Want The Answer To A Really Great Workout - Start With Medicine Balls

If you are anything like me, then you have probably been working with the same type of workout now for quite awhile. Sure you may have changed up an exercise here and there but it is still basically the same old routine. How about changing it up even more by adding in a medicine ball? Some people have heard of, or have used one but there may be many that have not. This article will show how this simple ball can be a very key piece of your workout when you are trying to lose weight by exercising or even if you are just trying to stay in your current shape. Let's now outline how you can utilize these medicine balls to kick start your workouts back into fast forward allowing you to start to once again see the training results you once did.

A Medicine Ball?

For those folks that have not had the luxury of being able to use medicine balls, the following will serve as a brief explanation of what they are and how they can be effectively used. Another term that you may hear when dealing with medicine balls is exercise balls. They are for all intents and purposes the same thing. The power of these balls are that they come in different weights and also in different diameters. Each one could potentially have different uses (more on that later). These balls are typically not made for bouncing. Medicine balls are typically covered in some type of vinyl, leather or nylon cloth and will usually be filled with gel, sand or lead shot (depending on the weights required). The outside surface is very similar to that of a basketball, in that it is quite dimpled. This dimpling helps you maintain grip on the ball when your hands start to sweat. So as previously mentioned, these balls come in different weights. As you become more accustomed to using them in your workout, you will want to keep increasing their weights so that you get the maximum workout possible. Think of the weights as you would a barbell or dumbbell, as your body gets used to one weight you want to increase it to move past your bodies plateau.

So I can hear your inner voice saying, but I already have dumbbells and barbells. Why would I need to get medicine balls as well? So if you are hoping to build up your core set of muscles or if you are looking to remove a few inches from your waistline, then medicine ball exercises are the perfect one's for you. So I can hear you saying that you can't see how strengthening your core will help you with your weight loss ventures. To put it simply, you need a strong core to reduce the likelihood of injuries from almost any other activity that you do. Your core muscles help to control the movement of your upper and lower torso. Bike riding for longer distances and boxing are two activities that require a strong core.

Medicine Ball Exercises

As with any exercise routine, you must make sure that you are fully warmed up as the additional weight of the medicine ball could potentially cause injury to cold muscles. Try modifying some of your current workout routines by adding in medicine ball variations. Let's take the common sit-up as an example. While these may be difficult for some people as is, let's now add a medicine ball into the mix. Pick up your medicine ball and hold it against your chest as you move your upper torso back and forth. Nothing like a bit of extra weight for you to have to move with your abdominals. This modification will make these exercises tougher but the results will be worth it. If these are too tough at first, try adding them in to every other workout until your body starts to get used to them. These modification exercises are great ways to lose weight by exercising.

So let's look at other types of exercises that could involve the medicine ball. These workouts are going to require another person to help you out. Get the other person to throw you the ball, but instead of catching it only using your hands, try and catch it and cradle it at the same time using your abdominal muscles (i.e. your stomach). This is a double benefit exercise. When you are tossing the ball you will need to use your core muscles, but when catching it your abdominals are the muscles at work. You can also use the medicine ball to help you perform some deeper stretching. Stretch as you normally would, but hold onto the ball so that weight helps you get deeper into the move. Besides allowing you to stretch farther, the extra weight will also be working on your stabilizer muscles.

So as you can see, a medicine ball can be used in quite a few different ways. These few examples were for illustration purposes only. There are many more types of exercises that could also be used. The longer you use these balls the stronger your core will become. A proper diet will also have a big impact on you if one of your goals is to lose weight by exercising. Want to get the results that you have been dreaming of; use the medicine ball.

Kevin is the author of this article and he is passionate about actively living a healthy lifestyle. He believes fitness plays a vital role in each of our lives.
To learn about more ways to lose weight by exercising you can check out his website here:

http://www.loseweightbyexercising.com

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P90X: Does It Really Work?

Since becoming a personal trainer almost four years ago, one of the most often-asked questions I receive is, "What do you think about P90X?" Like most people, I discovered P90X on an infomercial while channel surfing. It was the fall of 2006 and I had just come off an intense 12-week program my husband and I formulated. I thought P90X would be the perfect program to push me to a higher level. I bought the program and for the next 90 days I followed the program to a tee, with the exception of the meal plan and recovery drinks. I have to admit, after 90 days my strength notably improved (I couldn't do one pull up at the beginning, by the end I could do seven, and I'm a female.), and my body changed dramatically. Since my first experience with P90X, I have gone through the program five more times, though not necessarily following it to a tee. So, after a great deal of experience with P90X, here is my opinion.

