised its effectiveness. Well, actually you can see the effectiveness of Pilates by simply looking at the physiques of these beautiful celebrities. Pilates helps maintain the shapes of these movie stars by integrating body and mind.

The execution of simple, yet small repetitions of exercise over the common repeated exercise repetitions make Pilates a unique yet effective way to restore the body to the best level of health and fitness. It’s a refreshing and therapeutic way to add flexibility and strength to your body while improving your posture.
Want longer, leaner muscles? Pilates is a must for both fitness enthusiasts and those looking for a new way to get in shape. Dancers will definitely find it one of the best workout routines to build strength and agility, which are essential to dance.

Evan Margolin shares his passion for salsa through his premier salsa studio DancsSF, in the Bay Area. Evan says, “If you want to achieve the Dancer’s body, you have got to try PilatesforDancers.” (http://www.PilatesforDancers.com)