I recently ran across a webpage about how resistance band training can increase power.  Band resistance is an ascending resistance which means that it gets harder the further you go in the range of motion.  This allows you to get a head start on your motion, ultimately leading to a quicker reaction time.  By the laws of physics Power = (Force x Distance) / Time, so the faster the time, the greater the power.  

For the full article from resistancebandtraining.com/ click here.

Situps are designed to strengthen your abdominals. They're one of the few exercises that'll autocorrect your posture. When you perform a situp correctly, you feel complete engagement of the abdominal muscles. However, when you perform it incorrectly, you'll feel it elsewhere but your abs or not at all...

Read the full article at: livestrong.com

So the question is, does anaerobic exercise burn more fat than aerobic exercise?

Anaerobic exercise is exercise in which oxygen is used up more quickly than the body is able to replenish it inside the working muscle. As a result, muscle fibers have to derive their contractile energy from stored substrates like Glycogen, ATP, and Creatine Phosphate. Weight training and sprinting are examples of such an activity.  Basically high intensity, short bursts of exertion.

Aerobic exercise, also called cardiovascular exercise, is physical activity which raises the heart rate to around 60 to 85 percent of the heart's maximum heart rate for an extended period of time, usually twenty minutes or longer. Basically medium to medium/high sustained exertion.

A study a few years back had athletes doing six-second bursts of all-out cycling. After 10 to 15 sets of this, it was found that an unheard of amount of free fatty acids were broken down from fat stores within the muscle. It begs the question why, during an anaerobic activity that clearly utilizes glucose as a fuel, why is so much fat being broken down?

The answer appears to be that the exercise component which is six seconds long is using glucose, and however long the recovery component is, that’s when you’re burning fat. If you add all these intermittent periods together you are primarily burning lactate and fatty acids.  If you want to lose weight, lose body fat, and get ripped, it appears that intermittent bursts of high-intensity activity followed by rest periods is a better way to go than aerobic exercise. Traditional thinking is that if you wanted to burn fat you would have to do long, slow, distance activity.  People are now starting to think that in fact it’s the other way around and that during really brief, intense intermittent bouts of strength, speed and power-related exercise, you can burn even more fat.

Read more at builtlean.com.

If you want to perform at your best in sport or exercise, you've got to keep your body adequately hydrated throughout your activity. Sweating away even just 1 percent of your body weight (a pound and a half for a 150-pound person) can place added stress on your cardiovascular system. Losing 2-3 percent of your weight can impair your physical performance. Dehydration can also affect your mental sharpness and hand-eye coordination putting you at a disadvantage on the court, playing field or other competitive arena. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends the following guidelines for keeping the body hydrated: 

* BEFORE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Drink at least 16 ounces of fluid about two hours beforehand. 

* DURING ACTIVITY: Drink 5 to 10 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes. 

* AFTER ACTIVITY: Drink 16 ounces for each pound of body weight lost during activity
Taken from Bally Fitness

Boot Camp is still going strong.  May was a wet one, but we still had a good crowd and made great strides.  It's not too late to join for the month of June. The first June session is this Friday. The cost is $200 for the month and we meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in Prospect Park.  Come give it a try for free on the 1st, and I guarantee you'll want to come back.  Email me for more details at activebkny@gmail.com.  See you in the park!  

1. Exercise Boosts Brainpower
2. Movement Melts Away Stress
3. Exercise Gives You Energy
4. It's Not That Hard to Find Time for Fitness
5. Fitness Can Help Build Relationships
6. Exercise Helps Ward Off Disease
7. Fitness Pumps Up Your Heart
8. Exercise Lets You Eat More
9. Exercise Boosts Performance
10. Weight Loss Is Not the Most Important Goal

For full article click HERE.

Boot Camp will be coming back for the 2012 season starting April 30th.  The cost will be $200/month (just under $17/class) and we will meet every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday @ 6am in Prospect Park at the Lincoln Road entrance on the east side of the park.  Booty Camp is open to all fitness levels and abilities and focuses on general strength and cardiovascular exercises.  Fun, safety, and variety are our key to success.  If you are looking to lose a few pounds or just maintain, this is the place for you.  Last year was a blast, this year will be better.

Still not convinced?  Give us a try for free on April 23rd, 25th, & 27th!!!   See you in the park.

You deserve true happiness. In fact, your emotional and physical health depends on it. Positive emotions not only feel good, they also reduce stress-related risks for heart disease, cancer, and more. Follow these 7 steps to happiness and good health:

1. Use positive self-talk. Trade self-put-downs (e.g., What an idiot I am!) for encouraging words (e.g.,Nice going! I'll do better next time! I'm great at learning from my mistakes!).
2. Connect with friends. Really talk with people you care about. Get physical, too. Hugs stimulate oxytocin, the "cuddle hormone," spreading a feel-good boost among friends. 
3. Keep a daily gratitude journal. Writing down what you're thankful for makes you healthier and more optimistic.
4. Exercise your way to a better mood. Being active at least 30 minutes a day increases happiness and makes your body's RealAge 2.8 years younger. 
5. Meditate to stay happy. Meditation eases stress, strengthens immunity, and increases happiness -- big time. 
6. Understand unhappiness. When it happens (it will), learn from it. It's a chance for you to make positive changes. 
7. Pay it forward. The real secret to being happy is to realize that true peace comes when you recognize the gifts you have -- gifts you can pass along to others.

Take these stay-happy steps and you'll cope better with pain and stress, and reduce your risk for colds, flu, heart disease, and even cancer.

Read the full article from realage.com here.

Try this weird little tip when doing crunches: put your tongue on the roof of your mouth.  It will help you align your head properly which will in turn help to reduce neck strain.  Give it a shot, it can't hurt!

This article is mostly about how a lack of sleep effect work performance, but you can see how this also relates to exercise.  Not only is sleep important to stay sharp and focused, but it is also when your body regenerates.

From Inc. Magazine:

The reason sleep is so important is because fatigue isn't simple. When we are tired, our performance doesn't degrade equally. Instead, when you lose a night's sleep, the parietal and occipital lobes in your brain become less active. The parietal lobe integrates information from the senses and is involved in our knowledge of numbers and manipulation of objects. The occipital lobe is involved in visual processing. So the parts of our mind responsible for understanding the world and the data around us start to slow down. This is because the brain is prioritizing the thalamus—the part of your brain responsible for keeping you awake. In evolutionary terms, this makes sense. If you're driven to find food, you need to stay awake and search, not compare recipes.

After 24 hours of sleep deprivation, there is an overall reduction of six percent in glucose reaching the brain. (That's why you crave donuts and candy.) But the loss isn't shared equally; the parietal lobe and the prefrontal cortex lose 12 percent to 14 percent of their glucose. And those are the areas we most need for thinking: for distinguishing between ideas, for social control, and to be able to tell the difference between good and bad.

Full article here.