Hilton just joined the race for in-room workouts. Hilton Hotels and Resorts is testing two workout rooms, a yoga-themed room and a cardio-themed room. The idea is to make it that much easier for guests, especially business travelers with busy schedules, to keep up their workout routines on the road. Continue reading Hilton Hotels Asks: Yoga or Cardio?
Tag: cardio
Study Suggests Jogging Can Extend Your Life by Up to 6 Years
Good news for joggers. A new study shows that jogging — between one hour and 2.5 hours per week — can extend your life by up to 6 years.
Researchers at the Copenhagen City Heart Study in Denmark looked at a database of 20,000 joggers and non joggers, ranging in age from 23 to 93. They found that jogging, at a slow or average pace, extended the life expectancy of men by 6.2 years and of women by 5.6 years. Over a period of 35 years, those who didn’t jog had a total of 10,158 deaths, while there were only 122 deaths among those who jogged on a regular basis.
The study also suggested that breaking your runs into two or three sessions over the course of the week yields the best results. Likewise, high intensity speed intervals and training till exhaustion aren’t necessary. In fact, the study suggests that the risk of death was greater for people who logged in heavy miles (sorry, marathoners) or those who ran at faster paces. (Risk of death was also greater for people who ran less than one hour a week.)
And if that still isn’t enough to get you on the track, the study also reiterated all the health benefits we already know about jogging such as the fact that it lowers your blood pressure, improves cardiac function, and helps manage your weight.
[via The Atlantic: Jog 15 Minutes a Day, Extend Your Life by 5 Years or More]
Charter Pumps Out ExerciseTV on-Demand
Workout videos hit the scene in the ’80s with the likes of the Jane Fonda Workout and others. Later when DVD became popular in the ’90s and a little later DVD workout “videos” became more convenient for the cleaner picture and ability to skip to multiple workouts. Fast forward a little, and the new avenue for workout videos is cable’s on-demand programming.
Charter Communications just added ExerciseTV, a free fitness and lifestyle On Demand channel from ExerciseTV, a digital fitness network and part of NBCUniversal. Now when you browse through available on-demand content you can get encouragement to workout.
The on-demand channel has a variety of workouts that range from cardio to abs to yoga and dance. Programming includes content from expert fitness professionals including Jillian Michaels, Jackie Warner, trainers from Crunch gyms, Chris Freytag, Billy Blanks Jr. Other fitness gurus will be cycled into the lineup as it becomes available.
“Finding time to exercise isn’t easy between juggling work and family,” said Kara Lamberti, senior director, Video Product Management at Charter. “Motivating yourself to fit in a workout at the gym isn’t easy either and ExerciseTV On Demand makes exercise convenient, easy and fun.”
One of the benefits of exercise programs On Demand is the variety of workouts Charter offers. You can stay in the cardio section and still have a few days of different workouts, or vary the disciplines from cardio to resistance, and so on.
Over the summer this may be a rainy day solution. In the winter it easily turns your family room into a gym and lets you stay in shape in colder months.
No Mountain Need to Do Some Climbing
If asked why do you climb a mountain, the answer usually given is because it is there. But what if you don’t have a mountain but still want to do some climbing? Well, you’re in luck because the MtEverClimb Rope Climbing Machine will let you climb and climb and climb some more.
OK, it isn’t exactly like mountain climbing; in fact it is more like rope climbing from grade school gym class, but you won’t need a 40-foot ceiling and there is no fear of falling from such heights either. More importantly rope climbing is a great full-body strength training exercise as well as a true cardio workout.
The machine features a heavy-duty welded tubular steel frame, a pulley wheel, and a looped rope that creates a continuous climbing action, while a front-mounted switch box allows the user to control speed, power, and direction of the rope. So with this device you can get your climb on and on and on!
Six Ways to Get Fit with Fit in Six
A new workout game will hit consoles in March. Fit in Six from Ubisoft will be available on the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii. As the title suggests, Fit in Six focuses on six modalities to get you in shape and reach your goals. Those are core body, upper body, lower body, cardio, balance and flexibility.
Dare to Go Bare with Footstickers
Bare feet get a lot of attention these days. Running in bare feet or bare feet-like shoes from Vibram are said to be healthy. Yet if you choose to go bare, your feet are vulnerable to injuries such as twists, slips, and the dreaded pebble or glass. A concept from designer Frieke Severs from Nike EMEA for “Footstickers” covers key points of the foot to provide better motion control, more feeling for the direct floor contact and a surface-grabbing silicon surface to propel you in your workout. Continue reading Dare to Go Bare with Footstickers
Microwaves Change Lights for Cyclists
Any cyclist will tell you that stopping at a red light is a drag. And when that light stays red because it needs the weight of a car to turn it green, it really puts a damper on your cardio workout. Most often lights that need to be triggered by cars are controlled by an inductive loop, a sensor embedded in the pavement that flips a switch on a computer to turn the light green. Cameras are increasing in number, but are subject to environmental conditions such as ran, twilight and wind.