P90X is a ninety-day, six-days-per-week, very structured program which Tony Horton, the program's creator, claims will change "your physique through muscle confusion, using a combination of resistance training, plyometrics, cardio training and yoga to keep your muscles guessing. Using the advanced science of Muscle Confusion, P90X is a well-organized training system that shows you how and when to change your routine for maximum results. All you need are a few pieces of equipment at home and about an hour a day."

The "kit" includes:

Twelve DVDs:
Chest & Back (resistance)Plyometrics (cardio and power)Shoulders & Arms (resistance)Yoga X (stretching)Legs & Back (resistance)Kenpo X (cardio)X Stretch (stretching)Core Synergistics (total-body resistance and cardio)Chest, Shoulders & Triceps (resistance)Back & Biceps (resistance)Cardio XAb Ripper X

Fitness Guide:
Details the routines and exercises shown on the DVDProvides an outline of the schedule in which the routines are performed over the 90-day periodOffers variations to the standard schedule if you prefer to make the program more intense or increase cardioProvides exercise logs used for tracking your progress over the twelve weeks

3-Phase Nutrition Plan
"The diet fuels your muscles and helps your body recover more quickly from the intense P90X workouts. "

The basic program has two phases, which are organized as follows:

Weeks 1-3 - Phase I DVDs
Resistance training - Days 1,3 and 5Plyometrics - Day 2Yoga - Day 4Cardio - Day 6

Week 4 - Recovery Week
No intense resistance trainingCore training, Yoga and Cardio

Weeks 5 -7 - Phase II DVDs
Resistance training - Days 1,3 and 5Plyometrics - Day 2Yoga - Day 4Cardio - Day 6

Week 8 - Recovery Week
No intense resistance trainingCore training, Yoga and Cardio

Week 9 - Same as Phase I

Week 10 - Same as Phase II

Week 11 -Same as Phase I

Week 12 - Same as Phase II

Let's begin by talking about the much-advertised "advanced science of muscle confusion." In reality, muscles cannot be confused. However, muscles do adapt over time to routine movements. For example, if an athlete uses a chest press machine in the gym as the only exercise to increase his pectoral strength and size, his muscles will adapt to that same repeated movement resulting in a plateau where he sees no progress in strength or muscle size. If the athlete varies the intensity and the exercises targeting his pectoral area, his muscles will be less likely to adapt and he will see better results over time. Tony Horton calls this physiological impact "muscle confusion," however, I'm not sure I would call it an "advanced science." It's more of change in training philosophy, and one in which I personally believe. With the use of dumbbells, resistance bands, bodyweight exercises and variation of routines, P90X does a good job preventing muscle adaptation.

Tony Horton does his best work with the resistance training and plyometrics workouts. I believe this is the strength of the P90X program. Each routine is an intense one-hour workout that will challenge the best of athletes. During the resistance exercises you can work at two levels: To increase muscle size max out at 8-10 reps (heavy weight, low reps), or to tone max out at 12-15 reps (low weight, high reps). During the resistance routines it is very important to journal your progress. Journaling pushed me to challenge myself to do at least one more rep or increase my weights each week. At the end of every workout you are spent, but for maximum impact you jump right into the Ab Ripper routine. This adds about twenty minutes to your resistance workout, but to get the ripped abs Tony Horton advertises, doing Ab Ripper at least three days per week with the resistance routines is a must. The plyometrics routine will literally make your heart feel like it's going to burst. It is a high intensity, power-focused, interval workout, that will definitely improve your cardiovascular strength.

My least favorite DVDs in the program are Yoga X and Kenpo X. While Tony Horton does a great job with the resistance and plyometrics routines, which is where his expertise lies, he is not a qualified yoga or Kenpo instructor. He appears to be student of these disciplines, and obviously consulted with experts in each field, but users of the P90X program would have been better served if qualified instructors led these two workouts instead of Tony. The yoga routine is ninety minutes long. Many of the stretches and poses are challenging, but there are a few which are dangerous for beginners to attempt. Tony talks incessantly throughout the yoga workout and on several occasions he is virtually yelling - not very conducive to the meditative and relaxing experience yoga is intended to be. As for the Kenpo X DVD...being a black belt in Tae Kwondo, I know a little bit about form and control for martial arts moves. Tony does not take the time to teach proper form (remember, he's not a qualified instructor) and rushes many of the exercises, leading to a very frustrating experience. If you really like the idea of a martial arts-based workout, I would suggest a Billy Blanks Tae Bo video - he really knows what he's doing and the workouts are great. As my time with P90X progressed, I substituted Yoga X with videos by known yoga experts, and on Kenpo X days I went for a run - a much less frustrating experience.

