Fitness Tip: Attitude is Really Everything – When it comes to living healthy. A negative attitude can sabotage the best laid plans for your fitness and health goals. Living well is a direct correlation with a positive attitude. Keep smiling and try to surround yourself with positive people and influences, while you look for the good in daily business and personal activities.

Exercise of the day: The Ball Rise and Shine Advanced this great lower back core exercise movement will help you build and tone your lower back muscles with the help of your stability ball.

Cross-training instantly adds spice to a stale fitness program. Here’s how it can work for you.

Cross-training is a combination of two or more kinds of fitness training. If this is starting to sound complicated or expensive – don’t worry. Cross-training is an easy way to instantly bring variety to a stale fitness program, no matter if you are just looking to live a more healthy lifestyle or even if you are a serious, hardcore athlete who is looking for a more challenging training regimen.

So, just what is cross-training?

If you are tired with the same old boring workout, you are at a loss to lose those last 10 pounds or you are geared up to bring a better level of fitness to your exercise program, cross-training will help you reach your fitness goals. Examine these ways to add cross-training to your fitness program:

Multiple physical activities. In this strategy for cross-training, two or more kinds of activity are combined with the same fitness goal in mind — like aerobic conditioning — in the very same training session. Example: swimming twenty laps before your morning fitness boot camp.

Rotating days. Another strategy, you should choose is to rotate two or more kinds of physical activities during the week. Example: jog on Monday and Wednesday and play racquetball on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

It’s best to choose the kinds of physical activities that you like and make them an integral part of your exercise plan.

And, what will be the pay-off for cross-training?

Cross-training definitely will enhance your overall performance and fitness, but wait, there’s more:

• Keeps you healthy and injury free. Cross-training alternates the stresses on your body giving your bones, muscles and joints a rest from stresses that come from too many repeated motions. Rotating between high-impact activities, like running, and low-impact activities, like  swimming, will help you avoid repetitive injuries and reduces the risk of overall injuries.
• Keeps you motivated. Exercise is always more fun when you are switching up your activities every day. Variety is the key to sticking with your fitness program.
• Blasts extra calories. By continually challenging your body with a cross-training program, you will burn more calories overall. Your improved health and fitness will produce better overall performance numbers.
• Gives you fitness options. If your racquetball racket breaks, you can still bicycle. If you strain your ankle, you probably still be able to swim laps.

Sounds great, how do I start cross-training?

To start a cross-training program, make a strategy based on physical activities and sports that you love. Above all, be creative! Think outside the gym, in addition to walking, swimming and cycling, don’t forget that you can get a great workout from physical activities likes dancing, jumping rope and fitness boot camp. Ideally, your exercise regimen should include variations of aerobic conditioning, resistance training, strength training and flexibility.

With your strategy in place, choose your physical activities and make sure you have good quality gear, including appropriate athletic shoes for specific fitness activities. Begin slowly, allow your body to adapt. Regularly pace your fitness sessions throughout the week and avoid consecutive days of high-impact exercise. As with any quality fitness program, always warm up before your workouts and cool down and stretch afterwards.

If you have always wanted to cross-train, have at it! You will find that experimenting with different exercise strategies and schedules will keep you moving and grooving.

—Michael Arnone is the TigerFit Blog Health and Fitness Writer & Fitness Ambassador for Tiger Fitness Los Angeles.
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Fitness Tip: Don’t be Fooled with Diets – Most people are completely confused when the word diet or nutrition is used. Your body needs to have nutrients replaced, whether through foods being eaten or supplementation. Do you remember what you learned in elementary school about the four major food groups? As an adult, eating balanced healthy meals from these four food groups still applies. It is extremely important to remove the “junk food” from your meal plan and stick with healthy balanced foods. If you do not like certain things such as fruits and vegetables, be sure you are taking a supplement to get the nutrients you definitely need.

Fitness Tip: Use a smaller plate – Most houses have a collection of more than one set of dishes and usually they all vary in size. So, when you have a family dinner and the table doesn’t have to look perfect, set the table giving yourself the smallest plate you own. It holds a lot less food, but gives the appearance of normal servings.

Exercise of the day: Band Pullover – The Band Pullover focuses on both your chest and upper shoulder region to build a powerful and toned upper body with the flexibility of using fitness exercise bands.

The Cheat Meal should be an Integral Part of Your Diet and Exercise Program…Here are some strategies.

I love to look forward to a weekly cheat meal, but it can easily get out of control and can lead to a whole day or whole weekend binge if you are not careful. Though very occasionally it’s OK to have a whole day binge (holiday’s, vacations, etc), 14 times out of 15 times I eat normally for breakfast and lunch and at dinner—I let it fly. As long as you limit it to just one meal per week, it will not have any negative effect and you have something fun to look forward to each week. Try to eat something bad that is very, very good—ie: the best pizza, fried chicken, ice cream, burger or baby back ribs that you can find! My current favorite is a slab of baby back ribs at Baby Blues Bar-B-Q – in Venice. Mmmm!