Cycellicious reports that the city of Pleasonton, California is experimenting with the use of microwaves to trigger traffic lights to change. This method is more reliable than cameras, can distinguish vehicle types and give cyclists more time to get through the intersection than cars, and works with lightweight travelers such as cyclists. You may still have to wait at a few traffic lights, but the time will be reduced. About enough time to practice your track standing skills.
Hula Shaker
Fitness goes retro-tech with updated hula hoops. An article on Tampa Bay, Fla news site 10Connects touts a fitness version of the yesteryear fad of hula hooping. Today’s hoops are weighted with about one or two pounds, and are said to keep you slim and trim. The activity engages both your core and leg muscles. If you get enough of a spin going you may boost your heart rate to an aerobic level as well.
One source, BodyHoops.com, sells SuperFly, a one pound hoop, for $15 plus $3 for each additional hoop. Many gyms, including Crunch Fitness, offer hula hoop-based workout classes. There’s examples of a few classes on YouTube.
Got 10 Minutes? Power Up the Wii
Commitment to working out is time consuming in itself. Just suiting up can take 10 or more minutes. That’s where 10 Minute Solution, a workout game for the Wii, really shines. A pair of five-minute, routines lets you squeeze in cardio time, and even a little ab workout to boot. The Wii version takes the popular 10 Minute Solution DVDs with fitness personality Jessica Smith to an interactive level. The start menu lets you select activities such as cardio boxing, step routines, and mixed games to get you into condition. Each program lasts five minutes, and the benefit of the Wii over the DVD version is the routines are anything but. The instructor selects moves dynamically rather than a practiced routine so it doesn’t get old.
Step things up with the Wii Balance Board to get you more active. The peripheral is not required, but gives you a platform to step on. Without the board the 10 Minute Solution doesn’t score on certain woukouts, but you’re in it for the cardio benefits, not a bunch of numbers. The Wii version also contains an ab workout, which is video taken from the DVD series and is talked about as a bonus. 10 Minute Solution for Wii has enough activity to get you in shape. The 10-minute workouts let you squeeze time in around your busy schedule, or between your kid’s game of Mario. Available at the end of May for a budget price of $19.99, a special bundle with one-pound weighted gloves will be available only at Costco in June.
10 Minute Solution for Wii
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team to Catch WAVE
Snowboard teams will be using WAVE (Whole-body Advanced Vibration Exercise) technology. While it has the promise of something you’d expect to hear in a late-nite infomercial “by working out on a WAVE platform only 15 minutes a day, three times per week, users will see benefits including strength gains, increased circulation, flexibility,” etc., we say if it is good enough for those hoping for gold in Vancouver it must be good for everyone else!
More importantly, unlike those fly-by-night gimmicks, this technology is actually being used by wellness centers, universities and even in rehabilitation centers as well as fitness studios and spas. Whatever works to win gold and warm up for the big day.
Twist, Spin Your Way Through a Workout
What does a turntable, a bar, and a padded cushion do for your fitness? If it’s the Frank Sepe Fitness Disc, it provides cardio and strength training, and maybe even some toning to your core. The system’s foundation rests on its turntable. Not unlike the lazy susan you might have in your kitchen cabinet. This one is much stronger, with the capacity to hold up to 300 pounds. Stand on the turntable and twist back and forth for the foundation of your workout. To aid in resistance training, the Fitness Disc also comes with a bar that is weighted at 4 pounds, and can be separated into two- two pound batons. The bars count as part of the Fitness Disc workout, but also aid in balance while twisting.
It’s not just a twist, it’s said there’s over 100 exercises you can do with the Disc, and there’s four DVDs included in the box, along with a padded disc that you can use for floor work such as crunches. The Fitness Disc, like many home workout equipment, is gimmicky. This one just may have some strength in that it’s a low impact cardio and strength workout. A quick demo with Frank Sepe showed what you can do with the bar, and got our heart rates up. We look forward to spending a little more time with the Fitness Disc at home to try its effectiveness.
Frank Sepe Fitness Disc the Premier Workout System information page
Frank Sepe Fitness Disc the Premier Workout System product page on Home Shopping Network