As for the P90X Nutrition Plan, I did not follow the meal plan so I cannot honestly comment on its effectiveness. Many programs on the market include a meal plan because the developers want to present a complete package and, let's face it, good nutrition and exercise go hand-in-hand for a healthy and fit lifestyle. All I did was eat as clean as I could and my overall results were great.

I like how the P90X program builds in recovery weeks, giving your muscles a chance to rest from the intensity and focusing on stretching (yoga) and core work. I am a huge believer in benefits of developing core strength. Although it's hard to start back after the recovery week, the rest allows your muscle fibers to heal enough so you reduce the risk of injury during the next phase.

Now, here is the first caveat: YOU WILL BE EXTREMELY SORE for the first couple of weeks of this program, and during the entire twelve weeks you will feel it. Many people quit early on because they are so sore. Also, many people fail to get the results advertised, because, after the first recovery week, starting the second phase is intimidating and they don't continue. So, if someone says P90X didn't work for him you can be sure he didn't follow the program and perform it at max intensity and/or he just stopped.

The second caveat is: POOR FORM WILL RESULT IN INJURY. Many people attempting P90X for the first time have little to no experience with weight training. P90X IS NOT DESIGNED FOR BEGINNERS. In fact, it is designed for people who are already fit and want to reach a higher level - the Fitness Guide I received with my P90X kit specifically states this. Many inexperienced P90Xers do not understand proper form and while struggling to keep up the intensity level can open the door for very serious injury. In fact, I personally know two individuals who injured themselves when they were following P90X, one had to have knee surgery. If you are inexperienced and considering P90X, I would strongly recommend first working with a personal trainer to develop a good foundation and learn proper postural alignment for various exercises.

The third caveat: TONY HORTON IS ANNOYING! The man just doesn't' shut up. He talks incessantly throughout all the videos and tries to be funny but isn't, and because it's his program he apparently believes must be in front and lead, which diminishes the Yoga and Kenpo workout experiences. By the end of twelve weeks you've had enough of Tony Horton. Fortunately, the videos give you the option to silence cues, virtually silencing Tony. Thank you, P90X producers!

So, what do I think about P90X? In general P90X is a great program, but needs serious tweaking in the areas of Yoga X and Kenpo X. Tony Horton needs to step back from the front and let qualified instructors develop and lead these workouts, and in general he needs to just shut up. You will only get the P90X body if you fully follow the entire program. People fail to get the advertised results because they fail to follow the program as prescribed and maintain the required intensity levels. In addition, many people never complete the program due to the initial soreness or they don't want to commit to 60-90 minutes per day six-days-per-week. Let's face it; you're not going to get the P90X body on a 20-30 minute three day per week schedule. Finally, P90X is really designed for people who are already physically fit and want to reach a higher level. Individuals who are completely out of shape or who have never really worked out risk serious injury and would be better served working with a personal trainer for a while before attempting this very advanced and intense program.

Kelly C. Bowers is NASM Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist, and TRX Certified Instructor, specializing in personalized fitness and nutrition programs. To receive our monthly E-zine filled with informative Fitness and Nutrition articles join our mailing list at http://www.101live.org/Join-Mailing-List.html.

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The Afterburn Effect: Does Afterburn Training Really Burn Fat?

Although the "Afterburn effect" isn't the miracle fat-loss cure some would have you believe, it's not all hype either. It's a real thing, and makes sense to incorporate into your weight loss and fitness program.

As a result of any exercise, your body burns calories. Some of the calories will be burned during the exercise, while others will be burned afterwards as your body recovers. Simply put, the calories burned afterwards can be referred to as the "afterburn". (Note: it's technically called EPOC: excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, which refers to the fact that your energy expenditure is measured by your oxygen consumption).

What exercises cause afterburn?

Different types of exercise cause different degrees:
Traditional cardio workouts (i.e. cardio done at a constant moderate pace for a lengthy period) result in minimal afterburn. Plenty of calories are burned during the exercise, but very few afterwards.
Resistance training (i.e. weight training) and circuit training have a higher degree of after-burn than traditional cardio.
High intensity exercises in general also have a higher degree of after-burn (whether cardio or resistance training)
Interval training (bursts of high intensity with very brief rests in between) has a higher degree of afterburn than exercising at a constant intensity. (This mainly applies to cardio, since circuit & resistance training are by necessity interval-based, provided rests are minimized).

So for example, you could increase your afterburn by replacing your regular cardio workout with a high-intensity interval cardio workout. Or you could replace a low-intensity resistance workout with a high-intensity one.