From my experience, this meal actually helps you to continue weight loss by sending signals to your brain/body that these foods are not that rare and it’s OK to use your body fat stores for energy (my progress is always better when I have a cheat meal). Also, timing is important, it’s better to have a cheat meal at dinner because after that you will go to sleep—having a binge at lunch can easily lead to a binge dinner too…believe me it happens.

Good cheating!

—Michael Arnone is the TigerFit Blog Health and Fitness Writer & Fitness Ambassador for Tiger Fitness Los Angeles.
TigerFitnessLA.com TigerFitPersonalTraining.com TigerFitBootCamp.com TigerFitBlog.com

Want to Lose 10, 20, even 50 pounds – and keep it off forever? Adopt these ultimate weight loss strategies now!

You already know that thousands of fad diets and rapid weight-loss scams promise quick and effortless weight loss results. But the basis of every successful, permanent weight-loss strategy still includes a healthy, low-calorie diet combined with a comprehensive exercise program. You must make permanent changes to your lifestyle and stop your bad habits in order to lose significant weight and permanently keep it off. So, how do you make your lifestyle changes permanent?

The 6 Ultimate Strategies:

1. Decide to Be Healthy

Permanent, lifelong weight loss does not just “happen”, it is a conscious decision that takes time and effort. Weight control requires focus and an enduring commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Be sure that you are ready to take on permanent lifestyle changes and that you are making this choice for all the right reasons. Nobody and nothing else can make you lose the pounds. The fact is, outside pressure — from family, friends and mates — makes you much more likely to resist change. The only reason for you to make diet and exercise changes must be to make yourself healthier and happier. While you are creating new lifestyle changes, it is important to try and resolve related problems in your life. Changing your habits takes a lot of mental and physical energy, so make sure you are not distracted by life issues that can derail your progress. Success timing is the key to your success. Be sure you are prepared to take on the serious challenges of weight loss and lifestyle change.

2. Choose Your Support System Wisely

Help yourself lose weight by taking complete responsibility for your lifestyle choices. However,  that does not mean that you must do everything by yourself. When you need an extra push, get support from your mate, friends and family. Choose people you know who really want you to be successful and who will keep you on track. Better yet, choose people who care about your feelings and challenges, will workout with you, and who share the priority you have placed on creating a healthy lifestyle.

3. Steady Short-Term Goals Win the Race

When you are deciding what results you would like from your new eating and exercise program, be completely realistic. Successful, long-lasting weight loss is a slow and steady process. Healthy weight loss translates to 1 to 2 pounds per week. In order to accomplish this, you will need to burn between 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume every day, by eating a low-calorie diet combined with regular exercise. Create “action goals,” like working out on a regular basis, instead of “end-result goals,” such as losing 40 pounds. By making steady changes to your habits, this will become your foundation for permanent weight loss. Again, make sure that your action goals are attainable, focused and measurable, for example, you’ll jog for 45 minutes a day, 4 days a week.

4. Re-Discover Healthy Food

By adopting a new eating program that encourages weight loss you must lower your total calorie consumption. But reducing your calories does not mean giving up flavor, fulfillment or even simplicity of meal preparation. You can immediately lower your caloric intake by eating a lot more plant-based foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables. A variety of foods is the key achieving your weight loss goals without having to give up either nutrition or taste.

5. Move-it, Move-it, Move-it!

Dieting by itself can help you lose weight. Removing 500 calories from your daily caloric intake can help you drop about one pound per week: (3,500 calories equals one pound of body fat). However, when you add a 55- to 65-minute vigorous walk 4 days per week, you can actually double your weight loss. The goal of exercise is to burn more calories for weight loss, but exercise offers many, many other healthful benefits. However many calories that you burn is dependent on the duration, frequency, and intensity of your workout program. The the best ways to lose body fat is through interval training (combining walking and sprinting) and aerobic training (such as walking or jogging) — for more than 40 minutes for most days per week. Though regular aerobic exercise is optimal for fat loss, all types of movement helps burn calories. A variety of lifestyle activities makes it easier to fit exercise into your day. Create strategies that help you increase your physical activity throughout your day. Example: take extra trips up and down stairs, park farther away from your destination and take walking meetings at work.

6. True Healthy Lifestyle Change

Temporarily eating nutritious foods and exercising for just a few weeks or even several months will not create permanent weight loss. You have to adopt these behaviors permanently into your lifestyle. In order do that, you must to change every behavior that contributed to making you overweight. Lifestyle changes begin with taking a truthful look at your dietary habits and daily exercise routine.  Examine your individual challenges to weight loss and design a strategy to slowly alter habits and feelings that have sabotaged your past weight loss efforts. Admitting your own challenges will not get you past them entirely, but it will help you plan ahead, control them and help you finally succeed in permanent weight loss. You probably will have the occasional setback. Instead of giving up, start fresh the very next day. Never forget that you are making important lifestyle changes and it will not happen all at once. Just stick to your healthy new lifestyle and soon your long-term results will all be worth it.

