Archive for category Health on Military
What is a Fitness Boot Camp?
Fitness boot camps are popping up everywhere and not everyone is sure what they are. The idea behind a boot camp came from the Military. When a person enters into the military they are required to go through a training period. Part of this requires serious physical fitness workouts that quickly get people into amazing shape. The fitness industry has revolutionized the physical fitness side of the military boot camps to provide people with intense workouts, without having to enlist in the Military.
Boot camp workouts include cardio, resistance training, stretching, balance, core exercises, and sometimes Yoga and/or Pilates. They are designed to provide you with the most efficient and effective workout in the least amount of time. Boot camps not only help people lose weight but they also improve your balance, posture, endurance, flexibility, strength, and confidence.
Too Tired? Don’t Have Time? The Answer to Overcoming Exercise Obstacles
There just never seems to be enough time to squeeze everything into the day that we need to get done. Have you ever found yourself skipping a day or two of working out because too many other things needed your attention? You didn’t feel like you had the time today to spend an hour at the gym.
Christian Fitness to the rescue! No we’re not going to clean your house for you or do the laundry, but we do have some advice on how to squeeze in a quick half hour workout when you are feeling unmotivated. We’ve learned to multi-task in every other facet of our lives, so why not put those same principles into your workout. We don’t recommend this as your regular routine, but it’s great to do once every other week or on those days when you are thinking about skipping the gym or not working out at all.
Five Excuses Not to Train, Why They Suck, and How to Overcome Them
There are always excuses when it comes to hard work. It’s inevitable…much like death and taxes. There is always a reason why so-and-so can’t do such-and-such….and often times those excuses are completely rediculous. As a leader and trainer of Soldiers, I’ve heard all sorts of excuses as to why Private Schmuckatelli can’t (doesn’t want to) do this run or hard PT session. Of course more often than not the good Private is informed it would be in his/her best interest to shut up, get back in formation, and just do it…but what about the folks whose motivation has to come from within themselves, and not from some angry, fire-breathing Drill Sergeant who looks like he could swallow you whole?
Often the best intentions of people to get in shape are derailed by their own inner monologue. That lazy, pessimistic, doubting voice inside their own head that tells them there are plenty of reasons why they should skip the workout today…maybe go back to bed, or hell…go ahead, stay out late and have another beer. “Why not…we can always make that run up later…” Yeah, roger. Later is a relative term. If they don’t do their workout in the morning…and continue to put it off for another month before they finally get back on the track, then technically, he DID do it later, right? You get what I mean…there is always something. Well…what do you do when that little voice of self-doubt takes the gag out of it’s mouth and chimes in with it’s two cents? How do you deal with the early mornings, lack of motivation, occasional aches and pains…whatever? How do you put all that out of your mind and just do what you need to do to improve? Here are five excuses I’ve heard constantly along with some suggestions for dealing with them.
Strength Training
I’ve just read a wonderful book on strength training called “Modern Trends in Strength Training,” by Charles Poliquin and I think you’ll find this information interesting.
In order to have a successful resistance training program for strength, you must consider the concept of maximal voluntary contraction. This can be defined as the ability or attempt to recruit as many motor units as possible to develop force. Intensity is the key here. In order to increase intensity, a person must work at a higher percentage of their maximum ability by lifting heavier weights or moving the weight faster. Proponents of the “super slow” weight-training programs claim their programs are more intense however, reducing the speed of movement merely increases the time under tension not the intensity.