How big is the effect?

The effect is useful, but not the enormous calorie consumer some would have you believe:
It's an elevation of a few percentage points above your resting metabolic rate.But it can last for anything from a few hours to a day or more.Summed over the duration of the afterburn period, this can amount to anywhere between 30 and 150 extra calories burned (or more), depending on the exercise performed.

While these numbers aren't huge, if you're doing it right, afterburn training can add a few percentage points to your daily calorie burn. That adds up over time, and along with all the other little things you're doing to tweak your diet and exercise, will certainly help tip the scales towards fat loss.

Does it let you eat more?

Despite what you may have read ("local guy/gal lost a hundred pounds eating donuts and french fries, because of this one little secret"), afterburn is a minor but useful exercise tweak, and doesn't justify increasing your calorie intake. Alas, no amount of exercise tweaking can provide a free pass for over eating or poor diet. At least, not in my experience.

Does it burn fat?

The metabolic processes involved in energy consumption during afterburn are different from those used during exercise:
During exercise you're drawing on energy reserves within the muscle & blood stream (basically glucose). You're not (generally) burning fat.Afterwards, you're replenishing those reserves, repairing & rebuilding, and have a generally raised metabolism due to hormones released during exercise.

Because your glucose levels are reduced after exercise, your body will draw more on your fat reserves for the energy it needs during the recovery period.

What's unknown or unclear about afterburn?

Actually, it's interesting how much we don't firmly know about the afterburn effect, given how often it's quoted as some kind of miracle training technique ("do thirty minutes of exercise per week, and get awesome six-pack abs while you sleep!!")

Like any scientific research, it's happening gradually and carefully. So while we currently have a decent general picture of what's going on, it will be some time before there's a clear and consistent view of the details.

Here are some factors that aren't currently well understood, and if they are, they don't appear to have filtered into general circulation yet.
Your gender. There are plenty of biological differences between males and females. Is afterburn affected by them? Maybe not, once differences in lean body size are accounted for (men are bigger than women so burn more energy).
How overweight you are. This certainly affects your ability to do certain types of exercise. Does it affect how your body's energy consumption reacts after exercise? Or doesn't it matter, so long as you do the same amount of work? Apparently the latter.
Your level of fitness. Again, this affects the sorts of exercises you can do, and how effectively you can do them. One argument is that the fitter you are, the longer you can sustain intense exercise, and the more effectively you can undertake intense weight training, both of which should result in a greater post-exercise burn. A counter argument is that the fitter you are, the more rapidly you recover, which implies a shorter afterburn period.
Your age. Age affects some aspects of exercise and physical fitness. Maybe it affects afterburn?
Your diet. Food obviously has a big influence over biology, but how does it affect Afterburn? For example: apparently caffeine might increase it; while acute dietary restrictions reduce it (which doesn't surprise me - yet another reason not to starve yourself). Will we see a wave of "eating for afterburn" fad diets a few years from now?
Exercise duration. Yes, if you exercise for a longer duration, you'll generally experience more afterburn. However, increased duration comes at the cost of decreased maximum intensity (you can't sprint a marathon), and it's not clear how the two factors interact with regard to afterburn. Personally, I'm fit enough that I can sustain relatively high intensity interval or circuit training for about 20-25 minutes. I haven't measured my own EPOC (and it would take a carefully designed lab and experiment protocol to do so), so all I can say is that anecdotally I'm happy with the results.

Furthermore, there is no formula to calculate the amount of energy you'll burn post exercise. It would be awesome if you could plug your height, weight, age, gender, fitness level, and some details of your workout into a calculator and be told you'll burn an additional X calories per hour for the next Y hours. But it doesn't exist.

In Conclusion

Although we don't know in detail exactly how to create the best afterburn effect, we do know that you can increase your calorie burn if you incorporate high intensity training into your workout routines. As well as creating an effective post-exercise energy burn, this sort of exercise has additional benefits, such as improved strength, endurance and agility. In fact, these are the primary benefits of high intensity training, and afterburn is a nice bonus.

The author, Robert Brown, is an enjoyer of life, who's passionate about being in shape and a big fan of the athletic approach to fitness. He also knows what it's like trying to squeeze an effective exercise routine into busy schedule.

He channels his fitness experience into his Athletic Workout Review web site. Given that this is generally drawn from his own experience and research, he pleads guilty to being unconsciously biased towards his own interests, but tries to consider all perspectives. His site reviews plenty of programs that make use of the afterburn effect. For two good examples, he suggests looking at his Max Workouts review and his review of Truth About Abs.

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