—Michael Arnone is the TigerFit Blog Health and Fitness Writer & Fitness Ambassador for Tiger Fitness Los Angeles.
TigerFitnessLA.com TigerFitPersonalTraining.com TigerFitBootCamp.com TigerFitBlog.com

Click to check out How Alexis Lost 50 Pounds of Body Fat
While Being a Busy Mom with 2 Very Active Boys! >>

Fitness Tip: Weight Loss Real Facts – To lose weight you should cut out 500 calories per day. All you have to do is bump up your activity and shave off a few calories. To increase activity* every day: jog for 25 minutes (225 cal.), swim for 30 minutes (230 cal.) or bike for 45 minutes (233 cal.) To lose calories, cut out: 1 small order of French fries (210-290 cal.), 1 individual size bag of chips (304 cal.) or 1 medium (24 fl. oz.) soda (291 cal.) *Calorie burning estimates are based on a 170 pound person.

Exercise of the day: The Ball Hamstring Curl is your answer to toned and tight hamstrings as you use your exercise ball to help build a strong lower body.

Fitness Tip: Keep it Straight – The Stairmaster, treadmill and stationary bikes are excellent pieces of cardio equipment but there is a right way and a wrong way! Slouching over the display panel or supporting your body weight on the rails limits the muscle usage and increases risk of injury. Standing upright and using the rails for balance only uses your core body muscles for balance and support. Get more out of your cardio workout… stand up!

Exercise of the day: The Ball Forward Bend is a great stretch movement with your exercise ball that works your hamstrings and also your lower back region.

Interval training is a powerful fitness strategy for new exercisers and hardcore athletes alike.

Your workout routine is getting stale (again) and the dreaded plateau is setting in. What can you do to burn more calories without spending hours and hours of grueling hours of cardio at the gym? The answer is boot camp style aerobic interval training. Once the go-to fitness program of choice for hardcore athletes, interval training has become a powerful ally for the average boot camper.

So, just what is interval training?

First of all, calm down, this is not brain surgery. Interval training is a simple way of alternating intense bursts of activity (sprinting, jumping, etc.) with intervals of light activity (walking, jogging, etc.).

For instance, let’s say walking is your exercise of choice. If you’re a novice exerciser, you should  incorporate short bursts of jogging into your regular vigorous walks. If you are not as fit, you should alternate easy walking with intervals of quicker walking. As an example, if you are walking outside, you should try to walk quicker between regularly spaced trees, city blocks or street lights.

So, what can interval training do for my love handles?

Whether you are a hardcore elite athlete or beginning exerciser, interval training can help you supercharge your fitness program. The health benefits speak for themselves:

• You will burn many more calories in a given amount of time as you would steady state exercise (walking, slow jogging). The more intensive your exercise program, the more calories you will burn — even if your intensity is increased for just a few minutes at a time.
• You will improve your overall aerobic fitness. As your overall cardiovascular capability improves, you will be able to workout longer and with more stamina and intensity. You could finish your 1-hour walk in 40 minutes — or you could stick with the full 60 minutes and burn tons of extra calories.
• You will keep your motivation on high. Adding variety by increasing your intensity in short intervals can add a needed shot in the arm to a stale exercise routine.
• You do not need any special fitness equipment. Just modify your current fitness program.

How will my body adjust to an interval training program?

During intense exercise programs, your muscles create waste products (lactic acid) that can lead to sore muscles. A large accumulation of waste products can make continuing your fitness program a painful, tiring experience. However, by alternating bouts of intensive exercise with less challenging intervals, you will help decrease the buildup of waste products in your muscle fibers. More comfortable exercise should be your result.

Do the principles of interval training work similarly for everybody?

In a word yes. But interval training can be taken to many levels. If simply want to shake up your exercise routine, you can decide the speed and length of each high-intensity interval based on how you are responding to the exercise, This fitness approach to interval training is known by the Swedish term fartlek, which translates to “speed play.”

After your warm up, you could increase your intensity for one-half minute and then go back to your regular pace. The next period of more intensive exercise may last one to four minutes. The intervals can be varied throughout your workout, how much you increase your pace, how often and for how long is entirely up to you.

If you have a specific fitness goal in mind, you should take a more scientific approach. A fitness boot camp instructor or certified personal trainer can help you time your intensity and duration of your interval periods — which could include similar movements to those you will use during your chosen sport or activity — based on your target heart rate, the proficiency of your lungs and heart to bring oxygen to your muscles (VO2 max) as well as other metabolic factors.

You will add huge amounts of variety to your fitness program with this type of interval training program, but you should know that it requires more structure and focus, so be sure to plan shorter periods of intense activity as well as shorter recovery periods.

Are there any risks associated with interval training?

Interval training is not right for everybody. People with chronic health conditions or have not been exercising regularly, should consult their doctor before trying any type of fitness program.

Like any fitness program, keep the risk of overuse injury in mind. By rushing into a strenuous workout before your body has had a chance to adapt, you could hurt your tendons, ligaments, muscles or bones. Be sure to start any new fitness program slowly. Start out with just two or three higher intensity periods during each workout at first. If you think you are overdoing it, slow yourself down. When your stamina improves, try challenging yourself to vary the speed. You will be surprised how quickly you maximize your fat burn with the addition of interval training.